Largest Gas Engine in the Worls Article

8/4/2019 Largest Gas Engine in the Worls Article

1/5

TEX

T:HARRIETSTERPHOTOS:WRTSIL

u 7...... ........

WORLDS LARGEST

AS EOPENS UP TH


2/5

in-depth

4.10 Twentyfour7. 41

With the launch o the Wrtsil 18V50SG gas engine, Wrtsil now has two high-output,highly ef cient prime movers when entering the market or large-scale power generation.

GINMARKET FOR 500 MW POWER PLANTS

The first Wrtsil 50SG

under construction at

Wrtsils manuacturing

acilities in Trieste, Italy.


3/5

in-depth

42 Twentyfour7. 4.10

he new Wrtsil 18V50SG is the worlds largest

gas-powered generating set and is ideally suited

or use in locations where a constant supply o

gas is assured. On the other hand, when gas sup-

ies cannot be guaranteed under all circumstances, thepl

al-uel Wrtsil 50DF is the right choice.d

Te new Wrtsil 50SG is a our-stroke, spark-ignited gas

gine operating on the Otto cycle and incorporating thee

an-burn principle. It has been designed using the provenle

s technology used in the smaller Wrtsil 34SG engine.g

n important eature o this new gas engine in WrtsilsA

rtolio is its exceptionally high power plant net electricalp

ciency rating - more than 50% in combined-cycle mode.e

With an output o some 18 MW, the Wrtsil 50SG is thergest gas engine in the world, saysla Tomas Hgglund

ice President, Power Plants echnology at Wrtsil. WithV

o these units operating in combined-cycle mode, you2

t an output o almost 500 MW, a large power plant. Weg

e now oering a competitive and ef cient solution orar

wer plants with baseload outputs o up to 500 MW, thusp

mpeting directly with gas-turbine-based technology.c

TRENDS ARE FAVOURING

GAS-POWERED UNITS

e rst Wrtsil 50SG installation will be commissioned

2011 at the Aksa Samsun power plant in Samsun, ur-in

y, as part o an extension to the existing power plant.k

rtsil has a strong presence in urkeys energy mar-

t, and expects to have delivered close to 3 GW o powerk


4/5

in-depth

.. .

enerating capacity by the end o 2011. O the power plants

delivered to date, 85% run on natural gas.

urkey is a very important market or us and will

remain so. It is one o the locations where power produc-

tion using gas is expanding, says Hgglund. With a total

net electrical ef ciency o more than 50%, our new gas

engine is a product or all global markets. Wrtsils gas-

red power plant solutions have previously been compet-

itive or acilities with outputs o up to 300 MW. With the

Wrtsil 50SG we are extending that competitiveness to

plants larger than 500 MW.

While the ratio between power plant installations that

use gas and those that use oil varies in a cyclical manner,

the overall long-term trend is that gas is gaining ground asa uel or power generation, and this is also true in emerg-

ing markets. Many o the HFO (heavy uel oil) power plants

being built today have been designed rom the start with

the possibility o switching to gas in the uture.

DUAL-FUEL TECHNOLOGY WHEN

GAS SUPPLIES ARE LESS RELIABLE

In the long run, the Wrtsil 18V50SG gas-red engine

will replace the Wrtsil 18V50DF dual-uel engine in large

power plants, says Hgglund. Even so, or special applica-

tions and in certain circumstances, the dual-uel solution is

the right choice or gas-red power plants, even though the

SG engine design oers higher levels o ef ciency.

Te dual-uel or tri-uel Wrtsil 50DF engine is a spe-

cial product that oers power plant o ners considerable

The Wrtsil 50SG combines high levels o e ciency

with low levels o emissions. This is achieved by using

a lean gas mixture in the combustion chamber.

In a lean-burn gas engine, the word lean is used

to indicate that more air is present in the combustion

chamber than is needed or complete combustion o

the gas. Lean combustion reduces peak temperatures

and the quantities o nitrogen oxides (NOX) produced

are also lower. The higher the air-uel ratio, the lower

the temperature.

In the Wrtsil 50SG, the air-uel ratio is kept very

high and e cient premixing o the uel and air keeps

it uniorm throughout the combustion chamber.

Maintaining the correct air-uel ratio under all

conditions is essential. In the 50SG, an exhaust-gas

wastegate valve is used to adjust this. By using thevalve to control the proportion o the exhaust gas that

bypasses the engine turbocharger, the air-uel ratio is

kept at the correct value regardless o load conditions.

