Industry News: July/August 2014

Kobe Steel’s Brazil office

Kobe Steel subsidiary Kobelco Machinery do Brazil Ltda. has begun full-scale marketing of nonstandard compressors in the South America. Based in Sao Paulo, this office satisfies high demand in this region for nonstandard compressors, which are used to compress and transport gases in oil & gas processing facilities. Kobe Steel has a 50% share of the world market for nonstandard, screw compressors, or custom-engineered process compressors.

MHI Distributed Power

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will establish a new “Distributed Power Business Development Department” within its Energy & Environment business domain to oversee business relating to small and medium-size power systems and equipment. This marks a shift from individual product sales to marketing and provision of solution packages, including servicing.

The new department will oversee gas turbines derived from aircraft engines, heavyduty small-size gas turbines, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbines, energy storage systems, reciprocating (diesel and gas) engines, district heating and large-scale centrifugal chillers. This includes products acquired from Pratt & Whitney Power Systems (PWPS) and Turboden, as well as its Hitachi joint venture.

Additionally, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has received an order to build a 480 MW gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation plant from Kyushu Electric Power in Japan. It will incorporate an M501J gas turbine and is slated to go on stream in July 2016.

MHPS has also signed a contract with Daewoo Engineering & Construction to supply two M501J gas turbines, one steam turbine and three generators for the Pocheon Combined Cycle Power Plant in Korea, slated to go on stream in November 2016. Finally, MHPS has received an order to build a 420 MW coalfired power generation plant at the Pagbilao coal-fired power generation station in the Philippines.

New GE manufacturing plant

GE plans to build a Power & Water advanced manufacturing facility in Greenville, SC. The company intends to invest $400 million over the next ten years in Greenville. Planned to open in 2015, it is located beside the current GE Greenville manufacturing site. It will serve as an incubator for manufacturing process development and rapid prototyping for the Power & Water businesses, including wind turbines, heavy duty gas engines, distributed power gas engines, nuclear power services and water processing.

Siemens turbine orders

Siemens Energy has shipped four industrial steam turbines based on the SST-600 series steam turbines with enhanced efficiency. One of the turbines will be used in a fertilizer factory in Indonesia’s East Java province, delivering an electrical generating capacity of 12 MW. Two turbines, each with a rating of 61 MW, will generate electric power from biomass in Pakistan, while the last of the four is destined for installation in Germany.

These SST-600 Enhanced Platform steam turbines represent developments of the SST- 600 series in three different design variants. The turbines are each supplied to operate as a controlled-extraction, back-pressure turbine, controlled-extraction, condensing turbine, and condensing turbine.

Additionally, Siemens Energy and Clariant are cooperating in the commercialization of sour gas shift (SGS) technology for coal gasification. Commercialization will focus on China — the region with the highest growth rate of coal-to-chemical projects. SGS technology is said to decrease capital cost for coal-to-chemical and IGCC applications. The entrained-flow Siemens Fuel Gasifier (SFG) is able to produce syngas from a wide range of fuels as well as lowrank coal. Clariant’s ShiftMax 821 catalyst enables a once-through process without further adjustment of the exit gas from the gasifier.

Schneider Electric acquires Invensys

France-based Schneider Electric has completed its acquisition of Invensys. Schneider Electric is a global player in the electrical and power markets. Invensys has been a growing presence in the turbine and automation control marketplace.

Kingsbury plans manufacturing plant

Following the opening of Kingsbury’s sales office in Göttingen, Germany in 2013, the company announced plans to expand into manufacturing. The 1,790 m2 facility will manufacture fixed-profile, tilting pad and combined thrust and journal bearings, with emphasis on products for high-speed and high-load applications. Opening is planned for June 2014.

Wood Group-Siemens venture

Wood Group and Siemens Energy Service have received all the necessary regulatory approvals for a joint venture between the Gas Turbine Services (GTS) business of Wood Group and the Siemens Energy Service TurboCare business unit. The new joint venture, called EthosEnergy, will be an independent service provider of rotating equipment service for the power, oil & gas and industrial sectors.

The EthosEnergy leadership team is comprised of executives from both shareholders. Mark Dobler, previously CEO of Wood Group GTS, has been appointed CEO of EthosEnergy. Neil Sigmund, previously CEO of TurboCare, has been appointed deputy CEO, and Chris Watson, previously CFO of Wood Group GTS, will serve as CFO of EthosEnergy. The company will have its primary offices in Houston, TX; Aberdeen, Scotland; and Orlando, FL.

Elliott wins Dow Chemical contract

Dow Chemical Company has chosen Elliott Group to supply the main compression equipment for its new propane hydrogenation facility in Freeport, TX. The four Elliott equipment strings include 1st and 2nd stage reactor effluent compressors, a propylene compressor and a heat pump. The machines are based on Elliott’s advanced Edge compression technology and designed to API- 617 specifications. Elliott claims its expertise in side-load technology is valuable in these applications. Dow’s Freeport facility will be dedicated to the “on-purpose” production of propylene, using propane as feedstock. www.elliott-turbo.com