Piston-Engine Based Power Plants

by
Muhammad Arif
Department of Electrical Engineering Pakistan Institute of Engineering and
applied Sciences, Nilore, Pakistan
 Piston Engines: IC Engines

 Use of piston or reciprocating engines:

 lawn mowers to cars, locomotives, ships trucks
 For power generation
 Combined heat and power applications

 Engines vary in size from less than 1 kW to tens of MW.

 Burn a wide range of fuels
 Natural gas, Biogas, LPG
 Gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, and heavy fuel oil
 Piston Engines: IC Engines

 Small units:
 Used for standby power or for combined heat, and power in homes and
offices.
 Usually cheap because they are mass produced
 Relatively low efficiencies
 Short lives

 Medium-sized units
 Many commercial and industrial facilities use medium-sized piston
engine- based combined heat and power units for base-load power
generation.
 Piston Engines: IC Engines

 Larger standby units

 Used where supply of power is critical; in hospitals or to support highly
sensitive computer installations such as air traffic control

 Large-sized units
 Can be used for base-load, grid-connected power generation
 Smaller units provide electricity to isolated communities
 Larger engines tend to be more expensive
 Large, megawatt scale engines are the most efficient prime movers
available, with simple cycle efficiencies approaching 50%.
Working Principal

 A piston engine is a cylinder sealed at one end and open

at the other end.
 A piston fits closely within the cylinder seals the open
end and moves backwards and forwards within the
cylinder when a gas within the cylinder expands and
contracts.
 A crank shaft via a hinged lever with piston converts
reciprocating motion of piston into rotary motion.
Working Principal
 Piston Engine Types

 Types of Piston Engines

 Internal combustion engines
 Spark Ignition type
 Compression or diesel
 External Combustion Engines or Stirling Engine
 Developed for specialized power generation
 Heat energy used to drive it is applied outside the sealed
piston chamber.
 Internal Combustion(IC) Engines
 Spark Ignition Type
 The Otto cycle engine employs a spark to ignite a mixture of air and
fuel compressed by the piston within the cylinder.
 Explosive release of heat energy increases the gas pressure in the
cylinder, forcing the piston outwards as the gas expands.
 This explosion force on the piston turns the crankshaft
 Compression Type Engines
 Air is compressed by a piston to such a high pressure that its
temperature rises above the ignition point of the fuel which is then
introduced to the chamber and ignites spontaneously without spark.
 Efficient for power generation but higher emission of pollutants.
 IC Engine Types
 A further subdivision depends on whether the engine utilises a
two- or a four-stroke cycle.
 Two-stroke
 The former is attractive in very small engines as it can provide relatively
high power for low weight.
 For power generation, some very large engines also use a two-stroke
cycle.
 Four-stroke
 Most small- and medium-sized engines for power generation employ the
four-stroke cycle.
 Four-Stroke Cycle
 Intake Stroke
 Either air (diesel cycle) or a fuel and air mixture (Otto cycle) is drawn
into the piston chamber
 Compression Stroke
 The gases in the cylinder are compressed
 Power Stroke
 In the case of the Otto cycle, a spark ignites the fuel–air mixture at the
top of the piston movement creating an explosive expansion of the
compressed mixture which forces the piston down again.
 In the diesel cycle, fuel is introduced close to the top of the compression
stroke, igniting spontaneously with the same effect.
 Four-Stroke Cycle
 Exhaust Stroke
 Exhaust gases are forced out of the piston chamber. In either case a
large flywheel attached to the crankshaft stores angular momentum
generated by the power stroke and this provides sufficient momentum
to carry the crankshaft and piston through the three other strokes
required for each cycle.

The introduction of fuel and air, and the

removal of exhaust is controlled by valves
which are mechanically timed to coincide
with the various stages of the cycle.
 Four-Stroke Cycle

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Four-Sroke Engines
 Gasoline engines for automobiles typically have 4-8 cylinders
 Out-of-phase cylinders provide force to drive pistons through
compression phase and yield balanced power
 Two-Stroke Cycle
 Intake and exhaust strokes are not separate. Instead fuel is forced
into the piston chamber (intake) towards the end of the power
stroke, pushing out exhaust gases through a valve at the top of the
chamber. A compression stroke is then followed by ignition of fuel
and a repeat of the cycle.
 Advantages:
 Simpler and cheaper
 Higher power-to-mass
 Each stroke is power stroke
 Smoother power in one-
cylinder engine.
 Disadvantages:
 Some unburned fuel escapes
Two-stroke Cycle
Two-Stroke Cycle

