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The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and NETL have selected 13 projects under the Transformative Power Generation Program to receive approximately $32 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development under funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001989, Improving Efficiency, Reliability, and Flexibility of Existing Coal-Based Power Plants.
The projects will develop, in the near term, advanced technologies that improve the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of the Nation’s existing coal-fired power fleet. This research will support DOE’s goal to improve the average modeled efficiency (i.e., heat rate) of a typical plant in the existing fleet by 5 percent from the 2017 baseline of 31 percent by the end of Fiscal Year 2020.
See below for descriptions of the projects, which fall under two areas of interest.
To read more about other projects selected under FOA-0001989 click here.
Area of Interest 1: Sensors, Diagnostics, and Controls to Improve Prediction, Performance, and Reliability
Subtopic 1A: High-fidelity field testing of technologies
1. Test and Validate Distributed Coaxial Cable Sensors for in situ Condition Monitoring of Coal-Fired Boiler Tubes — Clemson University (Clemson, SC) will test and validate (through the planned field tests in an industrial-scale test facility and an operational utility plant) novel low-cost distributed high-temperature stainless-steel/ceramic coaxial cable sensors, installation methods, instrumentation and data analytics for in situ monitoring of the health status of boiler tubes in existing coal-fired power plants.
DOE Funding: $3,000,000; Non-DOE Funding: $750,000; Total Value: $3,750,000
2. Demonstration of Multi-Gamma Based Sensor Technology for As-Fired Coal Property Measurement — Microbeam Technologies (Grand Forks, ND) will demonstrate a smart sensor that measures coal properties at the point of injection into burners at a full-scale power plant. Accurate and precise coal property information at the burner provides the opportunity to adjust burner parameters to better follow changing load conditions, optimize flame stability and decrease nitrogen oxide formation at each burner.
DOE Funding: $1,226,094; Non-DOE Funding: $339,586; Total Value: $1,565,680
3. Deployment of Dynamic Neural Network Optimization to Minimize Heat Rate during Ramping for Coal Power Plants — University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) will develop and deploy dynamic neural network optimization (D-NNO) technology to minimize heat rate for coal power plants. The project goal is to improve cumulative heat rate by at least 5 percent relative to unoptimized operation and to produce a commercial D-NNO product that can be readily applied.
DOE Funding: $2,992,781; Non-DOE Funding: $792,000; Total Value: $3,784,781
Subtopic 1B: Relevant environment testing of technologies
4. Transient Efficiency, Flexibility, and Reliability Optimization of Coal-Fired Power Plants — General Electric Company, GE Research (Niskayuna, NY) aims to estimate then optimize heat rate for improved efficiency at part load, base load, and during transients; increase the ramp rates from part load to base load for supporting the power grid against ever-increasing intermittent energy sources; and determine the health of the major components of coal-fired power plants for improved reliability. General Electric (GE) will achieve these goals via utilization of their coal-fired power plant model library, developing controllers that predict equipment response as a function of both operating point and transient loading.
DOE Funding: $1,999,060; Non-DOE Funding: $499,765; Total Value: $2,498,825
Area of Interest 2: Power Plant Component Improvement
Subtopic 2A: High-fidelity field testing of technologies
5. Elimination of Steam Side Scaling On Grade 91 Steel, Improving Efficiency, Reliability, and Flexibility of Existing Fossil Fired Power Plants — Applied Thermal Coatings (Chattanooga, TN) aims to significantly improve the reliability and efficiency of existing coal-fired power plants under flexible operating conditions by deploying a technology to modify the surface chemistry of creep-strength-enhanced steel tubing to substantially improve its steam-side oxidation resistance at a cost and scale that enables its ready acceptance for use by the power generation industry.
DOE Funding: $2,116,507; Non-DOE Funding: $533,000; Total Value: $2,649,507
6. Mitigation of Aerosol Impacts on Ash Deposition and Emissions from Coal Combustion — Barr Engineering Company (Minneapolis, MN) will demonstrate the effectiveness of tailored sorbents in mitigating fouling and slagging; develop a benchmark/screening tool for identifying low-cost sorbents; and conduct a techno-economic assessment of the sorbent technology, including a pathway to commercialization.
