Auburndale Power Partners is a combined cycle gas turbine power plant, operated as an intermittent facility by the Cathiness Energy Group. The plant is located in central Florida, USA.
Commissioned in 1994, the gas turbine is a Siemens Westinghouse 501D5 with a typical capacity of 117 megawatts. The inlet airflow of this turbine is approximately 650,000 cubic feet per minute. The filter house is a vertical design using 860 filters with a “twist lock” retention method. Auburndale has a humid subtropical climate, with two main seasons. Hot and rainy summers bring temperatures that exceed 90°F (32°C) nearly every day. The average annual rainfall in Orlando is 50.6 inches (1.290 mm) and mainly occurs from June through September. During the cooler seasons, humidity is lower and temperatures average 71°F (22°C).
The plant was experiencing high pressure drop and short filter life. A review revealed that the hot and humid climate of Florida was degrading the filter's performance. It was causing the filter media to swell and in turn the filter pleats were deforming, pinching together under the humid conditions, causing the pressure drop to increase. The operator was looking for a high-performing filter to solve these issues.
Camfil proposed its patented
HemiPleat™ technology using
high-efficiency filter media. This technology
uses hot melt glue beads to hold
the pleats open with a wide pleat
spacing that other filters lack.
This pleating combined with the
glue bead technology is effective
in all environments, especially
hot and humid places like Florida. The beading separates
the filter pleats and ensures that
all of the filter media pack is fully
utilized. The media is a high-efficiency – MERV 15 / F9 – moisture-resistant filter media. This
combination of the high-efficiency media and
HemiPleat technology provides
a robust solution.
The HemiPleat open pleating technology offered wider spacing, exposing more surface media to the air stream. This brought the following benefits:
After three years, the operator purchased HemiPleat filters rather than returning to filters from the original supplier. The performance advantages after three years more than paid off:
Power loss due to pressure drop: 0.45% of power per "wg (250 Pa)
Average lower DP of HemiPLeat: 1.0 inch of water (250 Pa)
[initially 0.8"wg, 1.30 "wg after 3 yrs = 1.0" on average]
Total power loss: .5265 MW
Average operating hours per year: 5,000 hr
Power loss per year: 2632.5 MW-hr
Value of power: $50/ MW-hr
Value per year: $131,625
| Actual Results After 3 Years | Competition Filters | Camfil HemiPleatTM |
| Initial pressure drop | 2.2" w.g. (550 Pa) | 1.4" w.g. (350 Pa) |
| Service Life | Plugged after 2 years | 1.7" w.g. (425 Pa) after 3 years |
| Pressure drop total savings after years of installation: $390 000 USD | ||
USA