FOCUSPUMPING UP VOLUME

MONITORWATER OF LIFE

LEADING EDGEMORE THAN JUST HOT AIR AT SEA

VENTUREI N T O T H E W O R L D O F I N D U S T R I A L R O T A T I N G E Q U I P M E N T

No 3_November 2005

sPower Generation

Dear Reader,At Siemens, the concept of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) asks a simple—and bold—question:

How does technological excellence translate into commercial advantage for our customers?

Hence our approach to build this concept into our R&D from the very start. To help innovative

products or solutions to the market, however, we know that—in addition to computed eco-

nomic viability—we rely on a good deal of trust on the part of our customers.

An innovative product, which recently entered the market, is Siemens’ latest SGT-700 industrial

gas turbine. Stepping up pipeline capacities, two SGT-700 powered compressor trains help

major European natural gas supplier Wingas to cope with the soaring demand from industrial

customers and utilities in Germany and neighboring countries.

Combined heat and power generation schemes (CHP) have been innovative for their economic

and environmental benefits. Today, CHP is not only of interest for large-scale utilities, but

also for smaller industries with high demands on electrical power and process steam—such as

William Grant’s & Sons, a leading Scottish distiller renowned for its Glenfiddich brand.

While CHP is commonly associated with land-borne facilities, in the form of COGES (Combined

Gas Turbine Electric and Steam) it is actually an innovative solution for marine power generation

and propulsion. Based on a modified SGT-500 gas turbine, Siemens’ dual-fuel COGES solutions

are already sailing the seas, proving the benefits of fuel flexibility, low maintenance, compact

design and reduced weight in a number of applications.

Have a good read!

Dr. Frank Stieler, President

Siemens Power Generation Industrial Applications Division

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ E D I T I O R I A L _ I M P R I N T _ 0 3

IMPRINT

Publisher: SIEMENS AG, Power Generation Industrial Applications, Wolfgang-Reuter-Platz, 47053 Duisburg, Germany Responsible: Dr. Uwe Schütz Editorial Team: Ina Nieroda(Head), Lynne Anderson, Manfred Wegner Contact: ina.nieroda@siemens.com Contributing Editors: Colin Ashmore, David Flin Design: Steinig Weyerke Kommunikations-design, Düsseldorf Photography: Florian Sander Illustration: Ji-Young Ahn Lithography: TiMe Production, Düsseldorf Printing: Heining & Müller GmbH, Mülheim a.d.R.

© 2005 SIEMENS AG. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

NEWS FLASH Around the WorldProjects in Pakistan, Venezuela, and the Persian Gulf region. 04

FOCUS Pumping Up VolumeSiemens’ new SGT-700 gas turbine builds reputation at Wingas’ Eischleben compressor station near Erfurt, Germany. 06

FACES Klaus HaussmannSenior Project Manager at BASF and in charge of engineering for BASF affiliate Wingas. 10

MONITOR Water of LifeSiemens energy technology is helping a Scottish distiller to make ‘the water of life’

with a new environmentally friendly CHP energy center.12

LEADING EDGE More Than just Hot Air at SeaThe commercial shipping industry is about to undergo a sea change in the selection

of power and propulsion systems. COGES (Combined Gas Turbine Electric and Steam) is the buzz word. 16

DATELINE Trade Shows, Conferences, SeminarsNovember 2005 to January 2006 19

Inside

06 10 12 16 19

0 4 _ N E W S F L A S H

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*1 Powering a seawater desalination plant anda newly constructed area in Karachi,Pakistan: a 87-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle plant.

*2 Expanding infrastructure: ten compressortrains will help Petroleos De Venezuela S.A.(PDVSA) bring gas from the wells in the eastto customers in the west.

*3 Compressing an amazing 700,000 cubic me-ters of air per hour: a veritable large-scale solution for a petrochemical refining plant in the Persian Gulf.

booster compressor steam turbine main air compressor

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PAKISTAN—ELECTRICITY AND DRINKING WATERTogether with Siemens Pakistan and Alfa Laval, Siemens is building

a combined-cycle plant adjacent to a seawater desalination plant

in Karachi, Pakistan. The project, awarded by DHA Cogen Ltd., a so-

called IPP (Independent Power Producer), is the first major sea-

water desalination project in Pakistan. The plant will supply a newly

constructed area in Karachi with approximately 14 million liters

of drinking water per day and generate an electrical output of 87

megawatt (MW).

“As IPPs in Pakistan have no established tradition, the financing

of the project was not easy for our customers. We have accompanied

them on the complex path through their project development

and finally our efforts have paid dividends,“ says Rolf Rüsseler, sales

manager with Siemens. The scope of supply encompasses a SCC-

1000F single-shaft combined-cycle plant based on a SGT-1000F gas

turbine, a SST-600 steam turbine, generator, boiler, auxiliaries

and ancillaries. The two-train desalination plant was delivered by

the Swedish company Alfa Laval. Siemens Pakistan is responsible

for civic works, high voltage switchgear and plant construction.

