Release Date: July 11, 2000

Four new research projects selected this week by the U.S. Department of Energy show that innovations to boost the performance of tomorrow's power plants can take many forms - from new ways to mix biomass and municipal waste into future fuels to new microbiological techniques that minimize water intake obstructions.

The four projects are among the more than 40 that have emerged as winners in a broad program-wide competition in the department's Office of Fossil Energy.The common thread in this set of projects is that all can improve efficiency and help defray the costs of energy production from fossil fuel energy systems. The Energy Department will provide $1.4 million to the four winning organizations. The private sector partners will more than match the federal funding, providing about $2 million for the new research ventures.The winning projects are as follows. Dollar amounts are preliminary and may change during upcoming negotiations.

• University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center, Grand Forks, ND, will work with Gasification Engineering Corporation, West Terre Haute, IN, to investigate and develop alternate fuel feed systems for future coal gasification-based power plants. Coal gasification is one of the cleanest and most efficient ways to use coal in the power plants of tomorrow. This project concentrates on developing ways so that gasifiers can also process biomass and solid waste. If successful, mixing these fuels into a power plant's feedstock could reduce fuel costs and lessen the amount of waste that must be landfilled today. Proposed DOE share: $499,057; company share: $125,019; project duration: 12 months. Contact: Michael Swanson, (701) 777-5239.
• McDermott Technology, Inc., Alliance, OH, will team with Babcock & Wilcox Co., Barberton, OH, and Allegheny Energy Supply, Masontown, PA, to design a new type of coal-burning furnace that will combine the best, high-performance features of boilers from both the United States and Europe. From furnaces commonly used in U.S. power plants, the engineers will adapt a design in which the steam-carrying boiler tubes are oriented vertically - a simpler, less costly, and easier-to-fabricate design than the spiral tube furnaces common in European power plants. The engineering team, however, will also incorporate a variable pressure operation that is dominant in Europe (U.S. furnace designs generally operate at constant pressures). The development of a vertical tube furnace capable of variable pressure operation would be a significant advancement in terms of cost, manufacturing, and more rapid installation. Proposed DOE share: $650,000; participant share: $1.7 million; project duration: 23 months. Contact: E.L. Davidson, (330) 829-7617
• University of the State of New York, Albany, NY, will study various bacteria that kill zebra mussels, which infest power plants, without harming other aquatic species in our ecosystem. If this research is successful, it could provide a much more environmentally attractive alternative to biocide treatments, such as the use of chlorine that can react with compounds in the water to form potentially carcinogenic substances. Proposed DOE share: $170,303; participant share: $399,687; project duration: 24 months. Contact: Mary Drzonsc, (518) 474-5880.
• Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, will collaborate with San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, to reduce the number of computations needed to model fluidized beds. A fluidized bed combustor is an advancement in traditional boiler designs and has the major advantage of being able to remove sulfur and reduce other air pollutants inside the boiler (no external scrubber is needed). However, because fluidized bed systems burn coal particles suspended in a turbulent mixing fashion on upward blowing cushions of air, developing mathematical models to better understand flow, heat transfer and chemical reactions can be a complex and difficult process. This research project will provide better computational tools that could lead to improved designs and lower maintenance requirements for these advanced, clean-burning coal combustors. Proposed DOE share: $78,270; participant share: $26,337; project duration: 36 months. Contact: Paul Cizmas, (409) 845-5952.

The projects will be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which implements and oversees DOE's fossil energy programs, the main goal of which is to develop effective ways of reducing emissions while using fossil fuels as a primary source of electricity and power generation. Technology development plays a pivotal role in DOE's efforts to protect our environment and keep fossil fuels viable.