Dubai - MENA Herald: GE’s Power Services has achieved a significant milestone with its 9EMax gas turbine upgrade solution. The 9EMax has completed initial validation testing and the critical ‘first fire’ test at a utility site in Asia and is commercially available to customers around the globe.
First fire is a critical test where the gas turbine is operated for the first time and runs on fuel at the site. The unit also completed an additional milestone successfully reaching plant rated load, while delivering significantly more efficiency compared to current 9E gas turbine operations.
The 9EMax solution is being showcased at the GE 9E Users Conference taking place in Dubai May 9-11, 2017, and attended by more than 100 key customers. The conference includes presentations and roundtable discussions on various aspects of power plant operations including digital solutions, improving plant utilization, gas turbine accessories & controls, asset management, maintenance, service & repairs and gas turbine performance.
Attending the conference, Tayeb AlAwadhi, Senior Vice President of Power & Desalination at Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), said, “With the demand for power for residential and commercial use increasing every year, it is important that power sector operators focus further on improving their operational efficiency. GE’s new upgrade solution will enable 9E turbine users to increase productivity and reduce costs, unlocking greater long-term value.”
9EMax, part of GE’s Fleet360* platform of total plant solutions, was developed utilizing GE’s FastWork methodology and deep domain experience from its global fleet of more than 700 units with insights from more than 30 million hours of operating data from its installed base.
“The 9EMax upgrade is another example of the tremendous benefits that GE’s digital industrial innovations bring to our customers,” said Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE’s Power Services business in the Middle East & Africa (MEA). “The solution was developed in response to customers’ specific needs for increased efficiency, additional output and greater flexibility. With more than 300 GE 9E units installed across MEA, the 9EMax offers a unique opportunity for many of our customers to enhance asset performance and lower operating costs.”
The validation test monitored and mapped the unit’s behavior at typical operating parameters. During the tests, over 1,000 instruments were used to collect data and improve the performance of the machine. The sensors collected over 14 terabytes of data, highlighting 9EMax’s capabilities.
The 9EMax will be capable of:
Increasing turbine output up to 145 megawatts (MW) in simple-cycle operation and up to 210 MW in a combined-cycle configuration.
Achieving up to 37 percent efficiency in simple cycle and up to 53.5 percent efficiency in combined-cycle configuration.
Leading up to $5 million in fuel savings annually per unit.
Delivering maintenance intervals of up to 32,000 hours or 900 starts—equivalent to approximately four years of typical plant operation.
Offsetting as much as 2-3 percent of normal performance degradation between maintenance intervals in extreme ambient operating conditions.
9EMax can also operate at partial loads, making it ideal for power producers looking to increase the flexibility of operations to respond to varying seasonal grid needs or as they look to add renewables to their energy mix. It also includes an array of digital solutions to boost operational reliability, improve combustion operations and manage emissions. In addition, GE’s software solutions help offset degradation between maintenance intervals and operating challenges on hot days. This makes the solution an ideal fit for environments such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which has an installed base of more than 90 GE 9E turbines with a generating capacity of over 10 gigawatts (GW).
The new four-stage 9E gas turbine is available in three solutions:
The 9E.04 is the new unit configuration and serves customers with new unit needs.
For older units that are reaching the end of their life, the 9EMax flange-to flange (F2F) solution provides an excellent option to revitalize mature plants, restarting the clock on starts and fired hours.
For younger units, the 9EMax turbine module represents a new alternative to F2F replacements, boosting efficiency approximately 4 percentage points and output up to 145 MW with respect to the previous 9E.03 turbine module. This option also leverages existing compressor and combustion systems to maximize the value of the existing assets.
GE has been present in the Middle East and Africa for more than eight decades, actively supporting the development of power projects. Today, nearly two-thirds of the power generated in the region is supported by GE’s technologies.
