Table of Contents
What is a Diesel Power Plant?
Diesel Power Plant is a electricity generation unit which intakes diesel as a fuel. They are basically big internal combustion engines which work on diesel cycle.
They are used where supply of coal and water is low or where power requirement is very less.
Essential components of Diesel Power Plant
- Governing system: To meter required quantity of fuel
- Starting system: To start the engine
- Cooling system: To cool the engine and prevent engine seizure
- Lubricating system: To lubricate the moving parts of the engine
- Fuel injection system: To inject right quantity of fuel into the cylinder
- Exhaust system: To remove exhaust gases from the system
- Supercharger: It is used to increase breathing efficiency of the engine
- Air filter: It is used to remove dust and dirt from intake air
- Engine: It is the core of Diesel Power Plant where actual power generation takes place
Applications of Diesel Power Plant
- Industries where power requirement is small
- As a peak load plant
- For emergency conditions
- For starting large steam based power plants
- As a standby unit
- As a mobile power generation unit
Advantages of Diesel Power Plant
- They are responsive to fluctuating load
- They have quick startup
- They are compact unit
- Less water is required for cooling
- They require less capital investment
- They requires less maintenance and operating staff
- They are more efficient for small power requirement
- No ash generation
- They can be located near to load center
- Less fuel storage area required
- Standby losses are negligible
- They are highly reliable
- They have high part load efficiency
- They are easily available in standard capacities
- They are easy to install
Disadvantages of Diesel Power Plant
- They create high noise
- They require high maintenance
- They have limited capacity
- They have comparatively lower life
- Diesel is costly
- They have poor overload performance
- Power produced is comparatively costly
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Featured Image Source: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.