The project will conduct a pilot-scale demonstration of a process to capture and convert coal mine methane (CMM) into commercially significant volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG). A successful demonstration will result in reductions of CMM emissions and an efficient process of producing LNG from CMM.

CONSOL Energy Inc. is demonstrating a novel drilling and production process that reduces potential methane emissions from coal mining, produces usable methane (natural gas), and creates a storage option for carbon dioxide (CO2) in unmineable coal seams. CONSOL's project employs horizontal drilling to drain coalbed methane (CBM) from a mineable coal seam and an underlying unmineable coal seam. Upon drainage of 50-60 percent of the coalbed methane, some of the wells will be used for CO2 injection to store the CO2 in the unmineable seam, while stimulating additional methane production. The technique starts with a vertical well drilled from the surface followed by a guided borehole that extends up to 3,000 feet horizontally in the coal seam, allowing for production over a large area from relatively few surface locations.

The project involves development of a 200 acre area involving two coal seams. The lower, unmineable seam is being degassed and injected with CO2. The upper, mineable seam is being degassed to produce coalbed methane, thus avoiding methane emissions when the seam is mined. The upper, mineable seam is being isolated from the lower, unmineable seam to prevent CO2 migration from the unmineable seam into the mineable seam.

This project will develop technology and data for the characterization of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico to better understand the impact of hydrates on E&P safety and seafloor stability, aid in understanding the role of hydrates in the global carbon cycle, and provide data to aid in the assessment of marine hydrate as a potential future energy resource.

The objectives of this project are: 1. Develop a SOFC power system for a range of fuels and applications 2. Develop and demonstrate technology transfer efforts on a 5kW stationary distributed power generation system that incorporates reforming of methane and natural gas. 3. Develop a 5kW auxiliary power unit for heavy duty trucks and military power applications. 4. Develop system modeling, stack design and cell evaluation for a high efficiency coal based SOFC gas turbine hybrid system

Gas Technology Institute is developing a reliable, practical, and cost effective means to monitor coal gasifier flame characteristics using a modified version of an optical flame sensor already under development.

The effort to make ultra-clean gasification commercially competitive includes increasing the life of gasifier injectors (which feed fuel into the gasifier). As the injectors age and wear out, the flames they produce change. Monitoring these flames will allow plant operators to more accurately predict when they have to be changed, reducing gasifier maintenance costs.

This three-phase Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Coal-Based Systems (Industry Team) project led by Fuel Cell Energy will develop low cost solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology for use in highly-efficient central generation power plants fueled by coal synthesis gas. Anode-supported planar SOFC technology is being developed by Versa Power Systems, Inc. WorleyParsons has provided direct support of Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell (IGFC) system analysis.

The objective is to provide research, development, demonstration and deployment of technologies to improve the production performance of the more than 700,000 domestic stripper wells through an industry-driven consortium. The increased production realized from this project benefits the U.S. as it is estimated that for every $1 of stripper oil or gas production, approximately $1 of economic activity is created. In addition, about 10 American jobs are dependent on each million dollars of stripper production.

The objectives of this project are to improve the availability and efficiency of gasification-based power plants, and to reduce plant capital and operations costs. The specific objectives of this project towards these over-arching objectives are to: 1. Demonstrate high pressure, solids feed system including long-life rapid-mix injectors, flow splitting, and operation of a prototype feed pump. 2. Test cooled refractory liner coupons. This cooled refractory is anticipated to result in an operational life exceeding three years. 3. Perform conceptual design and hardware definition of a novel 18 tons per day (tpd) highly efficient, long life entrained flow gasifier. Of these three specific objectives, the active work has focused only on the first item: development of the high-pressure, dry feed pump, including the detailed design, construction, and testing of a 600 ton per day (tpd) prototype. The project's primary tasks involve conceptual design, sub-scale testing, engineering design, construction, and operation of a prototype pump. This prototype pump design baseline configuration will be 400 tpd capacity and 1,200 psi outlet pressure. To achieve project objectives, the prototype pump is also designed to ramp up to 600 tpd operation and to provide data needed to predict commercial scale operation constraints. Testing is planned for performance tests on bituminous coal, PRB coal, high moisture lignite coal, and petcoke at up to 1,200 psi to demonstrate reliable pump operation across a high pressure gradient (applicable to 1,000 psi gasifier), to define the commercial target for pump size, to assess adequate safety factor for pump, to validate the pump models, and to provide data for a final benefits analysis.

Source is OSTI

The objective of this project is to develop a new type of nanocrystalline doped-ceramic-coated optical fiber sensor suitable for in-situ and real time gas monitoring in fossil energy systems. One technical objective is to identify single-phase or heterophase doped-ceramic sensor materials with desirable chemical, structural, and optical properties for the detection of fossil fuel gases. Another goal is to synthesize nanocrystalline ceramic films and protective silicalite layers on structured optical fibers. Another objective is to design and fabricate structured fiber devices for enhanced sensor performance. A final objective is to test the developed sensors in simulated high temperature and pressure fossil fuel environments.

The objective is to develop novel modified fiber materials for high temperature gas sensors based on evanescent wave absorption in standing hole optical fibers. To overcome the response time limitation of currently available holey fibers (due to gas phase diffusion constraints), a novel process will be developed to produce holes perpendicular to the fiber axis. An investigation of the feasibility of upgrading the technology to single crystal sapphire by use of sol-gel processing and laser backside photochemical etching will be accomplished, thereby providing a quantum leap in temperature capability of the gas sensor.

The Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science (CFFS) is a multi-university research consortium with participants from the Universities of Kentucky, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Utah, and Auburn. The proposed three-year research program is focused on: (1) developing novel processes for the production of hydrogen using C1 chemistry; (2) developing novel hydrogen storage materials; and (3) synthesis and dehydrogenation of hydrogen-rich carrier liquids. The feedstocks include synthesis gas derived from coal, gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons produced from coal-derived syngas, coalbed methane, and natural gas.

The U.S. is the largest producer of mining products in the world. The Center for Advanced Separation Technologies (CAST) was established to develop technologies that can be used by the U.S. mining industry to create new products, reduce production costs, and meet environmental regulations. CAST is a consortium of seven universities, with the purpose of conducting both fundamental and applied research that has crosscutting applications in the mining industry. The university members include Virginia Tech; West Virginia University; Montana Tech of University of Montana; New Mexico Institute of Technology; University of Nevada, Reno; University of Utah; and University of Kentucky.

The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) is performing small scale CO2 injection tests in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky as part of their Phase II effort to test injection into coals and mature oil reservoirs. For Phase III MGSC will inject 1 million metric tons of CO2 from ADM's corn processing facility in Decatur, Illinois into the Mount Simon Sandstone. For the past 2 years MGSC has been characterizing the injection site in preparation for injection operations. The CO2 will be injected over 3 years starting in 2011, followed by fate monitoring for the next 3 An array of monitoring technologies will be used to baseline and monitor the CO2 in the reservoir and at the surface.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded program, GE Power & Water, along with GE Global Research Center (GE) will develop advanced industrial-frame turbine technology for hydrogen fueled turbine machinery. These turbines can be utilized in conjunction with pre-combustion carbon capture systems to effectively reduce carbon emissions from a variety of industrial applications. This project includes the following work: 1. Advanced Hydrogen Combustion System: The combustion work in the project will develop a new combustion system that will enable industrial gas turbine applications with carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reach higher efficiencies through higher firing temperatures with low NOx. The developed combustion system will be validated in a gas turbine operating at full conditions. The validation step from testing a full-scale combustion can in the laboratory, to testing the multi-can configuration on the gas turbine, will enable accelerated transition of the technology to future gas turbine designs. 2. Materials: The materials work will develop alloys that are specifically tailored to withstand elevated temperatures in the hot gas path in the high-moisture, and potentially highly corrosive environments of hydrogen-fueled industrial applications with CCS. This will enable industrial gas turbine applications with CCS to achieve improved efficiency through higher firing temperature while preserving traditional hot gas path component durability. 3. Sensors: The sensors work will focus on utilizing and integrating a variety of advanced sensor technologies into gas turbine control and operation. This will enable the gas turbine to be operated with real-time knowledge of actual parameters that are affecting component conditions and operation. Therefore, industrial gas turbine applications with CCS will be able to achieve improved efficiency and operability, and reduced emissions. 4. Turbine Airfoil: The turbine airfoil work will develop technology that reduces required cooling flows to enable industrial gas turbine applications with CCS to achieve improved efficiency.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded program, Siemens Energy will focus on advancing state-of-the-art large natural gas fired turbine technology to produce turbines specifically designed for operation on hydrogen and syngas fuels derived from industrial processes that capture a large percentage of CO2. Advanced technologies and concepts will be evaluated, down selected, and validated. The advanced technologies, component designs, and manufacturing processes will be developed and verified in sub-scale and full-scale tests and process verifications to demonstrate that the program goals can be achieved. Some of the key enabling technologies needed are as follows: Fuel-flexible, ultra low NOx, long-life combustion system operating at the increased firing temperatures needed to achieve high efficiency. Siemens will work to develop a premixed combustion system capable of operating on hydrogen fuel at high temperatures with minimal dilution flow. As part of this development, modeling tools for thermal acoustics and computational fluid dynamics will be adapted for hydrogen fuels and validated with test data. The primary path for the hydrogen combustor is a modification of the current Siemens premixed natural gas burner to operate on hydrogen. In addition, as risk mitigation, several alternative combustion technologies will be evaluated to determine if they can provide an improvement for high-temperature hydrogen operation. Development and optimization of higher temperature material system (base alloy, bond coat, and thermal barrier coatings [TBCs]) capabilities that allow operation in challenging environments, thus ensuring that the turbine components achieve high reliability and long life. Advanced manufacturing processes and techniques essential to producing the novel turbine cooling schemes that are being pursued in this program. Siemens will be producing full-sized engine parts using advanced core making technology, performing investment casting trials, conducting destructive and non-destructive evaluations, machining prototype parts using a proposed production process and conducting full-scale engine testing on final products. New sensors and diagnostics to allow more efficient, fuel-flexible, and safe gas turbine operation. Customer interviews determined key sensing needs and sensor specifications for these needs. Based on these results, Siemens will work with sensor vendors to design, develop, and validate sensor designs for engine validation or use in on-line control.

Clean Energy Systems (CES) has developed an oxy-fuel power generation concept to enable near zero-emission power generation from natural gas and syngas. The core of the technology is a high-pressure oxy-combustor that produces a steam/carbon dioxide (CO2) working fluid for expansion in a turbine. This project is a partnership with Department of Energy (DOE) award DE-FC26-05NT42646 to Siemens Power Generation to develop high-temperature turbines that would be powered by working fluid from the oxy-combustor. The project has also received funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for advancing the oxy-fueled turbine technology for commercial industrial oxy-fueled plants which utilize CO2 capture and storage technologies. This 36 month effort to be performed in parallel to the existing Phase II BP2 and is isolated from the rest of Phase II due to the application focus and unique set of tracking and reporting requirements associated with its ARRA funding source.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), partnered with Dresser-Rand, is developing improved methods to compress carbon dioxide (CO2). The high pressure ratio compression of CO2 results in significant heat of compression. Because less energy is required to boost the pressure of a cool gas, both upstream and inter-stage cooling are standard industry practices when compressing gases for geologic injection. This project will evolve optimal compressor thermodynamic cycles and associated equipment to boost the pressure of CO2 to wellhead pressures, approximately 2,200 pounds-per-square-inch-gauge (psig). This project is divided into two phases, with plans to solicit applications for a full-scale compression demonstration at an existing or proposed integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. Phase I (Scoping and Modeling, which has been completed) was focused on the CO2 compressor technology to determine performance characteristics. Phase II (Bench Scale Testing and Evaluation) focused on evaluation and testing of the CO2 compressor technology. Phase III will focus on the scale up and testing of the CO2 compressor with intercooled diaphragm in a loop with the liquid CO2 pumping system.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing Financial Assistance under Round II of the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) for a large utility, commercial-scale, coal-based Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) electric power generating facility to be located near Taconite, Itasca County, Minnesota. MEP-I, LLC, a project company of Excelsior Energy, Inc., will design, construct, and operate the Mesaba Generating Station in two 606 MWe (net) phases, of which the DOE-defined demonstration project is Phase I. Mesaba will demonstrate the ConocoPhillips E-Gas™ gasification technology in a first-of-a-kind, multiple-train configuration incorporating findings from more than a decade of optimization and experience based on the Wabash River Coal Gasification Repowering Project, including: (1) gasifier scale-up; (2) increased system pressure; (3) increased slurry percentage to the second-stage gasifier; and, (4) enhanced by-product and contaminant removal systems. Excelsior's original request was for $150 million in Federal cost-shared funding. The project was selected at a level of $36 million due to the availability of funds.

Southern Company Services, Inc., in a team effort with Mississippi Power Company and Kellogg Brown and Root, LLC (KBR), will design, construct, and operate a coal-based TRIG Combined Cycle power plant with 65% CO2 capture at a site in Kemper County, MS. The estimated nameplate capacity of the plant will be 830 megawatts electrical (MWe) with a peak net output capability of 582 MWe. TRIG is based on KBR's catalytic cracking technology, and is cost-effective when handling low rank coals and when using coals with high moisture or high ash content. These coals make up half the proven reserves in both the United States and the world. The estimated 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year captured from the power plant would be transported via pipeline for beneficial use in existing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations in Mississippi.

West Virginia University Research Corporation (WVURC) is investigating the long-term environmental and economic impacts of coal liquefaction in China.

This research and development project will construct and operate a 50 MMbtu (approximately 5 MW) test facility in Hammond, IN with Jupiter Oxygen oxy-fuel technology and Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory's [NETL] Integrated Pollution Removal [IPR] technology. Operation of the facility will provide developmental engineering and design data for the research retrofit of future coal-fired power plants , to advance the creation of a virtually zero emissions power plant for NOx, SOx, particulate and mercury, as well as one capture ready for CO2 sequestration.

The objective is to develop, deploy, and operate a remote, multi-sensor, seafloor observatory in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico to enhance our understanding of how hydrates form, change with time, and how those changes can impact the environment. Understanding these processes will play an important role in future natural gas recovery and on assessing the potential impact of hydrates on climate change.

The project objective is to evaluate the direct-current electrical resistivity (DCR) method for remotely detecting and characterizing gas hydrate concentration in deep marine environments. A successful project will demonstrate the ability of DCR technology to detect and characterize gas hydrate distribution at the test site, allowing the technology to become another important tool for hydrate characterization.

Researchers will collect data and conceptual models, construct numerical models, simulate hydrocarbon production from various gas hydrate systems, perturb different gas hydrate systems to assess potential impacts on seafloor and well stability, and develop geophysical approaches. The project will provide an understanding of regional differences in gas hydrate systems from the perspective of an energy resource, geo-hazard, and climate influence.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a well-established method for increasing oil recovery from the Permian Basin oilfields of Texas and New Mexico and more recently in Mississippi oilfields. Typically, 10-15 percent or more of the original oil which is present in a reservoir at the start of production can be recovered using CO2 EOR. A recent study by Advanced Resources International estimated that 64 million additional barrels of oil could be recovered from the Citronelle Field in Alabama using this technique. When production is complete, the reservoir and adjacent formations can also provide sites for storage of CO2 produced from combustion of fossil fuels in power plants and other processes generating large quantities of CO2. The Citronelle Field is an ideal site for CO2 EOR and sequestration, from both the reservoir engineering and geological perspectives. The field is mature and has been waterflooded, with existing infrastructure and deep wells and consists of fluvial-deltaic sandstone reservoirs in a simple structural dome. Because of the presence of the regionally extensive Ferry Lake Anhydrite seal, four-way structural closure, and lack of faulting, it is naturally stable with respect to CO2 storage. However, the geology of the heterogeneous siliciclastic rocks in this field is very different from those where CO2 EOR has been applied commercially, such as in the carbonate strata of the Permian and Williston basins. A demonstration project will show that these reservoirs can be safe and profitable targets for EOR, reducing the risk for small producers. A well publicized injection test and reservoir simulation demonstration will introduce CO2 EOR as an alternative for mature Southeastern oilfields, encouraging its widespread application by independent producers, increasing incremental domestic oil production.

This project will quantitatively describe the manner in which methane is transported within the Hydrate Stability Zone (HSZ) and consequently, the growth behavior of methane hydrates at both the grain scale and bed scale. The model developed will support seismic and borehole log data analyses and thus, provide an additional tool for estimating the volume of methane within the HSZ.

A one-box process for hydrogen production will be developed based upon the carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane. In this one-box process unit, syngas will be shifted to CO2 and hydrogen, and the hydrogen will be separated via the CMS membrane. A mathematical model will be developed by the University of Southern California to aid in the process development. The process will first be demonstrated in a bench-scale unit. Then it will be tested at pilot scale in the National Carbon Capture Center facilities in Wilsonville, AL.

The objective of this project by WPI is to develop advanced process intensification technologies that reduce the number of unit operations required for hydrogen production from coal gases produced from coal gasification. Process intensification will reduce the production of pure hydrogen from synthesis gas to two unit operations consisting of an advanced synthesis gas clean-up system and a composite Pd-Pd/alloy membrane WGS shifter, which could be integrated downstream in the hydrogen producing coal gasification system. The high pressure CO2 from the membrane shifter would be appropriate for recycling, sequestration, and/or conversion to industrially useful products and the creation of a natural CO2 sink.

Praxair determined (under a prior agreement with DOE) that the cost of CO2?capture utilizing oxygen transport membrane (OTM) air separation integrated with oxy-combustion is competitive with other CO2capture processes when applied to large power plants. This work also demonstrated that durable OTMs for oxy-combustion can be fabricated to survive and operate reliably in a fuel environment. Praxair observed a zero percent failure rate for the OTM membranes during prior testing; however, the highly durable materials selected for the OTM reactors require substantial development in order to improve the oxygen flux through the system while maintaining durability and reducing manufacturing costs. In the first stage of this project, Praxair will further develop high-performance materials used for OTMs, optimize and test process configurations, validate manufacturing capabilities, and produce a preliminary engineering design for an OTM pilot plant system. With the addition of ARRA funding, the second stage of this project will focus on operating OTM modules in syngas and conducting oxy-combustion development- and pilot-scale tests incorporating critical system components required of commercial systems. Praxair will develop and operate a robust and reliable OTM module that will provide the foundation for commercial deployment of reactively driven ceramic membrane systems. Praxair will develop first-generation OTM modules and test them in a developmental-scale, fully integrated, multi-module syngas system producing 160,000 standard cubic feet per day (scfd) of syngas and incorporating components of a commercial system. Praxair will develop second-generation OTM modules incorporating improvements identified through module testing, and test them in a pilot-scale skidded, multi-module syngas system as well. All testing and modeling results will be evaluated to develop preliminary cost estimates for a demonstration-scale syngas system and a preliminary design for pilot-scale oxy-combustion system.

This project is designed to demonstrate the performance and fabrication of a technically and economically viable pre-combustion-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes. In addition, SRI International proposes to optimize the plan for integration of a PBI capture system into an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. To that end, larger-scale/larger-throughput membrane-based separation modules will be designed, fabricated, and evaluated during the course of the project. SRI International will develop a commercialization plan that addresses technical issues (e.g., a roadmap for the scale-up of production of PBI membrane modules) and business issues (e.g., insurance considerations and potential joint venture opportunities) to outline a clear path for technology transfer of the PBI membrane technology.

The University of Notre Dame and its partners are working to continue development of novel ionic liquid absorbents and an associated process for the removal of CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. Ionic liquids are salts that are liquid in their pure state near ambient conditions. In a previous NETL-funded project, Notre Dame demonstrated that ionic liquids can be engineered to have very high physical solubilities and can also be made to form chemical complexes with CO2. Due to their chemical diversity, ample opportunities should exist to tailor and optimize the properties of ionic liquids for CO2 capture. Having shown their potential in the previous project, researchers will work in this project to take the next step in the development process.

Alstom Power Plant Laboratories will develop models of their Chemical Looping Process and devise a model based control technology for managing multiple and reacting multiphase flow loops. The development team will develop models, reduce the models for fast operation and create model based controllers for the loops. The algorithm development for these Model Predictive Controllers (MPC) will be tested using bench scale systems to determine the validity and improvement to system performance that MPC can make when operating complex processes.

Staged combustion produces reducing/sulfidizing conditions that are particularly corrosive to the lower furnace walls. On the other hand, the conditions at superheaters/reheaters are typically oxidizing. However, due to relatively high metal temperatures, the superheater/reheater tubes tend to suffer from severe coal ash corrosion attack due to alkali metals contained in the ash. The problem will be further intensified when the steam outlet temperatures of advanced combustion systems are to increase significantly. To address these corrosion concerns, Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) intends to develop corrosion models in this program that are capable of predicting lower furnace and superheater/reheater corrosion wastage. Because corrosion attack is thermally activated, the effect of temperature will also be investigated. Ohio State University faculty will support B&W's efforts by contributing their technical expertise in the area of high temperature corrosion.

This project supports a Joint Program for Research and Development for Fossil Energy-Related Research at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), with a minimum yearly overall 20% non-federal cost-share, to conduct basic, fundamental, and applied research that will assist industry in deploying and commercializing efficient, nonpolluting energy technologies that can compete effectively in meeting requirements for clean fuels, chemical feedstocks, electricity, and water resources in the 21st century. This project supports DOE goals by advancing scientific knowledge and technical development and demonstrations of technologies that ensure sustainable supplies of affordable energy and clean water and preservation and restoration of the environment. The performance goals support the DOE goals of reducing dependency on foreign sources of energy, making fossil energy systems more efficient, and capturing and sequestering greenhouse gases.

The overall objective of the WRI Cooperative R&D program is to conduct both fundamental and applied research that will assist industry in developing, deploying, and commercializing efficient, nonpolluting fossil energy technologies that can compete effectively in meeting requirements for clean fuels, chemical feedstocks, electricity, and water resources in the 21st century. The program supports and contributes to the energy science and technology mission of DOE/FE: 1.Increase the production of U.S. resources. 2.Enhance the competitiveness of U.S. technologies. 3.Reduce dependence on foreign energy supplies and strengthen National and regional economies. 4.Minimize environmental impacts of energy production and utilization processes.

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., (APCI) is currently developing ion-transport membrane (ITM) oxygen separation technology for large-scale oxygen production and for integration with advanced power production facilities, including gasification facilities. The ITM-based oxygen production process uses dense, mixed ion- and electron-conducting (MIEC) materials that can operate at temperatures as high as 900 degrees Celsius (°C). The driving forces for the membrane oxygen separation are determined by the oxygen partial-pressure gradient across the membrane. The energy of the hot, pressurized, non-permeate stream is typically recovered by a gas turbine power generation system. The development of the ITM process will support reduced capital cost and parasitic load of air separation systems compared to that of currently available cryogenic air separation technology. Because air separation is a critical component of the gasification process for power production, any reduction in the cost of this process component will in turn reduce the overall cost of gasification, thereby making the process more competitive. APCI has a co-current ITM project, FE0012065.

The Center for Photonics Technology at Virginia Tech has successfully developed a novel temperature sensor capable of operating at temperatures up to 1600 degrees Celsius (°C) and in harsh conditions. The sensor uses single-crystal sapphire to make an optically-based measurement and will fulfill the need for the real-time monitoring of high temperatures created in gasification processes. Based on a successful laboratory demonstration of a optical sapphire based sensor, Virginia Tech's CPT was awarded follow on development work to design construct and test a prototype sensor that could be installed in coal gasifiers. The improved version of the sensor is intended to be more robust, accurate and reliable for extended operation in a coal gasifier and will be evaluated at a full scale gasifier (e.g. Eastman Chemical).

Source is OSTI

The objective of this project is to contribute to the development of materials technology for use in advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) steam turbines. AUSC power plants will operate with steam temperatures up to 1,400°F and pressures of 5,000 psi resulting in a highly efficient power generation process. Estimated plant efficiency increases are as much as 30% compared to sub critical power plants. Research and development on advanced materials is needed to lead to full-scale demonstration and eventual commercialization for AUSC power plants. A three-year preliminary evaluation under Phase 1 identified a wide spectrum of potential alloys and coatings. Preliminary evaluations of a subset of these promising materials included research on mechanical properties, oxidation resistance, weldability, and suitability of alloys and coatings. This follow-on effort will support in-depth, longer term testing that provides material characterization data that is necessary for the design of a steam turbine that is operable in AUSC conditions.

LG Fuel Cell Systems (LG), formerly Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems, will lead a team to develop low cost solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology for use in highly-efficient and technologically-integrated central generation power plant facilities fueled by coal synthesis gas. The project consists of three elements, cost reduction research and development (R&D), systems R&D, and a manufacturing element. The project will utilize LG proprietary segmented-in-series SOFCs at pressures up to seven atmospheres. These cells are created by screen-printing the active cell layers (anode, cathode, and electrolyte) onto ceramic flat substrates. Each ceramic flat substrate contains a large number of small planar cells connected in series (segmented-in-series design).

