4.) Efficient Diesel Generators

In the industrial and business sectors, low power mobile diesel generators are often used to temporarily provide electrical energy. Applications include construction site generators or auxiliary power units in trucks. Feature of these machines is that they operate mostly at part load and at constant speed. While such portable power generators show at nominal load generally acceptable levels of efficiency, it decreases significantly in the partial load range, leading to higher specific energy consumption and correspondingly higher energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Within the project "LSG - Variable Speed Generator" of the project partners Heinzmann GmbH & Co. KG (Schönau), the Institute for Mobile Machines (MOBIMA) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, a system of diesel engine and electric generator has been developed, which can be operated due to load-dependent speed adjustments in a fuel-efficient way. By adjusting the speed of the engine to the optimal consumption curve, the overall efficiency of the system was increased. The result shows a high fuel-saving potential of at least 30% to 40% for the examined load profiles.