Jenbacher
Encyclopedia
GE Jenbacher is an Austria
n manufacturer of gas engine
s and cogeneration
plants. GE Jenbacher emerged from the former Jenbacher Werke, which was founded in 1959 and manufactured gas and diesel engine
s, and locomotives. The company was bought out by General Electric
in 2003 and was renamed GE Jenbacher GmbH & Co. OHG. It is currently under the control of GE Energy.
family. In 1657, all Fugger properties in Tyrol were taken over by the state. Due to exhaustion of the copper- and silver deposits, the mine changed focus to iron. In 1909, the mine ran out of iron as well, and after a boom during the First World War only the foundry was left. The company was acquired by Julius and Theodor Reitlinger in 1881. At the beginning of World War II
, all of Tyrol was seized and Aryanized, and the company was to 'work for the benefit of the country'. The plant made brake pads for the Deutsche Reichsbahn
, and from 1939 they made aeroplane parts and rocket motors for Heinkel
. After the collapse at the end of the Second World War the factory was placed under public administration. It had to be converted to civilian production, and started out with cookware, but also started with the repair of railway wagons.
Because of the availability of appropriate specialists and skilled workers, it was decided to concentrate on the production of diesel engine
s. The first product was a 15 hp two-stroke engine, which was very successful and was manufactured in large quantities. This was followed by more two-stroke models of engine, and the company was now pushed to develop generators, compressors and pumps of the same quality.
In 1959 the company was constituted as Jenbacher Werke AG, the main shareholders being CA
with 35% and Mannesmann
with 26%, the rest being free float. The CA increased its share steadily and after the purchase of Mannesmann's share through the CA-controlled Andritz AG
they acquired a vast majority of the share capital. In 1979 1,550 people were employed at the plant.In 1988 the majority of the company was acquired by Auricon Beteiligungs AG. In 1991 it was organized into the Jenbacher Energy Systems AG (JES) and the Jenbacher Transport Systems Ltd. (JTS) divisions. In the same year, JTS acquired 29.9% of the British company Telfos Holding, which gave the company an influence on Ganz
-Hunslet, the former Hungarian locomotive works Ganz-MÁVAG
. On December 12, 1991, JTS attained majority share capital of Telfos, and bought out General Electric
's remaining share in 1993. In 1997, Jenbacher attempted to enter the tram
market with help from AEG
through a Jenbacher daughter company called Integral Verkehrstechnik AG Jenbach. Integral lost over 22 million Euro
s from 1997 to 2001, and led to the sale of the Jenbacher rail car division to Connex
. In 1998 Jenbacher started its successful relationship with Clarke Energy
which is now one of its largest gas engine distributors, The remaining gas engine-energy division was acquired by General Electric in 2003.
for the French occupation forces. In 1949, they started making diesel engines, power car
s, trucks and compressors powered by the aforementioned engines. In addition, they made rail cars for the Austrian Federal Railways and other railroad companies.
Jenbacher Werke designated their locomotives according to a system derived from the type of power transmission, approximate performance, wheel arrangement or application and the operating weight. The ÖBB series 2060 was therefore the work designation DH200B28. The other models carried the name JW.
gas engine
s, including cogeneration
plants and container
ized power generator sets
utilizing said gas engines. Jenbacher began producing gas engines in 1957.
Jenbacher's main facility still resides in Jenbach in Austria, and employs over 1400 workers. Jenbacher manufactures the gas engines from the ground-up at this facility, including in-house crankshaft
s. Jenbacher also maintains regional engine assembly plants in Hangzhou
, China, and Veresegyház
in Hungary
.
Jenbacher gas engines are exclusively Otto cycle
units with industrial grade spark plug
s providing ignition. Smaller models utilize stoichiometric combustion, while the larger engines are lean burn engines with prechamber ignition.
Jenbacher engines run on natural gas
, landfill gas
, sewage gas, biogas
, mine gas, coal gas
and syngas
. Due to this flexibility they are often used in applications where gas would normally be flare
d off or released into the atmosphere, to turn waste into energy. Methane
has a much higher global warming potential
than CO2, and it is therefore interesting for operators to burn gas in engines instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
gas engine delivering up to 9.5MW. When it is put into production it will be the most efficient gas engine available with an electrical efficiency of 48.7%, and a combined heat and power
thermal efficiency
of over 90%.
The J920 uses Miller cycle
valve timing and two-stage turbocharging, along with a 'three-module' construction consisting of the engine itself, the electrical generator
and the turbocharging unit consisting of both turbocharger
s and charge air cooler
s along with intake and exhaust piping and bypass valves. In common with most current marine diesel engines
, the J920 has a segmented camshaft
, along with combining individual cylinder head
s, the cylinder liner
, piston
and connecting rod
into one easily removeable modular
'power unit' for ease of maintenance and overhaul
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n manufacturer of gas engine
Gas engine
A gas engine means an engine running on a gas, such as coal gas, producer gas biogas, landfill gas, or natural gas. In the UK, the term is unambiguous...
s and cogeneration
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
plants. GE Jenbacher emerged from the former Jenbacher Werke, which was founded in 1959 and manufactured gas and diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s, and locomotives. The company was bought out by General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in 2003 and was renamed GE Jenbacher GmbH & Co. OHG. It is currently under the control of GE Energy.
