Measurement and analysis of instantaneous torque and angular velocity variations of a low speed two stroke diesel engine

Abstract This paper presents an investigation into the potential of using direct measurement of engine torque for diagnostic purposes in large engines – in this case applied to power generation. The procedures for measuring and analyzing the instantaneous torque, the angular displacement on the generator output end and the angular displacement on its free end for a ten-cylinder, low speed two stroke diesel engine are presented. Angular speed oscillations are frequently used for combustion engine diagnostics although they cannot be used to measure engine power directly. In addition, and for engines with huge inertia generators such as those used in power plants, speed oscillations are very low and this reduces the signal to noise ratio and makes the evaluation of the instantaneous angular speed very noisy. In the work described here, torque and angular displacement measurements carried out at the same point and with the same engine conditions are compared and the superior performance of torque is demonstrated. Harmonic analysis of instantaneous torque allowed the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the power train of the diesel group and clearly suggests that this signal can be used as a diagnostic tool for excitation, combustion malfunctions, or for the mechanical characteristics of the system and crankshaft stiffness. The torque distortion introduced by the generator due to the discontinuity imposed by the pole pairs is also observed in the torque signal, suggesting that the torque signal can be used to identify generator malfunction.