DIESEL AND GAS ENGINE DEVELOPMENTS

More Rolls-Royces in Taiwan

A major Taiwanese manufacturer of liquid crystal displays has selected Rolls-Royce generation equipment as emergency standby power at the Hann-Starr facility in Yang-Mei, Tao-Yuan. Installation is due for March 2001 and will be among the first applications of aero-derivative gas turbines for standby power in Taiwan, where interest in back-up facilities has increased in the aftermath of the 1999 earthquake. The gensets, two Allison 601-K9 6.7 MW units to be manufactured in Rolls-Royce’s Ohio plant, will also function as peak load suppliers during periods of high system demand.

The two sets were ordered by Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, responsible for the entire power plant installation, who earlier this year took delivery of the first 601-K9 package to go to Taiwan. AIDC is a risk sharing partner in the Allison 601 engine programme and the exclusive distributor in Taiwan.

Tough new generators for hire

Ingersoll-Rand’s Portable Power Business has launched its new range of diesel driven generators with capacities from 15 kVA to 500 kVA and aimed specifically at the plant hire and construction industries.

The GenPowerSource range comes in 17 models with a stackable, modular design. They have been built for extreme toughness and are constructed on a double galvanised steel skid chassis robust enough to allow towing via dragging points and lifting via fork slots. Control is via a single panel located at one end of the machine. Other features include an air pre-warmer, built in access ladders, an oil drainage pump, voltage and speed fine tuning adjustments, and a battery cut out to prevent run down during idle periods.

Try a new Volvo

Volvo Penta has added four new diesel units to the low power end of its TD/TAD range designed specifically for coupling to electrical generators. The range now extends from 80 to 500 kVA/50 Hz prime power, and 80 to 500 kWe/60 Hz standby power. The new units are 4.8 and 7.2 litre 4 and 6 cylinder turbo-charged engines some with air-to-air after-cooling, described as direct injection diesels with low noise and emission levels. They are delivered ready for connection to a generator.

26 year old engines get new lease of life

Two 26 year old Ruston 8AT engines used for power generation at Thames Water’s Long Reach works (London, England) have been refurbished to remove the effects of fretting corrosion sustained over the years which has caused severe damage to the upper liner landings and bores.

The in line eight cylinder machines are dual fuel engines that operate on diesel or sewage gas, with the exhaust heat used to generate hot water for the site via a waste heat boiler. The corrosion was discovered during an overhaul in 1999, and subsequently specialists Metalock Industrial Services were asked to carry out a survey.

They recommended machining away the damaged areas and restoring the bore with mild steel ring inserts. The work was carried out in situ using special facing and boring machinery, the new liners being shrunk into position after reduction by immersion in dry ice.

Basingstoke bypass

It took six years for pharmaceuticals company Eli Lilly and Co to decide that the combined heat and power system at their Speke (UK) production plant worked well enough to consider trying it elsewhere, but when they did an opportunity soon came along to put the idea into practice at their Basingstoke plant. An agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy plc covers a guaranteed supply of electricity at optimum prices and included the use of a Caterpillar generator supplied by CHP specialists Finning (UK) Ltd. The system is based on a CAT G3616 natural gas powered generator rated at 3.6MW at 11 kV, the surplus being exported to the regional electricity company and the exhaust heat fuelling a composite (exhaust heat, gas or oil) boiler.

An advance schedule supplied on a weekly basis will allow Finning, who are operating the system, to calculate whether it is more economical to draw from the pool or generate on site.

High fibre works for Cummins

Six Cummins standby gensets have been installed in switching centres in Germany as part of a Europe wide fibre optic network operated by Viatel. Expected to cover a circuit of 8700 km eventually, Viatel’s Pan European Network is a state of the art broadband system capable of supporting voice, advanced data services, e-commerce and multimedia applications. The network comprises multiple connected rings of fibre optic cables and covers 42 major cities in western Europe.

The construction management contract was awarded to Bechtel, who started work in 1998 and to date have completed three of the five projected network rings.

Ring three, covering Germany, requires six switching centres and it is at these centres that the standby power is installed. Arranged to come on line within 20 seconds of a power down, the six standby sets are CP500-5s rated at 500 kVA each.