AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Record of the facility deactivation, decommissioning, and material disposition (D and D) workshop: A new focus for technology development, opportunities for industry/government collaboration

This workshop was held at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) in Morgantown, West Virginia, on July 11--12, 1995. The workshop sought to establish a foundation for continued dialogue between industry and the DOE to ensure that industry`s experiences, lessons learned, and recommendations are incorporated into D and D program policy, strategy, and plans. The mission of the D and D Focus Area is to develop improved technologies, processes and products, to characterize, deactivate, survey, maintain, decontaminate, dismantle, and dispose of DOE surplus structures, buildings, and contents. The target is a five-to-one return on investment through cost avoidance. The cornerstone of the D and D focus area activities is large-scale demonstration projects that actually decontaminate, decommission, and dispose of a building. The aim is to demonstrate innovative D and D technologies as part of an ongoing DOE D and D project. OTD would pay the incremental cost of demonstrating the innovative technologies. The goal is to have the first demonstration project completed within the next 2 years. The intent is to select projects, or a project, with visible impact so all of the stakeholders know that a building was removed, and demonstrate at a scale that is convincing to the customers in the EM program so they feel comfortable using it in subsequent D and D projects. The plan is to use a D and D integrating contractor who can then use the expertise in this project to use in jobs at other DOE sites.

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Two-step rapid sulfur capture. Final report

The primary goal of this program was to test the technical and economic feasibility of a novel dry sorbent injection process called the Two-Step Rapid Sulfur Capture process for several advanced coal utilization systems. The Two-Step Rapid Sulfur Capture process consists of limestone activation in a high temperature auxiliary burner for short times followed by sorbent quenching in a lower temperature sulfur containing coal combustion gas. The Two-Step Rapid Sulfur Capture process is based on the Non-Equilibrium Sulfur Capture process developed by the Energy Technology Office of Textron Defense Systems (ETO/TDS). Based on the Non-Equilibrium Sulfur Capture studies the range of conditions for optimum sorbent activation were thought to be: activation temperature > 2,200 K for activation times in the range of 10--30 ms. Therefore, the aim of the Two-Step process is to create a very active sorbent (under conditions similar to the bomb reactor) and complete the sulfur reaction under thermodynamically favorable conditions. A flow facility was designed and assembled to simulate the temperature, time, stoichiometry, and sulfur gas concentration prevalent in the advanced coal utilization systems such as gasifiers, fluidized bed combustors, mixed-metal oxide desulfurization systems, diesel engines, and gas turbines.

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Advanced worker protection system. Topical report, Phase I

The Department of Energy (DOE) is in the process of defining the magnitude and diversity of Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) obligations at its numerous sites. The DOE believes that existing technologies are inadequate to solve many challenging problems such as how to decontaminate structures and equipment cost effectively, what to do with materials and wastes generated, and how to adequately protect workers and the environment. Preliminary estimates show a tremendous need for effective use of resources over a relatively long period (over 30 years). Several technologies are being investigated which can potentially reduce D&D costs while providing appropriate protection to DOE workers. The DOE recognizes that traditional methods used by the EPA in hazardous waste site clean up activities are insufficient to provide the needed protection and worker productivity demanded by DOE D&D programs. As a consequence, new clothing and equipment which can adequately protect workers while providing increases in worker productivity are being sought for implementation at DOE sites. This project will result in the development of an Advanced Worker Protection System (AWPS). The AWPS will be built around a life support backpack that uses liquid air to provide cooling as well as breathing gas to the worker. The backpack will be combined with advanced protective garments, advanced liquid cooling garment, respirator, communications, and support equipment to provide improved worker protection, simplified system, maintenance, and dramatically improve worker productivity through longer duration work cycles.

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AFBC co-firing of coal and hospital waste. Quarterly report, November 1995--January 1996

The project objective is to design, construct, install provide operator training and start-up a circulating fluidized bed combustion system at the Lebanon Pennsylvania Veteran`s Affairs Medical Center. This unit will co-fire coal and hospital waste providing lower cost steam for heating and possibly cooling (absorption chiller) and operation of a steam turbine-generator for limited power generation while providing efficient destruction of both general and infectious hospital waste. Operating permits will be obtained after construction has been completed. The stack sampler has been selected. This vendor is currently developing the testing protocol. Severe weather in December and January caused work delays to the project, especially to outside work The fabrication and installation of the stack are complete. Only the insulation of the stack remains to be done. Budget problems began to occur in late January. Correction of this situation should occur shortly in February or March. A current schedule for the project is included with this report.