DOE Funding: $3,996,998; Non-DOE Funding: $999,412; Total Value: $4,996,410
7. Concrete Thermal Energy Storage Enabling Flexible Operation Without Coal Plant Cycling — Electric Power Research Institute (Charlotte, NC) will design, construct, and test a pilot-scale concrete thermal energy storage system (CTES) to demonstrate the energy storage potential of the technology when applied to coal-fired power units. The project aims to demonstrate that a CTES system can be integrated with a coal power plant to enable low-cost energy storage that will eliminate the need for excessive operational flexibility and ultimately improve the profitability of the plant.
DOE Funding: $3,910,720; Non-DOE Funding: $977,680; Total Value: $4,888,400
8. Plasma Ignition and Combustion Stabilization Technology to Improve Flexible Operation, Reliability and Economics of An Existing Coal-Fired Boiler — GE Steam Power (Windsor, CT) aims to demonstrate improved power plant reliability, flexibility and economics at PacifiCorp Hunter in a field demonstration of the advanced new high-efficiency alternating-current plasma technology. The objective of this program is to advance the plasma ignition technology to be a fully integrated and a field proven system, so it can then be made commercially available for other coal-fired power plants.
DOE Funding: $3,615,340; Non-DOE Funding: $903,835; Total Value: $4,519,175
Subtopic 2B: Relevant environment testing of technologies
9. Investigations of Technologies to Improve Condenser Heat Transfer and Performance in a Relevant Coal-Fired Power Plant Environment — Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, CA) will study and demonstrate the effectiveness of modifications that may enhance the performance of heat exchanger tubes for coal-fired power plant applications. Improvements in heat transfer effectiveness could result in power plant condensers having increased efficiency, reliability, and flexibility.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000; Non-DOE Funding: $500,000; Total Value: $2,500,000
10. Flexible Coal Power Plant Operation with Thermal Energy Storage Utilizing Thermosiphons and Cementitious Materials — Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) will develop an optimized prototype of a solid media thermal energy storage concept for thermal management applications in coal-fired power plants. The project will involve design, engineering, optimization, and testing of the concept at laboratory- and at prototype-scale at a coal-fired power plant.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000; Non-DOE Funding: $508,039; Total Value: $2,508,039
11. Anti-Biofouling Surface Treatments for Improved Condenser Performance for Coal-Based Power Plants — Research Triangle Institute (Research Triangle Park, NC) will design and engineer novel surface treatments and secondarily applied remediation components to mitigate biofilm growth on condenser tube surfaces used in coal-fueled power plants. Such modified surfaces can potentially disrupt the landscape for emerging anti-biofouling technologies through the creation of surface environments that interfere with abilities of bacteria to sense and respond to their environment, thereby inhibiting biofilm production and surface attachment.
DOE Funding: $1,350,537; Non-DOE Funding: $337,635; Total Value: $1,688,172
12. Environmental Validation of Materials and Design Concepts to Enable Operational Flexibility of Existing Coal Power Plants — Siemens Corporation, Corporate Technology (Charlotte, NC) will develop a holistic approach for demonstration of multiple operational methodologies and improved materials capability versus baseline to improve efficiency, reliability and flexibility of existing coal-based power plants. The proposed technical approach is focused on performance of improved materials/plant operations on small-scale pilot plant facilities at Cranfield University for power plant component improvements.
DOE Funding: $1,999,998; Non-DOE Funding: $500,000; Total Value: $2,499,998
13. Ash Fouling Free Regenerative Air Preheater for Deep Cyclic Operation — University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY) aims to develop a self-cleaning, ash fouling free air preheater to increase the capacity of a coal-fired power plant for load following. Increased use of alternative energy sources presents a challenge to control thermal efficiency. The proposed unit offers a solution to this, especially during deep cyclic operation and is transformative from the state-of-art regenerative heater with either hot-air recycling or a hot water recirculation system.
DOE Funding: $1,999,864; Non-DOE Funding: $500,618; Total Value: $2,500,482
