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The Department of Energy has announced the selection of five projects totaling nearly $12 million targeting cost-effective technologies to improve the performance and economics of near-zero emission, coal-based power generation systems.

Developed for the Office of Fossil Energy's Advanced Research program, the projects focus on identifying technologies that address physical, chemical, biological, and thermodynamic constraints in the cross-cutting technology areas of instrumentation, sensors and control systems, materials, and computational energy sciences. DOE is providing more than $9.3 million in funding while industry is contributing more than $2.3 million. The projects range from 24 to 36 months in duration.

The projects include:

ALSTOM Power, Inc. (Windsor, CT) will develop computational process models and a process dynamic simulator to investigate and develop advanced sensing and control systems for hybrid combustion-gasification chemical looping. Its work hopes to achieve a more reliable, economical and emissions-optimized future plant process. (DOE share: $1,198,998; industry share: $299,750; duration: 24 months)

Babcock & Wilcox Co. (Barberton, OH) will develop comprehensive modeling focused on predicting the corrosion rates of boiler tubes under low-NOx corrosion. Eight common coals will be tested and the intention is to accurately estimate the corrosion rates of boiler tubes using different variables including chemicals and temperature. (DOE share: $2,103,543; industry share: $525,884; duration: 36 months)

General Electric (Niskayuna, NY) will perform computer modeling research focused specifically on coal gasification plants and will install and develop a harsh environment sensor package at the Tampa Electric Co. Polk Power Station. The collected temperature data will be used for model validation. (DOE share: $2,427,588; industry share: $606,897; duration: 36 months)

Electric Power Research Institute (Palo Alto, CA) will develop advanced nanostructure coatings to significantly improve corrosion and erosion performance of tubing used in boiler applications. The coatings will undergo testing in simulated boiler environments using coals from three different regions. EPRI's partners include the Southwest Research Institute, Foster Wheeler North America Corp., and Applied Films. (DOE share: $1,994,828; industry share: $498,708; duration: 36 months)

University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO) will develop a gas-solid model, using new methodologies tailored to polydisperse systems, targeted specifically at materials with differences in size and/or density. Novel aspects include incorporating the effects of random particle motion between systems. (DOE share: $1,594,175; industry share: $402,995; duration: 36 months)