Fuels
Fuel sharing technology
by Vesa Riihimäki, Vice President, Development & Technology, Power Plants, Wärtsilä Finland Oy
Today’s power generation
marketplace requires an increasing
number of customized solutions
for each particular niche. Over the
years Wärtsilä has offered several
types of technology for gas engine
applications to serve different
needs. The latest is ‘fuel sharing’, a
solution ideally suited to associated
gas in oil fields or refineries.
Gas-diesel (GD) technology was introduced
in 1987 with the Wärtsilä 32GD, the first
gas engine in the Wärtsilä portfolio. This
technology was mainly used in offshore
applications, although it also found
application in the power plant sector. GD
technology makes it possible to run the
power plant on either gas or oil (heavy fuel
oil, light fuel oil), giving the operator fuel
versatility and security against gas supply
disturbances. The system is also tolerant
against gas quality variations.
GD uses the diesel combustion cycle in
both gas and liquid fuel operation, which
gives it the characteristics of a diesel engine
(output, derating etc.) in both operating
modes. In gas mode, a small amount of
pilot fuel oil injection is used to initiate
combustion. The need for a gas compressor
for high-pressure gas injection was often
considered an excessive investment for
conventional power generation applications.
The GD system was followed in 1993 by
spark-ignited lean-burn engine technology
(SG) with the introduction of the Wärtsilä
25SG, which was soon followed by the
Wärtsilä 34SG. SG technology was
developed especially for power plant
applications where lower investment cost is
a must but where reliable and good quality
gas supply is available. Since then, the SG
engine has become the most popular gas
engine in the Wärtsilä portfolio.
The SG principle was later converted
to dual-fuel (DF) technology to provide
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Fig. 1 – Fuel sharing window.
greater fuel versatility for the operator. In
the DF system the lean-burn gas is ignited
with a small amount of light fuel oil as
pilot injection and therefore no spark plugs
are needed on this engine. The system also
included the normal diesel fuel injection
system in order to run on diesel oil.
All these technologies have been
developed to meet specific customer needs
and markets. Now it is time to introduce a
further development of the GD technology,
fuel sharing, which is mainly targeted at
the needs of the operators of oil fields and
related process facilities.
What is fuel sharing?
The fuel sharing system allows the engine
to run on gas and liquid fuel in different
proportions, in order to optimize plant
operation based on the availability of the
fuels. For example, if the gas available
allows only 30% of the rated output to
be reached, the engine will use fuel oil
for the remaining 70%. The operator can
freely change the setpoint of the fuel share,
and the control system will ensure that
the actual operating point is within the
specified operating windows. Of course,
the operator has the choice of running
the engine in conventional GD or fuel oil
operation as well. The range of operation is
shown in Figure 1. Fig. 2 – GD pump curve and transfer area
In order to better understand the fuel between maximum fuel share and GD
sharing window, let’s take a closer look at operation.
each area individually.
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Fig. 3 – Fuel sharing control system.
Fuel oil operation
Fuel oil operation is based on the use of
normal fuel oil injection pumps and the
system operates just like any diesel engine.
The engine can run for example on light
fuel oil, heavy fuel oil or crude oil as the
main fuel (and as the pilot injection fuel),
without any changes to the fuel injection
system. Fuel oil operation is available
within the full range from zero to the rated
load of the engine.
GD operation
GD is the original gas-diesel operation,
where gas is the main source of power
although pilot fuel oil injection of
approximately 5% is used to ignite the
combustion. GD operation is available
within 30...100% of rated load, and the
transfer to or from GD operation can be
executed at any point within 30...87.5% of
rated load.
Fuel sharing operation
The fuel sharing option is available within
35...100% of rated load. The fuel share
setpoint can be adjusted on-line from
WOIS (Wärtsilä Operators’ Interface
System). For example the operator may
want to run at 30% gas share at full engine
load and to achieve this the 30% setpoint is
given and the fuel sharing mode is selected.
