{"id":33425,"date":"2020-01-21T10:14:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T09:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nueva.genesalenergy.com\/temperatura-y-altitud-como-afectan-a-la-potencia-de-un-generador\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T13:26:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T11:26:20","slug":"how-temperature-and-elevation-affect-generators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/communication\/articles\/how-temperature-and-elevation-affect-generators\/","title":{"rendered":"Dereating: how Temperature and Elevation Affect Generators"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-33366 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/GE-newsletter-derating-article-ENG.jpg\" alt=\"Testing a generator derating ambient temperature\" width=\"900\" height=\"500\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2>In certain environmental conditions, generators can suffer power losses. Preventing these will allow us to ensure the maximum efficiency of our equipment.<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All engines and alternators are capable of offering 100% capacity when they operate in standard or not so demanding environmental conditions, but when they must function in environments with <\/span><b>high ambient temperature<\/b> <b>or at a high elevation or altitude above sea level<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, their capacities may be reduced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The engine manufacturers, for instance, usually guarantee a certain performance provided that some values are not exceeded (generally a temperature of 25\u00baC and 1000 m above sea level). If these values are exceeded, the user has to bear in mind that, very likely, the engine will not perform at its top capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This loss of power in function of temperature and elevation is known as <\/span><b>derating<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and is something which has to be very much taken into account when it comes to sizing a generator.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>\u00a0Generator dereating factor in conditions of altitude<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as it happens to us human beings as we climb higher above sea level, the <\/span><b>lack of oxygen and the low pressure <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">affect the performance of the generator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elevation affects all kinds of engines, but this effect is more prevalent in atmospheric engines, which depend upon atmospheric pressure for the air to reach the cylinders adequately.\u00a0 These losses of power may even occur at elevations below 1000 meters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the case of turbo engines, the turbine is capable of countering this air deficit. Therefore, generally, the <\/span><b>power derating<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of this type of engines starts to occur at an elevation of 1000 meters above sea level and its effect is inferior to that affecting atmospheric engines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The alternator<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also suffers at a higher elevation, given that with less air it tends to overheat. In general, the majority of manufacturers guarantee that the <\/span><b>alternators<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will not lose power until reaching 1000 meters above sea level. At higher values, the average loss of power is generally of 3% for 500 m of elevation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Generator performance at high temperatures<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generally, temperature affects generator engines starting at 40\u00baC. Above this ambient temperature:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The air is already very hot<\/b> <b>and its quality is no longer optimal to generate good combustion when mixed with fuel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This generates loss of power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The fuel may reach the engine at an excessive temperature,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and combustion will not take place in adequate conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The efficiency of the cooling system will be diminished.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> As a result, if the radiator is not correctly sized, the generator can stop functioning due to an excessive water temperature.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Generator derating ambient temperature<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As far as the <\/span><b>alternator <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is concerned, it is also affected by high temperatures. The majority of manufacturers guarantee the power of their alternators, as long as they operate at an ambient temperature of below 40\u00b0C. At higher values, the derating in an alternator is generally of 3% for each additional 5\u00ba C.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The importance of having foresight<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given all of the above, when sizing a generator, <\/span><b>it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the environmental conditions under which it will operate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, i.e.: the inferior and superior limits of ambient temperature and barometric pressure in the setting-up location, as well as the elevation above sea level at which the equipment will be located.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With this clear information provided, we, the engineers, shall be able to foresee and counter the effects of <\/span><b>power derating<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, selecting the most adequate engines and alternators for each equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>If your project will be carried out in extraordinary environmental conditions, we at GENESAL ENERGY can advise you and size your generator in such a way that your ideas never lack power.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In certain environmental conditions, generators can suffer power losses. Preventing these will allow us to ensure the maximum efficiency of our equipment. All engines and alternators are capable of offering 100% capacity when they operate in standard or not so demanding environmental conditions, but when they must function in environments with high ambient temperature or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[308,533],"tags":[89,133,260],"pais":[],"class_list":["post-33425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-communication","tag-altitud","tag-derating","tag-temperatura"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52858,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33425\/revisions\/52858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33425"},{"taxonomy":"pais","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genesalenergy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pais?post=33425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}