Homebrewed Electricity > Other
Engine Govenor and stand alone solar reccomendations.
george65:
Due to the closure of Coal fired power stations and a resulting energy shortage, widespread blackouts, something we haven't had since I was a kid, are predicted for several states this summer.
I would like to set up my Mercedes OM617 Diesel engine to drive a 3 phase alternator so I can be independent of the grid when required.
I would look at importing a 20Kw gen head from china with AVR and all the fruit but would need to regulate the Diesel engine.
I am confused by the governors and the components needed as I can't find any complete units, rather parts therefore and would be interested in any info and recommendations on what I need to make a system work.
I'd probably want to run the engine around 2000 rpm and gear it down with a belt drive as I don't think the 3L Diesel would make 40 hp @ 1500 RPM. Then again, also unlikely that I'll need full power out of the thing even with the AC but would want it if I needed it.
Might even have to run it at 2500 rpm. Friend suggested Turboing the engine which may also help with fuel economy, not that I'm real worried about that.
As I also have over 5Kw of solar on the roof, without going to a large battery bank, is there a low cost way to have the solar as a stand alone rather than grid tie setup?
I thought I saw something a while back about running a grid tie inverter as a standalone setup but I wasn't well at the time, thought I bookmarked the article/ thread and now can't find it. Even If I could get 3Kw on one phase to run fridges and TV or computer, that may be well worth while.
SparWeb:
--- Quote ---"As I also have over 5Kw of solar on the roof, without going to a large battery bank, is there a low cost way to have the solar as a stand alone rather than grid tie setup?"
--- End quote ---
Without batteries, that can be difficult. Ask yourself where is the "inertia" in the system to keep it from running away. In a diesel generator, the mass of the crank/pistons/flywheel is physical inertia, and the AVR is needed to keep that tame. If you have a battery-less inverter selling the solar power to the grid, well it's obviously the grid that has the inertia. If you disconnect that inverter from the grid, it has nothing to "push against" to stabilize its output. That's another way to look at a battery bank - a way to keep the system stable. The system works well when the power feeding the system can't overcome the inertia.
3-phases makes this harder to do at low cost. All of the cheap solutions are single-phase. Do you have EVERYTHING set up on 3-phase, or have you got some stuff on 230/240 single phase and just a few high power items on 3-phase?
If you did get a battery bank, and had the right kind of inverter, you can make it "the grid" and slave everything to it. I think an old SW4024 like mine can still be found for a grand. An XW6048 might be more appropriate but very pricey. When used with generator support, the rating of the inverter is NOT a bottleneck on the power of the system. But this all revolves around a set of batteries being the inertia of the system. A forklift set is all you'd need, but even old ones can be expensive and as you know, PITA to deal with, or you wouldn't have asked.
I have never tried anything like this but, it may be possible to trick a GTI inverter into thinking your generator output is the "grid"... May need to also convince the GTI inverter to NEVER go into sell-power-to-grid mode, or you'd have a feedback on the generator that could burn it up! Your generator would need to have a rock-steady output. If it's not as well behaved as the grid (voltage & timing irregularities) then the GTI would shut itself down with a "grid fault" ,for the same reason it shuts down when the real grid goes down. Can't predict what else would need to be dealt with.
You'd be balancing several things on the edge of a knife... but the things you post about makes this sound like your kinda fun...
george65:
Thanks for the feedback and info. Makes perfect sense..... when someone spells it out for you!
The only thing I have here that is 3 phase is the AC. I do actually have a 2 phase stove. Didn't think 2 phase existed but it does!
Could do without the AC so no big deal and the stove can easily be substituted with the gas burner on the BBQ.
Seems the Solar standalone is Dicy to start and expensive at it's best. A lot of complication to utilize a resource that is all there, but use it in a different application. Obviously best to have the genny and cheaper to be happy with that.
My other thought was to use some spare panels with an inverter. I'd like to go direct with no batteries but then I'd need a voltage regulator of some sort to bring the 30+V to 24V standard. Best regulator I can find is 550W which is well short of the 2K of my inverter and what I'd like to run.
May as well have a couple of 12V batteries and use some cheap PWM controllers to get the amps.
Fun is one thing, practicality and cost efficiency is another! :0)
tanner0441:
Hi
I used to have a diesel generator and it relied on the inbuilt governor for speed control as the load went up the engine made a different noise blew a puff of black smoke and the voltage stayed within a volt or two frequency took a momentary dip and the opposite when the load came off. If the throttle controls the punp direct then I don't see a problem.
Brian
george65:
The mercedes engine I want to use is from my first Veg oil powered car. The guy I bought it off told me it had been rebuilt not long before he got it. I didn't believe him but over the time I owned it I realized to go and start the way it did, it must have been. The car was in very poor condition so I decided to restore it being it was a family ( and everyone elses favourite.) About an hour into working on it I found the thing had really bad rust in the floor and chassis.
Doing mechanical and superficial is one thing, structural is quite another. I pulled the engine and box and sold the rest for scrap...... Which I'm pretty sure the thing ended up in container and went back to the middle east to be used for a taxi.
Still have the engine and coming from a car, has no governor which is why I would need to fit one to make it suitable for use as a genny.
I can find lots of controllers but not sure what else I need to put with them and I can't seem to find any complete kits that I can bolt on and hook up with all the parts to work with one another.
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