Load Acceptance
Load acceptance is the engine's ability to take on a suddenly applied load without dropping too much speed and without stalling. It is measured by two numbers: the instantaneous speed dip at the moment of loading, and the time for the speed to return to an acceptable band. In a good system the dip is limited and recovery takes a few seconds.
At the moment the load is applied the torque the engine produces falls short and the speed drops. The governor sees this and increases fuel; on a turbocharged diesel the fuel is limited by air for as long as the turbo needs to spool up, so the engine may emit some smoke during recovery.
- Applying the load in steps rather than in one go noticeably reduces the dip.
- A single-step load that is far too large for the engine's power can pull the speed into the stall region and stop the engine.
- Load acceptance gets worse on a cold engine and at high altitude.
In drilling and irrigation applications this yields a practical rule: instead of bringing the pump in abruptly at full throttle and full load, the speed should be raised in a controlled manner. The soft ramp of the GS740-3P removes the abrupt step on the throttle side; the load itself must still be applied in stages on the hydraulic or mechanical side.
The context in which this term is used: Electronic speed and throttle control on a diesel engine