Expanders for Power Recovery Systems
GE Expanders for Power Recovery Systems enable refineries to recover heat from waste process gas, generating electricity and avoiding CO2 emissions associated with power generation from the U.S. grid. GE’s expanders can typically run four to five years without shutdown -- some of the longest demonstrated maintenance intervals in the industry -- generating power with lower maintenance costs.
Environmental Benefit
A 22 MW GE Expander for Power Recovery System avoids the annual emission of approximately 105,000 metric tons of CO2 from power generation on the US grid. This is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of more than 20,000 cars on US roads.
Operating Benefit
A 22 MW GE Expander for Power Recovery System can save a fluid catalytic cracking refinery more than $12 million in electricity costs per year at an average industrial electricity rate of $0.07 per kWh.
The environmental challenge
Competitive pressure is driving customers to minimize operating costs as they struggle to meet new and increasingly stringent product specifications. GE’s Hot Gas Expanders allow customers to make the most of process waste gas by generating power, while avoiding CO2 emissions, as well as downsizing their energy bill.
GE’s innovative solution
Previously an expander needed to be shut down every one to two years, which compared to other equipment operating within a refinery, is a much shorter length of time. This caused an increase in maintenance costs and loss in production due to frequent stops.
GE’s new generation of expanders is designed to run for every four to five years nonstop. This allows refinery operators to align maintenance shutdowns of all their equipment, thus decreasing maintenance costs and avoiding frequent production stops. The expander can also be used in refineries that use oil that is corrosive and erosive and, which could consequently damage machines not specifically designed to withstand these problems.
Environmental impact
An average-sized 18 MW GE Expander for Power Recovery System avoids the emission of more than 244,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from power generation, or the equivalent of taking more than 44,000 passenger cars off U.S. roads for a year. Put in another way, this amount of CO2 is equivalent to the quantity of CO2 that is absorbed by 66,000 acres of U.S. pine or fir forests every year, an area four times the size of Manhattan.
Cutting costs
Thanks to their material selection and mechanical and aerodynamic design, GE’s Hot Gas Expanders for Power Recovery Systems can bear the corrosion and erosion caused by crude oil. This, in turn, contributes to the alignment of other equipment maintenance programs that a refinery may have, thus leading to the decrease of overall plant maintenance costs.