VENEZUELA—MODERNIZING NATURAL GASINFRASTRUCTUREConstituting a significant step forward in its strategy to develop the

Latin American oil and gas markets, Siemens has been awarded

a contract for 10 compressor trains, comprising 10 SGT-400 gas tur-

bines and 16 compressors for the so-called ‘Anaco project’. It is

part of a PDVSA (Petroleos De Venezuela S.A.) infrastructure expan-

sion initiative to bring gas from eastern to western Venezuela.

Within the Anaco region, three areas have been designated as

phase I of a new gas gathering system; Santa Rosa, San Joaquin

and Zapatos/Mata R. Gas from producing wells in this region will be

consolidated, processed and compressed at these stations and fed

into the existing pipeline distribution system servicing western

Venezuela. Liquids will be separated at the gathering centers and

pumped north to the PDVSA refinery at Puerto la Cruz. Currently,

55 facilities are operating within the Anaco Region. The new gas tur-

bine and compressor equipment supplied by Siemens to PDVSA is

part of the overall project to consolidate, replace obsolete or rented

plants and make existing facilities more productive.

The Anaco/Santa Rosa project scope covers ten compressor trains.

Four are low-pressure trains, each comprising one SGT-400 and one

STC-SV compressor, and six are high-pressure trains, each compris-

ing one SGT-400 and two STC-SV compressors in tandem configuration.

For PDVSA, the local presence of Siemens in Venezuela was of par-

ticular significance in terms of ongoing service and support. “Anaco

is a pivotal win for Siemens in the Americas marketplace,” said

Mike Cote, marketing manager for Oil & Gas at Siemens in Houston.

“The benefits of Siemens gas turbine and compression solutions

continue to be confirmed by major customers when evaluated against

traditional competitors.”

PERSIAN GULF—LARGE-SCALE AIR SEPARATIONLinde AG, a global leader in processing technology, contracted

Siemens to supply a large-scale compression solution for an air sepa-

ration plant in the Gulf region. At the heart of the solution will

be a 700,000-cubic-meters-per-hour main air compressor and a geared

booster compressor, both powered by a dual-shaft 81-megawatt

(MW) steam turbine—all designed, manufactured and installed by

Siemens. Scheduled for start-up in the fourth quarter of 2007, the

unit will be the most powerful of its kind in the Middle East and

range among the largest worldwide, supplying some 100.000 cubic

meters per hour of oxygen to a petrochemical refining process.

After the compression solution for Sasol’s Secunda coal-to-liquids (CTL)

plant near Johannesburg, South Africa, this will be the second com-

pression solution provided by Siemens achieving the economies of

scale required for commercial gas-to-liquids (GTL) processing.

In contrast to the electric-motor driven compressor at Sasol’s Secunda

facilities, the above solution will be powered by a steam turbine in a

scheme similar to that employed in up-coming large-scale GTL plants.

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ N E W S F L A S H _ 0 5

Around the World

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Pumping up VolumeWingas, the joint venture of BASF affiliate Wintershall with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom,is continuously beefing up its Central European gas transport and storage infrastructure.Powered by two Siemens SGT-700 gas turbines, its Eischleben compressor station near Erfurt,Germany, is the latest to be inaugurated.

Throughout Central Europe, the past few decades have seen natural

gas continuously replacing oil as the major primary energy.

However, from wells to consumers the major share of it has to be

brought over thousands of miles by pipeline. With supplies amount-

ing to some 3 million cubic meters per hour, the Progress and

Yamal Europe pipeline systems—running respectively from the West

Siberian Basin via Ukraine, Slovakia and Czech Republic and via

Belarus and Poland—are among the prime feeds into the Central

European gas transport, storage and trading infrastructure op-

erated by Wingas.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCEWingas was founded in 1993 as a joint venture between Russian OAO

Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer with reserves

of some 180 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), and Wintershall,

a 100% affiliate of BASF AG, Germany’s largest industrial natural

gas consumer. Since its establishment, Wingas has been pioneering

the German and Central European natural gas markets. Notably,

the company to date invested some 3 billion euro into the develop-

ment of its own infrastructure, including a pipeline system

totaling about 2,000 kilometers, plus a natural gas storage facility at

Rehden, Germany. Boasting a working gas capacity of more than

4 billion cubic meters, the Rehden storage is the largest of its kind in

Western Europe. Yet, storage capacities will be stepped up substan-

tially in the very near future with facilities near Haidach, Austria, and

Saltfleetby near Bacton, UK, the receiving terminal of the Inter-

connector and the future BBL pipeline, on which the company se-

cured substantial capacities.

Due to dwindling production in the UK sector of the North Sea, the

United Kingdom has become one of the fastest-growing import

markets. Against this background, Wingas concluded a framework Phot

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agreement in 2003 with Gazexport, a subsidiary of Gazprom, for the

purpose of marketing Russian natural gas in the trading hubs of

Belgium and the United Kingdom.

