Industry News: May/June 2014

Published on: May 1, 2014

Carbon capture project starts

Tampa Electric Company (TECO) has started up a pilot project to demonstrate a warm gas cleanup carbon capture technology in a coal gasification unit at the Polk Power Plant Unit-1 in Tampa, Florida. Gas cleaning at power plants to remove contaminates, such as carbon dioxide, mercury, and sulfur is typically done at low temperatures. Integrated Gasification and Carbon Capture (IGCC) technology, or warm gas cleanup, has posed a technical challenge for more than 30 years. The TECO project is the first to use IGCC on a large-scale.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been heavily involved in the project. It sees a big future for coal and other fossil fuels. “Fossil fuels will be a major part of America’s energy supply for decades to come,” said Julio Friedmann, DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal.

Alstom sell off

Alstom has agreed to sell its auxiliary components business to Triton, leading European investment firm, for an Enterprise Value of around 730 million. This is part of what Alstom terms its non-core asset disposal program. The auxiliary components business is part of the steam segment within Alstom Thermal Power. It deals in new equipment and aftermarket services for air preheaters and gas-gas heaters for thermal power plants, heat transfer for petrochemical and industrial processes, and grinding mills. This unit of Alstom employed more than 1,500 people worldwide, with operations in Germany, the U.S., Japan, China, India, Brazil, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Tanker trucks line up to receive LNG from the Erdos, Inner Mongolia, PRC, facility for transport to local distribution points[/caption]

Chinese LNG

Black & Veatch, in partnership with Chemtex, has started-up three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants located at Jingbian and Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, and Wuhai, Inner Mongolia. They feature Black & Veatch Prico technology, a process to liquefy natural gas. As well providing the technology, Black & Veatch provides commissioning, start-up, equipment procurement assistance and other engineering services in support of Chemtex, the prime contractor that provides lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction services.

Further, Langzhong Shuangrui (Meifeng) has selected Black & Veatch- Chemtex to design and build a another LNG plant in Langzhong, China. The facility will produce 35 MMscfd (Million standard cubic feet per day) of LNG. LNG from the plant will be used to provide fuel for vehicles. A push for smog-free air is spearheading China’s role as one of the biggest players in LNG.

In an effort to curb pollution, the Government is trying to reduce its reliance on coal and turning to natural gas to generate electricity. China is the third largest importer of LNG and consumes 6% of the global LNG trade. In 2012, China imported 706 Bcf (Billion cubic feet), a 20% increase from 581 Bcf in 2011. Indian market steams up A Toshiba Group company called Toshiba JSW Power Systems Private Ltd. (Toshiba JSW), based in Chennai, India has been awarded a contract by NTPC Limited, India’s largest state-owned energy service provider, for the supply of two 800 MW super-critical steam turbine and generator island packages for the Darlipali Super Thermal Power Station in Darlipali, Orissa state. The steam turbines will enter operation by early 2018. Toshiba JSW will carry out engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the complete steam turbine and generator island packages.

Toshiba Group has won orders for ten sets of supercritical steam turbines and generators in the 800 MW category in India, as well as an order for two 660 MW supercritical steam turbine and generator island packages. India’s power generation equipment market is expected to see demand growth of more than 16,000 MW a year in the decade from 2007 to 2017. Coal-fired thermal power plants will account for over 60% of capacity growth, and supercritical power plants will account for approximately 60% of thermal plants.

Norwegian compressors

The Sydvaranger iron ore mine is located in Norway’s far north-east, about 400 km above the Arctic Circle. It sits in mountainous terrain above both the small town of Kirkenes and Bøkfjorden, a waterway connected to the nearby Barents Sea. For this site, Atlas Copco delivered air dryers, oil-injected rotary screw compressors and oil-free compressors to the mine. Compressed air is the heart of the production and if the air freezes, production is brought to a halt. The BD-dryers provide clean and dry air with a guaranteed dew point of at least - 40°C.

FS-Elliott’s Saudi compressor

FS-Elliott shipped its first centrifugal compressor manufactured in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Inaugurated in April 2010, FSElliott Saudi Arabia Ltd. began as a joint venture between FS-Elliott Co., LLC, and Gas Arabian Services Co., Ltd. This is the first of three Polaris industrial compressors for Saudi Airlines.

