GOVERNOR

6. ENGINE GOVERNOR

1. BASICS AND TERMINOLOGY

1. ABOUT

 Governor is a device which controls the speed of engine automatically in

the prescribed 
 The governor does its job in two steps.
1. By measuring the speed and
2. By controlling the amount of fuel supply to the engine.

2. FUNCTION OF GOVERNORS

1. To adjust the rate of fuel supply in such a way as to keep the engine
running at a steady speed regardless of the load.
2. To control the engine running at a steady speed under all conditions of
load.

3.1. ISOCHRONOUS GOVERNOR

 It is a governor which maintains a ‘constant speed’ without hunting,

irrespective of load and power changes. This type of governor that
has proportional and the reset is called isochronous governor.
Example: Auxiliary engines.
 Operation: It maintains constant speed without hunting. Speed droop
for it is temporary. It has two actions:
1. Droop application (as fuel supply is changed)
2. Droop removal (as engine responses to fuel change and returns to
original speed)
 Line A shows isochronous characteristics i.e. speed (frequency) is
same, 60Hz at 0% load and 100% load. Line B shows droop
 characteristics i.e. a fall in speed or frequency from 60Hz to 58Hz at
0% load to 100% load.
 

3.2. VARIABLE SPEED GOVERNORS

 When there is a facility to adjust the set speed on the governor
according to the load, then the governor is a variable speed governor.
Example: Main engine governor.
 

3.3. DROOP

 It is the drop in speed from stable ‘no load condition’ to stable ‘full
load’ condition i.e. a fall in speed due to load changes.
 When considering the engine and governor combination, the
difference between the no load speed and full load speed is called
governor droop. Small droop results in rapid swing. Large
drop results in slower response to change in speed.
 Line A shows isochronous characteristics i.e. speed (frequency) is
same, 60Hz at 0% load and 100% load. Line B shows droop
characteristics i.e. a fall in speed or frequency from 60Hz to 58Hz at
0% load to 100% load.
3.4. SENSITIVITY

 It is the measure of the smallest change needed for which the

governor responds with the required output signal. It implies that the
governor can control the speed within very narrow limits.
 Ability to control the engine speed, within narrow limits
 
3.5. STABILITY

 It is the ability to attain a stable speed for varied load conditions.

 

3.6. GOVERNOR EFFORT

 It is the force applied by the governor onto the fuel pump control,
when there is a change in load or speed.
 

3.7. DEAD BAND

 It is a band or range in speed, only after which the governor will

respond.
 

3.8. HUNTING

 It is the fluctuation in the engine speed due to over or under control of

the governor (over correction of the fuel supply – too much increase
or decrease fuel supply). Too much sensitivity can cause ‘hunting’.
 It is unavoidable time lag between the movement of the governor act
and the movement of engine response
2. TYPES AND WORKING OF GOVERNORS

1. TYPES OF GOVERNORS

1. Inertia governor [fitted on older slow speed engine; not used anymore]
2. Mechanical governor.
3. Mechanical hydraulic governor.
4. Electronic governor.

2. MECHANICAL GOVERNOR

 A mechanical governor overcomes friction in the linkages and exerts a

controlling force. These forces act in different directions depending upon
whether the load is increasing or decreasing. A simple mechanical governor
with flyweights is shown. The ball head or ball arm consists of two
eccentrically pivoted, flyweights mounted on opposite sides of a rotating
sleeve or a spindle. Speed of rotation of the ball arms is proportional to
engine speed. It may be a direct drive or through a step-up gear. When ball
arm rotates it causes the flyweights to rotate. This results in a centrifugal
force to be set up. The centrifugal force is used as a feed back in controlling
the engine speed. At equilibrium condition the speeder spring force
matches the centrifugal force generated by the flyweights.
 The spindle is connected to a linkage. A pivot supports the linkage. The
other end of the linkage is connected to the fuel control valve through a
fuel rod.
2.1. INCREASE IN LOAD

