Internship Report

Gas Engine Power Plant

Submitted by:
Fahad ul Hassan
2009-EE-40









University of Engineering and Technology Lahore

Objective:
To discuss basic components of a power system
To discuss Gas Engine Power Plant
To discuss Induction Motor Starter circuits
Power System:
Power system is a combination of following three interacting compo-nents:
Generation
Transmission
Distribution
Generation:
Following are the different sources of generation of electrical energy:
Hydal Energy(Water)
Thermal Energy(oil, coal or natural gas)
Nuclear Energy(Uranium)
Renewable Energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, bio fuel etc.
Transmission:
Electrical energy is generated at low voltages (few KV) and then stepped up with
the help of transformers and then transmitted with the help of transmission lines.
Stepping up of voltage has following advantages:
Decrease in line losses
Decrease in cross sectional area of conductors
Decrease in voltage drop across transmission lines.
Distribution:
Near the load centers voltage is stepped down with the help of trans-formers and
distributed to the load centres. In Pakistan primary distribution voltage level is 11
KV and secondary distribution voltage level is 400 V.
Gas Engine Power Plant:
A gas engine power plant consists of following components.
A gas engine which acts as prime mover to run the generator.
An alternator to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Some control panels to control different parameters of engines, alternators
and outgoing lines.
Circuit Breakers to perform switching operations.
Cooling system for cooling of engines.
Some auxiliary power supply for control circuitry.

Advantages of Gas Engine:
Traditional wisdom is that diesel generator sets should be used for peaking
applications because gas generator sets are significantly more expensive than
diesel generator sets. While a lean burn gas generator set, by itself, is generally
more expensive than a diesel, the total cost of ownership of a lean burn gas
generator set is often lower than that of a diesel. It also has many other advantages
over diesel engine.
Emissions:
Most peaking applications must meet stringent exhaust emissions regulations. For
a diesel generator set, this means after-treatment, which can be very expensive.
Because lean burn gas generator sets have lower engine out emissions, the after-
treatment system can be smaller and less costly than for a diesel, and many
installations can meet regulations with no after-treatment.
Fuel storage:
Diesel fuel storage requires an onsite storage tank, and many local regulations
require a containment area to prevent tank leaks from contaminating the
environment. Unless properly cared for, diesel fuel has storage life limitations. A
gas generator set does not require storage of onsite fuel.
Fuel availability:
Diesel fuel usually needs to be delivered to the power plant by truck. In crisis
situations, it may not be possible to get fuel delivered to the site.
Maintenance cost:
The oil change interval can be three to five times longer on a gas generator set
than for a diesel generator set, which can significantly reduce maintenance costs.
Fuel cost:
Natural gas fuel has a 30-70% lower cost per unit of energy than diesel fuel. It can
take only 800-2000 operating hours to payback the higher initial cost of a gas
generator set.


UET Power House:
UET power house consists of three gas engine-generator sets with each set having
capacity of 1160 KW. So the total installed capacity of the power plant is 3480
KW. Each engine is a V-type engine with sixteen cylinders and turbo-chargers for
mixing of air and fuel and to increase the temperature and pressure of air-fuel
mixture.
It also consists of three generating control panels to control the different
parameters of the engine generator set. Micro-processor-based engine control
module provides continuous monitoring of engine sensors. Computerized systems
continuously record critical data snapshots of operational faults and trend data
for easy maintenance and diagnostics.

There is one outgoing panel which indicates different controls of an outgoing 11
Kv line.
There are also three vacuum circuit breakers to perform switching operations at
power house.
There is cooling system available for gas engines to keep the moving parts of
engine cool for better performance and efficiency of engine.
Vacuum Circuit Breakers:
In such breakers, vacuum is used as the arc quenching medium. Since vacuum
offers the highest insulating strength, it has far superior arc quenching properties
than any other medium.
The production of arc in a vacuum circuit breaker and its extinction can be
explained as follows: When the contacts of the breaker are opened in vacuum, an
arc is produced between the contacts by the ionization of metal vapours of
contacts. However, the arc is quickly extinguished because the metallic vapours,
electrons and ions produced during arc rapidly condense on the surfaces of the
circuit breaker contacts, resulting in quick recovery of dielectric strength. The
reader may note the salient feature of vacuum as an arc quenching medium. As
soon as the arc is produced in vacuum, it is quickly extinguished due to the fast
rate of recovery of dielectric strength in vacuum.


Induction Motor Starters:
Induction motor are widely used in the industry and home appliances because of
their lower cost,higher efficiency and good speed control.
There are two types of induction motor starter circuits depending upon motor
power ratings.
Direct online starter
Y- Starter











Direct Online (DOL) Starter:
These starter circuits are generally used for induction motors of small power
ratings. Circuit diagram of a DOL starter is shown below.

Y- Starter:
This starter circuit is used to start three phase induction motors of large power
ratings. The starting current of these motors is very high. To limit this current, first
the motors winding are connected in Y-connection and after 3-7 seconds these
windings are connected in -connection. As the current in Y-connection is lesser
than -connection .So current is limitized in this way. Y- connections are
changed with the help of magnetic connectors which are energized by a coil.


Power circuit of a Y- starter is shown below.

Control circuit of Y- starter is given as below: