First 50DFs for a power plant

The first power plant installation of Wärtsilä's 50DF 17.1 MW 18 cylinder dual fuel genset, a unit first made available in 2002, is to be at the Manisa plant in western Turkey. The company will supply 3x50DFs rated at 16.638 MWe each together with four 20V34SG sets each rated at 8.73 MWe – 84.8 MWe in all – as part of its EPC contract to upgrade and extend the existing 54.3 MWe CHP station and allowing a change of fuel from heavy oil to natural gas. Electricity will be delivered through 34.5 kV transformers to the park's local grid, any surplus being sold to the public grid at a price determined by the Turkish electricity authority.

The site currently houses a 54.3 MW baseload plant, with three 18V46 diesel gensets supplied by Wärtsilä in 1999. It met the heat and electricity demand of Manisa Organised Industrial District (MOSB), one of Turkey's largest such business centres. MOSB houses some 115 companies from a range of industries, including paper, electronics, furniture, chemicals, textiles and food.

Made for distributed power

The 50DF units were originally launched with distributed power in mind, the main selling points being their superior perfomance over equivalent turbine powered sets at part load and high ambient temperatures, together with their suitability for CHP configurations.

This plant is designed for high overall efficiency and flexible operation. High energy efficiency depends on waste heat recovery supplying hot water and steam to the industrial park, total steam production capacity being around 40 t/h at a pressure of 14 bar. Hot water will be fed to the 6 km long district heating system serving the industrial park.

Flexibility comes from the combination of two sizes of gensets and the dual-fuel capability of the larger sets. The new engines will all run on natural gas piped to the site. The 50DFs are dual-fuel units requiring a pilot injection of light fuel oil, but they can be switched to operate solely on fuel oil in the event of an interruption in gas supply. The 34SGs are spark ignited gas engines.

While running on natural gas, the plant will be able to bypass the deSOx system installed for the original heavy fuel-burning engines and still meet environmental regulations. When heavy fuel oil is being fired, the deSOx can be put back into operation.

The 18V50DF generating sets were scheduled for delivery in September, the 34SG sets for January 2005. Total allowed installation time was seven months, and included a requirement to carry out the exhange while keeping two sets running at all times. Projected construction time for the extension is eight months.