 When load is applied to the engine, the speed of engine starts to decrease.
Since the governor is connected directly to the engine or through a gear
mechanism, the rotational speed of the ball arms also decreases.
 Reduced speed of flyweights results in reduced centrifugal force. The
speeder spring force exceeds the centrifugal force.
 This causes the flyweights to move in. The flyweights rotate close to the
axis of rotation. This results in spindle or rotating sleeve to move down. As
the spindle moves down, the linkage at the other end moves up, allowing
more amount of fuel. When quantity of fuel increases the speed of engine
also increases and reaches the set value.
2.2. DECREASE IN LOAD

 When load on the engine decreases, the speed of engine starts to increase.
Since the governor is connected to the engine directly or through a gear
mechanism, the rotational speed of the ball arms also increases.
 Increased speed of flyweights results in increased centrifugal force. The
centrifugal force exceeds the speeder spring force.
 This causes the flyweights to move out. The flyweights rotate away from
the axis of rotation. This causes the spindle or rotating sleeve to move up.
 As the spindle moves up, the linkage at the other end moves down,
reducing the amount of fuel. When quantity of fuel decreases the speed of
engine also decreases and reaches the set value.
3. MECHANIAL HYDRAULIC GOVERNOR WITH COMPENSATION

 This governor can be considered as isochronous (constant speed),

except during the compensation (transient speed drop) period.
 It is a ‘stable’ governor.
 What is compensation – The use of temporary speed droop to
prevent over correction of the fuel supply is called compensation. It
requires two actions:
1. Droop application – as the fuel supply is changed
2. Droop removal – as the engine response to the fuel change and
returns to original speed.
 Compensation or transient speed drop is included in the form of reset
action.
 Compensation can be changed by adjusting the needle valve setting.
 When load increases, the engine speed decreases along with the
centrifugal force. The spring force becoming greater causes the pilot
valve 10 to move down. This allows oil to flow to the servo. The servo
causes the increase in the fuel racks 6.
  The servo simultaneously acts on the transmitting piston 5 which
applies a force onto the receiving piston 3. This receiving piston
pushes the centering spring 2 and causes the closing of the pilot
valve (pilot valve moving up). Thus, equilibrium and stability are
achieved at a lower speed. Once the oil in the compensating system
leaks past the needle valve, the centering spring causes the speeder
spring to return to its original valve, so that equilibrium is brought
about at the original speed, in spite of the increased load.
 The hydraulic governor has operational problems in case of low oil
level, dirty oil, incorrect viscosity, air lock, wrong adjustments,
excessive oil operating temperatures, and wear at fine clearances.

1. Ball head  2. Centering spring  3. Receiving

piston  4. Reservoir  5. Transmitting piston
6. To fuel linkage increase or decrease  7. Needle valve  8. Oil drain
9. Oil supply  10. Pilot valve  11. Conical speeder spring

4. ELECTRONIC GOVERNOR
  The block diagram shows the general arrangement of an electronic
governor. The speed sensor consists of a set of gear teeth that rotate
at speed of engine and a Magnetic Pick Up (MPU) that has a slight air
gap. The MPU has a permanent magnet and pole piece. A coil
surrounds the pole piece. The permanent magnet creates its own
magnetic field.
 During running as each ferrous gear tooth passes the core, the
reluctance path decreases, and the flux lines increase. The change in
flux lines produces an AC sine wave voltage in the coil and its
frequency represents the speed of engine. The AC voltage is
amplified and rectified to a DC voltage which is proportional to the
engine rpm. This DC voltage is compared with the desired set voltage
at the controller (corresponding to the desired rpm). An appropriate
electric signal is sent to an electro-hydraulic converter. The electro-
hydraulic converter processes the signal and operates an actuator
(hydraulic cylinder and piston) to increase or reduce the fuel supply
as required. An actuator position feedback is provided to the
controller as show

3. GOVERNOR ADJUSTMENTS
1. LOCAL SPEED SETTING KNOB

 During normal operation, the control of speed setting is done remotely, via
the electric motor mounted on the governor.
 This local speed setting knob is used only in case of failure of the remote-
control system or when on local control to test the engine over-speed trip.
 Turning the knob clockwise changes the tension of the speeder spring and
increases the speed of the engine.
 The number of turns that the speed setting knob has turned can be seen on
the speed setting indicator, which has a minimum and maximum fuel
setting limit.