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AFBC co-firing of coal and hospital waste. Quarterly report, August--October 1995

The project objective is to design, construct, install provide operator training and start-up a circulating fluidized bed combustion system at the Lebanon Pennsylvania Veteran`s Affairs Medical Center. This unit will co-fire coal and hospital waste providing lower cost steam for heating and possibly cooling (absorption chiller) and operation of a steam turbine-generator for limited power generation. This would permit full capacity operation of the FBC year round in spite of the VA laundry that was shut down as well as efficient destruction of both general and infectious hospital waste and steam generation. The State permitting process required for construction will be completed in early November to allow installation and construction to be completed. Operating permits will be obtained after construction has been completed. A request for proposal for stack sampling and biospore tests was released to four (4) vendors in mid-October. The proposals shall be reviewed during November and the stack sampler will be selected. Funding was approved as of August 1, 1995. Construction and installation resumed on August 21, 1995 at the LVAMC. Construction and installation continues and will be completed by late December 1995.

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Sonic enhanced ash agglomeration and sulfur capture. Quarterly report, July--September 1995

The major objective of the Phase I test program is to confirm the feasibility of the MTCI bimodal particle size approach to enhance particulate control by acoustic ash agglomeration. An ancillary objective of the Phase I effort is to demonstrate and confirm the feasibility of an acoustic field to enhance sulfur capture by increasing sorbent reactivity. Phase I tests are designed to cover the frequency range between 50 and 1400 Hz, establish monomodal baseline performance as a benchmark from which to measure the degree of enhancement expected from the bimodal approach, and, finally, to confirm the effectiveness of low-frequency fields over high-frequency fields for realistic particulate streams. The program will demonstrate the effectiveness of a unique approach which uses a bimodal distribution composed of large sorbent particles and fine fly ash particles to enhance ash agglomeration and sulfur capture at conditions found in direct coal-fired turbines. Under the impact of high-intensity sound waves, sorbent reactivity and utilization, it is theorized, will increase while agglomerates of fly ash and sorbents are formed which are readily collected in commercial cyclones. The work will extend the concept from the demonstration of feasibility (Phase I), through proof-of-concept (Phase II) to the construction (Phase III) of a coal-fired pulsed combustor with in-furnace sorbent injection. For Phase 1, Pennsylvania State University will conduct studies for enhanced sulfur capture in The Combustion Laboratory and agglomeration tests in the High Intensity Acoustic Laboratory. During this reporting period, design, design analysis and procurement proceeded as scheduled. An independent analysis of the structure was completed and the concrete pad was found to be inadequate so it will be re-designed.

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Collaborative Advanced Gas Turbine Program: Phase 1. Final report

The Collaborative Advanced Gas Turbine (CAGT) Program is an advanced gas turbine research and development program whose goal is to accelerate the commercial availability, to within the turn of the century, of high efficiency aeroderivative gas turbines for electric power generating applications. In the first project phase, research was conducted to prove or disprove the research hypothesis that advanced aeroderivative gas turbine systems can provide a promising technology alternative, offering high efficiency and good environmental performance characteristics in modular sizes, for utility applications. This $5 million, Phase 1 research effort reflects the collaborative efforts of a broad and international coalition of industries and organizations, both public and private, that have pooled their resources to assist in this research. Included in this coalition are: electric and gas utilities, the Electric Power Research Institute, the Gas Research Institute and the principal aircraft engine manufacturers. Additionally, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the California Energy Commission have interacted with the CAGT on both technical and executive levels as observers and sources of funding. The three aircraft engine manufacturer-led research teams participating in this research include: Rolls-Royce, Inc., and Bechtel; the Turbo Power and Marine Division of United Technologies and Fluor Daniel; and General Electric Power Generation, Stewart and Stevenson, and Bechtel. Each team has investigated advanced electric power generating systems based on their high-thrust (60,000 to 100,000 pounds) aircraft engines. The ultimate goal of the CAGT program is that the community of stakeholders in the growing market for natural-gas-fueled, electric power generation can collectively provide the right combination of market-pull and technology-push to substantially accelerate the commercialization of advanced, high efficiency aeroderivative technologies.