Liquid air storage

Highview Power Storage, a UK supplier of liquid air energy storage (LAES) systems, has signed a licensing and technology collaboration agreement with GE Oil & Gas to integrate LAES in peaker power plants. The goal is to increase power plant efficiency, grid reliability and the distribution of renewable energy. Highview’s LAES technology uses liquid air or nitrogen as the storage medium to provide long-duration energy storage without the geographical restrictions found with other energy storage methods. The technology also can convert low-grade waste heat into power.

With Highview’s LAES process, ambient air is drawn from the environment where it is cleaned, compressed and refrigerated. Once liquefied, it is stored in an insulated storage tank at low pressure during off-peak demand periods. When power is required, the cold liquid air is drawn from the tank, pumped to high pressure and sent to Highview’s evaporation and cold recycle unit, to capture and then recycle the cold required for the liquefaction process. The regasified air is then heated by waste energy present at the exhaust of the gas turbine or engine, and expanded in a multi-stage process gas expander, which drives the generator to produce electricity. Since 2011, Highview’s LAES technology has been operating at a grid-connected 2.5 MWh pilot plant hosted by SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy) near London.

Mobile power orders

Mobile power appears to be catching on with several recent orders. With an immature grid and surging demand, Libya has initiated a $135 million project which includes four of GE’s trailer-mounted TM2500+ units. These units provide more than 100 MW which has been installed to address upcoming summer peak needs. This expands the existing Zawia and W. Tripoli power plants. The mobile units can be moved anywhere in the country to supply emergency backup power. All four units are dual fuel (gas and diesel).

In addition, APR Energy is providing fast-track power to an industrial site in the South Pacific. The plant will comprise mobile gas turbines producing 60 MW to power mining operations. APR Energy’s turbine will run on diesel but can switch to natural gas if needed. The company has completed similar projects in Mozambique, Guatemala, and Botswana. APR acquired the GE power rental business in October of last year. The plant is expected to begin operations in late Q2 2014 and run through to late 2015.

Gas plant gearing

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has chosen the Vorecon hydrodynamic variable speed planetary gear from Voith for the expansion of its Saih Rawl Gas Processing Plant in Oman. Four Vorecons will control the speed of the turbocompressors that ensure gas production and processing in the Saih Rawl gas field. Following commissioning in 2014, the Vorecons with a power of 20 MW will control the turbocompressors at a drive speed of up to 8,000 rpm.

Heat exchangers to Siberia

GEA Heat Exchangers has landed an order from plant contracting companies Technip and JGC for more than 400 air-cooled heat exchangers for the three-line LNG plant under construction on the Siberian peninsula of Yamal. GEA will design the heat exchangers, manufacture them over a period of three years.

Technip and JGC are developing and building the first arctic LNG plant in Russia. Commissioning is planned for three phases and is scheduled to take place from 2016 to 2018. The heat exchangers will be installed in the three LNG lines, each of which will process 5.5 million metric tons of gas annually. The heat exchangers are required to withstand Siberian temperatures for decades, and are designed accordingly.

Manufacturing trends for 2014-2015

Michigan Manufacturing International (MMI) has released a study on manufacturing trends in the U.S. for the coming year. It found that manufacturing in the United States is getting a significant boost from the shale oil and gas boom. Cheaper natural gas feed stocks are making U.S.-produced plastics and other materials less expensive than in other parts of the world. And finished products which rely on these materials will be more competitive.

New Head for Mitsubishi- Hitachi JV

David M. Walsh has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MHPSA), becoming the first American CEO in the history of the company. He has responsibility for all aspects of the business in the Western Hemisphere and will be a Corporate Officer of MHPSA’s parent company, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. in Japan. He served as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Projects and Services with MHPSA prior to this appointment.

Walsh joined the company in 2001 and was responsible for Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas’ Western Hemisphere power generation service and manufacturing business, including field and plant service, parts manufacturing, and marketing for services related to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ activities in the Americas. He came to MHPSA with U.S. and international experience in power generation roles in China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and South America. He earned a B.S. from the University of Virginia and pursued graduate studies at Northwestern University.

Steam package

Alstom has signed a $100 million contract to supply a steam tail package for Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s (ODEC) Wildcat Point Combined Cycle Power Plant in Cecil County, Maryland. It will generate about 1,000 MW and is scheduled for commissioning in mid-2017. The steam tail offering combines two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and one steam turbine generator which will provide Wildcat Point with all of its steam function needs. It is designed to work with the gas components at the plant.

