Course No. ME402 Group No.

A24

Experiment No. 05
Name of the Experiment: STUDY OF BUET POWER PLANT.

Date of submission: Name: Raihan Tayeb

31.05.2011 Student No: 0610070
Date of performance: Dept: ME Sec: A
23.05.2011 Level: 4 Term:1
Objective:

The objective of this experiment is to study the different systems of the generators of the
BUET power plant.

Gas Engine Specifications:

Manufacturer and Model Caterpillar G3516 LE SCAC

Cycle and Ignition 4-stroke-cycle, spark-ignited engine
Bore mm (inch) 170 (6.7)
Stroke mm (inch) 190 (7.5)
Displacement L (cu in) 69.0 (4210)
Aspiration Turbocharged-After cooled
Compression ratio 11:1
Shipping Weight (dry) kg (lb) (Including engine, 11813 (26043)
generator and rails)

Cylinders and arrangement 65 degree V-16

Rotation (flywheel end) Counterclockwise rotation is standard
/clockwise rotation is optional.
Inlet valve lash 0.51 mm (0.020 inch)
Exhaust valve lash 1.27 mm (0.050 inch)
Firing order Standard 1-2-5-6-3-4-9-10-15-16-11-12-13-14-7-8
optional 1-6-5-4-3-10-9-16-15-12-11-14-13-8-7-2
Compression stroke Standard Inlet valves: 1-2-5-7-8-12-13-14
Exhaust valves: 1-2-3-4-5-6-8-9
optional Inlet valves 1-2-5-6-7-8-13-14
Exhaust valves 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-10
Exhaust stroke Standard Inlet valves: 3-4-6-9-10-11-15-16
Exhaust valves: 7-10-11-12-13-14-15-
16
optional Inlet valves 3-4-9-10-11-12-15-16
Exhaust valves 7-8-11-12-13-14-15-16
CATERPILLAR SR4B GENERATOR Specifications:

Rating CONTINUOUS 1030 ekW 1287 kVA

50 Hz 1500 rpm 400 Volts

Type Brushless PM excited, solid state automatic voltage regulator

Construction Single bearing, two bearings three phase, wye connected
Insulation Class H
Enclosure Drip proof IP 22, guarded
Alignment Caterpillar pilot shaft
Over speed capability 150%
Waveform Less than 5% deviation.
Paralleling capability Standard with adjustable voltage drop
Voltage regulator 3 phase sensing with volts per hertz response
Voltage regulation Less than ±1%
Voltage gain Adjustable to compensate for engine speed droops and line loss
TIF Less than 50%
THD Less than 5%

Picture of the Generator set:

Figure-1: Caterpillar Gas generator Set G3516 LE

Schematics
Different systems of the engine:
Different important subsystems of the engine includes:
a) Air Supply System
b) Fuel Supply System
c) Lube Oil System
d) Cooling System
e) Exhaust System
f) Starting System

Air Supply System:

Turbo charged
FD fan Air Cleaner Carburetor
after cooler

Air is supplied from the atmosphere with the help of a FD Fan. Then the air is passed to the
air cleaner for cleaning out dust or unwanted particles. Then the air is compressed and for
cooling the compressed hot air after cooler is used. Then it send to the carburetor where it
gets mixed with the fuel(NG) and goes to main cylinder.

Fuel supply System:

Natural gas is being used as the fuel for the engines. These engines can be equipped with a
high pressure gas fuel system or a low pressure gas fuel system. Three different fuel systems
are available:

1. Low emission (LE) with high pressure gas.

2. LE with low pressure gas.
3. Standard (stochiometric) with high pressure gas.

The engines can be equipped with a dual fuel system in one of the following configurations.
 A carburetor for high pressure gas and a carburetor for low pressure gas.
 Two parallel carburetors for low pressure gas.

For low pressure gas engines, the carburetor is located between the air cleaner and the
turbocharger. For high pressure gas engines the carburetor is located after the after cooler
and above the throttle. A governor and an actuator control the carburetor. The governor
maintains the engine rpm. Two following types of carburetors are available.

1. Fixed ventury
2. Adjustable jet

These engines can use either the fixed venture or the adjustable jet. Standard engines and
LE engines with high pressure gas the adjustable jet. The turbocharged after cooled engines
are equipped with flame arrestors. The flame arrestors are installed at the entrance of each
inlet port. They help to prevent backfire which can occur under the following circumstances:

1. Malfunction of ignition
 2. Engine shut down.

The flame arrestors will extinguish the flame before the flame can ignite in the inlet manifold.

Lubrication System:

Oil Pan Gear Pump Oil filter

Oil Drain Engine parts

A gear driven pump supplies the engine lube oil. The oil is cooled and filtered. A by pass
valve provides unrestricted flow of lubrication oil to the engine parts if the oil filter elements
become plugged. The by pass valve will open if the filter differential pressure reaches 40 Psi.

