MECHANICAL - HYDRAULIC GOVERNORS -WHY FLY WEIGHTS ARE

DRIVEN AT A HIGHER ROTATIONAL SPEED THAN THE ENGINE?

WHY FLY WEIGHTS ARE DRIVEN AT A HIGHER ROTATIONAL SPEED

THAN THE ENGINE?

Fly weight equipped governors work on centrifugal force. The centrifugal force acts upwards and the
spring force acts downwards.

This difference between the spring and the fly weights is called the governor effect, which is
responsible for moving the pilot valve and hence the fuel rack.
Higher the governor effect, higher the sensitivity of the governor. Therefore to increase the sensitivity
of the governor the centrifugal force has to be increased.

Centrifugal Force=mr ω^2

Where, m = Mass of the fly weight

r = radius of the rotation of fly weight

w = Speed of the rotation of the fly weight.

– If we increase m ’mass’ the inertia effect will increase hence the sensitivity will drop as it take more
time to act.

– If we increase r ‘radius’ the governor becomes too big in volume and takes higher power to rotate
the governor, hence drop in sensitivity is probable.

– Increasing of ‘w’ is possible by increasing the speed of the rotation of the fly weight. Change in
speed gives very high effect as the centrifugal force is directly proportional to the square of speed,
additionally speed increase proves to be more effective, increased sensitivity, less power
requirement, reduced size of governor.

What is a dead band?

DEADBAND OF GOVERNOR IS THE RANGE OF SPEED, ONLY AFTER WHICH THE

GOVERNOR STARTS RESPONDING. IN OTHER WORDS WE CAN SAY THAT;
DEADBAND IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO SENSITIVITY

THERE SHOULD BE A LIMITED PERCENTAGE OF DEADBAND TO AVOID

HUNTING OF GOVERNOR AND FOR STABLE OPERATION. TOO HIGH
DEADBAND CAN MAKE GOVERNOR ACTION SLUGGISH.
TO REDUCE GOVERNOR DEADBAND, FOLLOWING STEPS CAN BE TAKEN :-
1. INCREASE THE R.P.M OF THE GOVERNOR BY GEARING
ARRANGEMENT PROVIDED INSIDE THE GOVERNOR.
2. USE OF LESS VISCOUS OIL.
3. COMPENSATING NEEDLE CAN BE ADJUSTED.
4. AIR IN THE SYSTEM MUST BE PURGED.
5. LINKAGES TO BE GREASED.
6. USE OF CONICAL SPRING.
Dead band is the change in speed required before the governor will make a corrective movement of
the throttle. Dead band is speed of fluctuation around the steady state speed, in which governor will
not initiate corrective action.

In simple terms you could say it is the silent period of the governor at which governor doesn’t take any
action.

The dead band effect is reduced by increasing the sensitivity of the governor.

This can be achieved by;

1. Driving the flyweight at higher speed

2. Use the conical spring
3. Hydraulic amplifiers can be used to amplify the governor effect.
4. Linkages shall not be worn
5. Governor oil to be of low viscous oil so as to reduce the drag effect.
6. Less mass of fly weight by using a hollow weight.
What is hunting?

Hunting is the continuous fluctuation of RPM around the steady state RPM
Hunting can be reduced by;
1. Sensitive adjustment to be reduced and is not often adjusted.
2. Adjust the compensating needle.
3. Reduce the friction of linkages.
4. Reduce the wear down of linkages
5. Oil quality to be maintained.
6. No air locks to be present in the system, purging to be done as and when required.
7. Use of trumpet shaped spring instead of liner ones, so that a more balanced relationship
exists between the speeder spring force and CF is achieved over the whole of the speed
range.
How the output torque of governor is increased.
The output torque generated by mechanical governors is not sufficient to move the fuel rack which
causes sluggish operation of the governor.
Torque may be increased by amplification of signal employed in the servo mechanism, where the
secondary, may be designed for greater output torque then the primary, generating the governor
signal.
The other most common method by a hydraulic system incorporated to the mechanical governor, for
this reason a gear pump is provided inside the governor, which operates the power piston thereby
amplifying the governor effect.