Gas engine gen set achieves record efficiency22 October 2010

A new 9.5MW gas engine generator set can achieve 48.7% electrical efficiency and 90% overall energy efficiency, if used as part of a CHP (combined heat and power) system.

The GE Jenbacher 20 cylinder J920 is designed to run on natural gas but, in the future, is expected to be available for running off coal mine gas. In theory it could also be made to run on biogas, if a sufficiently large, steady supply was available.

Applications set to benefit initially are independent power supplies, CHP, hot and high altitude regions and power stabilisation, such as backing up wind turbine parks when the wind drops. To this end, it has been designed to go from starting to full power in five minutes.

The prototype J920 engine is to be supplied to the Stadtwerke or municipal utility company in Rosenheim, just across the border from the Jenbacher plant in Jenbach, Austria. It will be the organisation's fifth Jenbacher, and will additionally supply hot water to the town's district heating, with water at 100°C, returning at 70°C – resulting in thermal efficiency of 90%.

The gen sets are built as three modules, with the two stage intercooled turbocharger at one end of the set, instead of on top, to ease assembly and servicing.

The engine is further equipped with a segmented camshaft, allowing easy exchange through a maintenance window at the top of the crank case. Unlike other Jenbacher products, which are usually returned to factory or depot for major refurbishments and upgrades, the J920 is designed to be worked on at the user's location.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
GE Energy

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