Two-stroke Cycle
 External Combustion Engine: Stirling Engine

 Heat energy used to drive a Stirling engine is applied outside the

cylinders which are completely sealed.
 Stirling engines often use helium or Hydrogen within cylinders.
 A normal Stirling engine has two cylinders, an expansion cylinder
and a compression cylinder. The two are linked and heat is applied
to the expansion cylinder while the compression cylinder is cooled.
 Careful balancing of the system allows the heat energy to be
converted into rotational motion.
 Advantages: As heat energy is applied externally, hence in theory,
be derived from any heat source.
 Stirling Engine
 Stirling engines have been used to exploit solar energy and for
biomass applications. However their use is not widespread.
 Typical engines sizes in use and development range from 1 to
150kW.
Stirling Engine
 Dual Fuel Engines
 Natural gas–air mixture is admitted to the cylinder during the intake
stroke, then compressed during the compression stroke.
 At the top of the compression stroke the pilot diesel fuel is admitted
and ignites spontaneously, igniting the gas–air mixture to create the
power expansion.
 Engine operates at close to the conditions of a diesel engine, with a
high-power output and high efficiency, yet with the emissions close to
those of a gas-fired spark-ignition engine.
 Dual fuel engines operate with between 1% and 15% diesel fuel.
 A dual fuel engine can also burn 100% diesel if necessary, with much
higher emissions.
 Co-generation
 The efficiency of piston-engine-based power generation varies from
25% for small engines to close to 50% for the very largest engines.
 Between 50% and 75% of energy can be converted into combined heat
and power (CHP) systems.
 Between 30% and 50% of energy in exhaust gases can be used to
generate medium-pressure steam or can be used to generate hot water.
 The main engine case cooling system can capture up to 30% of the
total energy input which could be passed through a heat exchanger to
provide a source of hot water, although in some cases it can be used to
produce low-pressure steam as well.
 In the USA in 2000, there were 1055 engine-based CHP systems in
operation with an aggregate generating capacity of 800MW
Diesel Engine-Steam Turbine Cogeneration Power Plant

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
Diesel Engine-Steam Turbine Cogeneration Power Plant

Macau China: Overall Efficiency: 50%

Combined Cycle: Diesel Engine, HRSG (Heat Recovery Stream

Generator) and Steam Turbine.
Diesel Engine-Steam Turbine Cogeneration Power Plant
 Operational Flexibility Parameters

Muhammad Arif, Power Generation Technologies: An Introduction (1 st Ed.), Pakistan Institute

of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan, 2019.
 Emission Control Systems
 Gas Turbine Power Plants
 Emissions: CO2, NOx, SOx
 CO2 less than coal-fired power plants
 CO2 emissions are less compared with the same capacity of coal-fired
PP.
 NOx can be reduced by low-NOx burners, by steam injection, etc.
 Selective-catalytic reduction technique (SCR): react the gas with
ammonia in the stimulated by catalyst (Nitrogen and water is
produced).
 Negligible amounts of SOx when gas is burned.
 Diesel Engines Power Plants
 Reduce CO2 emission by burning carbon-neutral fuels
 Treat exhaust gases using SCR Systems for the removal of NOx.
 Diesel Power Stations
 Advantages
 The design and layout of the plant are quite simple.
 It occupies less space as the number and size of the auxiliaries is
small.
 It can be located at any place.
 It can be started quickly and can pick up load in a short time.
 There are no standby losses.
 It requires less quantity of water for cooling.
 The overall cost is much less than that of steam power station of the
same capacity.
 The thermal efficiency of the plant is higher than that of a steam
power station.
 It requires less operating staff.
 Diesel Power Stations
 Disadvantages
 The plant has high running charges as the fuel (i.e., diesel) used is
costly.
 The plant does not work satisfactorily under overload conditions for
a longer period.
 The plant can only generate small power.
 Noisy
 The cost of lubrication is generally high.
 The maintenance charges are generally high.

Skip the following sections from Chap 6: 6.2.2, the thermodynamic cycles of different
engine types, 6.12.