• The stationary engines in Gera’s combined heat and power (CHP) plants run on Texaco HDAX® 9200 and HDAX 9300
  • Texaco Texaco® Delo XLC Antifreeze/Coolant and Delo® XLI corrosion inhibitor also used to help avoid sediment
  • Positive collaboration with Chevron® underway since planning stages

ENGIE Deutschland GmbH has been using Texaco HDAX 9200 and HDAX 9300 gas engine oils since the Gera-Tinz and Gera-Lusan CHP plants were commissioned in January 2019. Texaco Lubricants have been closely involved in the project since before the build phase began and served as an advisor in selecting the lubricants. As a result, the power plants, which operate round the clock, have exceptionally long oil-change cycles and maintenance intervals. The plants usually remain operational while maintenance work is carried out. Any work requiring the shutdown of one of the plants is carried out at night.

The energy supplier invested around €46 million in building the two new power stations, with additional financial investment from the German government, via Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) grants, which contributed an additional €8 million into the new local district heating network. Overall, the two plants have nine gas-powered block heating stations and six gas-fired boiler installations. With a total output (incl. boilers) of 145 MW of thermal power and 40.5 MW of electricity, they supply electricity and local district heating on-demand for around 19,000 customers. This secures sustainable energy provision for the city of Gera for the years ahead.

Both power plants are fired by natural gas, with all heat generated fed into the district heating network. The Gera-Tinz installation has five MWM 16-cylinder gas engines with a thermal rating (input power) of 11 MW. The heat output is around 5.0 MW and the electric output is 4.5 MW. In Gera-Lusan, there are four similarly sized engines with a thermal power of 10.5 MW and an electrical output of 4.4 MW.

During the planning phase, Texaco Lubricants incorporated all aspects of the Gera power plants into its assessment of the necessary oil-change intervals. This process considered the qualities of the natural gas available, as the service life of the oil can be dependent upon the quality of the fuel. To ensure maximum operational reliability, runtime prediction calculations for Texaco HDAX 9200 gas engine oil initially arrived at 4,000 hours of operation. However, this proved significantly wide of the mark. The average of 6,500 operating hours achieved on test demonstrates that the service life of Texaco HDAX 9200 is longer in practice than the original cautious estimate.

“At the first exploratory meeting with Texaco Lubricants we thought about how we could raise the estimated service life. For instance, by allowing the oil to rest for longer. With large machines such as ours, however, the high loads make that rather difficult. So, we initially opted for an estimate of approximately 4,000 hours’ service life,” said Peter Hager, Object Manager at ENGIE Deutschland GmbH. “None of us ever imagined that some of our machines would run for more than 7,000 hours until their next oil change. We’re very satisfied.”

The company works with strict oil control procedures, drawing and analyzing a sample every 2,000 hours. Although this service itself is provided by partner company H.G.S., ENGIE Deutschland also remains in constant dialogue with Texaco Lubricants and sets great store by its expertise and experience.

The energy supplier also uses Texaco Lubricant products in its cooling water where it requires antifreeze and corrosion protection. Following initial difficulties with the coolants provided by another manufacturer, the Lusan power station now uses Texaco Delo XLC Antifreeze/Coolant PreMixed 40-60 . At Gera-Tinz, Texaco Delo XLC AntiFreeze/Coolant  is used for mixture cooling. ENGIE is particularly impressed by the thermal characteristics of the product. According to Peter Hager, the thermal capacity of comparable products from other manufacturers can be lower. A machine in the CHP installation can run for almost two years with Texaco Delo XLC Antifreeze/Coolant. The Tinz installation also uses Texaco Delo XLI Corrosion Inhibitor – Concentrate.

Since before the power stations were built, ENGIE was convinced by the benefits of Texaco Lubricants and coolants: “The oil has to do its job. Even if something unexpected happens, there can’t be any damage – so we need a degree of flexibility. In short, the oil has to be adapted to the needs of the engine. And that’s definitely the case with Texaco Lubricants,” said Peter Hager.

Texaco Lubricants products used:

  • Texaco HDAX 9200 Low Ash Gas Engine Oil SAE 40
  • Texaco HDAX 9300 SAE 40
  • Texaco Delo XLC Antifreeze/Coolant
  • Texaco Delo XLI Corrosion Inhibitor – Concentrate
  • Texaco LubeWatch Oil and coolant analysis

For more information about the HDAX range of gas engine oils visit Texaco’s website