Setting Up My Cogeneration Unit

 
NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 2:14 pm

Hoytman wrote:
Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 1:03 pm
Thanks NoSmoke...that makes sense. I think you just saved me and others a lot of research. Just plug different numbers in where they go and for each persons needs.

This PTO driven generator may just be the ticket for our application and will allow for most money being spent on a tractor that we need anyway. Thanks!!!
Just remember that pto generators are different than most pto tractor operations. With bushogging you set the tractor to 1800 rmp and let it go. But with a pto generator you increase rpm just enough to keep the generator operating in the green on the gauge and neither too high, or too low.


 
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Post by Hoytman » Fri. Feb. 28, 2020 5:54 pm

Thanks!!!👍

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 6:55 am

I am still moving forward on this project, but slowly.

I did manage to pick up that new starter and get in on the engine. The start circuit worked, or at least sort of, it did until it came up on compression. That really did not surprise me as this is a high-torque, high speed starter so it needs some serious juice. My bulldozer was about the same size and so it used (2) batteries too, so I will need to add another into the mix.

In the meantime, I moved the engine 90 degrees so I could work on it easier. This better situated it in the building. I then found a bunch of tank hardware on another tank that I had kicking around, and so I managed to grab the legs, the whistle, the tank gauge, and fill pipe off that tank, and transfer it to this one. I then added a primary filter to the bottom port, and so the tank is ready to be filled.

I then turned my attention to the radiator, and mounted that in the wall of the generator shed. I managed to scare up enough hoses, pipes and clamps to get that in place, and ready for the engine to be wetted. I also mounted the air intake and filter house through the generator wall, but lack enough air induction hose, so I will have to try and scrounge that up.

Finally I managed to take the wiring. Before it looked horrific with wires and gauge lines everywhere. I took a screen door spring and stretched it from the engine to the wall where the starter controls are, then wire-tied the wires and gauge lines together, then swapped them all in protective wiring harness plastic. The spring will move with engine vibration, but allow the strain to be taken off the wires and gauge lines.

So it really is starting to change from a cobbled together unit, to something fairly nice looking.

 
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Post by franco b » Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 9:36 am

The lesson here seems to be to never throw anything out. Never know when you will need it.

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Fri. Mar. 27, 2020 5:08 am

franco b wrote:
Thu. Mar. 26, 2020 9:36 am
The lesson here seems to be to never throw anything out. Never know when you will need it.
Yeah that is for sure.

The engine itself is a testament to your statement. Heck, it has been sitting in that shop for 32 years. I kind of knew the engine was good because it would not have been just sitting there if it had thrown a rod or something, but it looked rather forlorn as it was still.

It was not until I pulled the broken glass out of the hour meter that I saw why someone had saved it: only 2607 hours on an engine designed to run 30,000 hours.

It might have been built in 1979, but she has got plenty of kick in her motor still.

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 4:32 am

Well I finally went out and got some photos of the Cogenerating Unit I am building.

It bothers me to show pictures of it in a way because I always think, "I should do this before I post a picture of it, or I should do that", but then I end up having no start and finish pictures. In that sense, it is always good to show where you started, and the build along the way; no matter how bad it may look!

The only thing I think I will change is the tank arrangement. Right now it is inside the generator shed, which is good, but if it was outside it would give me more room, AND allow me to fuel up my tractor as well. It would also help me align the fuel lines a little better, and be easier for the fuel delivery man to get too. So a lot of benefit, except, fuel can gel when it gets really cold. But I guess there is ways to prevent that.

So this is what I got so far...

Image

Image

 
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 6:48 am

With all them thar gauges N, I got a feelin ya just might have "lightening" (Lee) pop up for a visit!!!!!!!!LOL Lookin good my friend--NOW???????????? When ya gonna kick her over??


 
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Post by Rob R. » Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 7:39 am

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Going forward, please upload them to coalpail.com rather than linking to an external image hosting service. That way in a few years if you quit using your imagebox account the pictures will still be here for others to see.
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Post by WNY » Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 6:01 pm

our friends that run a funland/market/pizza place up at Kueka Lake, is all off grid and they are using a mercedes car diesel engine with a 10K generator. works really good once he got it all set up. Solar/batteries to do lighting and small loads when the engine is not running.

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Thu. Apr. 02, 2020 5:23 pm

freetown fred wrote:
Tue. Mar. 31, 2020 6:48 am
With all them thar gauges N, I got a feelin ya just might have "lightening" (Lee) pop up for a visit!!!!!!!!LOL Lookin good my friend--NOW???????????? When ya gonna kick her over??
Not really sure. I suffered a major set-back.

The engine would roll, but not completely over. I thought maybe it was because it needed a second battery for additional amperage, but even by hand there was just one spot where it would fetch up.

I found out what was causing it, but I had to pull the head off to find out.

There was an inch of sludge on the #3 piston top, and a mouse nest in the #4 piston. Kind of hard to compress that!

Now I got to wait for my Top End gaskets to come in before I can close the engine back up, but tomorrow I might pull the oil pan off, and clean up the oil sludge down there.

