ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT OF COAL-FIRED HIGH-PERFORMANCE POWER SYSTEMS

A High Performance Power System (HIPPS) is being developed. This system is a coal-fired, combined cycle plant with indirect heating of gas turbine air. Foster Wheeler Development Corporation and a team consisting of Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, Bechtel Corporation, University of Tennessee Space Institute and Westinghouse Electric Corporation are developing this system. In Phase 1 of the project, a conceptual design of a commercial plant was developed. Technical and economic analyses indicated that the plant would meet the goals of the project which include a 47 percent efficiency (HHV) and a 10 percent lower cost of electricity than an equivalent size PC plant. The concept uses a pyrolyzation process to convert coal into fuel gas and char. The char is fired in a High Temperature Advanced Furnace (HITAF). The HITAF is a pulverized fuel-fired boiler/air heater where steam is generated and gas turbine air is indirectly heated. The fuel gas generated in the pyrolyzer is then used to heat the gas turbine air further before it enters the gas turbine. The project is currently in Phase 2, which includes engineering analysis, laboratory testing and pilot plant testing. Research and development is being done on the HIPPS systems that are not commercial or being developed on other projects. Pilot plant testing of the pyrolyzer subsystem and the char combustion subsystem are being done separately, and after each experimental program has been completed, a larger scale pyrolyzer will be tested at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, Al. The facility is equipped with a gas turbine and a topping combustor, and as such, will provide an opportunity to evaluate integrated pyrolyzer and turbine operation. The design of the char burner was completed during this quarter. The burner is designed for arch-firing and has a maximum capacity of 30 MMBtu/hr. This size represents a half scale version of a typical commercial burner. The burner is outfitted with nozzles for separate injection of char, coal, and limestone. Burner performance will be rated according to three criteria, carbon conversion efficiency, NOx generation, and flame stability. If initial testing in the arch configuration proves successful, further tests will be performed in the wall-fired arrangement. A complete set of process and instrumentation drawings (P/ID's) were completed for the Combustion and Environmental Test Facility (CETF) this quarter. These drawings established an ISA approved instrument tagging structure, and provided a coherent database for the development of a data acquisition system. The data acquisition system polls tag information (value, range, engineering units, etc.) from the distributed control system (DCS) highway, and provides a platform for data reduction. The quadrupole mass spectrometer, used during the pyrolyzer tests performed at the pilot plant in Livingston, N.J., has been redesigned for use at the CETF. The mass spectrometer is designed to provide on-line gas analysis by identifying all of the chemical components within the secondary air line, the flue gas recycle line, and the furnace exit ducting. The construction effort at the CETF continued this quarter with the completion of the char storage system, reheat burner, flue gas recycle piping, and the pulverized coal feed system