Industry News

Subsea success

The Åsgard subsea compression system has officially reached the highest Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7, with both trains surpassing 10,000 operating hours. The subsea facility demonstrated an availability close to 100%. The few interruptions were caused by failure of the power supply from the vessel.

MAN’s HOFIM motor-compressors were supplied to Statoil’s contractor Aker Solutions for installation in the North Sea. The units help to extend the reservoirs’ productive life on the Åsgard field for another 15 years. Overall, 306 million barrels of oil equivalent will be added.

The adapted subsea HOFIM features a tailored motor design, casings designed for 220 bar pressure, a 7-axes active magnetic bearing system and a cooling gas extraction.

Compressors maintain output as reservoir pressure at gas producing fields drops over time. But they are generally installed on platforms above sea level. The two 11.5 MW HOFIM motor-compressor-units at Åsgard are the first compressors in operation 300 meters below sea level.

MAN subsea unit

Ansaldo contract

Glow Energy in Thailand awarded a long-term service agreement (LTSA) to

Ansaldo Energia for the Glow Energy Phase 5 power plant, 200 km southeast of Bangkok. It generates 328 MW of electricity plus 160 tons/hour of steam to support local industry.

Commissioned in 2011, the plant consists of one Siemens SGT5-4000F gas turbine (GT) coupled to an electrical generator, heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and an ST. The 15-year LTSA covers planned and unplanned maintenance, replacement of capital parts and remote monitoring and diagnostics (RM&D) for the GT with inspection-only required services on the generator.

MHPS order

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has received an order to supply an M701S(DA)X GT and generator for the No.2 Power Plant of Chinese steelmaker, Ansteel Group. The equipment is part of a blast-furnace-gas (BFG) fired combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with 180 MW output.

Operations are scheduled to commence in 2019. By-product gases emitted by the blast and coke furnaces will provide part of the electric power. The facility will encompass the M701S(DA)X GT, a heat recovery boiler, ST, generator, gas compressor, and other auxiliary equipment. In addition, MHPS will supply the gas compressor, electrostatic precipitator and speed reduction unit.

Doosan acquisition Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction America (DHIA) has completed the acquisition of U.S. GT service provider, ACT Independent Turbo Service. Headquartered in Houston, ACT provides maintenance services for core components, such as combustions, turbines and rotors. The company will be renamed Doosan Turbomachinery Services. This earns Doosan a bridgehead to the U.S. GT market which is worth 16 GW a year.

Air separation units Air Products’ three large air separation units (ASUs) in Hangjinqi, Inner Mongolia, for Inner Yitai Chemical have come on-stream. The facilities supply more than 9,000 tons per day of gaseous oxygen, four pressure levels of gaseous nitrogen, instrument air, and plant air to a plant which produces 1.2 million tons/year of chemicals. Air Products’ ASU trains are equipped with air compressors and a closed-circuit water cooling system to reduce water use.

GE in Pakistan

Along with Chinese EPC partner, Harbin Electric, GE has supplied and installed two 9HA.01 GTs and one ST to the 1.2 GW LNG-fueled Balloki CCPP in Punjab, currently under development by Pakistan’s government. Scheduled for commissioning later this year, it will feature a primary re-gasified LNG fuel system, a secondary diesel fuel system, water-cooled condensers and a cooling tower. The first turbine is now producing up to 380 MW.

In addition, Daya Bay Nuclear Power Operations and Management Co. (DNMC) has signed a multiyear agreement with GE’s Power Services to provide services to the STs, generators and auxiliary systems at its Daya Bay, Ling Ao and Ling Dong nuclear power plants in Hong Kong.

The plants were originally built by Alstom. In 2016, these plants supplied nearly 45 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the grid. Under the 12-year agreement, GE will provide spare parts, engineering support, on-site service, repair and life extension for the STs.

Waste-to-energy

In the German city of Herten, a waste-to-energy plant is about to supplement its electricity and heat production with a steam turbine (ST) by MAN Diesel & Turbo. Ruhr Waste Disposal Company has ordered a MAN MARC series GT to raise the output of its district heating and electric power assets.

Six combustion lines in Herten generate steam, converted by STs and generators to electrical power and district heating. In the cooler months of the year, the focus is on decoupling district heating as heat energy; in the warmer months, the emphasis is on power generation. In addition to waste, biomass and waste heat are used to power industrial processes.

The new waste-to-energy plant in Germany[/caption]

Boiler facility

Nationwide Boiler has a new storage and maintenance facility for rental and stock boiler equipment, located in Broken Arrow, OK. The location is owned by Applied Global Cogeneration (AGC), a cogeneration system supplier with a 112,000 square foot manufacturing and test facility. This brings Nationwide Boiler’s total to eight separate storage and maintenance facilities across the U.S.

