Rating your diesel generator right.

Ratings for a diesel generator is result of intended use and the ability to supply power. So, when you look at buying a generator, you would first consider its intended use. While it may seem obvious what power rating is required for an application but there are a number of factors to consider before purchasing a generator. Let’s familiarize ourselves with generator ratings and their relevance.

Standby Power Rating

The primary application of a Standby Power Rated generator is to supply emergency power for a limited duration during a power outage. These generators do not have an overload capability built into the units. Standby power rating should be applied to the unit where public utility power is available and power cuts are very rare.

Prime Power Rating

The prime power rating is the maximum power accessible at the variable load for an unlimited number of hours per year in a variable load setting. Prime power rated generators should be used if the public utility power is intermittent with frequent power cuts.

Continuous Power Rating

Continuous power rating is used in applications where the need for supplying power is at a constant 100% load for an unlimited number of hours each year. These units are used in applications where the power grid is unreachable, for e.g.: mining, agriculture or military operations.

Elevations and Temperature’s Effect on Power Rating

Beyond the above mentioned considerations, elevation and temperature are also factors to be considered before rating the engine.

For more information on diesel generators and the various kVA’s visit www.mahindrapowerol.com

Effects of Power Outages.

A common hurdle faced by India towards its growth factor is power outage. India is among the fastest developing countries of the world and so, it’s dependent upon the electricity sector to harness its growth. India is the third largest electricity producer and fourth largest in terms of consumption in the world. (Source) But unfortunately, an estimated 27% of the energy generated either gets lost or stolen during transmission. The peak supply falls short among 9% of the population. And what’s worse, frequent power outages last for as long as a whopping 10 hours. One of the biggest power outages that occurred in India was in the year 2012 when three grids i.e. northern, eastern and north-eastern had collapsed. This incident turned 22 states of the nation in shambles. And, this blackout wasn’t the first in that scale. The northern grid of India had fallen back in the year 2001, and the north-eastern grid blackout occurred in 2003.  The ripple effects of these incidents compelled the Indian government to take instant corrective measures.

Meghalaya, Andaman & Nicobar, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, are among states that are most affected due to power cuts. Power shortages are more prominent in Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh while Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka face minimum problems vis-à-vis electricity supply.

Power shortage has been among the most prevalent issue in India’s growth track. In fact, since 1951, India has missed every annual target to electricity production capacity, as per a Bloomberg report.

How do power outages affect the people?

§        Agriculture is a dominant factor in people’s lives in the rural areas with over 70% of the rural population depending upon electricity for irrigation, storing of allied products and sowing. Impending power outages affects rural households staggeringly.

§       Transportation system in urban life depends to a great extent upon electricity. From train services to automatic signaling system, electricity plays a major role. Power cuts do mess up the system.

§       The healthcare industry is badly disrupted by power outages. Lifesaving equipment cannot run without power and major operations stand cancelled. In such cases, DG sets are life saviors.

§         Data centers and IT industry processes come to a halt.

§       The lives of hundreds of workers in the mining industry is jeopardized.

§        Not to mention, everyday lifestyle of India’s population which is ever increasing is adversely affected in terms of computer shutdown, electrical equipment such as heaters and induction cookers fail to work and thus, productivity slows down.

How do power outages affect businesses?

§        Due to high frequency of power cuts, out of a total of 650 industries of various sizes surveyed, 61% companies face more than 10% of loss in production.

§        Infrastructure such as telecommunication networks, healthcare amenities, financial services, water supplies, transportation industry and mining companies get badly hit. The infrastructure constraints brought in by power outages in India increases the relative cost of carrying out businesses which in turn gives birth to supply side bottlenecks.

§        Frequent power outages gone unattended limit the private sector’s global competitiveness. As a result of this, fiscal conditions decelerate substantially.

§       The manufacturing industry chiefly depends upon electricity for production. Due to power cuts, machines and other multiple operations come to a standstill. This stops production from individual scale to batch scale altogether. The manufacturing sector is the backbone of India’s commercial success, and this disadvantage keeps India from making it to the top League of Nations. 

We at Mahindra Powerol offer solutions to combat these issues of Power outages. 

Visit us at www.mahindrapowerol.com to know more.

Difference Between Blackout and Brownout.

When it comes to electricity flow, things aren’t black and white always. However, they can be termed as black or brown. It is possible that you know of a blackout in the past, but have you experienced a brownout? And what is the difference between the two phenomena?

A blackout can be defined as a complete loss of power affecting many users of electricity spread throughout a large area over an extended span of time. Residents and businesses lose electricity power and the entire area experiences a blackout.

A brownout is bit different in the sense it is a somewhat measured power reduction or loss of electricity to pockets of consumers. Brownouts can be caused due to the state of ‘poor power quality’ in which utilities may reduce line voltage to deliver more electricity for increased power demand. Factory equipment that requires a stable supply of energy can be severely damaged or even destroyed due to these voltage fluctuations.

Brownouts can cause issues with electrical devices that function on certain specific voltage levels, like computers. On the other hand, blackouts denote major equipment failure or weather related issues leading to a complete loss of electric power.

Sometimes, rolling blackouts are put into place by power companies to balance out an increase in power demand that cannot be met by the existing system output. The demand for electricity can be increased by heat waves and prompt the requirement for a rolling blackout.

HOW CAN YOU PREVENT THESE VOLTAGE FLUCTUATIONS?

Sadly, there are only a few ways to avoid this situation. In case you absolutely need to keep your equipment running always, you could consider power backups.

An intense upsurge in electricity demand does not occur often, but if you want to ensure that your business is geared for any possible threats, it is worth investing in dg sets lest you may be left out in the dark.

For more information/inquiries related to power backups visit us at www.mahindrapowerol.com/ or call us at our toll free number: - 1-800-419-1999.