The engine only earns
while it turns
Ignition modules and closed-loop air and fuel ratio control for gas engines, CHP and gensets, where ignition energy, timing and a drifting gas composition decide availability and efficiency.
A stopped engine earns nothing and still costs
A CHP or genset installation is financed on running hours. The capital is spent whether it runs or not, and the return arrives only while it is generating, which makes availability the whole business case rather than a performance metric.
Most of what stops a gas engine is not dramatic. It is misfire that was tolerated, ignition energy that fell away with the plugs, or a mixture that drifted with the gas and took efficiency down with it before anyone looked.
Gas composition is the complication that engines on natural gas do not share. Landfill, digester and biogas all vary through the day and across a season, and an engine tuned against a fixed assumption is only correct occasionally.
Every process decision starts at a measurement point
A plant measures across the whole site. Level in vessels and bulk storage. Position on valves and actuators. Oil condition in rotating machinery, ignition and mixture on the engines, and wind at the stack, the flare and the fence line.
Stack emissions and dispersion
A permit is written around where the plume goes, and where it goes is decided by wind and stability rather than by the stack.
- WindMaster Pro 3-axis to 32 Hz for dispersion and stability
- MetConnect THP two analogue inputs for third-party gas analysers
- WindObserver 75 long-duration wind reference at stack height
Flare stack and elevated release
Flare performance and radiation contours both move with the wind, and the sensor sits in the one place on site nobody wants to visit.
- WindObserver 90 0 to 90 m/s, 316 stainless, no moving parts
- WindObserver IS ATEX, IECEx and UKEX certified for classified areas
- WindSonic 75 0 to 75 m/s at a secondary elevated position
Process vessels and columns
Level in a vessel is a control variable and a safety case at the same time, and a float that sticks is invisible until it matters.
- LevelPro capacitive, stainless steel, IP66 and IP68, no moving parts
- LevelSlick FEP coated for viscous, particulate or corrosive liquids
- DD1615 level display local indication alongside the output
Bulk storage tanks
Stock reconciliation and overfill protection both come off the same measurement, and the tank is usually the last thing anyone recalibrates.
- LevelPro +5 to +32 V DC, 0-10 V or 4-20 mA output, RS232 for configuration
- LevelLite lightweight aluminium, IP68, voltage or current output
- LevelSlick operating -40 to +85 degrees C for difficult liquids
Classified and hazardous areas
In a zoned area the certification decides what can be installed, and nothing about the specification matters until that question is closed.
- WindObserver IS ATEX, IECEx and UKEX, with EN 60945:2002 for EMC
- LevelPro fully sealed solid-state electronics
- MetConnect THP sited outside the zone, feeding the same record
Gas engine ignition
Combined heat and power only pays while the engine runs, and ignition is where availability is won or lost.
- GS12 Ignition Module up to 12 cylinders, spark duration to 3000 microseconds, IP67
- GS8 Ignition Module up to 8 cylinders, static and non-static, IP67
- GT6 Ignition Module 1 to 6 cylinders, engines to 13 litres, IP67
Air and fuel ratio control
Gas composition drifts, and an engine tuned to yesterday’s gas runs rich, runs hot or trips.
- AF120 Air/Fuel Ratio Controller closed loop on a Bosch UEGO lambda sensor, IP67
- GS12 Ignition Module ignition timing and energy alongside mixture control
- AF120 interfaces CAN, 4-20 mA and RS232 outputs
Rotating machinery oil condition
Compressors, gearboxes and engines fail from wear that is already in the oil while the vibration signature still looks normal.
- WearDetect oil debris sensing for ferrous wear particles
- WearDetect with display local indication alongside the output
- LevelPro lubrication level in the same machine
Hydraulic and lubrication systems
A hydraulic reservoir dropping slowly is a leak somewhere, and the first sign is usually the level rather than the puddle.
- LevelPro capacitive, no moving parts to stick
- LevelLite lightweight option for skid-mounted plant
- DD1615 level display local display at the machine
Valve and actuator position
A valve that reports the command rather than the position is a control loop running on an assumption.
- Blade position sensors non-contact inductive, no wearing parts
- Blade60 contactless linear position feedback
- Blade Dual Output a second independent channel where redundancy is required
Cooling towers and plume
Cooling capacity derates with wet bulb temperature, and plume visibility is a neighbour complaint before it is an engineering one.
