Original Date: 10/18/1999
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Orenda Turbines has supplied more than 156 industrial gas turbine systems. Approximately 90 of these units are still being used in electrical generation, pipeline and process gas compression, and oil pumping applications around the world. British Gas is one of Orenda Turbines’ customers that uses OT-3 turbine powered gas compression packages. In 1998, this company was faced with tougher emission limits for its gas compression facilities. To keep its plants operational, British Gas needed to lower the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions (then at 1,000 milligrams per cubic meter by at least a factor of three).

This situation arose at a critical point in time for Orenda Turbines, as the company had recently begun an initiative to increase its presence in the industrial power generation market. Four years earlier, Orenda Turbines had entered into a cooperative agreement with Mashproekt, a Ukrainian industrial/marine gas turbine manufacturer, to develop a new generation of industrial gas turbine packages for power generation. Based on this previous collaboration, Orenda Turbines identified Mashproekt as a source of expertise for addressing the CO emission problem. They agreed that the most effective way to reduce CO emissions at British Gas without changing the entire installation was to redesign the OT-3 combustion liner to achieve more complete combustion.

In Fall 1998, Orenda Turbines contracted Mashproekt to undertake the redesign work. The original design included a number of wave-like perforations (wiggle strips) through which cooling air entered the combustor. By eliminating these strips, the designers reduced the supply of cooling air to the combustor and achieved a more uniform, higher temperature. The fuel nozzle was also redesigned to achieve a better fuel-air mix. As a result, these design changes reduced British Gas’ CO emissions by a factor of eight to ten, significantly exceeding the environmental performance expected. Additionally, the changes are expected to improve energy efficiency for the gas compression plants. Although the higher temperature caused a slight increase in NOx from 90 to 95 milligrams per cubic meter, this minor increase in NOx is considered insignificant. The new design was completed by April 1999 a less-than-six- month turnaround time. The new OT-3 combustion liners and fuel nozzles, manufactured and installed by Orenda Turbines, are operating successfully and all British Gas OT-3s have been retrofitted with the new design.

Orenda Turbines exceeded its customer’s environmental performance expectations for its OT-3 industrial gas turbine engines by sourcing new technology from an international strategic partner. This endeavor enabled Orenda Turbines’ gas turbine packages to continue operating at a key customer’s facility, while maintaining the company’s longstanding reputation as an exceptional aftermarket service supplier. Furthermore, the project strengthened the Orenda Turbines initiative to introduce a new generation of industrial gas turbine systems.

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