See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/326675017

Design of an Electronic Governor for a Diesel Generator with Synchronous,

Isochronous and Islanded Modes

Article · January 2015

CITATIONS READS

0 4,623

6 authors, including:

Rohan Lucas Narendra de Silva

University of Moratuwa Lanka Electrcity Company
118 PUBLICATIONS   365 CITATIONS    10 PUBLICATIONS   3 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Energy View project

Lightning Protection and Earthing View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Rohan Lucas on 29 July 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Design of an Electronic Governor for a Diesel
Generator with Synchronous, Isochronous and
Islanded Modes
M.P.L.Jayathilake, K.P.M.Karunanayake, A.M.M.Karunarathna,
A.P.M.Kethumalika, J.R.Lucas, N.De Silva
Abstract: The design of an electronic governor to change the fuel valve of a diesel generator and
the algorithm to control the speed is presented in this paper. Initially a control hardware circuit was
designed and built, capable of controlling the fuel flow of the generator so that it can be operated at a
desired speed in isochronous mode. Unlike in the traditional controllers, no speed sensor is required,
and the instantaneous frequency is extracted from the generator output voltage waveform. This
governor has been developed to have the ability to run in synchronous and islanded modes as well as
the isochronous mode. The developed governor will be used as a teaching tool for electrical
engineering undergraduates with the power system simulator that has been recently developed, to
gain the real power system operation experience.

Keywords: Diesel generator, Electronic governor, Mechanical governor, Fuel rack, Power system
simulator