2. LOAD LIMITER KNOB

 It limits the fuel and, therefore the load.

 It limits the stroke of the power piston by altering the position of the droop
lever fulcrum point.
 It is used only when load on the engine is to be limited, as in cases of
running-in after major overhauls.

3. SPEED DROOP KNOB

 It is used to control the speed droop during load sharing operations

between generators. It is not usually adjusted.
 

4. LOAD SHARING AND THE NECESSITY OF DROOP

 Consider two diesel generators connected in parallel.

 Fig-1: The condition just after synchronization has been done to run
the generators in parallel. At point X, it is seen that generator/ takes
full load (100%), while generator takes no load (0%).
 Fig-2: Generator2 speed (frequency) control increases so as to take up part
of the load.
 Fig-3: Once generator 2 has taken up some of the load, generator 1 will
decrease its speed (frequency) as it takes up less load. The frequency of
generator 1 will now be brought back to 60Hz.
  Fig-4: By comparing Fig-3 and Fig-4, we can conclude that for stable
operation, droop is necessary for load sharing between generators.

5. NECESSITY OF DROOP FOR LOAD SHARING

 In order to achieve sharing of load, the generator 1 and generator 2

lines should, intersect, as in the case of Fig-3. This is only possible in
case of a droop i.e. a change in speed (frequency) of the generator
during transient conditions of load changes.
 In Fig-4 for isochronous operation, both generator 1 and generator 2
share the same line i.e. at constant speed or frequency of 60Hz.
There can be no crossing of generator 1 and generator 2 lines if
constant speed (isochronous) is to be maintained. Hence, sharing of
load would not be stable.
4. OTHER COMMON QUESTIONS

Q. Difference between Main engine and Auxiliary engine governor.

Q. Why hydraulic servo governor is widely used?

 Hydraulic governor is widely used because of their:

1. Sensitivity
2. Isochronous and
3. Having grater power to move the fuel control mechanism of the engine.

Q. What will happen if over speed occurs?

 Engine revolving and reciprocating parts may damage due to inertia effects.
 

Q. Why will you test G/E over speed trip?

  It can be tested by increasing the engine speed by speed adjuster at no load
condition.
 Over speed trip will cut-out the fuel supply at 115% of normal speed.
 

Q. Why over speed trip is fitted in main engine?

 It is fitted to control the sudden load change and sudden increase in speed.
e.g. severe load change
 

Q. Why over speed trip provided although governor fitted?

 Governor only control the engine speed in prescribed limits.

 When accidental sudden load change from full load to no load happens,
engine speed become too high above 15% of rated speed.
 Due to time delay of governor control, engine parts may become damage.
 Thus to prevent this effect over speed trip must be provided to shut down
the engine by cutting fuel.
 Note: It need to reset before restart the engine.

Q. When loss of propeller in heavy sea?

 Thus, to prevent engine parts damage, over speed trip is provided.

 Set the speed 15% more than MCR.
 It is attached at camshaft through gearing.
 If engine speed rise more than 10 to 15% above the rated speed, It shut of
fuel & stops the engine.
 The mechanism has to be manually reset before engine start again.
 

Q. Why speed droop governor is used at G/E?

 It is fitted to get load sharing ability since isochronous governor gives

constant speed, thus cannot share the load.
  AVR is fitted at alternator.

Q. Name all the Governor knobs.

1. Speed droop
2. Speed setting
3. Load limit Speed
4. Setting indicator