Industry Milestone: GE’s Heavy Duty Gas Turbines Surpass 2 Million Fired Hours on Low Carbon-Intensity Fuels

28 March 2012

Industry Milestone: GE’s Heavy Duty Gas Turbines Surpass 2 Million Fired Hours on Low Carbon-Intensity Fuels

 

• Waste Fuels from Industrial Operations Like Steelmaking Produce Power with Zero Incremental CO₂ Emissions
• Power from Coal Gasification Enables Future Generations of Low Carbon Coal-Fired Plants
• GE Low-Carbon Technologies Demonstrate Maturity, Reliability and Affordability

ATLANTA, GA.—March 28, 2012—GE’s (NYSE: GE) fleet of 47 heavy duty gas turbines operating on low British thermal unit (BTU) fuels has accumulated more than 2 million fired hours, an operational milestone that underscores GE’s commitment to developing specialized solutions that meet the demands of today’s evolving energy industry.

Low BTU, or low calorific value fuels have significantly less heating values than natural gas. Examples include syngas, steel mill gases and dilute natural gas. These fuels are lighter than natural gas and have less energy per unit volume.

The fuel flexibility inherent in GE’s B, E and F-class turbines has allowed these units to operate on low BTU fuels in a variety of applications, including integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC), refinery-based IGCC and steel mills.

“In a carbon-constrained environment, the technology trend is for combustion systems capable of burning syngas and other nontraditional fuels while also delivering the required operability. In this context, the strong operational experience gained by GE gas turbines with a wide variety of fuels creates favorable prospects, both for robust E-class machines and for F-class machines that deliver high performance,” said Paul Browning, president and CEO—Thermal Products for GE Energy.

To achieve the same heat input as natural gas-fired units, low BTU fuels need increased fuel flow. This flow rate requires the fleet to use GE’s Multi Nozzle Quiet Combustion (MNQC) and standard (single nozzle) syngas combustors, which provide robust and reliable operation on low BTU fuels.

The hours accumulated by the fleet include projects totaling more than 4 gigawatts of installed power generation capacity at 21 plants. One million of those hours have been achieved on GE’s E-class turbines. Roughly 600,000 hours have been accumulated on GE’s B-class while the remaining 400,000 hours were amassed on the F-class. Some of the turbines have been running on syngas or other fuels for more than a decade including a large coal-based IGCC facility in Florida and an Italian refinery. Others are newer installations operating at locations in the United States, Germany, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Czech Republic, China, Middle East,and Singapore.

A case in point is the Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Corp. (WISCO) steel mill near Wuhan City in Hubei Province, China. To comply with China’s goals to reduce energy consumption and emissions, WISCO installed a combined-cycle power plant—powered by two GE 9E Gas Turbines—at the Wuhan mill.

Reusing the mill’s own “blast furnace” and “coke oven” waste gases (BFG and COG) as “free” fuel, the two GE 109 combined-cycle systems each generate 164 megawatts of onsite power to support the mill’s activities. Currently, the power plant’s annual output is 1 billion kWh/a, with a guaranteed electrical efficiency greater than 42 percent (LHV).

The key benefits of this project for WISCO include a reduction in emissions associated with the waste gases created during the steel production process and new revenues generated by the sale of some of the power plant’s electricity to the local grid.

GE’s fleet of heavy duty gas turbines operating on low BTU fuels continues to grow, as customers look to do more with less.

GE Heavy Duty Gas Turbine Hours Fired on Low BTU fuels
Experience by frame:

• 1 million hours on GE E-class turbines.
• 600,000 hours on GE B-class turbines.
• 400,000 hours on GE F-class turbines.

Experience by application:

• 450,000 hours at coal-based IGCC facilities.
• 860,000 hours at refineries.
• 700,000 hours at steel mills.

Experience by region/country:

• 250,000 hours at facilities operating across Asia.
• 280,000 hours at facilities operating across North America.
• More than 1 million hours at facilities operating across Europe.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

GE Energy works connecting people and ideas everywhere to create advanced technologies for powering a cleaner, more productive world. With more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries, our diverse portfolio of product and service solutions and deep industry expertise help our customers solve their challenges locally. We serve the energy sector with technologies in such areas as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear energy; wind, solar, biogas and water processing; energy management; and grid modernization. We also offer integrated solutions to serve energy- and water-intensive industries such as mining, metals, marine, petrochemical, food & beverage and unconventional fuels.

