GOVERNORS

Introduction
 The function of a governor is to regulate the mean speed of an engine, when there are
variations in the load.
 When the load on an engine increase, its speed decreases. Therefore, it becomes
necessary to increase the supply of working fluid.
 On the other hand, when the load on the engine decreases, its speed increases. Thus, less
working fluid is required.
 The governor automatically controls the supply of working fluid to the engine with the
varying load conditions thus keeping the mean speed within certain limits.
 When the load increases, the configuration of the governor changes and a valve is moved
to increase the supply of the working fluid.
 Conversely, when the load decreases, the engine speed increases and the governor
decreases the supply of working fluid.

Flywheel
 A flywheel is an energy storing device which stores energy during the period when the
supply of energy is more than the requirement and releases it during the period when the
requirement of energy is more than the supply.
 In internal combustion engines, the energy is developed only during expansion or power
stroke and no energy is being developed during suction, compression and exhaust strokes.
 The excess energy developed during power stroke is absorbed by the flywheel and
releases it to the crankshaft during other strokes in which no energy is developed.
 Thus, the use of a flywheel helps in rotating the crankshaft at a uniform speed.
 When the flywheel absorbs energy, its speed increases and when it releases energy, the
speed decreases.
 Hence a flywheel does not maintain a constant speed, rather it simply reduces the
fluctuation of speed.
 Thus, a flywheel controls the speed variations caused by the fluctuation of the engine
turning moment during each cycle of operation.
 It does not control the speed variations caused by a varying load.
Function of Centrifugal Governors
 The centrifugal governors are based on the balancing of centrifugal force on the rotating
balls.
 It consists of two balls of equal mass, which are attached to the arms. These balls are
known as governor balls or fly balls.
 The balls revolve with a spindle, which is driven by the engine through bevel gears.
 The upper ends of the arms are pivoted to the spindle, so that the balls may rise up or fall
down as they revolve about the vertical axis.
 The arms are connected by the links to a sleeve, which is keyed to the spindle.
 This sleeve revolves with the spindle; but can slide up and down.
 The balls and the sleeve rise when the spindle speed increases and falls when the speed
decreases.
 In order to limit the travel of the sleeve in upward and downward directions, two stops S,
S are provided on the spindle.
 The sleeve is connected by a bell crank lever to a throttle valve.
 The supply of the working fluid decreases when the sleeve rises and increases when it
falls.
 When the load on the engine increases, the engine and the governor speed decreases.
 This results in the decrease of centrifugal force on the balls.
 Hence the balls move inwards and the sleeve moves downwards.
 The downward movement of the sleeve operates a throttle valve at the other end of the
bell crank lever to increase the supply of working fluid and thus the engine speed is
increased.
 In this case, the extra power output is provided to balance the increased load.
 When the load on the engine decreases, the engine and the governor speed increases,
which results in the increase of centrifugal force on the balls.
 Thus, the balls move outwards and the sleeve rises upwards.
 This upward movement of the sleeve reduces the supply of the working fluid and hence
the speed is decreased.
 In this case, the power output is reduced.
Terms Used in Governors
1. Height of a governor. It is the vertical distance from the centre of the ball to a point
where the axes of the UPPER arms (or arms produced) intersect on the spindle axis. It is
usually denoted by h.
2. Equilibrium speed. It is the speed at which the governor balls, arms etc., are in complete
equilibrium and the sleeve does not tend to move upwards or downwards.
3. Mean equilibrium speed. It is the speed at the mean position of the balls or the sleeve.
4. Maximum and minimum equilibrium speeds. The speeds at the maximum and minimum
radius of rotation of the balls, without tending to move either way is known as maximum
and minimum equilibrium speeds respectively.
5. Sleeve lift. It is the vertical distance which the sleeve travels due to change in equilibrium
speed.
Watt Governor
The simplest form of a centrifugal governor is a Watt governor. It is basically a conical
pendulum with links attached to a sleeve of negligible mass. The arms of the governor may be
connected to the spindle in three ways shown above.

Let m = Mass of the ball in kg

w = Weight of the ball in N = m.g
T = Tension in the arm in N
ω = Angular velocity of the arm and ball about the spindle axis in rad/s
r = Radius of the path of rotation of the ball i.e. horizontal distance from the centre of the
ball to the spindle axis in m
FC = Centrifugal force acting on the ball in N = m. r.ω2
 h = Height of the governor in m
It is assumed that the weight of the arms, links and the sleeve are negligible as compared to the
weight of the balls.
For the equilibrium of the ball, taking moments about point O,
FC × h = w × r
or m.r.ω2 × h = m.g × r

or m

where N is the speed in r.p.m., and ω = 2π N/60 rad/s

Note:
 It is seen that the height of a governor h is inversely proportional to N2.
 Therefore at high speeds, the value of h is small.
 At such high speeds, the small change in the value of h is insufficient to enable a
governor to operate the mechanism to give the necessary change in the fuel supply.
 This governor may only work satisfactorily at relatively low speeds i.e. from 60 to 80
r.p.m.

