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October
4, 2006
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NETL Invention
Analyzes Electrical Properties of Flame
In 1999, a couple of researchers
at NETL had an idea for a sensor to analyze the electrical properties
of flame. The idea took root in a very basic, economical way:
the researchers picked up two wires and a butane lighter. Today,
the sensor they invented–known
as the combustion control and diagnostics sensor (CCADS)–has
been licensed to a leading industrial controls manufacturer and
is being marketed to major gas turbine manufacturers.
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NETL Resources
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Federal Laboratory Consortium Resources
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August 7 , 2006
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NETL's Miniature Laser Igniter
to Undergo Engine Testing
NETL hopes to overcome the performance and durability limitations
of contemporary spark plug ignition systems particularly high-pressure,
high-temperature conditions. The NETL miniature laser consistently
produces robust sparks with intensities in excess of 400 gigawatts
per square centimeter. If laser ignition is successful in natural
gas-fueled engines, it would help meet efficiency and emissions
demands in existing and future lean-burn engines. Higher in-cylinder
pressures and leaner air/fuel ratios are required to meet the demands. |
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NETL Resources
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June 14, 2006
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New Pipeline Repair Tool Embraced by Utilities
Product developers at Timberline Tool (Whitefish, MT) demonstrated the operation of a novel repair tool for permanently patching damaged or defective buried polyethylene natural gas pipe at Southwest Gas Corporation in Tempe, AZ and NICOR in Naperville, IL. The successful results have generated offers from nearly a dozen U.S. utilities to host additional demonstrations of the prototype process.
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NETL Resources
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Timberline Tool Resources
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| June 8, 2006 |
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NETL Researchers invent method to Capture Mercury and Trace Metals from Gas Streams
Two NETL researchers have received a patent for a process using NETL-developed metal sorbents to extract mercury from many industrial gas streams, including such sources as goal gasifiers and coal-fired power generating plants. Johnson Matthey has entered into a two year Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with NETL for further development of high temperature sorbents for mercury and trace metals capture from coal-derived gas streams. NETL researchers have found that palladium can capture mercury and arsenic from high temperature simulated fuel gas streams. The palladium sorvent also has excellent potential for the capture of selenium and cadmium from coal-derived fuel or flue gases at elevated temperatures. |
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NETL Resources
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Related Article
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May 8-12, 2006
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Unique Energy and Environmental Resources and Challenges in Alaska
In 2001, NETL opened the Arctic Energy Office in Fairbanks, Alaska, with a two-part mission to promote research, development, and deployment of: 1) oil recovery, gas-to-liquids, and natural gas production and transportation and, 2) electric power in arctic climates, including fossil, wind, geothermal, fuel cells, and small hydroelectric facilities.
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Maurer Technology Resources
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NETL Resources
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Project Summaries:
Fairbanks, AK - The Department of Energy is implementing a broad program of research in Alaska designed to optimize recovery and utilization of the state's vast fossil energy resources while protecting its unique environmental values.
Alaska holds 20% of America 's remaining proved oil reserves, 18% of its proved natural gas reserves, and over 50% of its coal resources. Beyond that, the Last Frontier State has enormous unconventional resources, including viscous oil, coalbed natural gas (CBNG), and methane hydrates.
Alaska also holds a unique collection of sensitive ecosystems. For many Americans, it is the crown jewel of the Nation's natural endowment.
The Department of Energy's R&D mission in Alaska , administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, centers on research and development in two areas: Fossil Energy and Remote Electrical Power Generation.
DOE's Fossil Energy R&D mission demonstrates a commitment to ensure environmentally sound development of Alaska 's hydrocarbon resources. That's an especially crucial mandate for the North Slope , where in-place and yet-to-find petroleum resources are estimated at more than 100 billion barrels of oil and more than 200 TCF of natural gas.
