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 The
Power System Development Facility (PSDF) is a key national
asset for ensuring continued, cost-effective, environmentally
acceptable energy production from coal. It is a joint
effort of the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory
and several of the world’s leading energy technology
and supply companies. Current participants include Southern
Company, Electric Power Research Institute, KBR, Siemens
Power Generation, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway,
Lignite Energy Council, and Peabody Energy.
DOE conceived the PSDF as the premier advanced coal
power generation R&D facility of the world, and
work there thus far has fulfilled this expectation.
DOE’s vision is that: “The Wilsonville PSDF
will serve as the proving ground for many new Advanced
Power Systems. The Wilsonville PSDF gives U.S. industry
the world’s most cost-effective flexible test center
for testing tomorrow’s coal-based power-generating
equipment. Capable
of operating at pilot to near-demonstration scales,
the facility is large enough to give industry real-life
data, yet small enough to be cost-effective and adaptable
to a variety of industry needs.” A key feature
of the PSDF is its ability to test new systems at an
integrated, semi-commercial scale. Integrated operation
allows understanding of the effects of system interactions
that are typically missed in nonintegrated pilot-scale
testing. This significantly advances commercial development
of the proposed technology. The semi-commercial scale
at the PSDF also allows the maintenance, safety, and
reliability issues of a technology to be investigated
at a fraction of the cost of testing at commercial scale.
Several of the technologies, including the KBR Transport
Gasifier, developed at the PSDF will be utilized in
the Orlando Gasification Project, a 285 MW demonstration
plant that is planned at Orlando Utilities Commission's
(OUC) Stanton Energy Center in Orange County, Fla. A
DOE Clean Coal Power Initiative project, the plant will
be co-owned by OUC and Southern Power, a subsidiary
of Southern Company that builds, owns and manages Southern
Company’s competitive generation assets. The facility
will use state-of-the-art emission controls and will
highlight clean, efficient coal-fired power plant technology
with significantly lower emissions of sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides and mercury than conventional coal technologies.
The efficiencies gained also will result in lower emissions
of carbon dioxide. Commercial operation is planned for
2010.
The PSDF has developed testing and technology transfer
relationships with many vendors to ensure that test
results and improvements developed at the PSDF are incorporated
into future plants. Major subsystems tested and some
highlights of the test program at the PSDF include:
- Transport Reactor: The
Transport Reactor has operated successfully as a pressurized
combustor and as a gasifier in both oxygen- and air-blown
modes. Several types of coals have been tested in
gasification operation including subbituminous, bituminous,
and lignite coals. The Transport Gasifier is projected
to be the lowest capital cost coal-based power generation
option, while providing the lowest cost of electricity
and excellent environmental performance.
- Advanced Particulate
Control: Advanced hot gas particulate
filtration with more than 30 different filter elements
types has been tested. Material property testing on
filter elements is routinely conducted to assess their
suitability for long-term operation. Cooperative work
with filter vendors has advanced the technology and
aided in identifying commercially suitable materials
and designs.
- Filter Failsafe Device:
To enhance filter system reliability
and protect downstream components, “failsafe”
devices that reliably seal off failed filter elements
have been successfully developed.
- Coal Feed and Ash Removal
Systems: Reliable operation of the
coal feed system and the ash removal systems has been
achieved. Modifications developed at the PSDF and
shared with the equipment supplier allow current coal
feed equipment to perform in a commercially acceptable
manner. Innovative, continuous processes for course
ash removal from the gasifier and fine ash removal
from the particulate filter system were developed
at the PSDF and implemented with remarkable results.
- Syngas Cooler:
Syngas cooler operation is now routine and
reliable. Material testing has aided in the selection
of cooler inlet erosion inhibiter material with excellent,
long-term performance.
- Syngas Cleanup:
A slip-stream syngas cleanup train was constructed
and has proven capable of meeting stringent syngas
decontamination requirements. This module provides
an ultra clean slip stream, and is now available for
testing a wide variety of technologies.
- Sensors and Automation:
Several instrumentation vendors have
worked with PSDF personnel to develop and test instruments
under process conditions. Automatic temperature control
of the Transport Gasifier has been successfully implemented
and is now part of routine operation.
- Fuel Cell:
Two 0.5 kW solid oxide fuel cells manufactured by
Delphi were successfully operated on syngas from the
Transport Gasifier, marking the first time that a
solid oxide fuel cell has been operated on coal-derived
syngas.
