TGM, WEG Group company, replaced a Steam Turbine for another one with superior technology at Usina Santo Antônio - Sertãozinho / SP, belonging to the Balbo Group. The plant has a milling capacity of 3 million tons of sugarcane per harvest, with a flexible industrial plant for production of crystal sugar, anhydrous and hydrated ethanol, yeast and electricity.

Santo Antônio has acquired a multi-stage TGM Turbine model BT 40 (Reaction Technology) to drive an energy generator, aiming at replacing the TME 25000A Turbine (Impulse Technology) installed since 2002. The new equipment allows a 13% gain in power generation using the same amount of steam, which supplies internal consumption and enables to export the rest to the grid.

The Balbo Group was the first sugar-energy company responsible for the acquisition of a high-pressure and temperature turbine from TGM, focusing on large-scale generation and export of electricity, carried out the replacement by a more efficient equipment, maintaining the WEG generator of 29.6 MVA and changing only the power factor. 

The TGM Steam Turbine model BT 40, supplied as a solution for Balbo Group, can operate at a maximum power of 40 MW and operates at up to 140 bar (a) of pressure and 540°C of temperature.

The equipment started to operate in the 2020 harvest, and its installation represented an additional power generation at the plant of approximately 18,000 MW per harvest, achieving the expected short-term economic result.

As an additional solution, the modernization of the turbine safety and control systems was applied, fully integrated with the generator's protection, excitation and synchronization system. The systems installed since 2002 presented many availability risks due to the obsolescence of various equipment, thus, with this upgrade, the plant will have the state of the art in Automation 4.0, in addition to mitigating any risk of unwanted shutdowns.

A highlight point in this project was the excellent interaction and integration between TGM and Usina Santo Antônio engineering teams, aiming to replace the existing equipment with a minimum alteration of the civil base, since there were dimensional differences between the equipment.

For the customer, the replacement of this turbine represents a progress in technology applied in the plant, increase in power generation and export, considerably increasing the reliability and safety in its operation.

"The TGM Reaction Turbine is really a high efficiency machine and it was a very important acquisition for the success of our project". José Marcos de Oliveira - Industrial Manager of Usina Santo Antônio – Balbo