- MetConnect THP temperature 0.2 degrees C, humidity 1.5 percent RH
- MaxiMet GMX500 wind, temperature, humidity and pressure in one unit
- WindSonic 60 local airflow reference at the tower
Worker heat stress on the plant
Operators work in coveralls beside hot equipment, and air temperature alone understates what that does to them.
- MaxiMet GMX552 WBGT heat stress with wind, T, H and P, 1.29 kg, IP66
- MaxiMet GMX500 wind, temperature, humidity and pressure
- MetConnect One where third-party sensors join the same station
Site boundary and neighbour monitoring
Odour, noise and dust complaints are argued at the fence line, and without wind data at the boundary there is nothing to argue with.
- MaxiMet GMX551 wind, T, H, P, solar and rainfall in one housing
- WindMaster Pro 3-axis for dispersion and source attribution
- MetConnect THP analogue inputs for boundary analysers
Bunding, drainage and interceptors
A bund only works if somebody knows it is filling, and rainfall is usually what fills it.
- LevelPro capacitive level with no moving parts to foul
- LevelSlick FEP coated for contaminated or oily water
- TruMet PW100 optical rainfall, 0 to 200 mm/hr, nothing to block
Control room and plant historian
A measurement that does not reach the historian in a protocol the DCS accepts is a measurement nobody will ever look at.
- MetConnect One Modbus RTU and ASCII, SDI-12 v1.3, NMEA 0183
- WindObserver 75 RS422 and RS485, Modbus RTU variant available
- AF120 CAN, 4-20 mA and RS232 into plant control
Calibration and compliance
Permit reporting, safety cases and stock reconciliation all rest on instruments somebody has to prove are right.
- UKAS-accredited calibration six parameters under one accreditation
- Multi-parameter calibration equipment from any manufacturer
- Recalibration scheduling intervals, reminders and turnaround
Ignition and mixture decide what the engine returns
Ignition energy has to be sufficient for the mixture actually present rather than for the mixture assumed at commissioning. A lean mixture needs more energy to light, and an ignition system that was adequate on a rich gas becomes marginal when the composition moves.
Timing carries the same problem. Ignition advance that suits one gas quality is not optimal for another, and the engine reports the difference as reduced output or as knock rather than as a diagnostic.
Closed-loop air and fuel ratio control is what makes a variable gas manageable. Measuring and correcting continuously keeps the engine at the ratio it should be running at while the composition moves underneath it.
Beneath both, the mechanical condition of the engine is doing its own drift. Ferrous debris accumulates in the lubricant through the whole degradation process, well before vibration or performance shows anything.
Energy and timing for the gas you actually have
The GS8, GS12 and GT6 ignition modules provide controlled ignition energy and timing for gas engines, on installations running anything from pipeline natural gas to landfill and digester gas.
Controlled ignition matters most where the gas is variable, because that is where a fixed assumption stops being true first. Spark duration and energy are part of the specification rather than a consequence of the coil that was fitted.
Ignition specified, not inherited
View gas engine controlsClosed loop against a moving composition
Open-loop mixture control assumes the gas is what it was at commissioning. On landfill, digester and biogas installations that assumption fails daily, and the cost is efficiency that nobody attributes to anything.
The AF120 provides closed-loop air and fuel ratio control, correcting continuously so the engine runs at the intended ratio while the composition moves. It integrates over CAN into engine and plant control.
Correct the ratio, not the assumption
View gas engine controlsAvailability is contracted
CHP installations run under availability guarantees, energy performance contracts and maintenance agreements, all of which are settled from recorded running hours and recorded faults.
That makes engine data commercial rather than technical. A condition and control record that shows what the engine was doing, and when it was corrected, is what supports a position when availability is challenged.
Where the site also carries anemometers, pressure instruments and probes, Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, calibrating equipment from any manufacturer.
What a gas engine installation carries
Ignition and mixture control for the engine itself, condition monitoring for the drivetrain beneath it, and the site measurement around it.
Engine control
Gas engine controls
Ignition modules and air fuel ratio control
GS8, GS12 and GT6 ignition modules with the AF120 closed-loop air and fuel ratio controller, integrating over CAN.
WearDetect
Oil debris sensor
Ferrous debris in engine and gearbox oil, reported fine and coarse separately alongside water presence and oil temperature.
