Pratt & Whitney Takes Off with Short Lead Time FT8 Power Turbine Installations

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies’ (NYSE:UTX) (Hartford, Connecticut), along with the historically high-profile aero turbine manufacturers GE and Rolls Royce, is enjoying success among electric power generation clients who need flexible power units installed and operating with the shortest possible lead time. In the last month, the company has received orders for FT* SWIFTPAC 60-megawatt (MW) units for installation in Chile and China.

Southern Cross, a private Latin American equity fund, has ordered two of the 60 MW units, which will be used for the initial phase of power generation at its Campanario power project in southern Chile’s Region 7. The single cycle units will be sited adjacent to the Charrua substation. Providing a total power capacity of 120 megawatts, the FT8s will be able to use diesel or natural gas as a fuel feed. The project will begin to use natural gas in the first half of 2007. A 25-kilometer gas pipeline spur will be constructed to bring a feed of Argentine natural gas from the existing Gasoducto del Pacifico pipeline.

In the first phase, the project will generate 260 megawatts with open cycle units burning gas or diesel, and these could be later integrated into a combined cycle generator plant by adding a 120 MW steam turbine. The initial phase of the project will require an investment of $70 million out of a total of $190 million.

Chilean company Errazuriz Asociados e Ingenieros (EAI) will install the units, which are scheduled to start operating in August of this year, providing a flexible operating configuration and a low-cost solution for the power peaking needs of Southern Cross, which is taking 100% control of the project from local gas distributor, Innergy, through its subsidiary Energia Andes del Sur.

Guangzhou University City has agreed to purchase two 60 MW FT8s, which will operate as a combined cycle cogeneration facility to provide electrical power and steam for the university campus, which will house 200,000 students. The total power output of the combined cycle plant will be 150 megawatts and the turbines are scheduled to start commercial operation in late 2006. The turbines will burn natural gas and provide a low emissions signature in the combined cycle application.

The FT 8 is a derivative of Pratt & Whitney’s JT8D aero engine and built on the development experience of 14,000 aero engines with over 400 million hours of operation. With 250 FT8s installed, or on order, the power turbine provides clean updated technologies with high base-load and part-load efficiencies. The turbine installations are currently running at fleet reliability levels of over 99%, with over 1.9 million hours of accumulated operation. The FT8 is also available in 25 MW or 50 MW MOBILEPAC configurations on mobile trailers including a starter control room trailer and gas turbine /generator trailer. The mobile units are designed for rapid installation and power generation can be achieved within one month of arriving on site.

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