World’s First Full STIG™ LM5000 Installed at Simpson Paper Company

In early 1988, Simpson Paper Company installed the world’s first GE LM5000 cogeneration plant with full high and low pressure steam injection. The full STIG LM5000 achieves a dramatic power increase (from 32.5 MW to 49.5 MW) and remarkable improvements in efficiency from 36 to 43 percent, while reducing NO_x emissions from 225 to less than 25 ppmv before further reduction with SCR. The plant, installed at Ripon, CA, features: (1) 130,000 lb/hr (59,000 kg/h) of steam injection at three locations on the gas turbine; (2) the first-time use of SCR with the STIG LM5000 resulting in an ultimate NO_x emission rate of 6-13 ppmv; (3) a unique feedwater heat exchanger arrangement to reduce boiler stack temperature to 250°F (121°C); and (4) an innovative submicron inlet air filtration system to minimize the need for compressor washing. The details of cycle selection, design, installation, performance, and economic benefits of this first full STIG installation provide a useful insight into the potential of a flexible new technology.