The Zero Emission Research and Technology Center (ZERT) is a research collaborative focused on understanding the basic science of underground (geologic) storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use. The ZERT II project will develop a comprehensive approach to measurement, monitoring, mitigation, and risk assessment for geologic CO2 sequestration, including fundamental studies of geophysical and geochemical interactions of CO2 with formation waters and minerals, development of new monitoring methods or suites of methods, parameterization of potential leakage / seepage mechanisms and assessment of reservoirs relevant to these mechanisms.

This project will develop a new technology to upgrade shale oil by utilizing alkali metals to remove nitrogen, sulfur, and other heavy metals, as well as a method to eletrolytically regenerate the alkali metals. Shale oil will be reacted under various conditions to increase product quality. The process would benefit the oil shale industry.

The Methanol Economy project at USC is developing the fundamental science to convert CH4 and/or CO2 into methanol (or dimethyl ether, DME) as a fuel and feed-stock. Initially, direct electrophilic bromination of CH4 to methyl bromide followed by hydrolysis to methanol/DME will be probed. Subsequently, bireforming of CH4 and CO2 and steam to syngas for conversion to methanol and DME will be studied. Some aspects of chemical and electrochemical reduction of CO2 will also be investigated. The main goal is to develop renewable sources of energy carriers that can help reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, and recycle CO2 into new fuels and materials.

Under this project, Pennsylvania State University (PSU) will develop a new generation of solid polymer-based sorbents for more efficient capture and separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas of coal-fired power plants. The project is based on the concept of a "molecular basket" sorbent (MBS) which was invented and developed at PSU. The idea of MBS development is to load CO2-philic polymers onto high surface area mesoporous materials. This process increases the number of approachable sites on/in the sorbent and enhances the sorption/desorption rate by increasing the gas-sorbent contacting interface and by improving the mass transfer in the sorption/desorption process. The expected result of this project will be a concentrated CO2 stream that can be directed to CO2 sequestration or CO2 utilization.

The project aims to develop high performance sorbents that are capable of achieving 90% CO2 removal, having high loading capacities, and operate at the high temperatures and pressures typically encountered upstream of a WGS reactor.

The project objective is to develop a low cost, high capacity CO2 sorbent and demonstrate its technical and economic viability for pre-combustion CO2 capture. First year objectives include optimizing chemical and physical properties of the sorbent, scaling-up sorbent production, and beginning long-term sorbent testing in the presence of contaminants for approximately 10,000 cycles in a laboratory reactor. Second year objectives include designing and building a prototype test unit and testing the unit in the presence of actual syngas. Technology success will be based on the sorbents ability to remove CO2 at a lower cost than current technologies.

This project will develop a high temperature, chemically stable, and carbon dioxide perm-selective dual phase membrane and conduct experimental studies on its use in a membrane reactor for water-gas-shift reaction to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide rich streams. The goal is to identify experimental conditions for water-gas-shift reaction in the dual-phase carbon dioxide selective membrane reactor that will produce the hydrogen and CO2 streams with 93 percent and 95 percent purity. The project includes modeling studies on the performance of the WGS reaction in the new dual-phase membrane reactors and process economic analysis.

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is designing, building, and testing the warm temperature desulfurization process (WDP) at pre-commercial scale (50 megawatt electric equivalent [MWe]) to remove more than 99.9 percent of the sulfur from coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas). RTI is integrating this WDP technology with an activated methyl diethanolamine (aMDEA) solvent technology to separate 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) from shifted syngas. The Polk Power Station, an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant, will supply approximately 20 percent of its coal-derived syngas as a slipstream to feed into the pre-commercial scale technologies being scaled-up. This project builds on the technical progress on the warm syngas cleaning technologies made during field testing with real syngas from Eastman Chemical Company's gasifier under DOE Contract DE-AC26-99FT40675. Successful warm gas cleanup, in combination with carbon capture and storage, will demonstrate high-purity syngas at significantly lower costs than current technologies.

This four-year project—performed by Planetary Emissions Management, Inc. (PEM)—is developing a carbon-14 (14C) field-ready analyzer having a sensitivity of approximately 1 ppm of fossil fuel CO2 in ambient air. The primary focus of the application is within the near surface environment covering the project area, however, a gas stream from any component of a geologic carbon storage project or location may be analyzed. The analyzer is based on PEM’s already completed multi-isotopic Global Monitor Platform (GMP) and is being deployed for testing and validation at two reference sites: one where CO2 leaks from natural geologic reservoirs and the other a pilot CO2 injection site.

This project will demonstrate the capability of the GE Posimetric® pump for use in dry-feeding mixtures of coal and biomass into a pressurized entrained-flow gasifier. Various coal and biomass types will be mixed in a variety of ratios. Properties of the mixtures such as compressibility, friction factor, and gas permeability will be tested to obtain specifications for biomass pretreatment for gasification. Mixtures that meet specifications will be used to test the capability of the Posimetric pump on a demonstration scale and an economic analysis will be performed.

The University of Akron will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of building a 250 kilowatt (kW) direct-coal fuel cell (DCFC) pilot plant. Researchers at the University of Akron (UA) have demonstrated the technical feasibility of a laboratory coal fuel cell that can economically convert high sulfur coal into electricity with near-zero negative environmental impact. Scaling up this coal fuel cell technology requires two key elements: developing the manufacturing technology for the components of the coal-based fuel cell; and long-term testing of a kW-scale fuel cell pilot plant. This novel coal fuel cell technology is expected to be a highly efficient, super clean, multi-use electric generation technology which promises to provide low cost electricity by expanding the utilization of U.S. coal supplies and relieving our dependence on foreign oil. A DCFC stack consists of multiple fuel cells which are interconnected electrically. The performance of the stack will be simulated on the basis of preliminary design and the single cell performance. The simulations and test data will be used to further refine the design.

The overall objective of this program is to develop cost effective separation technology for CO2 capture from synthesis gas based on a hollow fiber membrane contactor that has the potential to provide a step change reduction in the cost of separating and capturing CO2. The objectives of Phase I work are the development of hollow fiber membranes suitable for the membrane contactor application with improved mass transfer, establishing feasibility of the proposed technology for CO2 separation from synthesis gas, and performing initial process design and economic analysis based on test data. The objectives of Phase II work will scale up the process from lab to a larger bench scale.

The goal of this project is to create a center with a unique fully equipped laboratory capable of fabricating pilot quantities of new energy efficient construction materials from coal products and testing them. The center will be operated by a full time staff devoted to developing new products and industries that manufacture construction materials from coal combustion products or CCP's

HECA will design, build and operate a greenfield, commercial scale, advanced Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant and fertilizer production facility with CO2 capture in Kern County, California. The HECA Project is designed to achieve at least 90% CO2 capture efficiency while storing approximately 2.6 million tons per year in an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) application. The captured CO2 will be transported via pipeline to the Elk Hills oil field approximately 4 miles from the power plant. The project will employ IGCC technology to nominally generate 400 megawatts electrical (MWe) (gross) and up to 300 MWe (net) of electricity and produce approximately 1 million tons per year of fertilizer using a 75% coal/25% petroleum coke fuel blend. The fertilizer could be a combination of urea ammonium nitrate, urea, or other fertilizer equivalent, with the proportion dependent on market and commercial conditions.

The Center for Advanced Separation Technologies at the University of Kentucky (CAST-KY) will develop advanced technologies that can be used to exploit domestic energy resources and help developing countries reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In addition, new gas-gas separations technologies to be developed at the Center for Advanced Separations (CAST) will have crosscutting applications for a wide spectrum of the Fossil Energy R&D programs. The objective will be met by conducting both fundamental and applied research at CAST, which is a consortium of five universities. The university members include: University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, West Virginia University, Montana Tech of University of Montana and University of Utah.

CO2 Saline Storage Demonstration in Colorado Sedimentary Basins addresses applications-oriented issues in reservoir assessment and dynamic processes affecting injection operations. The focus is on geomechanics, mineral dissolution, geomicrobiology, and pore space related to storage of large volumes of CO2 in saline brine aquifers. Project activities are directed toward studies that will guide future industrial CO2 saline storage operations in Colorado.

Princeton investigators will develop a framework for examining carbon capture and storage investment decisions in light of uncertainty in CO2 leakage risks, potential subsurface liability, and the associated losses in carbon credits. The project team seeks to develop a framework to quantify leakage risk in probalistic terms, and combine it with a basin-scale model of competing subsurface land uses.

This project emphasizes enhancing the scientific understanding the underlying factors affecting combustion for current IGCC syngas turbines and using that knowledge to developed detailed, validated combustion kinetics models that would be useful to support the design and future R&D needed to transition to nearly pure high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels derived from coal syngas. The research scope fundamentally seeks to shed light on (and resolve) previously reported literature discrepancies between published experimental data and modeling predictions of early ignition behavior of syngas and HHC fuels under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., shock tubes, rapid compression machines, counterflow burners) by pursuing very comprehensive experimental studies and detailed reaction kinetics modeling.

This project is designed capture and explore quantitative aerodynamic and film cooling effectiveness data essential to understanding the basic physics of complex secondary flows. This includes their influence on the efficiency and performance of gas turbines, and the impact that differing film cooling ejection arrangements have on suppressing the detrimental effect of these secondary flows.

This project is focused on developing novel coatings for high-H2 fired gas turbine components such that high efficiencies and long lifetimes may be achieved in Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) powerplants. Nanostructured Hafnia-based coatings will be developed for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). A fundamental understanding of TBCs will be acquired and a knowledge database of next generation TBC materials with high-temperature tolerance, durability, and reliability will be generated.

The overall objective of this project is to develop a multi-physics solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model(s) for performance calculations of the Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (RRFCS) fuel cell in support of product development and design. The RRFCS fuel cell includes the integrated planar cell, cell assemblies that form bundles, bundle assemblies that form strips and multiple strips that define the fuel cell block. The fuel cell block is the fundamental repeat unit, and when replicated, defines a 1MW(e) fuel cell module.

The project objective is to develop a modeling system to allow users to plan all aspects of water management associated with Marcellus shale gas development. The system will allow industry to minimize costs by planning comprehensive water management operations. The public will benefit from enhanced water conservation, improved environmental performance, and a greater supply of lower cost domestic natural gas.

The project objective is to develop a water management decision support system to support development of energy resources in the Fayetteville Shale region. The water management and visualization tool will help to reduce potential adverse impacts associated with fracking. Research results will outline how ground and surface water withdrawals affect water availability and quality in a watershed.

The project aims to develop and test a mobile, multifunctional water treatment process specifically for "pre-treatment" of brine . The ability to cost-effectively treat and reuse flowback water for subsequent frac jobs would greatly mitigate problems associated with fresh water usage in shale gas wells.

This work will focus on deriving, implementing and testing agent objective functions that promote coordinated behavior in large sensor networks. The long-term objective of the proposed work is to provide a comprehensive solution to the scalable and reliable sensor coordination problem to lead to safe and robust operation of advanced energy systems.

The project objective is to develop a unique class of multifunctional metal oxide/perovskite based composite nanosensors for industrial and combustion gas detection at high temperature (700oC-1300oC). A miniaturized bi-module sensing platform will be designed and fabricated with a parallel, combinatory, and multiplex array of integrated electro-resistive and electrochemical nanosensors to meet the challenge of high temperature complex gaseous environment in various combustion conditions.

The Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC) plans to update and expand its Risk Based Data Management System by adding new components relevant to current environmental topics such as hydraulic fracturing, increasing field inspection capabilities, creating linkages between FracFocus and state programs, and analyzing potential for data sharing with states. GWPC will also work with the Energy Information Administration on the development of a National Oil and Gas Gateway.

This project employs an integrated approach to evaluate and develop water management strategies for Coalbed Methane (CBM) reservoirs. Activities include evaluation of reservoir geology and basin hydrology. This effort will consider the full range of geologic and hydrologic variables including stratigraphy, structure, petrology, fluid chemistry, reservoir pressure, and hydrodynamics to enhance CBM production and protect water resources.

The overall project objective is to develop an innovative, low-cost CO2-capture technology for integrated gasification combined cycle-based power plants that is based on absorption on a high-capacity and low-cost aqueous ammoniated solution. SRI, in collaboration with Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions, Inc., is conducting a two-phase effort to develop and evaluate SRI Ammonium Carbonate-Ammonium Bicarbonate (AC-ABC) technology to capture CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from coal-based gasification processes and Bechtel Pressure Swing Claus Sulfur Recovery Unit (BPSC) which will convert H2S to elemental sulfur. The first phase tested the technology in a bench-scale batch reactor to validate the concept and determine the optimum operating conditions for a small pilot-scale reactor. The second phase will include the design and fabrication of a small pilot-scale test system and testing of the capture technology on a slipstream of real shifted syngas from the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in Wilsonville, Alabama.

In this Marcellus Shale project, optimal flowback water treatment processes will be identified, and acid mine drainage water will be examined as a potential supplement to water used for hydrofracturing. Novel viscosity modifiers that are stable under high salinities will also be developed. Successful completion of this project will reduce the amount of freshwater needed and minimize the disposal costs.

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) anode flow-fields are evolved from hydrogen fuel cell flow-fields, and thus not optimized for liquid fuel delivery. NuVant System Inc's two-year Congressionally Directed Project will improve the performance of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs) by designing anode flow-fields specifically for the delivery of liquid methanol. A computer model will be developed that utilizes the relevant physical and chemical properties of methanol to model the flow of liquid fuel through the porous graphite plates that compose the anode flow-fields. The model will evaluate various flow-fields and predict their potential for improved performance. Prototypes based on the down-selected flow-fields will be validated in a small DMFC stack.

Researchers at the Colorado School of Mines have developed a comprehensive simulation tool for analyzing and modeling the coupled physical, chemical, thermal, and geomechanical processes involved in CO2 flow, storage, migration, and mineralization during long-term geologic carbon storage in saline aquifers. The simulator models the complex geology of these formations, including heterogeneity, anisotropy, fractures, and faults. The simulator also models geochemical and geomechanical processes that would occur during geologic storage of CO2. It uses parallel computation methods to allow rapid and efficient modeling assessment of CO2 injection strategies and long-term prediction of geologic storage system behavior and safety. Small-scale test experiments were used to identify the fundamental processes in homogeneous systems and test the ability of the macroscopic-scale models to capture the capillary and dissolution trapping processes in the presence of pore-scale heterogeneities. Overall, the model simulations support the evaluation of geologic storage mechanisms as a viable technique for reducing atmospheric CO2 emissions.

The main objective is to produce amorphous ribbons from non-precious metal alloys. These amorphous membranes are expected to work towards meeting all 2015 separation targets, such as of flux (300 ft3/hr/ft2), temperature (200-500 ºC), sulfur tolerance (>100 ppmv), and cost (<$100/ft2). Moreover these membranes will not use Pd coatings. The project consist of developing multiple metal-alloy ribbon membranes for evaluation and down selection. The selected membranes will then be tested in sygas and provided to NETL for testing. and Fabrication of hydrogen permeation membranes will be performed through the collaboration of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and CSIRO in Australia.

This project will develop and optimize novel, nanoporous, metal carbide membranes using molybdenum (Mo) or tungsten (W) rather than platinum group metals. It will test the use of metal carbides and sulfides to separate hydrogen from high-temperature, high-pressure coal synthesis gas. These surface diffusion composite membranes will provide means to achieve DOE hydrogen separation performance goals. Achieving the goal of producing high purity hydrogen separation membrane systems will bring affordable, environmentally sound hydrogen supplies closer to a reality.

Through its core research and development program administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) emphasizes monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA), as well as computer simulation, of possible carbon dioxide (CO2) leakage at CO2 sequestration sites, along with risk assessment of those sites. MVA efforts focus on the development and deployment of technologies that can provide an accurate account of stored CO2, with a high level of confidence that the CO2 will remain permanently sequestered. Effective application of these MVA technologies will ensure the safety of sequestration projects with respect to both human health and the environment, and provide the basis for establishing carbon credit trading markets for sequestered CO2. Risk assessment research focuses on identifying and quantifying potential risks to humans and the environment associated with CO2 sequestration, and helping to ensure that these risks remain low.

This project has identified leaky wellbores as an important risk to storage integrity that warrants further study to develop methods to quantify the risk of CO2 release through active and abandoned wellbores. It has developed a new method to relate the risk of release through existing wells at geologic carbon storage sites to data collected by non-destructive cement mapping tools. The data from wellbore logging tools were employed to develop models for leakage risk in wells. Methods to quantify the probability of leakage were developed for the casing, cement, cement-casing interface, cement-formation interface, and any existing defects. Models for risk of release through wells can then be developed that use collected data to establish the overall probability of leakage of a given well. Information obtained from well logging can be input into a model to evaluate the probability of leakage for specific zones in the well, e.g., the casing, cement, cement casing interface, cement-formation interface, and any existing defects.

This project will produce a prototype membrane that will separate hydrogen from coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas) at operating conditions found at a typical coal gas facility without the use of precious metals. The membrane will be a multi-stacked wafer of ceramic or ceramic-composite material which will meet the following standards of operation: (1) hydrogen flux of greater than 200 standard cubic feet per hour per square foot (scfh/ft2), (2) manufacturing cost of less than $100/ft2, and (3) efficient operation at relevant conditions. This research will enhance performance and efficiency as well as reduce the cost of hydrogen separation membrane technology. These advances are key to DOE's goal of achieving an affordable method of producing hydrogen from syngas in an environmentally clean manner.

WPI proposes a novel dense membrane technology for the separation of H2 from syngas based on non-precious group metal (PGM) supported molten-metal membranes (SMMMs). These would comprise a thin film (3-25 mm) of a liquid metal or alloy, with a melting point in the range of 200-500C, and supported on a porous ceramic or porous metal support. The proposed membranes would be inexpensive, more robust to species such as CO, and substantially resistant to poisons such as sulfur. In addition, they would obviate issues related to solid dense membranes; sintering, H2 embrittlement, thermal mismatch between the membrane and the support, and formation of pin-holes.

The objective of the proposed project is to model, fabricate, and test thin film amorphous alloy membranes which separate hydrogen from a coal-based system with performance meeting the DOE 2015 targets of flux, selectivity, cost and chemical and mechanical robustness, without the use of PGMs (platinum group metals). This project will use a combination of theoretical modeling, advanced physical vapor deposition fabricating, and laboratory and gasifier testing to develop amorphous alloy membranes that have the potential to meet all DOE targets in testing strategies outlined in the NETL Membrane Test Protocol.

Using high-fidelity fluid-dynamics models as input, Reaction Design will extend existing technology that is designed to automatically extract equivalent reactor networks (ERNs) from the CFD solution. The extraction is based on certain criteria for grouping regions of similar kinetic behavior. The ERNs are composed of idealized reactors (e.g., perfectly stirred and/or plug-flow reactors) that interact through mass-flow and heat-transfer connections to represent the complex flow. In contrast to the CFD simulations, however, the ERNs allow inclusion of detailed kinetics representation of the reacting-flow process, including particle-gas interactions, gas combustion and emissions production. While this technology has been established for gas-turbine combustors, one aim of this project will be to extend the methodology to gasifiers. A key component of this project is to encapsulate the CHEMKIN-based ERN models as CAPE-OPEN-compliant objects that can be used in general flow-sheet simulation software. By combining existing detailed-kinetics reactor-network capability from CHEMKIN-PRO with CAPE-OPEN interface standards, state-of-the-art kinetics modeling will be enabled within flow-sheet type simulations. This will be the basis for developing accurate reduced-order-models for gasification/combustor processes. Through the Cape-Open interface, the CHEMKIN reactor or reactor network will be considered as a Unit Operation. By adopting the Cape-Open architecture, such a representation of a combustor or gasifier can be combined with other unit operations to allow a plant or system simulation. In this way, more accurate chemistry will allow consideration of chemical details such as carbon conversion efficiency and syngas composition in the overall system design.

The study will develop an active source reflection seismic imaging strategy based on the deployment of spatially sparse surface seismic arrays, integrated with a dense baseline array. This will allow users to increase the temporal resolution of the CO2 monitoring. The system will include an accurate reservoir modeling package, which will account for geomechanical and geochemical processes.

This project will develop a process based risk assessment model to determine quantitatively the potential risks and impacts of CO2 storage, as well as cost savings for risk mitigation. The model will be applied to the SACROC field site in Texas and two other known CO2 geologic storage sites.

This four-year project—performed by Planetary Emissions Management, Inc. (PEM)—is developing a carbon-14 (14C) field-ready analyzer having a sensitivity of approximately 1 ppm of fossil fuel CO2 in ambient air. The primary focus of the application is within the near surface environment covering the project area, however, a gas stream from any component of a geologic carbon storage project or location may be analyzed. The analyzer is based on PEM’s already completed multi-isotopic Global Monitor Platform (GMP) and is being deployed for testing and validation at two reference sites: one where CO2 leaks from natural geologic reservoirs and the other a pilot CO2 injection site.

The project is to develop single-crystal sapphire fiber based sensors for in situ measurement of temperature (up to 1600°C) and dynamic gas pressure in harsh environments. It will also conduct fundamental and applied research that leads to successful single-crystal sapphire fiber hybrid extrinsic/intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (HEIFPI) sensors. A multidisciplinary research team from Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) and University of Cincinnati (UC) will collaboratively focus on solving the fundamental and engineering challenges. MST and UC will model the HEIFPI sensor in response to temperature and pressure. A fully optimized measurement system integrated with high quality sapphire sensors is the objective.

The project couples a reservoir model and geomechanical model to simulate potential cap rock leakage for the CO2 capture and storage demonstration site at City Utilities of Springfield, Mo. Materials and methods for stopping potential leakage through the cap rock will be examined. The approach is designed to be applicable to other CO2 injection sites.

This project has developed, tested, and deployed a scanning eye-safe diode laser-based Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL; LIDAR = Laser Induced Differential Absorption Radar). This instrument was designed to perform near-surface mapping of CO2 number densities for MVA to determine possible CO2 leakage to the atmosphere at geologic carbon storage sites. Horizontal testing of the CO2 DIAL instrument was conducted to determine its performance at the Zero Emission Research Technology (ZERT) field site during a controlled release experiment, and at the Kevin Dome site in north-central Montana, where the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership will be conducting a larger-scale carbon storage demonstration project. At both sites, the DIAL instrument measured CO2 concentrations that compared favorably to those measured by commercial CO2 instrumentation.

This four-year project—performed by Stanford University’s Stanford Rock Physics Laboratory in partnership with ExxonMobil and Ingrain, Inc.—is providing robust methodologies for using seismic data to quantitatively map the movement, presence, and permanence of CO2 relative to its intended storage location. Optimized rock-fluid models incorporate the seismic signatures of (1) saturation scales and free vs. dissolved gas in a CO2-water mixture, (2) pore pressure changes, and (3) CO2-induced chemical changes to the host rock (Figure 1). Work products from this project include an innovative dataset, methodologies, and algorithms for predicting the seismic response of multiphase and reactive fluids in CO2 storage programs. In spite of advanced techniques for geophysical imaging, current methods for interpreting CO2 saturation from seismic data can be fundamentally improved. Until now, Gassmann’s equations, which relate pore fluid compressibility and the rock frame to overall elastic properties, have been the primary tool for interpreting CO2 plumes from time-lapse seismic data. Gassmann’s model is purely mechanical, and is best suited for conditions of single-phase fluid saturation in relatively inert systems. Yet, CO2-rich fluid-rock systems can be chemically reactive, altering the rock frame via dissolution, precipitation, and mineral replacement. Furthermore, CO2 systems are multiphase, with uncertainties in scales of phase mixing in the pore space and solution of one phase in another. Errors from ignoring the physicochemical factors during CO2 injection can affect predicted seismic velocity changes, resulting in compromised estimates of saturation and pressure of CO2-rich fluids.

Monitoring carbon-sequestrated deep saline aquifers using existing geophysical tools is a challenge. This three-year project , performed by the University of Wyoming (UW) with assistance from WesternGeco (Houston, Texas), combines reservoir flow simulation with 3-D, multicomponent seismic waveform modeling to investigate whether seismic waveform inversion can accurately predict and account for post-injection CO2 saturation within carbon-sequestrated deep saline aquifers. If successful, this research could establish the feasibility of a practical and cost-effective technique to monitor these aquifers, which are considered to be among the most promising geologic formations for high-capacity sequestration of CO2 captured from power plant emissions and other sources.

The project objective is to develop and test a new quasi- three-dimensional, multi-scale hydrologic model that will allow the essential features of the CO2-brine-freshwater system to be included at the local (borehole), regional, and basin scales using sharp-interface theory. Environmental and seismic risks associated with large scale CO2 injection into the Mount Simon Formation will be quantified.

