scholarly journals U.S. Department of Energy Space and Defense Power Systems Program Ten-Year Strategic Plan, Volume 1 and Volume 2

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Dwight
Author(s):  
Alex Frank ◽  
Peter Therkelsen ◽  
Miguel Sierra Aznar ◽  
Vi H. Rapp ◽  
Robert K. Cheng ◽  
...  

About 75% of the electric power generated by centralized power plants feeds the energy needs from the residential and commercial sectors. These power plants waste about 67% of primary energy as heat emitting 2 billion tons of CO2 per year in the process (∼ 38% of total US CO2 generated per year) [1]. A study conducted by the United States Department of Energy indicated that developing small-scale combined heat and power systems to serve the commercial and residential sectors could have a significant impact on both energy savings and CO2 emissions. However, systems of this scale historically suffer from low efficiencies for a variety of reasons. From a combustion perspective, at these small scales, few systems can achieve the balance between low emissions and high efficiencies due in part to the increasing sensitivity of the system to hydrodynamic and heat transfer effects. Addressing the hydrodynamic impact, the effects of downscaling on the flowfield evolution were studied on the low swirl burner (LSB) to understand if it could be adapted to systems at smaller scales. Utilizing particle image velocimetry (PIV), three different swirlers were studied ranging from 12 mm to 25.4 mm representing an output range of less than 1 kW to over 23 kW. Results have shown that the small-scale burners tested exhibited similar flowfield characteristics to their larger-scale counterparts in the non-reacting cases studied. Utilizing this data, as a proof of concept, a 14 mm diameter LSB with an output of 3.33 kW was developed for use in microturbine operating on a recuperated Brayton cycle. Emissions results from this burner proved the feasibility of the system at sufficiently lean mixtures. Furthermore, integration of the newly developed LSB into a can style combustor for a microturbine application was successfully completed and comfortably meet the stringent emissions targets. While the analysis of the non-reacting cases was successful, the reacting cases were less conclusive and further investigation is required to gain an understanding of the flowfield evolution which is the subject of future work.


Author(s):  
Craig S. Turchi ◽  
Zhiwen Ma ◽  
Ty Neises ◽  
Michael Wagner

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a “SunShot Concentrating Solar Power R&D” program to develop technologies that have the potential for much higher efficiency, lower cost, and/or more reliable performance than existing CSP systems. The DOE seeks to develop highly disruptive Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies that will meet 6¢/kWh cost targets by the end of the decade, and a high-efficiency, low-cost thermal power cycle is one of the important components to achieve the goal. Supercritical CO2 (s-CO2) operated in a closed-loop Brayton cycle offers the potential of equivalent or higher cycle efficiency versus superheated or supercritical steam cycles at temperatures relevant for CSP applications. Brayton-cycle systems using s-CO2 have a smaller weight and volume, lower thermal mass, and less complex power blocks versus Rankine cycles due to the higher density of the fluid and simpler cycle design. The simpler machinery and compact size of the s-CO2 process may also reduce the installation, maintenance and operation cost of the system.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Ruth

The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with industry to develop advanced coal-fired electric power plants that are substantially cleaner, more efficient, and less costly than current plants. Low-emission boiler systems (LEBS) and high-performance power systems (HIPPS) are based, respectively, on the direct firing of pulverized coal and the indirectly fired combined cycle. LEBS uses a low-NOx slagging combustion system that has been shown in pilot-scale tests to emit less than 86 g/GJ (0.2 lb/106 Btu) of NOx. Additional NOx removal is provided by a moving bed copper oxide flue gas cleanup system, which also removes 97–99 percent of sulfur oxides. Stack levels of NOx can be reduced to below 9 g/GJ (0.02 lb/106 Btu). Construction of an 80 MWe LEBS proof-of-concept plant is scheduled to begin in the spring of 1999. Engineering development of two different HIPPS configurations is continuing. Recent tests of a radiant air heater, a key component of HIPPS, have indicated the soundness of the design for air temperatures to 1150°C. LEBS and HIPPS applications include both new power plants and repowering/upgrading existing plants.


Author(s):  
Ben Gardner ◽  
Xiaofeng Guan ◽  
Ruth Ann Martin ◽  
Jack Spain

The Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) is an engineering scale demonstration of advanced coal-fired power systems and high-temperature, high-pressure gas filtration systems. The PSDF was designed at sufficient scale so that advanced power systems and components can be tested in an integrated fashion to provide data for commercial scale-up. The PSDF is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric Power Research Institute, Southern Company Services, Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (KBR), Siemens-Westinghouse, and Peabody Energy. Gasification at the PSDF is based on KBR’s Transport Gasifier, which is an advanced circulating fluidized-bed gasifier. Hot gas filtration is a critical process in the gasification system to clean up the particulate matter before the synthesis gas (syngas) is fed to the turbine. A Siemens-Westinghouse particulate control device (PCD) is used for syngas cleanup. The PCD contains 91 candle-style filter elements. More than twenty types of filter elements, categorized as monolithic ceramic, composite ceramic, sintered-metal powder, and sintered-metal fiber, have been tested in the gasification environment at the PSDF. Up to January 2005, the longest exposure time for individual filters has been 5783 hours. The particulate loading in the clean syngas during most stable operating periods has been demonstrated to be consistently below 0.1 ppmw, which is the lower detection limit of Southern Research Institute’s sampling system. Safeguard devices (failsafes) have also been tested and developed at the PSDF. Failsafes are used to block the particulate leaking through the PCD in the case of filter element failure to eliminate damage to the turbine. Demonstration of reliable failsafes is a critical factor to the hot gas filtration technology. Several types of currently available failsafes and PSDF-developed failsafes have been tested in the PCD with gasification ash injection to simulate filter element leakage. A typical failsafe was also tested in a device equipped with a quick-open mechanism to simulate a complete filter failure during a test run operation. The testing showed promising results for certain types of failsafes. Further failsafe testing and better understanding of turbine requirements for particulate loading are needed to evaluate the PCD performance and increase readiness towards commercialization of the technology.


Author(s):  
Sanjar Mirzaliev

A fluid power industry powering the agricultural machinery faces big challenges nowadays. An issue of energy saving has become important due to increasing fuel costs and more stringent emissions regulations impacting vehicle development. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that the efficiency of fluid power averages 21 percent. This offers a huge opportunity to improve the current state-of-the-art of fluid power machines, in particular to improve the energy consumption of current applications and create innovative solutions. To increase energy efficiency of fluid power systems reduction of throttling losses and potential energy recovery strategies are needed. Aim of this work is to present classification of current energy saving architectures and aid the development of new techniques for mobile fluid power machines.


Author(s):  
Paolo Pezzini ◽  
Mario L. Ferrari ◽  
David Tucker ◽  
Alberto Traverso

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HiLS) is a specific technique designed in the experimental environment for studying the coupling between different technologies, where simulated and hardware components interact to each other. Two different HiLS facilities used for educational and research purposes are examined in the paper: the Hybrid Performance (Hyper) project facility at the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and the Hybrid system emulator at the Thermochemical Power Group (TPG) facility, run by the University of Genoa in Italy. Since one facility is at a national laboratory and the other one in a university environment, both facilities dedicate considerable resources to the education of students with a different perspective: industrial and experimental approach. A description of the two configurations, the unique and overlapping attributes of each facility and the experimental results are reported and discussed to show different possibilities for students and researchers. Undergraduates, Postgraduates and Ph.D. students have the opportunity to learn innovative configuration of energy power systems, innovative control strategies applied to hybrid configurations, how to design real hardware components, and how to implementation real-time simulation models. The strong impact of these two laboratories is to show to students the applicability about their knowledge studied during lectures.


Author(s):  
John Brushwood ◽  
John Foote ◽  
Frank Morton ◽  
Larry Wallace

The Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) is an engineering scale demonstration of two advanced coal-fired power systems and several high-temperature, high-pressure gas filtration systems. The PSDF was designed at sufficient scale so that advanced power systems and components could be tested in an integrated fashion to provide data for commercial scale-up. The PSDF is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, Southern Company Services, Foster Wheeler, Kellogg Brown & Root, Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (SWPC), Combustion Power Company and Peabody Holding Company. The PSDF is configured into two separate test trains: the Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) transport reactor train and the Foster Wheeler Advanced Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustor (APFBC) train. The APFBC train also includes a topping combustor and gas turbine generator to produce electrical power. The APFBC train is designed for long term testing of the filtration systems and the assessment of control and integration issues associated with the APFBC system. The Siemens Westinghouse Multi-Annular Swirl Burner (MASB) has been developed as the topping combustor for the APFBC application. In this application, the combustion air is vitiated air, a depleted oxygen (10 to 16 vol %), high temperature (1200 to 1400°F) (650 to 760°C) gas stream, which is the exhaust gas from the fluidized bed combustion of solid fuel. The topping combustor fuel is a synthetic low-Btu fuel gas at high temperature (1200 to 1400°F) (650 to 760°C) generated by gasifying coal in the APFBC. The hot MASB combusted gas is expanded through a gas turbine for power generation. Commissioning of the MASB began in January, 1998. Over 400 hours of operation have been accumulated through November 1999. Several improvements have been designed and installed during commissioning. This paper explains the design basis of the MASB, describes design changes implemented at the PSDF and reviews the operational experience of the MASB at the PSDF.


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