SWEDISH MANUFACTURER OF mediumand heavy duty vehicles, Volvo Trucks,has recently officially opened a new CKDassembly line in cooperation with theState Company for Automotive Industry(SCAI) based in Babel, Iraq. The facilitywas inaugurated by minister of industryand minerals HE Mohammed Sahib Al-Daraji and Volvo importer, ZamzamSpring General Trading’s chairman,Bagher Al Mashat.

Volvo Trucks has also announced anincrease in sales last year compared to2014 across most of the Middle Eastmarkets. The announcement came aftersignificant activity by the company in theregion, including the opening of an AVIproduction facility in King AbdullahEconomic City in Saudi Arabia incooperation with Zahid Tractor last year.The company enjoyed a particularlysuccessful year in Bahrain, Kuwait,Lebanon and Qatar, more than doublingsales in all four markets and a double digitgrowth in Oman, which is Volvo Trucks’third largest market in the Middle East.

Volvo had launched a new range oftrucks – the FH, FM and FMX – in early

2014 with new enhanced features such asthe 12 speed I-Shift gearbox, a fullyautomated gearbox designed to providecomfort for the driver and maximise fuelefficiency. The company also worked onstrengthening the sales financing schemesthat were introduced in conjunction withthe launch of the new range. Thiscombined with the comprehensive ‘driverdevelopment programme’ hascontributed greatly to the success.

Volvo Trucks Middle East presidentLars-Erik Forsbergh said, “The opening ofthe new production facility in SaudiArabia demonstrated our on-goingcommitment to the region. We willcontinue to build on this in 2016, bydeveloping our network, by ensuring weoffer customers premium products tailor-made to suit their needs, premiumservices and financing, and to add valueto our customers’ businesses.”

Volvo Trucks opens new CKD assembly line in Iraq

POWERPHASE HAS REPORTEDLY managedto upgrade a 7FA gas turbine allowing for afive per cent improvement in fuel efficiencyand 31.5MW increase in power, also statingthat “an installation of five modules wouldresult in an output increase of 22.5MW. At50°C ambient, this results in a 19 per cent

output increase and a 3.5 per cent heat rateimprovement” in its project summary.

The system is said to have thus been ableto demonstrate a 99.3 per cent availabilityin ambient conditions up to 55°C at bothbase-load and part-load conditions.

Powerphase president and CEO Bob Kraft

said, “Our analysis indicates a substantialpower increase and fuel savings for nationsin the region if they implement ourupgrades across their gas turbine fleet. TheTurbophase system can be integrated into anew or existing gas turbine plant at a muchlower cost than building new plants andimproving the fuel efficiency by more thanfive per cent. If implemented across the gasturbine fleet in the region, the Turbophasesystem would add more than 5GW of powerand would save more than 18mn boe peryear. It’s a generational leap in new gasturbine technology, representing billions inpotential savings for the region.”

The Turbophase dry air injection system ismodular and additive. This allows a gasturbine OEM, like GE, Siemens orMitsubishi, to meet a specific power target,either alone, or as an addition to anycombination of OEM upgrade or inletconditioning. The same Turbophase system installed in the Middle East isexpected to be able to operate everywhereelse as well, promising similar output andfuel efficiency benefits, including GE 7EA &GE 7FA gas turbines.

One of the FMX models, launched by Volvo Trucks. (Photo: Volvo)

Gas turbine upgrades could help the region meets its growing power needs. (Photo: Photo Smile/Shutterstock)

Powerphase upgrades gas turbine to ‘Turbophase’

106 Innovations

Technical Review Middle East - Issue Two 2016 www.technicalreview.me