Porter Governor
 The Porter governor is a modification of a Watt’s governor, with central load attached to
the sleeve.
 The central load moves up and down the spindle.
  This additional downward force increases the speed required to enable the balls to rise to
any predetermined level.

Let m = Mass of each ball in kg

w = Weight of each ball in N = m.g
M = Mass of the central load in kg
W = Weight of the central load in newtons = M.g
r = Radius of rotation in m
h = Height of governor in m
N = Speed of the balls in r.p.m.
ω = Angular speed of the balls in rad/s = 2 πN/60 rad/s
FC = Centrifugal force acting on the ball in newtons = m.r.ω2
T1 = Force in the arm in N
T2 = Force in the link in N
α = Angle of inclination of the upper link to the vertical, and
β = Angle of inclination of the lower link to the vertical.
The height of the governor can be derived as;

Where
Notes: 1. When the length of arms are equal to the length of links and the points P and D lie on
the same vertical line, then
tan α = tan β or q = tan β / tan α = 1
Therefore, the above equation becomes

meter
Proell Governor
 The Proell governor is similar to Porter governor with a small change in the position of
the fly balls.
 It has the balls fixed at B and C to the extension of the links DF and EG.
 The arms FP and GQ are pivoted at P and Q respectively.

The height of the governor can be derived as;

porter

proell
Hartnell Governor

 It consists of two bell crank levers pivoted at the points O,O to the frame.
 The frame is attached to the governor spindle and therefore rotates with it.
 Each lever carries a ball at the end of the vertical arm OB and a roller at the end of the
horizontal arm OR.
 A helical spring in compression provides equal downward forces on the two rollers
through a collar on the sleeve.
 The spring force may be adjusted by screwing a nut up or down on the sleeve.

Sensitiveness of a Governor
Consider two governors A and B running at the same speed. When this speed increases or
decreases by a certain amount, the lift of the sleeve of governor A is greater than the lift of the
sleeve of governor B. It is then said that the governor A is more sensitive than the governor B.
 A governor is said to be sensitive when it readily responds to a small change of speed.
 The movement of the sleeve for a fractional change of speed is a measure of sensitivity.
 In general, the greater the lift of the sleeve corresponding to a given fractional change in
speed, the greater is the sensitiveness of the governor.
The sensitiveness is defined as the ratio of the difference between the maximum and
minimum equilibrium speeds to the mean equilibrium speed.
Let N1 = Minimum equilibrium speed,
N2 = Maximum equilibrium speed, and

N = Mean equilibrium speed =

Stability of a Governor
 A governor is said to be stable when for every speed within the working range, there is
only one radius of rotation of the governor balls at which the governor is in equilibrium.
 For a stable governor, if the equilibrium speed increases, the radius of governor balls
must also increase and vice versa.
Note: A governor is said to be unstable, if the radius of rotation decreases as the speed increases.

Isochronous Governors
 A governor is said to be isochronous when the equilibrium speed is constant (i.e. range of
speed is zero) for all radii of rotation of the balls within the working range.
 This means that when the radius of rotation changes from minimum radius to maximum
radius, the equilibrium speed remains constant.
 In other words, a governor with a zero range of speed is known as isochronous governor.
  Thus, the isochronism is the stage of infinite sensitivity.
 The isochronous governor is not of practical use because the sleeve will move to one of
its extreme positions immediately the speed deviates from the isochronous speed.
Let r1 = Minimum radius of rotation
r2 = Maximum radius of rotation
N1 and N2 = Corresponding speeds
Then for isochronism, N1 = N2.

Hunting
 A governor is said to be hunt if the speed of the engine fluctuates continuously above and
below the mean speed.
 This is caused by a too sensitive governor which changes the fuel supply by a large
amount when a small change in the speed of rotation takes place.
 For example, when the load on the engine increases, the engine speed decreases.
 If the governor is very sensitive, the governor sleeve rapidly falls to its lowest position.
 This will open the control valve wide and the supply of fuel will now be in excess than its
requirement.
 So the engine speed rapidly increases again and the governor sleeve rises to its highest
position.
 Due to this movement of the sleeve, the control valve will cut off the fuel supply to the
engine and thus the engine speed begins to fall once again.
 This cycle is repeated indefinitely.
 Such a governor may admit either the maximum or the minimum amount of fuel.
 The effect of this will be to cause wide fluctuations in the engine speed or in other words,
the engine will hunt.