BOOSTING PERFORMANCEWith European natural gas volumes forecasted to grow up to 50% by

2025 and liberalization of European markets imminent, Wingas

continues massive investment in optimization of infrastructure.

Additional pipelines are being built parallel to those already

existing, while the number of compressor stations is gradually in-

creased together with today’s 470 megawatts (MW) of cumulative

compressor power. Powered by two Siemens SGT-700 gas turbines,

the Wingas Eischleben compressor station near Erfurt, Germany,

has been the latest to be inaugurated. Together with a 90-km loop

currently under construction, the facility is designed to substan-

tially boost the capacity of Wingas’ all-important east-west connec-

tion, linking the terminals at Mallnow and Olbernhau—where

the Siberian gas crosses the German border—with the company’s

transport and storage infrastructure.

ANYTHING BUT RUN-OF-THE-MILLWhen Siemens received the order for the two Eischleben compres-

sor strings in December 2003, it was clear that this would be a

project with a number of extra challenges. The SGT-700 (GT10C),

an uprated design based on the established SGT-600 (GT10B),

had virtually no field references. Extensive tests had been carried

out at Siemens’ facility in Finspong, Sweden, with two strings

designed to handle residue gas at the UGDC C2/C3-refinery in Port

Said, Egypt—the first SGT-700s ever to be deployed. However, field

data from this project was unlikely to be available before commis-

sioning of the Wingas machines, as the timelines of both projects

were too similar. Given the absence of installed references, Wingas’

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ F O C U S _ 0 7

Totaling some 2,000 kilometers, the Wingas pipeline network delivers natural gas toutilities and industrial customers throughout Germany and to neighboring countries.

decision in favor of the SGT-700 was based on historical experience

with Siemens and the proven reputation of the gas turbine family:

“Clearly, we wouldn’t have decided in favor of the SGT-700, had it

not carried the name Siemens,” said Klaus Haussmann, Senior

Project Manager at BASF AG and in charge of the engineering of a

number of Wingas’ facilities. He continued: “The nominal specs,

however, were exactly what we were looking for, including the

5 MW of extra power which would provide an additional margin of

throughput and improved fuel economics.”

PROVEN FALLBACKIt wasn’t without defining a fallback position that Wingas went for

the SGT-700. A worst-case scenario provisioned the slightly smaller

SGT-600 as a viable alternative in the event of unforeseen complica-

tions. By the end of 2004, the total fleet of SGT-600s had clocked

up the equivalent of 340 years of operating time—a fairly convinc-

ing proof of credibility in anyone’s terms. Said Haussmann: “In

case of a major problem with the SGT-700, we would have been able

to swap to the proven SGT-600 within just a week, since the two

models have the same geometrical specs. It would have meant re-

placing a couple of fittings only.” Elegant as it would have been,

this solution remained unused!

SEAMLESS INTEGRATIONThe compressor strings for the Eischleben station were not only

innovative with regard to the drive. They were also the first to

be equipped with Siemens’ own PC S7 control system. When Wingas

started building bigger compressor stations in 1997, Siemens’ PC S7

became the standard control system throughout the company’s

facilities. Legacy systems have been successively migrated from the

former Siemens S5 and other makes to PC S7, ensuring that all

screens provide the same look and feel—from the local control room

at any of the compressor stations or storage facilities way up to the

dispatching center at the Wingas/Wintershall headquarters in

Kassel, Germany. Here, as many as 3,000 parameters per station are

constantly monitored and controlled by a SCADA (Supervisory

Control And Data Acquisition) system in order to match technical

operations with contractual delivery requirements. As a conse-

quence, fitting the SGT-700s and compressors with PC S7 was essen-

tial for the seamless integration into an existing environment.

“The PC S7 was not really an option. It was a must. Otherwise, we

wouldn’t have bought the machines,” said Klaus Haussmann.

It was a priority after Siemens’ acquisition of the Alstom turbine

businesses in 2003 to implement the PC S7 system throughout the

entire range of industrial turbines as soon as possible. After a

pilot and test phase, the system has been brought on line with all

mid-range turbines manufactured in Finspong, Sweden, and

subsequently with the small gas turbines manufactured in Lincoln,

UK. Since January 2005, all industrial gas turbines are generally

available with PC S7 systems.

DEMANDING HSE REQUIREMENTSThere were some other unique challenges to the engineering of the

Eischleben SGT-700s, which were the first to be delivered within

Europe. Specific design solutions included a cooling system incor-

The heart of Wingas’ operations: dispatching center in Kassel, Germany.

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ F O C U S _ 0 9

PLUGGING & PLAYINGIn spite of the challenging program, Siemens managed a normal

delivery time of 12 months from order to exworks. But an equally

challenging commissioning time lay ahead. April 1st, 2005 was the

day Wingas planned to pump gas.