History
Although the company itself has a relatively short history, its origins go far back. In 1487, a mine and foundry was founded by the FuggerFugger
The Fugger family was a historically prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists like the Welser and the Höchstetter families. This banking family replaced the de'...
family. In 1657, all Fugger properties in Tyrol were taken over by the state. Due to exhaustion of the copper- and silver deposits, the mine changed focus to iron. In 1909, the mine ran out of iron as well, and after a boom during the First World War only the foundry was left. The company was acquired by Julius and Theodor Reitlinger in 1881. At the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, all of Tyrol was seized and Aryanized, and the company was to 'work for the benefit of the country'. The plant made brake pads for the Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
, and from 1939 they made aeroplane parts and rocket motors for Heinkel
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
. After the collapse at the end of the Second World War the factory was placed under public administration. It had to be converted to civilian production, and started out with cookware, but also started with the repair of railway wagons.
Because of the availability of appropriate specialists and skilled workers, it was decided to concentrate on the production of diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s. The first product was a 15 hp two-stroke engine, which was very successful and was manufactured in large quantities. This was followed by more two-stroke models of engine, and the company was now pushed to develop generators, compressors and pumps of the same quality.
In 1959 the company was constituted as Jenbacher Werke AG, the main shareholders being CA
Creditanstalt
The Creditanstalt was an Austrian bank. The Creditanstalt was based in Vienna, founded in 1855 as K. k. priv. Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe by the Rothschild family...
with 35% and Mannesmann
Mannesmann
Mannesmann AG was a German corporation with headquarters in Düsseldorf. The company was founded in 1890 originally to produce seamless steel tubes. It was traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company had 130,860 employees worldwide and revenues of €23.27 billion.Over time, Mannesmann...
with 26%, the rest being free float. The CA increased its share steadily and after the purchase of Mannesmann's share through the CA-controlled Andritz AG
Andritz AG
Andritz AG is an Austrian plant engineering group headquartered in Graz. The group gets its name from the district Andritz in which it is located.Andritz employs more than 16,100 employees at 35 production and service facilities and 120 subsidiaries...
they acquired a vast majority of the share capital. In 1979 1,550 people were employed at the plant.In 1988 the majority of the company was acquired by Auricon Beteiligungs AG. In 1991 it was organized into the Jenbacher Energy Systems AG (JES) and the Jenbacher Transport Systems Ltd. (JTS) divisions. In the same year, JTS acquired 29.9% of the British company Telfos Holding, which gave the company an influence on Ganz
Ganz
The Ganz electric works in Budapest is probably best known for the manufacture of tramcars, but was also a pioneer in the application of three-phase alternating current to electric railways. Ganz also made / makes: ships , bridge steel structures , high voltage equipment...
-Hunslet, the former Hungarian locomotive works Ganz-MÁVAG
MÁVAG
MÁVAG was a Hungarian rail vehicle producer. MÁVAG was the property of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the World War II MÁVAG was nationalized, and "Királyi" was removed from its name.The company employed thousands of workers. The buildings were in the VIII...
. On December 12, 1991, JTS attained majority share capital of Telfos, and bought out General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's remaining share in 1993. In 1997, Jenbacher attempted to enter the tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
market with help from AEG
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....
through a Jenbacher daughter company called Integral Verkehrstechnik AG Jenbach. Integral lost over 22 million Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s from 1997 to 2001, and led to the sale of the Jenbacher rail car division to Connex
Veolia Verkehr
Veolia Verkehr GmbH is a private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. On April 3, 2006, Connex Verkehr GmbH was renamed Veolia Verkehr GmbH, but the sister companies kept their current names....
. In 1998 Jenbacher started its successful relationship with Clarke Energy
Clarke Energy
Clarke Energy is a privately owned multinational company specialising in the sale, engineering, installation and maintenance of power plants utilising gas engines. Clarke Energy is an independent company with its head offices located in Knowsley, Liverpool and is an authorised distributor and...
which is now one of its largest gas engine distributors, The remaining gas engine-energy division was acquired by General Electric in 2003.
Rail cars
Jenbacher's railway activities started in 1945, when they started performing repairs of rolling stockRolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
for the French occupation forces. In 1949, they started making diesel engines, power car
Power car
A power car is a railroad vehicle that is closely related to the locomotive. What differentiates the two is their construction or their use. A true locomotive can be physically separated from its train and does nothing but provide propulsion . A power car, on the other hand, is frequently an...
s, trucks and compressors powered by the aforementioned engines. In addition, they made rail cars for the Austrian Federal Railways and other railroad companies.
Jenbacher Werke designated their locomotives according to a system derived from the type of power transmission, approximate performance, wheel arrangement or application and the operating weight. The ÖBB series 2060 was therefore the work designation DH200B28. The other models carried the name JW.