1. Introduction In this project, an electronic governor for a

Governors are devices which are used to
control the speed of a generator. When diesel
generators are considered, the governor should
be capable of handling the fuel flow to the
engine when the speed is changed from the set
speed [1]. Earlier, mechanical governors were
used, but with the advancement of electronic
components, the control features of governors
have become much more flexible and electronic
governors are more and more used for speed
control [2].
Generally electronic systems are not as reliable
as mechanical systems. But it is possible to
build reliable control systems with more
complex operations, accuracy, precision and
reliability. Normally mechanical governors
operate in Isochronous mode. But electronic
systems are compulsory when it comes to
complex operating modes like droop mode.
This variable parameter governor presented in
this paper has the capability to operate in
various control modes like hysteresis, PI and
PID which are not available in mechanical
controllers.
When the load of the generator is changed, the
speed of the engine will be changed resulting in
a change in the frequency. So, to keep the
engine running at a desired speed (or
frequency), fuel flow to the engine needs to be
controlled [3].
diesel generator is developed to give the
generator the ability to run in multi modes.
The main objectives are as follows:
• To develop a linear actuator using an
electric motor and to control the fuel rack
position
• To design a frequency detection system
using the output voltage waveform of the
generator
• To control the fuel rack position by
mounting the linear actuator to the fuel
injection pump
• To combine the whole system of the
generator with the power system simulator
available at the power systems lab as a
power source to be used as a teaching tool
for the undergraduates.
The three-phase diesel generator obtained for
the project, being of small capacity had been
designed with a mechanical governor to
operate in standalone manner and thus in the
isochronous mode to balance the demand and
supply [4]. However, when additional features
are needed, such as to run in synchronous
mode with other generators, or to run in
islanded mode, an electronic governor is
needed.
Thus the existing mechanical governor of the
diesel engine was modified to co-exist with an
electronic governor, designed by us to give it
the ability to run in these three distinct modes.
Initially, the generator was run in isochronous
mode with the developed electronic governor
using a tuned programmable controller. The
control algorithm was then modified in order to
run in the synchronous and islanded modes as
well [2].
1.1 Isochronous Mode
When functioning in the isochronous mode, the
governor would always try to keep the
frequency of the output voltage of the generator
at a fixed value regardless of the load demand.
This control is achieved by varying the fuel
flow to the diesel engine. If the load demand is
increased, the output frequency will drop, and
the governor will increase the fuel flow to the
diesel engine until the output frequency is
increased up to the fixed frequency value. If the
load demand is decreased the output frequency
will be increased and the governor will reduce
the fuel flow to the diesel engine until the
output frequency is reduced down to the fixed
frequency value [4]. When the diesel generator
with the developed governor is connected to
the power system simulator to operate in the
isochronous mode, no other power source
should be connected.
1.2 Synchronous Mode
In the synchronous mode, the frequency is not
fixed with variation of the active power output
[4]. Therefore in order to keep the frequency of
an isolated system constant, there should be
several droop settings in one generator. Then,
according to the variation of load, the droop
setting can be changed in order to keep the
frequency constant by getting a current
feedback. Power system simulator has a
synchronous generator coupled with an
induction motor as a power source from one
end and the diesel generator at the other end.
The developed governor will operate in
synchronous mode when the two power
sources are connected at the same time.
1.3 Islanded Mode
Islanding operation is a phenomenon that the
power system is isolated and the generation
control is done by the island itself. Here the
generator should have an isochronous governor
(flat droop curve). But in a networked power
system, this type of operation can be naturally
occurred due to failure of a tie line. In such a
situation a generator or set of generators within
the island may be operated in the islanded
mode and the local loads can be fed by those
generators although the rest of the network is
not feeding in to the island. Such a situation is
known as intentional islanding [5].
1.4 Diesel Generator
Diesel engines are widely used as prime
movers for generators as they can be placed
anywhere regardless of the location, resources,
size etc. In today’s context, large diesel
generators are connected to the grid while a
large number of small scale diesel generators
are used as backup power plans due to some
unique advantages such as compactness, less
initial cost, less fuel cost compared to gasoline,
less pollution compared to gasoline, etc.
However there are some disadvantages in
diesel generators compared to some other
sources like hydro, such as the presence of
higher time constant which causes difficulties
in controlling[3], [2].
1.5 In-built Mechanical Governor
The Diesel generator had a fly-ball mechanical
governor which could only be run under
isochronous mode. The objective was to
develop an electronic governor and mount it to
the fuel injector pump while keeping the
existing mechanical governor [1].
The mechanical governor is not completely
replaced. But the set point of the electronic
governor is lower than the mechanical
governor. Therefore mechanical governor does
not operate unless electronic governor fails to
operate. Compared to the mechanical governor,
the electronic governor designed has less
performance under no load and low load
conditions. But with the inertia of the load, both
governors has almost same performance in
Isochronous mode which is not compared in
the research paper. But the mechanical
governor doesn’t have the capability to operate
with either variable parameter operation or
Droop mode operation.
2. Methodology
2.1 Hardware Circuit
Diesel generator has a solenoid actuator in the
fuel injector pump in order to control the fuel
flow in starting state and stopping state of the
generator. When the solenoid is de-energized,
the fuel flow to the engine is fully closed and
the generator is kept in the stopping state. And
once the solenoid is energized, the fuel flow to
the engine will be fully opened and the
generator will be started with the support of
starter motor, fuel pump and other auxiliary
systems. Since the solenoid only changes the
fuel flow between two states, the engine
consists of a mechanical fly-ball governor to
vary the fuel flow rate continuously within a This actuator is designed using a servo motor
small range such that the generator will be able with rack and pinion mechanism. The precision
to respond to the changes in the demand by of the actuator is lesser than to the precision of
varying fuel flow rate by smaller amounts [2], the mechanical governor. It caused small
[3]. Initially it was decided to develop a oscillations (around the frequency set point) of
controlled solenoid which could replace the the frequency under no load and low load
existing solenoid which would work under the conditions. The actuator should be replaced
principle of PWM, consisting only two states. It with a DC motor controlled actuator which can
was decided to increase the fuel flow by give more accurate results compared to the
increasing the PWM duty cycle. But due to the existing governor.
limitations of the mechanical design of the
existing diesel engine, linear actuator had to be When the linear actuator is connected to the
designed analogously to change the fuel rack diesel engine the frequency set point is set to
position [6]. Even a speed sensor can sense the 60Hz such that the mechanical fly-ball governor
frequency reliably. But here in this case the always tries to achieve the 60 Hz power output.
method implemented takes less than 100 ms to This operates as it always opposes the action of
calculate the frequency accurate up to the the linear actuator and the rack of the linear
second decimal point. The electronic circuit actuator pushes the fuel rack position of the
used in frequency sensing is again used in engine in order to control the fuel flow of the
active power measuring where the resources engine to achieve 50 Hz frequency.
were utilized efficiently compared to using
separate systems. 2.2 Linear Actuator Mounting
The developed linear actuator consists of a
In order to control the fuel rate continuously, servo motor and rack and pinion in order to
