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Sin Green

Gas Turbine Technology

The first 9FB gas turbine has achieved first firing at the Group III of the
Arcos de la Frontera combined cycle plant in Spain, marking
a milestone in the development of GEs F technology.

Fired up
I

n May 2003, Spanish utility Iberdrola

Generacion awarded GE Energy contracts to provide 9FB-based combined
cycle power systems for two power projects in Spain. Just two years later, in
August 2005, GE Energy announced that
first firing of one of the gas turbines had
taken place, marking the first time that a
9FB machine had been fired for a commercial project.
The first firing took place at the Arcos de
la Frontera Grupo III (Group III) combined cycle project in Cadiz, Spain, where
GE Energy has supplied a S209FB multishaft combined cycle system consisting of
two Frame 9FB gas turbines, one D11
steam turbine with 48 last-stage buckets,
three 330H hydrogen-cooled generators
and two three-pressure heat recovery
steam generators (HRSGs). The company
has supplied a second S209FB combined
cycle system for Iberdrolas Escombreras
power plant in Murcia, Spain.
The first 9FB at the 800 MW Group III
plant was fired on August 27 and was synchronized to the grid on September 5,
with the second unit following soon after.
The first firing marked the beginning of a
test phase at the Group III site that will
lead up to commercial operation by the
end of the year.

Located between Sevilla and the Campo de

Gibraltar two areas with a growing
demand for electricity the Group III
plant is part of Iberdrolas plans to add
1700 MW of new capacity to the Spanish
grid this year. Engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) for the project is
being carried out by Iberdrolas engineer-

We validated output, heat rate, emissions, component dynamics,

aeromechanics, operational clearances, transient operability, and the
controls and accessory operability
ing subsidiary, Iberdrola Ingenieri y
Construccion SAU (Iberinco).
Evolutionary design
GE describes the first firing at the Group
III power plant as a milestone for its
9FB technology, which was launched to
market in mid-2002. The company
describes the 9FB as one of the worlds
most advanced air-cooled 50 Hz gas tur-

The Group III project in Spain is scheduled for start up in early 2006. The 9FB is the latest evolution in GEs F
technology, which has accumulated over 13 million operating hours in projects around the world

PEi December 2005

bines. It is the latest evolution in GEs

F technology, which has accumulated
more than 13 million hours of commercial service around the world.
The 9FB is the 50 Hz version of the
60 Hz 7FB gas turbine introduced in
1999 the first unit of which was installed
at a Reliant Energy project in
Hunterstown, Pa., USA. Configured with
GEs advanced steam turbine technology
in combined cycle operation (one 9FB plus
one steam turbine), the 9FB is designed to
produce 412 MW and achieve a net plant
efficiency of 58 per cent. By comparison,
GEs 9FA gas turbine has a combined cycle

output of 390 MW and a net plant efficiency of 56.7 per cent.

The improved output and efficiency has
been achieved by increasing firing temperatures and the use of advanced materials,
including those developed for GEs H
System. The original Frame 7F machine,
introduced in 1989, fired at 1260C, while
the 9FB fires at more than 1370C.
The FB compressor is based closely on
the FA compressor. It is an 18-stage,
axial flow unit with variable inlet guide
vanes to maintain high part-load efficiency and low emissions over a wide
operating range. Variable vanes also
improve low-speed surge characteristics,
make startups easier, and provide good
part-load performance in combined cycle
applications. Closing the vanes keeps
exhaust temperature up at reduced loads,
thus retaining steam-raising capabilities
if the gas turbine is running at less than
100 per cent load.
Throughout the compressor blade path,
all airfoil material is high chromium-stainless steel. While the FA units operate at
compressor pressure ratios of 15.5 to 1,
the FB machines run at 18.5 to 1. The
compressor rotor tie bolts material is
changed to IN718 alloy to provide
improved clamp load for the higher torque
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Gas Turbine Technology

margins of the FB.