Through its core research and development program administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) emphasizes monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA), as well as computer simulation and risk assessment, of possible carbon dioxide (CO2 ) leakage at CO2 geologic storage sites. MVA efforts focus on the development and deployment of technologies that can provide an accurate accounting of stored CO2 , with a high level of confidence that the CO2 will remain stored underground permanently. Effective application of these MVA technologies will ensure the safety of geologic storage projects with respect to both human health and the environment, and can provide the basis for establishing carbon credit trading markets for geologically storing CO2 . The new technology is based on the concept of “smart fields,” which is rapidly gaining support and popularity in the oil and gas industry. Smart fields integrate digital information technology with the latest monitoring techniques to provide continuous knowledge and control of reservoir operations and processes. Under this concept, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested to successfully develop highly sensitive PDGs that are capable of operating in harsh environments for long periods. The PDGs collect and transmit high-frequency data streams in real time to remote control centers to be analyzed and used for reservoir management. The project team will use the pattern recognition power of state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining (AI&DM) technology to develop a methodology, residing in a computer program, to recognize patterns from simulated realistic pressure data acquired from PDGs located within the reservoir model (Figure 1). This software will be capable of, but not limited to, locating point sources within a reservoir from which CO2 is leaking based on changes in pressure data. The methodology will autonomously cleanse and summarize raw data collected from in-situ pressure gauges, to prepare the data for processing and analysis. Upon completion, the methodology will be validated by its ability to accurately identify the location of simulated leakage points in a model of an existing heterogeneous reservoir. Once the approximate location of potential CO2 leakage is identified, the information will be communicated via e-mails, text messages, or other means to those performing “at” or “near” surface monitoring locations for more precise detection and analysis. The main objective of this project is to develop the next generation of intelligent software that is able to take maximum advantage of the data collected by PDGs to continuously and autonomously monitor and verify CO2 storage in geologic formations as part of the effort to assure CO2 storage permanence in the subsurface. Further, the project team will investigate the feasibility of using this technology to monitor the growth and advancement of the CO2 plume during the injection process.

This project, in Seattle, shall develop an integrated system-level risk analysis approach for geologic CO2 storage by adapting and extending an existing highly regarded and widely used probabilistic simulation framework (GoldSim) that was originally developed for long-term safety analyses of nuclear waste disposal.

PTTC will transfer information and R&D results from both Department of Energy (DOE)-supported and industry research to a broad oil and natural gas stakeholder audience, including independent producers, academia, technology developers, the service sector, and majors. The technology transfer will primarily be in the form of workshops, newsletters, e-mail alerts, and tech centers on the internet.

The objective of this project is to design, build, and test a tunable diode laser sensor capable of measuring gas concentrations and temperature in a gasification system. Two crucial sensors needs for the production and utilization of syngas have been identified: (1) to control the temperature of the gasifier by adjusting feed rates of fuel and oxygen to the gasifier and (2) to control the air dilution at the intake to the gas turbine. To address these needs, the laser-based sensor will be capable of measuring H2O, CO, CO2, and CH4; concentrations in the high-temperature, high-pressure gasifier environment. The CH4 concentration in the output syngas stream serves as a surrogate monitor of gasifier temperature. CO and CO2 concentrations have the potential to be used as a control variable for the gasifier and the subsequent utilization (e.g., gas turbine) of the syngas. Measuring water vapor absorption of laser light is used for real-time in situ temperature sensing.

The objective of the project is to develop an economically-viable H2/CO2 separation membrane system that would allow efficient capture of CO2 at high temperature and pressure from gasified coal in presence of typical contaminants. The key hurdle for commercialization of palladium-based hydrogen separation membranes has been the negative effects of H2S and carbon on hydrogen flux, i.e. membrane poisoning. To date, most membrane developers have used only a few binary alloy systems such as Pd-Cu and Pd-Ag with only recent attempts to employ ternary alloys. Although promising, none has been shown to be an effective deterrent to the membrane damage induced by coal gas contaminants. In addition, new membrane development has been slow with almost no testing being done in actual coal gas environments. Pall will utilize combinatorial material design for high-throughput, rapid screening of a large number of ternary Pd-alloys with the goal of developing an optimized palladium alloy that is tolerant to contaminants while retaining the necessary high hydrogen flux and selectivity characteristics.

Oil and gas development on the North Slope is critical to maintaining U.S. energy supplies and is facing a period of new growth to meet the nation's increasing energy needs. A majority of Alaska's exploration and development activities, pipeline maintenance, and other field support projects occur in the middle of winter, when the tundra land surface is stable. Winter operational seasons have been steadily decreasing over time, while the number of exploration companies working on the North Slope has been increasing. This project will develop Nowcast, a set of forecast tools for industry and resource management agencies to help improve winter transportation network operations. The climate modeling methods used to develop these tools are in common use for other applications (such as weather forecasting, trucking and freight industries), but have not been adapted to serve the unique needs of winter oil and gas transportation networks on the North Slope. Techniques resulting from this project will help improve field mobilization efforts and lengthen winter operating seasons. State and federal land managers can respond more efficiently by having real-time access to field conditions. These combined approaches will lead to more effective oil and gas transportation networks, cost savings for both industry and agencies, and improved environmental protection. Cooperating partners include ConocoPhillips Alaska, Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service, National Weather Service, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) will develop accurate and robust wireless passive high-temperature (>1300 degrees Celsius) microsensors for in situ measurement of temperature and pressure within combustion turbines. This research aims to establish a solid foundation for the development of commercially viable advanced sensor technologies for in-situ real-time monitoring of the operation of power generation systems, thus providing precise operational parameters in real-time for optimal system control for higher efficiency, increased reliability, and improved emissions.

The Institute for Clean and Secure Energy is conducting research to improve industry's ability to utilize the vast energy stored in domestic oil shale and oil sands resources in a manner that will minimize environmental impact and effectively capture the combustion CO2 from production, upgrading, and refining of the produced liquid fuel. The objective of this research is to perform engineering, scientific, and legal research directed toward the development of oil shale and oil sands resources in Utah. This validation research brings together multi-scale experimental measurements--from molecular scale through pore scale and, ultimately, reservoir or basin scale computer simulations--to enhance our understanding of the geology and in situ processing parameters controlling efficient production of oil shale and oil sands resources. Knowledge gained from this research will apply to most, if not all, industry processes and, in particular, those processes that utilize in situ methods for resource recovery.

The primary objective of this project is to further develop the research efforts previously initiated with the construction and operation of the Hydrogen Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) facility located at the Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV. The facility generates, stores, and dispenses hydrogen for use in vehicles and equipment that have been converted or designed to operate on hydrogen as their fuel source. Project objectives include the procurement of a various types of hydrogen-fueled vehicles, the development and execution of educational and outreach activities, testing and evaluation of the use of hydrogen vehicles, and the management of the data collected from vehicle testing.

PRLC (Prime Research LC) and the Virginia Tech Antenna Group (VTAG) propose to develop a revolutionary wireless sensor technology capable of operating at extreme temperatures and in highly corrosive environments. The technology will completely eliminate the need for cables connecting to the sensors. In many cases it will avoid having to machine feed-throughs to gain access into plant interiors. The technology is enabled by recent developments in radio frequency identification (RFID), high temperature materials, and frequency selective metamaterials.

The overall objectives of the proposed research by UTD are to prepare novel, non-precious metal mixed matrix membranes, in flat and hollow fiber geometries, based on polymer composites with nanoparticles of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs). Membrane performance to separate hydrogen from synthesis gas (e.g. H2, CO, CO2, H2O) generated during coal gasification will be evaluated in an integrated water gas shift membrane reactor using NETL test protocols (DOE/NETL-2008/1335). The goal is to exploit the high surface areas, adsorption capacities, and sieving capabilities of the nanoporous ZIF additives to achieve unprecedented, selective transport of hydrogen under operating conditions defined by 2015 DOE targets.

The University of Texas at Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) is partnering with Battelle's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, AOA Geophysical, Global Geophysical, Geokinetics, Ascend Geo, Austin Powder, Seismic Source, and RARE Technology to combine multicomponent seismic technology and rock physics modeling that will lead to more accurate monitoring, verifying, and accounting (MVA) of stored CO2. The research will use conventional seismic sources and data-acquisition systems and also new seismic sources that emphasize shear waves and new seismic data-acquisition technology based on cableless data recording to acquire seismic research data across one or more brine-formation systems appropriate for CO2 storage. Research tasks will involve acquiring, processing, and interpreting both conventional seismic data and multicomponent seismic data. Scientists at PNNL and BEG will analyze well logs, cores, and reservoir test data to construct geological models of CO2 storage formations and seal units across each study site. By combining P-wave and S-wave seismic attributes with appropriate rock physics models, the research team will show how multicomponent seismic technology allows definition of formation storage compartments, detection of leaky seals, mapping of fluid-flow paths, segregation of high and low gas saturations, and quantification of intra-reservoir permeability barriers that cannot be achieved with conventional single-component seismic data.

This project will develop a magnetically fluidized bed reactor system that uses a chemical looping process with metal oxide sorbents to separate hydrogen from coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas). Chemical looping is a strategy for extracting high purity hydrogen and isolating sequestration-ready carbon dioxide from syngas near gasification operating conditions to obtain improved thermal efficiency over more traditional gas separations methods that operate at low temperatures and pressures. Metal oxide sorbents with magnetic properties will be studied for the potential to reduce pressure drop, provide more uniform solids distribution, and to aid in solids transport within the fluidized bed reactors. The project will experimentally explore, model, and evaluate the feasibility of this method as a pathway for meeting the DOE goal of reducing the cost of hydrogen from coal and for facilitating the production of affordable, environmentally clean energy from coal resources.

This project will further develop a novel silica molecular sieve membrane for the pre-combustion capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-based integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants. These membranes have the potential to contribute to carbon capture by high temperature separation of hydrogen (H2) from CO2 and other gases present in shifted synthesis gas (syngas). Extensive efforts over the last several decades have explored high temperature H2-selective membranes made of silicon dioxide (SiO2), other oxides, palladium (Pd), and other metals or alloys, polymers, and various zeolites and non-aluminosilicate molecular sieves. Although promising separation results have been reported for many of these technologies, they all suffer from high processing costs for membrane fabrication and/or long term stability limitations. This project will bring a new, simple concept for the fabrication of ultra-thin and stable H2-selective membranes closer to commercial reality.

The project is to develop via laboratory-based experiments an advanced pressure swing absorption-based device. This accomplishes a cyclic process that will produce purified hydrogen at a high pressure for IGCC-CCS plant's combustion turbine from low temperature post-shift reactor synthesis gas. Simultaneously, this separation process obtains a highly purified CO2 stream containing at least 90% of the CO2 in the post-shift reactor gas stream which is suitable for subsequent sequestration steps. This cyclic or batch process is achieved without a membrane or extensive plumbing required for continuous flow. An objective of this project is to provide data and analysis so that scale-up is facilitated during subsequent design and scale-up.

The overall objective of this project is to develop viable solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) sealing concepts based upon self-healing glass-based seals. In this project composite seals combining suitable "self-healing" glasses with fillers and/or fibers shall be developed and evaluated. The ultimate goal is a reliable, stable, cost-effective sealing system for SOFCs.

The objective is to develop and demonstrate a process for treating "frac water" returns from Marcellus horizontal well development that will allow an increased recycle rate while decreasing makeup water and disposal requirements. Successful development of advanced FilterSure clean-up and frac return water reuse technology will advance shale gas exploitation and development through improved economics and resolution of environmental issues.

This project developed two different injection systems for tagging CO2 with carbon 14 (14C) at atmospheric levels (1 part per trillion) and measuring the radioactivity in collected samples. Since 14C decays to the more common 12C isotope at a known rate, the level of radioactivity in the sample determines how much injected CO2 the sample contains. Such tagging of injected CO2 will lead to quantitative monitoring of injected CO2 and make it possible to accurately inventory geologically stored carbon. The systems were tested in the laboratory and at the CarbFix demonstration project in Iceland, where CO2 has been injected into a permeable basalt formation at 1,970 feet in depth. Once the technology is proven, adoption of this system will provide a quantitative methodology to verify the amount of CO2 stored, thereby increasing confidence in geologic storage.

Coal-Seq III is a government-industry collaboration to study coal as a potential CO2 storage reservoir. Partners include Oklahoma State University, the Illinois Clean Coal Institute at Southern Illinois University and Higgs-Palmer Technologies. The project focused on the development and testing of three advanced geochemical and geomechanical simulation modules which increase the accuracy of simulating CO2 behavior in coals and shales. These modules address coal storage factors such as coal failure and permeability enhancement, matrix swelling and shrinking, and competition with water as an adsorbed phase on coals. These enhancements provide better means to predict geologic CO2 storage volumes.

This project developed a comprehensive analysis of programmatic and technical risks associated with CO2 storage in deep brine reservoirs. The study quantified the risks associated with CO2 storage projects by: (1) employing Bayesian inference to evaluate storage risks; (2) utilizing the safety record of the CO2 based enhanced oil recovery industry (CO2-EOR) and pilot storage projects to identify and evaluate potential risks; (3) developing and quantifying the nature of programmatic risks; (4) utilizing diverse, highly qualified expert panels drawn from industry and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to evaluate changing perceptions of programmatic risks; and (5) assessing the possible consequences to water ecology and energy resources from potential leakage of CO2 from deep brine reservoirs.

This four-year project — performed by faculty and researchers from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the University of South Florida, assisted by UNAVCO, Inc., a non-profit consortium funded by the National Science Foundation — aims to develop an integrated, low-cost methodology for assessing the fate of CO2 injected into various classes of geologic reservoirs. The project team will integrate data from space geodesy (which utilizes high precision Global Positioning System [GPS] and Interfero-metric Synthetic Aperture Radar [InSAR] technology to measure subtle surface displacements), seismology, and geochemistry in a straightforward series of procedures and algorithms, and assess the cost and efficacy of these procedures for long-term tracking of CO2. This new approach will be tested at a large-scale CO2 injection test site. Results are expected to confirm suitability of this methodology for most carbon storage sites.

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, in partnership with Texas A&M University and the University of Utah, developed a regional carbon storage technology training center for the southwestern United States (CO2TC). The purpose of this training center was to increase the CCS workforce though the development and implementation of academic programs, specialized classes, continuing education, professional development, and public awareness.

The project built on current outreach and education programs to recruit and prepare students in the region for careers related to the geologic storage of CO2. Students were engaged at all educational levels, from K-12 to generate early interest, to secondary education students by providing their teachers with classroom tools and training, to college students from several disciplines that cover all aspects of the CCS industry (i.e., MBA programs, law, computer science, humanities, social & behavioral science, etc.). The training center also conducted outreach and continuous updated training courses for current professionals inclusive of industry, non-governmental organizations, the general public, and the media to provide greater awareness of the importance of geologic carbon storage.

 

The objective of this project is to develop an efficient and low-cost CO2 capture solid sorbent which is highly resistant to SO2 poisoning and thermal degradation. The proposed concept is built on integration of acid-base chemistry with a novel approach for manipulating basic site distributions. This project will support at least 2 graduate students during the research effort.

The project will support at least 2 graduate students while examining the nature and controls of caprock integrity on CO2 sequestration systems by studying exhumed analogs where modern and ancient CO2 flow has occurred. The team will evaluate the nature of fracture systems and faults and examine the nature of mineralization within some of these exposures.

The project team will conduct research to assess the migration of CO2 in a geologic formation in Missouri, conduct reservoir modeling, and develop a GIS database of pore-fluid chemistry within and above potential CO2 injection zones in Missouri. This project will support at least two graduate students during the research effort.

The project team will develop a series of advanced oxygen carriers for coal-fueled chemical looping combustion (CLC) to yield a high purity CO2. A CLC process model will be built to optimize the performance of the selected oxygen carriers. This project will support at least two graduate students during the research effort.

The Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone, Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, and the Pennsylvanian Weber Sandstone are very promising geologic storage formations in the Rocky Mountain Region. These formations are ubiquitous throughout the region and represent common geologic storage candidate sites for most point sources in the region. This project is focusing on collecting and analyzing rock core and geophysical data from these formations as well as conducting new data collection and model simulation analyses for a representative case-study area near the Craig Power Station in northwestern Colorado. This includes analysis of the storage potential of these deep-saline formations within a large, Laramide-age structure just south of the town of Craig, Colorado. A detailed structural analysis of this large forced fold was performed; in addition, the finer geologic structure and stratigraphy of the candidate saline aquifers and their overlying seals was characterized. Analyses of the broader region include the Navajo and other promising Jurassic-aged storage target formations. In addition, project researchers are characterizing the local and regional storage potential of these most promising formations using fundamental geological, geophysical, and existing rock core data from all areas of the region.

NETL partnered with the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) to explore the consequences of coupled hydro-chemo-thermo-mechanical (HCTM) processes related to the injection of CO2 into the subsurface. This work expanded the results from a previous study on the interactions of groundwater acidification and dissolution of minerals and precipitation on pore-scale processes. The scope of work included general analyses in the governing parameter domain, interfacial properties of water, mineral, CO2 and/or surfactant system, interaction between clay particles and CO2, reactive fluid flow as a result of CO2 dissolution, two-phase flow between immiscible CO2 and formation fluid, CO2 break through and sealing strategies, and CH4-CO2 hydrate replacement and hydro-mechanical implications. The project team explored coupled phenomena, identified different zones in the storage reservoir, and investigated their implications in CO2 geological storage. In particular, the research: (1) Explored spatial patterns in mineral dissolution and precipitation (comprehensive mass balance formulation); (2) experimentally determined the interfacial properties of water, mineral, and CO2 systems, including CO2-water-surfactant mixtures to reduce the CO2-water interfacial tension in view of enhanced sweep efficiency (Figure 1); (3) analyzed the interaction between clay particles and CO2, and the response of sediment layers to the presence of CO2 using specially designed experimental setups and complementary analyses; (4) coupled advective and diffusive mass transport of species, together with mineral dissolution to explore pore changes during advection of CO2-dissolved water along a rock fracture; (5) upscaled results to a porous medium using pore network simulations; (6) measured CO2 breakthrough in highly compacted fine-grained sediments, shale and cement specimens; (7) explored sealing strategies; and (8) experimentally measured CO2-CH4 replacement in hydrate-bearing sediments. Analytical, experimental and numerical results obtained in this study can be used to identify optimal CO2 injection and reservoir-healing strategies to maximize the efficiency of CO2 injection and to attain long-term storage.

The objective of this project is to provide training opportunities for graduate students in order to improve the human capital and skills required for implementing and deploying CCS technologies. The graduate students shall develop an integrated simulation-optimization framework that may be used to assess the opportunity of implementing geologic sequestration at any given geological site. This project shall represent the first attempt to apply mathematical optimization to support the planning of geologic sequestration

Application selected from ARRA 2009 DOE FOA Number DE-FOA-0000032, entitled "Recovery Act: Geologic Sequestration Training and Research". The primary objectives of this project are to develop a methodology for the geological and geotechnical site characterization in mafic rocks through both simulations and field work and completing an economic analysis of these opportunities. This project will support graduate and undergraduate students.

Application selected from ARRA 2009 DOE FOA Number DE-FOA-0000032, entitled "Recovery Act: Geologic Sequestration Training and Research". The objective of this project is to integrate ongoing research on CO2 separation from coal combustion flue gases using regenerable magnesium solutions with engineering education in CCS for chemical and environmental engineering students. This project will support graduate and undergraduate students.

The main objective of this proposal is to properly train graduate students to develop multi-scale Finite Element (FE) models of different geological settings and compare the results concerning geomechanical processes, such as how fluid pressure induces rock deformation, how faults and fractures affect fluid migration, as well as critical wellbore placement and wellbore integrity to each other. This shall give a more thorough understanding of how reservoir geometry affects wellbore stability, formation and cap rock stability and thus shall facilitate future site selection.

NETL has partnered with Purdue University to conduct training and research to determine the depositional and diagenetic characteristics of CO2 storage and caprock formations; the low-permeability formations located above the CO2 injection zone(s) that prevent the upward migration of CO2. Depositional characteristics help to determine where sediment was deposited and lithified, such as a beach, lake, or dune. Diagenetic characteristics, such as compaction and cementation, illustrate the physical, chemical, and biological changes that take place in sediments as they become consolidated into rocks. This project also explored methods for predicting changes in the mineralogy (chemical composition) and texture that occur when rocks are exposed to CO2-saturated brines. During the project, graduate students conducted original scientific research into topics related to the lithological, textural, and compositional variability in formations that were analyzed as possible CO2 storage reservoirs and seals. The students focused primarily on analyzing core samples and geophysical well-logs of the Mount Simon Sandstone (Figure 1) and overlying E au Claire Formation seal.

The project objective is development of a 1 x 4 fiber optic sensor array for sub-surface carbon dioxide (CO2) detection. The proposed fiber sensor array is a low cost, reconfigurable sensor that has the potential for large area coverage based on the number of fiber probes that can be accessed using one laser and two photo-detectors in the call/receive geometry.

The FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc. (Alliance) will perform this component of FutureGen 2.0, involving pipeline transportation of CO2 from Ameren's Meredosia plant to a geologic storage reservoir. The project will require selection by the Alliance of a reservoir site through a competitive process. It will also require, in part, evaluation and selection of pipeline routes and supplemental compression (if necessary); development of visitor and education facilities; and pipeline and storage construction and operations.

This project integrates unique technologies for algal biomass production, lipid yield enhancement, and lipid extraction with mature technologies to produce beneficial energy products through algal capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial emissions. Phycal will create an integrated microalgal biorefinery (IBR) pilot project using algal feedstock to create energy products for conversion to fuel for transportation and power generation. Previous DOE programs have shown algal production offers a significant and sustainable domestic potential yield of biomass while sinking large amounts of CO2. Phycal's pilot-scale IBR could lead to commercial production of algal biofuels as early as 2016.

The University of Alabama, Geological Survey of Alabama, and Rice University have assessed the CO2 storage potential in the Black Warrior Basin. Roughly 28 million metric tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere annually by two pulverized coal power plants located in the basin, providing a need to determine the geological storage resources for potential CCS in the Black Warrior Basin. The project team has characterized a test site located near one of those power plants, the Alabama Power Company William C. Gorgas plant. The effort included designing and developing a geologic test wellbore, determining the suitability of the site for storage, and performing a computational simulation of the reservoir. As part of the characterization activities, the team is evaluating a formation stratigraphic, dissolution, and mineralization containment analysis that defines the ability of the formation to contain CO2. The project team also analyzed geophysical well logs, seismic surveys, and core data to define the CO2 acceptance and storage capability of the stacked saline reservoirs.

This project characterized the Pliocene and Miocene sediments in the Wilmington Graben, offshore of Los Angeles, CA, for CO2 storage. Characterization of these formations will help establish and broaden options for large-scale CO2 geologic storage throughout California. The project was performed in three phases, with the first phase devoted to completing a detailed review and interpretation of existing exploration well log data, 2-D and 3-D seismic data, acquiring and analyzing new seismic lines in current data gap areas, reviewing existing log data, and drilling a Pliocene well in northern Wilmington Graben area. In the second phase of the project, a second characterization well was drilled into the Miocene. Integrated 3-D geologic and geomechanical models for the Wilmington Graben were populated with grid data derived from lithologic properties to allow for additional quantification and analysis of storage targets and seals. A CO2 injection and migration model was also developed and calibrated against well injectivity data to simulate long-term injection, CO2 migration, and storage. In the third phase of the project, a detailed engineering review and documentation of the top 20 CO2 emission sources in the LA Basin was performed, and a feasibility analysis using existing and/or new pipelines in the LA Basin to transport CO2 from sources to storage sites was completed.

NETL partnered with the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) and others from both industry and academia to develop the Southeast Regional CO2 Sequestration Training Program (SECARB-Ed) for the southern United States. These partners have established a CCS regional training program to facilitate national and global deployment of CCS technology. The project performed a series of tasks over a three-year period. Major project tasks included: Initiating and implementing a Sponsorship Development Program that allows SECARB-Ed to be self-sustaining after the initial three-year period by establishing an advisory board, developing a strategy for revenue generation, and marketing. Establishing a CCS technology curriculum by identifying topics for short courses, positioning SECARB-Ed to take advantage of opportunities to showcase its capabilities, and seeking technical societies’ approval of the training materials. Facilitating technology transfer through the utilization of electronic and printed media. Supporting research and outreach/education goals of the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB). Additional information on SECARB-Ed can be found at http://www.secarb-ed.org/

The University of Texas at Austin and its partners at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Environmental Defense Fund, and Sandia Technologies, LLC have investigated Texas offshore subsurface storage resources in the Gulf of Mexico as candidate geologic storage formations. This project was designed to identify one or more CO2 injection site(s) within an area of Texas offshore state lands (extending approximately 10 miles from the shoreline) that are suitable for the safe and permanent storage of CO2 from future large-scale commercial CCS operations. The approach used in identifying these injection sites was to use both historic and new data to evaluate the candidate geologic formations, including an extensive Gulf Coast well database and seismic survey database. A major project effort was to characterize three selected offshore areas with high-resolution seismic surveys that were conducted by the project. In addition, reservoir simulations were performed and work was conducted to evaluate the effects of chemical reactions resulting from injection of CO2 into the identified formations. A risk analysis and mitigation plan has been generated in support of near-term commercial development efforts.