If at any time the engine load is too
low for reaching the selected setpoint, the
control system will automatically adjust
Energy News – Issue 22
the setpoint according to the minimum
or maximum limit. If the load returns
to a level where the 30% setpoint can be
reached, the system will bring the fuel share
back to the setpoint. The operator may
change the setpoint at any time during
operation.
Fuel sharing is limited to a specified
window to ensure safe operation. The
following numbers refer to the limiting
points indicated with circles in Figure 1:
1. The minimum gas share (gas amount)
is 15% of the power generation at full load.
This is a fixed limit which originates from
the minimum gas injection volume; hence,
when the load is decreased, the lower limit
becomes proportionally higher (a higher %
value). The minimum gas share is defined
in order to allow continuous operation only
at sufficiently long injection durations to
ensure repeatable and linear operation of
the gas injection valve.
2. The maximum gas share (gas
amount) in fuel sharing mode is about
80%, at 87.5% of the engine’s rated load.
The reason for not allowing continuous
operation between GD operation and
the maximum limit is because the fuel oil
pump curve contains an inverse operating
area between the main and pilot injection
curves; inverse operation means that
increasing the fuel rack position actually
decreases the fuel injection amount.
This area is passed over as a step when
transferring to GD operation. The transfer
area is illustrated in Figure 2.
3. Minimum engine output in fuel
sharing is 35% of rated load, and this is
the point where the minimum and the
maximum fuel share limits meet. If the
engine load goes below 35%, the system
will automatically switch over to fuel oil
operation. The switchover is executed as a
fast transfer (not as a gas trip), which means
that the gas supply system is maintained in
ready status for some time to enable rapid
return to fuel sharing, should the load level
soon be restored above 35%.
The actual fuel sharing value is derived
from the actuator positions. To reach
an accurate actual value, the control
system works internally with linearized
actuator signals which are calibrated to
site conditions and site fuels. The accuracy
is best if the fuel heat value does not
vary. However, the system is tolerant of
variations and these do not cause problems
in operation.
The fuel sharing technology
The fuel sharing system is essentially a
combination of the GD engine and a new
control system and control principle. The
system controls both the gas and the oil
injection simultaneously and allows both
to be used within the allowed operating
window limits. The new control system is
tightly integrated into the programmable
logic control (PLC) of the Wärtsilä
extended level automation system using the
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 Fuels

Fig. 4 – Embedded fuel sharing controls.

Wärtsilä standard platform.

The fuel sharing system consists of
multiple control loops which are all run
under one central processing unit (CPU).
The gas and speed control configuration is
shown in Figure 3.
The speed and load are controlled
by a dedicated PID controller which is
embedded in the main PLC software. The
speed controller provides a large variety of
optimized control methods such as speed
droop, kW and speed droop compensation
controls (SDC).
The fuel oil and fuel gas amounts are
controlled by a dedicated twin-driver
actuator controller which is also embedded
in the PLC software. It receives the global
control level signal from the speed PID,
and divides the signal to the two actuators
according to the setpoints and operating Fig. 5 – The Dygoil power plant in Ecuador is equipped with two Wärtsilä 16V32LNGD
conditions. fuel sharing generating sets.
The PLC control signals are connected
to the actuators, which transform the global
control signals into fuel injection cycles for which keeps the gas pressure within Last but not least, the system integrates
each cylinder with the correct timing and 250...350 bar based on the gas injection the sequencing of the gas supply valves and
duration. The fuel oil actuator is electro- level. With small gas injection amounts the safety functionality. Without going
hydraulic, the same as in conventional (low fuel share or low output GD), the into too much detail about the sequencing,
diesel engines. The gas actuator is an gas pressure is kept lower to extend the the gas supply valves have the following
Electronic Rail Valve (ERV) system which duration of the injection. functions:
controls cylinder-specific injection valves The high-pressure (HP) sealing oil a) The double gas supply main valves secure
based on engine speed and position, and a pressure control is tightly integrated to the the isolation of the gas source from the
global control signal from the PLC. gas pressure control. The sealing oil pressure engine, should this be necessary.
