Re: real life applications

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Gary Peterson" <g.peterson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Subject: real life applications


> Original poster: "Matthew Boddicker" <shmerpleton_town@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Does anyone know of any real life applications of a tesla coil?  I know of
> the "neat" tricks to do with it (i.e. lighting a lightbulb without wires),
> but not of any important things.

Tesla built his first oscillator as a tool for studying high-frequency
electrical phenomena.  He also constructed high-frequency electrical
alternators for the same purpose.  When it comes to describing real life
applications for this type of electrical power supply, top on my list is
high-frequency electric lighting.  Tesla's investigations in the area of
high-voltage RF power processing techniques resulted in the very first
high-efficiency, high-frequency lighting ballasts.  He experimented with
both fluorescent- and incandescent-type lamps, as well as high-frequency arc
lighting.  Some of the modern electronic fluorescent ballasts which first
appeared in the late 1980s have great similarities to those he developed in
the 1890s, the principal difference being replacement of the mechanical
switching mechanism with a solid-state device.  [See
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/supply.gif ]

Early on in the course of his research Tesla made another remarkable
discovery.  Using the principle of electrical resonance he found that it is
possible to eliminate one of the two conductors normally used to carry
current from the power supply to the electrical load.  He created a light
bulb specifically designed to be used in this manner, called the carbon
button lamp.  It was generally based upon the dual-terminal tubes developed
by William Crooks.  He also developed a single-wire electric motor that
could be operated in much the same manner.  This involves attaching a metal
plate to one of the high-voltage power supply terminals in place of one of
the connecting wires.  The electrical capacitance at the load, the
refractory button or a second metal plate in the case of the motor, serves
to complete the circuit through electrostatic induction. [The Inventions,
Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/button.gif ]

In operating various devices with his high-frequency power supply using only
one connecting wire he realized the load can placed at some distance from
the power supply and still function properly.  This is what Tesla called the
transmission of electrical energy through one wire without return.  Instead
of using individual capacitor plates at the transmitting and receiving ends,
it is also possible to make a connection directly to the ground.  In this
case the electrical circuit is completed entirely through the earth itself.
The accompanying illustration of a one-wire power transmission system [see
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/1-wire_t.gif ] is from Tesla's U.S.
Patent No. 593,138 titled "Electrical Transformer," covering the Tesla coil
resonance transformer.

His work with the single terminal incandescent lamp led him to investigate
other phenomena associated with vacuum tubes including the generation and
physical properties of X rays.  Tesla was one of the first researchers to
alert the scientific community to some of the biological hazards associated
with X-ray exposure.  Tesla's more advanced tubes differ from typical X-ray
tubes in that they have no target electrode and produce X rays through
vacuum high-field emission and a process known as Bremsstrahlung.  His work
in this area set the stage for the development of high-energy particle
accelerators. [Nikola Tesla: Lecture Before The New York Academy of
Sciences, April 6, 1897; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/lenard.gif ]

When standing in the same room as an operating Tesla coil, one might observe
the presence of the aromatic gas ozone.  Tesla took advantage of this
operating characteristic by designing a device for the production of ozone
in unlimited amount (U.S. Pat. #568,177, Sept. 22, 1896).  Tesla observed
that with some additional energy and certain modifications it is possible to
efficiently induce a reaction between oxygen and relatively inert nitrogen.
In the industrial processes for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, the
resulting gaseous oxides are reacted with other substances to form solid
nitrogen compounds. [Dr. Nikola Tesla - Complete Patents; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/ozone.gif ]

As Tesla's research progressed, he placed additional emphasis on finding a
solution to one of the most vexing problems of his era-the development of a
practical system for wireless telegraphy and telephony.  Some preliminary
experiments with  high-frequency alternators connected to an aerial and
ground showed promising results towards this end.  He next replaced the
alternator with his resonance transformer and achieved even better results.
When used as a radio transmitter it was demonstrated that Tesla's
oscillator, with its tuned primary and secondary circuits, was able to
produce radio waves thousands of times more powerful than the simple
spark-coil transmitter used by Heinrich Hertz just a few years before hand-a
real-life application indeed! [Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating
Currents and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and
Transmission of Power; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/rf_alt.gif ]

In spite of this initial success Tesla was clearly not satisfied with his
results.  Further improvements included the development of techniques for
obtaining frequency stability, selectivity, immunity to interference, and
security of communications.  It is a footnote to history that a portion of
this work with high-power radio-frequency oscillators involved the first
electronic implementation of the AND logic function.  The resulting U.S.
Patents # 723,188 & # 725,605 for wireless signaling cover logic gates in
general and also describe the basic principles of frequency-hopping and
frequency-division multiplexing in wireless spread spectrum
telecommunications.  See Wireless Remote Control and the Electronic Computer
Logic Gate for an exhibit in the U.S. patent interference "Nikola Tesla vs.
Reginald A. Fessenden, Interference No. 21,701, Systems of Signaling"
showing a circuit diagram of an electronic AND logic gate used by Tesla in
1899. [Nikola Tesla: Guided Weapons & Computer Technology; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/teslafaq/mech_osc.jpg ]

While many of Tesla's innovations are embodied in our present apparatus for
wireless telecommunications there are certain elements which have not been
incorporated.  In Tesla's own words, "devices of this kind, to be most
effective and efficient, should be designed with due regard to the physical
properties of this planet and the electrical conditions obtaining on the
same." [The True Wireless; see also
http://www.tfcbooks.com/images/patents/1119732-1.gif and
http://www.teslascience.org/archive/photographs/WP016.jpg ]

> . . . Why would Tesla invent something that could only make sparks and
> nothing more?
> Matthew Boddicker

That is an excellent question.  The answer is, he didn't.

A while back there was a post on this list asserting that there are no
practical applications for Tesla coil oscillators, which of course is not
the case.  It may come to pass that someday there will be real-world
applications that are beyond our present imaginations.

Best regards,
Gary