ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT OF COAL-FIRED HIGH PERFORMANCE POWER SYSTEMS

Abstract

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. This report addresses the areas of technical progress for this quarter. Preliminary process design was started with respect to the integrated test program at the PSDF. All of the construction tasks at Foster Wheeler's Combustion and Environmental Test Facility (CETF) have been completed in preparation for the char combustion test program, this includes installation of the char burner, and the on-line mass spectrometer. A test matrix has been defined, utilizing a statistical design of experiment (SDOE) methodology, for the char combustion program. The first phase of the CETF shakedown has been completed, and all analog devices (thermocouples, transmitters, etc.) have been calibrated.