Diesel Genset or Gas Trurbine for 300kW System

[Lancie1]

Diesel would be best - long way to go to maintain a gas engine. Generally speaking gas engines are absolutely useless if there is a load step of more than perhaps 8% of total capacity - they die.

Bob, are you speaking of gasoline engines, or gas turbine engines? In my limited experience with gas turbines, they have a very wide speed range, easily responding to a load signal to throttle rapidly from minimum to full speed. But they are expensive, complicated, and not widely available in small sizes.

A few years ago, I experimented with a small Capstone natural gas turbine/generator package, 65 KW, about the size of a large toolbox. That sucker could fly, from 5000 to 25000 RPM in about 8 seconds, made to set up in your backyard and sell power back to the utility company. I see they have a 200 KW unit now.

http://www.microturbine.com/prodsol/products/

 

[BobB]

Thanks for the answer to slobbering powerplan - I am not a diesel mechanic and I was aware of part of the reason but not all of it.

I think one of the biggest issues will be that everything I work with these days, except cheap Chinese stuff with brush alternators (yes cheap) is an electronic engine. As I stated there are some that I would not even use by choice but I have not seen a CAT or Perkins cause a problem yet - probably just a matter of time.

Wouldn't it be a good - expensive - idea if the syncroscope became a secondary available system and use a full blooded automatic switching system.
The manual system being an option rather than the only way.
there are both negatives and positives for this
But it is worth thinking about it

It would be possible, even with an electronic engine, but not a good place to go with the type of staff that are in most facilities these days. Most of them are only good for reading gauges. When a so called experienced and trained RAAF operator crashes sets together one wonders about someone else doing the job. It would involve potentiometer to PWM converters and the like to control engine speed and they have their problems too - been there before. I just feel a spare easYgen would be a lot easier and quicker if there was a problem. They have plugs on them and are pretty easy to change out - 10 minute job.

Bob, are you speaking of gasoline engines, or gas turbine engines?

I was referring to gas engines, not turbines. These are similar to diesel engines but run on gas. Very expensive from what I hear and gas is far less powerful than diesel so you finish up with a huge engine delivering not a lot of power. Generally they will also not take load dumps very well either, as I mentioned. Diesel just gets up and boogies. There are plenty of then around and they are being installed in Ozz everywhere for co-generation (green ticks for buildings). The stupid thing is there is a far more efficient and relatively trouble free method utilising gas boilers and steam turbines but I guess it is 'old technology'.

 

[Andybr]

Well some interesting comments, so I’ll thru in my two bobs. A few years ago I spent 18 months in the Philippines installing and commissioning a few hundred small (500KW) diesel sets for the small island grids. (Plenty of stories for another day). There is one thing I learnt. Keep it very simple.

Chris.
We must have been colleagues at the time though I did not work in the Philippines. Most of my jobs were with Gas Turbines but I did do the occasional Diesel project.
Andybr