Westinghouse Combustion Turbine Systems Division
[7] "The South Philadelphia Works" as it was known become a key part of the original Westinghouse Electric Company's industrial complex, complementing other large factories in [8] East Pittsburgh, PA,[9] and Hamilton, Ontario.
The following compilation is based on information in that ASME paper as well as other sources as cited, and upon personal accounts of Westinghouse engineers who had direct experience or close connections to the material presented.
So, gas turbines were put to use for combined heat and power by the petrochemical industry, working hand-in-hand with companies like Westinghouse, well before the word[14] "cogeneration" entered the modern lingo some 30 years later.
The design objective was to use the largest gas turbines available and, based on prior experience, to use unfired heat recovery boilers for operating simplicity and improved reliability.
Electric utilities throughout the U.S. were mandated by their regional "Reliability Councils" (e.g. NERC for the northeast) to increase their system reserve margins by installing a certain percentage of their overall capacity in the form of smaller localized fast-start generating units, much of them with "black start" capability to assure that large plants and grids could be restarted in the event of another major outage.
A strong recovery followed with the rise of the Independent Power Producer ("IPP") cogeneration market under the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA), upheld by the US Supreme Based on the surge of gas turbine business in the late 1960s, Westinghouse (following the example of market leader and archrival General Electric) decided to build a modern new gas turbine manufacturing plant at Round Rock, TX, near Austin.
The Westinghouse EconoPac includes the factory-assembled skid-mounted gas turbine engine, generator and exciter, starting package, mechanical (lube oil, hydraulics, pneumatics, etc.
PACE plants were available either with full-enclosure buildings to cover all but the heat recovery boilers, or for outdoor installation, with the EconoPacs providing the necessary enclosures for the gas turbines and their auxiliaries.
The final plant on the list was built for CFE at Tula, Mexico, as a phased-construction project, where the four (4) W501D EconoPac units were shipped and installed on an ASAP basis,in simple cycle mode, to meet an energy emergency during 1979-1981.
The IPP market was awaiting the outcome of government legal action as several state Public Utility Commissions refused to implement the PURPA regulations, claiming that they were unconstitutional.
And, almost as an immediate result, Westinghouse CTSD participated in two important early IPP cogeneration projects that helped to bridge the gap and, once again, allowed us to survive the drought in domestic utility orders.
Zachry Co. of San Antonio obtained a contract from Capital Cogeneration Company Ltd (a joint venture, including Central and Southwest Power Co., to design and build a 450 MW combined cycle/cogeneration plant near Bayport (a.k.a.
[citation needed] The conversion of the two 100 MW+ gas turbines at Plaquemine to burn gasified coal created the largest integrated-gasification combined cycle or "IGCC", in the world, and was very successful for Dow.
The Dow (or more accurately LGTI - Louisiana Gasification Technology, Inc.) Synfuels Corporation contract continued to subsidize the production of synthetic fuel gas from coal at the Plaquemine site for about 10–15 years before the subsidy expired.
The lab included a high-bay area that could accommodate a full-size gas turbine for testing and development purposes, as well as a large conference room and offices for the managers, engineers and technicians who operated the facility.
But financial performance did not support such growth, and there was a major downsizing in the 1985-1987 time frame prior to the relocation to Orlando to be incorporated at Westinghouse Power Generation World Headquarters.
A significant development that took place near the close of the Concordville years involved a major change in the relationship between Westinghouse CTSD and its long-time licensee, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
This plan enabled CTSD to put into place at least a temporary means of continuing doing business - to obtain and fulfill orders for large gas turbines as the US cogeneration and IPP markets were developing.
Based on the circumstances such as the move from Concordville, loss of key employees, cultural differences, language barriers and the distant site logistics, the project was considered to be an excellent example of engineering and management teamwork and a significant accomplishment for both Westinghouse and MHI.
As indicated earlier, this had not been the general view of the old-guard power generation management, and Westinghouse had already started to execute its plan commonly known as "phased exit" from the gas turbine business.
[33]) According to the announcement in the brochure, Westinghouse CTO was to continue in the role of technology developers, system and plant designers, application engineers, marketers, project managers and service providers.
Two identical PACE 300[50] (2-W501D5 GT on 1-100 MW ST) power plants were ordered by Intercontinental Energy Corp., a family-owned private-power IPP development company located in Massachusetts.
From editor's personal recollection, the prime competition for the Bellingham and Sayreville project orders, after the customer had already broken off discussions with GE, was Fluor-Daniel Corp., which was offering Siemens/KWU V84.2 100 MW gas turbines.
It also features advanced material and coatings, as well as improved air-foil cooling designs to withstand the increased hot-gas-path temperatures (250F higher than the W501F at the rotor inlet at the time).
The Siemens investment of some $6 billion to acquire PGBU from CBS Corp. (oka Westinghouse Electric Corp.) quickly paid off and, in spite of the bubble bursting shortly thereafter, is still providing good returns.
As Saudi Arabia developed from the days after WWII to the major supplier of oil, both US and UK influences came into play in electrification of the desert Kingdom, as well as other parts of the Mid-East.
CTSD was under heavy pressure from headquarters to book enough business to support continued factory operations, and once again attention turned to opportunities in Saudi Arabia to absorb the inventory.
On top of those problems, the contract terms accepted to close the Hail and Qaseem orders were apparently very onerous, including long-term parts warranties that covered damage to hot-path components exposed to corrosive contaminants found in the Saudi crude oil.
In Latin America, a large market was developed in Venezuela, especially with Electricidad de Caracas, and in Colombia, with orders for W501D5 and 501F units obtained for several locations, including one in rebel-held jungle!
In fact, in 1992, Westinghouse Power Generation Marketing received special corporate recognition as the "Best of the Best" for its international successes (mostly in Latin America) in placing gas turbine orders.
