Tiberius
10 kW
Hi Everyone,
As the title suggests, I'm working on a design for an electric hovercraft and need suggestions on sources for a lightweight motor and generator.
I'm talking about a small craft for 1 to 3 persons, not a model, or a large craft. Now a completely electric hovercraft isn't going to perform very well, so I'm only looking at making the lift system electric. One standard way of making a hovercraft is to use separate engines for lift and thrust. Another is to use a single engine with mechanical drives to the lift and thrust fans. That's what I'm using at the moment, but it has the problem that when you reduce the thrust, you also lose lift. So what I'm looking at is an electric motor to drive the lift fan and a generator (which might be the same device as the motor?) driven from the engine.
Basic parameters are:
Lift fan: 4 to 5 kW at 3,000 to 5,000 rpm, so I'm hoping a direct drive motor would be possible.
Engine operating range: 3,000 to 12,000 depending on the craft.
Weight of course is absolutely crucial.
I haven't said anything about batteries yet, because I'm still working out whether I actually need them, or a big capacitor, or what. Nor about the controller, because I think that might not be the most difficult part. Also at this stage it helps to not have the voltage defined.
What do you reckon? Is there a lightweight device out there that I could use one of as the generator and another as the motor. Or is it best to have two different devices?
Thanks
Nick
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PS. Since I'm fairly new here, I ought to introduce myself a bit. I live in South West England; I'm an electronics engineer; I've been flying airplanes for 20 years; I've been racing hovercraft for 10 years and I ride an electric bike.
----------------------
As the title suggests, I'm working on a design for an electric hovercraft and need suggestions on sources for a lightweight motor and generator.
I'm talking about a small craft for 1 to 3 persons, not a model, or a large craft. Now a completely electric hovercraft isn't going to perform very well, so I'm only looking at making the lift system electric. One standard way of making a hovercraft is to use separate engines for lift and thrust. Another is to use a single engine with mechanical drives to the lift and thrust fans. That's what I'm using at the moment, but it has the problem that when you reduce the thrust, you also lose lift. So what I'm looking at is an electric motor to drive the lift fan and a generator (which might be the same device as the motor?) driven from the engine.
Basic parameters are:
Lift fan: 4 to 5 kW at 3,000 to 5,000 rpm, so I'm hoping a direct drive motor would be possible.
Engine operating range: 3,000 to 12,000 depending on the craft.
Weight of course is absolutely crucial.
I haven't said anything about batteries yet, because I'm still working out whether I actually need them, or a big capacitor, or what. Nor about the controller, because I think that might not be the most difficult part. Also at this stage it helps to not have the voltage defined.
What do you reckon? Is there a lightweight device out there that I could use one of as the generator and another as the motor. Or is it best to have two different devices?
Thanks
Nick
----------------------
PS. Since I'm fairly new here, I ought to introduce myself a bit. I live in South West England; I'm an electronics engineer; I've been flying airplanes for 20 years; I've been racing hovercraft for 10 years and I ride an electric bike.
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