What Causes the Diesel Gensets to Deposit Carbon

Diesel generator set accumulate carbon is the product of incomplete combustion of diesel fuel and oil fleeing into the combustion chamber, the top of the diesel engine piston, combustion chamber wall and around the valve are the more common places where carbon accumulation occurs. In the diesel generator set a large number of carbon accumulation will pollute the lubrication system, blocking the oil circuit and filter, shorten the service life of the genset, this article we will understand what are the reasons for the occurrence of accumulate carbon in the diesel generator set.

Accumulate carbon occurs mainly when a diesel engine runs at light load for long periods of time, causing the diesel fuel to not burn properly during combustion. In order for a diesel engine to operate at maximum efficiency, it must maintain a precise air-fuel ratio like all other internal combustion engines. It must also maintain a specified operating temperature to burn the fuel completely.

However, when the diesel engine is running under light load, it does not reach the specified operating temperature. Operating below the specified operating temperature for a long time can lead to accumulate carbon.

When a diesel engine is running at no load or low load, it will only produce enough power to run its components and resist internal friction. For this reason, it requires very little fuel and produces much lower temperatures in the cylinders than when the engine is running at high loads.

Unlike gasoline engines, diesel engines do not rely on spark plugs, but use hot compressed air in the cylinder to vaporize and ignite the fuel. Therefore, a certain design temperature is required to aid ignition. When the temperature in the combustion chamber falls below the design temperature, the fuel will catch fire and burn; however, it will not burn completely. If this continues for a long time, you will notice that the residue of vaporized fuel and soot will condense and deposit on the exhaust system as a dark, viscous liquid; somewhat similar to used engine oil. The appearance of this substance is known as "carbon build-up".

In short, carbon buildup can be caused by.

Running a diesel generator at a set operating temperature to run the generator at less than 60% of its rated power load, operating the generator with an incorrect air-fuel ratio, leaving the generator unused for long periods of time or running the generator on too much or too low a fuel.

In addition, when an engine has not been run for a long time or is run under light load and encounters carbon buildup, it will blow some heavy black soot out of the exhaust when first loaded. Soot is the result of excess fuel being burned off. Continuous black soot from the exhaust under normal load also indicates that not all fuel is completely burned.

Accumulate carbon has a variety of adverse effects on diesel generators, and if left unchecked for long periods of time, may result in reduced engine performance or permanent engine damage, requiring expensive engine overhauls.

One of the adverse effects of wet buildup is that as unburned fuel exits the combustion chamber, it builds up in the exhaust system and contaminates the injectors, as well as causing carbon to build up on the exhaust, turbocharger and exhaust genset. Valves, when fuel injector nozzles are contaminated with carbon buildup, they deliver larger droplets of fuel than expected to the combustion cylinders. As a result, more of this fuel remains unburned and enters the exhaust system; this means that more accumulate carbon is often the result.

When accumulate carbon  in unburned fuel accumulate in large amounts, engine performance eventually decreases because exhaust buildup creates back pressure and deposits on the turbocharger reduce its efficiency.

Although the diesel generator set accumulate carbon is a more common phenomenon, but does not mean that it is a normal phenomenon, a large amount of carbon will have an impact on the performance of the diesel generator set, the direct performance is poor combustion, heat transfer deterioration and reduce the reliability of the injector work, so when the diesel generator set accumulatecarbon phenomenon, must be removed in a timely manner. If you are interested in diesel generator sets, welcome to contact us by e-mail: dingbo@dieselgeneratortech.com.