Release Date: July 4, 2000

With Americans citing cleaner air and water as among their highest priorities, the U.S. Department of Energy plans to bolster its power plant environmental control research program with seven new projects.

The seven projects will become part of the department's Fossil Energy research and development program. Each is intended to help power plants comply with the current, new, or pending clean air regulations.

These seven projects number among the 43 new research efforts the Energy Department expects to select this month - chosen from a broad agency request that touched every aspect of the agency's fossil energy technology program.

Pending the final details of ongoing contract negotiations, the Energy Department will award more than $2 million Federal dollars to these projects over the next three years. The selected organizations will contribute an additional $1.2 million more. The projects are:

• CONSOL, Inc., Research and Development, Pittsburgh, PA, (2 projects): (1) to determine whether mercury (a trace impurity in coal which has been classified as a hazardous air pollutant) re-enters the environment - and if it does, to what degree - when fly ash and scrubber sludge from power plants are placed into landfills or storage ponds or recycled into commercial products; and (2) to study the durability of manufactured stone aggregates made from a variety of coal combustion byproducts.

• Brown University, Providence, RI, to develop strategies and technologies that make high-carbon fly ash left as a residue of coal combustion easier to re-use as a cement replacement.

• University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Lexington, KY, to develop a better understanding of the behavior of ammonia-laden ash in certain cement-based products, and to develop sound, practical guidelines for use of the fly ash.

• Ohio State University Research Foundation, Columbus, OH, to educate potential coal combustion byproduct users and regulators about alternative uses and to reduce the amount of byproducts that are placed in Ohio landfills.

• Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, to conduct air quality samples in and around the Pittsburgh area for 18 months and test airborne particulate matter to help target an emissions-control strategy.

• Energy and Environmental Research Corporation, Irvine, CA, to develop an innovative method for reducing the release of smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollutants from power plants by combusting a portion of the coal fuel in a "reburning" zone that breaks down the pollutants into a harmless form.

The projects will be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which implements and oversees DOE's fossil energy programs, the main goal of which is to develop effective ways of reducing emissions while using fossil fuels as a primary source of electricity and power generation. Technology development is the key to DOE's efforts to protect our environment and keep fossil fuels viable.

Additional detail on each project follows.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• CONSOL, Inc., Research & Development, Pittsburgh, PA, Characterization of Coal Combustion By-Products for the Re-Evolution of Mercury into Ecosystems - to determine how much, if any, mercury re-enters the environment when fly ash and flue gas desulfurization sludge are placed into landfills, storage ponds or commercial products like concrete and wallboard. CONSOL recently completed a study, co-funded by DOE and the Ohio Coal Development Office, which showed that the mercury disposed with fixated solid waste products from flue gas desulfurization systems (i.e., scrubbers) was stable. CONSOL proposes to expand this research to include ash from coal-fired boilers or filtering systems along with scrubber products that encompass the entire coal-fired utility industry.

  Proposed DOE share: $136,535
  Participant share: $ 34,135
  Project duration: 18 months
  Company contact: M.S. DeVito, (412) 854-6679.

   

• CONSOL, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, Durability Evaluation and Production of Manufactured Aggregate from Coal Combustion By-Products - to conduct a long-term study of the durability of manufactured stone aggregates made from a wide variety of coal combustion byproduct feedstocks. The production of manufactured aggregates provides a significant opportunity to use coal combustion byproducts in the construction industry. It is also a cost-effective way for preventing or reducing the ash use problems associated with nitrogen oxide(NOx) reduction technologies. Installing low-NO_x burners for NOx> control can decrease fly ash and make it unsuitable for the cement and concrete markets. As a partial replacement of natural aggregate, the consumption of manufactured aggregate made from coal combustion byproducts is not limited by market volume; seasonal demands; and problems in handling, transportation, and storage.