Cooling System:

The standard cooling system has a gear driven centrifugal pump. Four temperature
regulators regulate the temperature of the coolant.

Water Tank Gear Driven

Centrifugal pump

Engine Parts Water Jacket

Flow Chart: Single System

The turbocharged engine has Separate Circuit after Cooled (SCAC). The after cooler is
required to operate at one of the following three temperatures. The temperature depends on
the engine rating and the application.

 32C  90F
 54C  129F 
 70C  158F 
The temperature depends on the engine rating and the application.

After Cooler

Water Tank Auxiliary

Water Tank
Pump
Oil Cooler

Flow Chart: Combined System

The cogeneration uses energy from the engine’s heat in addition to the electrical energy that
is generated. The oil cooler is not in the jacket water circuit because the jacket water is too
hot. The circuit for the oil and the circuit for the after cooler may be either a combined system,
where the auxiliary pump circulates water through both the after cooler and oil cooler cores.
The combined system uses a thermostatic control to regulate the oil temperature. This
prevents over cooling.

Jacket water for cogeneration can be supplied at temperature up to 127 oC (260oF). The
customer must supply a pump for circulating the heated jacket water. The temperature of the
jacket water is controlled by the customer. For the engines that used for the landfill gas, the
jacket water coolant temperature are maintained at approximately 110 oC (230oF). This
temperature depends on the design of the cooling system and the ambient conditions. This
temperature is required in order to prevent condensation of the water vapor that is in the
fumes of the crankcase. Condensation of the water enables acids to form. Acids are more
likely to form if the fuel contains contaminants such as chlorides, fluorides and halides. Acids
will cause severe internal damage to the engine.

For engines that used landfill gas, the coolant that is supplied to the after cooler is maintained
at a temperature of 54 oC (129oF). This prevents condensation of moisture in the inlet air
piping.

Exhaust System:

There are two exhaust valves on the cylinder head in the engine. These allow escaping the
exhaust gas easily. There is a gas turbine (Turbocharger) attached in the exhaust line. The
function of this turbine is to compress the inlet air after entering the engine cylinders.

Normally the temperature of the exhaust gas is 650 C when it goes through the individual
pipe line. When it goes to a common line then the temperature of the exhaust gas is reduced
to 450 C .
 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

15 13 11 9 7 5 3 1

A B

(A) Inlet Valves (B) Exhaust Valves (C) Fly wheel

Fig: Valve Arrangements

Starting system:

The engine starts by battery, here two motor is used and 24 DC supply is needed.

For starting the engine we place the control switch (ECS) (2) to the LOCAL position. The
engine will start and run at the preset parameters. The parameters ate controlled by the
switch gear. For stopping the engine we turn the engine control switch (ECS) (2) to the OFF
position and the will stop.

Starting Sequence:

The following steps are performed to start this engine.

 Before starting, all inspections are performed.

 The engine control switch (ECS) is turned to the MAN START position. If the ECS (2)
is in this position, the engine will start and run.
 When the engine starts, the engine fault circuits are functional. If a fault occurs, the
engine will automatically shut down.
 After being shut down by a fault, these steps have to followed in order to restart the
engine.
a. To correct the fault condition.
b. To turn the engine control switches to the OFF / RESET position.
c. Refer to initial condition in order to restart the engine.

 After the engine starts and the system have stabilized, the load is applied.
 The frequency of the generator is regulated by using one of the following devices:
a. The optional governor switch.
b. The optional speed potentiometer.
c. The manual governor control lever on the engine.
Stopping Sequence:

The following steps are performed to stop this engine,

 The load is removed from the engine.

 In order to cool the engine at high idle and no load, the engine control switch is turned
to the STOP position. This will allow the engine to run for the preset cool down time
before shut down

 For cooling down the engine at no load the engine speed is reduced to low idle. On 60
Hz units, low idle is approximately 66% of the full load speed. If the governor has an
electric motor, the governor switch is pushed down until low idle is achieved. On
electronic governors, the speed potentiometer is turned down until low idle is
achieved. For manual governors, the governor control lever is moved to the low idle
position.

 While the engine is at the low idle, the engine oil level is measured. Oil level must be
maintained between the “ADD” and “FULL” marks on the “Engine Running” side of the
dipstick. In order to allow the engine to cool down, the engine is run at low idle
approximately five minutes. After the engine cools, the engine control switch is turned
to the OFF/RESET position.

For Emergency Stopping:

For emergency case emergency stop push button is used to shut down the engine. It will be
necessary to reset the push button. Before starting emergency stop buttons that are located
on the engine junction box are checked. If the emergency stop button was used to stop the
engine the air shutoff has to be reset.

