3 ms·

If your standard diesel engine fails it’s generally not a life threatening emergency though so change is much safer. Aviation has safety and regulatory habits

If your standard diesel engine fails it’s generally not a life threatening emergency though so change is much safer. Aviation has safety and regulatory habits written in blood.

ethbr1 3y ago
Aren't most emergency backup generators diesel? Hospitals. Nuclear power plants. Airports. Laboratories.
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  Yes, but the GP is posting about diesel engines in over the road equipment. Those regulations don't apply to 1. existing installations in trucks or 2. generators.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  These are multi redundant and generally hospital patient monitoring systems have additional batteries of their own to make sure people don't die, and in the case of a major clusterfuck there are emergency procedures in which it's specified how power will be restored assuming a grid and backup generator failure (usually it involves the fire department shuttling a generator pack to the hospital site). With engine failures in aircraft however, the consequences can be way more dire - particularly in GA where it's (at least in the US) even being allowed to fly without a license at all (Part 103 ultralights), and forget about regular legit simulator training on what to do in that case.
- AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
  It's very easy to run emergency backup generators in parallel. Take your total load (10MW) divide by 5 (2MW) and you need 5 2MW generators, buy 7 and run 6/7 and your "down for yearly maintenance" generator can be offline while your "oh shit we installed the wrong fuel filter and the injectors clogged" generator also fails. Much harder in a plane.
  - lazide 3y ago
    Especially since rarely does anyone care about how heavy the emergency generators are. But if you add 100 lbs too much in the wrong place on a GA plane, everyone is almost certainly going to die.

3 ms·

If your standard diesel engine fails it’s generally not a life threatening emergency though so change is much safer. Aviation has safety and regulatory habits

by colechristensen 3y ago

If your standard diesel engine fails it’s generally not a life threatening emergency though so change is much safer. Aviation has safety and regulatory habits written in blood.

ethbr1 3y ago
Aren't most emergency backup generators diesel? Hospitals. Nuclear power plants. Airports. Laboratories.
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  Yes, but the GP is posting about diesel engines in over the road equipment. Those regulations don't apply to 1. existing installations in trucks or 2. generators.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  These are multi redundant and generally hospital patient monitoring systems have additional batteries of their own to make sure people don't die, and in the case of a major clusterfuck there are emergency procedures in which it's specified how power will be restored assuming a grid and backup generator failure (usually it involves the fire department shuttling a generator pack to the hospital site). With engine failures in aircraft however, the consequences can be way more dire - particularly in GA where it's (at least in the US) even being allowed to fly without a license at all (Part 103 ultralights), and forget about regular legit simulator training on what to do in that case.
- AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
  It's very easy to run emergency backup generators in parallel. Take your total load (10MW) divide by 5 (2MW) and you need 5 2MW generators, buy 7 and run 6/7 and your "down for yearly maintenance" generator can be offline while your "oh shit we installed the wrong fuel filter and the injectors clogged" generator also fails. Much harder in a plane.
  - lazide 3y ago
    Especially since rarely does anyone care about how heavy the emergency generators are. But if you add 100 lbs too much in the wrong place on a GA plane, everyone is almost certainly going to die.