Genesal Energy reinforces Poznan heat network with an emergency generator set

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Genesal Energy has designed an emergency diesel generator set for a cogeneration plant in Poznan, Poland.

A key facility in the supply of heat and electricity for the city. In the search for efficient and sustainable energy solutions, heat networks emerge as a key alternative for the transition to more responsible consumption patterns.

This power plant supplies approximately 60% of the inhabitants of the city, as well as providing energy to industries, public institutions, shopping centres and other services. The incorporation of our generator set for energy plant ensures supply in the event of a plant shutdown, including battery chargers and part of the lighting network.

These installations consist of a generating plant and a network of pipelines and supply homes, hospitals, schools, shops and offices in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Our engineering team designed a unit that ensures a low sound pressure level thanks to the interior lining and a space divided into three separate rooms: the engine-alternator room, the control room and the storage room. In addition, the system has a Baudouin engine coupled to a Mecc Alte medium voltage (6300 V) alternator, mounted on an electro-welded steel base with anti-vibration blocks to minimise vibrations and noise.

For fuel storage, a 3.000 litres double-walled steel tank has been installed, equipped with a leak detection system. Exhaust gases are managed by stainless steel silencers integrated into the container eliminating the need for external installations. Finally, the container has undergone a C4 paint surface treatment in accordance with the ISO12944 standard, providing additional protection against corrosion and environmental wear and tear.

Genesal Energy emergency generator set installed at a cogeneration plant in Poznan, key to strengthening the urban district heating network.

Heat networks: an alternative to the traditional model

Heat networks consist of a centralised infrastructure for the production and distribution of thermal energy. These installations consist of a generating plant and a network of pipelines and supply homes, hospitals, schools, shops and offices in an efficient and sustainable manner.

Details of the generator set at the Poznan cogeneration plant.

Features

  • 40feet HC container, guaranteeing an average sound pressure level of 85 dB at 1m.
  • The walls were lined with 100 mm thick acoustic panels, guaranteeing EI120 fire resistance.
  • The container had 3 separate rooms: the engine-alternator room, the control room and the storage room.
  • A Baudouin engine was fitted with a Mecc Alte medium voltage (6300 V) alternator on an electro-welded steel base with anti-vibration blocks.
  • The coupling between the engine and the alternator is by means of an elastic coupling.
  • 3.000 litre double-walled (steel-steel) tank inside the container.
  • Tank fitted with a leak detection system.
  • The fuel supply and return pipes were double-walled, with a leak detection system.
  • High-capacity fuel filtration system.
  • Locks with electric lock and position contact were installed on the access doors to the group room and control room.
  • Fire extinguishers were installed in the group room and control room.
  • The control room was air-conditioned.
  • The exhaust gas silencers were made of stainless steel. They were integrated into the container, avoiding on-site installation.
  • The unit was fitted with motorised louvers at the air inlet and outlet.
  • Surface treatment with C4 paint, according to ISO 12944.

We provide power for the Al-Andalus, one of the most luxurious touristic trains in Europe

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The Al-Andalus has seven Suite-coaches, five of them built in France during the 1920s, with capacity for 74 people and it is 450 metres long, as a 150-storey skyscraper.

Traveling throughout the South of Spain onboard the same coaches used by the British Monarchy in the last century is a luxury available to few. It is the Al-Andalus, one of the most luxurious trains in Europe. We, at Genesal Energy, have designed and delivered a last-generation emergency power system for it.

Comfort, elegance, and spaciousness are the main features of this means of transport from the good times of the Belle Epoque. These days, the amplest train in the world luxury trips around the Spanish rail network offering a service equivalent to a 5-star Hotel.

Why generator sets are essential in trains?

Most of the Spanish national rail network is electrified, trains travel connected to a catenary. However, at certain points in the routes, the power supply is insufficient for the train consumption.

This is why every train must include a generator carriage, that works as a conventional stationary generator set, guaranteeing continuous power supply in case of insufficient power supply or electrical failure.

What did our customer need?

A turnkey project. A comprehensive renovation of the generator carriage.

Accordingly, we installed other ancillary services as medium voltage switchgear and a rectifier. Given that the rail network works with DC power, the train transformers adapt the voltage to feed the different services, from air conditioning to hi-fi, etc.

This is how we did it: ‘In place’, silent and powerful

We undertook the project at Santa Justa Station, in Seville. Home base of the train. Our engineering team travelled South to study the case and take all the needed measurements for the renovation. Later, another team from our HQ in La Coruña, carried out the renovation works and commissioning of the new generator set. Our people are our most valuable asset.

The project meant refurbishing the generator carriage of the train, replacing two obsolete sets from the 1950s which, apart from being very difficult to service, produced very low power and high emissions with a last-generation Stage V 700 kVA set fitted with particle filter, AdBlue injection and medium voltage generation. It was a complete renovation of the structure, from the walls’ soundproofing to the installation of air inlets and outlets. Fitting an exhaust system, a new fuel racking system from an existing fuel tank, switchgear cell and a DC rectifier alongside the complete electrical installation of the carriage.

We are very proud of the successful accomplishment of this project. Once again proving that we are the number 1 manufacturer in Spain when it comes to special projects. Our portfolio of projects and the level of satisfaction of our customers back these words.

Features

  • Volvo Stage V engine.
  • Automatic fuel racking system from carriage tanks.
  • AdBlue tank.
  • 2.400v AC medium voltage alternator.
  • Medium voltage switchgear cell.
  • 3.000v DC rectifier.
  • Control integrated in carriage’s system.
  • Rockwool soundproofing panels for low noise emissions.
  • Roof-integrated air outlets.