Power Distribution System:

The generators are operated in isochronous mode i.e. the supply frequency is kept constant.
When load increases, frequency drops. This drop is sensed by governor and it increases fuel
supply. When the 3 generators are operated simultaneously, they must be synchronized. The
developed power first comes to the bus bar in the central control. From here it is sent to the
substations routing the power to LT lines. There are 9 substations for distributing power:

 Main Substation 1
 Main Substation 2
 Main Substation 3
 Dr. Rashid Hall substation
 N.l Hall substation-old
 N.l Hall substation-new
 Academic Building Substation (Not operational)
Data Sheet

Table-1: Data of power plant

Parameter Unit-1 Unit-2

Operational time (Hour) 15 15
Energy (MWH) 9.9 9.31
Load (%) 51.53 48.47
Total Gas consumption (Nm3) 3749
Gas consumption (Nm3) 1931.8597 1817.1403
Rate of Gas consumption (Nm3/hr) 128.79 121.14

Table: Performance of Unit-2

Assuming, Standard condition and no loss.

So, Electric Power output (KW) = BKw

Time Electric Power BKw Bsfc Exhaust gas Cooling Cooling water
(hr) output (KW) (Nm3/BKw-hr) temp water inlet outlet temp
temp
1 480 480 0.252375 467.5 70 74
2 620 620 0.195387 457 - 76
3 651 651 0.186083 456 - 80
4 695 695 0.174302 458 - 76
5 660 660 0.183545 481.5 - 76
6 636 636 0.190472 478 - 76
7 710 710 0.170619 472.5 68 78
8 744 744 0.162822 471.5 68 80
9 650 650 0.186369 483 72 80
10 605 605 0.200231 485 68 76
11 625 625 0.193824 485.5 68 74
12 612 612 0.197941 484 66 72
13 482 482 0.251327 489 66 72
14 475 475 0.255032 501.5 - 74
15 448 448 0.270402 499 66 70
16 422 422 0.287061 503 66 70
Sample Calculation:
Gas meter reading at 01.04.08 = 3420109 Nm3

Gas meter reading at 02.04.08 = 3423858 Nm3

Operational Time from 01.04.08 to 02.04.08 = 15 Hours.

Gas Consumption at 15 hours = 3420109 – 3423858 = 3749 Nm3

Unit-1

Energy meter reading at 01.04.08 = 9054.50 MWH

Energy meter reading at 02.04.08 = 9064.40 MWH

Net energy = 9.9 MWH

Load Share = 9.9 / (9.9+9.31) = 51.53 %

Gas Consumption per hour = 128.79 Nm3/hr

Unit-2

Energy meter reading at 01.04.08 = 9419.88 MWH

Energy meter reading at 02.04.08 = 9429.19 MWH

Net energy = 9.31 MWH

Load share= 9.31 / (9.9+9.31) = 48.47 %

Gas Consumption per hour = 121.14 Nm3/hr

Observation no. 1

Time: 9.00 AM

Unit -2

Assuming, Standard condition and no loss.

So, Electric Power output (KW) = BKw
Electric Power output = 480 KW
BKw = 480 KW

Bsfc = Gas Consumption per hour / BKw = 121.14 / 480 = 0.252375 Nm3/BKw-hr

Stack left temp = 480 ºC

Stack left temp = 455 ºC
Exhaust temp = (480 + 455) / 2 = 467.5 ºC

Discussion:

In general, from the BUET power plant power is supplied to the teacher’s residential area,
student’s residential halls, academic building etc. The power is supplied from 8.00 am to 12
am. The rest of the time, power is supplied from DESA.

There are 3 gas engine generators in the power plant of BUET. Two of the generators
produce 2060 KW. The other one produces 1950KW giving the total capacity of 4 MW.

Starting of the engines require cranking which is done by two starting motors. The motors get
supply from four 12 volt dc batteries (200 amp.hr each), which are combined in series and
parallel combination to get the exact voltage for starting.

There is a combined cooling tower in the power plant. Induced draft fans are being used in
the cooling tower. But in the 2MW generator set forced draft fans are used.

Although we have the capacity to produce 4MW, at peak load in summer the maximum
power requirement here at BUET is around 1.5 MW. As a result the engines are run in a part
load of about 60%. Although running at part load is hampering the best possible or most
economic energy production, it might result in a longer service life for the engines.

The other possible scenario for being most efficient could have been being connected to the
national grid; supplying to the grid when having excess power and taking from the grid when
running short. However, stringent transmission regulations and possible complicacy in power
exchange transaction prevented that scenario to come to life and we are running as an
isolated or standalone unit to date.

Nevertheless, the question of energy security is still at large. The gas reserve of our country
is running low. Since all our power generation is dependent on gas supply, a sudden crisis of
NG could have catastrophic impact. So there are future plans to acquire a new diesel
generator to be prepared for that sort of situations.