ADVANCED POWER SYSTEMS ANALYSIS TOOLS

The use of Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) modeling tools and improved analytical methods has provided key information in optimizing advanced power system design and operating conditions for efficiency, producing minimal air pollutant emissions and utilizing a wide range of fossil fuel properties. This project was divided into four tasks: the demonstration of the ash transformation model, upgrading spreadsheet tools, enhancements to analytical capabilities using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and improvements to the slag viscosity model. The ash transformation model, Atran, was used to predict the size and composition of ash particles, which has a major impact on the fate of the combustion system. To optimize Atran key factors such as mineral fragmentation and coalescence, the heterogeneous and homogeneous interaction of the organically associated elements must be considered as they are applied to the operating conditions. The resulting model's ash composition compares favorably to measured results. Enhancements to existing EERC spreadsheet application included upgrading interactive spreadsheets to calculate the thermodynamic properties for fuels, reactants, products, and steam with Newton Raphson algorithms to perform calculations on mass, energy, and elemental balances, isentropic expansion of steam, and gasifier equilibrium conditions. Derivative calculations can be performed to estimate fuel heating values, adiabatic flame temperatures, emission factors, comparative fuel costs, and per-unit carbon taxes from fuel analyses. Using state-of-the-art computer-controlled scanning electron microscopes and associated microanalysis systems, a method to determine viscosity using the incorporation of grey-scale binning acquired by the SEM image was developed. The image analysis capabilities of a backscattered electron image can be subdivided into various grey-scale ranges that can be analyzed separately. Since the grey scale's intensity is dependent on the chemistry of the particle, it is possible to map chemically similar areas which can also be related to the viscosity of that compound at temperature. A second method was also developed to determine the elements associated with the organic matrix of the coals, which is currently determined by chemical fractionation. Mineral compositions and mineral densities can be determined for both included and excluded minerals, as well as the fraction of the ash that will be represented by that mineral on a frame-by-frame basis. The slag viscosity model was improved to provide improved predictions of slag viscosity and temperature of critical viscosity for representative Powder River Basin subbituminous and lignite coals