Power and Water Corporation’s 33 megawatt Owen Springs Power Station, located in the Northern Territory, is set to become one of the highest efficiency open-cycle gas power plants in Australia, as the first of three engines arrives onsite.
The Owen Springs plant, located near Alice Springs, will be constructed by MAN Diesel & Turbo for Power and Water Corporation (PWC), a public utility owned by the Northern Territory Government. Commissioning of the first engine is expected in July 2010, and the complete power station is expected to be handed over to PWC in October 2010.
The project is based on three
10.9 megawatt (MW) generator sets, each powered by a twelve-cylinder, vee-configuration 12V51/60DF engine. The generator sets will supply base load power to the local grid in their gaseous-fuel mode – burning natural gas ignited by a distillate fuel ‘micro-pilot’.
At the time of signing the contract in
2008, PWC’s General Manager of Generation John Linton said that the contract specifications were technically complex, as PWC was seeking world’s best practice in fuel efficiency and the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated.
PWC has 360 MW of existing power generation capacity and services more than 80,000 customers.
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Owen Springs’ development
Stage One of the Owens Springs project, which covers the construction of the power house, control room, switchroom, administration centre, tank farm, pump house and maintenance workshop buildings, will be completed on schedule in May 2010.
Power house construction commenced in October 2009, utilising a concrete-panel design to form the exterior and interior walls. These panels were formed onsite and are characterised by their high quality sound attenuation properties, low construction costs and fast installation.
Once installed, a supporting steel framework was erected and fastened and the exterior was painted to complete the building.
The next phase, comprising the installation of mechanical and electrical systems, is now underway. Piping is already largely complete, while the installation of lube-oil and fuel-oil modules has commenced.
MAN Diesel Australia has also formed partnerships with local Australian suppliers and stakeholders, as much of the equipment for the Owen Springs project must comply with Australian standards.
A project milestone
The arrival of the first of Owen Springs’ three 10.9 MW generator sets marks a significant milestone for the project. The engine was originally loaded aboard a ship in Saint Nazaire, France in February 2010. It arrived in Darwin in early April from where its 230 tonne bulk was transported to the site using multiple prime movers and a low loading trailer. The land journey took some six days via a carefully planned 1,500 km route.
The MAN Diesel 51/60DF engine
For power generation applications, the 51/60DF model is available in a nine-cylinder, inline version and in vee-configuration versions with 12, 14 and 18 cylinders. The engines have mechanical ratings of 1,000 kilowatts (kW) per cylinder for 60 Hz power generation (514 rpm) and 975 kW for 50 Hz applications (500 rpm). These give an overall generator-set rating range of 8,560–17,550 kW.
With its fuel flexibility and low emissions, the MAN Diesel 51/60DF targets applications where operation on a back-up fuel is either essential or desirable. The engine’s fuel flexibility centres on its capacity to operate on either gaseous or liquid fuel, and to switch between them seamlessly at full-rated output.
In the gaseous-fuel mode, an air-gas mixture is ignited through the injection of distillate diesel fuel. On the 51/60DF, the liquid fuel micro-pilot amounts to 1 per cent of the quantity of liquid fuel needed to achieve full-rated output.
The fuel is injected via a common-rail system that allows flexible setting of injection timing, duration and pressure for each cylinder. This allows the engine to achieve low emissions and to respond rapidly to combustion knock signals on a cylinder-by-cylinder basis.
Image caption:
MAN Diesel & Turbo’s 5160DF dual-fuel engine on its epic 1,500km land voyage from Darwin to Alice Springs; The engine reaches its new home in the power station building at Owen Springs; An aerial view of the Owen Springs site.
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