DOE's other major program focus in Alaska centers on sponsoring R&D and deployment of innovative, low-cost electric power systems in the State's remote rural areas, which have some of the Nation's highest electricity costs. |
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Arctic program projects
DOE-managed projects are designed to bolster U.S. energy security by leveraging Alaska 's uniquely large fossil fuel potential and to provide energy solutions for isolated Alaskan residents. About 15 projects are active. Key program activities in Alaska include the following: |
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- DOE-supported research has significantly expanded the capability of oil and gas companies to demonstrate being able to operate on the North Slope without harming the environment. Development is continuing of a Tundra Pond Pumping and Watershed Model that allows for more-effective, efficient, and economic development of ice roads for low-impact North Slope oil and gas development. Ice roads are the preferred method for providing access to drilling sites on the North Slope . There is little precipitation and little water flow on the slope except during snow melt in the spring. Generally, the State limits pumping of arctic lakes to 15% of volume but does not know whether that is a safe limit. DOE-funded studies support that limit as environmentally benign. This project helps ensure continued access to water for building ice roads and for facility operations while maintaining or enhancing current levels of environmental protection.
- Further validation also is expected of the Tundra Travel Model, which already has enabled North Slope operators to significantly expand a once-shrinking seasonal window of opportunity for drilling. Reducing the drilling window could mean stretching out a drilling program over several seasons, crippling the project's economics. The DOE-funded project sought to develop a new standard based on scientific data and found the tundra to be much more resistant throughout the season than previously thought. Armed with better data, Alaska's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was able to advance the opening date for tundra access and still maintain—and in some cases enhance—current levels of protection. For the current drilling season, DNR opened the slope's eastern coastal area on December 6, 2005, the earliest opening since 1995.
- DOE-sponsored research has revitalized interest in oil and gas exploration in Alaska 's remote southwestern region—underpinning the first state lease sale in the Bristol Bay onshore area in 2 decades. Geological field studies conducted under DOE auspices in 2004-2005 have yielded hints of what some explorationists suggest could be elephant-class oil or gas potential in the Bristol Bay-Alaska Peninsula region. Work is continuing on a third summer season of field studies. Despite industry's interest in the area early in the previous century, the Bristol Bay-Alaska Peninsula area is one of the Nation's least-explored regions for oil and natural gas. The State conducted a successful areawide oil and gas lease sale of offshore and onshore acreage in the southwestern peninsular region in February 2006. Bidders at that sale were armed with some of the preliminary findings coming out of the project sponsored by DOE.
- DOE is sponsoring a study that looks at prospects for a spur pipeline to deliver natural gas to south central Alaska from a North Slope pipeline proposed to transit Alaska 's interior. The project addresses concerns over a looming gas shortfall in south central Alaska as Cook Inlet gas supply declines. The study's goals are to 1) identify all possible uses of gas, both traditional and non-traditional, to assist in sizing the line; 2) optimize the line routing by understanding permitting, right-of-way, and community/commercial use issues; and 3) develop a social impact study on affected communities.
- DOE, with other Federal and State agencies, cofunded a project to evaluate CBNG as a remote-power fuel in rural Alaska . The project studied CBNG potential in rural Alaska and identified 38 rural villages located on or near coal resources. Exploiting nearby CBNG resources could provide a long-term source of low-cost, clean energy to rural Alaskans, who usually must rely on diesel-fueled generators for heat and power. The logistics of supplying liquid fuels to these remote locations drive rural Alaskans' energy costs to more than five times those in Fairbanks and Anchorage . The project recently completed drilling into low-rank coals at Fort Yukon, AK—using “slimhole” drilling technology that slashes drilling costs—and is analyzing the results. DOE also is funding review of CBNG coproduced-water disposal methods in Alaska , also a critical Lower 48 issue for resource development vs. environmental concerns.
- Another DOE project is studying possible uses of coal from Beluga field, near Anchorage —including coal gasification, power generation, and drying—to take advantage of the coal's location near export facilities and to the natural gas infrastructure of south central Alaska . The project is in the scoping stage. The report's results likely will be used by the State in its energy planning.