Level sensing
Capacitive liquid level sensors
Oil, coolant and condensate level with no float, with a FEP-coated variant for the liquids a digester site produces.
Plant and site
Blade position sensors
Non-contact inductive position sensing
Non-contact position feedback on valve, damper and actuator mechanisms around the engine and the heat network.
MaxiMet
All-in-one weather station, no moving parts
Outside temperature and conditions, which is what a heat network is sized against and judged on.
WindObserver
Heated 316 stainless open-head 2-axis anemometer
Certified wind measurement where the installation includes classified areas around gas handling.
Where gas engine control does the work
Variable composition
Engines running a gas that changes through the day, where closed-loop control is the difference between rated and actual output.
Biogas installations
Sites where the feedstock decides the gas and the gas decides the engine tune.
Heat and power
Installations judged on annual efficiency and contracted on availability.
Plant rooms
Engines in basements and plant rooms where failure is discovered late and access is poor.
Availability on demand
Sets that have to start and carry load on the day they are called, having run rarely.
OEM integration
Ignition and control specified into the build rather than added to it.
UKAS-accredited calibration for six measurement parameters
Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited calibration laboratory, Lab 0625, operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. It provides calibration across gas and air flow, air velocity, liquid flow, pressure, temperature and humidity.
Where the installation also carries anemometers, Pitot tubes, thermal probes, pressure instruments, thermometers, temperature and humidity probes and data loggers, a single accredited laboratory keeps the whole site on one traceable schedule.
Gas meters · Mass flow controllers · Dispensing systems
Anemometers · Pitot tubes · Thermal probes
Flow meters and sensors · Process control equipment
Gauges · Transducers · Manometers · Transmitters
Thermometers · Probes · Thermocouples · Data loggers
Hygrometers · Probes · Transmitters
Getting control and condition into the plant system
An engine control decision is taken in milliseconds and reviewed in a monthly report, so the same installation has to serve the engine controller and the plant management system.
Gill supports environmental monitoring, industrial sensing, embedded electronics and systems integration, so engine builders, operators and plant contractors can bring ignition, mixture and condition data into existing control architecture.
Whether the requirement is CAN into an engine controller, Modbus into plant control, or analogue into an existing channel, Gill engineers can support integration from specification through commissioning.
Outputs and options
- CAN : Engine controllers and OEM integration
- Modbus RTU : Plant control and SCADA
- 4-20 mA & 0-10 V : Existing analogue channels
- RS232 & RS485 : Serial links and local displays
What the specification looks like in practice
Ignition energy as a specification
GS8, GS12 and GT6 provide controlled ignition energy and timing rather than whatever the fitted coil happens to deliver.
Closed loop against a moving gas
The AF120 corrects the air and fuel ratio continuously, which is what a variable composition requires.
Built for the gases that vary
Landfill, digester and biogas installations are where an open-loop assumption fails first and costs most.
Wear seen before the outage
WearDetect reports fine and coarse ferrous debris separately, so a failing component is visible while it is still a component.
Level without a float
Capacitive sensing covers oil, coolant and condensate with no moving component in the fluid.
Into the controller you already run
CAN, Modbus, analogue and serial outputs, so the measurement reaches the system that already exists.
Questions about gas engines and combined heat and power
Because ignition energy and air fuel ratio both depend on it. Landfill, digester and biogas vary through the day and across a season, so an engine tuned against a fixed assumption is only correct some of the time.
The AF120 provides closed-loop air and fuel ratio control, correcting continuously as the composition moves.
GS8, GS12 and GT6 cover different engine configurations and cylinder counts. The selection depends on the engine, the gas and the control requirement, and the engineering team can advise against the specific installation.
It keeps the engine at the intended air and fuel ratio while the gas composition moves, rather than at a ratio that was correct at commissioning. That shows up as efficiency and as fewer mixture-related faults.
WearDetect monitors ferrous debris in the oil, reporting fine and coarse separately alongside water presence and oil temperature. On an installation contracted on availability, seeing wear before the outage is the point.
The gas engine controls integrate over CAN, and the condition and level sensing provides CAN, Modbus RTU, analogue and serial outputs. The engineering team can advise on the interface a particular controller expects.
Yes. Gill supports OEM integration, and the engineering team can advise on sensor selection, mounting, output formats, communication protocols and installation requirements.
Speak to our team
Tell us what you need to measure, where and under what conditions. We’ll help you work out the appropriate approach.
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