DIESEL ENGINE POWER PLANT

Introduction :-

Diesel engine power plant are suitable for

small and medium outputs.

It is used as central power station for smaller

power supplies and as standby plants for hydro
electric power plants and thermal power
plants.
The diesel power plants are commonly used where
fuel prices or reliability of supply of oil over coal,
where water supply is limited, where loads
Relatively small and where electric line service is
unavailable or is available at two high rates.

Diesel power plants in common use have capacities

up to about 5 MW.
Classification of I.C. Engines:-
1. Method of Ignition.
2. Cycle of operation.
3. Number of cylinders.
4. Arrangement of cylinders.
5. Speed.
6. Method of cooling the cylinder.
7. Purpose.
Working of 4 Stroke C I engine
The diesel engine uses a four-stroke combustion cycle just
like a gasoline engine. The four strokes are:
Intake stroke — The intake valve opens up, letting in air
and moving the piston down. ­
Compression stroke — The piston moves back up and
compresses the air.
Combustion stroke — As the piston reaches the top, fuel
is injected at just the right moment and ignited, forcing
the piston back down.
Exhaust stroke — The piston moves back to the top,
pushing out the exhaust created from the combustion out
of the exhaust valve.
Remember that the diesel engine
has no spark plug, that it intakes
air and compresses it, and that it
then injects the fuel directly into
the combustion chamber (direct
injection). It is the heat of the
compressed air that lights the fuel
in a diesel engine. 
Working of 2 Stroke S I engine
A two stroke engine performs all the same steps,
but in just two piston strokes. The simplest two
stroke engines do this by using the crankcase and
the underside of the moving piston as a fresh
charge pump.  Such engines carry the official
name "crankcase-scavenged two-strokes."
As the two-stroke’s piston rises on compression,
its underside pulls a partial vacuum in the
crankcase. An intake port of some kind (cylinder
wall port, reed valve or rotary disc valve) opens,
allowing air to rush into the crankcase through a
carburretor.
As the piston nears Top Dead Center, a spark
fires the compressed mixture. As in a four-
stroke, the mixture burns and its chemical
energy becomes heat energy, raising the
pressure of the burned mixture to hundreds of
psi. This pressure drives the piston down the
bore, rotating the crankshaft.
As the piston continues down the bore, it
begins to expose an exhaust port in the cylinder
wall. As spent combustion gas rushes out
through this port, the descending piston is
simultaneously compressing the fuel-air mixture
trapped beneath it in the crankcase.
As the piston descends more, it begins to
expose two or more fresh-charge ports, which
are connected to the crankcase by short ducts.
As pressure in the cylinder is now low and
pressure in the crankcase higher, fresh charge
from the crankcase rushes into the cylinder
through the fresh-charge (or “transfer”) ports.
These ports are shaped and aimed to minimize
direct loss of fresh charge to the exhaust port.
Even in the best designs, there is some loss, but
simplicity has its price! This process of filling
the cylinder while also pushing leftover exhaust
gas out the exhaust port is called “scavenging.”
Because fuel-air mixture is constantly being
pumped by the crankcase, it is not practical to
lubricate piston and crank by pumped
circulating oil—it would be swept away by the
mixture rushing in and out. Therefore, we must
either mix a little oil with the fuel (2 to 4
percent) or inject it very sparingly into the
bearings with a tiny metering pump. The fact
that there is so little oil dictates that such
simple two-stroke engines must employ rolling
bearings, whose need for oil is very small.
Main components of a diesel power
plant :
• Fuel supply system.

• Air intake and exhaust system.

• Cooling system.

• Lubricating system.

• Starting system.
Fuel supply system:
It consists of fuel storage tank for the storage of fuel,
fuel filters and pumps to transfer and inject the fuel.

The fuel oil may be supplied at the plant site by rail,

trucks,tankers,cars,etc.
Air intake and exhaust system:

It consists of pipes for the supply of air and

exhaust of the gases. Filters are provided to
remove dust, etc. from the incoming air.

In exhaust system silencer is provided to reduce

the noise.
The duties of intake system are as follows,

To clean the air intake supply.

To silence the intake air.
To supply air for super charging.

The intake system must cause a minimum pressure

loss to avoid reducing engine capacity and raising
the specific fuel consumption. Filters must be cleaned
Periodically to prevent pressure loss from clogging.
Cooling system:

This system provides a proper amount of water

circulation all around the engines to keep the
temperature at reasonable levels.

