www.dieselgasturbine.

com AUTUMN 2021

A KHL Group Publication

COVERING LARGE ENGINE AND GAS TURBINE MARKETS SINCE 1969

Executive roundtable
DECARBONIZATION, COVID AND FUTURE MARKETS

HÅKAN AGNEVALL, PAUL BROWNING, MARTY HAYCRAFT, CARLOS LANGE, PROF. KANGKI LEE, JAVAID RIAZ, OLIVER
president and CEO president and vice president of president and CEO senior vice general manager RIEMENSCHNEIDER,
of Wärtsilä Corp. CEO of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Inc. and of INNIO. president, High of Parker Gas managing director of
Power Americas. president and CEO Power Systems of Turbine Division. ABB Turbocharging.
of Progress Rail. AVL List GmbH.

MARINE TECHNOLOGY:
ENHANCED LUBRICATION

2021 TURBINE
SPECS-AT-A-GLANCE

POWER GENERATION MARINE PROPULSION OIL & GAS RAIL TRACTION

 FILTRATION

The proper air

filtration for
a gas turbine
incorporates
several variables.

Cause and e.FFECT

D
ust and moisture in the intake air of Freudenberg Filtration Technologies
gas turbines cause deposits on the believes it has an answer with its Freudenberg’s simulation
blade surfaces known as ‘fouling’, simulation software, the electronic
as well as corrosion damage in the hot gas Freudenberg Filter Efficiency Tool,
software helps operators
area. or e.FFECT for short. With e.FFECT, optimize air filtration
This results in in higher heat rate and Freudenberg Filtration Technologies said
less efficiency while maintenance effort it is able to configure individually
and costs also increase. Multi-stage air optimized air filter systems
intake filter systems provide protection and tailored to the specific needs of
functional reliability – as long as they are turbomachinery operators.
precisely tailored to the requirements of
the plant and the specific environmental FACTORING TOTAL COST
conditions at the power plant location. OF OWNERSHIP
The relationship between the dust mass “The power output is influenced
entering the compressor of a gas turbine by the dust ingress into the
over a period of time and the loss of machine and the dust is
turbine performance it causes can serve as building up deposits on
an important parameter in selecting the the blades,” said Thomas >
most economical sequence of filter classes
in multi-stage systems. Because air filters
always separate a percentage of particles,
site specific dust concentrations affect the
dust load entering the compressor. A high
concentration of dust at a specific site
means that a correspondingly higher dust
load will be transported into the turbine.
But how can operators find site-specific
data and how can that be incorporated
into the filtration selection process?

DIESEL & GAS TURBINE WORLDWIDE AUTUMN 2021 11

 FILTRATION

Schroth, Market Segment Manager calculates the individual filtration

Turbomachinery for Freudenberg. “But efficiency of each filter stage and
the power output is also influenced by the accumulated quantities of dust
the pressure drop – the airflow resistance per filter element.
of the filters – and basically the software One factor that influences the
is providing a total cost of ownership filtration system is the composition
calculation based on site-specific of the local ambient air. To ensure
conditions where the power plant is that the intake air
located.” filter system can
e.FFECT maps the actual operation of be precisely
a plant onto a digital model. Based on designed, it
the site-specific conditions and relevant is therefore
variables for efficient operation, the important to
software tool compares the filtration know where a
systems in question and determines the power plant is
best solution. This is necessary because the being operated. This may
more specifically a filter system is tailored be in an urban area with high
to the respective plant requirements, the levels of submicron particulate
more efficiently, safely and economically it matter, in a rural region with a
can be operated, according to Freudenberg. high pollen count, near a humid
In the case of turbomachinery, this coastline, or in an area characterized
typically involves the use of multistage by drought and high concentrations
filter systems: coordinated, sequentially of coarse dust like for example sand.
connected combinations of pocket, To analyze the supply air at a specific
cassette and/or cartridge filters. e.FFECT location, e.FFECT either uses the ongoing
measurements of national environmental of gas turbines, the main factors causing
authorities or other available data of performance losses are fouling and the
The power output particle concentrations that can be pressure drop of the particle-laden filters.
determined in the immediate vicinity of e.FFECT uses the interaction of these
is influenced by the dust the site. calculation parameters to determine the
optimum value for which the sum of the
ingress into the machine E.FFECT MAKES POTENTIALS OF two system-inherent performance losses is
PERFORMANCE GAINS VISIBLE the lowest.
and the dust is building up Process requirements and plant specifics, Two extreme scenarios illustrate this
such as the intake mass flow of the point more clearly. An ultra-fine filter
deposits on the blades.” turbomachine, are particularly important system with an extremely high degree of
in determining the requirement profile for separation would hugely reduce fouling,
THOMAS SCHROTH, market segment the filtration of the intake air. In the case but would lead to high reductions in
manager turbomachinery, Freudenberg performance due to pressure drops in the
Location is a key determining factor when filter system. Conversely, using no filter
choosing a filter. system at all would mean zero pressure
loss, but would severely accelerate and
intensify fouling, resulting in a steep drop
in power output and the efficiency of the
system. By comparing different solutions,
e.FFECT calculates the “golden mean”, i.e.
the lowest average value that promises the
highest power output.
“With the help of e.FFECT, our
customers can be sure of implementing
a site- and plant-optimized air filtration
solution,” Schroth said. “Our simulation
and calculation tool incorporates the
knowledge gained from decades of

12 AUTUMN 2021 DIESEL & GAS TURBINE WORLDWIDE

 FILTRATION

Location of a power plant can

influence what type of filtration the With the help
operator will choose.
of e.FFECT, our
depends on the dust at the site, customers can be sure
so you can select certain filters
and if I choose filter A it’s lifespan of implementing a site-
could be 12 months, but if I choose filter
B with different features, it could be 18 and plant-optimized air
months,” Schroth said.
filtration experience, data evaluation from filtration solution.”
more than 50 actual power plants, and USED IN PLANNING
numerous tests at Freudenberg Filtration Schroth said that some customers are using THOMAS SCHROTH, market segment
Technologies. Power plant operators can the e.EFFECT system in the planning manager turbomachinery, Freudenberg
immediately see the savings potential stages for new power plants as well.
and the resulting monetary effect and are “We get requests from utilities when
thus in a position to make meaningful they plan a new power plant and when this will be optimum for our operation.’”
comparisons. The advantages are they speak to the OEM Turbine OEMs naturally try to
obvious: a tailor-made of the turbine they standardize their systems, so the end user
filtration solution leads can request certain has to be proactive in selection on the
to lower maintenance filtration systems in filtration system, Schroth said.
requirements, longer advance, ”he said. “You can get filters in different particle
service life and reduced “They can tell the removal efficiencies, pressure drops and
operating costs. It OEM‚ ‘We would like achievable lifetimes, so you can try to get
combines increased to have for this site the optimum filter for your site,” he said.
functional reliability and filtration system A “We cannot say one filter fits all – when
plant availability with and B and in this I operate a turbine in an area with a low
improved cost-effectiveness.” sequence because concentration of very small particles it
Schroth said e.FFECT might not be necessary to install a very
serves as a proactive The company has highly efficient filter that removes those
maintenance tool because developed a white small particles but also produces pressure
it can predict lifetime of the paper with Ansaldo drop and power loss due to that pressure
filter based on site conditions. Energia. drop. It’s more about picking a tailor-made
“The lifetime of the filter filtration system for the site.” n

Experience, Reliability, Integrity...

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