Thule Air Base is solely powered by diesel power generation, running on JP-8 jet fuel. Their generators date back to the 50’s and 60’s, and are highly reliable medium speed machines with many, many runtime hours on them.
Soto Cano is an air force base in Honduras. It is a joint venture between the US and Honduras, primarily working in a drug interdiction role against the illegal drug trade. Soto Cano has been using diesel power generation to power the base for many years. They use high speed diesels, running 24/7/365. When a high-speed diesel runs continuously, a couple things happen:
There are two generator power markets – standby (emergency) power and prime power. Prime power means that the generator is the sole source of electrical power and runs whenever power is needed. For example, at a coal mine, this might be 8 hours a day. Meanwhile, standby power is used only during emergency situations. Many would argue that because this a generator that is rarely used, it doesn’t justify the investment. The savings equate to kW-hr savings.
There are two generator power markets – standby (emergency) power and prime power. Prime power means that the generator is the sole source of electrical power and runs whenever power is needed. For example, at a coal mine, this might be 8 hours a day. Meanwhile, standby power is used only during emergency situations. Many would argue that because this a generator that is rarely used, it doesn’t justify the investment. The savings equate to kW-hr savings.
Biotown Ag, Inc. is a farm that raises beef. Alot of beef! Five thousand head, in fact. Biotown Ag has been innovative in their method of feeding and raising beef, processing beef waste through an anaerobic digester, using the waste gas for power generation, and then using the digester remnant for its fertilizer content and applying it to tillable soil. The harvested grain that benefited from the fertilizer is then fed back to the beef (again). Talk about closing the loop!
Crude oil prices are, economically peaking, very soft, which negatively impacts the power systems business and the US power systems companies’ ability to export abroad. Also, with Tier 4 Final emissions regulations finally here, the diesel power gen market is on the decline. While some can use the TPEM (transition program for equipment manufacturers) credits, it causes a disruption in the marketplace, and the rest of the market somewhat pays a price for this.
Let’s say you are selling a power system with a modern, emissions friendly, diesel or natural gas generator set. Currently, there are 2 cooling circuits: one for jacket water and one for aftercooler; each with their own thermal demand needs. Normally you just run all the fans all the time, while seeking out extra efficiency percentage points, but that ends up costing you more.
In 2011, LEC president Randy Leman went to KAF (the Kandahar Airfield) for one month with fellow engineers Greg and Oscar. Kandahar Air Field is an old Soviet air base that was taken over by the US after Russia’s exit from Afghanistan. It is then utilized as a UN air base with all kinds of countries and nationalities represented there.