Follow GE Energy on Twitter @GE_Energy.

News Release from the DOE - Energy Efficiency Training Centers

President Obama Highlights Energy Department Efficiency Training Centers That Save U.S. Manufacturers $5.6 Billion

February 23, 2012 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a visit to the University of Miami to highlight his administration’s all-out, all-of-the-above approach to American energy, President Obama today touted the Energy Department’s cost-cutting Industrial Assessment Program. The program supports university-based Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) across the country, which provide students with critical skills and training to conduct energy assessments in a broad range of facilities, while producing real cost savings for small to mid-size manufacturers. To date, these assessments have helped save over 530 trillion BTUs of energy – enough to meet the energy needs of 5.5 million American homes – and have helped participating manufacturers save more than $5.6 billion in energy costs.

“As President Obama made clear, an American economy built to last will depend on American manufacturing, American energy and skills for American workers,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This is why the Energy Department invests in innovative initiatives like the Industrial Assessment Centers that help to train the clean energy workforce of tomorrow, while cutting energy waste for American businesses and making our manufacturing companies more competitive.”

Through Industrial Assessment Centers at universities throughout the U.S., engineering students receive practical training in industrial processes, energy assessment procedures, and energy management principles, and gain real-world experience by working directly with small and medium-sized industrial and manufacturing facilities in their communities.

For more than 30 years, the Industrial Assessment Program has provided valuable training and experience for students, while saving money for manufacturing plants. Since the program began in 1976, the university teams have conducted more than 15,000 energy assessments at U.S. manufacturing plants nationwide. To date, more than 3,000 students have graduated from the Industrial Assessment Center program, with more than 60 percent going on to careers in the energy industry.

More information and a full list of Industrial Assessment Centers across the U.S. can be found HERE.

New Thermal Window Technology

U.S. Dept of Energy blog post:

Hit the Road, Jack! New Thermal Window Technology Lessens Menace of Jack Frost

January 17, 2012

The frost patterns on your window might be pretty, but they're not helping you save any energy. Energy efficient windows provide an effective barrier from inclement weather. | Photo courtesy of Callie Reed.

Roland Risser

Program Manager, Building Technologies Program

What does this project do?

• This innovation will bring us closer to the Department's goal of improving the energy performance of windows by 60 percent by 2020.

Say what you want about the joys of Jack Frost nipping at your nose, but when it comes to winter wonderlands, I like mine outdoors. Etching icy messages on the insides of my windows is not exactly cozy. Therefore, I'm thankful for technology that provides an efficient and effective barrier from inclement weather.

Traco, a division of Kawneer and window manufacturer since the early 1940s, recently partnered with the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to utilize funds from the Recovery Act to develop new window technology. These OptiQ™ Ultra Thermal Windows can reduce energy loss by up to 40 percent compared to the efficient, commercially available double-pane low-emissivity windows that are already on the market.

Each year, windows account for an estimated 4 quadrillion Btu of energy lost in U.S. buildings, totaling over $35 billion in heating and air conditioning costs. Future window systems like the OptiQ™ Ultra Thermal Windows will eventually outperform the best-insulated walls or roofs in terms of annual energy performance, peak demand reduction, and costs. This new innovation holds promise to boost both savings and comfort.

What makes these new energy efficient windows really innovative is that they include a thermally optimized frame design, enhanced frame cavities, wider thermal breaks, and high performance glazing. The combination of these and other technologies has allowed an aluminum framed window to achieve more energy savings than ever before, all while maintaining its structural integrity. Also, these windows stand up to moisture and exposure, making them good fits for many applications, such as hospitals and schools, because they won't rot or get moldy.

The fact that windows like these are available today gives me a warm feeling about the advances the industry is making. This innovation brings us closer to meeting the Department’s goal of improving the energy performance of windows by 60 percent by 2020 -- all while keeping Mr. Frost outside.