Three Projects to Develop Filter Safeguards For Future Power Plants

The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected three organizations to develop "filter-failure safeguard devices" that can protect future coal-powered energy plants from costly equipment damage.

The three organizations - the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center, Siemens Westinghouse, and Southern Research Institute - will develop systems suitable for 21st century power plant technologies such as integrated gasification combined cycle and pressurized fluidized bed combustion.

These advanced power generating systems rely on a hot stream of high-pressure gas. Advanced filters are being developed to trap the microscopic pieces of soot, unburned carbon, or tiny dust particles in the gas stream before they can damage turbines and other downstream components.

The most commercially ready barrier filter systems today are based on "candle filter technology." These devices are now offered by a variety of vendors and have the flexibility to use a variety of commercial available filter element types.

The contracts being awarded in this project will develop a safeguard devices in the event the candle filters fail. Such safeguard devices are necessary to ensure that an unexpected filter breakage does not cause sufficient damage to put future advanced power plants out of service for extended periods of time.

The Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC), a major DOE field organization, will manage these projects once contracts are negotiated and the projects are in place:

• Energy and Environmental Research Center, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, will fabricate and test a filter-failure safeguard device that uses a sticky yet temperature-stable coating on a highly porous ceramic disk. The disk will sit above the candle filter where it can trap dust and plug pores in the event of a filter failure. Different coatings will be applied to cover the typical range of conditions in gasification and pressurized fluidized bed combustion applications. The filter-failure safeguard device would minimize the potential damage to downstream equipment, mitigate dust emissions, and allow the power plant to continue operations until a convenient or scheduled outage. Proposed DOE award: $248,000.
  Contact: Grant E. Dunham (701) 777-5159.

• Siemens Westinghouse, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will design, test and verify devices that minimize the risk of filter failure, and protect downstream equipment and other filter components in case of failure. Devices are to be installed in the clean side of filters, and operate in extreme high-dust, high-pressure conditions at temperatures reaching 1,600 degrees F. Siemens Westinghouse will create a conceptual and prototype design, fabricate a device, and conduct bench-scale testing in simulation facilities at DOE's Federal Energy Technology Center in Morgantown, WV. In addition, there are two optional phases totaling nine months. The first permits optimization of the device's design and performance. The second allows for pilot-scale testing and evaluation at DOE's Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville, Alabama. Proposed DOE award: $387,000.
  Contact: James Ciesar (412) 256-2564

• Southern Research Institute (SRI), Birmingham, Alabama, will develop a device that shuts off the flow of particle-laden gas immediately after a candle filter breaks. If a candle filter breaks, a higher-than-normal gas flow will activate the safeguard device. The Full-Flow Mechanical Safeguard Device provides a positive seal against pressure encountered during the periodic back-pulse of gas used for filter cleaning. Back-pulse filter cleaning can compromise the effectiveness of other types of safeguard devices that depend on passive plugging as the approach to filter-failure sealing. The full-flow device does not slide and does not have hinged pieces, which are not reliable in hot-gas cleanup conditions. The proposed safeguard device is easy and inexpensive to clean and maintain. Another benefit is the device adds minimal resistance to the filter flow and the back-pulse flow when it is not active and the filter is intact. Proposed DOE award: $236,500.
  Contact: Bruce Sizemore, (205) 581-2733

FETC manages and implements a broad spectrum of energy and environmental programs for the Department of Energy. It is the Department's primary research arm for advanced fossil fuel technology development.

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For more information, contact:
Otis Mills, Jr., DOE Federal Energy Technology Center, (412) 386-5890, e-mail: mills@fetc.doe.gov

Technical contact:
Rich Dennis, DOE Federal Energy Technology Center, 304/285-4515, e-mail rdenni@fetc.doe.gov.