DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: August 6, 2003

Power and Water...

DOE Selects Five Projects to Address the Close Link Between Power Plants and Fresh Water

Pittsburgh, PA - What do underground coal mine waters and zebra mussels have in common?

They are among the new projects to be funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) that address the intimate link between coal power generation and fresh water availability and quality.

Five projects will be funded on a cost-shared basis, with DOE expected to contribute $3.5 million over two years. The projects are the result of the first targeted solicitation under a new coal-fired power plant water management initiative, a part of DOE's Fossil Energy program to develop innovations for existing power plants.

The DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is carrying out a comprehensive research and development effort to help the existing fleet of coal-based power plants meet current and future environmental requirements. The research will directly support the President's National Energy Policy recommendations concerning the environmental performance of coal-based power systems.

In the United States, processes for producing electricity from fossil fuels are particularly dependent upon water - about 25 gallons of water are needed for each kWh generated from coal. As such, we may indirectly use as much water turning on lights and running appliances as we use in taking showers and watering lawns. Protecting U.S. fresh water resources while providing the energy needed to power the Nation into the 21st Century is critically important.

In July 2002, NETL and two other DOE laboratories, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory, cosponsored a workshop on the interdependency of water and electric energy. Representatives from government, industry and academia provided input on water and energy production issues. Based on their input, NETL issued the solicitation to develop cost-effective approaches to better manage fresh water use and potential impacts on water quality associated with coal-fired power plants.

Three projects will investigate the use of "non-traditional" sources of water to reduce the amount of fresh surface and groundwater needed for power plant cooling and other process purposes.

West Virginia University Research Corporation (WVURC) will assess the feasibility of using underground mine water to condense the steam generated in power plants. The amount of mine water available, the quality of the water, and the types of water treatment needed, will be analyzed. The benefits of using mine water are two-fold: flooded mines will be prevented from overflowing into rivers and streams and impacting the ecology, and the amount of fresh surface and groundwater used in cooling towers will be reduced. DOE award: $179,615; project duration: 12 months.
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will evaluate the feasibility of using water produced from the extraction of coalbed methane to meet up to 25% of the cooling water needed at the San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico. To initiate the project, researchers will evaluate the quality, quantity and location of the produced water. They will also evaluate the existing produced water collection, transportation and treatment systems for possible use in delivering cooling water to the generating station. EPRI is joined in this effort by team members Water and Waste Water Consultants Inc., Public Service of New Mexico, Ceramem, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. DOE award: $578,444; project duration: 24 months.
University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (UNDEERC), with the Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (SWPC), will test and evaluate a desiccant-based dehumidification process that removes water from the exhaust gas of coal-fired power plants. The researchers will seek to develop economical and environmentally effective technology that can substantially reduce water consumption of coal-fired power plants by recovering a large amount of the water in the flue gas. The researchers will also determine how such technology can be integrated into various power-generating systems to recover water, to improve efficiency, and to reduce emissions of acid gases and carbon dioxide. In addition to EERC and SWPC, this project will have an Industrial Advisory Board consisting of representatives of Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. DOE award: $930,000; project duration: 24 months.

A fourth project will focus on ways to control zebra mussels in cooling water intake systems:

New York State Educational Department will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using a non-toxic bacterium to control zebra mussels. Zebra mussels are a chronic problem for power plants because they can infest cooling water intake systems, causing power plants to go offline, often during peak demand times. Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation (RG&E) has offered one of its coal-fired power plants as a test site for a pilot demonstration project of this green technology. The proposed research will extend this currently funded DOE research project to the pilot demonstration level by evaluating the feasibility of control within the entire service water system of the RG&E plant. DOE award: 910,688; project duration: 36 months.

Scientists in the fifth project will conduct research directed at of advanced pollutant measurement and treatment technology.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute, will evaluate the use of an integrated passive treatment system for removal of nitrogen, arsenic, selenium, and mercury from the wastewater produced by coal-fired power plants. The methods used to remove air pollutants from power plant stack gases can create potential water-quality problems. DOE award: $667,505; project duration: 36 months.

- End of Techline-

For more information, contact:
David J. Anna, DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, 412/386-4646, e-mail anna@netl.doe.gov

Technical contact:
Thomas Feeley, DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, 412/386-6134, e-mail feeley@netl.doe.gov