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Rediscovering Fire: Advancements in Gas Turbine Combustion

May 4, 2021

The post Rediscovering Fire: Advancements in Gas Turbine Combustion appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Gas power market drivers and a quest for relevance in future decarbonized systems are driving fundamental shifts in gas turbine combustion design approaches.

Combustion lies at the heart of gas turbine technology. It provides the core function of adding heat, through a controlled burn of large amounts of fuel and air, to a gas turbine’s conversion of chemical energy into mechanical energy and, for power generating turbines, electrical energy. In concept, a combustor essentially comprises a fuel injector and a wall to contain the flame. But far from simplistic, the process must achieve a delicate balance of equivalence ratio between the fuel and available oxygen; flame stability; and operational stability to support acceleration and operation of the gas turbine over the entire load of the machine.

Developers have attempted to refine this complex dance for decades, as John Gülen, a fellow at Bechtel Infrastructure & Power Corp. and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the author of several books profiling the evolution and status of gas turbine technology, told POWER.…

First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant

January 13, 2021

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The post First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant reached a milestone with delivery of the first steam turbine module for the project, four months ahead of schedule.

GE Steam Power, which is supplying all the major equipment for the plant’s four turbine islands, on Jan. 12 announced it had delivered the module to Atomenergomash, an engineering company and the nuclear power division of Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) is located in Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, in Turkey. The first unit of the $ 20 billion, 4.8-GW project is planned to come online in 2023. Akkuyu will feature four, 1.2-GW VVER (water-water energetic reactor) units from Rosatom; all four reactors are planned to enter service by year-end 2026.

Arabelle Steam Turbine

Each Arabelle steam turbine that will be used in the Akkuyu project includes three modules: the high pressure/intermediate pressure (HIP) module, and two low-pressure modules.…

Improve Wind Turbine Safety with a Piston Accumulator Retrofit

September 21, 2020

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The post Improve Wind Turbine Safety with a Piston Accumulator Retrofit appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Wind turbines are designed to maximize power production based on the predicted wind speeds found at the plant site. However, excessive wind speeds are experienced at times, so it is crucial to limit power generation at those times to avoid spontaneous runaway turbine situations that may cause damage to the turbine rotor or other parts of the driveline or generator. Wind turbine brake systems are a vital safety system. A critical component in the hydraulic braking system is an accumulator, which provides a supplemental flow of hydraulic fluid during emergency braking operations. Diaphragm-style accumulators are standard, although catastrophic failures in the rubber diaphragm are not uncommon. An attractive and more reliable alternative is the piston-style accumulator that is not susceptible to this failure mode.

By: Tom Ulery and Jeff Sage of Parker Hannifin

Wind turbines are designed to operate reliably over their typically 20-year design life.…

MHPS Grid-Connects T-Point 2 Advanced Gas Turbine Validation Facility

April 6, 2020

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The post MHPS Grid-Connects T-Point 2 Advanced Gas Turbine Validation Facility appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has begun commissioning T-Point 2, its newest combined cycle power plant validation facility that will eventually host the company’s much-watched autonomous combined cycle power project.

The 566-MW facility at Takasago Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, will replace the iconic T-Point facility, which MHPS’s parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) completed in 1997 as a 60-Hz followup to the 1992-built 50-Hz K-Point validation plant in Kanazawa. Like its predecessors, T-Point 2 has been designed as an ultramodern power plant—which will actively supply power to the regional grid—and a demonstrator that will enable engineers to push the realms of gas turbine technology.

Construction of T-Point 2 began in late 2017 following years of engineering efforts, and MHPS announced on April 2 it has now been synced to the grid and is currently operating at full load—ahead of schedule. Commercial operations at T-Point 2 are now expected to begin in July 2020.…

GE Achieves Battery-Enabled Blackstart of Heavy Duty Gas Turbine

March 8, 2020

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General Electric (GE) has for the first time achieved blackstart of a GE heavy-duty gas turbine using battery energy storage.

The company announced on Feb. 26 it completed black start of a GE 7F.03 gas turbine at a 150-MW simple-cycle unit at Entergy Louisiana’s Perryville Power Station using a 7.4-MW battery-based energy storage system. The unit in Ouachita, Louisiana, began operation in 2001.

GE told POWER on March 5 that the project uses lithium-manganese-cobalt-oxide (or NMC) batteries, and it produces 7.4 MWh (DC) as embedded energy and 6.6 MWh (AC) as usable energy at the point of installation. According to a GE project leader, the battery energy storage system enables blackstart by creating a voltage reference—also known as “grid forming”—to which the turbine and its associated auxiliary power systems can synchronize. These components “then draw the required current to rotate the turbine and begin the start-up process.”…

GE Is Speeding Massive Offshore Wind Turbine to Market

July 23, 2019

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GE Renewable Energy’s mammoth offshore wind 12-MW Haliade-X turbine is on track for an accelerated commercial launch in 2021, the company said as it unveiled the turbine’s first manufactured components on July 22.

Haliade-X features a 220-meter (m) rotor and a 107-m blade designed by GE subsidiary LM Wind Power. The turbine design also includes digital capabilities. GE says the wind turbine model features a 63% capacity factor—which is “five to seven points above the industry standard.” For GE, scaling up is important. “Each incremental point in capacity factor represents around $ 7 million in revenue for our customers over the life of a wind farm,” it noted. In January, the company said it would install a Haliade-X 12-MW offshore wind prototype in the Netherlands this summer.

On Monday, the company unveiled the first nacelle and said it would be shipped from its production site in Saint-Nazaire, France, to Rotterdam-Maasvlakte in the Netherlands “over the coming weeks.” The components will be installed on the prototype, which is land-based to facilitate testing.…