  In the last 10 years, CONSOL has developed a process to produce manufactured aggregates from the byproducts of various technologies designed to reduce sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-fired boilers. In 1999, CONSOL constructed and operated a 500 lb/hr integrated continuous pilot plant for process demonstration. The pilot plant demonstrated successful continuous, fully integrated, long-term process operation for aggregate production and the process flexibility to produce a variety of aggregates. The pilot plant was constructed with substantial funding support from DOE.

  This project builds on CONSOL's earlier work with DOE to develop a pilot-scale process for manufacturing aggregates from coal combustion byproducts.

  Proposed DOE share: $150,000
  Participant share: $ 37,500
  Project duration: 33 months
  Company contact: M.S. DeVito, (412) 854-6679
  

   

• Brown University, Providence, RI, Strategies and Technology for Managing High-Carbon Ash - to develop strategies and technologies that manage high-carbon fly ash and make it easier to re-use as a cement replacement. Brown will conduct research on three strategies:
  • targeted fuel selection (including cofiring and coal switching)
  • modifications to combustion conditions or ash storage conditions
  • reactive modification of carbon surface chemistry

  Research will be conducted on each of these strategies, and the most promising options made available to U.S. industry. The effect on ash quality of coal selection and low-NOx firing conditions will be systematically investigated through pilot-scale combustion studies at the University of Utah and state-of-the-art ash characterization at Brown. Southern Company will contribute samples from full-scale firing under both steady and upset conditions for further analysis.

  Finally, the reactive modification of carbon surfaces represents a fundamentally new concept for beneficiation of fly ash. Unlike all other developmental beneficiation processes, it leaves the carbon in place but alters its surface chemistry. Laboratory data at Brown has established the viability of this technique and has led to a recent patent application. Several leading utility companies have expressed interest in larger-scale demonstrations of this reactive treatment technology.

  The present proposal describes critical further research needed to provide the scientific and engineering data needed for intelligent scale-up and optimization of the reactive treatment process. Benefits include longer landfill lifespans because less fly ash is landfilled, reduced greenhouse gas emissions because of reduced cement production, and cost savings to utilities and concrete manufacturers. The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, and The Southern Company, Birmingham, AL, will collaborate with Brown University.

  Proposed DOE share: $313,636
  Participant share: $ 84,492
  Project duration: 36 months
  University contact: Robert Hunt, (401) 863-2685.

• University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Lexington, KY, A Study of the Effects of Post-Combustion Ammonia Injection on Fly Ash Quality - The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require large reductions in emissions of nitrogen oxide(NOx) from coal-fired electric utility boilers. This will necessitate the use of ammonia injection in many systems resulting in some ammonia deposition on the fly ash. The presence of ammonia, and associated concerns about its odor and toxic affects, could create a major barrier to its use. According to the University of Kentucky, prior European experience and considerations of the fundamental chemistry and physics of ammonia desorption suggest that ammoniated fly ash can be safely used; but practical guidelines and methodologies for handling ammoniated fly ash need to be developed in advance of the installation of many more systems.

  The single largest use of fly ash is in concrete and other cement-based products. Fly ash both provides a relatively inexpensive cement "extender" and it is an essential component of High Performance Concrete. Ammonia present on the fly ash could potentially hinder its use in cement and concrete because of odor problems. Although there have been several limited studies of fly ash ammonia release from concrete, little is known about the quantity of ammonia emitted during mixing and curing, and the kinetics of ammonia release.

  This is manifested in the widely varying opinions within the concrete and ash marketing industry regarding maximum acceptable levels of ammonia in fly ash; that is, the levels above which the ammonia emissions from concrete become unacceptable. The goal of this project will be to develop a better understanding of the behavior of ammonia-laden ash in certain cement-based products, and to develop sound, practical guidelines for use of the fly ash. The technical approach will be to prepare various mixtures of mortar and concrete and measure the release of ammonia from these materials over time.