Pumps are used to discharge the water inside and the

hot water leaving the jacket is cooled in cooling ponds
or other devices and is recirculated again.
Lubricating system :

Lubrication is essential to reduce friction and wear

of the rubbing parts. It includes lubricating oil tank,
pumps, filters and lubricating oil cooler.

Starting system :

For the initial starting of engine the various devices

used are compressed air, battery, electric motor or
self starter.
Advantages of a diesel power plant :
• It is easy to design and install.

• Layout is quite simple.

• It can be commissioned in less time.

• It can be started and stopped quickly.

• It does not require warming period and standby

losses are less.
• It can respond to varying loads without any
difficulty.

• The cooling water requirement is less.

• For small capacity, it is more efficient as

compared to steam power plant.

• Efficiency at part load is higher.

• It can be installed near the load centre.

• Low initial cost.

• No ash handling problem.

• Smaller storage is needed for fuel.

• Less supervision is required.

Disadvantages of a diesel power plant :
• Higher generation cost per kW.

• High operating cost since in India diesel is costly.

• High maintenance and lubrication cost.

• The life of the plant is less.

• The efficiency deteriorates with life.

• It does not work efficiently under prolonged
overload conditions.

• Noise problem.

• The plant cannot be of big capacity.

• Emission of harmful gases and waste.

GAS TURBINE POWER PLANT
1. Gas turbine power plant has relatively low cost
and can be quickly put into commission.
2. This plant is of smaller capacity.
3. These are very promising for regions where liquid
or gaseous fuel is available in large quantities.
4. The size of gas turbine plant used in a large
systems varies normally from 10 to 25 MW and the
largest size used is about 50 MW.
5. The thermal efficiency of gas turbine plant is
about 22 to 25%.
Classification of gas turbine plants
1. Type of load:
i. Peak load ii. Standby plants iii. Base load

2. Application:
ii. Aircraft ii. Locomotive iii. Marine iv.
Transport

3. Cycle :
i. Open cycle ii. Closed cycle

4. Fuel :
i. Liquid. ii. Solid iii. Gas
Open cycle gas turbine plant:
Working Principal
Fresh air enters the compressor at ambient
temperature where its pressure and temperature
are increased.
The high pressure air enters the combustion
chamber where the fuel is burned at constant
pressure.
The high temperature (and pressure) gas enters
the turbine where it expands to ambient pressure
and produces work.
Closed cycle gas turbine plant
In closed cycle gas turbine plant, the working fluid
does not come in contact with the atmospheric air.
The working fluid is air or some other suitable gas.
The cold gas at point A is compressed in the
compressor at the expense of compressor work,
Wc.
The heat energy to compressed gas is indirectly
supplied in the heat exchanger called source.
The hot gases at high pressure at point C enter the
turbine. These hot gases expand upto the inlet
pressure of the compressor.
During expansion of the gases, the work
developed is WT.
Part of the work developed WT will be used to
drive the compressor and net work of (WT-Wc)
is available as shaft work.
Exhaust gases of the turbine at point D are
cooled in a heat exchanger or sink rejecting the
heat to cooling media. The gas is gets back to its
initial stage 1. In this cycle, the same working
fluid is recirculated and it remains
uncontaminated by the products of
combustion.
Advantages of a Gas turbine power plant
over diesel power plant :
• High mechanical efficiency.

• Balancing is perfect due to the absence of

reciprocating mass.

• For larger capacity unit cost is low.

• Weight per unit power output is low.

• Can be operated with wide variety of fuel.

• Maintenance is less and lubrication is simple.

• Operating pressure is low.

• Silent in operation.
Disadvantages of a gas turbine power plant
over diesel power plant :
• Low thermal efficiency.

• Temperature at inlet to turbine is limited.

• Blade cooling is complicated.

• It is difficult to start gas turbine.

Advantages of a Gas turbine power plant
over steam turbine power plant :
• Its operation is simple and it can be quickly
started.

• Its initial and maintenance costs are low.

• It requires few parts and their design is simple.

• It has low weight power ratio.

• Its lubrication cost is low.

• Maximum operating pressure is about 6
kg/sq cm, therefore the material is not
subjected to heavy stresses.
GAS TURBINE – STEAM TURBINE
COMBINED POWER PLANT
A gas turbine power plant is simple cycle without
modifications and high temperature exhaust gas from
gas turbine is utilized to generate steam in a HRSG.

The generated steam is then used to generate power

from a steam turbine power plant.

Supplementary firing can also be used in order to

produce steam at higher pressure and temperature
In HRSG for improvement in efficiency of rankine
cycle and increase in steam turbine power output.