Egyptian deal

MHPS has secured a contract from Cairo Electricity Production Company (CEPC) to upgrade the 750 MW Cairo North CCPP Module I in Egypt. The natural gas-fired power station uses two M701F GTs as core components, as well as Hitachi STs. The upgrade project is expected to help CEPC increase output, enhance efficiency and cut downtime losses through extension of the inspection intervals. Under the contract, the upgraded parts to be supplied by MHPS for the M701F include spare rotors, upgraded control system and parts for the ST and generators.

RWG contract Gulfstream Natural Gas System (Gulfstream) has awarded RWG an LTSA for three Siemens SGT-A30 RB (Industrial RB211 24G) Dry Low Emission (DLE) gas generators in operation at Gulfstream’s Compressor Station 410 located at Coden, AL. RWG is responsible for scheduled maintenance, including mid-life and major overhaul. The scope of work encompasses in-field repairs supported by Siemens, and gas generator overhauls performed at RWG’s workshops in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Dresser-Rand in ChinaThe Dresser-Rand business, part of Siemens Power and Gas, will supply power generation equipment for two offshore projects in China. CNOOC is the client for the Penglai 19-3 oil field project and HGGT is the client for the Dongfang 13-2 gas field development project. The Penglai offshore oil field is one of the largest in China. Located in Bohai Bay, it was discovered in 1999.

The scope of supply includes two SGT-A30 RB (formerly the Industrial RB211 GT62) power generation trains for the Penglai platform. The 30 MW SGT-A30 RB turbines represent the first offshore aeroderivative gas turbine package Dresser-Rand sold to CNOOC.

The Dongfang field, discovered in 2012, is a high-pressure, high-temperature gas field located in the South China Sea. The scope of supply consists of three SGT-600 power generation trains (each 25 MW). Core components of each train include an industrial GT, base frame, lube oil system, unit control panel and gearbox, all supplied by Dresser-Rand.

Sulzer nuclear contractEDF Energy, which operates eight nuclear power stations in the UK, has awarded a “fixed-cost” contract to Sulzer for the maintenance and continued support of the boiler feed pumps at the Heysham 2 plant in the Northwest of England. The focus is on minimizing downtime for the Sulzer boiler feed pumps. An engineer will be permanently on site to manage day-to-day operation and to assist the maintenance team.

Voith Digital Solutions campus

Voith has opened a digital campus for the Voith Digital Solutions Division (DS). Established in Raleigh, NC, DS is about bundling Voith’s automation and IT expertise with know-how in hydro power generation, paper machines and critical power train components for rail, marine and the oil & gas industry. This division works to develop products and services by driving IoT innovations.

Doosan Škoda Power in DenmarkDoosan Škoda Power has signed a contract with Dong Energy, a Denmark-based energy company, for the supply of a complete machine hall and turbine generator set for the Asnæs Power Station. The scope of the project includes the supply of a double-casing extraction turbine with a generator, auxiliaries and equipment with a maximum capacity of 30 MW. The third quarter of 2018 will see the first deliveries to the site. The handover to the customer is planned for the end of 2019. Dong Energy plans to phase out coal by 2023.

Microturbines and shale gas

Capstone Turbine has received an order for a C600S microturbine to provide power for a shale gas project in the Ohio Utica Shale region. E-Finity Distributed Generation, Capstone’s distributor for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S., secured the order which is estimated to be commissioned in October. The microturbines will provide primary power in a location where no utility power is readily available.

The C600S microturbine will operate on pipeline quality natural gas and be installed in standalone mode at a remote midstream natural gas compressor station in Monroe County, OH.

The Signature Series microturbine will provide three-phase power to the remote site while reducing the customer’s carbon footprint, the company said.

“As crude oil trades near two-month highs on the back of the reported drop in U.S. stockpiles, we are seeing increased activity in the U.S. shale market,” said Darren Jamison, Capstone’s President and CEO.

Baker Hughes contracts

Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) has announced a second major contract for Eni East Africa’s (EEA) Coral South floating LNG (FLNG) development in offshore Mozambique.

The contract was awarded by a joint venture formed by TechnipFMC and JGC, a consortium that will act as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider. The second contract will allow BHGE to provide rotating equipment for the power and gas refrigeration process of the new FLNG facility.

The order consists of four turbo-compression trains for mix refrigeration services, using the company’s aeroderivative PGT25+G4 GT and driving its centrifugal compressors. In addition, the company will provide four turbo-generation units, also driven by PGT25+G4 GTs.

