PORVENIR, Chile (July 29, 2009) – For more than 25 years, one engine-driven generator set built by Dresser Waukesha, a leading manufacturer of natural gas engines that deliver clean, cost-effective power, has supplied electricity for Porvenir, the capital of the Province of Tierra del Fuego in Chile.
Juan Carlos Wurth, the maintenance chief for EDELMAG, the Chilean utility that owns and operates the Porvenir power station, underscored the vital role this unit played in the community for more than two decades when he said, “If the engine turned off, the town turned off.”
However, the engine hasn’t turned off. The Waukesha engine has run continuously for more than a quarter century except for regularly scheduled maintenance – including “top-end” overhauls at 22,000-hour intervals and “bottom-end” overhauls at 44,000-hour intervals. In 2002, the unit was upgraded with a new control system, but otherwise has operated as original equipment.
Installed in 1982, the 875 kW VHP7100GSI generator set operated for the first 20 years of its life as the sole primary power source for this small town on the southernmost tip of South America, which remains without access to a central power grid. Within the last decade, two Waukesha® VHP9500GSI generator sets have been added to the existing power station to meet the growing need for electricity in Porvenir. The addition of the two new units brought the total gas-fueled electrical output to 3.275MW. The original engine-driven generator set is still in use and recently was the centerpiece of a celebration marking its 200,000 hours of operation over the last 25 years.
Putting this accomplishment in perspective, Jon Landes, vice president of marketing for Dresser Waukesha, explained that operating this stationary engine for 200,000 hours is equivalent to driving a car at 35 mph (56.3 km/h) nonstop for 7 million miles (11.3 million km).
“This engine has operated continuously and excellently,” EDELMAG’s Wurth said. “We handle the maintenance ourselves. It’s a relatively simple, open system and it’s easy for our technicians to work on the engine.”
When additional generating capacity was needed in Porvenir, the decision to buy the two Waukesha VHP9500GSI units was heavily influenced by EDELMAG’s positive experience with the first Waukesha unit and with Maestranza Diesel, the Waukesha distributor in Chile, according to EDELMAG’s technical services manager German Guajardo. “The performance and reliability of this engine and the consultation, service and support from Maestranza have been excellent,” Guajardo said.
Porvenir is on the south shore of the Straits of Magellen and is one of the southernmost settlements in the world. With a population of about 5,000, it is primarily a farming and fishing community and a stopover for tourists on their way to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. The region’s abundant natural gas supplies make gas-engine-driven generators a logical choice to provide electrical power for the town.
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Nancy Deptolla
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