Compressor bleed air extraction manifold configurations cast into the casings
have been modified to provide better
transient clearance control to the outer
compressor flow path.
Three-stage turbine
An advancement for the FB compared to
the FA series comes in the design of the
three-stage turbine. With the increase in
firing temperature, the gas path airfoils for
the FB were redesigned and new materials
were specified. Advanced, three-dimensional aerodynamics have been applied to
the turbine design, using computational
fluid dynamics to optimize gas flow, resulting in higher efficiency and lower cooling
air consumption.
The higher firing temperature required
the application of single crystal N5 in the
first stage bucket, with thermal barrier
coating. Second and third stage buckets
are comprised of directionally solidified
GTD444 materials, replacing the DS
GTD111 material of the FA units. First
and second stage nozzles for the FB utilize
GTD111, while earlier F units used the
older, cobalt-based FSX414.
The GTD111 alloy, originally developed for buckets, offers higher creep
strength and is used in the FB to maintain
the same hot gas path inspection intervals of the 7FA. Utilizing high-pressure
air supply bled from the compressor, the
FB turbine bucket rows 1 and 2 are fully
air cooled, using a combination of
impingement, convection and film
cooling. A similar system is used to cool
nozzle rows 1 and 2.
Since launching the 9FB in 2002, GE has
made one modification to the units combustion system design, says Gregory Beggs,
9FB product line manager at GE Energy.

The FB consists of an 18-stage compressor and a three-stage gas turbine. Validation of the units at the Group III
power plant in Spain was completed in November

DLN2.6 system from GEs 7FA gas turbine

series. The 2.6+ design consists of GEs
patented swozzle technology a combination of a swirler and a nozzle with an
additional nozzle in the centre. This design
promotes flame stability and improves fuel
staging capability, says Beggs: We took the
best features of both systems and combined
them for use in the 9FB.
Validation
In order to fully validate the 9FB units
at Group III, one of the units was

The improved output and efficiency has been achieved by

increasing firing temperatures and the use of advanced materials,
including those developed for GEs H System
Initially when launched, the 9FB was
fitted with a Dry Low NOx (DLN) 2+
combustion system, which had been used
extensively on the 9FA machines. It is now
equipped with a DLN2.6+ combustion
system, says Beggs.
The DLN2.6+ is a blend of the 9FAs
DLN2+ combustion system and the

instrumented with over 1100 gas

turbine sensors and over 300 controls,
accessory and packaging sensors. Over
170 hours of testing was performed,
and validation ended on 22 November
2005, says Beggs.
We validated output, heat rate, emissions, component dynamics, aeromechan-

Table 1. FB technology: combined cycle performance

50 Hz
Net plant output (MW)
Heat rate (KJ/kWh)
Net plant efficiency (%)
Gas turbine
Source: GE Energy

PEi December 2005

60 Hz

S109FB

S209FB

S107FB

S207FB

412.9
6202
58.0
1xMS9001FB

825.4
6206
58.0
2xMS9001FB

280.3
6276
57.3
1xMS7001FB

562.5
6266
57.5
2xMS7001FB

ics, operational clearances, transient operability, and the controls and accessory
operability, says Beggs. Testing was performed over the whole operating range of
the product, from minimum downturn to
baseload. We basically tested for anything
that the plant might experience under real
operating conditions.
The gas turbines have met all our
expectations so far, adds Beggs. GE is
very pleased with the product.
A smooth validation and commissioning period is important for both GE
Energy and Iberinco as the plant is officially scheduled for commercial operation in early 2006. But according to
Beggs, validation and commissioning is
going to plan. Both gas turbines have
achieved full speed full load (FSFL) operation, and the steam turbine has also
been operational. Beggs was expecting
the plant as a whole to achieve FSFL in
November. We will be ready to supply
power to the grid when needed.
One of the 9FB units at Group III
remains instrumented for validation, and
a number of additional activities, including the reliability run, need to be carried
out at the plant before the PAC is issued,
says Beggs.
In addition to supplying the Group III
and the 815 MW Escombreras combined
cycle plants in Spain for Iberdrola, GE has
undertaken an additional three contracts
for the supply of six 9FB machines in
Europe: two in Spain and one in Italy.
While the Escombreras plant is slated for
PEi
commercial operation by the end of 2006,
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