In addition to the twin-driver is kept 20 bar higher than the gas pressure, b) A slow filling system is used during start-
functionality, the embedded controls which means that the HP oil pressure tracks up. The gas line is filled through a smaller
include the gas supply pressure control, the gas pressure at all times. bypass line to prevent sudden pressure

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Fig. 6 – Fuel sharing test run on 21 May 2003.
Fig. 7 – Identifications to Figure 5.
variations in the system.
c) The blowdown system is used for
recirculating the compressed gas back to the
gas compressor inlet when the gas is shut
off from the engine.
d) The double venting valves are used for
flaring the residual gas from the gas piping
after blowdown.
e) The gas safety system will execute a gas trip
and shut off the gas supply to the engine.
The main embedded control functions are
shown in Figure 4.
Energy News – Issue 22
0. 35% load in fuel oil operation.
1. 35% load in fuel sharing
operation, 40% gas share.
2. 35% load in gas diesel operation.
3. Automatic transfer to fuel oil
operation as load drops below
30%.
4. 60% load in gas diesel operation.
5. 80% load in gas diesel operation.
6. 80% load in fuel sharing
operation, 20% gas share.
7. 80% load in fuel sharing
operation, 75% gas share.
8. Transfer to gas diesel operation,
80% load.
9. Manually activated gas trip to fuel
oil operation.
Fuel sharing applications
The fuel sharing principle was originally
tested on a Wärtsilä 4R32GD in 1999 for
LNG tanker applications. The test was
performed manually and it showed that
the system works but development was not
taken any further at that time.
In 2002 Wärtsilä was contacted
by Petroproducción Oil Government
Company, an Ecuador-based company,
with a specification which called for true
fuel sharing capability for an oil field power
supply system. The customer needed a
power plant that could run on both gas and
crude oil because the gas supply was not
stable and oil field gas availability declines
over time as the watercut increases. Wärtsilä
took up the challenge and developed the
fuel sharing system for the two Wärtsilä
16V32LNGD generating sets in a very
short time. The plant was handed over for
commercial operation in March 2004. (See
the previous article).
This project best shows the main market
niche for fuel sharing: associated gas in
oil fields or refineries. However, the fuel
sharing capability is not limited to this type
of application. The fuel system can be used
with gas that has a low methane number and
it can be used with very low heat value gas
(in fuel sharing, and partially in GD).
The fact that it combines a large variety
of fuels may also make the fuel sharing
system the most economical solution in
certain cases. Since the control system is
now integrated into the Wärtsilä standard
extended level automation system, gas
conversion applications or future gas
conversions are now much more attractive
than with the original GD system.
The main advantages of the fuel sharing
system are:
a) Flexible operation at variable gas/oil
shares.
b) Flexibility in fuel oils, for example light
fuel oil, heavy fuel oil and crude oil can be
used as main and pilot fuel.
c) The system can operate on a low methane
number gas.
d) The system can use low heat value gas,
especially in fuel sharing.
How does it run?
During the development of the fuel
sharing system, we were often asked one
question: is it really possible? Perhaps the
idea of combining so many different and
demanding fuel types into one system
sounds too good to be true.
However, as the test runs in May 2003
and the commissioning runs in March 2004
clearly show, the system really works, and
well too. The trends recorded in Figure 5
and the identifications in Figure 6 show how
the system transfers seamlessly from one
operating point to another.
Conclusion
The fuel sharing system has now taken its
place in the Wärtsilä power plant application
portfolio as the solution for demanding fuel
gas applications. With SG, DF and GD/fuel
share systems Wärtsilä has a comprehensive
portfolio that can cover a wide variety of gas
applications, and better serve the customer
needs. 
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