The contract is valued more than $10 million. GE will supply eight pump drive trains, as well as process automation.
This pumping station project is part of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program (STEP), a 40-kilometer long wastewater tunnel intended to address rapidly growing needs for the collection and transport of used water generated by the growth of Abu Dhabi.
The project is a key element of the government initiative to provide local agriculture with improved access to good quality water.
When fully operational in 2030, the plant, featuring wastewater pumps powered by GE’s drive trains, will be able to treat up to 70,000 cubic meters of wastewater every hour.
GE will provide design studies and deliver eight pump drive trains (motors, variable-speed drives and transformers), each with a power of 6.38 megawatts, together with pump process automation. GE will deliver the first equipment in the second half of 2013 for product validation.
The pumps will be driven by GE’s vertical variable-speed motors, a highly specialized application for vertical motors working at low speed (500 revolutions per minute at rated speed).
“STEP has chosen a proven GE technology, which already has a solid track record in the hydro segment,” said Keiran Coulton, industry vertical leader, GE’s Power Conversion business. “This unusual project requires that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor work closely with the suppliers of the pumps and drives to provide an optimal overall resolution.”
According to Coulton, the piping arrangement in this project creates an impressive series of vertical water columns, and the motor has been designed to manage the large amounts of water that may flow backward through the system when the pumps are shut down.”
GE acquired Power Conversion (then known as Converteam) in September 2011.