Controls upgrades

Union Power Partners, a subsidiary of Entegra Power Group, has awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to replace turbine controls at Union Power Station. The combined cycle plant, located in southern Arkansas, has a generating capacity of 2,200 MW and comprises four 2x1 power blocks comprising GE Frame 7FA gas turbines and GE D11 steam turbines.

The existing controls are being upgraded using Ovation control and generator excitation technology. Equipment delivery will take place in October, and the first retrofitted power block is expected to be back online in December 2014.

Emerson Process Management has also been awarded a $15 million contract to engineer and install its Ovation control system at Craig Station in Colorado. The three-unit, 1,311 MW baseload plant is operated by Tri- State Generation and Transmission Association. The system at the three coalfired units will monitor and control the boiler and turbine.

Siemens SGT6- 5000F rotor[/caption]

Siemens deals

Siemens Energy received a $590 million order to supply six gas turbines, three steam turbines and nine generators for Rabigh 2 IPP combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) in Saudi Arabia. The customer is the Korean construction company, Samsung C&T, which is erecting the facility for Al- Mourjan Project Company, a consortium under the direction of the independent power producer ACWA Power. The plant will comprise three power plant units with Siemens delivering two SGT6-5000F gas turbines, one SST6-5000 HI-L steam turbine, and three SGen6-1000A-series electrical generators for each unit.

Siemens also supplied the Andong CCPP in South Korea, which was erected in 24 months. This liquefied natural gas (LNG) fired plant has a capacity of 417 MW. The owner and operator is Korea Southern Power Co. Ltd. (KOSPO). Designed for 250 starts per year, with a startup time of 30 minutes from standstill to full load, it is designed as a single-shaft power plant. Siemens supplied one SGT6-8000H gas turbine, one SST6- 5000 steam turbine, one SGen6-2000H generator and a Benson heat recovery steam generator. The SPPA-T3000 I&C system and other auxiliary systems are also part of the package.

On a different note, the Siemens Industry Sector and McAfee, a division of Intel Security, have a partnership to enhance security offerings for industrial customers to protect against cyber threats. This agreement complements Siemens’ service offerings by leveraging Macafee’s firewall, security information and event management (SIEM), endpoint security and global threat intelligence.

New CEO at IHC Merwede

Bram Roelse has replaced Dirk Philips as CEO of IHC Merwede. Roelse has worked at IHC Merwede for the past 13 years. He was first appointed managing director of IHC Systems and later became director of the company’s dredging division. Prior to his time at IHC Merwede, Roelse had gained experience in the shipbuilding and oil & gas industries.

GE orders

GE Oil & Gas has been contracted to provide turnkey turbomachinery to Petrofac Emirates for the Upper Zakum UZ750 field in Abu Dhabi, developed by Zadco (Zakum Development Company). The equipment will be delivered in the form of modules, which will ship intact from GE’s construction facility in Avenza, Italy, to an artificial island located 50 miles offshore of Abu Dhabi. Each module will weigh more than 1,500 tons and be 44 meters long, 20 meters wide and 24 meters high.

They will serve as the housing in which a turbogenerator train is located that will provide electric power to Zadco’s oil production facilities, including pumps and gas compressors, also on the island. This is a similar design to those deployed at Australia’s Gorgon gas field. The modules integrate core equipment with auxiliary systems are delivered fully connected and wired. They feature a 43 MW GE 6B gas turbine and electric generators. The assembly of the Zadco modules will start at the end of 2014. They will be shipped to Abu Dhabi in 2016.

The company has also signed a sevenyear Global Frame Agreement with Petronas of Malaysia to supply gas turbines for onshore and offshore projects. This follows the completion of the first agreement between them, under which GE provided turbocompression and turbo generation technology for the LNG Train 9 project in Bintulu, Sarawak.

Finally, GE’s Distributed Power business has supplied four additional LM2500+G4 turbines, providing 85 MW, for a floating oil and gas production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel — the Cidade de Caraguatatuba MV-27. The FPSO, owned and operated by Modec, will be installed and operated on charter in 2,240 meters of water in the pre-salt fields off the coast of Brazil. The aeroderivative units will power production processes, water reinjection, gas compression and process heating using noncommercial grade field gas produced at the vessel. The units will ship in late 2014.

Bram Roelse[/caption]