Diesel Power Plant

By
Mr.B.Ramesh, M.E.,(Ph.D)
Research Scholar, CEG, Anna University,Chennai,
Associate professor of Mechanical Engineering,
St. Joseph’s College of Engineering,
Jeppiaar Trust, Chennai-119
 Unit III – Power plant engineering
Diesel power plant
 Introduction:

 Diesel power plants produce 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.

 They are suitable for mobile power generation and widely used in railways
and ships.

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 Layout of a Diesel power plant

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 Layout of a Diesel power plant…
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.
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 Layout of a Diesel power plant…
1. Diesel engine…
 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 is exhausted into the
atmosphere and passes through a
silencer in order to reduce the noise.
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.
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 Layout of a Diesel power plant…
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 dry filter may be made
 The air required for the combustion of
of fuel inside the diesel engine felt, wood or cloth.
cylinder is drawn through the air In wet filter, oil bath is used.
filter. The purpose of the filter is to In this the air passes over a
remove dust from the incoming air. bath of oil where the dust
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 Layout of a Diesel power plant…
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. The hot water leaving the jacket
The water envelopes(water jacket) is
the engine. The heat from the passed through the heat exchanger
cylinder, piston, combustion chamber The heat from the heat exchanger
etc., is carried by the circulating is carried away by the raw water
water. circulated through the heat
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cooling tower.
 Layout of a Diesel power plant…
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, 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.
 The hot oil after cooling the moving
parts return to the lubricating oil
March tank.
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 Diesel power plant…
 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 capacity.

 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.
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 Videos and Animations

1. Man diesel power plant medium

2. Double acting 2 cycle @ diesel house

 Thank You

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