the existing solenoid which has only two steps convert the rotary motion to linear motion.
has been replaced with a linear actuator. This
linear actuator is tailor-made for the available
engine and has the dimensions of the existed
solenoid. This actuator consists of a servo motor
and a rack and pinion mechanism to convert
the rotary motion of the servo motor to linear
motion. A servo motor is used because it has an
error feedback system which can rotate by a
very precise angle without errors and also very
convenient to use and program. Rack and
pinion method is chosen since it has a less
complex design and more compact in nature
and can be easily coupled with a servo motor to
gain a linear motion by converting the rotary Figure 1 - Mounted Linear Actuaror
motion of the motor.
2.3 Controller : Arduino Mega 2650
Even though this actuator acts as an electronic
An Arduino board has been used as the control
governor with an Arduino control circuit, the
circuit and analog input is obtained from the
existed mechanical fly-ball governor is not
frequency detection circuit. And the output
removed when connected to the diesel engine.
signal to the servo motor in order to function
The control mechanism is achieved through
the linear actuator is provided from the
coinciding operation of the mechanical fly-ball
Arduino board. The program drives the servo
governor and newly added linear actuator.
motor by connecting the motor to PWM pin 8 of
the Arduino, and a frequency detecting input to
The frequency set point of the engine is set by
analog 0. The signal to the potentiometer from
varying the throttle lever position. If only the
the feedback circuit will determine the position
mechanical fly-ball governor is in operation, the
of the servo motor by sending a variable
frequency set point is placed at 50 Hz and
resistance current to the A0 analog port on the
regardless of the power demand the fly-ball
Arduino [7]. Then the Arduino code interprets
governor will try to achieve that by varying the
to a pulsed signal to the servo motor to position
fuel rack position.
the fuel rack based on the signal from the
potentiometer.
Figure 2 shows the hardware arrangement with
both servo motor and the feedback circuit with
Arduino.
Figure 2 - Schematic Circuit of Arduino
Mega 2650 in Proteus
2.4 Frequency Detection Method
Instead of using sensors like encoders or
tachometers, the output voltage waveform of
the generator is used to measure the power
frequency and hence the speed of the generator.
This gives the advantage of incurring less
maintenance and less cost compared to the
conventional method of using sensors. Digital
Signal Processing through Arduino Mega
microcontroller derives a much accurate value
for power frequency.
A simple circuit was used to step down the
voltage of the generator in order to feed it to the
Arduino device. A transformer (230/12 V) was
used to step down the voltage (230 V) of the
generator into a 12 V waveform and then a
voltage divider circuit is used to step down the
voltage furthermore where the voltage was
decreased further more until the peak voltage
becomes less than 5 V. These steps were
followed to make sure that the peak voltage of
the output voltage waveform is less than 5V
since arduino device can only sample voltages
up to 5 V and the device may subject to
damages under higher voltages.
The sampling was used in calculating the
power frequency. Two methods were tried to
sense the frequency. The first method was to
use the zero crossing points in the voltage
output waveform. Arduino takes 250 samples
from the analog input that was fed into the
arduino. The times taken to read those samples
were calculated (28 milliseconds) and hence the
time to one sample is calculated (28/250 = 0.112
milliseconds) which is the sampling time. In the
above circuit there is no DC offset added to the
voltage waveform. Hence the arduino cannot
read the negative half cycle of the signal as
Arduino only reads the positive values.
Therefore the arduino reads analog inputs as
zero within the negative half cycle of the
waveform. In the program, a counter is started
when a non-zero value is received and counts
the number of non-zero samples. The counter is
stopped when it begin to give zero values
again. Therefore by using the sampling time of
the arduino which is 0.112 milliseconds, it is
possible to calculate the power frequency. The
formula stated below can be used for that.
103
𝑓= (1)
2×0.112×𝑘
Where, k is the number of nonzero samples
derived from the counter reading. The power
frequency can be monitored using Arduino
serial monitor. [10]
The above method was successful but the
measured frequency was not accurate enough
for governor controlling as some odd error
values were present. Therefore it was decided
to try a second method which is to use rising
edges in the output voltage waveform in
determining the frequency. An interrupt was
done and time measurement was taken in the
first rising edge of the waveform. The next
interrupt is done in the first rising edge of the
next cycle and the time between the two rising
edges is calculated which was used to measure
the frequency. As the same feedback circuit
used in the previous method is used, only the
rising edges in the positive half cycles are
considered due to the same reason as Arduino
cannot read negative cycle of the waveform.
The later method was decided to be used in the
project as it was more successful and it gives
more accurate values.
As the circuit was interfaced with the computer
through serial communication, it was possible
to observe the performance of the existing
mechanical governor [8].
Figure 3 - Schematic Diagram of the
Frequency Detection System
The detection of frequency using the output
voltage waveform instead of using a speed
sensor reduces the complexity of the design and
improves the controllability of the hardware.
Inbuilt 10 bit ADC of Arduino is used to sample
the instantaneous voltage output of the
generator. Then thefrequency of the signal is
calculated using the sampled voltage values [8].
Figure 4 - Schematic Diagram of the
System
2.5 Power Measurement
Active power, reactive power, power factor,
current and voltage should be measured in
order to run the generator under synchronous
mode and islanded mode and also for
monitoring purposes. As Arduino is the
currently used controller, an arduino program
is used to measure those variables. The arduino
must be fed with voltage and current feedbacks
to derive those quantities. The voltage signal
was obtained using the same which was used to
measure the frequency and a current
transformer was used to obtain the current
feedback. The root mean square values of
Voltage and Current, Active Power, Reactive
Power and Power Factor was calculated using
the energy monitoring library available in
Arduino.
2.6 I2C Communication
There are several tasks that Arduino is expected
to perform including frequency detection,
active power measurement, measuring and
monitoring of parameters to LCD/ serial
monitor/serial chart, executing control method
and servo motor driving. Therefore it is
convenient to delegate work between two
Arduino devices where one Arduino device is
designated as slave device which will measure
and monitor variables and send the required
parameters to the master device when it asks
and the master device will perform the
controlling. This way controlling becomes more
accurate and convenient to understand. I2C
communication is established between the
arduino devices as it is one of the best
synchronized communication methods between
Arduino devices [11].
2.7 Serial Chart
In order to study the performance of the
modified governor it was required to observe a
plot of real time data including frequency and
load variations with time. Open source
software called “Serial Chart” is used for that.
This software can monitor a variation in a
parameter entered through serial
communication in CSV (comma-separated
values) format. It is convenient to use this
software to tune and monitor the performance
of the electronic governor. The program has to
be configured using a small configuration
program which depends on the requirement.
2.8 Isochronous Mode
The hysteresis control is used in achieving the
isochronous mode. The control mechanism is
simple compared to PID control and the tuning
is also comparatively simple. In hysteresis
control, at first basic on-off method was applied
under no load conditions as indicated in Figure
5and later the algorithm was further developed
in order to control the fuel rack position while
changing the loads.
Figure 5 - Hysteresis Control
2.9 Synchronous Mode
P control with speed and load feedback loops is
used as the basic control method to achieve
synchronous operation as shown in the block
diagram in Figure 6. Load reference and R are
the variable parameters where load reference
defines the power output at operating
frequency of 50 Hz and R defines the slope of
the characteristic curve. The isochronous mode
can be achieved by changing the value of R in
to zero which will eliminate the load feedback
loop.