Emergency power for one of Scotland’s most sustainable recycling plants

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The project was made-to-measure, which is essential in this kind of plants that are not capable of being put into operation through the conventional public electricity grid.

We participated in the construction of one of the most modern and sustainable municipal waste treatment plants in Scotland – it transforms non-recyclable municipal waste into clean energy – through the design, manufacture and supply of a customized generator set. The manufacturing process was carried out after carefully studying the project, analysing every technical aspect of the future plant until the right solution to guarantee the electricity supply at all times and in any situation was found.

Thus, once the analysis was carried out, at Genesal we designed a Black Start medium voltage generator aimed to feed a motor that turns the main turbine, which is used to start the turbine after a programmed shutdown. Besides, the generator is able to directly supply medium voltage power (11,000 V).

Medium voltage on demand

It is possible for our medium voltage generators to incorporate the transformers for electrical measurements in the alternator’s own connection box. Likewise, we can install external transformers by means of medium voltage cells, which can be also special, as for instance a genset’s earthing neutral busbar grounding or switchgear with an automatic breaker for protection. This is the case of the generator chosen for the recycling plant: we integrated the switchgear in a separate room inside the soundproof container itself including a cable connection point prepared for the customer to easily connect the cables.

Moreover, precision is a rising value in recycling plants of these characteristics as the waste is processed by gasification, and the gases are then used to power a gas turbine.

Considering the abovementioned circumstances, the generator set was designed in such a way to function as a starter for the plant’s gas turbine and also as an essential emergency supply in the event of a power outage.

Rain and cold, two key factors

On the other hand, being a recycling plant located in Scotland, it was necessary to consider not only the typical technical peculiarities of such kind of facilities, but also the climatological ones, as they greatly condition the choice of any generator set. In this case, the plant is located on the country’s coast, in an area where rainfall is constant throughout the year (on of the highest in Europe) and the average temperature easily reaches 0ºC in winter.

Considering this climate profile, at Genesal Energy we opted to manufacture a generator set that was capable of starting and working at full capacity even in these difficult cold and rainy conditions.

Committed to the environment

The recycling plant project is part of Genesal Energy’s commitment to promoting sustainable projects and the use of clean and renewable energy sources. Our adhesion to the 2030 Agenda a few months ago is one more example of our support for the actions that promote the fight against climate change in the energy sector.

Features

  • 3,000 L fuel tank installed inside the container including leak sensor.
  • Real-time consumption monitoring.
  • Medium voltage switchgear inside container.
  • Control panel in indoor air conditioning room.
  • Air inlet and outlet attenuators to guarantee a noise level of 85 dBA@1m.
  • Motorized louvers to ensure air conditioning inside.
  • Fire dampers. Manufactured with an intumescent panel to seal in case of fire.
  • Integrated fire protection system, including detectors, alarms, and CO2 discharge according to the British standard.
  • Soundproof panel, with RF-60 specifications, to guarantee the genset’s fire resistance.
  • Upper air inlet with water retention and decanting system for genset’s air intake, maintaining a safe IP with the generator in operation.
  • Drip tray inside the generator to collect any liquid spill.

Genesal Energy has participated in the construction of the first submerged tunnel to be built in Latin America

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Genesal Energy was responsible for designing the diésel generator responsible for ensuring power supply in emergency situations.

GENESAL ENERGY has recently administered a project to supply emergency electrical power in the Coaztacoalcos (México)tunnel, the first submerged tunnel of its kind in Latin America and one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken on the American continent.

GENESAL’s responsibility was such that not only were they to supply the generator power unit, they were also in charge of the installation on site. The diésel genset itself (ERP 2407kVa at 13.2Kv) was designed at GENESAL’s European headquartes and manufacturing facility near La Coruna, and has since been installed and is fully operational in the tunnel.

Requiring an investment of $250 million dollars the 2,280-metre tunnel with 4 lanes for road traffic, runs below the riverbed of the River Coaztacoalcos, connecting the two neighbouring municipalities of Coaztacoalcos and Allende in Veracruz State. Further afield it has provided improved links to the states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and the tunnel services over 500,000 people as well as the numerous petro-chemical businesses in the area.

The fully submerged tunnel entered in to active use in April 2017, connecting Coaztacoalcos and Allende in little more than 3 minutes, a 40-minute reduction on the pre-tunnel journey time. The structure, consisting of 4 traffic lanes and almost 3KM long, communicates 2 urban areas in the Veracruz area with a population close to 500,000.

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Synchronized Genset

The structure of the tunnel in some parts reaches a depth of 35 metres, and was constructed using pre-tensed reinforced concrete, with a total weight of 135,000 tonnes, equivalent to 355 Boeing 747 jumbos. The same type of construction used in the tunnel section of the structure connecting Copenhagen in Denmark to Malmo in Sweden was applied here.

Should the tunnel for whatever reason suffer a power cut in the mains supply, or if there is a drop-in voltage, the GENESAL ENERGY generator will switch on automatically, ensuring continued power supply. When the mains power returns to its previously normal state, the genset will synchronize with the mains power and close off the breaker switch, smoothly returning all load power to the mains without any discernible change in the origin of the power supply.

Indie the tunnel a special room has been constructed and designed by GENESAL ENERGY, and the genset has been installed in here. GENESAL also designed a second room for storing the medium voltage cells and transfer measurement.

Fitted with the latest technologies, the genset underwent stringent testing at GENESAL’s main plant before being shipped to Mexico on the 13th February 2017. Due to its size, the radiator was specially designed to meet with cooling requirements in this environment. This also allowed the whole set up to be constructed on one supporting frame, which later reduced the difficulties in the installation process.

This entire project was done in conjunction with the Mexican branch of GENESAL ENERGY.

Download project info here