Testing Cooling Systems in Diesel Generators

 

Customer Requirements

Monitor the cooling systems temperatures for new designs of large diesel engine driven generators to ensure that the engine is operated within its safe operating area under various loads and environmental conditions.

 

 

Equipment Used

Grant Squirrel 2020-1F8 Data Logger

Thermocouple sensors in various configurations for surface and liquid temperatures

Current sensors to monitor AC power output

 

Solution

A portable data collection system was put together using a battery operated Grant Squirrel 2020 data logger. In addition to the data loggers, thermocouples were used to measure temperatures at various locations in the engine, cooling system and radiator plus ambient temperature. Split core current sensors were provided that could monitor the output of the generator, up to 3000 Amps AC, to study the effect of load on the system operation.

 

 

Radiator Inlet and Outlet Temperatures

 

Says Jeff Dannar from High Plains Power, “The Grant data logger allows us to easily collect data during operation of the generator to verify performance data and to see the effect of changes to the configuration of the cooling system. The ability to easily graph for multiple inputs is extremely useful.” Because the loggers can operate standalone without a PC, offers up to 2 million points of internal data storage and can store multiple runs of data, they are very convenient to use in field tests and to troubleshoot problems outside of the factory.