Application selected from ARRA 2009 DOE FOA Number DE-FOA-0000032, entitled "Recovery Act: Geologic Sequestration Training and Research". The objective of this project is to use "carbonsheds," a concept that was developed as a framework for optimizing transport of CO2 on an integrated technical, economic, societal and environmental basis. This project will support two graduate students.

Application selected from ARRA 2009 DOE FOA Number DE-FOA-0000032, entitled "Recovery Act: Geologic Sequestration Training and Research". Project objectives include: 1) Develop a CCS short course introducing suite of technologies and deployment issues; 2) Establish a CO2 capture laboratory for data analysis and develop mathematical models; 3) Offer internships; and 4) Establish the Tuskegee CCS Network.

NETL, in partnership with the Environmental Outreach and Stewardship (EOS) Alliance, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has developed a regional carbon storage technology training center to deliver CCUS technology training and information to stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest. This training center provides a platform for geologic CO2 storage related technology information, establishing an advisory board, offering a suite of revenue-generating training classes, and implementing a marketing strategy for prospective students with the goal of the center to become self-sustaining within three years. EOS Alliance and partners have developed short courses on various aspects of CCUS technology. Instructors for these courses come from PNNL, academia, industry, and other national laboratories. The course offerings focus on technologies (Figure 1) and issues relating to the U.S. Pacific Northwest region, and include lectures on CCUS technologies, several multiple-day combined courses that integrate technical topics, and tours of facilities conducting cutting edge geologic CO2 storage research. EOS Alliance is working to register the CCUS courses for Professional Development Units (PDUs) and is evaluating the feasibility of establishing a certification program. EOS Alliance will take the lead in planning and managing this program. In partnership with PNNL and the EOS Alliance will coordinate and monitor the regional CCUS training project performance, maintain sufficient project management staff, support the Advisory Board, implement strategic planning, work with other regional carbon storage technology training recipients, create and provide all deliverables to DOE, and maintain appropriate fiscal and accounting systems. Additional information can be found at http://www.carbontechalliance.org/

The South Carolina Research Institute and its partners evaluated the feasibility of carbon storage in the Jurassic/Triassic saline formations of the buried Mesozoic South Georgia Rift (SGR) Basin that extends west-southwest from South Carolina into Georgia. The Jurassic and Triassic saline formations of the SGR have been identified as prospective CO2 storage areas; however, detailed characterization is needed to reduce uncertainties and validate storage potential. The project evaluated two different locations in the SGR Basin, one in South Carolina and one in Georgia. The project team reviewed existing geologic and geophysical data, reprocessed historical seismic data, collected additional seismic data to fill in historical data gaps, drilled and tested a characterization well, and conducted reservoir modeling, risk assessment, and mitigation studies. Seismic and geologic data were also used to evaluate faults, fractures, and confining zone integrity for potential release pathways. The characterization well was drilled to approximately 6,200 feet. The findings include a detailed description of the potential reservoirs and seals to determine thickness, lithology, mineralogy, and fracture orientation.

This project provides a basis for providing graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in research related to the modeling of fluid-driven fractures. The research approach will include numerical analyses with the discrete element and boundary element methods, and physical experiments for material estimation and model testing.

NETL has partnered with Brooklyn College to determine the role of textural (e.g., the pore-throat size; distribution, geometry, and sorting; grain size; degree of bioturbation; specific surface area; preferred orientation of matrix clay minerals; and orientation and aspect ratio of organic particles) and compositional parameters (e.g., silt content; ductility; compaction; mineralogical content; proportion of soft, deformable mineral grains to rigid grains; cementation; organic matter content; carbonate content; and ash content) that control the CO2 sealing capacity of caprock formations. Caprocks are low-permeability rocks that comprise confining zones located above the CO2 injection zone and can act as a seal to prevent the upward migration of CO2 into other formations. The research is also serving as scientific training for at least one graduate student and one undergraduate student. The students are collecting samples, searching scientific literature, performing most lab measurements, writing scientific dissertations, and participating in disseminating project results through publications and by attending scientific meetings.

NETL has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop tools to better understand and model CO2 storage permanence in geologic formations at the geologic basin scale. This research contributes to deploying CCUS at a gigatonne per year injection scale over the course of several decades. Continuous CO2 injection of this magnitude must be understood at the geologic basin scale. The project is performing fundamental research on CO2 migration, fate, and displaced brine at the geologic basin scale. Additionally, MIT is developing analytical sharp-interface models of the evolution of CO2 plumes over the duration of injection (decades) and after injection (centuries). MIT has experience in investigating closed-form analytical solutions that account for plume shape during CO2 injection and for regional groundwater flow. From accomplishments obtained in this past research, MIT extended the modeling use in this project to include the essential physics governing plume migration: (1) induced pressure gradients, (2) capillary trapping, (3) buoyancy, (4) regional groundwater flow, (5) aquifer slope, (6) dissolution into the brine (due to both diffusion from residual CO2 and convective mixing from mobile CO2), and (7) loss through the confining unit (Figure 1). MIT applied the analytical solutions of CO2 plume migration and pressure evolution to specific geologic basins to estimate the maximum footprint of the plume, and the maximum injection rate that can be sustained during a given injection period without fracturing caprock. These results have led to more accurate resource estimates, based on fluid flow dynamics, rather than ad hoc assumptions of an overall “efficiency factor” typically used in storage capacity estimation calculations. In addition, MIT used risk assessment methodologies to evaluate the uncertainty in their predictions of storage capacity and leakage rates. The results of the research were incorporated into the short course titled “Carbon Capture and Storage: Science, Technology, and Policy” offered through the MIT Professional Institute to train the present and future CCS workforce.

This project will develop coating systems to protect the interior of pipelines and process equipment used in the transport post-combustion flue gases from corrosion and other potential stresses resulting from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide with additional contaminants/constituents. The secondary objectives will be designing and preparing polymers resistant to Supercritical Carbon Dioxide with additional constinents which improve physical properties of such a coating film.

The University of Kansas (KU), BEREXO Inc., Bittersweet Energy Inc., Kansas Geological Survey, and the Kansas State University evaluated potential CO2 storage sites, including saline aquifers and depleted oil reservoirs, within the Ozark Plateau Aquifer System (OPAS) in south-central Kansas. The study focused on the Wellington Field, with an evaluation of the CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) potential of its Mississippian chert reservoir and the storage potential in the underlying Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle Group saline reservoir. A larger study of the saline reservoir was undertaken over a 33 county area in south-central Kansas to evaluate regional CO2 storage potential. Additionally, the EOR potential of the Chester and Marrow Sandstone reservoirs is being evaluated. This study integrated well data, seismic, geologic, and engineering approaches to evaluate CO2 storage potential. The project estimated the CO2 storage potential of multiple formations by constructing integrated geological models followed by reservoir simulation studies. The effort collected available data, drilled and logged three new wells through the Arbuckle Group, cored a portion of the injection and confining zones, and performed chemical and physical analyses on the samples. Analysis of the geochemistry of formation fluids was conducted, and a simulation of fluid flow and geochemical interactions was performed.

Application selected from ARRA 2009 DOE FOA Number DE-FOA-0000032, entitled "Recovery Act: Geologic Sequestration Training and Research". Project addresses the need to measure the Dissolved Inorganic Carbons in underground brine water at higher sensitivity, lower cost, in situ, at higher frequency and over long periods of time for CO2 sequestration MVA. This project will support at least 2 graduate students.

The primary objective of the proposal is to provide training opportunities for graduate students in the development and validation of an advanced three-dimensional simulation and risk assessment model that can be used to predict the fate, movement and storage of CO2 in underground formations, and to evaluate the risk of their potential leakage to the atmosphere and underground aquifers.

The primary objective is to train graduate and undergraduate students and advance the science in two critical areas of risk assessment (1) multi-process, multi-scale characterization and model simulation of the risks associated with leakage into overlying aquifers and (2) pore-scale geochemical processes in CO2 sequestration related to injectivity and storage including mineral reactivity and multiphase fluid reactions, needed to assess the likelihood of an successful sequestration effort.

NETL, in partnership with the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Applied Petroleum Technology Academy has developed a regional sequestration technology training center to deliver CCUS technology training and information to stakeholders in the Permian Basin Region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico through an established technology transfer network, online capabilities, and a communications program. The Permian Basin is an ideal target for this type of training since is it a major oil and gas producing region, contains oil fields that show promise for CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon storage activities, and has an extensive CO2-EOR infrastructure already located throughout the region. To implement this project, PTTC has created courses and lecture materials for academia and industry related to CCUS and conduct annual training events geared toward universities and colleges. PTTC is utilizing multiple approaches to deliver its technology transfer and training programs, including regional workshops, presentations at technical meetings, a focused research-oriented workshop, an online certificate program, webinars/e-symposia, and communication through newsletters, email tech alerts, and a website located at http://www.permianbasinccs.org/.

The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) conducted an evaluation of the carbon storage potential of the Cambro-Ordovician Strata of the Illinois and Michigan Basins, which underlie much of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan. Whole core of the Knox and Maquoketa Shale were taken from several wells drilled for the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium field test and the Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration project in Decatur, Illinois. Additionally, 120 miles of 2-D seismic data were acquired in western Illinois to enhance the characterization of the Illinois Basin. A small-volume carbon dioxide (CO2) injection test was also conducted in Hancock County, Kentucky to evaluate the injectivity of the Knox. These data and other available data were used to estimate the regional injectivity and storage capacity of the Knox Super Group and the St. Peter Sandstone. Specific studies included modeling the dissolution of CO2 in brine and the interaction with carbonate reservoir rocks, geomechanical tests and petrophysical analyses, an evaluation of mineralization rates, and an analysis of seal faulting potential.

The objective of this project is to create a web-based simulator with comprehensive chemical and physical processes relevant for modeling CO2 sequestration systems and then to use this simulator as part of a course on CO2 sequestration and modeling. The simulator is intended to evaluate the effect of injected CO2 on the target rocks and the resulting chemical changes and how this shall affect flow and heat transfer. This project shall also provide an opportunity at San Diego State University to further develop existing industry-supported multidisciplinary applied computational sciences programs and well trained personnel for the industry.

This project shall establish data collection and processing requirements so that double-difference seismic tomography can be used to quantitatively map the mass and propagation of sequestered CO2 as a function of time. Additionally, a dataset from field monitoring of microseismic activity shall be analyzed using double-difference tomography. Finally, a graduate course shall be developed to enable students to apply the best, most recent methods for using geophysical tools to image sequestration.

Create modules for undergraduate and graduate students. Data & presentations from industry CO2 Flooding Schools & Conferences, Carbon Mgt Workshops & other venues will be tailored to provide introductory reservoir & aquifer training, state-of-the-art methodologies, field seminars, site visits, and case studies for students. This project will support Graduate students during the research effort.

This project will determine whether quantitative measurement techniques for Rn activity and CO2 flux can be applied as a means of assessing caprock integrity, and provide training opportunities for two graduate students and one undergraduate student in geologic and geochemical skills required for implementing and deploying this technology for CO2 Monitoring, Verification, and Accounting (MVA).

This project will characterize the growth requirements of a biofilm-producing supercritical CO2 (scCO2)-tolerant microbial consortium; evaluate the ability of this consortium to reduce permeability in sandstone under simulated reservoir conditions; investigate the mechanisms of scCO2 tolerance in isolated strains; and analyze the microbial diversity for scCO2 tolerant microbes at CCS sites.

This project aims to develop CO2 sensor and instrument for measuring and monitoring CO2 emissions for geological sequestration sites in a continuous mode, while providing training opportunities to two graduate students in the areas of acoustic wave sensors, nanomaterials and geological sequestration of CO2.

NETL, in partnership with the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming CCUS Technology Institute (WCTI), has developed a regional sequestration technology training center for Wyoming (Figure 1) and the greater Rocky Mountain region that will establish training programs to facilitate national and global development and deployment of CCUS technology. The WCTI will accomplish this by providing several types of CCUS educational programs, promoting transfer of regional CCUS technology expertise, providing the public, CCUS industry and other interested parties with a variety of professional services, and working with all stakeholders to advance CCUS from demonstration through commercial deployment. These programs will include professional workshops, short-courses focused on specific research and technical topics, online courses, webinars/e-symposia, and communication through newsletters, email tech alerts, and a comprehensive website.

The University of Wyoming and the project partner organizations have characterized the Rock Springs Uplift (RSU) and Moxa Arch deep saline reservoirs in southwestern Wyoming to pave the way for commercial- scale CO2 storage projects within the region. These reservoirs have been characterized by drilling a test well in the RSU, performing extensive testing in and around the well, and processing data from a well in the Moxa Arch that had been installed previously by ExxonMobil. Analytical measurements taken within the wells and from tests performed on samples removed from the wells help to determine the suitability of the reservoirs to store CO2. An additional study has assessed potential release paths from the reservoirs. Specific tasks completed as part of the project included: (1) the installation of a characterization well at the RSU site for the purpose of gathering cores, fluid samples, and geophysical data; (2) 3-dimensional, 3-component seismic surveys and electromagnetic (EM) surveys of the area surrounding the RSU well; (3) development of well catalog and wellbore risk assessments for the RSU and Moxa Arch sites; (4) performance of structural and stratigraphic characterization of the RSU and Moxa Arch sites; (5) analysis of host rock mineralization and its effect on CO2 injectivity and storage and analysis of formation fluids; and (6) design of a commercial-scale sequestration project that includes options for the disposition of displaced waters and a complete performance risk assessment.

This project seeks to improve power plant efficiency and increase net power output by analyzing potential internal uses for heat produced during compression process of carbon capture. Among the thermal integration opportunities to be analyzed are to (1) regenerate post-combustion CO2 capture solvents, (2) preheat boiler feedwater and (3) predry high-moisture coals prior to pulverizing the coal.

NETL is partnering with the University of Miami to provide educational training by assisting in the development of an integrated, low cost methodology for assessing the fate of CO2 pumped into various classes of geologic reservoirs. Project participants will assist in integrating geodetic, seismological, and geochemical data by using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data to construct inter-ferograms (photographic records of optical interference phenomena) at several of the DOE’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Validation Pha+E472:E474se II “legacy” sites and RCSP Deployment Phase III sites. This technology will provide a gross characterization of upper crustal response for sequestration activities under a variety of conditions. Assessments of the geochemical environments in the sites, and the potential for more detailed geochemical modeling, will be completed and integrated with the geodetic studies.

This project focuses on the use of seismic data for assessing CO2 storage reservoirs. The project will train students on numerical simulation of advanced seismic data ideal for mapping of caprock integrity and potential leakage pathways. The project will use numerical simulation to test rapid methods of gathering multi-component, full azimuth data ideal for this purpose.

This project trains students on theoretical rock physics models that can predict the changes in the mineral framework of porous rock based on geological and geochemical conditions and the resulting changes in its porosity; elastic properties; absolute and relative permeability; and electrical formation factor. These results help in quantifying seismic and electrical data for monitoring geologic CO2 sequestration.

The objective of this project is to evaluate the use of composite polymer membranes and porous membrane contactors for the recovery of CO2 from CO2-rich solvent streams from coal gasification syngas. This work will also be applicable to similar post-combustion carbon capture systems. This project will support at least 2 graduate students during the research effort.

This project offers training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students who are conducting research on the effects of CO2 leakage on multiple drinking water aquifers. Duke University is conducting long-term incubations and chemical simulations using aquifer sediments from many locations in order to present a risk assessment that is as accurate and as comprehensive as possible to prioritize areas with the greatest risks for geosequestration and to highlight areas where such risks are low.

The project utilizes undergraduate honors students in independent research on the sealing capacity of geologic formations; development of an advanced undergraduate/graduate level course that includes climate change, and carbon sequestration; support of six graduate students who are developing protocols for assessment of seal layer integrity; and analysis of cap rock samples from geologic formations under consideration for sequestration of CO2.

NETL has partnered with the West Virginia University (WVU) to conduct a three-year study of the Citronelle field located in Mobile County, Alabama, to determine the diagenetic (physical, chemical, and biological) alteration of reservoir rock and formation fluid properties due to injection of supercritical CO2 into mature, conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. The study is using comprehensive geochemical assessments of core and formation fluid from the Citronelle field to test a reactive transport model for prediction of supercritical CO2-fluid-rock interactions. This modeling can be used to predict dissolution and/or mineral trapping in the reservoir rock and guide engineering, assessment of storage capacity, development, and monitoring of CO2 storage sites.

The Citronelle oil field (Figure 1) is an ideal site for CO2 storage because of its geology and the pre-existing CO2 infrastructure in the region. The Citronelle field is currently the focus of an on-going CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project led by the University of Alabama and NETL. CO2-EOR has been viewed as the most promising near term approach for CO2 storage, due to the economic return from extracted oil. Thus, this study is highly relevant to emerging technologies. Also, a state-of-the-art geologic model of the Rodessa Formation reservoir, a major oil and gas reservoir in the eastern Mississippi Interior Salt Basin and promising EOR target, has been created as aresult of the on-going CO2-EOR DOE project.

 

NETL, in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin, has developed the Alliance for Sequestration Training, Outreach, Research and Education (STORE), which is a regional carbon storage technology training center for the Gulf Coast states that facilitates national and global development and deployment of CCUS technology. The training center accomplishes this through technology transfer events; webinars; student, professional, and public training courses; seminars; and communication through newsletters, email tech alerts, and a website. This training makes a vital contribution to the scientific, technical, and institutional knowledge needed to develop commercial CCUS projects. By providing educational and training programs necessary to produce a skilled professional CCUS workforce, the University of Texas at Austin helps the nation meet the need to capture and store large amounts of CO2. In addition, the center promotes transfer of regional CCUS technology expertise, provide the public, CCUS industry and other interested parties with a variety of professional services, and works with all stakeholders to advance CCUS from demonstration stage to deployment.

The Lake Charles CCS Project will accelerate commercialization of large-scale CO2 storage from industrial sources by leveraging synergy between a proposed petcoke to methanol plant (Lake Charles Chemical Project) and one of the largest integrated anthropogenic CO2 capture, transport, and monitored sequestration programs in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region. The Lake Charles CCS Project will promote the expansion of EOR in the Gulf region and supply greater energy security by expanding domestic energy supplies. The compression, pipeline, injection, and monitoring infrastructure will continue to sequester CO2 for many years after the completion of the term of the DOE agreement.

Sandia Technologies, LLC (Sandia), in partnership with Conrad Geoscience Corporation, Schlumberger Carbon Services, Columbia University, Rutgers University, the New York State Museum, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, examined the potential for large-scale, permanent storage of CO2 in deep strata of the Newark Rift Basin (NRB). The NRB underlies a heavily industrialized region comprising parts of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The primary focus of this project was to examine and prove the suitability of these Triassic to Cambrian formations for geologic storage of CO2. The project included the analysis of existing hydrologic, geologic, and oil and gas well data; development of a Geographic Information System (GIS) database; geologic and conceptual modeling; and drilling and completing a characterization well. Drilling a stratigraphic test well to near-geologic basement (approximately 8,000 feet total depth) provided Sandia with formation water samples, native formation pressures, and estimates of formation porosity, permeability, grain and bulk density, lithology, and mineralogy. A second characterization well was drilled in conjunction with Columbia University, and a 2-D seismic survey was completed to further characterize the basin.

Air Products has designed, constructed and is operating a state-of-the-art system to capture the CO2 emitted from two large steam methane reformers. The reformers are located in Port Arthur, Texas and used by Air Products for large-scale hydrogen production. The CO2 removal units utilize Vacuum Swing Adsorption (VSA). Air Products is working with Denbury Resources, Inc. to transport the captured gas via pipeline to oil fields in eastern Texas where it is used for Enhanced Oil Recovery and thereby sequestered.

The goal of this project is to experimentally quantify rapid CO2 capture and storage (CCS) rates via mineral carbonation in peridotitic and basaltic rocks, and to test the hypothesis that rapid carbonation of peridotite leads to a positive feedback via "reactive cracking", in which cracks caused by large volume changes enhance porosity, permeability and reactive surface area.

The Recipient shall develop a microbial and chemical enhancement scheme for in-situ carbon mineralization in geologic formations. This system shall consist of thermodynamic and kinetic studies of CO2-mineral-brine systems and shall investigate the influence of organic acids produced by a microbial reactor on in-situ mineral carbonation.

The objective of this project is to investigate oxy-fuel flame characteristics and assess their impact on the operability of oxy-fuel combustion systems. The individual objectives are to (i) measure fundamental flame characteristics of oxy-fuel combustion, (ii) investigate combustor operability issues of oxy-fuel combustion, and (iii) engage and train students in the multiple facets of the project.

The Recipient shall develop a computational technique which relies upon variational statistics in pore size and pore throat size in order to determine the transport and free-phase storage of carbon dioxide in coal seams.

This project will demonstrate and optimize a process to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial flue gas streams using in-duct scrubbers and sequester it through alkaline clay mineralization. The process uses the captured CO2 to convert an industrial waste, bauxite residue, into a beneficial soil amendment, carbonated alkaline clay. This process will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will convert a high-volume, highly caustic waste product from aluminum production into a saleable soil-building product.

In this Recovery Act project Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) will enhance its existing CCS training and research program by offering courses in CCS topics. Student will attend field trips with "hands-on" involvement and conduct research on potential sequestration targets in the Midwest.

In this Recovery Act project the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), in collaboration with the UIUC Department of Geology, Institute of Genomic Biology and the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium, will provide training and research opportunities for students who will participate in a study to evaluate the subsurface microorganism response to injected CO2 at the ADM Sequestration Site in Decatur, Ill.

NETL is partnering with Southern Illinois University (SIU) to undertake a comprehensive study to understand the potential interactions between organic rocks and CO2. Interactions between various ranked coals (lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, and anthracite) or organic shale with CO2 are complex and not well understood.

The fact that potential risks associated with their storage are seldom evaluated under plausible but extreme transient conditions poses a concern. Most risk assessments are typically accomplished under equilibrium conditions. However, under extreme non-equilibrium conditions (whether natural, seismic, or manmade) there are potential situations that could lead to the re-emission of CO2 stored in organic rocks. The possible interactions have not yet been studied in detail. In addition, SIU is attempting to evaluate how potential pressure and temperature variations, typically encountered under natural seismic conditions, can control the emission, adsorption, and absorption behavior of stored CO2.

 

The Recipient shall perform a combined experimental and modeling study of air capture of CO2 using low-cost, high-capacity sorbents such as hyperbranched amino-polymers. In addition, the Recipient shall examine the adsorption/desorption cycles for approaches using only diurnal temperature variations as energy input, as well as approaches where additional energy input from solar thermal sources is considered.

The Recipient shall provide a graphical user interface program through which previously developed numerical tests can be interfaced for the purpose of determining the optimum spatial distribution of boreholes for tracking a CO2 plume and displaying the data in a three dimensional format.

NETL, in partnership with the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) and the Midwest Geologic Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), has developed the MGSC Sequestration Training and Education Program (STEP) to disseminate CCUS technology and provide education and training opportunities for engineers, geologists, service providers, regulators, executives, and other CCUS personnel working within the Illinois Basin region of the United States.

Calera Corporation will design, build, and operate a Building Materials Demonstration Plant to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plant flue gas into carbonate mineral building materials for use in the construction industry. This study will develop a plan to scale-up the full carbonate mineralization technology for commercial deployment. Using Carbon Mineralization by Aqueous Precipitation (CMAP) technology, anthropogenic CO2 can be used in an economical and environmentally sound process to create useful products. The demonstration plant will operate in conjunction with an existing power production facility in Moss Landing, CA. The beneficial use products derived from the mineralized CO2 will be tested and optimized to maximize their marketability and value. Producing marketable building materials from carbonate minerals with this technology may reduce the net operating costs of sequestering CO2. In addition, with the addition of an electrochemical portion of the project, the potential exists for the co-production of a range of potentially valuable chemical products.

Novomer, along with its subcontractor, proposes to develop polycarbonates from a petrochemical, carbon dioxide, and a proprietary catalyst system first discovered at Cornell University. The system activates inert Carbon Dioxide, enabling it to react with a commodity petrochemical that results in permanent storage of Carbon Dioxide in new chemical structures which are up to 50% by weight Carbon Dioxide. The Energy Department will provide $2.1 million of the proposed $2.63 million Phase I project cost.

This project will demonstrate an innovative process for capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) from a coal-fired industrial source to grow algae in an open-pond configuration. A unique phase change material (PCM) will be used in the open-pond approach to tackle three significant challenges in algae biofuels technology. The PCM is an immiscible liquid that floats on and covers a significant portion of the open-pond surface, reducing water evaporation and providing a near-hermetic seal to prevent introduction of invasive species. The PCM also absorbs infrared solar radiation during the day and releases it at night when the temperature drops. Phase 1 of the project focuses on research and development, conceptual design, permitting, and project management activities to prepare for the second phase. Phase 2will provide construction and two-year operation of a pilot-scale outdoor system that will supply sufficient data to substantiate commercialization efforts. The Department of Energy (DOE) will determine if the Phase II effort will be initiated based on the merits of Phase I results.

This project will develop a plan for pilot scale evaluation of the SkyMine process to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from from a cement manufacturing facility flue gas stream and convert the absorbed CO2 through co-production of carbonate and bicarbonate materials. This pilot-scale project will conduct testing of the SkyMine carbon utilization process at a scale sufficiently large to evaluate the technical viability and the economics of process.

The project is an international collaboration which brings together Canada, the U.S., the European Community, and Japan, as well as numerous other industrial and government sponsors. The research program integrates studies with the $2 billion commercial EOR and storage operations of Cenovus Energy and Apache at the Weyburn and Midale oil fields in the Williston Basin, Saskatchewan. The project is being completed through several phases with an overall goal of enhancing the knowledge base and understanding of CO2 geologic storage conducted with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations. CO2 EOR and storage operations are studied in the Weyburn and Midale oil fields to understand controlling conditions and processes such as site suitability, reservoir capacity, reactive transport, storage integrity, wellbore performance, risk assessment, and effective monitoring and validation techniques.

The CREST research team will optimize catalysts used for the conversion of southwestern lignite into synthetic crude oil that can be shipped to nearby Texas refineries and power plants for development of transportation fuels and power generation. Research will also be undertaken to convert any potential by-products of this process such as CO2 to useful chemicals and gases which may be recycled and used as feedstock to the synthetic fuel process. The overall project is divided into three tasks including a management task outlined in the following document.

The Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has entered into a collaborative agreement with the West Virginia University's National Research Center for Coal and Energy (WVU-NRCCE) to further expand on the existing research efforts previously initiated with the construction of the Hydrogen Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) facility located at the Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV. This expansion will be focused on the development of a second hydrogen fuel production, storage and dispensing facility to be located in Morgantown, WV. When completed in the following year, this facility will be capable of generating, storing, and dispensing hydrogen as a fuel source for various types of hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) and fuel cell-powered vehicles and equipment. Hydrogen is considered a fuel of the future because it does not produce air pollutants when used - clean water is the only byproduct. The electricity for the electrolysis of water to produce pure hydrogen fuel at the Morgantown facility will come from coal-based power generation. The open system architecture design centers on two value propositions: (a) that two cents worth of water holds a kilogram of hydrogen and is an excellent feedstock for production by electrolysis using electric power, and (b) that off-peak grid electricity is undervalued and can be effectively used in hydrogen production. The purpose of this Hydrogen Fuel Dispensing Station project at West Virginia University shall begin with site development and installation of some of the key equipment needed for a Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) platform that will produce and dispense hydrogen fuel (H2). The WVU Hydrogen Fuel Dispensing Station will duplicate the design and performance of the Yeager Airport Hydrogen Fueling Station by using modular layout and an open architecture. This open architecture will support the evaluation of components, devices, subsystems and systems for hydrogen energy. As with the Yeager Airport H2 Station, a modular layout will allow for site flexibility and adaptability. The site development and installation of some major pieces of station equipment will move USDOE, West Virginia and West Virginia University closer to creating a hydrogen corridor by taking steps to establish a second, northern terminus along the I-79 corridor.

Petra Nova Parish Holdings, a joint venture between NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration, will retrofit a CO2 capture plant on an existing coal-fired power plant (W.A. Parish Generating Station) located in Thompsons, Texas, which is southwest of Houston. The project will demonstrate the ability of the CO2 capture technology supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to capture 90% of the CO2 emitted from a 240 megawatt electrical (MWe) flue gas stream. The MHI CO2 capture technology, called the KM CDR Process (Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery), was jointly developed by MHI and the Kansai Electric Power Company. This process uses the proprietary KS-1™ solvent that facilitates low energy requirements, solvent consumption, and waste products, when compared with a conventional solvent.

The project is designed to capture and store 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year. At 240 MWe, this will be the largest post-combustion CO2 capture project installed on an existing coal-fueled power plant. This project has the potential to enhance the long term viability and sustainability of coal-fueled power plants across the United States and worldwide. The University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology will design and manage the CO2 monitoring plans for this project.

The second Cooperative Agreement (DE-FE0003466) supporting the National Center for Hydrogen Technology (NCHT) Program will continue to build on the proven approach and accomplishments obtained during the first five years of the program. The Center will continue to focus on the research and development activities that are required to develop advanced hydrogen production and delivery technologies from fossil fuels. The result of these activities will improve current technology and make available new, innovative technology that can produce and deliver affordable hydrogen from coal, the most abundant fuel resource of the U.S., as well as from other fuels, with significantly reduced or near-zero emissions.

The principle objective of the project is to characterize and test current and next generation high performance surfactants for improved chemical flooding technology, focused on reservoirs in the Pennsylvanian-aged (Penn) sands.

The main objectives for this project are: demonstrating Accelergy's integrated carbon to liquids technology (ICTL) utilizing Montana bituminous coal and indigenous biomass feeds; develop engineering and econometric models on conversion of coal and biomass/algae to liquids using a Montana planning basis; and implement a comprehensive education and training program to prepare the local community for future jobs in the ICTL arena.

The following investigations, to be carried out within a two-year period, are proposed: (1) the simulation method development: Develop reliable interatomic potentials from the highly accurate ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) calculation for Cr-Y and Cr-Ta systems. (2) The application of the simulation method for novel material design: Set up Cr-Y and Cr-Ta models and perform the HPC MD simulation on the Cr based alloy models to study the high temperature properties and the oxidation and sulfate corrosion resistance capabilities. (3) Method validation: Perform experiments on the oxidation and sulfate corrosion resistance of the most promising systems identified by the simulation. The isothermal oxidation and corrosiveness kinetics of Cr based alloy samples will be studied at high temperature in air and at sulfate corrosive environment by thermal-gravity analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and in a high temperature rig. The primary theoretical method of investigation is the ab initio molecular dynamics method based on the density functional theory (DFT).

The overall project goal is to develop a high speed particle imaging method by which to obtain a full-field visualization of rotational motions of non-spherical particles in quasi-2-dimensional semi-dilute (volume fractions of 10 or 15%) flows and to take into account drag force interactions between bidisperse non-spherical grains and fluid flow.

The project will conduct materials and device research and development. The initial phase of work will focus on the sensing mechanism of LaBaCo2O5 thin films. Work includes optimization of the fabrication conditions and determination of the general characteristics and sensing mechanism of the highly epitaxial LaBaCo2O5.5 thin-films including surface exchange, reactivity and stability. The second phase of work will fabricate and demonstrate a resistive chemical sensor system for high temperature applications.

The overall goal is to provide valuable insight in to the mechanisms and processes that could lead to next generation hot section material operating at temperature beyond 1350°C which could play an important role in current plight towards greener energy. The main objectives of the proposed projects are: (1) developing a supercell approach to evaluate physical properties of alloys which maintains various order and disorder bulk phases and interfaces; (2) applying the supercell approach to study the physical properties of Nb-Si alloy. The results will be used to guide the search for optimal Nb-Si alloy design with a balanced set of physical properties.

The research carried out in this project encompassed three general areas: (i) assessment of relevant radiation properties of particle clouds encountered in fluidized bed and pulverized coal combustors, (ii) development of proper spectral models for gas–particulate mixtures for various types of two-phase combustion flows, and (iii) development of a radiative transfer equation (RTE) solution module for such applications. The resulting models were validated against artificial cases since open literature experimental data were not available. The final models are in modular form tailored toward maximum portability, and were incorporated into two research codes: (i) the open-source CFD code OpenFOAM, which had been extensively used in previous work, and (ii) the open-source multi-phase flow code MFIX, which is maintained by NETL.

This project will develop high resolution methods for modeling the three dimensional mechanical response of metallic alloys when exposed to high temperatures. The methodology will include three (3) dimensional microstructure generation from microscopy data, and an image-based method for high resolution simulation of mechanical response. The technical focus will be on simulating plastic deformation and damage accumulation of polycrystalline materials at the grain scale.

The scope of the work proposed is two-fold. Researchers will first use a laser nano-fabrication technique to produce 3D structurally functional metal-oxide nano-materials for high-temperature gas sensing. Then, functional metal oxides will be integrated on high-temperature optical sensor platforms. Researchers will fabricate three-dimensional photonic crystals using functional metal oxides, utilizing a robust and simple approach to construct multi-beam interference patterns using a single diffractive optical element. Additionally, femto-second laser processing techniques will be used to produce high-temperature stable fiber grating sensors and long-period grating based in-fiber interferometer. The final aspect of the research effort includes coating metal-oxide nano-films inside the hollow core optical fibers to enhance the Raman and the photo-luminescence signals for gas sensing. The large surface area of nano-composite metal-oxides will serve as effective gas absorbers to reduce the fiber length needed for high-sensitivity measurements. Using coated hollow-tube waveguides, a number of spectroscopy studies will be performed to assess the feasibility of fuel gas sensing at high temperature.

Researchers at West Virginia University (WVU) will develop micro-scale, chemical sensors and sensor arrays composed of nano-derived, metal-oxide composite materials to detect H2 and H2S within high-temperature environments (500-1200ºC). Most micro-patterned semi-conductor based chemical sensors use thin film deposition and wet/dry etching processes. This work will demonstrate an innovative microcasting process for forming chemi-resistive sensors with 20-100 µm feature size of various geometries composed of nano-composite electrodes that display high-temperature microstructural and morphological stability. In order to achieve this goal, the work will concurrently address issues relating to electrode stability, selectivity, and sensor miniaturization.

Based on a recent discovery of premelting-like GB segregation in refractory metals occurring at high temperatures and/or high alloying levels, the proposed research will investigate GB segregation and embrittlement in tungsten (W) based alloys as model systems. The overall objective is to develop a theoretical framework in combination with a multiscale modeling strategy for predicting GB segregation and embrittlement. The project is divided into three tasks (seven subtasks) in two phases . The key objectives for a 2-year Phase I are developing (a) a quantitative model for predicting GB segregation in ternary W alloys, (b) a multiscale modeling strategy to predict GB embrittlement from GB segregation, and (c) the experimental validation and support. A 1-year Phase II will validate and refine models and conduct several exploratory studies.

A CO2 sorbent regeneration process will be experimentally and computationally studied. The experimental effort will include obtaining the data necessary to determine the intrinsic reaction rates and diffusivity parameters for the CO2absorption/regeneration and the WGS reactions. A multi-phase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is proposed which includes a population balance equation governing the particle porosity distribution (PPD) evolution. The CFD/Population Balance Equation (PBE) model will be numerically solved and simulations of the regenerative carbon dioxide removal process will be performed; the Finite size domain Complete set of trial functions Method Of Moments (FCMOM) numerical technique will be used and developed to solve the PBE. The simulation results will be used to determine the optimum reactor configuration/geometry and the operating conditions for the CO2 removal and hydrogen production.

The main objective of this project is to carry out extensive computational modeling on Mo-based composite alloys that can be used in a high temperature high pressure environment for applications in fossil energy conversion technology. Specifically the objectives are: (1) To develop a new method for calculating thermomechanical properties at extreme conditions based on ab initio calculation of the phonon spectra; (2) to explore materials for fossil energy applications in the Mo-Si-B system using a supercell approach; (3) to understand the fundamental mechanism for the enhanced thermomechanical properties of the modeled structures in relation to their electronic structures; and (4) to establish effective collaborations with scientists at DOE laboratories and at other institutions to accelerate the materials development for fossil energy technology.

Solidia Technologies, Inc. (Solidia) is working to create an energy-efficient, carbon dioxide (CO2)-consuming inorganic binder based on a patented synthetic Wollastonite material known as Solidia CementTM (SC) that will act as a suitable substitute for Portland Cement (PC). The process developed by Solidia utilizes a binding phase based on carbonation chemistry rather than conventional hydration chemistry (i.e., curing by adding water). During CO2-curing, SC was demonstrated to consume 250kg of CO2 per metric ton SC produced (30% by weight). The project initially started with an investigation of the effect of temperature, pressure, and particle size on the carbonation reaction rate and yield. Solidia further optimized the curing process at bench scale by analyzing the effect of water distribution and drying on the curing process. Solidia then successfully produced several full-scale product forms (railroad ties, concrete block, and hollow core slab) that exceeded performance standards. Solida is currently performing commercial trials at several precast concrete manufacturers to demonstrate feasibility of retrofitting to existing facilities at comparable production economics.

Researchers at PhosphorTech Corporation have modified conventional photocatalyst materials to improve their ability to convert/reform CO2 into other useful chemicals in a cost-effective and energy efficient manner. A photocatalyst is a material that speeds up a chemical reaction when subjected to sufficient light energy (sunlight in this study). To date, even the most efficient conventional photocatalysts suffer from extremely low concentration yields (0.01-0.1 volume percent), making them impractical for commercial applications. Researchers are making efforts to improve performance in order to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these technology types for reforming CO2.

Akermin proposes the development and demonstration of a bench scale level reactor with the ability to capture up to 90% of CO2 from a simulated flue gas using a solvent with significantly lower regeneration energy at rates comparable to the solvent monoethanolamine (MEA). Over the course of the project, Akermin will identify the most suitable strains of carbonic anhydrase for carbon capture under industrial conditions, optimize a micellar polymer structure for enzyme immobilization and interface with contactor systems, and demonstrate its efficacy in a bench scale unit capable of processing up to 500 standard liters of gas per minute.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Siemens investigated the feasibility of integrating CO2 from emission sources (power plants, manufacturing facilities, cement plants, or fertilizer facilities) into a chemical reaction process that creates organic carbonate commodity chemicals for later use. The researchers also designed electrochemical processes which allow for continuous capture of CO2 followed by cyclic organic carbonate synthesis using organocatalysts. They conducted multiple lifecycle analyses of the electrochemical process and commodity chemicals synthesized during chemical CO2 storage process. The basis of the capture technology is the chemical affinity of electrochemically active carriers for CO2 molecules. These carriers facilitate the effective capture of CO2 from a dilute gas stream (effluents from CO2 emitters) through the formation of chemically activated species. The organocatalytic CO2 conversion processes have been demonstrated to be a high-yielding continuous synthesis for the production of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and epoxide as well as an efficient cyclic carbonate synthesis from CO2 and olefins.

The objective of this two-year bench-scale project is to develop a cost-effective hybrid system for CO2 capture based on the performance achieved by the sub-ambient temperature operation of the Air Liquide hollow fiber membrane. The membrane will be coupled with cryogenic processing technology in a closed-loop test system that will verify the effect of possible contaminants, such as SOx, NOx and water, on membrane performance at levels relevant to coal-fired power plants. Experimental results will be used to refine the integrated process simulation and to design a slipstream facility.

Researchers at McGill University worked to develop a CO2 curing process for the precast concrete industry that can utilize CO2 in place of steam as a reactant to accelerate strength gain, reduce energy consumption, and improve the durability of precast concrete products. Carbon dioxide curing of concrete is considered a CO2 storage process. As gaseous CO2 is converted to thermodynamically stable calcium carbonate, the CO2 becomes embedded in calcium silicate hydrate. Concrete masonry blocks and fiber-cement panels are ideal candidate building products for carbon storage, as they are mass-produced and conventionally cured with steam. In order to make the process economically feasible, self-concentrating absorption technology was studied to produce low cost CO2 for concrete curing. The compact design of the CO2 chamber and low cost carbon capture technology should result in a net process cost of less than $10 per ton of CO2 stored. The proposed research examined the possibility of achieving a cost-effective, high-performance concrete manufacturing process through a prototype production using specially designed chambers, called CO2 claves, to replace steam kilns and implement forced-diffusion technology to maximize carbon uptake at minimal process costs.

This project aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of a CO2 utilization process for producing carbon monoxide and a variety of other useful products based on reduction of CO2 using abundant low-value carbon sources such as petcoke, sub-bituminous coal, lignite, and biomass. The chemical process is based on the reverse Boudouard reaction, in which carbon (C) reduces CO2 to produce carbon monoxide (CO). The reduced product (CO) can then be used to create other chemicals. A preliminary techno-economic analysis for the process showed that it had a promising rate of return on investment. The project also included an investigation of direct chemical production using CO2; specifically, the potential for producing ethylene and dry reforming of methane. Several catalysts developed and optimized in this project demonstrated production of ethylene at temperatures between 800°C and 900°C. For dry reforming, a catalyst formulation developed on this project demonstrated reactivity at temperatures between 500°C and 600°C. These results show that with suitable catalysts, CO2 utilization can be used to produce many of the large volume commodity chemicals currently manufactured.

ADA Environmental Solutions (ADA-ES) will design, construct, and operate a 1 megawatt electric (MWe) pilot-scale test unit to evaluate the performance and cost of an advanced solid sorbent-based carbon dioxide (CO2) post-combustion capture technology for coal-fired power plants. ADA-ES evaluated over 100 potential CO2 sorbents to select sorbents for scale-up that are stable, have relatively high CO2 capacity, and have lower heats of reaction than carbonate-based solids. The project will utilize progress on sorbent technology validated at bench scale in a separate Department of Energy (DOE) project (DE-NT0005649) and will refine and optimize sorbent capture and regeneration processes through pilot testing and process modeling. Project results will be used to develop a preliminary full-scale commercial design in preparation for demonstration at the next scale. Predecessor Project: DE-NT0005649 Successor Project: DE-FE0012914

Collaborators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Energy Commercialization, LLC will investigate the use of a carbonate salt (potassium or sodium carbonate) as a solvent for absorption-based, post-combustion CO2 capture. A preliminary techno-economic evaluation shows that energy use with the Hot Carbonate Absorption Process (CAP) is about half that of its monoethanolamine (MEA) counterpart. The Hot-CAP process integrates a high temperature (70-80 degrees Celsius) CO2 absorption column, a slurry-based high pressure (up to 40 atm) CO2 stripping column, a crystallization unit to separate bicarbonate crystals and recover the carbonate solvent, and a recovery unit for the calcium sulfate byproduct of SO2 removal. The research team will perform a proof-of-concept study aimed at generating process engineering and scale-up data to help advance Hot-CAP technology to the pilot-scale demonstration level within three years.

This project provided rigorous estimates of the carbon storage potential of mafic and ultramafic rocks through the process of in-situ mineral carbonation. Mafic and ultramafic rocks contain low levels of silica and high levels of calcium-rich minerals that react with CO2 to form solid carbonate minerals, thus permanently isolating it from the atmosphere. The project involved two related, interdisciplinary parts: (1) geochemical experiments and modeling on individual minerals and rock assemblages to determine kinetics and thermodynamics of the main mineral carbonation reactions, and (2) geomechanical experiments and modeling to elucidate processes accompanying the carbonation reactions, such as flow and deformation, which can significantly alter the effective reaction rates in actual rock formations.

This project used four dimensional (4D) seismic data from the Sleipner project in the Norwegian North Sea to conduct multiphase flow and reactive mass transport modeling of CO2 migration in the reservoir. Researchers at Indiana University used the geologic model provided by StatOil to develop a reservoir scale multi-phase reactive flow model for CO2 plume migration and dynamic evolution of CO2 trapping mechanisms (hydrodynamic/structural, solubility, mineral, and residual/capillary) at Sleipner. The reactive flow model was calibrated through history matching with progressive CO2 plume migration delineated by 4D seismic data. The calibrated reservoir model was then extrapolated to a regional scale model of multi-phase reactive mass transport to predict the fate of CO2 10,000 years after injection. A rigorous geochemical reaction kinetics framework was implemented and a number of sensitivity analysis and bounding calculations were used to aid in the reduction of uncertainty in predictions of geochemical reactions.

Montana State University developed a biomineralization-based technology for sealing preferential flow pathways in the vicinity of injection wells. The engineered biomineralization process produces biofilm and mineral deposits that reduce the permeability of geologic media while modifying the geochemistry of brines to enhance CO2 solubility and mineral precipitation. This process can be targeted to the geologic media surrounding carbon storage injection wells to provide long-term sealing of preferential CO2 leakage pathways. The project had three main objectives: (1) construct and test a mesoscale high pressure rock test system (HPRTS); (2) develop biomineralization seal experimental protocol; and (3) create biomineralization seals in different rock types to simulate different potential field conditions.

Brown University researchers have demonstrated the viability of a bench scale reaction to utilize carbon dioxide and ethylene as reactants in the production of valuable acrylate compounds with low-valent molybdenum catalysts. Exploratory experiments have been conducted to identifying those factors which control the current catalyst limiting step in acrylic acid formation. The project consisted of three project phases. Phase I expanded the range of molybdenum complexes capable of coupling CO2 and ethylene by defining the available ligand architectures which facilitate acrylate formation. Phase II leveraged computational and experimental mechanistic investigations to determine the catalyst coordination environment and reaction conditions necessary to enhance the catalytic limiting step, reductive acrylate elimination. Phase III included the design and preparation of an optimized molybdenum catalyst(s) for a bench scale reaction to test the feasibility of molybdenum catalyzed acrylate formation from CO2.

This project has developed and demonstrated a method to rapidly, cost effectively, and efficiently perform technical assessments of major engineering and scientific issues considered to be critical to the design, implementation, and operation of a saline aquifer CO2 storage sites and enhanced oil recovery operations. The research effort integrated well completion design, including effects of geomechanical stresses, into a static reservoir model coupled with reactive transport simulation. Model simulations enable CO2 storage sites assessment of geologic and fluid effects and factors on CO2 injection, capacity, and plume migration.

The objective of this study was to develop a reservoir-assessment tool based on novel and robust borehole seismic technology that can generate ultra-high resolution P and S wave images for detailed characterization and precise monitoring of CO2 storage sites. Paulsson investigators built and tested a prototype downhole seismic system capable of deploying a thousand 3C downhole receivers using fiber optic sensor technology deployed on drill pipe. The system was tested at a CO2 storage site. There are three primary components of a downhole seismic system: (1) the seismic sensor, (2) the deployment system, and (3) the surface electronics and recording system. The planned approach for the sensor involved designing a high-temperature fiber optic receiver. For a deployment system, a small diameter, high strength drill pipe using offshore drill pipe manufacturing technology was used. The drill pipe was used as the backbone for the high-temperature deployment system and power is supplied through the tubing to clamp the receiver pods to the borehole wall. The strain on the fiber was recorded, analyzed, and transformed into a seismic record using an interferometric technique with all electronics and instruments placed at the surface.

Clemson University has characterized wellbore deformation under conditions anticipated during geologic CO2 storage, identifying and evaluating techniques for interpreting the results of simultaneous measurements of displacement and pressures during well testing or operations, and evaluating capabilities and requirements for downhole geomechanical instrumentation. Wellbores can deform in response to the injection or recovery of fluid. In extreme cases, the deformation is catastrophic and the well can be compromised. Wellbores can potentially deform during carbon storage operations, and effective monitoring of this process can be used to detect early precursors to fracturing within the injection formation, induced faulting, and failure of wellbore seals so they can be addressed before becoming catastrophic.

This Georgia Tech project will improve the state-of-the-art understanding of turbulent flame propagation characteristics of high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels. The turbulent flame speed has a leading order influence on important combustor performance metrics such as flashback and blow-off propensities, emissions, life of hot section components, and combustion instabilities limits, including operating limits required to prevent harmful combustion dynamics. This research specifically addresses three of the combustion topic areas identified by Department of Energy (DOE) as of great importance for HHC systems: (1) turbulent burning velocities, (2) flash-back, and (3) exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) impacts. The results of this effort will also enable advances in several other combustion topic areas; e.g., predicting combustion dynamics (which requires flame shape predictions) and improving large eddy simulation capabilities by providing turbulent burning rate sub-models for HHC fuels. The project involves both experimental and modeling efforts. Prior work used optical flame emission in measurement of global turbulent consumption speeds of hydrogen (H2)/carbon monoxide (CO) fuels. For this project, researchers will extend these previous efforts to a broader reactant class, including mixtures diluted with CO2, water (H2O), and nitrogen (N2). Depending upon the degree of dilution, these mixtures will simulate both gasified fuel blends and systems with EGR. This data will be used to further the development of physics-based, mixture-dependent models of turbulent burning rates and to guide selection of conditions for determining more localized measurements of turbulence/chemistry interactions. Specifically, high-repetition-rate particle image velocimetry and hydroxyl radical planar laser induced fluorescence systems will be used to determine local flame speeds under realistic turbulent conditions. This is necessary for developing an improved understanding of strained flame statistics, and for testing and refining propagation models based on leading point concepts. The work plan will initially focus on uniform, premixed reactant mixtures, and then expand in focus by investigating turbulent burning rates in inhomogeneous premixed flows. An example would be obtaining measurements of turbulent propagation speeds in mixtures with stratified fuel/air profiles.

