Diesel Engine Generators

Comprehensive guide to diesel engine generators, backup power & electrical generators, basic principles & more by bowerspower systems.

Diesel Engine Generators can be used to supplement or Peak Shave with your local electrical utility.  he basic principles The main difference between an electrical system, and the water system shown in figure 2 is that electrical current must flow in a circuit. Electricity can't form a puddle in the same way that water can; it has to be confined to conductors.

So in some senses a better analogy might be a central heating system, where water flows around a set of pipes and radiators, driven by a pump. In any event, if a circuit is not complete, no current can flow. This is good, because it means we can uses switches to turn things on and off.

Traditionally a switch is a mechanical contact: pressing it or moving the lever moves a piece of copper in such a way as to open or close a circuit. It is now possible to get electronic switching devices that have no moving parts.

     A practical electrical circuit consists of at least the following things: a power source, some conductors, and an electrical appliance (see figure 3).

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Why is the maximum voltage 325 volts and not 230 volts as we normally say? It turns out that this waveform (which varies between high and low voltages) carries the same amount of energy as a constant voltage about 70% the size. So when we talk about a 230V AC supply, we mean a supply that would carry the same energy as a constant voltage of 230 V.

This actually means an AC voltage that reaches 325 volts at certain points, and is zero at others. Electrical engineers refer to the `230 volt' figure as the `root mean square' voltage, for reasons that you'll find in an engineering textbook. This is abbreviated to `rms', so you'll sometimes seen the domestic mains voltage written as `230 Vrms'. Unless indicated otherwise, you can expect voltages and currents described in electrical manuals and manufacturers' catalogues as `rms' figures, and then ignore this fact completely.

The reason you can ignore it is that -- in domestic work -- so long as all measurements of voltage, current, and power are rms measurements, all the calculations still give correct answers.

230 volts is quite enough to give you a nasty shock, and sometimes these shocks can be fatal. In some parts of the world lower voltages are used, for increased safety. For reasons that will be explained later, it is more efficient (i.e., less wasteful of energy) to distribute electricity at a higher voltage, but increased efficiency is gained at the expense of safety.