GE Energy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) have signed final agreements to co-develop a “next generation” steam turbine for use in gas turbine combined-cycle power plants. The co-development effort will focus on the design of a new, advanced steam turbine, leaving each of the parties to separately manufacture and sell the codeveloped steam turbine in support of its natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power generation products.
GE Energy and MHI first announced a memorandum of understanding for combined-cycle steam turbine co-development in January 2009. Development of a new, advanced steam turbine is viewed by both companies as a key step in meeting customer requirements for increased combined-cycle efficiency and performance worldwide.
The new steam turbine will enter commercial service coupled with the GE Frame FB and the MHI Gclass gas turbine products in the 50Hz segment of the global power generation market. These gas turbine models are typically used for combined-cycle power plants in the range 850-1,000 MW.
Much of the current demand for steam turbines is driven by the strong global interest in natural gasfired, combined-cycle power generation. Although a full range of technology options is required to meet the world’s growing energy needs, steam turbines remain a backbone of the power generation industry, playing a part in generating more than 80% of the world’s electricity.

The propulsion system and power generation specialist Tognum has won a contract for its Engines business unit from the Australian shipyard Austal to supply four large diesel engines. The 20V 8000 M71L-model MTU engines, each capable of 9,100 kW (12,376 PS), will provide the main propulsion for the new catamaran ferry “Jean de la Valetta” operated by “Virtu Ferries” from Malta. The vessel will also use four on-board gensets powered by S60 engines. Virtu Ferries operates high-speed catamaran ferry services between Italy and Malta.
The MTU propulsion system will take the twin-hulled, aluminum “Austal Auto Express 107”-Type vessel and its cargo of 800 passengers, 230 automobiles and 342 truck-lane metres up to a service speed of approximately 39 knots. After commissioning in 2010, the ship will be one of Europe’s largest catamaran ferries.
The new contract represents the latest step in the long-standing and successful cooperation between the Tognum Group and Austal shipyards. Up to the present, 44 large diesels in the 8000 engine series have been fitted in a wide range of Austal vessels such as the “Hawaii Superferry ” catamarans and the trimaran “Benchijigua Express”.
Attractive features of the Friedrichshafen-built Series 8000 marine propulsion units for the customer include high reliability which has been demonstrated over more than 240,000 hours of operation, their low fuel consumption of less than 190 g/kWh and the best power/weight ratio in their class in the world. Low-pollution emissions also mean that the engines have International Maritime Organization (IMO) certification in compliance with the MARPOL Convention.

Wärtsilä, a leading supplier of flexible power plants for the decentralized power generation market, has successfully performed a number of tests that demonstrate the ability of its engines to run on a range of vegetable and animal-based oils. This enables a wider range of renewable fuel options for the Wärtsilä engines, while at the same time enabling further CO2 emission reductions.
In the tests, conducted between February and April of this year at the VTT technical research centre in Espoo, Finland, a Wärtsilä Vasa 4R32 engine successfully operated on jatropha oil, fish oil and chicken oil.
The first tests with engines running on a liquid biofuel were carried out in 1995, when Wärtsilä began testing with rapeseed oil. Since 2003, Wärtsilä engine power plants have been in commercial operation using palm oil as the fuel source. Wärtsilä has, as an example, a market share of more than 95% in Italy for power generation from liquid biofuels. The aim of these recent tests has been to assess the capability of engines to operate on renewable fuels that do not compete with agricultural uses.
Jatropha oil holds great promise.
The first engine test with straight jatropha oil was performed in January 2009, with the engine being operated successfully on a batch of oil delivered from India. Jatropha oil is extracted from the seeds of the jatropha plant. The seeds are a non-edible, high-energy fruit grown on semi-arid or marginal land in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The fact that jatropha oil cannot be used in the food industry, makes it extremely promising as a future fuel source.
Good results on animal oil.
Fish oil has been tested in February 2009. Fish contains 10-30% oil or fat, depending on the species. The global production of fish oil in 2007 was 1.1 million tonnes, exceeding the amount needed for food supplements.
Tests showed that the engine performed in much the same way as when running on vegetable-based oils, and no further testing will be necessary for evaluation purposes at this stage.
Chicken oil, a by-product of the rendering process of chicken, was tested in April 2009. During the test, the engine performed as expected.
From these tests, it can be concluded that most animal fats are similar to conventional diesel fuels in terms of energy content, and ignition and combustion properties. The main differences are the melting point, the level of impurities, and the degree of acidity.
The main aim of the tests was to gain some experience with alternative fuels, and to verify that the engines would behave as expected in terms of performance and exhaust gas emissions.