Gas Generator Bid Review: Fuel Basis Is Not Electrical Output

Name the boundary before comparing the number

A gas-generator quotation can look complete while leaving its energy boundary undefined. The useful purchasing question is not which bidder has the smallest consumption entry. It is whether the entry describes the offered electrical package, under the requested fuel and duty conditions. An engine reference and a generator-set reference should occupy separate columns until their relationship is documented.

This is a purchasing-document review, not a generator sizing method, fuel-treatment design or operating instruction. No efficiency calculation or site-performance prediction is supplied here.

Evidence boundary

The YDN catalogue, PDF page 3, separates YDNQ-300 set output of 300 kW from a QSK19N-G1 engine consumption entry of 10 MJ/kW.h at 343 kW engine output. The latter carries reference atmospheric and pipeline-gas conditions. The set entry does not define prime, standby or continuous duty. Neither entry alone establishes fuel consumption per unit of delivered site electricity.

Fictional comparison: two differently bounded offers

The following desk-review scenario is fictional. Documents G-A and G-B are invented comparison records, not actual quotations or manufacturer commitments. No new equipment rating is assumed.

G-A copies the engine consumption entry into a column headed electrical consumption. Its attachment is the catalogue engine table. G-B identifies the electrical delivery boundary but leaves the fuel-consumption field unanswered pending the customer's gas analysis. A spreadsheet that ranks only populated cells would make G-A appear more complete. That conclusion would reward a mislabeled number.

The result is a scope finding, not a winning bid. G-A needs its label corrected and package-level supporting evidence. G-B still needs the missing performance document. A transparent omission is easier to resolve than a number assigned to the wrong boundary, but neither document is technically accepted by this exercise.

Keep corrections separate from assumptions

Create a correction log beside the bid tab. Identify the original cell, the attached document and the reason that the label cannot be retained. Preserve the original attachment; do not quietly overwrite its engine designation with the package name.

For the next clarification, ask each bidder to state the fuel-analysis reference, heating-value convention, electrical delivery point, auxiliary-load treatment and duty definition used in its offer. Request the supporting package document and applicable revision. These are requested documentary fields, not claims that the catalogue contains the answers.

What closes the comparison?

Three questions determine whether the fuel-consumption cells can be compared: do they refer to the same output boundary, the same stated fuel basis and the same requested duty? A missing answer remains an open item. Unit formatting cannot resolve an unknown denominator or establish a correction factor.

Use the natural-gas generator reference for the source-bound entries. In the RFQ Builder, attach the requested comparison basis and the unresolved questions. Keep site gas information in the private inquiry attachments. A completed comparison sheet records the evidence received; it is not an operating release.