Doswell Combined Cycle Facility

Historic Project: Groundbreaking Work From Earlier in Fluor’s History

Client: Diamond Energy Inc.

Location: Hanover County, VA, U.S.

Business Segment: Energy Solutions

Industry: Power

Map showing the location of Doswell Combined Cycle Facility

Executive Summary

Fluor provided engineering, procurement, construction, start-up and testing services for Diamond Energy’s Doswell Combined Cycle Facility in Virginia. The 665 megawatt facility, the largest independent power plant in North America at completion, featured four Siemens V84.2 combustion turbine generators, four waste heat recovery steam generators and two condensing steam turbine generators. The nominal 420 MW produced by the combustion turbines was augmented by approximately 245 MW produced from the steam turbine generators.

Client's Challenge

The Doswell Combined Cycle Facility was the largest independent power plant in North America upon completion, using natural gas as the primary fuel for the combustion turbine generators and auxiliary duct burners in the heat recovery system generators. The facility was designed with environmental sensitivity as an important consideration.

Fluor's Solution

Since the plant was operated on a dispatchable basis, we selected equipment that allowed the daily start-up and delivery of power. Lightweight rotor designs, along with extensive automation and provisions for sparging the heat recovery steam generators, were incorporated into the overall facility design to support the daily cycling requirements.

We incorporated the use of a selective catalytic reduction system along with the dry low NOx combustors of the V84.2 combustion turbine generators to reduce air emissions and the water demands of the facility.

With local restrictions on the use of water, the unique combustor design minimized water consumption for emissions control.

The design also featured air-cooled condensers in lieu of cooling towers, to further reduce water consumption. An advanced water and wastewater treatment system provided the necessary demineralized make-up water, enhanced the recovery of process wastewater and completely eliminated any wastewater discharge from the facility.

Conclusion

We completed the Doswell Combined Cycle Facility in just 24 months. The natural gas plant demonstrated leadership in power ecology, with reduced air emissions and minimized water consumption.