DIESEL POWER PLANTS
Diesel power plants produce power
from a diesel engine. Diesel electric plants in the range of 2 to 50 MW
capacities are used as central stations for small electric supply networks and
used as a standby to hydroelectric or thermal plants where continuous power
supply is needed. Diesel power plant is not economical compared to other power
plants.
The diesel power plants are cheaply used in the fields
mentioned below.
1. Mobile
electric plants
2. Standby
units
3. Emergency
power plants
4. Starting
stations of existing plants
5. Central
power station etc.
LAYOUT OF
DIESEL POWER PLANT:
Figure shows the arrangements of
the engine and its auxiliaries in a diesel power plant. The major components of
the diesel power plant are:
1) Engine
Engine is the heart of a diesel
power plant. Engine is directly connected through a gear box to the generator.
Generally two-stroke engines are used for power generation. Now a days,
advanced super & turbo charged high speed engines are available
for power production.
2) Air supply system
Air inlet is arranged outside the
engine room. Air from the atmosphere is filtered by air filter and conveyed to
the inlet manifold of engine. In large plants supercharger/turbocharger is used
for increasing the pressure of input air which increases the power output.
3) Exhaust System
This includes the silencers and
connecting ducts. The heat content of the exhaust gas is utilized in a turbine
in a turbocharger to compress the air input to the engine.
4) Fuel System
Fuel is
stored in a tank from where it flows to the fuel pump through a filter. Fuel is
injected to the engine as per the load requirement.
5) Cooling system
This system includes water circulating pumps, cooling towers,
water filter etc. Cooling water
is circulated through the engine block to keep the temperature
of the engine in the safe range.
6) Lubricating system
Lubrication system includes the air pumps, oil tanks, filters,
coolers and pipe lines. Lubricant
is given to reduce friction of moving parts and reduce the
wear and tear of the engine parts.
7) Starting System
There are three commonly used starting systems, they are;
1) A petrol
driven auxiliary engine
2) Use of
electric motors.
3) Use of
compressed air from an air compressor at a pressure of 20 Kg/cm.
8) Governing
system
The function of a governing system is to maintain the speed of
the engine constant irrespective
of load on the plant. This is done by varying fuel supply to
the engine according to load.
Advantages
Ø Diesel
power plants can be quickly installed and commissioned.
Ø Quick
starting.
Ø Requires
minimum labour.
Ø Plant is
smaller, operate at high efficiency and simple compared to steam power plant.
Ø It can be
located near to load centres.
Disadvantages
Ø Capacity
of plant is low.
Ø Fuel,
repair and maintenance cost are high.
Ø Life of
plant is low compared to steam power plant.
Ø Lubrication
costs are very high.
Ø Not
guaranteed for operation under continuous overloads.
Ø Noise is a serious problem in diesel power plant.
Ø Diesel power plant cannot be constructed for large scale.
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