need to replace deisel gen-sets

[vmac100]

hi guys,very good work u guys are doing here.
i need as much useful suggestions as i can get on this:my company is a multinational oil and gas coy.we have three office and residential complexes.we also have a dual gas/diesel turbine plant,but due to poor maintenance culture,the plant has not been able to meet our needs.we also have on the whole,36 diesel generating sets.
what i really want to know is that,would it be advisable to convert these our diesel gensets to dual diesel/gas gensets?we already have a gas intakes at two of the complexes.
i would want us to bear in mind the cost of the diesel/gas gensets,CAPEX, and the cost of running the present ones,OPEX.
further more,i will like us to know that my company plans on building a new gas turbine power plant by 2007.please advise.

 

[enginesrus]

Before going with a gas turbine, I would do a fuel consumption comparison between turbine and Reciprocating engines. There are some very large recip engines that approach 50% efficiency. And with heat recovery even more.

 

[alehman]

There are many consulting engineering companies that would be happy to perform a rate study and cost / benefit analysis. There are many options to consider such as heat recovery. An engineer may be able to save you time and money in the long run.

 

[jbartos]

Suggestion: Fuel cells may also be considered for diesel genset replacements.