Company profile and products
GE Jenbacher currently specializes in lean burnLean burn
Lean burn refers to the use of lean mixtures in an internal combustion engine. The air-fuel ratios can be as high as 65:1, so the mixture has considerably less fuel in comparison to the stoichiometric combustion ratio ....
gas engine
Gas engine
A gas engine means an engine running on a gas, such as coal gas, producer gas biogas, landfill gas, or natural gas. In the UK, the term is unambiguous...
s, including cogeneration
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
plants and container
Container
Container may refer to:* Items used to contain, store, and transport products, such as:** Carton** Bottle** Can , several meanings* Shipping containers include** Crate** Wooden box...
ized power generator sets
Engine-generator
An engine-generator is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine mounted together to form a single piece of equipment. This combination is also called an engine-generator set or a gen-set...
utilizing said gas engines. Jenbacher began producing gas engines in 1957.
Jenbacher's main facility still resides in Jenbach in Austria, and employs over 1400 workers. Jenbacher manufactures the gas engines from the ground-up at this facility, including in-house crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
s. Jenbacher also maintains regional engine assembly plants in Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, China, and Veresegyház
Veresegyház
- Location :This village appeared as Vesereghatz first in Lazarus Secretariu's maps made between 1510 and 1520. The town lies in Gödöllő-Hills near the Cserhát, in the south with Mogyoród hornbeam and the Foth Somlyó csomádi high hill, in the east and north with the Margita, and is surrounded by...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
Jenbacher gas engines are exclusively Otto cycle
Otto cycle
An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle which describes the functioning of a typical reciprocating piston engine, the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines....
units with industrial grade spark plug
Spark plug
A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...
s providing ignition. Smaller models utilize stoichiometric combustion, while the larger engines are lean burn engines with prechamber ignition.
Jenbacher engines run on natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, landfill gas
Landfill gas
Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...
, sewage gas, biogas
Biogas
Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas...
, mine gas, coal gas
Coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
and syngas
Syngas
Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal, biomass, and in some types of waste-to-energy...
. Due to this flexibility they are often used in applications where gas would normally be flare
Flare
-In culture and the arts:*Flare , an acrobatic move employed in b-boying, commonly known as breakdance, and gymnastics*Flare , a female hero who is a member of the League of Champions...
d off or released into the atmosphere, to turn waste into energy. Methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
has a much higher global warming potential
Global warming potential
Global-warming potential is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere. It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of the gas in question to the amount of heat trapped by a similar mass of carbon dioxide. A GWP is calculated over a specific time...
than CO2, and it is therefore interesting for operators to burn gas in engines instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
Jenbacher J920
The Jenbacher J920 is Jenbacher's newest product, a V20V20 engine
A V20 engine is a V engine with 20 cylinders.Engines of this number of cylinders are not common in automobiles, but this configuration is used in some large diesel engines....
gas engine delivering up to 9.5MW. When it is put into production it will be the most efficient gas engine available with an electrical efficiency of 48.7%, and a combined heat and power
Combined Heat and Power
Combined Heat and Power may refer to:* Cogeneration* Combined Heat and Power Solar...
thermal efficiency
Thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...
of over 90%.
The J920 uses Miller cycle
Miller cycle
In engineering, the Miller cycle is a combustion process used in a type of four-stroke internal combustion engine. The Miller cycle was patented by Ralph Miller, an American engineer, in the 1940s.- Overview :...
valve timing and two-stage turbocharging, along with a 'three-module' construction consisting of the engine itself, the electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
and the turbocharging unit consisting of both turbocharger
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
s and charge air cooler
Charge air cooler
A charge air cooler is used to cool engine air after it has passed through a turbocharger, but before it enters the engine. The idea is to return the air to a lower temperature, for the optimum power for the combustion process within the engine.Charge air coolers range in size depending on the...
s along with intake and exhaust piping and bypass valves. In common with most current marine diesel engines
Marine propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a ship or boat across water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting a motor or engine turning a propeller, or less frequently, in jet...
, the J920 has a segmented camshaft
Camshaft
A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206. He employed it as part of his automata,...
, along with combining individual cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
s, the cylinder liner
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
, piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
and connecting rod
Connecting rod
In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....
into one easily removeable modular
Modularity
Modularity is a general systems concept, typically defined as a continuum describing the degree to which a system’s components may be separated and recombined. It refers to both the tightness of coupling between components, and the degree to which the “rules” of the system architecture enable the...
'power unit' for ease of maintenance and overhaul
Maintenance, repair, and operations
Maintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
.
Literature
- Franz Mathis: Big Business in Österreich. Verlag für Geschicht und Politik, Wien 1986, ISBN 3-7028-0256-8
- Sepp Tezak: Die Jenbacher Werke. In: Schienenverkehr aktuell. 1988/4, S. 12
- Helmut Petrovitsch: Lokomotiven aus Tirol. Chronik des Schienenfahrzeugbaues der Jenbacher Werke AG. In: Schienenverkehr aktuell. 1987/12 – 1990/6 (20 Teile)