The increasing digitalization of our personal and work activities, as well as the rise of the green economy, are factors that are increasing our society’s dependence on electricity.
Digitalization increasingly requires data centers to store and process the information we use in our daily operations (banking data, personal data, documents in the cloud, communications, etc.). These data centers have a high electricity consumption, both for IT equipment and for the air conditioning needed to keep the servers at optimum performance.
On the other hand, the green economy is giving a strong boost to electric mobility. This will pose a major challenge for the current power grid infrastructure to cope with the increased demand that will result in the near future from the simultaneous charging of thousands of electric vehicle batteries.
For these reasons, all critical applications (hospitals, data centers, industries, etc.) increasingly need an alternative power supply in the event of grid failure or to meet the demand that the public grid is unable to supply at any given time. The safest and most reliable solution to have this alternative supply is a self-starting generator set.
How does a self-starting genset work?
The self-starting genset consists of an alternator coupled to an internal combustion engine. A control unit detects the mains failure and automatically starts the engine. As a result, in less than ten seconds the genset is available to supply electrical energy in a stable and safe manner.
In installations where this is required, the control unit can also be used to parallel several gensets. It is also possible to parallel the gensets with the public grid, where permitted by law.
The system is complemented by a mains-group power switch consisting of a mains circuit breaker and a group circuit breaker, which connect the load to the mains or to the group according to the needs of the moment.
What are the requirements?
The technical requirements to be met by an automatic start genset for emergency supply due to mains failure are as follows:
- To have an automatic start panel. This panel consists of an electronic module that starts the genset when it detects the mains failure and operates the mains-gen-set power switch, giving a disconnection order to the mains circuit breaker and a connection order to the gen-set circuit breaker. The panel also monitors the engine and alternator parameters to protect the genset in case of anomaly.
- A start-up assistance system is available to ensure a quick start-up in case of mains failure. This system consists of:
- An electronic charger that keeps the starting batteries charged while the genset is stopped.
- An engine coolant heating resistor, which keeps the engine at about 35ºC in optimal conditions to assume the load.
- Comply with the international design standard for generating sets ISO 8528.
Although not essential in some cases, it is advisable for the combustion engine to have an electronic speed governor to keep the engine speed as stable as possible. With electronic speed controllers, variation margins of +-0.5% are achieved.
Since the generating set must provide vital support to critical infrastructures, it is essential to have good maintenance and after-sales service. In this case, it is highly recommended to contract the service from the genset manufacturer itself or, failing that, from an Official Technical Service.
Latest advances in self-starting gensets
In recent years, the automatic start genset has been incorporating innovations that seek to increase performance, minimize the impact on the environment and a more effective control. Examples of these innovations are:
- Combustion engines with low smoke emissions to the atmosphere.
- Soundproofed units with low noise levels.
- Ventilation adapted to work in extreme environmental conditions (high temperature, saline environments, dusty environments).
- Load transfers between genset and mains without power failure. Automatically synchronizing the genset with the grid eliminates power outages in genset-to-grid switching and vice versa.
- IoT (Internet of Things) technology incorporated in the genset control panel. The gensets communicate with each other and with the end user via communication buses, so that the status of the genset can be monitored from anywhere via a computer or mobile device.
- Parallel groups. The gensets communicate with each other to automatically synchronize and parallel each other and with the grid by sharing the load. Communication allows the number of gensets in service to be automatically adapted to the load connected at any given moment, thus optimizing fuel consumption and the performance of the installation.
We therefore see that the self-starting generator set is set to continue to play an important role in supporting the basic infrastructures of our society, while having a minimal impact on the environment.
