Diesel Engine Power Plant
Diesel Engine Power Plant
Applications:
Introduction: Diesel engine power plant (prime mover is a diesel engine) are
installed where supply of coal and water is not available in sufficient
quantity. These plants produce power in the range of 2 to 50 MW. The diesel
power plants are more efficient then any other heat engines of comparable
size. It is cheap in cost. It can be started quickly and brought into the service.
The diesel engine power plant will provide the most economic means of
generating electricity on small scale particularly where there is no convenient
site for micro hydro power plants, cheap fuels are not available and load
factors are considerably large.
Application:
Suitable for small or medium capacity range of 2 to 50 MW.
Used in industries where power equipment’s is up to 500 kW.
Used as standby plants to hydro and steam power plant.
Used as mobile power generation system such as automobile, ship,
aeroplane, railways and road transport.
Used as peak load plants in combination with thermal or hydro-plants
to meet the power demands during peak hours.
Site selection:
Site selection for the diesel power plant should be nearer to the load
centre; this is to reduce the cost of transmission of power and also reduce
the power loss.
The site for the diesel power plant should be nearer to the source of fuel
supply, to decrease the transportation charges.
The site for the diesel engine power plant should be far away from the
town, thus smoke and flue gases released from the plant will not affect
human life.
Sufficient quantity of water should be available at the site selected.
The selection of the site for the plant should be in such a way that, it
has road and rail transportation facilities.
Advantages:
Diesel engine power plant can be located at any place.
1|P ag e
The quantity of the water required for these plants for cooling is less.
Power plant is simple in design and diesel fuel is easy to handle.
Less fuel storage space.
It can be started quickly.
Longer life than steam power plant.
High thermal efficiency than steam power plant.
Requires no operating staff.
Disadvantages:
Diesel fuel is costly.
Cost of lubrication is very high.
Maintenance charges are generally high.
Limited capacity about 50 MW of power.
Not suitable for overload condition.
In a diesel engine power plant noise is a serious problem.
Types of Diesel Engine Power Plant:
Diesel power plants are mainly classified as stationary diesel power plants
and mobile diesel power plants.
Stationary units use two-stroke (or) four-stroke diesel engines coupled with
synchronous generators. These units are considered average in their power
rating if the rating does not exceed 750 kW. Large diesel plants have power
ratings of 2,200 kW or more. These plants are mainly used in areas remote
from transmission lines and where the construction of steam (or) hydro-
electric power plant is not feasible.
Mobile diesel power plants can be used as main auxiliary or stand by power
source. They are widely used in agriculture, transportation, forestry and by
expeditions involving geological exploration.
2|P ag e
used or during summer months when the air-conditioning load is high. Diesel
power plant is particularly preferable as peak load plant as it can be started
quickly and it has no standby losses as in the case of thermal plants where
boilers always must be kept hot.
2. Mobile plants
Mobile diesel plants can be used for temporary or emergency purposes such
as for supplying power to large civil engineering works for supplementing
electricity supply systems that are temporarily short of power. They are
mounted on skids or trailers and transported to the required site.
3. Stand-by Units
Diesel plants can be used as standby units to supply part load when required.
For example, a diesel plant can be used with a hydro-plant as a stand-by unit,
if the water available is not sufficient due to reduced rainfall. Here the diesel
unit supplies power in parallel with the hydro-power plant. The diesel unit is
used temporarily till sufficient water is available to take the full load.
4. Emergency plant
The plants are normally idle but are used for emergency purposes where
power interruption would mean financial loss or danger such as in key
industrial processes, tunnel lighting and operating rooms of hospitals. Under
emergency conditions, these plants are also used for telecommunication and
water supply.
5. Nursery station
When a temporary power plant is required to supply the power to a small
town until the main grid is available, it is known as “Nursery Station“. A
Nursery station can be moved to another area which needs power on a small
scale. A diesel power plant is suitable for this purpose.
6. Starting Stations
Small diesel units can be used for starting purposes of large steam plants.
These units run the auxiliaries initially for starting, after which they are
disconnected.
7. Central stations
3|P ag e
In places where the capacity required is small (5 to 10 MW), Diesel units can
be used as central stations, such as for commercial purposes and public
utilities e.g., cinema hall, hospital and municipalities. The capacity limits of
the plant generally decided by the cost of the plant and local conditions
regarding the availability of fuel and water, space requirements and non-
availability of the grid.
4|P ag e
(iii) Fuel system
The fuel is delivered to the plant gate by trucks, rail barge (or) and by tankers
and stored in the fuel storage tank. The piping equipment with the necessary
heaters, by passes, drain lines, relief valves, strainers and filters, flowmeter
and temperature indicator are arranged in a proper manner to make the main
flow workable and practical. The tank should contain a manhole for internal
access like repair, cleaning, etc. After purification, the fuel is supplied to the
system (Engine). A day tank (fuel from the storage tank is pumped to the day
tank) provides fuel to the engine for daily usage. The day tank is placed high
so that fuel flows to the engine naturally due to gravity.
The hot water leaving the jacket is passed through the heat exchanger. In the
heat exchanger, the raw water drains the heat from jacket water and is cooled
in the cooling tower.
6|P ag e
In this, cooling is provided around the cylinder walls and head. They are two
types of water cooling system.
7|P ag e
effectiveness of the lubricating system determines the life of the engine and
the overall efficiency of the plant. Lubricants of liquid, solid and semi-solid
types are available of which liquid oil lubricants are most commonly used.
All moving parts of the system are lubricated with the piston and cylinder
requiring special lubricant as they operate under condition of high pressure
and temperature.
Generally forced feed lubrication system is used which consists of pump, oil
cleaners, oil coolers, storage, sump tanks and safety devices.
Lubricating oil should be purified before circulating into the system which
can be done by various methods like settling, centrifuging, filtering and
chemical reclaiming. In these methods centrifuging gives excellent
purification and hence it is widely used. The Fig.2.13 shows a schematic of
the lubricating system used in diesel power plants.
8|P ag e
rotate. Gradually the engine gains momentum and the engine is started by
supplying the fuel. This system is used in big diesel power plants.
2. Electric starting
In this system, an electric motor is used to rotate the engine shaft by a gear
arrangement. Supplying fuel to the engine will start and the electric motor
disengages automatically. Electric starting system is simple and effective. For
small diesel engines, a storage battery is used to supply power to the electric
motor.
9|P ag e