Mobile Electric Power Plant

Mobile Electric Power Plant 

an electric power plant, usually of the thermal electric type, with all equipment mounted on transport vehicles. Mobile electric power plants are used where the need for electric power is temporary. They are used, for example, to provide power for mobile film projectors, exploratory drilling rigs, and the machinery used in railroad construction and logging operations. Mobile power plants serve as primary power sources in locations far away from power transmission lines. They may also serve as standby sources where other power is ordinarily available.

The power equipment of a mobile electric power plant is usually installed in a truck of tracked vehicle, on one or more trailers, on a self-propelled chassis, or on a railroad flatcar. There are also floating mobile electric power plants (for instance, of the Severnoe Siianie I type). Such power plants are used to supply power to the coastal regions of the Far North and Far East, where the need for power is growing steadily and the construction of power plants involves complex engineering problems and requires large outlays for materials. In addition to thermal electric power plants, there are also mobile atomic power plants of the TES-3 and ARBUS types.

High-speed diesels and gas turbines usually serve as the primary motors for a mobile electric power plant. In addition to the primary motor and the electric generator, the equipment also includes the switching apparatus, a complete cable network, a control console, automation and signaling systems, auxiliary equipment, and spare parts.

The power output of a mobile electric power plant depends largely on the type of primary motor and the rated horsepower of the motor (in atomic power plants, the thermal capacity of the reactor). It also depends on the overall dimensions of the power-plant equipment and on the load-carrying capacity of the transport vehicles. Power output ranges from tens of kilowatts (kW) to tens of megawatts (MW). The most widely used types of mobile electric power plants are low-power diesel plants that put out up to 150 kW and high-power diesel-electric units (5–10 MW) that are mounted on power-generating trains.