LFC Greenleaf Plant

MTSI was retained by LFC Power Systems of Portland, Oregon, to perform the role of an Architect/Engineer for a 49.5 Megawatt steam injected cogeneration plant to be built adjacent to the Sunsweet Growers Plant at Yuba City, California.

MTSI selected a General Electric LM5000 STIG gas turbine cycle in order to accept the process steam load swings of the thermal host. Up to 135,000 pph of heat recovery boiler produced steam can be injected into the gas turbine which can provide more than a 50% boost in electrical power output over the non-injected performance.

The heat recovery boiler was designed with the capability to supply the maximum expected growth in process steam demand at Sunsweet in an amount up to 120,000 pph including up to 13,000 psi/sat of steam into a two stage absorption chiller installed to reduce combustion intake air temperature by as much as 60°F. The absorption chilled water intake air cooler was selected to allow the plant to meet its peek net electrical output of 49.5 MW at ambient air temperatures of up to 115°F at the site, independent of wet bulb temperature limits.

The plant includes a custom designed intake air system with pulse clean filters and a chilled water cooling system with a T2 sensing loop controller to hold constant intake air temperature as selected at the control panel. This custom designed low inlet pressure drop air filtration system can save over $150,000 per year in plant fuel costs.

MTSI’s scope of effort included mechanical & electrical design of the power plant, the specification and the selection of all components & systems. Initial firing of this plant occurred one year from the start of the project design phase.