The components will be manufactured at BHGE Nuovo Pignone site in Florence, Italy, where the train will be assembled. It will be tested in the nearby Massa facility. A third contract was awarded to BHGE, which includes the supply of boil-off gas (BOG) and booster compressors capable of operating at -180° C to re-liquefy excessive BOG evaporating out of the LNG storage tanks.

Controls upgrade

HPI has been selected to design, manufacture, install and commission the control system upgrade for two Ruston TB5000 compressors for TGN’s La Carlota plant in Argentina. This will modernize compressor controls. This upgrade will also allow the company to continue the standardization process on all installations. The project is estimated to be completed by December 2017.

GE upgrade project

An independent power producer (IPP) JFE Steel has selected GE’s Power Services business to modernize, increase output and improve operational flexibility at its facility. GE’s services will include an MXL2 GT upgrade, a low-pressure ST retrofit and lifetime management on a GT26  GT. The upgrades are expected to increase output by around 60 MW. Under the multi-year agreement, GE will also offer operations and maintenance (O&M) services for up to 15 years.

Energy demand to plateau Energy demand is set to plateau after 2030, driven by greater efficiency with the wider application of electricity. A rapid decarbonization of the energy supply means renewables are set to make up almost half of the energy mix by 2050, although gas will become the biggest single source of energy. This is according to DNV GL’s inaugural Energy Transition Outlook.

Historically, energy demand and CO2 emissions have moved broadly in line with GDP and population growth, but that relationship will unravel, said the report. Electrification, particularly with the uptake of renewables, will change the way energy is supplied and consumed. While the global economy and world population are set to grow modestly, energy demand will flatten out and CO2  emissions will drop sharply.

DNV GL forecasts that renewables and fossil fuels will have an almost equal share of the energy mix by 2050. Wind power and solar photovoltaics (PV) will drive the continued expansion of renewable energy, while gas is on course to surpass oil in 2034 as the single biggest energy source.

Oil is losing ground as a source of heat and power, and is set to flatten from 2020 through to 2028 and fall significantly from that point as the penetration of electric vehicles gains momentum. Coal use has already peaked.

The global energy transition will occur without a significant increase in overall annual energy expenditure, said DNV GL. The world’s energy will cost less than 3% of global GDP compared to the current level of 5%. Solar PV and wind are set to decrease by 18% and 16%, respectively.

Electric vehicles will achieve cost parity with internal combustion vehicles in 2022, and by 2033, half of new light vehicle sales globally will be electric.

Rockwell chairmanRockwell Automation has elected President and CEO Blake Moret as chairman of the board effective January 1, 2018. Moret, 54, succeeds Keith Nosbusch, who served as chairman since 2005 and remains as a director. Moret began his career in 1985 as a sales trainee, and subsequently served in senior positions across the organization. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Oil analysis Spectro Scientific has won a contract from the U.S. Navy to provide fluid analysis equipment and support. Under the contract, Spectro will manufacture, test and deliver up to 69 model M-N/W SpectrOil RDE spectrometers to replace the Navy and Marine Corp’s oil analysis programs.

Technical data, logistics support documents, initial consumables, and maintenance kits and parts will be included. The atomic emission spectrometer detects and measures metals, contaminants and additives in lubricants, hydraulic fluids and coolants.

Emerson retrofit

Emerson has been selected to retrofit outdated controls at the Elektrik Uretim A.S. (EÜAS) Ambarli A CCPP in Istanbul, Turkey. Replacing the controls with a unified Ovation platform is expected to improve the reliability of the plant, which supplies electricity to western Istanbul. The contract was awarded by Temsan, a government-owned organization.

Ambarli A consists of three, 450 MW power blocks, each in a 2x2x1 configuration, with a total generating capacity of 1,350 MW. Under the contract, Emerson will replace existing controls with its Ovation system, which will control more than 20,000 I/O points in all.

Ovation technology will directly control and provide overspeed protection for the plant’s six Siemens V94.2 GTs. The system will also control three Siemens dual-pressure condensing STs, HRSGs and balance-of-plant equipment and processes.

Emerson will also install its Ovation SIS for SIL3 turbine protection and emergency shutdown systems and perform a digital electro-hydraulic control system rehabilitation for the third block’s GTs. The project is expected to be completed by March 31, 2018.

Turboden order Turboden signed an order with Cyrq Energy for an ORC turbogenerator. It exploits geothermal brine from existing geothermal wells for the production of electricity. The Lightning Dock Geothermal HI-01 facility is located in southwest New Mexico, in Hidalgo County.

A single axial turbine from Turboden provides 13.7 MWe (off design up to 15.2 MWe). Turbine efficiency is about 90%. The plant’s production varies according to ambient conditions: derating of 1% efficiency during summer and 4% during winter. The plant is currently under construction and it is planned to be in operation in the first quarter of 2019.