Emerson Process Management, a wing of Emerson, has completed a dual fuel-conversion initiative that supports the Termocandelaria power plant to operate using either natural gas or oil.
Implemented by Emerson and Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas (MPSA), the project commenced its commercial operations in an aggressive timetable that was required for Termocandelaria to fulfill its regulatory obligations.
The project marks the recent collaboration formed in 2008 as an alliance for turbine retrofit projects, between Emerson and MPSA.
Owned by Termocandelaria Power, Termocandelaria is a two-unit power plant located in Cartagena, along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast with a capacity of 320MW.
Emerson also migrated the existing gas turbine controls from the previous-generation WDPF istributed control system to its Ovation expert control system, to accommodate a second fuel source. Emerson, as a part of the migration, converted the existing logic to industry standard SAMA logic. Emerson has designed the Ovation system to enable a straightforward migration path for users of its WDPF systems.
MPSA was responsible for the dual fuel conversion, including civil and electrical design of the expanded balance of plant equipment for water and oil treatment and storage equipment and new combustion system components, gas and oil fuel supply systems featuring Emerson control valves and instrumentation.
For the project, MPSA also provided installation and commissioning support in order to achieve a certificate of completion by demonstrating power supply capabilities on oil fuel. Water-injected diffusion flame combustors (fuel nozzles, combustor baskets & transition pieces) were provided to increase the unit’s output and simplify the fuel conversion process.
Included in retrofit, MPSA’s new dual-fuel system utilizes a duplex liquid fuel nozzle to eliminate the need for a flow divider and improve start-up and low load particulate emissions and opacity. Mitsubishi’s high energy ignition system and Purge air systems were also applied to assure high starting reliability.
Bob Yeager, president of the Power & Water Solutions division of Emerson, said: “Emerson and MPSA worked well together to deliver a successful project for Termocandelaria within the required compressed timeframe. By leveraging the respective strengths of our two organizations, we were able to provide Termocandelaria with a comprehensive solution that met their objective of improving plant reliability and maximizing revenue.”