A Computational Workbench Environment For Virtual Power Plant Simulation

In this paper we describe our progress toward creating a computational workbench for performing virtual simulations of Vision 21 power plants. The workbench provides a framework for incorporating a full complement of models, ranging from simple heat/mass balance reactor models that run in minutes to detailed models that can require several hours to execute. The workbench is being developed using the SCIRun software system. To leverage a broad range of visualization tools the OpenDX visualization package has been interfaced to the workbench. In Year One our efforts have focused on developing a prototype workbench for a conventional pulverized coal fired power plant. The prototype workbench uses a CFD model for the radiant furnace box and reactor models for downstream equipment. In Year Two and Year Three, the focus of the project will be on creating models for gasifier based systems and implementing these models into an improved workbench. In this paper we describe our work effort for Year One and outline our plans for future work. We discuss the models included in the prototype workbench and the software design issues that have been addressed to incorporate such a diverse range of models into a single software environment. In addition, we highlight our plans for developing the energyplex based workbench that will be developed in Year Two and Year Three