To achieve the highest e ciency and lowest

emissions, each cylinder in the engine is individually

controlled by the Engine Control System (ECS) to

ensure that both the air-uel ratio and the ignition

timing are correct. Stable and well-controlled

combustion is guaranteed by a high-energy ignition

system located in the precombustion chamber.

LEAN-BURN WITH

LOW EMISSIONS

The first Wrtsil 50SG installation will be commissioned

in 2011.


5/5

in-depth

uel fexibility. A good example is the large 300 MWe power

plant in Sangachal, Azerbaijan which began operating in

2008. Te plant is equipped with 18 generating sets, eachlo them powered by an 18-cylinder Wrtsil 50DF engine

delivering 17 MW.

Sangachal is a real success, says Hgglund. Te plant

is primarily designed to run on natural gas, but gas sup-

plies during the winter cannot always be guaranteed. I

there is a supply problem, the engines can be switched over

to HFO, and they can also use light uel oil. Power output

is the same with all three uels.

GAS POWER NEEDED

TO BACK-UP WINDPOWER

Among the gas engines in our portolio, the largest vol-

ume product is the Wrtsil 34SG, says Hgglund. Sales

have grown signicantly in the last 5-6 years, and Wrt-

sil now has a strong presence in the baseload sector,

where gas-red plants provide grid stability, backing-up

the expanding production o electricity rom wind energy.

Tis is especially true in the US.

In the US, where the level o installed windpower

capacity is growing rapidly, Wrtsil has now delivered

approximately 1 GW o gas-red plants as backup gener-

ating capacity and or grid stability, he says. Tese grid-

connected power plants typically have a maximum output

o 100-200 MW, and the latest ones can achieve ull output

in just ve minutes. I wind speeds suddenly drop, com-

pensating power has to be ed into the system quickly to

prevent the grid becoming unstable.

Wrtsil gas engines also have both high total ef ciency

and high partial ef ciency, providing the high levels ooperational exibility required or windpower backup

applications. Gas-red reciprocating engine technology

is the only solution that can deliver the rapid starts and

stops required when backing-up windpower generating

acilities, says Hgglund. Wrtsil has now installed some

45 GW o power plants in 166 countries.

W RTSIL GAS ENGINES

AVE BOTH HIGH TOTAL

EFFICIENCY AND HIGH

PARTIAL EFFICIENCY.

44 Twentyfour7. 4.10

Development o lean-burn, spark-ignited, Otto cycle gas

engines started in 1992, and the first Wrtsil SG gas

engine design was released in 1995.

The use o gas engines or combined heat and power

generation (CHP) started in the late 1990s, says Thomas

Hgglund, Vice President, Power Plants Technology at

Wrtsil. Larger gas engines were soon developed. By

using 20 cylinders, the maximum output o the 34SG

engine was raised rom 8 MW to 10 MW. The Wrtsil 34SG

has become Wrtsils most successul gas-fired engine

design.

The dual-uel Wrtsil 50DF was originally developed

or the marine sector and has now been on the market or

about 10 years. A tri-uel version able to run on natural

gas, light uel oil or HFO was introduced in 2007.

In marine applications, the Wrtsil 50DF engine

has been a great success - the uel flexibility it ofers isespecially valuable or LNG carriers, says Hgglund. On

an outward journey, when the vessel has a cargo o LNG, it

can use that uel to power its engines. Ater the LNG has

been o oaded, the carrier can run on cheaper HFO.

Demand or dual-uel solutions or land-based power

production has emerged during the last ten years. The

first Wrtsil 50DF or installation in a power plant was

delivered to Turkey in 2004 and can run on either HFO

or natural gas. The first tri-uel Wrtsil 50DF engine

delivered by Wrtsil or a power plant is operating at the

Sangachal power plant in Azerbaijan.

MORE THAN A MILLION RUNNING HOURS

The first Wrtsil 50DF engines used or marine propulsion

were started up in October 2006. More than a hundredhave now been commissioned and are powering vessels

world-wide. The hardest-working have completed a total o

more than 20,000 running hours.

The first Wrtsil 50DF to be used in a power plant

application was started up in March 2005. Approximately

40 Wrtsil 50DF engines are now being used to generate

electricity in land-based locations, and some have

completed a total o more than 36,000 running hours.

The grand total or all Wrtsil 50DF engines in

operation now exceeds one million running hours.

DUAL-FUEL ENGINES NOW IN

LAND-BASED APPLICATIONS

A high-output, high ef ciency engine or large-scale power

generation. This image shows the first Wrtsil 50SG under

construction at Wrtsils manuacturing acilities in Trieste, Italy.

Documents

Largest Gas Engine in the Worls Article