Nevada Power picks P&W, CH2M Hill
Nevada Power Co. has awarded Pratt & Whitney Power Systems (www.pw.utc.com) a contract to supply twelve 60-MW FT8 Swiftpac gas turbines that will increase the peaking capacity of Clark Station in Las Vegas. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The utility, a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, has hired CH2M Hill (www.ch2m.com) to handle the project's engineering, procurement, and construction. The first 400 MW of the capacity expansion is scheduled to be completed before the 2008 summer peak, with the remainder following by the end of the year.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a subsidiary of United Technologies, says the first Swiftpac turbine is scheduled for delivery this October, with the full dozen scheduled for arrival by next summer. Said Peter Christman, president of P&W Power Systems, "The Swiftpac has a successful track record of providing reliable and environmentally friendly peaking power. The turbines will be a low-cost solution to southern Nevada's burgeoning demand growth."
The FT8 (Figure 7) is derived from P&W's JT8D jet aircraft engine, a workhorse of the worldwide aviation fleet. More than 4,500 aircraft, or one-third of the global commercial fleet, are powered by the JT8D, according to P&W.
The FT8 has been updated with technologies that can produce power with less noise and lower emissions and at a higher efficiency, says the company. The FT8 has been in production since 1991 and operates at more than 70 sites, with more than 300 units installed or on order. With a reported reliability of greater than 98%, the machines have accumulated more than 2 million hours of operation.
Scuderi's air-hybrid engine
A Massachusetts firm it says it will begin licensing for power generation applications a hybrid internal combustion engine suitable for small commercial and industrial use.
Scuderi Group LLC (www.scuderigroup.com) says its air-hybrid machine (Figure 8) "can provide significantly increased efficiency levels while dramatically decreasing the levels of toxic emissions." Scuderi calls its technology "split-cycle" and describes it as "dividing the four strokes of the Otto cycle over a paired combination of one compression cylinder and one power cylinder. Gas is compressed in the compression cylinder and transferred to the power cylinder through a gas passage.
"The gas passage includes a set of uniquely timed valves, which maintain a precharged pressure through all four strokes of the cycle. Shortly after the piston in the power cylinder reaches top dead center, the gas is quickly transferred to the power cylinder and fired to produce the power stroke."
Sal Scuderi, president of the company, said, "Small factories and power plants now have a brand-new option for generating power with far less fuel and lower pollutant emissions." He explained that the duty cycle of a stationary generating plant is less stringent than that of a mobile application, such as an auto engine. Because generators "run at narrower speed and load ranges," according to Scuderi, the advantages of his engine—faster flame speed, lower NOx production, and higher efficiency—come into play.
Scuderi says it expects the first prototypes this year. The design is patented. Scuderi Group's business is based on the work of the late Carmelo Scuderi (1925–2002), who invented the oil-less compressor that significantly changed the refrigeration and air-conditioning markets. His work, including the air-hybrid engine, was featured in an August 2006 broadcast of the American Public Media show, Marketplace.
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