6 Diesel Power Plant

6.1 Introduction
Diesel power plant produces power in the range of 2 to 50 MW.They are used as standby sets for
continuity of supply such as hospitals, telephone exchanges, radio stations, cinema theatres and
industries. And Diesel power plant is suitable for mobile power generation and widely used in
railways and ships.

6.2 Applications of Diesel Engine

Diesel Engine is used for different type of electric supplies as:

 Peak Load Plant: - Can be used in combination with hydroelectric or thermal power as
peak load units.

 Mobile Plant: - Diesel Plants Mounted on trailers can be used for temporary or
emergency purposes.

 Standby unit:- if the main unit fails or cannot cope up with the demand

 Emergency Plant: - During power interruption in a vital unit like a key industrial plants or
hospitals.

 Starting Stations :- Can be used to run auxiliaries for starting a large steam power plant

 Central Stations :- can be used as central station where the capacity required is small

6.3 Layout of a Diesel power plant

Diesel Power plants have the following systems:

1) Diesel engine: Diesel engine is a compression ignition (CI) engine. The two –stroke cycle
engine is more favoured for diesel power plants. The air required for the diesel engine is drawn
through the air filter from the atmosphere and compressed inside the cylinder. The fuel (diesel)
from the diesel engine is drawn through a filter from the all day tank and injected into the
cylinder through fuel injectors. Because of the high temperature and pressure of the compressed
air, the fuel ignites. The fuel burns and the burnt gases expand to do work on the moving part
inside the cylinder called piston. This movement of the piston rotates a flywheel and the engine
is directly coupled to electric generator. The gases after expansion inside the cylinder are
exhausted into the atmosphere and passes through a silencer in order to reduce the noise.

Figure 5.1 Layout of a Diesel power plant

2) Starting system:-Diesel engine used in diesel power plants is not self starting. The engine is
started from cold condition with the help of an air compressor.

3) Fuel supply system:- Fuel from the storage tank is pumped through a filter into a smaller tank
called all day tank. This tank supplies the daily requirements of the diesel engine. The all day
tank is placed high so that the fuel flows to the engine under gravity with sufficient pressure.

4) Air intake system:-The air required for the combustion of fuel inside the diesel engine
cylinder is drawn through the air filter. The purpose of the filter is to remove dust from the
incoming air. The dry filter may be made of felt, wood or cloth. In wet filter, oil bath is used. In
this the air passes over a bath of oil where the dust particles get coated on the oil.
5) Exhaust system:-The exhaust gases coming out of the engine is very noisy. In order to reduce
the noise a silencer (muffler) is used.

6) Cooling system:- The temperature of the burning fuel inside the engine cylinder is in the
order of 15000C to 20000C. In order to lower this temperature water is circulated around the
engine to envelope (water jacket) the engine. The heat from the cylinder, piston, combustion
chamber etc., is carried by the circulating water. The hot water leaving the jacket is passed
through the heat exchanger.The heat from the heat exchanger is carried away by the raw water
circulated through the heat exchanger and is cooled in the cooling tower.

7) Lubricating system:-This circuit includes lubricating oil tank, oil pump and oil cooler. The
purpose of the lubrication system is to reduce the wear of the engine moving parts. Part of the
cylinder such as piston, shafts, and valves must be lubricated. Lubrication also helps to cool the
engine. In the lubrication system the oil is pumped from the lubricating oil tank through the oil
cooler where the oil is cooled by the cold water entering the engine. After cooling the moving
part the hot oil return to the lubricating oil tank.

6.4 Advantages of Diesel power plant

 It can respond to varying loads without any difficulty.
 It occupies less space.
 For the same capacity diesel power plant is compact and smaller than a thermal power
plant.
 Diesel power plants are more efficient than steam power plants in the range of 150 MW
capacities.

6.5 Disadvantages of Diesel power plant

 High operating cost.

 High maintenance and lubrication cost.

 The capacity of a diesel plant is limited. They cannot be constructed in large sizes.

 In a diesel plant noise is a serious problem.

 Diesel power plants cannot supply over loads continuously where as steam power plants
can work under 25% overload continuously.
6.6 Performance Characteristics of Diesel Engine
The performance of the diesel engine means the power and efficiency. The engine develops
variation as the various parameters of the engine, e.g. piston speed, air-fuel ratio, compression
ratio; inlet air-pressure and temperature are varied. The two usual conditions under which I.C.
engines are operated are constant speed with variable load, and variable speed with variable load.
The first situation is found in a.c. generator drives and where as the second one in automobiles,
railway engines and tractors etc. A series of tests are carried out on the engine to determine its
performance characteristics, such as:

• Indicated power (I.P.)

• Brake power (B.P.)
• Frictional Power (F.P.)
• Mechanical efficiency (ηm)
• Thermal efficiency
• Fuel consumption.
• Specific fuel consumption etc.

Indicated Power (I.P)

Indicated Power is the total power developed by the combustion of fuel in the combustion
chamber.

Pime .k. L.A.N *100

I .P  ( KW )
60
Where, Pime = indicated mean effective pressure in bar
L = Length of stroke in meters
A = Piston areas in m2
N = Speed in R.P.M. k = 1 for two stroke engine
n = Number of cylinders = 1/2 for four stroke engine.

Brake Power (B.P)

It is defined as the net power available at the crankshaft. It is found by measuring the output
torque with a dynamometer.

2NT
B.P  (kW )
60 *1000
 , where T = Torque in N.m.

N = Speed in R.P.M

The difference b/n I.P and B.P is called frictional power (F.P).The ratio of B.P to I.P is called
mechanical efficiency
B.P
 mech. 
I .P
Indicated Thermal Efficiency
The indicated thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of indicated work to thermal input.
I .P Where mf = mass of the fuel used in kg /sec.
th( I )  .
mf *C C=Calorific value of fuel

Brake thermal efficiency

B.P
th( B )  .
mf *C