As a matter of fact, the usual on-site test run had to be limited to a

mere 72 hours due to necessities arising from the revision

schedule of another compressor station along the Wingas pipeline

system. Fortunately, the Eischleben machines required just a

limited performance test upon arrival at site, having already un-

dergone comprehensive workshop tests. As a result, they could

immediately equalize the reduced compression power of the station

due for revision. Ever since, “the machines run to our fullest

satisfaction—and with amazingly little vibration and pulsation,”

confirms Klaus Haussmann.

MOVING AHEADWingas is a company in progress. Parallel to hardware upgrading,

the company is equipping itself to take advantage of the fully

liberalized gas markets in Germany and the U.K., and what will fol-

low. A recently introduced sophisticated Entry-Exit system will

constitute the backbone of Wingas’ future transmission services,

ensuring ultimate transparency and manageability. Ready to

fully leverage on the unique partnership with OAO Gazprom and the

billions of euros invested since the early 1990s, Wingas is taking

European gas-to-gas competition to yet another level.

One of two SGT-700 (formerly GT10C) gas turbines powering the Wingas compressor station near Erfurt, Germany.

porated in the package, additional noise reduction to fulfill the

stringent German standards, and a horizontal exhaust with separate

stack. The equipment has met all the EU-ordinated PED (Pressure

European Directive) and ATEX (Potentially Explosive Atmospheres

Directive 94/9/EC) requirements for equipment to be located in a

hazardous area.

DELIVERED PLUG & PLAYWhen purchased as components, compressor trains are commonly

delivered in consortium, usually under the leadership of the com-

pressor manufacturer. However, they are manufactured, tested and

delivered as separate components from separate suppliers, and

frequently not string-tested for joint functionality until installed on

the customer’s site. Eischleben, however, was the first Industrial

Applications project where the turbine and compressor were produced,

factory-tested and packaged under a single roof.

The turbine was manufactured in Finspong, Sweden, and the com-

pressor in Duisburg, Germany, under common project manage-

ment. Packaging after completion was coordinated in Finspong.

The most important synergies were in the design of the skids and

joint piping systems for the air, gas and lubricating oil to be

supplied to the components. System competence was imported from

Duisburg to supervise certain compressor-specific systems, such

as the seal gas panels supplying sealing air to the compressor seals.

Yet, the same design group was responsible for the whole design,

thus reducing the risk of interface problems and saving valuable

time upon arrival at site.

The Kondratki compressor station at the Polish/Russian border. To date, Siemens supplied a total of 22 SGT-600s for compressor stations along the Yamal Europe pipeline–one of three major feeds into Wingas’ gas transportand storage infrastructure.

1 0 _ F O C U S

Klaus Haussmann, Senior Project Manager, BASF

1 0 _ F A C E S

Winning Teams

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ F A C E S _ 1 1

Venture: Mr. Haussmann, considering your views of Eischleben and other such projects, you seem to emphasize a

number of ‘soft factors’ to be of paramount importance for success?

Venture: According to your personal experience, what have been the qualities that would best describe the coop-

eration between the Wingas and Siemens teams?

Venture: Trust in Siemens you must have had, otherwise you would not have decided in favor of the SGT-700,

a gas turbine at that point without field reference?

Venture: And, presumably, Eischleben hasn’t been your first project with Siemens?

Venture: Sounds like it’s been a bed of roses! Have there not been any major problems or areas for improvement?

Venture: Glimpsing into the future, what do you think of recent innovations in the field of turbomachinery,

such as dry-dry solutions or active magnetic bearings?

Team spirit, dedication, trust—according to Klaus Haussmann, Senior Project Manager atBASF AG, this is the personal bottom line of the cooperation between Wingas and Siemens. With a team of just six, he works as an internal EPC, lent from BASF to affiliate Wingas forengineering and starting up facilities such as the Eischleben compressor station.

Haussmann: Very much so. Of course, client and supplier have to share a common understand-

ing of the contractual framework. However, considering the complexity of such projects, you prob-

ably cannot define every possible development in legal terminology. So, on a day-to-day basis, the

project teams have to share, say, a ‘can-do’ mindset, an understanding that even unforeseen prob-

lems can be solved without first consulting the fine print of the contract.

Haussmann: It was precisely that ‘can-do’ spirit, a personal dedication to getting things done.

This we found in the very young team from Siemens in Finspong, Sweden, who delivered and in-

stalled the turbomachinery. And it was also typical of the team from Siemens I&S in Essen, Germany,

who installed the PC S7 control system. It was give and take—in both directions. It is a relation-

ship based on friendliness and trust.

Haussmann: Clearly, we would not have taken the risk, had we not had the conviction that Siemens

by their sheer size and technological expertise would have been able to furnish a proper and fast

solution in case of a problem with the SGT-700.

Haussmann: Indeed. Apart from Siemens I&S we had some very positive experience with Siemens

PG, who have just installed an industrial CHP solution at the BASF facility in Ludwigshafen,

Germany, a project an order of magnitude larger than Eischleben.

