Combined Cycle Power Plant

Recently Grupel installed an emergency diesel genset in a combined cycle power plant in Mexico and added a new special project to the portfolio.

In this Grupel special project, there is a 1507kVA (STP) Emergency Diesel Genset with MTU 18V2000G85 engine and Leroy Somer LSA 50.2 L7 alternator in a 40” container. This genset was installed in a Combined Cycle Power Plant in Mexico, for feeding the essential load that is required for protecting sensitive equipment of the plant in case of a mains failure. It was built under very strict standards and certifications and all equipment was tested with international standards after a request of the client. All electrical equipment installed has UL certification as well as the fuel system.

The container is divided in 4 compartments, one for the generator, one for the electric cabinets, one for the Fuel tanks and another for the firefighting system. The firefighting system is fully autonomous and in case of fire in any of the other compartments, it will actuate immediately. The generator stops and the air inlets and outlet close hermetically to guarantee that there will be no CO₂ leakage at the exterior of the container. The fuel supply of the generator is made with 2 separate double layer tanks with 1500l capacity each one of them.

The control system is combined with an ABB PLC system and a DEIF GPC-3 controller/synchronizer. The control is done from a touch panel of ABB incorporated in the control cabinet.

The generator can be tested on full load without the use of an external load bank. As a result, the periodic maintenance costs are lower because it´s not needed to use any external equipment.

Also, a highlight is the generator operation that is completely automatic. Due to the equipment’s importance, this genset starts-up automatically and feeds the essential equipment in less than 10 seconds.