The chart shown in figure 13 is drawn using

3000 samples where the load reference set point
of the governor is 2.9 kW where the full load is
8 kW and hence load reference in p.u. is 0.36.
The slope of the curve is set to 0.6 and the
droop in this case is about 13% which is
Figure 8 - Islanding Detection (Grid
considerably a higher value compared to actual
Connected)
values. In the frequency and power measuring
device, power is updated twice when frequency
is updated once, which causes two distinct
curves.

Figure 6 - Synchronous Mode Block

Diagram

Figure 9 - Islanded Detection (Not Grid

Connected)

3. Experimental Results

All the results shown in the figures under these

Figure 7 - Droop Characteristic Curves sections are in Hz.

2.10 Islanding Detection

Islanded detection is obtained using a simple 3.1 Isochronous Mode
algorithm using the frequency and load plots.
When the both generators are synchronized
into the system and a sudden increase of fuel
rack position of the diesel generator will give a
significant increase in the generator load but
not a significant change in the frequency. The
reason behind this phenomenon is that, the
increased fuel flow in the diesel generator will
cause an increase in the mechanical torque in
the generator which causes just an increase in
the load but not the frequency where the
system is considered to be a large one
compared to a single generator. Figure 8 shows
a significant change in the load but not the
frequency when the generator is synchronized
to the system. Figure 9 shows an isochronous
governor where the change of fuel flow results
a significant change in the frequency but not in
the load where there is no other generators
which can contribute to the reduced generation
and keep the frequency under the
recommended values.