The project was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a new seismic tool, volumetric curvature (VC), to identify the presence, extent, and impact of paleokarst heterogeneity and faulting structures on geologic CO2 storage in the Arbuckle Group, a saline carbonate formation in southwestern Kansas. Existing seismic and well data were reprocessed and analyzed using VC analysis. An integrated geologic model was then developed to indirectly confirm the presence of VC identified compartments, as well as to estimate geologic storage capacity, optimum CO2 injection rate that could occur, potential CO2 plume migration, reservoir containment, and CO2 leakage risk. A horizontal well was installed to intersect the paleokarst features and confirm that the imaged seismic feature was present.

This collaborative effort studying technologies important to the reliability of high hydrogen fueled gas turbines has been structured utilizing three phases. Phase I: Leading Edge Model Development and Experimental Validation The initial task for The Ohio State University's (OSU's) turbine reacting flow rig (TuRFR) facility will be to determine if the deposition mechanism for faired cylinders is similar to deposition for turbine vanes. If this approach is feasible, then the relative impact of leading edge diameter on deposition can be investigated using varying diameter cylinders instead of vanes. The deposition measurements will then be made and sent to the University of North Dakota (UND) for surface modeling. During Phase I, UND will study the response of turbulence approaching large cylindrical stagnation regions, the associated heat transfer augmentation, and boundary layer development on the cylinder's surface. Additionally, UND will begin the development of candidate internal cooling geometries for cooling a region of a turbine vane leading edge. Phase II: Experimental Deposition and Roughness Study: OSU will utilize the TuRFR facility, modified to generate higher levels of turbulence, to study the influence of turbulence on deposition rates in turbines. These results will be used to improve predictive modeling and made available to UND for heat transfer measurements. UND will use surfaces generated by OSU as part of their leading edge heat transfer and boundary layer studies. UND will also develop and test candidate internal cooling schemes for large regions on a turbine vane's leading edge. Phase III: Mitigation of Deposition Using Downstream Full Coverage Film Cooling OSU will use faired (rounded to reduce drag) cylinders to explore various film cooling designs to assess their effectiveness at reducing deposition. Actual turbine vane geometry will be used to explore the influence of select film cooling patterns on deposition. UND will investigate the combined influence of turbulence and realistic roughness on film cooling effectiveness and surface heat transfer. As a basis of comparison, they will initially look at the influence of turbulence on film cooling effective-ness and heat transfer for selected full coverage geometries.

The primary objective of this project was to improve the understanding of CO2 trapping mechanisms affected by formation heterogeneity. The basic processes of CO2 trapping are not easily understood through field testing, so a set of multi-scale laboratory tests were conducted to further analyze CO2 trapping mechanisms. The focus of the research was to analyze capillary and dissolution trapping mechanisms since they are considered to be the most relevant processes facilitating permanent CO2 storage in the absence of geologic structural traps. The ultimate goal was to contribute towards improving numerical modeling tools for designing stable CO2 storage operations with optimized storage efficiency and minimized leakage risks.

The objective of this effort is to assess the factors influencing effective CO2 storage capacity and injectivity in the Marcellus shale, the Utica shale, including equivalent shales in Vermont; and the Devonian Ohio shale. The work addresses approaches and/or technologies to improve injectivity and utilization of pore space. Specifically, it provides a better understanding of CO2 trapping mechanisms leading to improved storage permanence and capacity estimates in gas shales, and the effects on storage and injectivity given variable gas shale reservoir types, rock properties, and stratigraphic and structural properties. This effort builds on previous efforts, primarily in New York and Kentucky, to assess the CO2 storage potential of gas shales. The primary focus is on establishing the reservoir engineering and operational requirements to overcome the constraints imposed by shale reservoirs to achieve cost-effective CO2 storage. In other words, the goal of effort is not just to answer how much CO2 can be stored in gas shales; but also to identify the critical factors that can influence optimum CO2 storage volumes and injection rates in gas shales.

This project will result in a detailed database of flame speed and kinetic information, and demonstrate the validity of a comprehensive kinetics model that can predict NOx formation, flame speed, and ignition behavior in the presence of high levels of dilution and minor levels of likely contaminants. These results will lead to deeper understanding of the turbulent flame speed behavior and NOx-formation kinetics of HHC fuels for IGCC applications.

This program will provide an improved mechanistic understanding of the degradation of critical turbine system materials in HHC-fueled systems, and guide the development of more robust materials sets ultimately advancing the goals of the DOE Advanced Turbine Program. These developments will assist in developing coal-derived fuel based turbine systems, facilitating use of domestic energy resources.

The over-arching objective of this project is to conduct a multiscale, multiphysics, interdisciplinary laboratory study that assesses the feasibility of depleted organic-rich gas shale reservoirs for large-scale CO2 sequestration. This project elucidates mechanisms of CO2 injectivity, the formation geomechanical response, CO2 transport through fractures and matrix, storage security through a trap and seal framework, and lays the foundation for accurate estimates of storage rates as well as capacity. Experiments provide data for verification and validation of models to estimate CO2 sequestration capacity and storage effectiveness of gas shales under realistic conditions. Four broad research task areas are examined: (1) physical and chemical aspects of CO2/shale interactions, (2) transport and mobility of critical state CO2 in hydrofracs, natural fractures and pores, (3) ground water/shale/stored CO2 interactions, and (4) trap and seal analysis of CO2 storage in gas shale reservoirs. The scope of activities represents more than 124 man months of effort.

New thermal barrier coating (TBC) materials can be tested for mechanical, physical, and chemical properties by altering the bond coat and top coat compositions. Current studies on TBCs are usually performed by trial-and-error approach. As the trial-and-error process is usually very expensive and time consuming, the Louisiana State University and Southern University team proposes to design a high performance TBC with enhanced top and bond coat through a reliable and efficient theoretical/computational approach. This can be used systematically to identify promising TBC bond coat and top coat compositions. Using high performance computing (HPC) simulations, an ab initio (i.e., from first principles) molecular dynamics (MD)-based design tool can screen and identify TBC systems with desired physical properties. Such computations work from basic or fundamental laws of nature to derive effects without intervening assumptions or special models, in principle producing well-founded results. The new TBC systems will be demonstrated experimentally under IGCC environments.

Recent research data indicate that the current bill of coating materials is not directly compatible with the moisture-rich, ash-laden environment present with coal-derived high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels. Thus, Stony Brook University research focuses on a multi-layer, multifunctional strategy that includes discretely engineered coating layers to combat various technical issues through a concerted effort integrating material science, processing science, and performance studies, including recent developments in advanced, in situ thermal spray coating property measurement for full-field enhancement of coating and process reliability. This project will further the science-based understanding of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and elevate the roles that processing and novel materials can play in extending bond coat and top coat lifetimes, and provide a new framework for examining the processing-performance relationship in multilayer thermal barriers as a pathway for reliable integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coating development, and provide new insight for the thermal spray industry. In this project, TBCs will be developed through investigation into how processing affects the oxidation behavior of metallic bond coats in water vapor environments, and by developing ceramic top coat architectures using thermal spray processing of emerging zirconate materials that have shown promise as advanced thermal barriers. Novel, in situ particle and coating state sensors will be used to accelerate process development and understand processing-microstructure relationships and process reliability. A systematic evaluation of multilayer coatings on nickel superalloys will determine properties (including microstructure, compliance, residual stress, thermal conductivity, and sintering behavior) and degradation mechanisms due to high-temperature water vapor and ash exposure as well as erosion.

Gas Technology Institute, partnering with PoroGen Corporation and Aker Process Systems, proposes to develop cost-effective separation technology for CO2 capture from flue gases based on a combination of absorption and hollow fiber membrane technologies. In a three-phase effort, they plan to develop a highly chemically inert and temperature stable PEEK hollow fiber membrane optimized for CO2 capture in a membrane contactor, an integrated membrane absorber and desorber, and an energy efficient process for CO2 recovery from the flue gas. The contactor can be utilized for removal of numerous other gas pollutants such as NOx and SOx, for separation of CO2 from hydrogen in refinery streams, and for separation of CO2 from natural gas (natural gas sweetening).

The project made accurate predictions for the trapping of injected mixed supercritical (sc)CO2, in the deep saline aquifer of the Rock Springs Uplift (RSU) in Southwest Wyoming. Such predictions were based on new, state-of-the-art experimental measurements of relevant flow functions that were used in a recently developed, high-performance, high-resolution simulation tool. Results of state-of-the-art laboratory experiments using core samples from the RSU were used in a physically-based dynamic core-scale pore network model that led to improved understanding of mixed scCO2 trapping mechanisms, This, in turn, allowed the identification of pore-level flow conditions under which permanent capillary trapping can be maximized, which were subsequently communicated to a high performance simulation tool. This tool allowed for geomechanical deformation of the surrounding formations, equilibrium calculations for mixed scCO2, water, and salt, and was used for uncertainty quantification using geological models.

The principal objective of this project was to determine the influence of diagenetic and structural features at the reservoir/caprock interface on transmission of CO2 into and through the caprock. The study focused mainly on the influence of deformation structures and fractures on fluid flow. The project team investigated interfaces in three different reservoir/seal pairs. The first stage of the project involved a brief field campaign to perform basic descriptions of the interfaces and conduct detailed sampling. The second stage involved laboratory analysis of the samples to describe their petrographic, geochemical, mechanical, and petrophysical properties. Finally, the descriptive information acquired in the first two steps was used as input data for a detailed coupled thermal hydrologic mechanical chemical modeling investigation of the implication for transmission across the storage zone/caprock interface. Some of the findings of this study are that differences in permeability at the reservoir-caprock interface caused by deformation bands and fractures have a large impact on fluid flow and that seals have the capacity to store large quantities of CO2 if permeable fractures terminate below the top of the seal.

Columbia University researchers are testing and evaluating carbon-14 (14C) as a reactive tracer to assess CO2 transport in a basaltic storage reservoir. Evaluation of mineral trapping through carbonation is also being completed. Studies are conducted at the CarbFix CO2 pilot injection site in Iceland. The study evaluated 14C in combination with trifluormethylsulphur pentafluoride (SF5CF3) as a conservative tracer to monitor the CO2 transport in a storage reservoir. In addition, the study is helping to verify in situ mineral carbonation by performing laboratory analyses on retrieved fluid and rock samples. Researchers obtained fluid and rock samples from the CarbFix CO2 pilot injection site in Iceland where the injected CO2 is labeled with 14C. Samples were analyzed to study the extent of mineral carbonation in a basaltic storage reservoir. Carbon-14 in combination with d13C, total dissolved carbonate and SF5CF3 analyses are being used to quantify carbonation and to estimate in situ reaction rates for the basalt reservoir. The 14C, d13C, and the total dissolved or precipitated carbon data from the fluid and rock samples were used to estimate a carbon mass balance for the CarbFix site. The study drilled a 600 meter borehole and retrieved core and samples to also verify the mineral carbonation.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute will demonstrate hydrogen separation from coal-derived syngas using palladium (Pd) and Pd alloy membranes on porous metal supports. The goal of the project is to carry out a comprehensive engineering design for advanced hydrogen-carbon dioxide (H2-CO2) Pd and Pd-alloy composite membrane separations with process intensification technologies that reduce the number of unit operations required for H2 production from a coal (coal-biomass)-based syngas.

Praxair is conducting research to develop hydrogen transport membrane (HTM) technology to separate carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) in coal-derived syngas for IGCC applications. The project team has fabricated palladium based membranes and measured hydrogen fluxes as a function of pressure, temperature, and membrane preparation conditions. Membranes are a commercially-available technology in the chemical industry for CO2 removal and H2 purification. There is, however, no commercial application of membrane processes that aims at CO2 capture for IGCC syngas. Due to the modular nature of the membrane process, the design does not exhibit economy of scale—the cost of the system will increase linearly as the plant system scale increases making the use of commercially available membranes, for an IGCC power plant, cost prohibitive. For a membrane process to be a viable CO2 capture technology for IGCC applications, a better overall performance is required, including higher permeability, higher selectivity, and lower membrane cost.

The overall objective of this project is to obtain the first rigorous assessment of the amount and extent of local capillary trapping expected to occur in typical storage formations. The University of Texas Austin is gathering variogram models typical of CO2 storage formations and generating a large number of geostatistical realizations of permeability from these models. The realizations are being populated with key petrophysical properties using crossproperty correlations and the spatial properties of the resulting model formations are being analyzed to determine the potential for local capillary trapping. The emplacement and buoyancy-driven migration of CO2 and the onset of a leakage path in the overlying seal is being simulated and the simulation was analyzed to determine the extent of filling of the local capillary traps and the degree of immobilization within them. Final-scale CO2 saturation distributions were extracted from the simulations and bench-scale buoyant displacements in heterogeneous 2D sand packs were performed.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) developed a prototype modular computational approach for monitoring the location of the CO2 plume as it moves through the subsurface during the injection process—the period when the CO2 is pumped through an injection well into the targeted rock formation. The approach utilized project injection rate and pressure data as a basis for the modeling input. This enabled modeling and monitoring capabilities at negligible incremental cost because injection rate and pressure data is recorded for operational reasons in every carbon storage project. A goal of the modular computational approach is to take advantage of the inherent flexibility it provides, allowing for other types of data, such as surface deflection or seismic imaging, to be easily included with the rate/pressure data to reduce the uncertainty of the inferred plume location.

Advancements in hydrogen (H2) membrane separation are critical to allow the development of a viable H2 economy based on coal/biomass processing with CO2 capture. To reach the technology targets set by the Department of Energy (DOE), United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), in collaboration with Power+Energy, Inc. (P+E) and the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota (EERC), proposes to demonstrate the membrane-based separation of H2 from coal-derived syngas at the pre-engineering/pilot scale using an improved Palladium (Pd) based membrane technology.

Western Research Institute proposes to build and test several pilot scale hydrogen separation devices for use in a gasification product stream. The outcome of the project will be a demonstration of manufacturing practices in addition to the delivery of the engineering for a hydrogen production system ready for testing at large scale.

On August 5, 2010, Secretary Chu announced DOE's intent to award $1 billion in Recovery Act funding to the Ameren Energy Resources, Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), and Air Liquide Process & Construction, Inc. (AL), and the FutureGen Industrial Alliance (FGA), to build FutureGen 2.0. FutureGen 2.0 will help ensure that the United States remains competitive in a carbon constrained economy, creating jobs while reducing greenhouse gas pollution. FutureGen 2.0 is expected to be the world's first, commercial-scale, oxy-combustion power plant, and will help to open up the over $300 billion market for coal unit repowering and position the nation's electric power sector to utilize technologies that could capture and sequester significant amounts of CO2. To ensure timely implementation, a two track approach was devised where Ameren, B&W and AL will repower the Ameren power unit with oxy-combustion technology and capture and compress the CO2 for transport while the FGA will manage the process of CO2 transportation, storage as well as development of visitor and educational facilities.

This project aims to demonstrate small scale SOFC technology readiness for commercial scale-up. Technology Management, Inc. (TMI), the project performer, estimates that the system can reduce fuel consumption by approximately 50% compared to conventional reciprocating engine systems and proposes to validate these savings by empirical data. In addition, use of this technology operating on bio-based fuels can eliminate carbon emissions to the atmosphere associated with the power produced (equivalent to approximately 9.6 metric tons CO2/kW/year as compared to power produced from a conventional coal-fired power plant). This demonstration is noteworthy because today there are few practical alternatives for ordinary consumers to obtain their home electric energy from biofuel, a potentially attractive feature to some environmentally conscious consumers.

This project will demonstrate an application of a CoalTek, Inc. (CoalTek) proprietary microwave process for treating energy feedstock materials. The process combines coal and biomass to produce an economically viable and suitable single-stream feedstock for co-gasification. Phase I of the project will focus on microwave processing, batch-scale production, and laboratory characterizations of briquettes with the objective to identify the combinations of biomass and coal types that provide the most suitable briquetted product for co-gasification. Phase II will use a larger scale, continuous mode process to (1) demonstrate the performance of the co-briquetted fuels during co-gasification in two different pilot-plant designs, i.e., fixed-bed and fluidized-bed gasifiers, and (2) enable realistic cost estimates for the construction and operation of a commercial-scale biomass-coal briquetting plant based on CoalTek's proprietary microwave process.

The objectives of this Georgia Tech study are to obtain experimental reactor data and develop kinetic rate expressions for pyrolysis and char gasification for the coal-biomass blends under conditions free from transport limitations, to develop a detailed understanding of the effect of pyrolysis conditions on the porous char structure, to build mathematical models that combine true kinetic rate expressions with transport models for predicting gasification behavior for a broad range of pressures and temperatures, and to investigate the physical and chemical parameters that might lead to synergistic effects in coal-biomass blends gasification.

The GTI research team will subject lignocellulosic biomass (plant biomass that is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), in the form of loblolly pine (a lignocellulosic, short rotation woody crop), to hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), creating a densified coal-like product by exposing biomass feedstocks to heat and pressure in the presence of water. The process will deconstruct the lignocellulosic feedstock to produce aqueous and solid streams. The first stage of this work will occur at a small bench-scale facility at the Desert Research Institute to determine optimal HTC processing parameters and develop accurate mass and energy balances. The second stage will utilize larger sample sizes at a larger, dedicated Process Development Unit (PDU). Initially, the HTC product will be mixed with ground coal, pelletized, and assessed for strength and grindability. The durability of lignin and similar binders in wood when subjected to HT will be assessed. In a later phase, loblolly pine samples will be processed using HTC and internally mixed with ground coal within the PDU so that it can be directly formed to a final densified product, which will also be assessed for strength and grindability. GTI will use Aspen software (Aspen Technology, Inc.) to carry out process simulations based on engineering results attained during the project. These simulations will provide the technical basis for developing a techno-economic analysis to evaluate the economic viability of HTC for producing a new coal/HTC biomass fuel.

The overall objective of the proposed 36-month effort is to develop the models needed to accurately predict conversion rates of coal/biomass mixtures to synthesis gas (syngas) under conditions relevant to a commercially-available coal gasification system configured to co-produce electric power and liquid fuels. The scope of work involves testing coal/biomass mixtures in our entrained flow reactors and pressurized thermogravimetric analyzer in order to obtain the data needed to develop a model that accurately predicts char mass loss rates in the types of environments established in commercial entrained flow gasifiers.

The objective of this project is to develop preliminary conceptual design concepts and conduct a series of techno-economic systems analyses to provide an improved understanding of the energy, environmental, and economic performance of industrial facilities that produce electricity and a fuel or chemical co-product from a mixture of coal and biomass, with capture and underground storage (CCS) of by-product CO2.

The overall goal of the project is to develop design concepts, incorporating advanced technologies in areas such as oxygen production, feed systems, gas cleanup, component separations and gas turbines, for integrated and economically viable coal and biomass fed gasification facilities equipped with carbon capture and storage for the following scenarios: (i) coproduction of power along with hydrogen, (ii) coproduction of power along with fuels, (iii) coproduction of power along with petrochemicals, and (iv) coproduction of power along with agricultural chemicals.

The project team is developing engineered systems for manufacturing coal-biomass briquettes or pellets containing 10 to 30 percent biomass that are ideally suited for transportation, storage, and direct co-feeding into industrial gasifiers. An in-depth experimental study to determine the key reactive properties for coal-biomass mixed fuels is underway, testing sub-bituminous coal mixed with biomass feedstocks of hybrid poplar wood, switchgrass, or corn stover. Enabling technology for this project includes the application of novel binding additives and, when required, an advanced conditioning process for upstream sizing, upgrading, and drying. Upon completion, the project will provide information on the equipment, necessary conditions, and process requirements for the manufacture of optimal coal-biomass feedstock for co-gasification.

This Virginia Tech project is a collaborative effort involving experiments, kinetic modeling, and computational fluid dynamics that incorporates efficient methods for solving complex heterogeneous chemistry. The goal is to determine the key reactive properties for coal-biomass mixed fuels. To achieve this goal, sub-bituminous coal will be mixed with biomass feedstocks of hybrid poplar wood, switchgrass, or corn stover and catalysts added to lower the gasification temperatures, thereby improving the gasification process. The outcome of this research will be characterization of the chemical kinetics and reaction mechanisms of the co-gasification fuels and development of a set of models that can be integrated into other modeling environments. Finally, the reaction kinetics modeling will be implemented into NETL multiphase flow code—Multiphase Flow with Interphase Exchange (MFIX)—to efficiently simulate the chemistry and recommendations will be made regarding fluidization characteristics.

Parker aims to advance its micro-mixing injector platform, which has already demonstrated low NOx emissions, to improve combustion operability, in particular by attenuating combustion dynamics. This will be accomplished by developing and implementing a high-bandwidth piezo valve with the capability to adaptively modulate fuel flow to the premixer.

Wind tunnel facilities at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and University of Texas at Austin (UT) have been specifically designed to simulate film cooling of turbine vanes, blades, and endwalls. These facilities incorporate equipment that simulates the deposition of contaminants in the turbine by using molten wax particles to simulate the molten contaminant particles that occur at actual engine conditions. The wax particles used in the test facilities are sized appropriately to simulate the inertial behavior of particles that exist in engine conditions. The use of wax also allows for the simulation of the liquid-to-solid phase change that is essential to the primary deposition mechanism. UT will be focusing on the performance of shallow trench film cooling configurations for various positions on the suction and pressure sides of a simulated vane with active deposition. Meanwhile, Penn State will be investigating the effect of active deposition on various endwall cooling configurations. Preliminary results show that deposition could be simulated dynamically using wax and that the effects of deposition could be quantified using infrared thermography. New endwall and vane surface film cooling configurations will be developed to minimize deposition and maximize cooling performance under contaminated conditions.

Develop advanced technologies that can be used to exploit domestic energy resources and help developing countries reduce their CO2 emissions. In addition, new gas-gas separations technologies to be developed at CAST will have crosscutting applications for a wide spectrum of the Fossil Energy R&D programs.

URS Group, in collaboration with the University of Texas and Trimeric Corporation, will investigate the use of concentrated piperazine (PZ) as a solvent for absorbing CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas while employing a novel, high-temperature, two-stage flash regeneration design. The project objectives are to quantify and validate the robustness of concentrated PZ in an integrated absorption/stripping system with solvent regeneration at 150°C; optimize the equipment design and energy performance of the two-stage flash system; and identify and resolve other potential operational and design issues including process control, corrosion, foaming, and solids precipitation. The project results will be used to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of a full-scale implementation of this process. Previous evaluations of concentrated PZ have indicated greater than 90% capture with significant progress toward the Department of Energy (DOE) cost of electricity goal. This project continues the development of the PZ-based CO2 absorption process through field tests at the University of Texas' Separations Research Program plant and DOE's National Carbon Capture Center.

In this three year project, Virginia Tech Center for Photonics Technology will develop a first-of-a-kind, high-temperature distributed sensing platform capable of monitoring the space- and time-varying thermal properties of an entrained flow gasifier refractory wall. The sensor operates using optically-generated transient, traveling long-period gratings in a photonic crystal optical fiber to achieve fully-distributed measurement of temperatures above 1000°C with centimeter-level spatial resolution.

General Electric Global Research Center will develop model based techniques for (1) enhancing the availability of the gasifier and radiant syngas cooler (RSC) including refractory hot surface degradation and RSC fouling and their impact on sensors; (2) implementing a nonlinear, model-based estimation algorithm to monitor the refractory condition and RSC fouling; and (3) nonlinear optimizing for optimal sensor placement (OSP) to achieve condition monitoring requirements in the presence of practical constraints on sensor types and locations. The performance of the OSP algorithm and resulting condition monitoring solution will be demonstrated using representative test cases for gasifier refractory degradation and RSC fouling. The approach will be applicable to condition monitoring of other critical components in coal-fired power plants.

The primary objectives of this project are to develop in-situ corrosion monitoring sensors for ultrasupercritical (USC) boiler tubes, that is based on WVU's patent pending technology on high temperature electrochemical characterization devices and development of thermal-electric based energy harvesting and telecommunication devices for the self-powered wireless ready sensor system. Successful completion of this project will provide an in-situ corrosion monitoring system and life-prediction toolbox for USC boiler tubes that meets the requirements of next generation USC boiler systems.

The overall objective of this work is the development of model-based sensor placement algorithms for maximizing the robustness and effectiveness of the sensor network to monitor the plant health both at the unit level and at the systems level. This will be achieved by developing a two-tier sensor network algorithm capable of performing component condition monitoring and system-level fault diagnosis. The algorithms will be implemented on a coal-based plant-wide simulation of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) with a rigorous gasifier model. The work is also extendable to similar fossil energy plants.

Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) and partners will validate at pilot scale a cost-effective membrane process to separate CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. The MTR innovative membrane design utilizes two key innovations: high CO2 permeance membranes and a countercurrent sweep module design. This project will advance MTR's membrane technology to the 1 MWe level. MTR will continue to operate an existing 0.05 MWe slipstream field test system, located at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), to optimize membrane materials and module designs. A 1 MWe membrane skid capable of 90% CO2 capture from a 20 ton CO2 per day slipstream of coal-fired flue gas will be designed, constructed, and installed at the NCCC for a six-month field test. MTR's air sweep process design will be evaluated in collaboration with Babcock & Wilcox to determine the performance impact of retrofitting existing boilers. The Electric Power Research Institute will evaluate the benefits of flue gas water recovery, measure the quality of the water produced, and define water management for the integrated CO2 capture process. Results from the 1 MWe skid test program will be used to update a comparative economic analysis of the MTR membrane process to clarify the potential of the MTR membrane process and identify key cost-reduction milestones and success criteria necessary to meet the Department of Energy program goals. Predecessor Project: DE-NT0005312 Successor Project: DE-FE0013118

ION Engineering, LLC and its subcontractors will conduct bench-scale testing of an amine-based solvent that employs an ionic liquid instead of water as the physical solvent, greatly reducing the regeneration energy while lowering process water usage. In addition to a 60 percent reduction in regeneration energy requirement, an ionic liquid-amine solvent mixture offers higher CO2 working capacity, reduced corrosion, reduced solvent loss, and other benefits when compared to conventional aqueous amine solvents.

GE Global Research, GE Energy, and the University of Pennsylvania will model creep-fatigue-environment interactions in steam turbine rotor materials for advanced ultra supercritical coal power plants. The work will demonstrate computational algorithms for alloy property predictions and to determine and model key mechanisms contributing to the damages of creep-fatigue-environment interactions.

This project focuses on the computational development of a new class of materials called MAX phases, or Mn 1AXn (M = a transition metal, A = Al, X = C or N). The MAX phases are layered transition metal carbides or nitrides with the rare combination of metallic and ceramic properties. Due to their unique structural arrangements and directional bonding (both covalent and ionic) these thermodynamically stable alloys possess some of the most desirable properties such as damage-resistance, oxidation resistance, excellent thermal and electric conductivity, machinability, and fully reversible dislocation-based deformation. These properties can be explored in the search for new phases and composites that can meet performance goals set by DOE for applications in the next generation of fossil energy power systems.

The objectives of this project are to develop, demonstrate, and validate computational capabilities for predictive analysis of interactions at the grain boundary of refractory alloys. The simulation capabilities will include Quantum Mechanics (QM) based ReaxFF potentials integrated into an open-source Molecular Dynamic (MD) code including the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS-MD) simulator developed by Sandia National Laboratories.

The objectives of the proposed research are to: (1) develop and integrate modern computational tools and algorithms required to assist in the optimization of creep properties of high-temperature alloys for fossil-energy applications; and (2) achieve a fundamental understanding of the processing-microstructure-property-performance links underlying the creep behavior of novel ferritic superalloys strengthened by B2 and/or L21 intermetallics. In the first objective, researchers seek to integrate tools and methods associated with predictive first-principles calculations, computational thermodynamic and kinetic modeling, and meso-scale dislocation-dynamics simulations. In the second objective, some of the computational results we will be validated by measuring selected microstructural attributes in representative model ferritic superalloys with a hierarchical microstructure, where the Fe-based disordered matrix is strengthened by one or two ordered precipitate(s).

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin plans to optimize technical and economic performance of a residual oil zone (ROZ) carbon dioxide (CO2) flood and transfer the knowledge to small producers. The objectives are to (1) characterize the main pay zone (MPZ) and ROZ within the ROZ pilot area; (2) conduct laboratory analyses and reservoir simulation to evaluate the performance of the ROZ pilot flood; and (3) provide recommendations for an optimum field-wide expansion of the CO2 flood in the ROZ and MPZ at the Goldsmith Field. Major project activities include (1) developing a detailed characterization of the MPZ and ROZs from a 1150 feet of core to be provided by the field operator at the Goldsmith-Landreth San Andres Unit, Ector County, TX; (2) examining formation and fluid geochemical analyses to develop an understanding of the differences between the ROZ and MPZ; (3) describing depositional and diagenetic processes in each zone to assist project planning, flood optimization, and design; (4) performing simulations using laboratory and core descriptions; (5) designing logging profile techniques to optimize conformance in injection and production wells, and executing them with new and innovative techniques while using capillary tubes in production wells for fluid lift enhancement; (6) conducting comparative analysis of the dedicated ROZ and the co-mingled MPZ ROZ project; and (7) entering analytical results into an analog SADR/MPZ/CO2 floods database.

The goal of this project is to develop mobility control agents using surfactants injected with carbon dioxide (CO2) rather than with water for CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in heterogeneous carbonate and sandstone reservoirs. Objectives are to (1) reduce CO2 mobility in CO2 swept portions of the reservoir—but not at the light-hydrocarbon enriched CO2 displacement front; (2) reduce mobility more in higher permeability than in lower permeability intervals; (3) improve distribution of injected fluids in natural fracture networks; (4) reduce the amount of surfactant required to achieve successful mobility control; and (5) achieve displacement efficiency well below the MMP by using surfactants with ultra-low water/oil interfacial tension . These attributes will divert CO2 from swept regions to regions with unswept oil.

The goal of this project is to develop a new CO2 injection enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) process using engineered nanoparticles with optimized surface coatings that has better volumetric sweep efficiency and a wider application range than conventional CO2 EOR processes. The objectives are to (1) identify the characteristics of the optimal nanoparticles that generate extremely stable CO2 foams in situ in reservoir regions without oil; (2) develop a novel method of mobility control using "self-guiding" foams with smart nanoparticles; and (3) extend the applicability of the new method to reservoirs having a wide range of salinity, temperatures, and heterogeneity.

The goal of this project is to develop an advanced reservoir simulation and visualization tool for compositional flow and transport coupled with geomechanical deformation in porous media, with advanced mobility control methods such as foam, to better model and predict oil production during CO2 flooding and improve predictions of oil production from residual oil zones.

The goal of the project is to provide the next commercialization step for the SPI-CO2 gel system. This will be done by obtaining field data and samples of water and crude oils from multiple operators and fields. We will then perform lab testing on these samples with the SPI gel system for optimal formulations and pore volumes. Field injectivity test designs for three wells/fields will be made and then performed in the field. These field injectivity tests will be designed to prove the capability and impact on the CO2 injection, but are not large enough to be considered a pilot scale field test. The expected result of this project is that these injectivity tests will be sufficient to demonstrate the effectiveness for sweep efficiency improvement, non-damaging nature and ease of use of the SPI –CO2 gel system in CO2 enhanced oil recovery projects.

The University of Illinois is developing a State-of-the-Art 3-D visualization and analysis software package targeted to improve development of oil and gas resources. Reservoir Visualization and Analysis (RVA) will display data, models, and reservoir simulation results. It will have the ability to allow users to visualize and query data from geologic models and reservoir simulations. This will improve exploration and development cycle time and also improve the technical quality of interpretations and development decisions. Key capabilities of RVA will include simultaneous viewing and analysis of multiple reservoir fluids and data mining of combined geologic models and reservoir simulation results. The overall technical objectives to be accomplished during the project's three phases are: (Phase 1) visualization code development, a detailed design plan of software capabilities, and complete and publicly release RVA software Beta 1.0, (Phase 2) complete and publicly release RVA software beta 2.0, and (Phase 3) complete and publicly release RVA software version 1.0, and the final open source release of 2.0. Multiple RVA software workshops for technology transfer of the final open source version of the RVA software will be conducted.

The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate, through coreflood tests at reservoir conditions, a nanoparticle-stabilized carbon dioxide (CO2) foam system that can improve CO2 sweep efficiency in CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and minimize particle retention in the reservoir.

The goal of this project is to develop an easy-to-use integrated software package for the development planning and economic analysis of CO2-EOR and sequestration applications. The proposed software has five modules, each having a different design and performance objective. Overall, they must perform in an integrated fashion to achieve the project goal. Each module has to be developed and tested individually for functionality. They also have to be developed and tested in combination to ensure that the flow of data and results match the overall design and objective.

The scope of this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program Phase III project includes the design, analysis, fabrication, assembly, installation, and testing of prototype spar-shell turbine airfoils and associated hardware, culminating in the validation of performance and functionality in a commercial gas turbine.

This project is conducting a stacked reservoir injection pilot study to further evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of long-term CO2 storage in saline reservoirs and the use of CO2 in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations in the Mid-continent. The stacked pilot study will inject up to 70,000 metric tons of CO2, into multiple formations. This includes a maximum of 40,000 metric tons of CO2 into the Lower Arbuckle Group (an extensive saline aquifer) and a maximum of 30,000 metric tons into the overlying oil-bearing dolomite of the Wellington Oilfield. State-of-the art MVA (monitoring, verification, accounting, and assessment) tools and techniques to monitor and visualize the injected CO2 plume and establish best practice methodologies for MVA in shelf clastic and shelf carbonate formations are being conducted. This will help reduce storage risk by documenting the uncertainties related to these specific depositional environments and monitoring techniques. Additionally, simulation initiatives are being used to integrate multiple in situ and ex situ monitoring systems in tandem to track the location of injected CO2.

Blackhorse Energy, LLC is evaluating the early Eocene-aged Wilcox formation located in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The Wilcox formation is a mature developed oil reservoir (named the Livingston Reservoir) approximately 10,000 feet below ground surface. The depositional environment for this formation is a beach/barrier nearshore marine bar (Figure 1). The reservoir has been undergoing traditional secondary EOR techniques (water flooding) to increase oil production since 1987. This project will utilize tertiary EOR techniques by injecting approximately 52,000 metric tons of supercritical CO2 and CO2 foam (a CO2 based substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved) into the formation to advance the oil recovery process and examine and prove the suitability of South Louisiana geologic formations for large-scale geologic storage of CO2.

This small-scale injection project will use remote time-lapse monitoring to measure, track, and assess how effectively overlying zones contain the injected CO2, determine the physical and geochemical fate of CO2 in the reservoir, and refine the storage resource estimate. Other MVA tools that will be used to monitor the migration of injected CO2 include advanced logging tools and fiber optic technology. Innovative injection well design will test the ability of short-radius, horizontal well technology to increase geologic storage of CO2 in the reservoir by increasing the available injection length within the reservoir. The monitoring and existing field production wells will be leveraged for data gathering to further characterize and understand the Wilcox depositional environment in south
Louisiana.

 

Virginia Tech is evaluating the long-term storage potential of CO2 in coal seams and organic shales by injecting up to 20,000 metric tons of CO2 into these unconventional reservoirs in central Appalachia. This project is designing and implementing characterization, injection, and monitoring activities to test unconventional formations (coal and organic shales) ability to store CO2 economically and safely as well as track the migration of CO2 throughout the injection and post-injection phases. In addition, this research will test the injectivity of CO2 into unmineable coal seams and the potential for enhanced coalbed methane recovery (ECBM) by stressing the coal under continuous CO2 injection for a period of one year.

This project will implement and validate a new granular stress model in Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) while continuing to improve the model to capture more complex flow behavior. The proposed work consists of the following major goals. Goal 1: Implement in MFIX, the steady shear rheological model developed recently by the PI group; perform MFIX simulations of various test problems such as hopper, chute, and Couette flows using this rheological model and no-slip and partial slip boundary conditions already available in MFIX; and compare against experimental and discrete element method (DEM) simulation data. Goal 2: Develop improved wall boundary conditions for the particle phase that can be applied in all three regimes of flow and implement them in MFIX. Examine the effect of refined boundary conditions on flow characteristics in the test problems mentioned in Goal 1. Goal 3: Further develop the rheological model to allow for dynamic evolution of the stresses, make appropriate modifications to the MFIX implementation, and conduct appropriate validation tests.

The goal of this project is to develop and validate for multiphase gas-solids flow simulations, a non-intrusive uncertainty quantification (UQ) procedure based on polynomial chaos methodology together with a quadrature-based reconstruction of the multivariate probability density function required by the approach, and to implement the procedure as a new algorithm in the NETL Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) multi-phase flow simulation package. The new UQ procedure will first be tested and validated on gas-particle flow problems for which analytical or simple algebraic solutions exist. The procedure will then be installed in MFIX and tested on two (2) complex gas-solid flow scenarios that represent different gas-solids flow regimes.

This project's objective is to develop novel sensors and refractory measurements and assessment methods that can provide real time measurement of refractory temperature, thickness, and change in material properties.

The University of Central Florida will develop an accurate and robust wireless passive high-temperature sensor for in situ measurement of strains inside turbine engines in coal-based power generation systems.

This research will provide a systematic evaluation of flameholding tendencies in various combustor fuel/air premixer passage geometries. This evaluation will be completed for different fuel types (including high hydrogen content [HHC] fuels) at operating conditions (temperature, pressure, etc.) typical of those encountered in industrial-scale turbines. The observations made relative to flameholding tendencies will be analyzed and used to develop design guides that can be used to infer when flameholding will occur as a function of the parameters studied. The high pressures and temperatures required to simulate the environment of a premixing passage for a natural gas-fired gas turbine will be generated at the University of California, Irvine Combustion Lab high pressure facility. The facility is capable of generating a preheated airflow at temperatures up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit, pressures exceeding ten atmospheres, and a maximum flow rate that exceeds three pounds per second. To provide the planned conditions, a modular test apparatus will be used.

The scope of this University of Michigan computational effort addresses the development of a fully validated large-eddy simulation (LES)-modeling capability to predict unstable combustion of high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels. To incorporate effects of preferential diffusion, pressure variations, and variations in mixture composition, an unsteady flamelet-based LES combustion model will be extended. The integrated LES-validation effort includes (1) an a priori analysis of critical modeling assumptions using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) database of jet-in-cross-flow configurations, and (2) a posteriori model validation in LES application of a swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor. The LES-combustion model will be used to develop detailed simulations to characterize facility-induced nonidealities in flow-reactor experiments. Effects arising from high-Reynolds number turbulence transition, mixture stratification, and other mechanisms associated with turbulence/ chemistry interaction on the autoignition behavior will be quantified through parametric calculations. The information gained from these efforts will be used to develop a low-order model that can be utilized for chemical-kinetics investigations and for guiding and improving future flow reactor designs in order to reduce facility effects. The experimental effort includes high-pressure measurements of HHC fuel combustion in a dual-swirl gas turbine combustor, development of a comprehensive experimental database for LES model validation by considering stable and unstable gas turbine operating conditions, and obtaining improved understanding about fundamental combustion-physical mechanisms that control flame-holding, liftoff, and flashback for HHC fuels. A range of pressures, HHC fuel compositions, and equivalence ratios will be investigated experimentally.

This Purdue University project is a detailed investigation of the structure and dynamics of fuel jets injected into a subsonic oxidizing crossflow in order to enhance the fundamental level of understanding of these important flows and to provide a validation database for comparison with detailed numerical models of the reacting jets in crossflow (RJIC). Advanced laser diagnostics, including high-speed particle imaging velocimetry (PIV), high-speed planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) will be used to probe the flow fields in a high-pressure gas turbine combustion facility. PIV and planar laser induced fluorescence of OH radicals (OH PLIF) will be used to visualize fuel/air mixing and combustion at data rates of 5-10 kilohertz (kHz). One kHz CARS will be employed for temperature measurements using femtosecond lasers. The combustion facility will utilize three different fuels: a natural gas (NG) baseline and two high-hydrogen-content (HHC) fuels. Accurate high-resolution spatial and temporal measurements of the resulting turbulent flame structures will provide improved understanding of the complex processes of fuel/air mixing and turbulence-chemistry interaction with attendant impact on operability when using HHC fuels. Additionally, the representative crossflow will be forced into stationary and oscillatory conditions to simulate an unstable condition. The enhanced mixing and combustion of the fuel jet will be measured to quantify the relationship between the unsteady combustion field and the forced oscillatory field. The benchmark quality data sets resulting from these experiments will include comprehensive measurements of mean and fluctuating components of velocity, temperature, and species at high pressure and with crossflow conditions representative of modern gas turbine engines with practical applications within the turbine industry.

The proposed work at the University of Texas aims to develop large eddy simulation (LES) models for simulating high hydrogen content (HHC) gas turbine combustion, with specific focus on premixing and flashback dynamics. The project is divided into three components: (1) LES model development using direct numerical simulation (DNS) and canonical experimental data, (2) targeted experimental studies to produce high quality mixing and flashback dynamics under engine relevant conditions, and (3) validation of LES models using a validation pyramid approach and transfer of models to industry using an open source platform.

The particulate deposition model developed by The Ohio State University (OSU) in prior University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) work will be modified to better account for the fundamental physics of particle impact and sticking, including particle and surface properties. Experimental data from OSU's Turbine Reacting Flow Facility (TuRFR) deposition cascade facility will be used to validate the revised model. The TuRFR facility will be modified to provide for the generation of inlet temperature profile non-uniformities (hot streaks), which will be tracked through the turbine nozzle passage using surface temperature infrared imagery and exit plane temperature measurements. Hot streak evolution and the effect of the hot streaks on deposition will be evaluated. Film cooling will then be added to both the experiments and the computation to evaluate its effect on hot streak migration and deposition. Finally, the model's ability to track hot streak migration will be exercised on a full turbine stage (vane and rotor) using data acquired in the OSU Gas Turbine Laboratory transient turbine test rig. The model will also be used to predict deposition in the rotating configuration, although there will be no experimental validation of deposition in the rotating frame.

The goal of this project is to develop cost-effective sensing technologies able to function in harsh, high-temperature operating environments. SUNY investigators intend to develop a photo-detector and a chemical sensor tailored to emissions of interest that will sense a passive light source with sufficient energy in the selected wavelength.

This project will focus on development of advanced thermal based coatings (TBC) to improve the performance of coatings for Nb-based, high-temperature alloys. A computer model to predict the properties of novel thermal barrier coatings will be developed and validated. Concurrent laboratory testing will be used to validate predictions of the model.

This project is intended to investigate and deliver high-temperature oxygen sensors based on pure and doped gallium oxide (Ga2O3) nanostructures operating at 800 °C and above in a corrosive atmosphere. The impetus is designing the Ga2O3-based nanostructured materials for application as oxygen sensors operating at extremely high temperatures in fossil fuel energy systems with a demonstrated reliability, stability and without any interference from other pollutants/emissions.

This project will develop and validate new drag force correlations for the case of particle clustering, based on direct numerical simulation of gas-solids flow structures in risers and vertical columns; and validation of the proposed drag law by using the Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) multiphase flow simulation code to compare the experimental data generated in this project with computational results generated by MFIX simulations.

The main objective of this project is to develop an information theoretic sensing and control framework that encompasses distributed software agents and companion computational algorithms that maximize the collection, transmission, aggregation, and conversion of data to actionable information for monitoring, diagnosis, prognosis and control of advanced power plants.

This University of Pittsburgh project will determine the degradation mechanisms of current state-of-the-art thermal barrier coating (TBC) in environments comprised of particulate matter and gas mixtures which are representative of gas turbines using coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas). The observed degradation processes will be used to guide the development of improved coatings for hot section components in the potentially harsh gas turbine environments in which fuels derived from coal and even perhaps biomass are burned. The unresolved complexities associated with TBC durability include enhanced attack of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coating by chemical reaction, physical damage of the topcoat by molten deposit penetration, and accelerated bond coat corrosion. This work is investigating how the interaction between the ash and oxidants affect TBC degradation by using lab-scale testing. Important outcomes from this study will include understanding TBC degradation; modeling integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) environments to develop better coatings; and extending the service life of TBCs by mitigating degradation. This research is using the high-temperature corrosion testing facilities at the University of Pittsburgh. The deposits currently being used are based on fly ash, and accordingly, consist of calcium oxide (CaO), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), silicon dioxide (SiO2) and iron oxides (FeOx). Additions of potassium sulfate (K2SO4) and iron sulfide (FeS) are used to simulate other ash constituents. The tests are being conducted on two different TBC system types provided by Praxair Surface Technologies (PST) of Indianapolis, Indiana. PST will also conduct thermal gradient tests for assessing TBC durability with and without deposits. Both exposed and unexposed test samples are being extensively characterized using the suite of capabilities available at the University of Pittsburgh.

This project will identify the most promising compositions of ferroelectric materials that can be used to make highly efficient thermoelectric devices for waste heat recovery in coal fired power and industrial plants. Combinatorial methods will be used to rapidly screen a broad composition range with high Curie temperatures, followed by an investigation of the thermoelectric properties. Processing approaches to making the materials will be also developed.

This University of North Dakota project is designed to refine the evaporative metal bonding (EMB) method, then apply the refinements to bonding a layer of corrosion- and spallation-resistant alloy, advanced powder metallurgy technology (APMT) to turbine parts composed of two nickel superalloy compositions and test the parts to determine if lifetimes have been increased. The work involves measurement of the temperature-dependent diffusion rates of zinc, the bonding metal used in the EMB process. The component superalloys of interest are CM247LC®, and Rene 80. The corrosion and spallation resistant super alloy layer is APMT. This information will help the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC)-led project team better design the heat treatments needed to create the bonds between the super-alloys and the APMT plating and assure that the zinc completely diffuses out of the turbine components created. The team will also model force distributions in the clamped structures being plated with APMT to assure that the compressive force used to hold the APMT and superalloys together during bonding is adequately distributed over the surfaces being joined. This modeling capability will allow the team to better design the clamping fixtures and force distribution plates (buffers) that will be used to bond plates of the APMT to more complex superalloy turbine parts. To determine the appropriate conditions for corrosion testing of the bonded parts in simulated turbine conditions, the team will measure trace constituents in combusted syngas produced in the EERC entrained-flow gasifier. This will consist of combusting a slipstream of cleaned coal derived synthesis gas (syngas) produced from the gasifier, quenching the combusted gas with nitrogen, and collecting the submicron particulates on Nuclepore surface filters and gaseous constituents in activated carbon, zeolite traps, or gas impingers. After determining the best heat treatment and clamping methods, the team will bond plates of APMT to the surface of superalloy test samples (buttons) and turbine parts provided by Siemens. Siemens will also apply thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) to some of the bonded parts and evaluate them. The EERC will perform laboratory hot corrosion tests simulating post-combustor turbine gas compositions, including relevant trace species defined in pilot-scale testing used to bond plates of the APMT to more complex superalloy turbine parts.

The proposed metal chromium-aluminum-yttrium (MCrAlY; where M = nickel [Ni], cobalt [Co] or a mixture of Ni and Co) bond coats will be synthesized via an electrolytic codeposition process, followed by a post-plating heat treatment. In contrast to traditional electro-codeposition processes where sulfate or sulfamate bath is used for Ni/Co deposition, a sulfur-free electrolyte will be employed to control the impurity levels in the MCrAlY coatings. The reduced sulfur (S) levels will be expected to improve oxide scale adhesion. The amounts of Cr, Al, and particularly the Y reservoir, in the MCrAlY bond coat will be optimized to extend the lifetime of the thermal barrier coating (TBC) system. Reactive elements such as Y hafnium (Hf) or Y zirconium (Zr) will be co-doped into the MCrAlY coatings by modifying the composition of the CrAlY alloy powder. The composition of the CrAlY alloy (where equals Hf or Zr, etc.) will be carefully designed, based on the literature data for model MCrAlY alloys and other types of MCrAlY coatings. Other parameters of the electrolytic codeposition process will be systematically studied using a design-of-experiment approach to provide a fundamental understanding of their synergistic effects and to optimize the coating composition and microstructure.

The proposed effort will advance the performance of refractory metals by integration of high temperature coating processes uniquely by means of modeling and experimental verifications in a focused, staged development. The ultimate goal of the proposed study will be to deliver the key enabling coating technology for at least a 400 degrees Celsius (°C) increase of the metal operating temperature from 1200°C to 1600°C.

This project will develop and demonstrate the performance of wireless microwave acoustic sensors for temperature and pressure measurement in high temperature environments. Small battery free surface acoustic wave sensors with integrated antennas, comprised of novel materials that are stable in high temperature environments will be embedded or attached to components and/or structures for real time monitoring in conditions up to 1200ºC and 750 psi.

The University of Connecticut, in cooperation with Pratt & Whitney and Siemens Energy, will use a novel solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS) process to deposit low thermal conductivity, high durability yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and to utilize surface protective layers (SPLs) to provide high temperature contaminant resistance and increased surface temperature capability, while minimizing the use of rare earth elements. The SPPS process provides a unique TBC microstructure that consists of through-thickness vertical cracks for strain tolerance, ultra-fine splats for spallation crack resistance, and the ability to produce very low thermal conductivities. The low thermal conductivities, or low-K (with K representing heat conductivity), will result from planar arrays of fine porosity called inter-pass boundaries (IPBs) and the ability to vary porosity content over wide ranges. The IPBs are generic conductivity lowering features that can be implemented for any TBC. Pratt & Whitney and Siemens Energy will contribute valuable specimens and will test the down-selected low-K TBCs. The low-K YSZ TBC structure will be created using the SPPS process. Taguchi methods for design of experiments will be used to systematically determine the deposition parameters to minimize the thermal conductivity. Cyclic durability tests of the low-K TBC will be conducted to verify that the excellent durability of the SPPS TBC is preserved. A protective surface layer of gadolinium-zirconium will be added to the low-K YSZ TBC to increase the maximum allowable surface temperature by at least 100 degrees Celsius (°C) and improve its calcium-magnesium-alumina-silicate (CMAS) resistance, while minimizing the heavy use of rare earth elements. This improved contaminant resistance will be verified by testing in CMAS and moisture. Contaminant resistance will be further enhanced by employing two novel approaches, one using aluminum-titanium additions to the YSZ, and the other by deliberately adding calcium sulfate, shown to block CMAS when deposited by natural processes in service engines. The spallation failure mechanisms of the low-K TBC will be defined to provide guidance for subsequent improvements and a sound basis for life prediction methodologies.

