Is your diesel engine operating at insufficient loads? That too, for a prolonged period! Is it not generating adequate performance over time? It must be due to wet stacking.
What is wet stacking in actual? It is a critical condition that is the result of the passing of unburned fuel into the exhaust system. Constant stacking of fuel in the chimney results in the building of a wet stack.
Do you know what results in such an unfavourable condition? Among all, keeping the engine idle for an extended period fails in generating abundant heat in the cylinder for complete burning. Idling is the result of running of the generator at full speed by applying minimal load.
Excessive fueling is also another important reason. It may be due to weak or leaky injectors. Sometimes, fuel settings turn up to be too high, thus over-fueling given RPMs. Running of the machine in cold weather is another cause of wet stacking.
During chilly cold temperature, the engine cannot reach the proper operating temperature. It results in building up of fuel due to incomplete burning, thus resulting in wet stacking.
In the case of diesel generators, wet stacking is because of slow running than rated output. For enjoying efficient combustion, the diesel engine must run under at least sixty per cent of its original power output.
How to detect wet stacking in your generator? The situation of damp stacking can be easily identified by the presence of a black ooze all around the exhaust along with turbocharger and piping. The heavy ends of the fuel will hardly burn unless the combustion temperature becomes too low.
Diesel requires adequate loading in an engine for keeping combustion temperature high enough. Only then it will operate properly. With constant building up of fuel all along with the engine, you will come across a slight miss.
Whenever the engine is placed under any load after a long period of idling as well as wet stacking, some amount of black exhaust may come out. It is due to the burning of the excess fuel. The constant flow of black coloured exhaust from the stack whenever under constant load indicates insufficient combustion of the fuel.
After getting to know about wet stacking along with specific causes, it is time to switch on to the right solution. Testing of the loadbank will help a lot in preventing and reducing wet stacking. It will help in keeping the temperature of the machine sufficient to operate, thus avoiding the accumulation of burnt fuel.
Equivalent loading of both generator, as well as the prime mover, is required to ensure smooth functioning of the system. It is possible with the help of resistive loadbank. Against every kilowatt of load by the loadbank, the same amount of weight will also be applied to the prime mover.
It is the exclusive loadbank design that ensures smooth functioning of the entire system without causing any hassle.
Effective loadbank testing is the ultimate solution of wet stacking in diesel machines. With equal loading, the complete functionality can be brought under control.
The author has been providing durable and highly functional resistive loadbank to coporate and residential clients for several years at a budgeted price.