diesel genset

Spanish genset OEM Himoinsa has provided 25 diesel gensets and lighting towers to a BIOCOM-managed biofuel production plant in Cacuso, Angola.

The equipment has a capacity from 180 kVA to 400 kVA and is designed to guarantee continuous supply of energy and to prevent any outages. Himoinsa’s products are also aimed to provide power to develop sugar cane production at the plant.

The plant commenced working this month and has started to generate 120MW of electricity with an expected annual output of up to 18,000 tonnes of sugar and 3,000 cubic metres of ethanol.

The biofuel plant currently supplies 220,000 homes in the region of Malanje. From 2019, the Biocom is planned to rise to 235MWh to increase the amount of power travelling through the Capanda/Cacuso high-voltage cable to power 440,000 homes. Biocom has estimated that the annual production will climb to 256,000 tonnes of sugar and 30m litres of ethanol.

"The project is beneficial to the population of Malanje and important for Himoinsa Angola's technical and commercial team,” said Himoinsa Angola's commercial director Osvaldo de Brito Simao.

Himoinsa also provides technical and maintenance services with staff on-site.

Biocom is a temporary consortium comprising of Sonangol, Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis of Angola and the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Diesel generator supplier Power Electrics has opened a genset depot in Southampton, UK.

The 20,000 sq. ft. depot contains generators ranging from 20kVA to 2200kVA. Power Electrics has a fleet of 1,000 gensets.

According to Bristol-headquartered Power Electrics, the close location to the motorway of the facility will benefit customers in emergency situations and help the company to dispatch rental generators faster.

Andy Pullin, director of Power Electrics said: “This latest expansion means we can better serve our customers and really secure our future in the south.” The company will power several events in Southern England this summer including Royal Ascot in London and the Goodwill Festival of Speed.

The supplier provides its service to data centres, telecommunications, construction, utilities and events.

Power Electrics is a sponsor of the Bloodhound SSC project and supports the project with diesel gensets. The Bloodhound research team aims to develop a car that is able to break the 1,000mph barrier and set a land speed record.

Caterpillar has brought out a power module for dynamic gas blending called the CAT XQ2000 with dual fuel option to allow operators to use a range of gaseous fuels.

The dynamic gas blending system is designed for use with the 50Hz 1600kW XQ2000 power module driven by a CAT 3516B engine, which can be integrated to existing modules to reduce fuel costs by making use of available fuels as gas supply changes.

The dynamic gas blending lets the engine burn lower quality gases than a gas-only solution would allow. Caterpillar says the system allows customers switch between gas and diesel so can be used with intermittent gas supplies making it ideal for less-developed regions where supply is less reliable.

“The fuel savings achieved with this system depend on a number of variables, including the application and the quality of the gas being used, as well as the pressure and available volume,” said John Hancock, Caterpillar Rental Power project manager. “By fully automating the control system, we are able to maximise gas substitution for each operating point and gas condition, offering our customers the most fuel-efficient solution possible."

The engine can run on a wide variety of fuels from gasses to vaporised liquefied natural gas with no loss of performance. Cat said it will maintain diesel performance with up to 70% replacement of diesel with gas and can accept up to 55% inert gases.