Siemens unveils lightweight aeroderivative gas turbine for offshore industry

Siemens recently launched its new lightweight aeroderivative gas turbine, the industrial RB211-GT30, for the offshore oil and gas industry. The combined expertise of Rolls-Royce Energy and Dresser-Rand, which supplied a significant share of the 20MW to 40MW offshore power generation on FPSOs worldwide will be used to offer better solutions for the offshore market, Siemens said.

Said to be the first new product as a result of the union, the gas turbine requires no gearbox and drives a two-pole AC generator at either 60Hz or 50Hz. The lightweight construction of the package is 30% smaller and has been designed specifically for offshore duty, with a three-point base mount and torque tube design, according to Siemens.

Due to the availability of an inbuilt rail system, the gas turbine can be removed from either side of the package and exchanged in less than 24 hours. The auxiliary systems are functionally unchanged but they have been optimized to improve maintenance access, while increasing online maintenance when the unit is running.

Siemens Distributed Generation Business Unit strategy and portfolio management head Thomas Flommersfeld said, "Joining forces with Dresser-Rand, we're offering the latest evolution of the trusted Industrial RB211 aero-derivative technology, enhanced to set new standards of power density, reduced downtime, and easy maintenance."