ACT Valve in Shakedown Testing at University of Pittsburgh

	The second generation prototype of the Active Combustion Throttling valve for control of advanced power systems is undergoing shakedown testing.

The second generation prototype of the Active Combustion Throttling (ACT) valve for control of advanced power systems is undergoing shakedown testing under a University Research Initiative project with the University of Pittsburgh. 

The ACT is a novel high-frequency electromagnetic valve designed to regulate fuel flows for advanced turbines.  It is designed to allow the flow to multiple combustor cans on a power turbine to be individually trimmed to optimize combustion. It also makes it possible to modulate the flow to mitigate the onset of combustion dynamics. 

The development of the ACT has been a collaborative project between the University of Pittsburgh, led by Prof. Jeff Vipperman, and NETL, led by J. Peter Hensel.

The basic design of the second generation prototype was performed at the University of Pittsburgh for flow and actuation.  NETL designed the pressure housing for high pressure operation (over 450 psi at 400 degrees F), and most of the components were machined onsite in Morgantown.

The components were shipped to the University of Pittsburgh for assembly, adjustment, and initial shakedown testing to verify operation of the electromagnetic actuator. 

NETL Technology Converts Greenhouse Gases into Useful Chemical Compounds

	This thermolysis reflux reactor is used to make nanoparticles which are used in the nanocatalyst materials.

NETL researchers are pursuing development of nanocatalyst materials used for the catalytic conversion of CO₂ into useful cyclic carbonate compounds.  The preliminary analysis on this topic by Dr. Todd Gardner and Dr. Victor Abdelsayed will be presented at the 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting March 21-25, 2010, in San Francisco. 

This research potentially offers a low energy cost for CO₂ reuse compared to other CO₂ reuse pathways and also potentially represents an innovative solution to overcoming the CO₂ activation barrier issue via the development of catalytic materials based on nanotechnology.

Dr. Gardner and Dr. Abdelsayed based their nanocatalyst approach on the coupling between highly porous coordination polymers, which have superior CO₂ activation and adsorption properties with metallic nanoparticles incorporated on the surface. 

The synergistic effect between these two catalyst components is hypothesized to improve the insertion rate and efficiency of CO₂ conversion to cyclic carbonate compounds.  One potential use for cyclic carbonate compounds is in high volume composite building materials such as polymer concrete.   

NETL’s High Speed Particle Imaging Technology Extended to Energy and Medical Applications

	These are two of the preoxidized low cycle fatigue specimens that were oxidized by NETL and sent to Siemens for the fatigue testing.

NETL researchers have developed a unique high speed particle imaging (HSPI) system that is now in demand for many applications, including industrial and medical uses. A key to making the HSPI system produce valuable data is particle recognition and tracking software that has been developed at NETL.  

During the past three months the HSPI system was applied to study several industry research units at an industry research organization, Particulate Solids Research Inc. (PSRI), in Chicago, Ill., and is being applied to study hemodynamics (blood flow) in an oxygenater catheter that functions as an artificial lung at the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. HSPI is an excellent tool for studying hemodynamics because blood is similar to energy flow fields in that blood flow is a mixture of a fluid and a high concentration of particles (blood cells).

PSRI is a research consortium of 30 major chemical and energy companies.  The studies at PSRI included measurement of particle clustering phenomena under industrially relevant conditions.  Particle clustering can dramatically change the performance of processes based on particle dynamics.  Fifty percent of all industrial chemical processing units rely on particle dynamics. 

With NETL’s HSPI system, particle clustering was observed for the first time in a fluidized bed. 

Three papers have been written and submitted to journals and conferences on this study of particle clustering.

The HSPI system is also being applied to study numerous experiments at NETL.  In the NETL’s Cold Flow Circulating Fluidized Bed unit, more than 10 conditions that simulate various gasifier phenomena were studied with the HSPI system during the past three months.  The HSPI system is producing new views of particle phenomena in simulated gasifier flow fields. 

Other NETL projects studied with the HSPI system include a novel table feeder for biofuels, a chemical looping demonstration unit, and an experiment to study particle-wall interactions in combusters. 

Plans are underway to apply the HSPI system to visualize drill tip behavior inside NETL’s 30,000 psi ultra deep drilling experiment.  The HSPI technology has application to a wide range of fields other than energy.