Haussmann: Occasional problems are a natural ingredient of complex projects. What makes all

the difference is the way such problems are solved. In that respect we are totally happy with how

things have gone. And ready for more.

Haussmann: Since the mid 90’s we have followed the development of magnetic bearings with

great interest. It seems that initial problems with controlers have been overcome and that today’s

AMBs are very reliable. In principle, I think AMBs are very elegant solutions, notably under envi-

ronmental aspects, which, as you know, are of the greatest importance in the oil & gas industry. The

same applies to dry-dry solutions. We consider both as options for our future machinery.Phot

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Siemens energy technology is helping a Scottish distiller to make uisge beatha, the waterof life, one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages known as whisky. A new environmen-tally friendly CHP energy center not only provides the distillery with high-reliability processsteam and all its electrical power, but also exports surplus electricity to the local grid.

Despite the faint but distinct odor of whisky in the air, the distillery

operated by family-owned Scotch whisky distillers William Grant &

Sons at Girvan bears little resemblance to the layperson’s per-

ception of traditional whisky making. Set on a large industrial site

near the small town of Girvan on the Ayrshire coast, not far from

Scotland’s famous golf courses at Royal Troon and Turnberry, the

distillery has stunning views of hills, sea and in the distance the

craggy offshore island of Ailsa Craig. Nevertheless, with its giant

steel silos, complex vessels, tanks and maze of gleaming pipe

work, the facility could be easily mistaken for almost any industrial

processing unit.

VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCEThe principal difference between Grant’s Girvan operation and its

other distilleries is that the Ayrshire plant is dedicated principally

to the production of grain whisky, rather than the highly-prized

single malts such as the Balvenie and the company’s world-leading

Glenfiddich. These famous brands are made in traditional ‘pot’

stills at the ‘single’ distilleries in the Scottish highlands giving the

brand-name location, using a fixed quantity of fermented malted

barley and distilled as many as three times.

THE IRISH CONNECTIONAlternatively, grain whisky is made from a fermented ‘wash’ based

mainly on finely ground wheat. Raw spirit is produced in a continu-

ous operation on an industrial scale in very large distillation units

based on the ‘patent’ or ‘Coffey’ still—a form of double-column

heat exchanger developed in 1831 by Irishman Aeneas Coffey—to

produce large volumes of high-quality neutral grain alcohol,

efficiently and economically. This in turn can be used either as the

principal constituent of other spirits such as gin or vodka, or it

can be matured in oak barrels for a minimum of three years to cre-

ate the light whisky which forms the base for all blended whiskies.

WHEAT, WORT, WASH AND WHISKYIn the continuous production of grain whisky at Grant’s Girvan dis-

tillery, a mixture of milled wheat and malted barley is cooked in

water at high temperature to form the wort, a dark-colored sugary

liquid. This is cooled and transferred to fermentation vessels

called washbacks, where yeast is added to produce a viscous, beer-

like liquid from the soluble sugar, with an alcohol content of

between 8 and 9 per cent. The fermented liquid, known as wash, is

pumped to the top of the first column or ‘analyzer’ of the double-

1 2 _ M O N I T O R

Water of Life

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ M O N I T O R _ 1 3

column distillation unit, and high temperature steam is fed into the

base. The steam rises to meet the cooled wash causing alcohol to

boil off as vapor. This is fed to the base of the second, ‘rectifier’ col-

umn where it rises, cools, condenses and is run off through

further cooling stages and collected continuously as 94 per cent

by volume, neutral grain alcohol.

After maturing in oak barrels for three years to convert the neutral

grain alcohol into whisky, the resulting light and fragrant product

is blended with up to 30 malt whiskies and left for several months

to ‘marry’ in large oak vessels called tuns. This creates the distinctive

flavors and aromas of Grant’s own blended brand, which is finally

bottled at its plant at Motherwell near Glasgow. As well as forming the

base for its own blended whisky, the mature grain whisky is also

supplied in bulk to virtually all other Scotch whisky-makers as a base

for the blended brands marketed by these companies.

INNOVATIVE ENERGYFounded in 1886 by William Grant and now operated by his de-

scendents, the company is the largest of the handful of Scotch

whisky distillers remaining in family ownership and the world’s

fourth largest producer of Scotch whisky. The company has a histo-

ry of innovation, being the very first to pioneer single malt

whisky and more recently with the introduction of the solera con-

cept, to create Glenfiddich Solera Reserve. Innovation has also

extended to the company’s manufacturing technologies, with sig-

nificant recent investments in leading-edge process-monitoring

and control systems from Siemens. However, one of the largest and

most important investments in new technology in recent years

has been the installation by Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery of

a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which now forms the heart

of a new Energy Center at the whisky distiller’s Girvan operation.

