Coal-fired gas turbine pilot project gets under way. [Use of high-sulfur coal]

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976 · Energy Int.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7313448

Jeffs, E

ERDA has awarded a contract to Curtiss-Wright Power Systems to design, construct, and operate a pilot plant comprising a gas turbine with a fluidized-bed combustor capable of burning high-sulfur coals. The 5-year program covers five phases and the project site is adjacent to Curtiss-Wright's gas turbine plant at Wood Ridge, N.J. The existing coal-fired steam generators were converted to gas about ten years ago. In establishing a basis for the design of a combustor, three options are available, but the one chosen is the split-flow direct cycle in which part of the air flow is diverted to a cooling circuit and the remainder is fed through the bed as combustion air. While this split-flow system is much better for the gas turbine than the adiabatic bed and more controllable than the steam-cooled bed, there are still limits on its performance imposed by the bed. The early experimental work is concerned with heat transfer, materials, and processes. For the long term, the aim of the pilot project is to lay the foundation for a series of commercial plants in the 300- to 500-MW size range in utility service. Since the largest gas turbines commercially available at the present time are at about 100 MW, this represents a significant development all round. But, possibly a start on a prototype plant could be made in as little as three years, with commercial service in the mid eighties. (MCW)

• OSTI ID: 7313448
• Journal Information: Energy Int.; (United States), Journal Name: Energy Int.; (United States) Vol. 13:10; ISSN ENEIB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
014000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Combustion
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200102 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Power Cycles
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
294001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Coal
296001* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power Generation-- (-1989)
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
BURNERS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COMBINED-CYCLE POWER PLANTS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
DEMONSTRATION PLANTS
DESIGN
ELEMENTS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY RECOVERY
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FLUE GAS
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FOSSIL FUELS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUELS
GAS TURBINES
GASEOUS WASTES
HEAT RECOVERY
MANAGEMENT
NONMETALS
OXIDATION
PERFORMANCE
POWER PLANTS
RECOVERY
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SCRUBBING
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM SULFIDES
SULFIDES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TURBINES
TURBOMACHINERY
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES