Tuesday, December 17, 2019

New Zealand: Heat Exchanger Delivered to Ngāwhā Geothermal Power Station

The biggest thing on wheels: 'Supertruck' brings 90-tonne heat exchanger to Ngāwhā power station (NZ Herald)

The biggest thing ever transported on Northland roads, which will form a key part of Top Energy's new geothermal power station at Ngāwhā, made a show (and traffic) stopping sight as it rumbled up SH1 last week.

The 90-tonne, 20.5m heat exchanger made was transported on an 18-axle, 144-wheel trailer pulled by two trucks and pushed by a third.

Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw said the Israeli-built heat exchanger, or pre-heater, would be used to extract energy from geothermal fluid drawn from deep underground. Heat from the fluid would turn pentane into a high-pressure gas, which would spin a series of turbines, which would turn a generator, making electricity.

The new power station is due to start producing electricity in August next year.