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| April 24-28, 2006 |
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Reducing Mercury Emissions in Coal Fired Power Plants
Coal is a critical part of the current—and future—mix of fuels used to produce electricity in the United States. However coal contains trace amounts of mercury which are released into the air when the coal is burned . One approach for reducing mercury emissions involves the patented Toxecon™ technology resulting from research by NETL, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and nine other project partners. |
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Wisconsin Energy Resources
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EPRI Resources
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NETL Resources
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| April 17-21, 2006 |
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Providing support to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity
NETL general engineer Thomas L. Ochs has worked for more than two years to advise and support the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity. He worked at first with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then with the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office. Ochs spent a total of 10 months in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, on two separate details, and now continues to consult with the agencies through the “Reach-back Organization.” During his time in Iraq Ochs did field work in central Iraq visiting power plants, refineries, and oilfields. |
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As a DOE employee detailed to Iraq Ochs worked with available resources to provide as much electricity as possible to the Iraqi people. Power generation capacity is being rebuilt; new and alternate fuel sources must be matched to generation facilities. Security of pipelines and the transmission grid is not assured, however, and this is another area in which Ochs and others provided input. In the summer of 2004, during significant insurgent attacks targeting power delivery infrastructure, the group he worked with kept the lights on in Baghdad by creative liquid fuel rerouting and rapid repair of transmission lines. Improvements may be transitory, however, leading to frustrating setbacks. Shortly after his return to Baghdad in the summer of 2005, Iraq set a record for availability of electricity. Since that time, transmission lines have fallen to attacks by insurgents, and have not been repaired. More recent activities have Ochs consulting by email with those who are struggling to bring Iraqi generation capacity back on-line. He has also served as a co-host to 14 representatives from the Iraqi Ministries of Electricity and Oil who attended the PowerGen conference in Las Vegas in December, 2005. He assisted the US Trade and Development Agency in hosting the visit. Special sessions were organized with US corporations to provide opportunities for discussion and education regarding power generation equipment and operation issues. (photo) High-Res Photo |
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Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Prototype Testing
Delphi Corporation will be the first of six industry teams to ship its Solid Oxide Fuel Cell prototype to NETL for testing. The objective of the test will be to complete the final portion of Delphi's SECA test plan. Specifically, the automotive APU based unit will be tested at a minimum of 800 watts for 500 hours under a DC load. The prototype unit has been designed to operate on bottled methane, and will be able to operate unattended. |
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Delphi Resources
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NETL Resources
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Taking Another Look at Coal Swelling...
Researchers in NETL's Office of Science and Engineering Research have exposed a major flaw in the state-of-the-art modeling and experimental data reporting that incorrectly interpret interaction between the supercritical CO2 and coal. CO2 dissolves in coals and swells them, yet estimates of sequestration capacities ignore this aspect. These results have been published in the most recent issue of Energy & Fuel. The research staff at NETL has modified reservoir simluators with a new computer code to account for the shrinkage-swelling properties. These results will be presented at the International Coalbed Methane Symposium in Tuscaloosa May 24th. |
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Energy & Fuels Resources
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NETL Resources
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| April 10-14, 2006 |
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Coal – reducing waste, increasing energy recovery…
Researchers from CQ Inc., based in Homer City, PA have demonstrated commercial viability for the GranuFlowTM coal fines recovery process in recent tests conducted in Brookwood, AL. The process patented by the National Energy Technology Laboratory uses a bitumen emulsion to displace water from fine coal. In addition to improved energy recovery and reduced waste at the plant, economic estimates forecast an increase in annual profits from $600,00 to $3,000,000 for coal market values ranging from $50/ton to $100/ton). The work is being conducted as part of the Industries of the Future Mining Program. |
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CQ Inc. Resources
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NETL Resources
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Forgotten Oil – Rediscovering America 's Forgotten Wells…
A new documentary, free to the public, explores the nation's 500,000 often overlooked small, independent oil and gas wells and their potential for reducing dependence on foreign suppliers while meeting environmental standards and providing employment opportunities and economic benefits for rural communities. |
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PennState Resources
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NETL Resources
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Natural Gas – detecting leaks…
Working in cooperation with NETL, product developers at En'Urga, Inc., a small business in Lafayette, IN have produced a prototype scanner that utilizes passive optical technology to detect the presence of natural gas leaks in transmission and distribution pipelines. As demonstrated in laboratory and field-tests, the multi-spectral device can rapidly detect leaks as small as 20 standard cubic feet per hour from large surface areas at distances of 30-50 feet. |
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NETL Resources
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ABOUT NETL
Deepwater Technology