- Combustion Turbine
Burner: Integrating the existing 3.8
MW combustion turbine with a new syngas burner developed
by Siemens Power Generation has allowed further system
automation and controls development.
- Recycle Gas Compressor:
Stable operation with recycled syngas used
for gasifier aeration was successfully demonstrated.
Future testing at the PSDF is focused on supporting
FutureGen and the Technology Roadmap. These programs
aim to eliminate the environmental issues that present
barriers to the continued use of coal including major
reductions in emissions of SO2,
CO2, NOx,
particulates, and trace elements (including mercury),
as well as reductions in solid waste and water consumption.
The focus at the PSDF will remain on supporting commercialization
of new coal-based advanced energy technologies including
those initially developed elsewhere.
To support future technology development, several conceptual
commercial plant designs and cost estimates for Transport
Gasifier-based integrated gasification combined-cycle
power plants have been developed. These include options
such as air-blown or oxygen-blown gasification, syngas
cleanup or stack gas cleanup, and the inclusion of carbon
dioxide capture. The results were presented at the 2006
Pittsburgh Coal Conference (Power
Systems Development Facility Update on Six TRIG Studies).
Cost studies at PSDF are on-going.
FutureGen is planning a research plant with high operating
performance requirements but recognizes that some promising
technologies will not be ready for installation in the
back-bone plant. Therefore, the FutureGen plant conceptualizes
a series of slip-stream installations of pilot plant
facilities to test various types of new technology.
The PSDF can support testing both the back-bone plant
with full stream testing and can support testing of
the new technologies identified by FutureGen at the
PSDF slip stream test area.
Future plans at the PSDF are listed below:
- H2/CO2
Separation Technologies: Integration
and testing of advanced H2/CO2
separation technologies is planned to support future
efforts at reducing CO2 emissions.
- Advanced Syngas Cleanup:
To demonstrate ultra-low emissions with the Transport
Gasifier technology, testing will continue with advanced
syngas cleanup systems for reducing hydrogen sulfide,
hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and mercury to near-zero
levels.
- Fuel Feed Systems:
Coal mill and coal drying development will continue,
and further evaluation of alternatives to conventional
lock hopper feed systems will be explored. Testing
of a Stamet posimetric feeder will continue, and the
installation and commissioning of a 500 psi off-line
feed system is planned.
- Transport Gasifier:
Development of the Transport Gasifier will
continue to further optimize its performance, explore
feedstock flexibility, and provide syngas for testing
of downstream systems.
- Particulate Control
Device: Commercially viable filter
system designs and components from several vendors
will be evaluated.
- High-Temperature Heat
Exchangers: High-temperature heat exchangers
will be tested as they become available. These heat
exchangers can be used in both advanced combustion
and gasification technologies.
- Fuel Cell:
Additional testing of a small scale fuel cell
module will be performed to support future testing
of a 5 to 10 MW hybrid fuel cell/gas turbine module
run from coal-derived syngas.
- Sensors and Automation:
Automation enhancements that simulate commercial control
strategies will be evaluated. Further development
at gasification operating conditions is planned for
gas analysis and for measuring coal feed rate, temperature,
particulate, and hazardous air pollutants.
- Water Gas Shift Reaction
Technology: A
variety of water gas shift reactor configurations
and sizes may be tested at the PSDF. Optimizing the
operation of shift catalysts when exposed to syngas
at the PSDF and evaluating their economics will provide
valuable input for the FutureGen project.
Contact
Points
Doug Maxwell
Southern Company Services
P.O. Box 1069
Highway 25 North
Wilsonville, AL 35186
(205) 670-5851
PSDF@southernco.com
Elaine Everitt
U.S. Department of Energy
National Energy Technology Laboratory
3610 Collins Ferry Road
Morgantown, WV 26507-0880
(304) 285-4491
mailto:Elaine.Everitt@NETL.DOE.GOV
Primary
Partner
Southern Company Services
Birmingham, AL
Current
Project Participants
KBR
(Transport Gasifier and Cofunding)
Houston, TX
Southern
Research Institute
(Hot Gas Filter Characterization and Chemical Analysis
Support)
Birmingham, AL
Peabody Energy
(Cofunding)
St. Louis, MO
Lignite Energy Council
(Cofunding)
Bismarck, ND
Siemens
Power Generation
(Particulate Control Device/Syngas Combustor)
Orlando, FL
Electric
Power Research Institute
(Cofunding)
Palo Alto, CA
Burlington Northern
Sante Fe Corporation
(Cofunding)
Ft. Worth, TX
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