Back Up Power Generator: Understanding Fuels–Part II
by Guest Author Ted Blanchard
Generator Fuels
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Different types of generators are designed to run on fuels that may include, gasoline, propane, natural gas and diesel. Don’t get one that runs on electricity though (that’s a little joke, folks). For the sake of brevity, I won’t go into water-powered or gasified wood-powered generators. Battery started engines are just fine and make the use much more enjoyable. Some generators can be modified to run on something other than their original design fuel, and some can selectively run on more than one type of fuel. These are not very common and potentially add complexity to the system that could translate to shorter life span or undesirable operation, but properly configured tri-fuel (propane, natural gas and gasoline) generators provide flexibility and can make sense in some circumstances. The dry fuel “carburetor” does not add much complexity but, as with all things, the KISS principle applies.