How Low Temperature Might Effect the Performance of 250kW Diesel Engine Generator Set?

During the operation of 250kW diesel engine generator set, if the coolant temperature is too low, the following adverse effects will be caused to the diesel generator.

Accelerate the Wear of Parts and Reduce the Output Power

When the temperature of the coolant is too low, the temperature of the lubricating oil will decrease accordingly. At low temperature, the viscosity of the engine oil is large and its fluidity is poor, which not only increases the wear of the parts, but also increases the mechanical loss due to the increase of the movement resistance of the parts, resulting in the relative reduction of the output power of KPV1300 12 cylinder diesel engine generator set.

Corrosion of Working Surface of Cylinder

When the cylinder temperature of the water cooled diesel engine generator set is too low, which will cause the water vapor in the cylinder to condense on the cylinder wall easily. When the product (sulfur dioxide) generated during diesel combustion meets the water condensing on the cylinder wall, it will become a strong corrosive (such as sulphurous acid and sulfuric acid) to adhere to the cylinder wall, so the cylinder wall surface will be strongly corroded, resulting in the metal structure on its surface becomes loose. When the cylinder liner and the piston ring rub against each other, the corrosion layer and the loose metal on the surface will fall off due to wear, or it may cause pits on the working surface of the cylinder liner.

Increase of Heat Loss and Fuel Consumption

When the 4 stroke diesel engine generator set works at low temperature, the cooling water takes a lot of heat energy away from the cylinder and increases its heat loss. At this time, the mixed gas cannot form and burn well, and the fuel consumption will increase by 8% to 10%. When the droplet fuel enters the cylinder, it will wash the lubricating oil film on the cylinder wall and penetrate into the crankcase, which will increase the wear of parts, dilute the lubricating oil in the oil pan, increase the fuel consumption and reduce the power output.

Deterioration of Combustion and Overall Performance

When the high quality diesel engine generator set is working at low temperature, some parts that will expand after being heated will not expand to the proper size due to the low temperature, which will affect the working performance of the whole diesel engine generator set. For example, if the clearance between the piston and the cylinder is too large, the tightness of the machine will be reduced. If the valve clearance is too large, the machine will be impacted by the rocker arm, and the diesel generator will not be easy to start. When the diesel generator set works, the high temperature of compressed gas is the necessary condition to ensure the fuel ignition. When the temperature of cylinder, piston and other parts decreases, it will cause the temperature drop at the end of compression, ignition delay and combustion condition deterioration, resulting in incomplete fuel combustion.