Governors:

• Types of governors
• Force analysis of Porter and Hartnell governors
• Controlling force
• Stability
• Sensitiveness
• Isochronisms
• effort and power

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Introduction
• The function of a governor is to regulate the mean speed
of an engine, when there are variations in the load
• For example, when the load on an engine increases, 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 and thus less working
fluid is required.

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• The governor automatically controls the supply of working fluid to the
engine with the varying load conditions and keeps the mean speed
within certain limits.
• A little consideration will show that, 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.

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Note :
• The function of a flywheel in an engine is entirely different from that of a
governor.
• It controls the speed variation caused by the fluctuations of the engine turning
moment during each cycle of operation.
• It does not control the speed variations caused by a varying load.
• The varying demand for power is met by the governor regulating the supply of
working fluid.

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 Application of Governor

In power generation, the governor controls the speed

of the generator according to the demand for power
generation.
•
In diesel driven fire pumps, if the diesel engine speed
increased the pressure will increase and this may lead
to explosion of diesel engine. governor is used to limit
speed to be within 10% of the rated engine speed so
that the pressure increase is limited
Difference between flywheel and governor
FLYWHEEL GOVERNOR

• used because of variation of speed due • used because of variation of speed due
to variation in the output torque of to variation in the load on the engine.
engine during a cycle. • Controls the mean speed of engine by
• Limits the inertiable fluctuation of varying the fuel supply which arises
speed during each cycle which arises due to variation of load.
due to fluctuation of turning moment
on crank shaft.
• When load on the engine increases,
• Stores excess of rotational energy from speed decreases, it increases the flow
the power stroke and supply back of fuel to keep the mean speed
during non- power strokes of the cycle. constant.
• It controls the speed for one cycle only • It maintains constant mean speed over
so it is continuous. a period of time so it is discrete.
Types of Governors
• The governors may, broadly, be classified as
1. Centrifugal governors
2. Inertia governors.

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 Centrifugal Governors
• The centrifugal governors are based on the balancing of centrifugal
force on the rotating balls by an equal and opposite radial force,
known as the controlling force.

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• It consists of two balls of equal mass, which are attached to
the arms as shown in Fig.
• 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.

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Centrifugal Governors
• 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 rises 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Terms Used in Governors
• The following terms used in governors are important from the subject point of
view ;
1. Height of a governor. It is the vertical distance from the centre of the ball to a
point where the axes of the 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 are 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.

• Note : There can be many equilibrium speeds between the mean and the
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 Governor Effort and Power
Governor effort and power can be used to compare the effectiveness of
different type of governors.

Governor Effort :
It is defined as the mean force exerted on the sleeve during a given
change in speed. When governor speed is constant the net force at the
sleeve is zero. When governor speed increases, there will be a net force
on the sleeve to move it upwards and sleeve starts moving to the new
equilibrium position where net force becomes zero.

It is defined as the work done at the sleeve for a given change in speed.
Therefore,
Power of governor = Governor effort x Displacement of sleeve

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Characteristics of Governors
Different governors can be compared on the basis of following
characteristics :
1.Stability :
A governor is said to be stable when there is one radius of rotation of
the balls for each speed which is within the speed range of the
governor.
2. Sensitiveness
The smaller the change in speed from no load to the full load, the more
sensitive the governor will be. According to this definition, the
sensitiveness of the governor shall be determined by the ratio of speed
range to the mean speed. The smaller the ratio more sensitive the
governor will be

where N2 – N1 = Speed range from no load to full load.

3.Isochronism
A governor is said to be isochronous if equilibrium speed is constant
for all the radii of rotation in the working range. Therefore, for an
isochronous governor the speed range is zero and this type of governor
shall maintain constant speed.

4.Hunting
Whenever there is change in speed due to the change in load on the
engine, the sleeve moves towards the new position but because of inertia
if overshoots the desired position. Sleeve then moves back but again
overshoots the desired position due to inertia. This results in setting up of
oscillations in engine speed. If the frequency of fluctuations in engine
speed coincides with the natural frequency of oscillations of the governor,
this results in increase of amplitude of oscillations due to resonance. The
governor, then, tends to intensity the speed variation instead of
controlling it. This phenomenon is known as hunting of the governor.
Higher the sensitiveness of the governor, the problem of hunting
becomes more acute.
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Porter Governor
• In Porter governor central load is attached
to the sleeve as shown in Fig .
• The load moves up and down the central
spindle. This additional downward force
increases the speed of revolution required
to enable the balls to rise to any
predetermined level.
• Consider the forces acting on one-half of
the governor as shown in Fig.

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Though there are several ways of
determining the relation between the
height of the governor (h) and the angular
speed of the balls (ω), yet the following
two methods are important from the
subject point of view :
1. Method of resolution of forces ; and
2. Instantaneous centre method.
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 Hartnell Governor
• A Hartwell governor is a spring loaded governor as shown in Fig. 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.

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• 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.

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