  The work will initially focus on bench-scale (laboratory) experiments to develop fundamental data of ammonia desorption characteristics. Larger experiments will include batch tests which will study the emission of ammonia over longer periods of time. The emission of ammonia from Ready-Mix trucks as well as the mass pours will be monitored over time to obtain kinetic data. Project team members are: Boral Material Technologies, Inc., San Antonio, TX; Mineral Solutions, Minneapolis, MN; Southern Company Services, Atlanta, GA; ISG Resources, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT; and University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, Lexington, KY.

  Proposed DOE share: $149,815
  Participant share: $150,511
  Project duration: 18 months
  University contact: Jonathon Compton, (606) 257-9424.

   

• Ohio State University Research Foundation, Columbus, OH, Coal Combustion Products Extension Program - Ohio generates approximately 10 million tons of Coal Combustion Products annually, and uses about 20% of them in various application technologies. The remaining 80% are typically disposed in non-productive landfills or surface impoundments. This project will focus on research and technology transfer of potential beneficial uses of Coal Combustion Products. Research conducted at Ohio State University for the last decade has shown that, if used properly, these products can be cost-effective substitutes for conventional raw materials, including highway and related civil engineering applications, mine reclamation, agricultural, and manufacturing uses. Current disposal costs amount to $40 million/year.

  Proposed DOE share: $55,647
  Participant share: $17,567
  Project duration: 36 months
  University contact: Richard Fortner, (614) 292-4903.

   

• Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, The Pittsburgh Particulate Matter Supersite Program: A Multi-Disciplinary Consortium for Atmospheric Aerosol Research - Airborne particulate matter continues to pose serious health risks for susceptible members of the U.S. population and for sensitive ecosystems. Design of cost-effective particulate matter control strategies is limited by the lack of understanding of the particulate matter health effects links which, Carnegie Mellon argues, is exacerbated by a paucity of physiological data, the difficulty of establishing particulate matter source-receptor relationships, and finally the limitations of existing instrumentation for particulate matter measurements. A comprehensive multidisciplinary study is proposed for the Pittsburgh region, which will address all of the above issues.

  The proposed hypothesis-driven program will have six components:

  • Ambient monitoring in a central supersite and a set of satellite sites in the Pittsburgh region.
  • An epidemiological study.
  • An indoor monitoring study.
  • An instrument development and evaluation study.
  • A comprehensive modeling component.
  • A data analysis and synthesis component.

  Carnegie Mellon University will conduct air quality samples in and around the Pittsburgh area for 18 months and test the characteristics of airborne particulate matter against various health hypotheses to help target an emissions-control strategy focusing on specific components of particulate matter instead of the total mass of particulate matter. This could lead to developing and evaluating the next generation of air emissions-control technologies and a more effective emissions-control strategy that lowers costs of regulatory plans by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

  Proposed DOE share: $1 million
  Participant share: $301,287
  Project duration: 36 months
  University contact: Allen Robinson, (412) 268-3657.

   

• Energy and Environmental Research Corporation, Irvine, CA, Minimization of Carbon Loss in Coal Reburning - to develop a fuel-flexible reburning technology to minimize carbon loss in coal reburning. In conventional reburning, a portion of the total fuel is diverted from the main burners to a downstream location, thereby establishing a fuel-rich zone in which nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced. Overfire air is then added to burn out remaining combustible material. From an economic standpoint, it is ideal to use an inexpensive material such as coal as the reburn fuel. However, due to limitations in reburn zone gas temperatures and residence times, combustion of the reburn coal is typically incomplete. This can lead to excessive carbon-in-ash, turning the ash from a saleable commodity into a waste product. The fuel-flexible reburning concept solves this problem. The technology increases the efficiency of nitrogen oxide reduction in coal reburning and decreases carbon-in-ash. The technology would transform fly ash into a saleable byproduct and lower nitrogen oxide emissions, which would help to defray electricity-production costs.

  Proposed DOE share: $200,000
  Participant share: $ 50,000
  Project duration: 24 months
  Company contact: Vladimir Zamansky, (949) 859-8851.