Electric generators

Recommendation points

• Gasoline Generator Sets
• Diesel Generator Sets
• Gas generating plants

Without food, a person can exist for several weeks, without water – a limited number of days, without air – a few minutes, and how long can a person who is accustomed to ordinary conveniences without electricity live? We cannot say this, but so that you do not have to experimentally determine this value, you need to think about providing it with electricity from the moment you make a decision to build an individual residential building. If there is a centralized power supply, then the problem is almost completely solved, if gas is supplied, then half, but if there is nothing, then you will have to look out for a place in the house for a diesel electric generator set and tanks for storing fuel. We want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of electric generators in this article..

Electric generator set – it is a mechanism designed to convert mechanical, thermal and other types of energy into electrical energy. The efficiency of the generating sets is very high and close to 95%. Electric generators produce electricity by burning fuel in an engine and transferring the resulting mechanical energy to a generator, the latter producing electricity. Almost all power generating sets consist of an engine that transmits rotation to a generator through a mechanical transmission and mounted on a common frame. Generators differ in the type of electrical current produced and the type of engine.

By the type of electric current produced, generators are single-phase and three-phase, with an output voltage of 220 or 380 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. These parameters are suitable for the normal operation of almost the entire range of household electrical appliances and power tools..

By the type of engine, generator sets are divided into gasoline, diesel, and gas generating sets..

Gasoline Generator Sets

Gasoline generating sets (BGU) for domestic conditions are made in a portable, stationary, mobile version, they operate mainly on AI-92 gasoline (occasionally on AI-76 and AI-92 with the addition of oil). The nominal power of the biogas plant is small and usually does not exceed 20 kW. They are used to supply electricity to country houses, summer cottages, cottages when the constant power supply is disconnected, they are widely used at construction sites to supply power to certain types of equipment and to provide local lighting for open trading floors. BGUs are rarely used as main power sources even in the absence of stationary power supply.

All imported biogas units entering the Russian market are adapted to domestic fuels and lubricants. They allow starting and guarantee the stable operation of the engine even at significant negative ambient temperatures and allow for intense and long-term work in the harsh natural conditions of Russia.

In a biogas plant, the engine and generator are combined into a single unit and are attached to the supporting frame through shock absorbers – vibration-absorbing pads. The drive motors used in household biogas plants are four-stroke, with a rotation speed of 3000 rpm and are air-cooled. The units are equipped with single-phase or three-phase, synchronous or asynchronous generators that generate alternating current with a frequency of 50 hertz, which meets the requirements of state standards. Various versions of household BGU, allows you to choose a specific electric generator with manual or starter start, standard or extended fuel tank, open version or in a noise-absorbing casing.

Diesel Generator Sets

Household diesel generator sets (DGS) are available in open design and in a soundproof casing or in a container; they are also produced as mobile ones. DGS operate on diesel fuel (DF), and their capacities range from 2 kW to 3 MW. DGS are used as backup power supplies in case of emergency power outages, and also as main power supplies in the absence of stationary power supply. DGU uses diesel engines as drives of electric generators.

All diesel generators offered by foreign companies on the Russian market are adapted to domestic fuels and lubricants and comply with European and Russian state standards. DGS have low consumption of fuels and lubricants, low noise level, low emission of harmful substances.

In the DGS of the last years of release, there is a number of modern devices for constant monitoring and control of the process of electricity production, quality control of the output current, synchronization of generators with each other and the network, as well as for automatic start and stop of DGS. Household diesel generators are very convenient when using them in a country house (summer house, cottage), as well as for small industries.

