GE: gas engine success in Colombia

GE has announced that it has demonstrated the ability to efficiently generate industrial-scale electricity using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in a Waukesha VHP3600GSI Enginator gas engine supplied by GE Power & Water. The demonstration was performed at the largest LPG storage facility in Colombia owned by Colgas.

The Waukesha unit, which produced 375 kWe at 1200 rpm, belongs to Pegsa LTDA, the authorised distributor of GE’s gas engines in Colombia and Central America.

The LPG fuel used in the demonstration was a typical Colombian composition, consisting of more than 50% propane and 45% butane with a lower heating value of almost 2700 Btu/ft³. GE offers three Waukesha gas engine models with ratings of 375 kWe, 620 kWe and 750 kWe at 1200 rpm (60 Hz) that operate on this composition of LPG.

The LPG – or GLP, as it is known in Spanish – is one of Colombia’s most important energy resources that the country has. LPG is used for mostly domestic activities including as a fuel for household appliances such as ovens, stoves, heaters and other items. This fuel is a gas at room temperature but may be transported as a liquid with only a slight pressure. As a result, the increased use of LPG is becoming a profitable and innovative alternative in the oil industry for operators.

This GE-led test seeks to capitalise on the availability of LPG in Colombia as well as its technical, environmental and cost advantages. GE’s efforts fit with the 2014 - 2018 National Development Plan of Colombia.

“The use of LPG in GE’s Waukesha technology opens up segment opportunities that might be valued up to 300 megawatts,” said Felipe De Gamboa, GE’s Business Development Executive in Colombia. ”GE’s gas engine portfolio helps countries access and use more of their own local energy resources, thus increasing local energy security.”

Edited from source by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/04092015/ge-gas-engine-success-in-colombia/