The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 15 projects to receive nearly $8.8 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects to develop innovative technologies that enhance fossil energy power systems. The newly selected projects fall under DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy’s Crosscutting Technology Research Program, which advances technologies that have a broad range of fossil energy applications. Specifically, the program fosters innovative R&D in sensors and controls, modeling and simulation, high-performance materials, and water management.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 15 projects to receive nearly $8.8 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects to develop innovative technologies that enhance fossil energy power systems. The newly selected projects fall under DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy’s Crosscutting Technology Research Program, which advances technologies that have a broad range of fossil energy applications. Specifically, the program fosters innovative R&D in sensors and controls, modeling and simulation, high-performance materials, and water management.

NETL opened its doors – and its labs – June 4 to student researchers who are participating in the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) and Consortium for Integrating Energy Systems in Engineering and Science Education (CIESESE) programs. Participants include more than 40 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors who will get hands-on experience in NETL’s cutting-edge research facilities and work one-on-one with the Lab’s world-class scientists and engineers. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy, MLEF kicks off its 23rd year with a class of undergraduate and graduate students. The program was named after late Congressman Mickey Leland of Texas, a passionate advocate on many issues who died in a 1989 plane crash while on a mission to Ethiopia. 

Because supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycles can improve thermal efficiency and enable energy production from domestic fossil fuels with responsible stewardship of the environment, NETL researchers are aggressively investigating how to maximize the service life of materials in sCO2environments. sCO2 power cycles operate similarly to other turbine cycles, but they use CO2 – rather than steam – as the working fluid in the turbomachinery.  In its supercritical state, CO2 remains liquid-like rather than gas-like and has unique properties for energy generation equipment. For example, turbomachinery that uses sCO2 can be very compact and highly efficient, requiring less compression and enabling better heat exchange. sCO2 power cycles operate at very high pressures, which means they operate more efficiently so more energy can be created from less fuel and with a reduced cost. Because sCO2power cycles require higher pressures than traditional power generation systems, the physics, chemistry, and components do not behave as they would in conventional systems.

NETL researchers are continually finding innovative ways to improve the efficiencies of fossil energy based power generation, but the improvements generally come at a cost. Advanced fossil energy technologies, such as ultra-supercritical steam plants and oxyfuel combustion boilers, have the potential to increase efficiency and bolster clean coal efforts, since they operate at higher temperatures and pressures. However, this leads to harsher and more corrosive conditions compared to traditional power plants in use today. A supercritical steam boiler and turbine operate at very high pressure. As a result, the quantity of coal needed to create equivalent energy is less, resulting in less coal used per unit of energy generated, and therefore, less emissions. Meanwhile, oxyfuel combustion boilers burn fuel using pure oxygen instead of air as the primary oxidant. Because the nitrogen component of air is not heated, fuel consumption is reduced in oxyfuel combustion boilers making higher flame temperatures possible, improving efficiency.

NETL researchers are continually finding innovative ways to improve the efficiencies of fossil energy based power generation, but the improvements generally come at a cost. Advanced fossil energy technologies, such as ultra-supercritical steam plants and oxyfuel combustion boilers, have the potential to increase efficiency and bolster clean coal efforts, since they operate at higher temperatures and pressures. However, this leads to harsher and more corrosive conditions compared to traditional power plants in use today. A supercritical steam boiler and turbine operate at very high pressure. As a result, the quantity of coal needed to create equivalent energy is less, resulting in less coal used per unit of energy generated, and therefore, less emissions. Meanwhile, oxyfuel combustion boilers burn fuel using pure oxygen instead of air as the primary oxidant. Because the nitrogen component of air is not heated, fuel consumption is reduced in oxyfuel combustion boilers making higher flame temperatures possible, improving efficiency.

Increasing the efficiency of the way energy is produced in an array of facilities that dot America’s landscape is at the core of efforts to reduce the amount of fuel required to produce power, decrease harmful emissions, and eliminate waste. Increasing efficiency requires better processes and, especially, better pressure and temperature-withstanding materials for use in everything from the boilers that combust fuels to the power-making turbines that keep the nation warm in winter, cool in summer and keeps its lights on year-round. Amid the heat, noise, and commotion in NETL’s alloy fabrication laboratory in Albany, Ore., researchers are experimenting with the design, development, manufacture, and testing of advanced heat-resistant alloys, superalloys and novel alloys such as high-entropy alloys that can meet escalating efficiency improvement challenges and help create the next generation of energy industry hardware.

A research paper authored by two NETL experts that explains how a new computational algorithm was applied to alloy development to optimize heat treatments and increase consistency of mechanical properties in nickel superalloys and steel castings was selected as one of only five editor’s choice open access articles for 2017 by the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance(JMEP). JEMP is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published on behalf of ASM International that covers all aspects of materials engineering. The scope of the publication includes all substances used in engineering applications. Selection by the editors as a highlighted article reflects the comprehensive nature of the paper and its overall excellence.

Few things are as universally important to all Americans as clean drinking water. Regulatory agencies, municipalities, oil and gas exploration companies, and landowners all have a need for water quality assurance. Unfortunately, the most common monitoring solutions are expensive and labor intensive, requiring samples to be collected from the source, prepared, and sent offsite to be analyzed – actions that can dramatically alter the sample. NETL researchers are hoping to overcome these challenges with a more affordable, in situ monitoring tool based on laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). LIBS technology provides rapid elemental analysis without extensive sample collection or preparation. Many of the available LIBS systems are large and complex, employing above-ground, laboratory-scale lasers, but NETL has designed a simple, easy-to-fabricate, handheld LIBS system fully adaptable to field use and capable of measurements even in harsh environments.

NETL co-hosted a special event April 18 to help mitigate participation disparities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by connecting enthusiastic professionals with interested students and their educators. NETL, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and Oregon State University (OSU) College of Science hosted the Mid-Willamette STEM Mentoring Café at OSU’s Memorial Union in Corvallis, Ore. Middle and high school students broke into small groups for speed mentoring sessions, during which they had the opportunity to chat with STEM role models, see samples of their work, and ask questions. Educators received take-home materials to continue STEM engagement with their students. Participating professionals were encouraged to offer ongoing mentoring to students and educators in their community.