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Sonic enhanced ash agglomeration and sulfur capture. Quarterly report, January 1996--March 1996

A major concern with the utilization of coal in directly fired gas turbines is the control of particulate emissions and reduction of sulfur dioxide, and alkali vapor from combustion of coal, upstream of the gas turbine. Much research and development has been sponsored on methods for particulate emissions control and the direct injection of calcium-based sorbents to reduce SO{sub 2} emission levels. The results of this research and development indicate that both acoustic agglomeration of particulates and direct injection of sorbents have the potential to become a significant emissions control strategy. The Sonic Enhanced Ash Agglomeration and Sulfur Capture program focuses upon the application of an MTCI proprietary invention (Patent No. 5,197,399) for simultaneously enhancing sulfur capture and particulate agglomeration of the combustor effluent. This application can be adapted as either a {open_quotes}hot flue gas cleanup{close_quotes} subsystem for the current concepts for combustor islands or as an alternative primary pulse combustor island in which stagging, sulfur capture, particulate agglomeration and control, and alkali gettering as well as NO{sub x} control processes become an integral part of the pulse combustion process.

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High-volume, high-value usage of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) by-products in underground mines: Phase 1 -- Laboratory investigations. Quarterly report, July--September 1995

Efforts primarily focused on Subtask 2.2, Chemical and Mineralogical Characterization and Subtask 4.3, Selection and Testing of Transport System. As part of Subtask 2.2, samples were collected from the Freeman United Crown Mine III FBC disposal facility representing a verity of ages and weathering. A laboratory scale transport system has been built at the CAER to evaluate the potential of pneumatic transport for flue gas desulfurization material (FGDM) emplacement and to provide essential data for the mine emplacement demonstration as part of the Subtask 4.3 effort. The system is modeled after shotcreting systems and has the advantage that the material can be remotely placed without the need for forms. The test program is focusing on determining the pneumatic conditions necessary to maximize the strength of the emplaced FGDM under anticipated mine curing conditions while minimizing dust formation. Work on Subtask 4.1, Mine Selection, also proceeded during the quarter. A new mine site, located in the south-central section of the Pikeville quadrangle, Pike County, Kentucky, was examined for the field study. The proposed fill site is in the Middle Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation Middle Amburgy coal bed, a coal previously mined by Costain elsewhere on the property. Efforts on Subtask 4.2, Hydrologic Monitoring Plan, focused primarily on theoretical issues concerning the effects of the mining and backfill activity on the ground water and surface water due to uncertainties in the location of the final field site. There are three major concerns about the effects of the mining activity: changes in the ground water flow field, changes in ground water quality, and consequential induced changes on stream flow.

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Reserve estimates in western basins. Part 2: Piceance Basin

This study characterizes an extremely large gas resource located in low permeability, sandstone reservoirs of the Mesaverde group in the Piceance Basin, Colorado. Total in place resource is estimated at 307.3 Tcf. Via application of geologic, engineering and economic criteria, the portion of this resource potentially recoverable as reserves is estimated. Those volumes estimated include probable, possible and potential categories and total 5.8 Tcf as a mean estimate of recoverable gas for all plays considered in the basin. About 82.6% of the total evaluated resource is contained within sandstones that have extremely poor reservoir properties with permeabilities considered too low for commerciality using current frac technology. Cost reductions and technology improvements will be required to unlock portions of this enormous resource. Approximately 2.7% of the total resource is contained within sandstone reservoirs which do not respond to massive hydraulic fracture treatments, probably due to their natural lenticular nature. Approximately 6.8% of the total resource is located in deeply buried settings below deepest established production. Approximately 7.9% of the total resource is considered to represent tight reservoirs that may be commercially exploited using today`s hydraulic fracturing technology. Recent technology advances in hydraulic fracturing practices in the Piceance Basin Mesaverde has resulted in a marked improvement in per well gas recovery which, where demonstrated, has been incorporated into the estimates provided in this report. This improvement is so significant in changing the risk-reward relationship that has historically characterized this play, that previously uneconomic areas and resources will graduate to the economically exploitable category. 48 refs., 96 figs., 18 tabs.

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Development of an advanced continuous mild gasification process for the production of co-products. Quarterly report, January--March, 1996

Determination of the best furnace for a commercial coke plant is underway. A shuttle or tunnel kiln has economic advantage over a rotary hearth design. Production of 20 tons of coke in a small shuttle kiln is near completion which will provide experience for this design. Twenty tons of CTC continuous coke are being produced for testing at a General Motors` foundry. The production is approximately 75 percent complete. During this production, variables of the process are being studied to aid in design of a commercial coke plant. Raw material composition, blending, briquetting variables, and calcining heat profile are the major areas of interest. Western SynCoal Company produces a dried coal product from sub-bituminous coal. This upgraded product was evaluated for producing coke products by blending char from this coal product with the coal product along with suitable binders. The green briquettes were then calcined to produce coke. The resulting coke was judged to be usable as part of a cupola coke charge or as a fuel in cement kilns and sugar beet furnaces.

