GE'S Biogas-Fueled Jenbacher Engines Certified As Ecomagination Products
Cologne, Germany - Earlier this month, GE's Jenbacher biogas-fueled engines received ecomagination certification after completing the company's rigid environmental and operational evaluation process.
Currently, more than 450 Jenbacher engines are operating on biogas worldwide. These systems generate 2.28 million MWh of power per year, which corresponds to fossil fuel savings equivalent to 518 million cubic meters of natural gas or 518 million liters of diesel oil. For example, one Jenbacher JMS biogas engine with a capacity of 1.4 megawatts generates 11,200 MWh per year, which is enough electricity to power 3,200 European homes.
GE's ecomagination products are evaluated for their ability to significantly and measurably improve the customer's environmental and operating performance. The multi-tiered review process is concluded with an independent, third party audit to ensure accuracy and thorough documentation of technological performance.
Ecomagination is GE's commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water. Under ecomagination, GE will invest $1.5 billion annually in research in cleaner technologies by 2010.
"The key to GE Energy's continued growth is to align our product portfolio with the pressing power and environmental priorities of our customers," said John Krenicki, president and CEO of GE Energy. "With Europe rapidly building new renewable and alternative power capacity, GE's Jenbacher engines are ideally suited for many of these projects."
GE's biogas-fueled engines are the second Jenbacher product line to receive ecomagination certification, joining GE's coal mine methane (CMM) gas-to-energy application.
GE offers its specially modified Jenbacher engine systems, providing the right combination of durability, advanced combustion and monitoring capabilities, to manage the challenging conditions of changing fuel quality and supply. This combination makes biogas and coal mine methane projects not only environmentally, but also economically, attractive. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the greenhouse warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide (CO2), is released during the anaerobic fermentation of organic materials or hard coal mining. By using biogas or coal mine methane in Jenbacher gas engines to generate power, less of the greenhouse gas is released into the atmosphere.
The growth potential for biogas and coal mine methane energy applications is considerable, given that operators face a major challenge to consistently meet international and local emission standards.
In Germany, GE's eco-certified Jenbacher engines are powering a broad range of projects, including a nationally recognized agricultural biogas plant, a biogas-utilization industrial application at a paper mill, and Europe's largest coal mine gas-fueled cogeneration plant.
Wolfring Agricultural Biogas Plant
In May 2006, GE began commissioning a second, eco-certified Jenbacher engine, type JMC 312 GS-B.L for its existing Jenbacher agricultural biogas system at the Wolfring estate in Fensterbach, Bavaria. The initial JMC 208 GS-B.LC, 330 kW-unit has recorded 21,172 operating hours with a total efficiency of 86.4%.
The system's closed-energy cycle uses biogas from renewable sources including grass, corn and chicken dung. The plant's electricity is fed to the public grid and the engine's thermal energy is used for onsite heating purposes. In the summer, the engine's exhaust is used to dry grain and wood chips. Residual products from the biomass fermentation process serve as valuable fertilizer for the farm.
In late 2005, the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture cited GE's biogas cogeneration unit at the Wolfring estate in Fensterbach, Bavaria, as a "model solution for the ecological and economical generation of energy using agricultural biogas."
Klingele Paper Mill Industrial Power Plant
Through the end of April 2006, the installed Jenbacher module (engine type JMS 316 GS-B.L) at the Klingele Paper Mill in Weener has operated for a total of about 1,800 operating hours with 81.5% of total efficiency.
Commissioned in January 2006, the Jenbacher system is fueled with biogas, created from the mill's waste water. The generated electricity is entirely fed in the public grid, qualifying for fixed feed-in tariffs based on the German Renewable Energy Law. The system's waste heat is used for internal production processes.
Fenne Coal Mine Gas Cogeneration Plant
Since entering commercial service, SaarEnergie's coal mine gas plant - featuring 14 Jenbacher cogeneration units (engine type JMS 620 GS-S.LC) in Fenne, near Saarbrücken - has supplied some 680,000 MWh of electricity for a local industrial grid and 700,000 MWh in heat for a district heating system. The plant is Europe's largest gas engine-combined heat and power (CHP) plant to be subsidized under the European Renewable Energies Act. Utilizing an otherwise lost source of energy, the plant offers significant economic benefits.
Currently, there are about 100 Jenbacher units running on CMM worldwide. This installed fleet generates approximately 1.5 billion kWh of electricity a year. Generating this amount of power with CMM instead of natural gas saves the equivalent of approximately 367 million cubic meters of natural gas annually. In addition, converting coal mine gas in Jenbacher gas engines into power can reduce the release of methane into the atmosphere by about 85%, compared to venting the gas; this corresponds to CO2 savings of about 30,000 to 40,000 tons per year and MWel.
Based in Jenbach, Austria, GE's Jenbacher business is a global manufacturer of reciprocating engines, packaged generator sets and cogeneration units, and run on either natural gas or a variety of other gases (e.g., biogas, landfill gas, coal mine gas, sewage gas, combustible industrial waste gases).
SOURCE: GE Energy