The plans for the largest power plant in north Taiwan, the Datan power plant, included six gas-fired combined cycle generators. After a series of evaluations, San Tai machinery manufacturing company, which has more than 80 years of pump manufacturing experience, was awarded the contract for the circulation water pump (CWP) project. The project began on April 19, 2004. The six gas-fired combined cycle generating units required a total of 12 sets of CWP which were provided by San Tai. The specification were as followed ψ2200 mm bore, 10 cm capacity, 22 m head, 89% efficiency, 19.3 m pump height, 360 rpm speeds and 4000 hp. Made from SUS316L stainless steel, the materials for the pump were of high corrosion resistance.
San Tai Pumps began researching and designing the CWP in 1998, and first applied the know-how to the Nanpu thermal power plant for the Taiwan Power Company in 2002. During the Datan power plant planning period, San Tai appointed JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) and CNS (Chinese National Standard) codes to design CWP. The sump model testing, pump model testing and CWP entity testing, all fell under the relevant provisions of HIS (Hydraulic Institute Standard).
The CWP used a pull-out design with rotating parts that could be pulled straight out for maintenance. Because of this design, there is no need to dismantle the external pipe and discharge bore parts; it directly pulls the inside pipe straight out onto the ground. This design helps to save human resources and reduce maintenance time. The self-lubricating design enables the pump to function without adding additional lubricant to the bearings. The design not only reduces the temperature and abrasion, but also extends the bearing’s life, thus saving more energy.
The CWPs were completed ahead of schedule in January 2008 and were accepted by the pump performance measure. The actual efficiency was 89.5%, which could save large amounts of energy, up to 7,484,544 kW per year, and reduce carbon emissions by up to 4,775 tons per year. The blade design used a tapered thickness, which increased the intensity of the impeller and kept the flow smooth. At the end of the two year maintenance period in 2010, the impeller state remained in excellent condition. It not only provided more stability and more efficiency for the cooling water system for the Datan power plant, but it also created a new milestone in Taiwan pump industry. It made the international pump community approbate Taiwan pump manufacturing and construction quality design capabilities. In December 2008, San Tai Pumps received the 9th Public Construction Golden Quality Award in Datan’s CWP design from the Public Construction Commission Executive Branch.
