GENSETS & DISTRIBUTED POWER

22 January 2001




Mobile GE

Commonwealth Edison of Chicago hired five GE TM2500 portable 23 MW power plants during last summer’s heat wave as an insurance policy against supply interruptions. The picture shows the trailer mounted travelling power plants heading off to Ireland, to help the Electricity Supply Board meet its increased demand for power during the winter months.

These assignments mark the debut of a new product that is literally a power plant on wheels: the TM2500, or trailer-mounted, gas turbine-generator offered by GE Energy Rentals. Claimed to be the largest mobile unit of its type in the industry, each TM2500 is capable of producing nearly 23 MW. The TM2500 was launched in late 1999 as a trailer-mounted version of GE’s LM2500, an aeroderivative gas turbine that has clocked up millions of hours of service. Totally assembled, the TM2500 includes a gas turbine-generator trailer, an inlet filter trailer, an exhaust trailer and an auxiliary trailer.

The units can be up and running within half an hour. Speed and mobility are prime advantages of the TM2500. Normally it would take up to 18 months to build a gas-fired power station, but these units can be rolled onto the site and ready to produce power within three days. A fully assembled trailer covers an area 70 x 100 ft

After completing the Chicago assignment, the five units were dismantled and shipped to Ireland, and now are located at two different sites in the country, ready to supply up to 115 MW of temporary winter peaking capacity through to the end of February, 2001, or longer if required. The five units represent about 2.5 per cent of ESB’ s total grid capacity of 4 500 MW, and will give the utility a safe margin in the event of unusually heavy winter demand from domestic and commercial customers.

For the application in Ireland, the GE units use distillate fuel with water injection for NOx suppression, operating at 50 Hz. In Chicago, the same units operated on natural gas at 60Hz. The company considers that flexible units of this type are redefining the portable power market.

The TM2500s are claimed to offer some key features in addition to speed and mobility, including low emissions and space savings. They occupy up to 60% less space than equivalent diesel capacity and can be sited in places not usually suitable.

While diesel engines also meet federal standards, their emissions levels are considerably higher, maybe as much as 20 times as high. Another advantage is reduced dependence on transmission lines because the source of the power is closer to the consumer. GE plans to add other units to its TM2500 fleet in 2001.

Doubling the power of the force

Britain's largest police station, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, has more than doubled its standby power capacity after installing a 205 kVA generating set, powered by a 6CTA8.3 turbocharged diesel engine, and supplied by Cummins Power Generation. Rated at 415 V at 50 Hz the set is providing back up for all essential supplies in the building. It is the largest of eight units installed and commissioned throughout the Thames valley region as part of an upgrade programme. MEMS Power Generation, Cummins dealer for Southern England, supplied and installed the new set together with a double skin fuel tank.

Silent movie

Atlas Copco’s latest on site power generation package is on location at Fox Film studios in Sydney, Australia. It has been designed to meet the stringent noise level requirements demanded by the Australian film industry, particularly for live outside broadcasts. In conjunction with Royco, Atlas Copco has produced a new 150 kVA genset package based on a Komatsu SA 6D 106 six cylinder liquid cooled diesel engine with Woodward PSG electric governing coupled to a Denyo DB 1981K revolving field brushless alternator. Insulated with 50 mm of rockwool, it is at 44 dBA the quietest rental available on the Australian market.

BP choose Capstone

Global energy giant BP has recently unveiled what is being called the world's most environmentally friendly power station, at the Madrid gas power station/energy museum. On a site that includes a 10 kW photovoltaic array, a 6 kW wind turbine and a geothermal exchange system to maximise the utilisation of residual heat, BP have chosen a Capstone 30kW micro turbogenerator as the facility’s primary source of ‘clean’ electricity. In addition to its electrical output the microturbine also produces hot water for space heating and to supply the site’s car wash facility, creating an overall thermal efficiency rating of around 80 per cent.

The facility, named ‘Harmony’, is part of BP’s Sunflower programme, a three year old scheme designed to demonstrate the company’s commitment to clean and renewable energy sources. In that time BP have installed photovoltaic solar panels in 40 power stations on the Iberian peninsula.

Capstone has recently celebrated the shipping of its 1000th microturbine. The natural gas powered unit is one of a consignment of six generators going to the Goose Island Beer Co in Chicago, where is will be used to power critical production equipment.

Supplied by robots

Yukosha Co Ltd of Japan has developed from its existing standby unit an emergency power generation robot that combines the generator and fuel tank into a compact unit and which can supply power continuously for 72h; even, say the makers, in the event of a major disaster.

