Power generation and distribution

Offering multiple growth opportunities

The demand for solutions that help protect the environment is steadily growing. We have a long-term commitment to bringing environmental options to the energy market. Our people are constantly striving to push the efficiency of our equipment to maximum levels. In addition to the traditional rotating equipment, we provide products and services that are uniquely designed to enhance environmental performance and contribute to climate protection.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

CHP plays an important part in meeting energy requirements and reducing the environmental impact of power generation, providing numerous benefits to both the user and the environment. A CHP scheme will dramatically cut costs because it operates at much higher efficiencies than other forms of power generation.

CHP, also known as cogeneration, is a simple concept which involves a cost-efficient means of generating both electrical and thermal energy from the same fuel source. The electricity generated by the gas turbine generator can be used as an “island” solution for stand-alone power supply in manufacturing plants and industrial facilities. However, the gas turbine exhaust is packed with thermal energy which, in a CHP solution, can be recovered in a heat exchanger to generate either steam or hot water for further application. Municipal utilities can use the steam for district heating, and industrial users benefit from using it in production processes, e.g. for heating or drying. Alternatively steam can be used in absorption chillers to cool industrial processes or warehousing facilities.A CHP system is one of the most efficient ways of converting fuel into useful energy. You can expect a conversion efficiency of up to 95% from a well designed scheme.

Solar Plants

High oil and gas prices and awareness of greenhouse effects are contributing to an increasing demand for renewable energy. Solar power is one renewable energy option to satisfy that growing demand.

A typical process is to gather solar radiation in collectors, concentrating the heat to tubes in their center, transferring it to synthetic oil in the tubes and further to heat exchangers close to the power plant. The heat exchanger transfers the heat thus generated into superheated steam, to run a steam turbine for generation of electrical power. The oil which transfers the heat cannot sustain a consistently high temperature.

To counteract this, we offer a steam turbine reheat concept in a two-module arrangement (SST-700 RH), where each of the modules can be optimized for its specific operating conditions.

Reheat SteamTurbines to Power Biomass Plants

Biomass is an extremely valuable source of energy, since it is defined as CO2-neutral and a renewable energy source. As available resources are limited, maximum utilization of the fuel is very important and the technologies to be applied have to be efficient, reliable and cost-effective.

Biomass-fueled Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants are an excellent solution to increase power output without burdening the environment. Driven by economic considerations and the need for uninterrupted power supply, our steam turbine technology has been fine-tuned to harmonize with this plant concept.

Steam Turbines for Geothermal Plants

Geothermal energy is the term given to heat stored beneath the upper part of the earth’s crust. This heat is permanently available regardless of weather conditions and the time of day. It is an attractive and economical source of energy since it is classified as regenerative and affords emission-free generation of power. Compared to a modern combined cycle power plant of the same capacity, a geothermal power station can reduce CO2 emissions by more than 10,000 tons. This is why some countries offer tax incentives for their construction.

There are many technologies used in geothermal plants. We focus on the Kalina cycle, which enables the use of low potential heat. In this process, a mixture of 15% water and 85% ammonia is used to produce steam. The ammonia-water mixture vaporizes at a much lower temperature than in traditional steam-water systems and is thus extremely suitable for low-temperature applications. The geothermal water is used to heat the ammonia-water mixture, which vaporizes at a pressure of 25 bar and a temperature of 150 ºC.

Such parameters, combined with the unique features of the Kalina cycle, permit the adoption of small and cost-efficient back pressure steam turbines instead of condensing steam turbines. The Kalina cycle also enables considerably higher efficiency rates.

Single-casing axial turbine with a mid-inlet presents the customer with the lowest lifecycle costs. In order to achieve high performance, a high volumetric flow of steam is necessary. Consequently, we recommend different turbines depending on the volumetric flow, for example SST-300 and SST-400 for small power outputs, up to the SST-800, for the larger outputs.

Steam Turbine Solutions for Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Plants

Waste-to-energy is a process by which municipal solid waste (garbage) is incinerated at high temperatures to produce steam, which then passes through a steam turbine under high pressure to create electricity. Just as coal, oil or natural gas is burned to fire boilers to create steam to generate electricity, household trash is used as a fuel to generate power.

Because the cost of the fuel in waste-to-energy facilities is virtually non-existent (in most cases, revenue can be generated from disposal of the waste), it represents a viable energy alternative to burning fossil fuels which are non-renewable and cost money.

Power distribution

Nowadays, the investment costs are of prime importance when planning power supply systems. But the operating and energy costs should not be neglected either, as they can have a sustained effect on the overall cost balance over the period of utilization. 

The electrical planning engineers therefore have the responsibility of designing power supply systems with operational reliability and energy performance in mind. Their service rendered must correspond to the generally accepted rules of good practice.

This means that:

• various implementing regulations,

• administrative regulations,

• relevant standards (IEC, EN, DIN),

• general legal building test certificates, and

• general legal building approvals

must be taken into account during the planning phase, not only for a specific installation but across all installations involved. Support for these increasingly complex tasks during planning is provided by solution approaches such as Totally Integrated Power (TIP), which facilitates the planning tasks with integrated solutions and efficient engineering tools.