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Participant

Join Date: Dec 2011
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Generator and Capacitor

12/21/2011 9:51 PM

I want to know if there is a capacitor that I can put in line with a 25kw diesel generator? Will this help my generator run smother when at full load? Or do I need a battery bank and a inverter to make this idea work? Generators make a lot of electricity but can't handle big surges in load because that make the breaker trip. How can I make my system perfect?

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Egypt - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Power Engineering - Pain and Joy

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#1

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 1:25 AM

you are asking your question in a wrong section " general" click Electrical Engineering section and re-ask your question.

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#2

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 10:24 AM

No system is perfect. Get that silly notion out of your head.

If you had a better understanding of the fundamentals of electricity, you'd realize how silly of an idea you are proposing. Capacitors are not applied to Alternating Current generators to boost the current. Capacitors are added for phase correction of an inductive load. Circuit breakers are on generators to prevent system damage.

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#3

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 10:25 AM

If you need to ask, you're not qualified to touch it.

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Commentator

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#4

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 1:14 PM

A 25 kw generator that puts out DC would need an enormous capacitor like the kind that electric city buses use. Perfection can be approached asymptotically; the cost to get there goes up exponentially as you approach perfection and you never get there.

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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 3:39 PM

It would be easier to fit a flywheel.

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#6
In reply to #5

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 4:01 PM

I like that idea.

He'll still have problems with tripping a circuit breaker, but if turning ON a certain load almost stalls the diesel engine a flywheel can mechanically store energy.

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#13
In reply to #6

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/23/2011 5:02 PM

Another problem happens when the flywheel has enough mass to keep on going but the electrical load practically stalls the rotor. The shaft may shear. I know of one manufacturer that had to increase shaft size to eliminate warranty replacements.

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#14
In reply to #13

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/23/2011 5:44 PM

I do realize that hyperbole is a valid way to make a point, but snapping a shaft is a bit far for even Tim Taylor.

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#7
In reply to #5

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 5:57 PM

Ease of implementation is one input to the 'utility function' of the OP and this function has not yet been specified. For a given problem, a lot of people don't know what their utility function is until several solutions have been offered, and maybe not even then.

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#8
In reply to #7

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 6:23 PM

Please translate that into English.

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#9
In reply to #5

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/22/2011 8:06 PM

I've played with flywheels on my 11 kVA gen-set. It's debatable as a solution as the recovery can become quite long and overrun can be far greater.

I finished up using a slave motor solution which also serves a phase balancing function.

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#10
In reply to #5

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/23/2011 12:19 PM

i heard about fly weels but no idea how they work

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#11

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/23/2011 12:57 PM

Two options:

1. Get a bigger generator to absorb the load changes; or,

2. Shed load.

I bet you are also having power quality issues.

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#12

Re: Generator and Capacitor

12/23/2011 2:10 PM

You'd be much better off looking at load surge reduction. There isn't any practical solution for an AC generator. Perhaps you could write a longer, more detailed item about exactly what loads cause the surges.

Further, adding a flywheel might overload the generator, not the diesel.

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