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Utilization of fuel cells to beneficially use coal mine methane. Final report

DOE has been given the responsibility to encourage industry to recover and use methane that is currently being released to the atmosphere. At this time the only method being employed at the Left Fork Mine to remove methane is the mine ventilation system. The methane content was measured at one one-hundredth of a percent. To prevent this methane from being vented to the atmosphere, degasification wells are proposed. To use the coal mine methane, it is proposed to use phosphoric-acid fuel cells to convert methane to electric power. These fuel cells contain (1) a steam reformer to convert the methane to hydrogen (and carbon dioxide), (2) the fuel cell stack, and (3) a power conditioner that provides 200 kW of 60 Hz alternating current output. The environmental impacts and benefits of using this technology ware summarized in the report. The study indicates the methane emission reduction that could be achieved on a national and Global level. The important point being that this technology is economically viable as is demonstrated in the report.

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Enhancement of methane conversion using electric fields. Quarterly report, July--September 1995

The goal of this project is the development of novel, economical, processes for the conversion of natural gas to more valuable projects such as methanol, ethylene and other organic oxygenates or higher hydrocarbons. The methodologies of the project are to investigate and develop low temperature electric discharges and electric field-enhanced catalysis for carrying out these conversions. In the case of low temperature discharges, the conversion is carried out at ambient temperature which in effect trades high temperature thermal energy for electric energy as the driving force for conversion. The low operating temperatures relax the thermodynamic constraints on the product distribution found at high temperature and also removes the requirements of large thermal masses required for current technologies. With the electric field-enhanced conversion, the operating temperatures are expected to be below those currently required for such processes as oxidative coupling, thereby allowing for a higher degree of catalytic selectivity while maintaining high activity.

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Assessment of hazardous air pollutants for advanced power systems

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) identified 189 substances as air toxics or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Under the CAAA, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must regulate emissions of these HAPs at their sources, including advanced power systems used for the production of electricity. This project focused on evaluating and manipulating the advanced power systems HAP data currently available for presentation to the US Department of Energy (DOE). The data were analyzed for trends associated with emission control systems and operating conditions. This project was an addition to an existing DOE program entitled Trace Element Emissions (TEE), which is being conducted by the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC). The purpose of this addition is to evaluate the current results of HAP emissions sampling from full-scale and demonstration units employing advanced power or hot-gas cleanup systems. The specific objectives of this program are to (1) perform a technical review and assessment of the data accumulated on the fate of trace metals in advanced coal power systems and compare them to emissions from conventional coal-fired power plants, and (2) assess the effectiveness of conventional and innovative control technologies relative to potential regulation requirements.

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Development of a natural gas systems analysis model (GSAM). Annual report, July 1994--June 1995

North American natural gas markets have changed dramatically over the past decade. A competitive, cost-conscious production, transportation, and distribution system has emerged from the highly regulated transportation wellhead pricing structure of the 1980`s. Technology advances have played an important role in the evolution of the gas industry, a role likely to expand substantially as alternative fuel price competition and a maturing natural gas resource base force operators to maximize efficiency. Finally, significant changes continue in regional gas demand patterns, industry practices, and infrastructure needs. As the complexity of the gas system grows so does the need to evaluate and plan for alternative future resource, technology, and market scenarios. Traditional gas modeling systems focused solely on the econometric aspects of gas marketing. These systems, developed to assess a regulated industry at a high level of aggregation, rely on simple representation of complex and evolving systems, thereby precluding insight into how the industry will change over time. Credible evaluations of specific policy initiatives and research activities require a different approach. Also, the mounting pressure on energy producers from environmental compliance activities requires development of analysis that incorporates relevant geologic, engineering, and project economic details. The objective of policy, research and development (R&D), and market analysis is to integrate fundamental understanding of natural gas resources, technology, and markets to fully describe the potential of the gas resource under alternative future scenarios. This report summarizes work over the past twelve months on DOE Contract DE-AC21-92MC28138, Development of a Natural Gas Systems Analysis Model (GSAM). The products developed under this project directly support the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) in carrying out its natural gas R&D mission.

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