Prior to the CHP installation, the high energy demand for both

process steam and electrical power at the distillery was supplied re-

spectively by large boilers burning heavy fuel oil and by the

local electrical power utility and formed a major and rapidly-increas-

ing percentage of the company’s total production costs. In 2001,

mains gas supplies became available for the first time at the plant

and the decision was taken by Grants to replace the existing boil-

ers with modern gas-fired units and to generate their own electrici-

ty and additional steam, using a modern, clean and energy-effi-

cient combined heat and power system.

As Stirrat points out, “Data from this 24/7 monitoring system not only

helps us and our customer to run the plant at optimum efficiency

and reliability, but is also providing us with information that will

help in the future strategic planning of similar industrial heat

and power plants. The system also provides the customer with an

on-line helpdesk, in case of any unforeseen problems.”

CLEAN, GREEN, PROFITABLE PARTNERSHIPAs well as meeting its entire requirement for electricity from the

CHP plant, the distillery exports around 30 per cent of the gen-

erated output to the local grid network as a revenue-earning com-

modity. In addition to significant savings on the total energy

bill since changing from heavy fuel oil and mains electricity to clean-

burn gas-fired boilers and gas turbine-powered CHP, Grant’s

have also become eligible for an 80 per cent rebate on the Climate

Change Levy, a fuel tax imposed on industry by the UK govern-

ment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promoting energy

efficiency. The rebate is awarded only to CHP plants certified

under the CHP Quality Assurance Programme (CHPQA) as “good

quality combined heat and power schemes.” According to

Andrew Kean, Engineering and Maintenance Manager, the rebate is

a useful additional benefit, “but the main advantage is being

able to generate our own power cleanly and efficiently,” he says.

“We went through a very steep learning-curve to become an

independent power producer, but we have been helped at every step

by the people at Siemens and the company has proved to be an

excellent partner.”

In the 4 years since the CHP plant was installed the initial capital

investment has been completely recovered through savings in fuel

and operating costs, with power now being exported at a profit.

THE RIGHT CHOICE“It was a very difficult decision for us,” explained Distillery Manager

Conn Lynch. “We had to be persuaded that moving away from

our core business to generate our own power would be the right way

forward. We looked carefully at our requirements, visited quite

a number of CHP installations in Scotland to see just how they were

operated and talked to a number of possible suppliers including

both Centrax and Turbomach as well as Siemens,” said Lynch. “Our

final choice was for a package from Siemens, based on the SGT-100

gas turbine, a gas compressor and heat recovery steam gen-

erator. With a rating of 5.25 megawatts and capable of supplying

process steam at the rate of around 11 tonnes per hour, this

met precisely our requirements for both heat and electrical power.”

WATCHING BRIEFThe outcome was a very satisfactory one, not least for Lincoln-based

Alastair Stirrat, Siemens’ Gas Turbine Product Strategy Manager,

who had been at the center of discussions with the customer. “We

formed a very good relationship with Grant’s and I’m sure that

they feel that we have done a good job for them,” he commented.

“At the same time, we have been keeping a very close eye on this

installation, partly through continuous contact with the people here

at Girvan and of course through the EDEN data-link which is pro-

viding both the customer and ourselves with vital operational in-

formation.” EDEN, Siemens’ Electronic Data Exchange Network

installed at the plant, not only allows essential data on the gas tur-

bine-based installation to be collected, viewed and analyzed to

provide trending information, but also automatically generates re-

ports, which help in planning custom-designed maintenance

regimes within Siemens’15-year maintenance contract. This enables

the plant to be run continuously, at full-rated output under base

load conditions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a total of 50 weeks

in every year, with just two weeks annual shutdown for essential

maintenance.

“We went through a very steep learning-curve to become an independent powerproducer, but we have been helped atevery step by the people at Siemens andthe company has proved to be an excel-lent partner.”

1 4 _ M O N I T O R

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1 6 _ L E A D I N G E D G E

More Than just Hot Air at SeaThe commercial shipping industry is about to undergo a sea change in the selection ofpower and propulsion systems. While mature-technology diesel engines and steam tur-bines are currently the prime choices, these are now being challenged by COGES (CombinedGas Turbine Electric and Steam) systems. Staying ahead of the game, Siemens has already developed and introduced a field-proven, environmentally friendly dual-fuel gasturbine-based COGES solution to suit both new-build and existing vessels.

V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ L E A D I N G E D G E _ 1 7

Phot

o: S

iem

ens

All industrial sectors are striving to stay

competitive in an increasingly deregulated

world, while at the same time being forced

to comply with a growing number of na-

tional and international regulations, includ-

ing increasingly stringent environmental

legislation. Shipping companies around the

globe are no exception. Diesel engines

and steam turbines fuelled on heavy bunker

oil are currently the prime choice for ma-

rine power generation and propulsion.