But I might also rebuild the injectors or the injection pump...I am not sure. That would get rid of any varnish and assure myself that I would have no leaks.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Thu. Apr. 02, 2020 5:56 pm

Mights well beings you're waitin for gaskets. :)

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Sun. Apr. 19, 2020 5:12 pm

Wow, I did not realize I had not updated everyone for awhile.

I tried to pull the oil pan in place, but there was not enough room in the frame, so I had to remove everything, put the unit on pipes and roll it down to the main part of my barn where I could get at it to lift it. Then I had to lift the engine free of the frame, so I had to build a wooden frame to do that. Once that was done, I removed the oil pan, and cleaned the sludge from it, and the oil sump pick up screen.

While the frame was free, I welded up (2) new engine mounts, and welded on a ton of tabs so I can bolt the unit to the floor. Then I put the oil pan back on, and rolled it back up into the generator shed. Then it was on to putting all the wiring back, and all the other jazz that comes from stripping down the oil pan, and removing the head.

Now I finally got a picture of this engine all painted up, and put back together. I got a few other things done on the unit, like the batteries final-wired, the cooling fan installed, and some smaller items. But it slowly is coming together. Of course Perkins, Ford and Case fans will all hate me. I could not find Perkins Blue, so I went with Ford Blue, and Case Red.

Like a bumbling fool, I could not get the threads to line up on the oil jumper going to the rocker arm when I was putting the head back on, and bummed the threads up. Of course I did not find that out until I torqued down the rocker arm, and adjusted the vales, so I did that twice before I machined out the oil jumper line, and got the threads straightened out. That was a lesson in frustration.

Now it is down to punch-list time, and would be all together by now, but I am hampered by not having a driver's license (for medical reasons). That puts me at the mercy of my wife, going to town with her, and picking up what I can, when I am in a store that has what I need.

I thought about dry-firing this ole gal on starting fluid, but it has a CAV pump, and they can sustain damage without fuel as a lube for that particular injection pump. And this engine has been laid up dry for some 32 years. But that will be the hardest part of this whole build, fixing the fuel system. It was damaged when they took it off the reefer trailer, so I got to make everything new, and work.
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Post by NoSmoke » Sun. May. 03, 2020 6:22 am

I got some major hurdles done on this project since I last updated everyone.

The biggest was putting in the transmission line that went from the house to the generator shed. I have 120 volts in there for outlets and lights, but the last time I had 220 volts, I went underground with the cable and ended up snagging it with my bulldozer, ripping it in half. I tried splicing the wires, but when it rained, it would short out. So this time, I went overhead.

I had some 2-2-2 entrance cable kicking around, so I used that, but it had a bare neutral, so I had to pay attention with what I did. I also installed a telephone pole halfway across to help take some pressure off the line during heavy snow, high winds, or an ice storm. In the end it looks no better or worse than Central Maine Power.

Katie was my Linesman. She had to hold bolts and wires while I made connections, and was a real trooper. My ladder did not go high enough, so I had to put that in the bucket of my tractor, hoist that in the air, then climb up the ladder. I said it was "as solid as the rock of Jabratar", but she did not believe me, but climbed up the ladder like a good linesman would just the same.

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NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Sun. May. 03, 2020 6:39 am

Whether the transmission line is the "end" of the "beginning: is dependent upon on whether I am on grid power (it is at the end), or I am running my generator (at the beginning). This meant since power has to get sent back and forth, every breaker has to be 100 amp so I can get full power out of my 20 KW/83 Amp generator.

I also wired in my generator control box. This will let me dial in my generator so I can get very clean power, with grid-like hertz and voltage. Working with #2 wire, in such small load boxes was a challenge, but I got everything hardwired now, so I can get full use of this generator. Before I was using a welding outlet and welding cord, so maxed out at 50 amps.

I did add a 50 amp welding circuit in my generator shed because I needed the welder to fabricate the mounting frame for my generator.

I also have an out of control grounding fetish, so everything is now grounded to physical earth.

Engine to Frame by bonded wire.
Frame to grounding rod
Load boxes to grounding rod.
Generator to grounding rod.
Generator control box to grounding rod.
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Post by NoSmoke » Sun. May. 03, 2020 6:47 am

Unfortunately I had to redo my plans. I had planned to have my gearbox separate from my generator, but that plan fell through. The gearbox was affixed by gearing to the generator shaft, so that meant in order to have both my main engine, and still be able to hook up my PTO from my tractor, I had to couple my engine via belting to get the speed I needed.

I did some figuring, and in order to get 1200 rpm at the engine, which is required to get the governor to kick in and out, I need a 16 inch pulley. I will have to machine that out, but needed to take that into account in order to mount the generator. With the ability to weld now that the transmission line is completed, I fabricated the generator frame yesterday.

I used 3 inch channel iron, with 4 inches of travel for the generator to slide to tighten the belts onto the main engine. This I cut, prepped and welded up, then installed the grounding wires, and main wiring out of the generator into the load box. It would not seem like this would take awhile, but it took me all day.

I did manage though to get a 10 foot long pto shaft so I can hook up my generator to my tractor if need be. This will enable me to have back up power, for my back up power:

1) Grid power
2) Engine driven back up power
3) Tractor PTO back up power


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