Sulzer have invested over USD 3 million at their plant in Leeds (UK) to upgrade the existing gas turbine driven equipment test bed to be capable of running units up to 30 MW at full load. The ability for a pump manufacturer to build and test 30 MW gas turbine driven pumps on its own premises and under its own control is designe dto meet the oil companies’ growing need for larger, higher pressure pumps to be fully string tested before shipment, often to remote locations.
The new building has replaced a pre-existing facility and will allows up to 2 x 30 MW and 1 x 10MW gas turbine driven sets to be assembled at the same time inside it. The free-standing steel-framed building has been carefully designed to control noise emissions for the local environment. Two 60 tonne cranes have been installed allowing even the largest equipment packages to be lifted. Two free-standing cooling towers allow heat dissipation from the equipment. A permanent exhaust system 2.5m X 40m long terminating in a silencer has been to control the output from the building. Ton Büchner, the President of the Sulzer Pump Division, officially opened the new facility on 16 October.