|
DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: June 1, 1998 National Test Center for Advanced Power Systems Completes Construction in Wilsonville, AL"Power Systems Development Facility" is Nation's First Test Plant for 21st Century Coal TechnologiesThe nation's first large-scale, modular test center for 21st century power technologies now has begun shakedown and test operation of its final core module. The Department of Energy (DOE) and Southern Company Services, Inc., have completed construction of the Power Systems Development Facility at Wilsonville, AL. Built as a series of technology modules, the facility is intended to serve as the proving ground for several types of advanced electric generating technologies and environmental cleanup systems currently being developed for the next generation of coal-fired power plants. The final core module to be constructed was an advanced pressurized fluidized bed combustion system designed by Foster Wheeler Inc., and built by Caddell, Inc. of Montgomery, AL. Along with the pressurized fluidized bed unit and a bubbling-bed carbonizer, the facility also houses an advanced transport reactor developed by The M.W. Kellogg Company that can be used as either a coal gasifier or a combustor. A high-temperature, high-pressure gas cleanup module can be used for testing interchangeable particulate control devices, external sulfur-removal systems, and trace element removal technologies. Westinghouse's rich-quench-lean topping combustor and a combustion turbine are also installed at the facility, and plans are eventually to incorporate a fuel cell. "With the completion of the Wilsonville facility, U.S. equipment developers can now turn to a single location to test a range of innovative power system components and technologies," said Patricia Fry Godley, DOE's Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. "A key feature of the test facility is that it has been built in a utility setting and is staffed by experienced power plant engineers and technicians. This enables testing under realistic conditions at scales that bridge the gap between benchscale development and commercial-size demonstration. We envision the facility as ultimately becoming a national focal point for testing tomorrow's generation of power technology." With a total 10-year cost of $271 million for construction and initial test operations, the Power Systems Development Facility is estimated to have saved more than $32 million compared to the cost of building individual pilot plants for each of the emerging new technologies in DOE's Advanced Power Systems R&D Program. DOE will use the facility to test many of the systems and balance-of-plant components that it is developing to meet a year 2010 goal of a 50%-efficient, coal-based power system that is at least 10 times cleaner than required by today's air emission standards. In addition, the facility will be made available to private developers to test innovative power system components -- from new combustors to advanced filtration devices. Using the transport reactor or the pressurized fluidized bed combustor, the facility can produce dust-laden or dust-free gas streams under both reducing and oxidizing environments and at elevated temperatures and pressures. Such conditions are suitable for testing materials, valves, feed systems and other components for a range of industries including power generation, mineral processing, metals refining, petroleum refining and waste incineration. Companies will be invited to enter into partnerships to utilize the facility and services to test their equipment. Under these partnership arrangements, technical support can be provided with full protection of the partner's intellectural property rights. To date, the Power Systems Development Facility partnership includes DOE, Southern Company Services, Inc., The M.W. Kellogg Company, Foster Wheeler USA Corp., Combustion Power Corporation, Industrial Filter and Pump, Inc., Westinghouse Science and Technology Center, Peabody Coal Company, and the Electric Power Research Institute. - End of TechLine - For more information, contact: Technical Contact: |