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DieselenginespeedgovernorLearnhowshipspeediskeptundercontrol

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FunctionsOfTheGovernor

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writtenby:Rickyeditedby:LamarStonecypherupdated:7/9/2009
Asthenameitselfsuggests,agovernorisusedtokeepthespeedofdieselenginesonashipwithinreasonable
limits.Learnthebasictheoryandworkingofenginegovernorsinthisarticle
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Introduction
Allmarinevesselsrangingfromahugecruiseliner,bigoiltanker,relativelysmalleryachtorevenatinypowerboat
needsomesortofspeedcontrolsystemtocontrolandgovernthespeedofthemarinedieselengineorwhatever
propulsionplantisbeingusedforthevessel.Itwouldbereallyimpracticalanddangeroustohaveashiporaboat
withoutspeedcontrolmechanismfittedonit,andcouldleadtoaccidentssuchascollisionorgrounding.

DieselEngineSpeedGovernor
Thespeedcontrolmentionedaboveisachievedwiththehelpofagovernorandwewillstudyaboutthisdevicehere.
Iwouldjustliketoclarifyoneconfusionherethatthemainroleofthegovernorisnottoincreaseordecreasethe
speedwhichcanbedoneviafuelcontrolsystem(similartoanacceleratoronyourcar)butoncethespeedofthe
enginehasbeenset,thejobofthegovernoristomaintainthatspeeddespitethevariationsinload.Inotherwords
thegovernorcontrolsthespeedvariationandkeepsthespeedwithinrestrainedlimitsdespitethesevariations.
Thevariationscouldarisefromseveralfactorssuchassayroughweather.Ashiprollingandpitchinginheavy
weathermaytemporarilycomeinsuchpositionthatitspropellerisliterallyoutofwaterandwithoutthegovernorthe
speedoftheenginecouldshootuptosuchanextentthatitcoulddamagetheengineitself.

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Governorsarealsofittedinauxiliarydieselengineson
theshipusedforpowergeneration,andtheirfunction
remainsthesameinthissituationaswell.Thepower
deliveredbythealternatorneedstobeconstantdespite
loadvariationsandthisdependstoagreatdegreeon
thespeedatwhichtheprimemoverofthegenerator
dieselengineisrotatingsincethealternatorisgetting
itsmovementfromthatengineonly.Hencetheroleof
thegovernorisequallyimportantinthiscaseaswell.

ASimpleDirectActionGovernor
Thefigurebelowexplainstheworkingofanelementarygovernorknownasdirectaction
governor.Itisapurelymechanicaldeviceworkingontheprincipleofcentrifugalforce
actingonrotating/revolvingbodies.Theworkingofthisgovernorcanbeclearly
understoodifyouseethediagramcarefullybeforereadingfurther.
Thegovernorspindleisrotatedthroughagearmechanismviatheengineshaftwhose
speedneedstobegoverned.Thereareflyweightswhichrotatealongwiththegovernor
spindleandtheyarethrownoutwards(asshownbyarrowsindiagram),andthedegree
oftheiroutwardmotionisinproportiontothespeedatwhichtheshaftandhencethe
spindleisrotating.
Thespringfittedonthespindleactstoreturntheflyweightstotheiroriginalpositionandhencecountersthe
centrifugalforceactingontheflyweights.
Thenetresultsofallthisactionisthatthespindlemovesverticallyupordowndependingonthepositionofthe
flyweightsandthismotionistransmittedtotheappropriatemechanismwhichresultsinactualspeedchange.
Wewillstudyaboutgovernorcharacteristicsinournextarticlefollowedbythestudyofrelaygovernorwith
servomechanism.

ImageCredits
MarineDieselEngines:Principles&PracticebySanyal,D.K.

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