Gas generating plants

Gas generating units (GGU) operate on a propane-butane mixture, natural, associated and industrial gases, their capacity from 20 kW to 2 MW. GSU are used for permanent and emergency power supply, including country houses. For trouble-free and safe operation of the gas turbine unit, in the design of their installation, it is necessary to provide for the removal of exhaust gases and forced exhaust ventilation in the room where the gas turbine unit is located. Gas generator sets, which serve as backup power sources, can be supplied with units that start the GGP in case of a voltage drop in the main power grid, in automatic mode.
The principle of operation of the GGU is similar to the principles of operation of the BGU and DGU: an internal combustion engine, thanks to the combustion of fuel, generates a torque that transmits to the shaft of an electric generator, and the latter produces a current with specified parameters. GGU has some advantages over BGU and DGU, explained by the fact that it uses more environmentally friendly and less expensive fuel – natural or liquefied gas. The motor resource of the GGU is higher than that of the BGU and DGU, due to the fact that during the combustion of gas, a smaller amount of solid particles and carbon deposits arise, which cause increased wear of engine parts. On top of that, under the influence of gas, corrosion of metal parts is practically absent, which ensures a greater durability of the generator.

It should be noted that gasoline engines modified for gas use are used for GGP. Therefore, in addition to the advantages of liquid fuel generators, GGUs also have advantages due to the use of an environmentally friendly energy carrier. Natural gas is cheaper and more efficient. During storage and use, the engine is not exposed to the risk of possible corrosion, as is the case with liquid fuels. And at the same time, the productivity of gas generating plants is in no way inferior to BGU and DGU. Calculations prove that the effect of the use of GGU is noticeably higher than that of BGU and DGU. When supplied with gas from cylinders, GGU is twice as economical, and when supplied with gas from the mains – 17 times.

The choice of the type of generator is determined based on the scope of its application and the total power of the consumers that are connected to it. Biogas plants are mainly used for electrification of mobile or stationary low-power consumers (shops, individual houses, etc.). The engine speed of the BGU engine is higher than the engine speed of the diesel generator set (DGS), which leads to faster wear of the gasoline engine. In addition, diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline, but at the same time, DGU is more expensive than BGU. DGS are used for permanent and backup power supply. Their field of application is much wider due to the wider power range and the significant endurance of the diesel engine. Gas generating plants (GGU) are used, as a rule, to supply energy to country or cottage settlements.

In practice, BGU and DGU are used much more often than gas, which are more whimsical in operation. GGUs are very convenient when it is possible to connect them to the main gas supply network.

Electricity generated by generators has a lower cost than in stationary power supply networks, so many zealous owners have already switched to autonomous electricity supply, having refused the services of external suppliers.

When purchasing an electric generator, you need to clearly understand the goals and tasks that it will have to solve. Today, the home appliance market offers a large selection of small and easy-to-use power generators for household use. In the presence of stationary power supply networks, we can recommend a generator with a rotation speed of 3000 rpm, which takes up a minimum of space and is not very expensive. Some models are equipped with autostart, which allows the power supply to be restored within 20 – 50 seconds. If the generator is supposed to be used as the only power source, then it is better to purchase a diesel generator with 1500 rpm, they are more economical in fuel consumption, low noise and have a long period of trouble-free operation..

To determine the required generator power, which is needed for the normal power supply of all energy consumers, it will be necessary to find out the power consumption of all electrical appliances used in the household. In this case, heating devices, incandescent lamps should be taken into account separately from motors, pumps, welding transformers and other equipment with high starting power. Then we sum up the powers of incandescent lamps and heating devices and add three times the power of all consumers with high starting power. Before us is the approximate rated power of the generator. For the operation of the generator in a household, a single-phase 220 volt generator can be recommended. If the generator is placed outdoors or to reduce noise, you can choose a unit with a special casing.

Please note: the data given in the tables are taken from open materials published on the Internet (as of April 21, 2009), therefore, there may be some differences from the actual parameters. The prices indicated in the tables are obtained from the same sources, therefore they in no way claim to correspond to the price of any other company and do not constitute an offer. In addition, when setting prices, sellers most likely took the basic configuration, without taking into account the necessary components. Therefore, the given prices are suitable for determining the order of prices for a particular generator model..

We assume that we were able to convey to you the information that, in our opinion, can be useful to a person, so that he can navigate the sea of ​​types and brands of electric generators offered today on the equipment market.