Page 65 - Piston Engine-Based Power Plants

Diesel Engines 57

One of the advantages of low-speed engines is their part load effi-
ciency which varies very little over a range of outputs between 50%
and 100% load. Whereas gas and steam turbines outputs tend to fall as
the load decreases, that of a low-speed diesel engine is relatively flat
over a similar load range. Efficiency can fall at lower loads but where
this is an issue, plants can be built with several engines, with one or
more taken out of service as load falls in order to raise the load and
efficiency of the remaining engine(s).