Although gas turbines are providing clean,

‘green’, cost-effective power in land-based

industrial applications worldwide, until

now their use in the marine industry has

been restricted to aero-derivative engines

designed to burn expensive light diesel

oil. This barrier to the use of industrial-type

gas turbines has now fallen. Already in

use as a cost-effective alternative to existing

mature ship propulsion technology, the

Siemens SGT-500 can operate on heavier

fuel oils than ever possible before, reduc-

ing fuel costs dramatically. In addition, gas

and fuel oil can be fired in the same engine

at the same time to give genuine and ex-

tremely flexible dual-fuel operation. This

latest development forms the heart of a

readily available and in-service proven

COGES solution for both passenger and mer-

chant vessels, providing operators with a

vital competitive edge.

COMBINED CYCLE, LOWER EMISSIONSBased on industrial gas turbine technology,

a typical COGES system includes two gas

turbines driving high-powered electrical

generators, with ‘waste’ heat from the large

volumes of hot air from their exhausts

being recovered by two Heat Recovery Steam

Generators (HRSGs). Steam from the

HRSGs is used to power a steam turbo gen-

erator in a single pressure arrangement

as well as providing the ship’s entire heat-

ing and hot water requirements. The

gas and steam turbines together with the

generators form a combined-cycle power

plant feeding power to the ship’s high-

voltage grid and to lower voltage distribu-

tion systems via transformers.

Due to the inherently low emissions from

modern gas turbines coupled with the

enhanced efficiency of the combined-cycle

design, COGES produces very low emis-

sions of the greenhouse gas carbon diox-

ide, even when using intermediate fuel oil

and even when idling at low load.

Emissions of smoke, soot and unburned

hydrocarbons are also far lower than those

from diesel engines and environmentally

harmful emissions of oxides of nitrogen

(NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx) are also very

significantly reduced due to the system

efficiency. Emissions levels can be reduced

still further by using special Low-NOx

burners combined with light fuel oil.

LESS SPACE, MORE COMFORTGas turbine-based COGES installations are

typically smaller and lighter than diesel

engines of comparable power. Even com-

pared to a steam turbine installation with a

similar power rating, a COGES installation

requires an estimated 10% less space. As

many types of ship, such as fast ferries,

need engines with high power output and

low weight, COGES provides the optimal

solution. Capable of operating for very

long periods between routine maintenance

intervals, the engines require almost no

attention from the crew, and virtually none

at all while at sea.

The lighter weight and smaller size of the

COGES system provides significant poten-

tial for higher revenues. Cruise ships can

install more cabins, container ships can

carry more containers, tankers and general

cargo ships can have more cargo space.

In existing ships, the speed of the ship can

be increased and turn-around times re-

duced, a particularly important factor for

fast-ferry operators.

Conventional two-stroke and four-stroke

marine diesel engines normally require

special structural supports and direct re-

silient mountings to minimize the vibra-

tion transmitted throughout the ship. In

contrast, gas turbine-based rotating power

plants produce substantially less vibration

and noise than reciprocating cylinder en-

gines. In addition, their relatively small

size makes it easy to house the gas turbine

in an insulated, sound-deadening acoustic

enclosure, reducing the noise level to less

than 85dB(A), compared to 102-108dB(A)

for comparable-sized diesel engines, and re-

ducing radiated heat to a minimum.

FLEXIBLE APPROACHA leader in the development of industrial

gas turbines for marine applications,

Siemens has developed its SGT-500 (former-

ly GT35C) industrial gas turbine for use

in marine COGES applications. Rated at 17

megawatt (MW), the SGT-500 is a dual-fuel

machine capable of running on natural gas

and using Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) as the

liquid fuel. Anders Karlsson, the SGT-500

Product Manager at Siemens Industrial

Turbomachinery AB, Finspong, explained:

“The SGT-500 provides a seamless transfer

between gas and liquid fuels, and can run

on practically any combination of liquid and

gas.” The fact that it can run on a wide

range of liquid fuels, including Marine Gas

Oil (MGO), Marine Diesel Oil (MDO),

Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) and IF30, an Inter-

mediate Fuel, gives the owner great fuel

flexibility. “Since the price of IF30 is close

to half the price of Marine Gas Oil, the SGT-

500 can cut fuel costs significantly,” com-

mented Karlsson. In practice, MDO is used

during initial start-up, but after just two

minutes the turbine is switched over to the

less expensive IF30.

BURNING ISSUEThe key to the exceptional fuel flexibility of

the Siemens SGT-500 is in its advanced

combustion system. The combustor ‘bas-

kets’ are significantly larger than those

used in aero-derivative gas turbines. Due

to the larger physical size of the combustion

chambers the larger sized heavy fuel oil

droplets have sufficient time to burn com-

pletely, before passing into the power tur-

bine section as superheated gas, but at a

lower temperature than the aero-derivative

equivalent. The reduced turbine inlet tem-

perature also provides a secondary advan-

tage, as no cooling is required for either

the turbine vanes or blades, leading to re-

duced component wear and improved over-

all performance.

