HELADHANAVI POWER STATION

Heladhanavi power plant which covers up 8 acres as plant area and 77 acres as total area is located in
Puttalam. Guaranteed power capacity and power factor of this power plant is 99.66 MW and 80%
respectively.


Figure 1: Heladhanavi Power Station (Source: http://www.hemaspower.com/)

This is a power plant driven by medium speed reciprocating engines which use heavy furnace oil
(HFO) that is low in cost and has high calorific value as the main power source supplied by Ceylon
Petroleum Co-operation. When fuel oil system is considered, fuel from CPC advances through four
main sections namely weighing bridge, fuel unloading system, storage tanks and fuel treatment house
until it reaches to day tank yard. In the fuel treatment house, the fuel is purified using centrifugal force
in four separators rotate around 6800 rpm at 98
0
C. Then purified oil flows through booster unit which
controls fuel types (LFO/HFO), viscosity and pressure of the fuel. Next the decontaminated oil enters
into the engines. There are six Wartsilla 18V46 engines which are turbo charged, intercooled, four
stroked, direct injected and V typed in this power plant. Furthermore, the efficiency of the engines is
43%. Lube oil system, charge air and exhaust gas system, cooling water system, compressed sir and
instrument air system, heat recovery system etc. are some of the engine auxiliary systems that ensure
the continuous operation of the engines. Mobile Guard M50 is the lubrication oil type used in lube oil
system consists of engine driven lube oil pump, pre lube pump, lube oil cooler, lube oil filters and lube
oil separator. Charge air and exhaust gas system is a combination of charge air filters, charge air
silencers, turbo charger, charge air cooler and exhaust gas silencers. There are two systems named HT
which cools cylinder liners, cylinder head valve seats and charged air and LT which cools charge air
and lube oil in the cooling water system. Compressed air and instrument air system comprises of
different types of air compressors which supply pressurized air for starting the engine and for various
controllers. The purposes of heat recovery system consists of one auxiliary boiler and three exhaust gas
boilers are heating fuel tanks and fuel oil separators, assisting viscosity control at booster unit and
further thawing lube oil for further separation.
The generating voltage of this power plant is 15 kV generated by ABB branded 3 self-excited
synchronous alternator of 21.345 MVA rating with efficiency of 97.61% at full load with power factor
of 0.8 and 500 rpm rated speed. Engines can be controlled in three modes namely synchronous,
constant kW or droop whilst generators can be operated in either constant voltage or constant power
factor. Overcurrent, earth fault, differential, unbalanced load, over/under voltage, over/under

2

frequency, loss of excitation and reverse power are the available generator protection systems. This
power plant consists of two YNd11 power transformers of rated 80 MVA and the generating voltage is
stepped up to 132 kV. All six generators are connected to the transformers through MV switch gear
system. Apart from that, there are two station transformers to supply power for plant operating
requirements (i.e. 1% of total generation). When transformer protection systems are considered,
overcurrent, earth fault, differential, restricted earth fault, Buchholz relay, oil/winding temperature, oil
level and surge protection can be pointed out.
The gantry point of the power station is connected with Kalladiya substation through 5 km long double
circuit transmission line. The communication between the power plant and the substation is done via
OPGW. Plant control system is called as WOIS (WNS Operators Interface System).