Figure 10 - Isochronous Mode under No-load


Figure 11 - Isochronous Mode under Step
Loads of 2.3 kW
3.2 Synchronous Mode
Figure 12 - Synchronous Mode with a
Continuously Varying Load
Figure 13 - Synchronous Mode with a
Continuously Varying Load
3.3 Islanded Mode
Figure 14 - Not Connected to Grid
Figure 15 - Connected to Grid
4. Conclusion
In this project, an electronic governor was
developed which has the ability to operate
under isochronous, synchronous and islanded
modes. An actuator was developed using a rack
and pinion mechanism with a servo motor to
change the fuel rack position of the fuel
injection pump of the engine. The actuator is
directly controlled by the Arduino Mega 2560
without using any driver circuit. At the same
time the Arduino device takes the output
voltage waveform for the device into account
and calculates the frequency of the waveform
which is same as the speed of the shaft of the
generator. This is achieved after reducing the
voltages to a bearable value. The frequency is
achieved using digital signal processing. The
Arduino device is programmed so that it can
 control the actuator position using the feedback
and the current position of the actuator.
Hysteresis control is implemented to achieve [1]
the isochronous mode. After implementing the
isochronous mode, the system was then
modified to work under synchronous mode [2]
and islanded mode. The synchronous mode
was implemented using the P control where the
output is directly proportional to the difference
between the frequency output and the set value
of 50 Hz. Islanded detection is obtained using a
simple algorithm where the detection is
achieved through a comparison between [3]
frequency and load curves. The biggest
obstacle in this operation is the presence of the
considerable time constant of the diesel engine
where it takes a considerable time to respond to
a change in fuel rack position. [4]
Fuel flow rate to the diesel engine is controlled
in the implemented electronic governor.
Therefore the developed governor is only [5]
compatible with the generators which have a
diesel engine as the prime mover. The
parameters of the linear actuator have to be
changed accordingly. But this control [6]
mechanism can be used to control other
generators with different prime movers such as
hydro power plants as well. In this project, a
pre-programmed governor is developed for the
diesel generator. But modifications can be made [7]
in order to program according to the type of the
[8]
application such that the user is able to use the
governor for several applications. Here the
islanding detection part is done manually and
then the appropriate mode to be operated is
given as a manual input. But with the
modifications in the future islanding detection [9]
can be made automatically and appropriate
mode can be chosen accordingly. In the
frequency control machines the power system,
there are several droop settings. Therefore the
project can be developed with several droop [10] http://www.instructables.com/id/Power-
settings with the ability to change droop
settings by the given input according to the [11] http://www.starlino.com/imu_kalman_arduin
application.
References
I.J. Nagrath, Control Systems Engineering, 2nd ed.,
New Age International, 2006,
Sushant R. Burje, Prof.S.A.Kulkarni,
N.B.Dhande, “Design and Development of
Microcontroller Based Electronic Speed
Governor for Genset/Automative Engine”,
Research inventory: International Journal of
Engineering and Science,Vol. 1, PP 26-33, Issue
5,Oct. 2012
MohdMuqeem, NavneetSaini,
“Electromechanical Governing of Diesel Engine
of a Generator Set through Torque Sensing ”,
International Journal of Advanced Research in
Engineering and Technology, Vol.4, pp.27-32,
Apr. 2013
Allen J. Wood and Bruce F.Wollenberg, Power
Generation, Operation and Control, 2nd ed., 2013
H. Zeineldin, E.F .El-Saadany, M.M.A. Salama,
“Intentional Islanding of Distributed
Generation”, in Power Engineering Society
General Meeting,IEEE, 2005, 1496-1502 Vol.2
Ned Mohan, Tore M. Undeland, William P.
Robbins, Power Electronics Converters,
Applications and Design, Vol.1, 2nd ed., John Wiley
and Sons, 2003
“Arduino Mega 2560 Datasheet”
Li Fengpan, Lu wenhua, “Turbine Governor
System Frequency Measurement Based On
DSP”, in 2nd International Conference on
Intelligent System and Applied Material(GSAM
2013), 2013
MohdDzarif Bin MohdBakhari, “Speed control
of Diesel engine system through PID approach”,
A project report for the Bachelor of Mechanical
Engineering (Structure & material), University
of TeknikalMalysia Melaka, May 2007
System-Frequency-Determination-using-
Arduino/
o.html

Acknowledgement
Authors would like to pay their gratitude to
Department of Electrical Engineering of
University of Moratuwa for providing the
required facilities. Authors would also like to
extend their gratitude to Dialog Axiata for
providing the diesel generator and Hayleys
industrial solutions (Pvt) Ltd. for providing the
technical support in repairing the diesel
generator.

View publication stats