Known as the V-Type, the diesel powered generator starts up automatically whenever a supply interruption is sensed. Recent developments include an enlarged fuel tank and and improved combustion air fan that has increased the suction and exhaust efficiency of the diesel engine, together making long-term operation possible.

The unit is a direct discharge type diesel engine and generator configured in a slim vertical shape (footprint 104x60 cm, height 159 cm) with vertical exhaust discharge. Output is single-phase 100V in 5kVA or 3kVA variations. An automatic maintenance function conducts regular test runs with the object of keeping the moving parts in good working order. The battery is an automatic re-charging compact sealed type lead storage battery intended to eliminate maintenance work.

The system is designed to withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 7 and is available in a severe weather specification; noise level is less than 65dB(A)/7m and the unit can be installed indoors or out.

Independent power for an independent station

Standby power for Budapest's new $260 million Csepel 2 power station consists of two 575 kVA gensets manufactured by Cummins. Situated on an island in the Danube, Csepel 2 is Hungary's first independently financed power station in over sixty years. It will supply 389 MW of electricity and 139 MW of heat for the capital.

Two CP500 gensets have been supplied by local dealer CAD Server. Each set is powered by a 12 cylinder KTA19.G4 turbocharged diesel engine and is equipped with a Cummins MC150 automatic control system with mains paralleling. Reaction time is 12 seconds. The supplied power from genset one will be used for maintenance operations with the second set as back up.

When PowerGen began work on Csepel 2 in 1997 the environmentally friendly gas fired station was the UK's largest investment in Hungary. It will supply up to 7 per cent of the country's total energy production, and district heating for 11 000 homes.

2 MW flywheel set

AVK SEG of Kempen, designers and manufacturers of diesel integrated rotary UPS and wind turbine generator systems have introduced the Concycle Break-Bridger flywheel set with capacities to 2 MW and 15 seconds ride-through time per module. The intention is to offer the Break-Bridger for use with emergency generating sets to bridge the start-up time of the diesel at mains failure, and thereby guarantee an interruption-free supply.

In the stand-alone rotating battery version the Break-Bridger provides the temporary source of power whilst the diesel is started. When incorporated into a diesel UPS system the features include dynamic voltage restoration, eliminating the effects of voltage sags and surges, interruption-free transfer to the diesel, harmonic attenuation and down-stream fault clearance capacity. Short interruptions are managed through the flywheel energy, avoiding unnecessary starting of the diesel engine.

Recent contracts include ISO containerised Powercon diesel UPS systems at 1600 kVA for Mexico, a 6.4 MVA Powercon diesel for UPS systems for Taiwan and more than 100 units of 1.5 MW Concycle systems for wind turbine generators destined for the USA.

Gensets relieve pile problems

Infrastructure work on stage 1 of Hong Kong’s HK$13 billion Cyberport development located on the island’s western shores adjacent to the heavily populated Pok Fulam residential district is currently on schedule and due for completion in late 2001. The specialist piling contractor Tyson Foundation Ltd uses a rental fleet of 18 Atlas Copco gensets and air compressors for its contract on the development, the fleet being supplied by Atlas’s own locally based rental company. It consists of eight generating sets featuring Detroit Diesel/Mecc Alte engine alternator combinations operating at the site and with outputs ranging from 165 kVA to 220 kVA, The sets were originally provided in 1999 at the start of the reclamation work and have been providing continuous power for dewatering pumps, office facilities and security/lighting systems ever since. Owing to the closeness of dwellings, stringent site construction noise controls are in force and each rental machine is provided with a soundproof enclosure which reduces the noise level break-out to Spl 70 dBA at 5m.

Turbine for Turkey

Alstom has received a repeat order for a complete GT10B gas turbine generator installation from Modern Enerji, part of the Turkish company Eren Holding. The 2.5 MW set is to be installed in Corlu, near Istanbul, and will form part of a combined cycle plant supplying electricity and steam to a nearby factory. The installation includes generator, gearbox, control system and mechanical and electrical ancillaries and will be delivered with a dual fuel combustion system enabling it to operate on a mix of fuels – natural gas and diesel. This is the second order for a GT10B from Modern Enerji - the first was delivered in mid 2000, with erection and commissioning in September last year.

Caterpillar expands UPS product line

Caterpillar Inc is expanding its line of UPS products with three 50 Hz models with 250 kVA/200 kW, 500kVA/400 kW and 750kVA/600 kW outputs. The systems use Active Power’s flywheel energy storage technology (see pp 29-31) capable of current flows from 380 to

1425 A; the units can be combined with a Cat generator to provide protection against extended brownouts or blackouts. The company has also produced 60 Hz versions of these models, offering 300 kVA, 600 kVA and 900 kVA units. In both versions digital components are used throughout, and lead-acid batteries have been eliminated from the design.




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