This means that as well as using natural gas

as an ideal fuel, the gas turbine can be

fired cleanly and efficiently on a very wide

range of liquid fuels including heavy fuel

oil, or even a simultaneous combination of

gas and liquid fuel. Siemens’ SGT-500 gas

turbine has been operated commercially on

IF30 Intermediate Fuel, a 30/70 mixture

of Marine Diesel Oil and IF80, both of

which are readily available on a global ba-

sis. At around half the cost of MGO fuel

normally used for the aero-derivative en-

gines currently used for ship propulsion,

the ability to use IF80 not only provides

unprecedented fuel flexibility, but allows

ship operators to offset soaring fuel prices.

POWER FROM WASTEIn the specific case of a Liquid Natural Gas

(LNG) carrier, a COGES power plant using

gas turbines in combined-cycle configura-

tion offers a significant number of advan-

tages over conventional diesel engine pow-

er and propulsion systems. These vessels

carry bulk LNG in low temperature liquid

form in very large insulated cryogenic

containers, designed to allow a relatively

small proportion of the gas to naturally

‘boil off’ and be safely vented. The gas tur-

bines can be fuelled directly from the

boil-off gas, eliminating the need for a re-

gasification plant, this alone giving consid-

erable savings in both build cost and in

the cost of operation. In addition, the small

size and light weight of the gas turbine

COGES system means that instead of being

installed in a conventional engine-room

below the water line, the entire plant can be

located on an upper deck, freeing-up addi-

tional space below-decks for more cabins,

cars, containers or cargo. Hence, instead of

being forced to install the power plant at

a very early stage in the ship’s construction,

it can be installed at a later stage, enabling

capital expenditure to be more evenly

spread. Moving the power plant to an on-

deck location can have a seriously adverse

affect on ship stability, but this can be

readily countered by installing additional

water or fuel tanks closer to the keel, low-

ering the center of gravity and restoring

stability. One slight disadvantage in in-

stalling the power plant higher in the ship

is that it makes it impractical to use a

common design-platform for both diesel

engines and gas turbines.

CARISMATIC EXPERIENCEDavid Nordlander, Business Development

Manager for Siemens industrial plant so-

lutions, said: “We have solid experience

in running the SGT-500 on heavy fuel oil in

a marine environment. Stena Line’s fast

ferry Carisma has two engines that have

now accumulated over 30,000 operating

hours, running for four years on IF30. A

recent inspection showed the engines

to be in perfect condition.” The total power

of the SGT-500 COGES plant is greater

than 40 MW—more than sufficient to pow-

er a town of some 53,000 people—and

the specific fuel consumption is 210g/kWh

at an ambient temperature of 30°C. Heat

from the HRSG is also used for general heat-

ing throughout the ship, increasing the

total efficiency of the plant. The HRSG used

in the Carisma is a once-through boiler, a

compact and light design which eliminates

the need for a steam drum. It also has

dry-run capability, which eliminates the

need for by-pass dampers, simplifying

the design still further.

However, Nordlander commented that de-

signing an appropriate maintenance

regime for the SGT-500 is extremely impor-

tant. “It is better if major maintenance

activities coincide with the ship’s docking

schedule. For LNG ships, this is typically

every five years, the same as for the gas

turbine and combined-cycle concept. The

cost of operating the SGT-500 is very low,

and the output is appropriate for LNG ves-

sels. The ability of the SGT-500 to run

on a mix of gas and liquid fuel gives the ad-

vantage of greater flexibility, allowing

the user to run the plant on a heavier, and

of course cheaper, liquid fuel.”

BEST OF BOTH WORLDSAlthough forced by current regulatory and

environmental pressures to clean up

their own act, marine diesel engine manu-

facturers still have a very long way to

go before they reach the emissions levels

routinely achieved today by gas turbine-

based power systems.

While reducing the global environmental

impact of shipboard power and propulsion

plants is an excellent strategic goal, there

are other, strictly commercial advantages in

the use of the COGES system pioneered

by Siemens. It is worth pointing out that

saving costs while saving the planet will

undoubtedly have considerable appeal for

ship owners and shareholders alike. Phot

os a

bove

: Sie

men

s, P

hot

o ri

ght:

Flo

rian

San

der

At the heart of Siemens’ COGES plant—the field-proven SGT-500 gas turbine.

Qatar Gas’ decision to use COGES for its next-generation LNG carriers could mean the start of a new trend. The size offuture LNG carriers is becoming so large that using steam turbines or diesel engines could be impractical because oftheir excessive weight and volume.

Dateline

09–11 November 2005

24–27 November 2005

06–08 December 2005

12–15 December 2005

17–19 January 2006

POWER INDIA, Mumbai, India, http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/power-india.html

USCHPA, New York City, USA,http://uschpa.admgt.com/stateCHP.html

POWER-GEN INTERNATIONAL, Las Vegas, USA, http://pgi05.events.pennnet.com

34TH TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM, Houston, Texas, USA, http://turbolab.tamu.edu/turboshow/turbo.html

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V E N T U R E M A G A Z I N E _ N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 _ D A T E L I N E _ 1 9

www.siemens.com/venture