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems America, and Smith Management Group, will develop a heat-integrated, pilot-scale, post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture system for a coal-fired power plant using an advanced solvent. A two-stage stripping concept will be implemented to increase capture rate in the CO₂ absorber. In addition, a heat-integrated cooling tower system will also be implemented that uses regenerated CO₂ stream waste heat to dry a liquid desiccant for removing moisture from the cooling air. This method decreases the relative humidity of the air, lowering the cooling water temperature and thereby reducing the steam turbine back pressure for efficiency improvement. A 0.7 megawatt electrical (MWe) equivalent slipstream facility will be designed, constructed, and installed at the Kentucky Utilities E.W. Brown Generating Station, located near Harrodsburg, Kentucky for testing the process. Parametric studies and long-term test campaigns will be performed using a conventional MEA solvent and Hitachi’s H3-1 advanced solvent to validate that the use of an advanced solvent results in less energy consumption and corrosion. Through previous testing, the H3-1 solvent has shown several advantages over conventional amine solvents, including a lower heat of regeneration, higher capacity, and less solvent degradation. A technical and economic analysis of the process concept for a 550 MWe power plant will be completed to determine its potential to achieve the Department of Energy target of no more than a 35 percent increase in the cost of electricity while capturing at least 90 percent of the CO₂ released during the combustion of fossil fuels in existing coal-fired power plants.

Virginia Tech will develop a first-of-a-kind technology for remote fiber optic generation and detection of acoustic waves for structural health monitoring. The technology requires no electric power supply at the monitoring site and the detected acoustic signature as well as the additional returned optical signal allow extraction of information about multiple material conditions including temperature, strain, corrosion, and cracking.

The main goal of the project is to quantify the uncertainty associated with kinetic-theory predictions of the clustering instabilities present in high-velocity gas-solid flows. There are two major objectives. The first is to generate benchmark data with an eye toward determining the relative importance of the physical mechanisms that give rise to the instabilities. Although it has been established previously that inelastic collisions and gas-phase effects can independently lead to instabilities in granular and gas-solid flows, their relative importance has not been examined, nor has the expected important effect of friction. The second objective is to apply kinetic-theory (continuum) models, with no adjustable parameters, to the same flow geometries used for the benchmark data. Kinetic-theory models have been shown to predict such instabilities, though previous validation work, such as snapshots and/or movies of particle clusters, is largely qualitative in nature.

Linde LLC (Linde), along with BASF and the Electric Power Research Institute, will design, build, and operate a 1 megawatt electrical (MWe) equivalent slipstream pilot plant at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) to further refine a post-combustion capture solvent technology developed by Linde and BASF. The technology incorporates BASF novel amine-based solvent, OASE® blue, along with Linde process and engineering innovations. The post-combustion capture technology offers significant benefits compared to other solvent-based processes with the capability to reduce regeneration energy requirements by using novel solvents that are stable under the coal-fired power plant feed gas conditions. The project objectives are to design and build the 1 MWe pilot plant; conduct parametric testing to confirm that the pilot plant meets the performance targets and to obtain appropriate design information; perform a detailed data analysis to assess and develop the design basis for scale-up; and operate the pilot plant continuously under stable conditions to confirm the solvent stability and key material compatibility. The long-term test results will be used to update a techno-economic analysis for a 550 MWe coal-fired power plant incorporating the novel amine-based post-combustion CO2 capture technology and confirm that it can meet the Department of Energy carbon capture performance goals.

At the University of Michigan Rapid Compression Facility (RCF), experiments will be conducted to extend the high-quality, low-uncertainty experimental database of high hydrogen content (HHC) combustion kinetic benchmarks over a range of operating conditions, including pressures (10-25 atmospheres), temperatures (700-1700K), and the effects of dilution with exhaust gases (where uncertainties in third body coefficients become particularly important). Flammability limits and flame/auto-ignition inter-actions will be determined computationally and experimentally. The RCF data will provide rigorous targets for development of accurate, well validated, detailed, and reduced chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms for HHC combustion, including nitrogen oxide (NOx) chemistry.

Battelle Pacific Northwest Division, Fluor Corporation, and Queen's University have teamed together to develop a new CO2-capture technology for treating post-combustion emissions. This new process couples the unique attributes of non-aqueous, switchable organic solvents (CO2 binding organic liquids - CO2BOLs) with the newly discovered polarity-swing-assisted regeneration (PSAR) process. This process requires significantly lower temperatures and energies for CO2 separation relative to conventional technology, making significant cost savings possible. Combining the polarity assist with CO2BOLs is estimated to provide more than 42% energy savings over aqueous alkanolamine systems. Further, the low regeneration temperatures of the proposed technology also allow a unique energy integration method that can reduce overall parasitic loads by more than 65% compared to commercial systems.

The project will test, with a continuous bench-scale system, an aminosilicone CO2 capture solvent developed as part of a previous DOE-funded program. A manufacturing plan for the aminosilicone solvent and price model will be used for optimization, and combined with a rigorous process model and thorough manufacturability analysis for the solvent, will enable a practical technology path to later development at larger scales and commercialization.

GE Global Research, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech),and Western Research Institute (WRI) propose to develop high performance thin film polymer composite hollow fiber membranes and advanced processes for economical post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2)capture from pulverized coal flue gas at temperatures typical of existing flue gas cleanup processes. The project will optimize the novel membranes at the bench scale, including tuning the properties of a novel phosphazene polymer in a coating solution and fabricating highly engineered porous hollow fiber supports. The project will also define the processes for coating the fiber support to manufacture ultrathin, defect-free composite hollow fiber membranes. Physical, chemical, and mechanical stability of the materials (individual and composite) towards coal flue gas components will be evaluated using exposure and performance tests. Membrane fouling and cleanability studies will define long term performance module design, technical, and economic feasibility analyses will be conducted to evaluate the overall performance impact of the process on the cost of electricity (COE). Membranes based on coupling this novel selective material (phosphazene-based polymer) with an engineered hollow fiber support have the potential to capture greater than 90% of the CO2 in flue gas with less than 35% increase in COE, which would achieve the DOE performance criteria.

This project will develop a new fundamental drag model for solid-gas flows using the direct numerical simulation (DNS) method. The new model will consider the effects of particle rotation on the hydrodynamics of gas-solid flows.

Southern Company Services, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), and URS Group have teamed to develop viable heat integration methods for the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from pulverized coal combustion plants, improving upon the current state-of-the-art for solvent-based capture processes. An advanced level of heat integration between the power plant and the CO2 capture facility will be investigated by incorporating a waste heat recovery technology into an existing amine-based CO2 capture process. The project will incorporate MHIA High Efficiency System (HES) heat recovery and integration technology into an existing 25 megawatt electrical (MWe) pilot plant demonstration of the Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery (KM-CDR™) CO2 capture process at Southern Company Plant Barry. The HES heat integration technology will use waste heat streams to provide needed process stream heating, reducing the amount of low pressure (LP) steam extracted for the solvent regeneration system. The recovered heat will also be used to heat boiler feed water, further reducing the extraction steam demands on the LP turbine and increasing the LP steam available for power generation. The HES has been successfully demonstrated at several low-sulfur, coal-fired power plants outside of the United States, though not with CO2 capture. This project will examine the HES performance with high-sulfur flue gas, and as integrated with a CO2 recovery system. A preliminary techno-economic analysis has indicated that HES with advanced heat integration can reduce the total energy impact of a CO2 capture system by 26 percent, a significant step toward meeting the Department of Energy goal for the cost of electricity.

This project located at the Colorado Springs Drake #7 power plant will design, construct, and test a patented NeuStream absorber. The absorber will employ nozzle technology proven during a recently completed 20 MW NeuStream-S flue gas desulfurization pilot project, and an advanced solvent that efficiently captures CO2. This absorber technology is applicable to a variety of solvents and can be retrofitted to existing pulverized coal power plants with reduced cost and footprint. Because of the modularity of the NeuStream technology, it can be rapidly scaled to larger size systems and retrofitted into existing plants with little risk.

Rice University is investigating a novel solvent-based absorption process for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture that combines the absorber and desorber columns, separated by a microporous ceramic membrane, into a single integrated unit. This novel capture process uses ceramic foam contactors with complex, highly-interconnected structures for the absorption and desorption of CO₂. The ceramic gas-liquid contactors have favorable characteristics for mass transfer with large geometric surface areas up to ten times that of conventional packing. Additionally, the process will include metal oxide catalysts that enhance CO₂ desorption from amine-based solvents at lower temperatures, resulting in reduced energy consumption and less solvent degradation and evaporation. Commercially available solvents with well-documented performance will be examined. A bench-scale prototype will be developed to implement the complete CO₂ separation process and tests will be conducted to study various aspects of fluid flow in the process. A model will be developed to simulate the two-dimensional fluid flow and optimize the CO₂ capture process. Test results will be used to develop a final techno-economic analysis and identify the most appropriate absorbent as well as optimum operating conditions to minimize capital and operating costs. This analysis will indicate the feasibility of integrating the process into a 550 megawatt electric (MWe) coal-fired power plant.

The overall goal of this three-year project is to build and operate a 500 m2 prototype low-pressure counter-flow sweep membrane module. Development of this new type of very large area membrane contactor module will significantly increase the feasibility of using membrane technology to separate CO2 from coal-fired power plant fuel gas. Availability of this type of module also opens up the possibility of creating synergistic combinations of a membrane pre-concentration step and a second final concentration step such as absorption, adsorption and cryogenic separation. The feasibility of these combination processes will be evaluated during this project.

Carbon Capture Scientific LLC, along with CONSOL Energy Inc., Western Kentucky University, and Nexant Inc., will perform bench-scale development and testing of a novel gas pressurized stripping (GPS) process-based technology for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from post-combustion flue gas. The GPS process removes CO2 through solvent-based absorption and stripping, applying two innovations to improve the thermal efficiency over conventional columns: the use of a high-pressure stripping gas in place of water vapor to increase operating pressure, and the addition of heat through multiple locations along the stripping column to eliminate temperature gradients. The project objectives are to conduct bench-scale testing of individual process units; optimize the GPS column with computer simulations for both new and retrofit applications; perform an experimental investigation of selected solvents; conduct bench-scale testing of a rotating packed bed at anticipated absorption conditions; and design, build, and operate a bench-scale GPS unit capable of achieving at least 90% CO2 capture from a nominal 500 standard liters per minute coal-derived flue gas slipstream at the National Carbon Capture Center. The project team will complete a techno-economic study and an environmental, health, and safety risk assessment for the GPS process.

TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) will work with Babcock & Wilcox, MeadWestvaco Corporation, the University of California-Irvine, the Gas Technology Institute, and the Illinois Clean Coal Institute to develop a low-cost, high-capacity carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorbent and show its technical and economic ability to selectively remove CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. TDA advanced physical adsorbent consists of mesoporous carbon with surface functional groups grafted onto a patented TDA mesoporous carbon support. The sorbent binds CO2 more strongly than common adsorbents, providing the chemical potential needed to remove the CO2, however, because CO2 does not form a true covalent bond with the surface sites, the regeneration can be carried out with a small energy input. The heat input to regenerate the sorbent is only 4.9 kilocalories per mole of CO2, which is much lower than that for chemical absorbents or amine-based solvents. The mesoporous carbon sorbent was previously developed and validated under a DOE-funded project (DE-FE0000469) for pre-combustion CO2 capture. TDA will advance the adsorbent technology by improving the material capabilities and process design, and by conducting an evaluation with a fully-equipped bench-scale prototype unit using coal-fired flue gas to validate the technical viability of the concept. A techno-economic analysis will be performed to estimate the impact of the CO2 capture system on the plant efficiency and cost of electricity.

The objective of this project is to scale up and demonstrate a hybrid solid sorbent technology for CO2 capture and separation from coal combustion-derived flue gas. The technology is a novel solid sorbent based on the following ideas: reduction of energy for sorbent regeneration, utilization of novel process chemistry, contactor conditions that minimize sorbent-CO2 heat of reaction and promote fast CO2 capture, and low-cost method of heat management. The project will develop key information for the CACHYSTM process sorbent performance, energy for sorbent regeneration, physical properties of the sorbent, the integration of process components, sizing of equipment, and overall capital and operational cost of the integrated CACHYSTM system.

The Ohio State University (OSU), along Gradient Technology, TriSep Corporation, and American Electric Power, will develop a cost-effective design and manufacturing process for novel membrane modules that efficiently capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plant flue gas. The innovative membrane design combines the selectivity and stability of inorganic microporous membranes and the cost and flexibility of polymer materials. The membranes consist of a thin selective inorganic layer embedded in a polymer structure that allows it to be manufactured in a continuous process. This design will result in hybrid membranes with exceptionally high CO2 permeance, high selectivity of CO2 over nitrogen, and the full operational stability needed for energy-efficient CO2 capture. The membranes will be incorporated in spiral-wound modules and implemented in a two-stage CO2 capture process with the potential to achieve greater than 90 percent CO2 capture of at least 95 percent pure CO2. Three prototype membrane modules will be fabricated and bench-scale testing will be conducted with simulated flue gas to validate the membrane performance. Technical and economic feasibility studies will be completed, as well as an environmental, health, and safety assessment.

Fuel Cell Energy, Inc. (FCE), in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, URS Corporation, and Western Research Institute, will further develop its patented Combined Electric Power and Carbon-Dioxide Separation (CEPACS) system for carbon dioxide (CO2) separation and compression from pulverized coal (PC) power plants. The CEPACS system is based on an electrochemical membrane (ECM) technology derived from FCE's internal reforming carbonate fuel cell product, Direct Fuel Cell®. The unique chemistry of carbonate fuel cells provides a method to remove CO2 from the flue gas of PC plants and simultaneously produce additional clean electric power at high efficiency using a supplementary fuel, such as coal-derived syngas, natural gas, or a renewable resource. Therefore, the CEPACS system increases the power generated by the existing fossil-fueled plant, unlike other CO2 capture technologies that reduce net electric power. The ECM module consists of ceramic-based layers filled with carbonate salts that separate CO2 from the flue gas with a selectivity of 100 percent over the nitrogen present. Operating at atmospheric pressure, the ECM module does not require flue gas compression, and because of fast electrode kinetics, does not require a high CO2 concentration, making it suitable for use at the concentrations normally found in PC plant flue gas. Additionally, the planar geometry of the membrane offers ease of scalability to large sizes suitable for deployment in PC plants. In this project, researchers will conduct small-scale component fabrication and testing, contaminant pretreatment evaluation, and bench-scale testing of an 11.7 square meter ECM separation unit with simulated flue gas. A techno-economic feasibility study and an environmental, health, and safety assessment will be completed at the 550 megawatt PC power plant level. Predecessor Project::DE-FC26-04NT42206 Successor Project::DE-FE0026580

Research Triangle Institute (RTI), in collaboration with its partners, will develop and evaluate an advanced solid sorbent-based CO2 capture process with the potential to substantially reduce the parasitic energy requirement and costs associated with capturing CO2 from coal-fired flue gas compared to conventional aqueous amine CO2 scrubbing. A promising molecular basket sorbent (MBS) from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) will be combined with RTI circulating, fluidized, moving-bed reactor (FMBR) process design concept and evaluated at bench scale on simulated coal-fired flue gas to validate the feasibility of the process. The MBS comprises a CO2-philic polymer, polyethyleneimine (PEI), loaded onto high surface area nanoporous materials. The sorbent has shown high CO2 loading capacity and thermal properties that could greatly reduce parasitic power requirements for CO2 capture. The cost-effective circulating FMBR design offers superior gas-solid heat and mass transfer characteristics. Key objectives for this project are the optimization and production scale-up of advanced MBS materials in fluidizable form and the development of an associated fluidized-bed process technology. The data obtained during bench-scale testing of the MBS-based CO2 capture process will be used to prepare a design for a full-scale unit and to conduct technical, economic, and environmental analyses.

The project will identify piperazine (PZ) blends that will improve overall solvent and system performance. Recent testing at B&W indicates that blends of concentrated PZ with other organic compounds perform substantially better than PZ itself. Goals include improving system operability and reliability, minimizing environmental impacts, reducing corrosion potential in the system, and maximizing solvent durability. The solvent program will make use of B&W's existing laboratory, bench, and lab-pilot facilities, and a new bench-scale continuous solvent test apparatus will be constructed to characterize solvent degradation.

Novozymes proposes to design, build, and test an integrated bench-scale system that combines the attributes of the bio-renewable enzyme catalyst carbonic anhydrase with low-enthalpy absorption liquids and novel ultrasonically enhanced regeneration for a CO2 capture process with improved efficiency, economics, and sustainability. The application of ultrasonic energy forces dissolved CO2 into gas bubbles, thereby increasing the overall driving force of the solvent regeneration reaction. The technologies are projected to reduce the net parasitic load to a coal-fired power plant by as much as 51% compared to conventional monoethnolamine (MEA) scrubbing technology.

Air Products and Chemicals will team with the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D., to conduct extensive testing using a mobile, two-bed Sour PSA unit fed with North Dakota lignite coal-based syngas streams. Air Products and Chemicals has developed a proprietary alternative that consists of three process steps: Sour Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) that separates the desired products from CO2 and H2S, sulfur disposition that can be accomplished in several different modes, and a CO2 polishing and compression step that produces sequestration-ready CO2. In addition to pressure swing, the adsorbent system will be operated in thermal swing adsorption (TSA) mode to determine performance when exposed to syngas derived from lower-rank coal. The results of this testing will be used to generate a high-level pilot process design and to prepare a techno-economic assessment.

The primary objectives of this project are to develop, fabricate, and test a novel supported amine, polymeric hollow fibers loaded with silica-supported amine adsorbents, specifically adapted for the purpose of CO2 capture. Two key innovations are (1) the fiber is highly loaded with the solid adsorbent to facilitate large CO2 adsorption capacities with a low pressure drop and (2) the inclusion of an impermeable lumen layer in the interior of the fiber to allow cooling (during adsorption) and heating (during desorption) of the fiber from its bore, hence the name rapid Temperature Swing Adsorption (rTSA). The biggest risk is that the fiber will be poisoned too easily therefore requiring costly flue gas cleaning and replacement of the fibers.

General Electric (GE) sees opportunity in the global trend for cleaner power production using its IGCC technology. The company believes that power can be economically and cleanly produced from coal through the use of its technologies and desires to utilize its coal gasification and power generation technology expertise to meet this goal. The objective of this 3-year project is to evaluate potential improvement in total installed cost and availability through deployment of a multi-faceted approach encompassing technology evaluation, constructability assessment, and design methodology. Eastman Chemical Company is supporting the GE effort by providing consulting on the evaluation and technology transfer phases of the project. The end result is to reduce the time to technological maturity and enable plants to reach higher values of availability in a shorter period of time at a lower installed cost.

The U.S. has large reserves of low-cost, low-rank coal, but use in IGCC systems is, to a large extent, limited by the capabilities of available coal feed systems. Conventional dry feed systems feed coal through a system of lock hoppers. This approach has high capital, operating, and maintenance costs and poor reliability, issues that are exacerbated as operating pressure increases. Slurry feed systems suffer an efficiency penalty resulting from the need to evaporate and heat the water contained in the high inherent moisture low-rank coals and the additional water added to form a pumpable slurry, thereby reducing efficiency.

Project personnel are preparing comparative techno-economic studies of two IGCC power plant cases: one with and one without advanced dry feed technology. A common basis of design is being developed. For both cost and performance comparisons, the baseline case (without advanced dry feed technology) is being developed using operational data from the Eastman Chemical Company’s Kingsport gasification facility in combination with data from the DOE case study for IGCC using a low-rank coal with 90 percent carbon capture. Advanced dry feed technology, based upon the Posimetric pump currently under development by GE, will be developed to match the proposed plant conditions and configuration, and analyzed to provide comparative performance and cost information to the baseline plant case. The scope of this analysis covers the feed system from the raw coal silo through the gasifier injector.

The InnoSepra process utilizes sorbents with much lower CO2 capture energy requirements compared to competitive processes and has been successfully demonstrated at the lab scale to obtain greater than 99 percent CO2 purity, and more than 90 percent CO2 recovery. The ultimate goals of the project are to confirm the projected performance of the InnoSepra process at the bench scale; provide sufficient data for design of a commercial-scale plant; and provide a high degree of confidence in the applicability, cost effectiveness and practical feasibility of this process. Projections based on detailed engineering evaluations show that the technology can reduce the power consumption for CO2 capture by more than 40 percent, and the capital cost for the CO2 capture equipment by more than 60 percent at commercial scale, resulting in a more than 40 percent reduction in the CO2 capture cost compared to alternate technologies such as amines.

This Reaction Engineering International (REI) project will develop a better understanding of ash deposition onto refractory and metal surfaces associated with the syngas cooler used in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants that incorporate a two-stage gasifier. Plugging and fouling of syngas coolers will be evaluated and specific mitigation methods validated. The successful completion of this project will result in improved availability and reliability of the syngas cooler and thereby improve the availability of the overall IGCC plant.

TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) is demonstrating the technical and economic viability of a new Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant designed to efficiently process low-rank coals. The plant uses an integrated carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubber/water gas shift (WGS) catalyst to capture more than 90 percent of the CO2 emissions, while increasing the cost of electricity by less than 10 percent compared to a plant with no carbon capture.

TDA is optimizing the sorbent/catalyst and process design, and assessing the efficacy of the integrated WGS catalyst/CO2 capture system, first in bench-scale experiments and then in a slipstream field demonstration using actual coal-derived synthesis gas. The results will feed into a techno-economic analysis to estimate the impact of the WGS catalyst/CO2 capture system on the thermal efficiency of the plant and the cost of electricity.

This project will exploit the availability of CO2 in a gasification power island for the benefit of IGCC-CCS integrated plants. EPRI will leverage the findings of laboratory tests to support the development and evaluation of mechanical engineering designs of LRC/LCO2 slurry preparation systems, which in turn will be used to develop higher resolution IGCC plant performance and cost models. The project aims to validate that LCO2 can achieve higher solid loading than water slurry, study the design criteria for a LCO2-coal slurry preparation/mixing system that is superior to conventional feed systems, and demonstrate potential plant thermal efficiency improvement over a water-coal slurry-based feed system.

New Award with West Virginia University Research Corporation for a project titled "U.S.-China Carbon Capture and Storage Development Project at West Virginia University". The objective of this project is to undertake resource evaluation and planning for the execution of two pilot demonstrations carbon capture and storage projects and to describe and quantify the geologic, environmental and economic challenges to large-scale carbon capture and storage in China.

This project further develops and demonstrates the sensor technology developed under a previous project, "Real Time Flame Monitoring of Gasifier Burner and Injectors" DE-FC26-02NT41585. GTI developed a reliable, practical, and cost-effective means of monitoring coal gasifier feed injector flame characteristics using a modified version of an optical flame sensor. The present work begins with modification of the sensor software to enable real-time temperature data acquisition, data processing, and provision of the collected gasifier temperature information to the gasifier operators. A new purging system will be developed to eliminate or significantly reduce the deposition of fine black powder on the optical probe window during sensor operation with the goal of increasing the period of continuous deposit-free operation to six months. The modified gasifier sensor will be installed at the Wabash River commercial gasifier in Vigo County Indiana and tested over a six-month period to evaluate the sensor’s accuracy and durability. The project team will prepare a commercialization plan describing the product, the market, and the business activities required to make this new technology available for industrial use.

The goal of this project is to identify through ab initio molecular dynamics atomic level modeling and computer simulation and then experimentally validate new oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steel alloy compositions that have improved high temperature mechanical and corrosion resistance properties for advanced fossil energy applications. To accomplish this goal the project team will (1) Build interface models of ODS alloy compositions. (2) Perform interface energy and molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo high performance computing (HPC) simulations on the ODS models to identify promising compositions for high temperature and high pressure applications. (3). Perform experiments on the high temperature oxidation and high temperature/high pressure dislocation creep properties of the most promising ODS systems from the simulations.

This research consists of a computational-experimental effort and will dovetail the thermodynamic and kinetic concepts of high temperature reactions involving metals and ceramics with the computational fluid dynamics and computational modeling to develop the plasma processing of high temperature scales for metals and ceramics.