Phase and Voltage Types of Industrial Generators

When deciding which type of generator is most suitable for your environment, a major and thorough consideration should be to ensure that you obtain the correct electrical configuration. Electrical configurations typically include the phase, voltage, kilowatts, and hertz that are most suitable for your application. It is helpful to understand what a generator set includes in order to explain how phase and voltage work. The generator set consists of two main components: an industrial engine (usually diesel, natural gas, or propane) and a generator end. The engine produces horsepower and revolutions per minute, which are then converted into electrical energy at the end.

Single-phase generator

For smaller single-phase loads, these generator sets typically do not exceed 40kW. They are typically used in residential environments with a power factor of 1.0.

Three-phase generator

Mainly used for large-scale industrial power generation, these generator sets can provide single-phase and three-phase power for industrial motors with higher horsepower, and branch power for individual lines, usually more flexible. The power factor is 0.8 and is commonly used in commercial environments.

Increase rated power output - You can convert a single-phase power supply to a three-phase power supply, sometimes obtaining approximately 20% -30% of the rated output power, but the terminals need to be reconnected, and you also need to fully consider load balancing and some other variables.

Derating (switching from three-phase to single-phase) - usually reduces your rated power by about 30%. For example, a 100 kW three-phase generator will drop to around 70 kW when converted to single-phase.

In order to accurately calculate the final adjusted power after derating, you should always try to derate from the kVA rated value instead of the kW rated value. The formula is 2/3 kVA (for example, a single-phase of 150 kVA will be derated to 100 kVA), and then converted to kilowatts as needed.

In order to reduce the rated value of the generator set, problematic generator terminals typically require 12 or 10 wires that can be reconnected. The load of the engine itself is not affected, as it basically puts the generator end into overdrive. If the generator cannot be reconnected (or can only be connected to high/low voltage), as long as it does not exceed the rated current of a single line, you can still apply a single-phase load to it.

The generator set is limited by its capacitance based on the generator end and has little to do with the engine.

Common voltages of commercial generator sets

Single-phase

120

240

120/240

Three phase

208

120/208

240

480 (the most common voltage for industrial generators)

277/480

4160 volts

The voltage requirements for different types of devices may vary greatly (for example, other voltage types include: 220, 440, 2400, 3300, 6900, 11500, and 13500)

As a professional diesel generator manufacturer, we always insist on using first-class talents to build a first-class enterprise, create first-class products, create first-class services, and strive to build a first-class domestic enterprise. If you would like to get more information welcome to contact us via sales@dieselgeneratortech.com.