A prototype diesel generator, that combines diesel with other sources of electrical energy, has been developed and tested at Tomsk Polytechnic University. The generator will help save up to 40 per cent of fuel, Mikhail Surkov, associate professor of the TPU Division of Power and Electrical Engineering, tells the TASS news agency.
“A standard diesel generator operates at constant engine speed, fuel consumption is quite high. A third of the fuel is wasted just to maintain all processes, regardless of the load. We have developed a generator that operates at variable engine speeds. The engine speed changes depending on the load and the generator always operates in the optimal mode — in terms of fuel economy and ecology. Besides diesel, a wind turbine and solar panels can be used in the generator. There are no alternatives of the device as an integrated system in Russia,” says the scientist.
According to the TPU associate professor, the main feature of the development is that its systems are interconnected using direct current and not alternating current, unlike its alternatives.
“It means that we can work better: generate not up to 40 per cent of electricity from environmentally friendly sources instead of diesel fuel — wind, solar panels and so on, but much more, at least 100 per cent,”
explains Mikhail Surkov.
The generator will help save expensive imported fuel, as well as improve energy security. Similar systems used for remote sites are manufactured abroad and can often be controlled remotely by foreign manufacturers. Therefore, there might be a possibility of remote shut down of the generator, reduction of its performance or change of other important operating parameters.
The experiments conducted by the TPU scientists with the prototype showed that emissions of nitrogen oxides were reduced by 20 per cent, carbon monoxide by 25 per cent and carbon dioxide concentration by 10 per cent. In addition, the vibration level was reduced by 40 per cent. To conduct further research and produce the development, the scientists require an industrial partner.