Cost to generate electricity with a Diesel Generator? ✔️

Описание: What is the cost to generate one kilowatt hour of electricity from a small diesel generator?

The quick answer is, not less than 70 cents, and possibly $5.00.

Why is there such a wide range of cost?

Diesel engines have a “sweet spot” where they achieve their highest efficiency.

The amount of fuel burned to generate power varies with load, where combustion efficiency is poor at low loads and improves with load (temperature) and injector performance.

The other large factor is the ratio of the external load to the internal load. If there is no external load, only the internal load to keep the engine running, then the ratio is poor, and the fuel burned is entirely for the internal load.

The following is a more detailed explanation.

The amount of fuel that a diesel engine consumes to generate one kilowatt hour of power varies dramatically depending on load.

A Kilowatt hour, 1000 watts for 1 hour, is equal to 3412 BTU.

There are approximately 130,000 BTU in one gallon of diesel fuel (varies between batches), which weighs 7.01 pounds.

To calculate the theoretical maximum kilowatt hours in one gallon, divide 130,000 by 3412, which equals 38.1 kWh.

When a diesel engine is running, it burns fuel to overcome a whole host of parasitic losses:
• Oil pump
• Fuel pump
• Water pump
• Air intake restriction
• Exhaust back pressure
• Friction
• Alternator

The combustion efficiency varies depending on:
• RPM
• Load
• Temperature

Thermodynamic losses include;
• Heat loss to the cooling water (30%)
• Heat loss to the exhaust gas (30%)
• Heat radiated off of hot engine block (10%)

The remaining amount of power available to spin the generator is 30%

A generator loses about 10% of its power due to heat and friction.

The remaining power to generate electricity is about 25%, which is 9.5 kWh.

If fuel costs $4.00 per gallon, the fuel cost alone to generate 9.5 kwhr will be $.42

If the engine is running and there is no load, then 100% of the fuel burned is to overcome losses, and there will be no electricity generated. Fuel cost under this scenario is greater than $4.00 per kWh.

At this point the cost per kWh is more than $.42, and potentially $5.00.

In addition to the cost of fuel, there are the costs of acquisition, installation, operational maintenance, and replacement every 2000-8000 hours (in the video, I said 2000 hours, 2-8K is the proper range depending on quality of engine) of operation. These costs can double the fuel costs, and increase the cost to generate one kWh of power to $1.00.

Load is paramount to achieve good generator efficiency and keep the cost per kWh reasonable.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Let's connect on social media!
  / alternativeenergyreview  
  / alte_review  

If you liked this video and want to see more, consider becoming a Patron:
  / alternativeenergy