In June 2014 OPRA the succesful development of a new product, the OP16-3C gas turbine, was announced.
The OP16-3C has the same engine core as the well-proven OP16-3A/B gas turbines and has the same power rating (1.85 MWe). However the OP16-3C features a new combustor specifically designed to burn ultra-low calorific gaseous and liquid fuels. A wide range of fuels can be utilized including, but not limited to, waste gas, syngas, biogas, coal derived gas, pyrolysis oil and ethanol.
The OP16-3C can run on fuels with heating values as low as 10MJ/kg and under certain conditions fuel with even lower heating values. The combustor has been tested on several fuels including pyrolysis oil and syngas with a heating value of 6 MJ/kg. It can operate in dual fuel mode with a high-calorific fuel (liquid or gas) as a back-up fuel, and in bi-fuel mode where a supplementary fuel can be used to boost an ultra lean fuel.
'The OP16-3C will widen the market for OPRA considerably, enabling OPRA to further enter the waste to energy market as well as cater for the growing demand of alternative and oftentimes challenging fuels within industrial combined heat and power (CHP) and remote oil and gas fields. The ability to run on these ultra-low calorific value fuels is revolutionary and unique compared to other gas turbines currently available on the market'. Regine Mowill (Marketing Director, OPRA Turbines)