2009 NETL Accomplishments

— the lab
2 Mission

Advancing energy 

options to fuel 

our economy, 

strengthen our 

security, and 

improve our 

environment.
Message from the Director

NETL: The First 100 Years

4

6

Contents 3

Advanced Power Systems

Gasification

Switching to Switchgrass: Using Biomass

to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Hydrogen

Fuel Cells 

Turbines

Advanced Combustion

Materials

Meeting the Challenge: NETL’s Materials Capabilities

Clean Energy

Carbon Capture

Carbon Storage

Carbon Sequestration Partnerships

Demand-Side Efficiency

Air, Water, Land

Computational Sciences: It’s a Virtual World

Reliable Supply

Energy Infrastructure

Methane Hydrates

Natural Gas and Oil Production

Rocking at the Extreme Drilling Laboratory

Science & Technology Leadership

Technology Transfer

Noteworthy Publications

International Cooperation

Educational Outreach

Awards and Recognition

NETL’s Thief Process Steals the Show

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48

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84

86 Our Vision for the Future

Cover page—Dr. William J. Kroll experiments with an early zirconium reactor at the 

Albany Research Center circa 1948. In 2009, Albany’s Marisa Arnold conducts materials 

research using a scanning electron microscope.
4 Our History Powers America’s Future

It is my pleasure to present the National Energy 

Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) 2009 accomplishments 

report. The report describes the results of our work 

during the calendar year and showcases the triumphs 

we have achieved during our 100-year history of 

innovative energy research.

Each accomplishment demonstrates NETL’s 

commitment to uphold America’s trust through wise 

investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Our funding is 

provided through the U.S. Department of Energy’s 

Office of Fossil Energy, as well as other Department 

offices and federal agencies. Our achievements fulfill 

our long-standing promise to the American people 

to perform cutting-edge research and support the 

development of advanced technologies, which 

contribute to the clean production and use of our 

nation’s domestic energy resources.

NETL’s reputation as an innovator reaches back to the 

1910 creation of the Pittsburgh Experiment Station. 

Since that time, our methods, technologies, and 

processes have answered each decade’s pressing 

energy issues. Our evolution has paralleled the 

transformation of the U.S. energy infrastructure from 

a system run almost entirely on fossil fuels to an 

expanding energy portfolio that includes new and 

sustainable energy resources. 

NETL’s major focus continues to be the development 

of clean fossil-based systems integrated with carbon 

capture and storage. Our scientists, engineers, 

and analysts are also working to develop new and 

exciting domestic resources, such as methane 

hydrates, and enhancing the efficiency, reliability, 

and economics of renewable wind-, solar-, and 

biomass-based systems.
Anthony V. Cugini, Director

National Energy Technology Laboratory

5

The successes NETL achieved in 2009 are the 

result of extensive onsite and contracted research, 

as well as collaboration with our fellow national 

laboratories, other government agencies, 

industry, academia, and international research 

organizations. As NETL supports the Department 

of Energy in its mission to advance the national, 

economic, and energy security of the United 

States, it has implemented a broad spectrum 

of complementary energy and environmental 

research and development programs to satisfy the 

energy needs of today and those of generations 

to come.

I invite you to read through these pages and see 

NETL’s diverse contributions to our energy past, 

present, and future. We believe NETL can help 

make our nation’s next 100 years our finest. 
1910

Coal research 

begins at the 

Pittsburgh 

Experiment 

Station under 

the U.S. Bureau 

of Mines (USBM)

1918

Petroleum 

research begins 

at the Bartlesville Petroleum 

Experiment 

Station in 

Oklahoma 

under USBM

1943 

Materials 

research begins 

at the Northwest Electrodevelopment 

Laboratory in 

Albany, OR, 

under USBM

1946

 Synthesis gas 

research begins 

at the Morgantown Experiment Station in 

West Virginia 

under USBM

YEARS OF INNOVATION

6

For 100 years, innovation, dedication, and collaboration 

have enabled NETL to address the monumental energy 

challenges that face our nation. Though we have worn 

many hats during the last century, our main mission 

remains unchanged: to provide safe, reliable, and 

affordable energy to the American people. 

At NETL, science inspires us to embrace new 

perspectives and consider the impossible as we seek 

unique solutions for specific problems. Our organization 

has evolved to meet national energy needs—from 

energy conservation efforts in the Great Depression, 

through urgent World War II research into aviation fuels 

and nuclear materials, to today’s discovery of nextgeneration technologies that capture and store carbon 

emissions.

NETL’s historic accomplishments began in the early 

20th century, after a series of catastrophic explosions 

in 1907 spotlighted dangerous and wasteful mining 

practices. On May 16, 1910, the U.S. Bureau of Mines 

(USBM) was created in the Department of the Interior to 

focus on safety issues within the coal industry. The new 

organization established its main field office and first 

laboratory in Pittsburgh, PA, the heart of the rich Central 

Appalachian coal region.

The Bureau’s first director, Joseph Austin Holmes, and 

his staff propelled disaster prevention through the 

development of coal dust controls, cooler-burning 

explosives, and equipment that minimized sparks and 

flame. Their efforts saved thousands of lives and made 

the Pittsburgh station a center of expertise on coal, toxic 

gases, and the phenomena of ignition, explosion, and 

combustion.

NETL: The First 100 Years
1983

BETC splits into DOE’s 

Bartlesville Project 

Oce (BPO) and the 

governmentowned/contractoroperated National 

Institute for Petroleum 

& Energy Research 

(NIPER)

1989

DOE’s 

contract with 

NIPER 

concludes

1996

 METC and PETC 

merge to form 

the Federal 

Energy 

Technology 

Center (FETC)

1997

 BPO closes, 

National 

Petroleum 

Technology 

Oce (NPTO) 

established in 

Tulsa, OK

1999

U.S. Secretary of Energy 

elevates FETC to 

national laboratory 

status, renaming it the 

National Energy 

Technology Laboratory, 

or NETL

2001

NETL opens 

Arctic Energy 

Office in 

Fairbanks, AK

2005

Albany 

Research Center 

joins NETL

2009

Tulsa oce 

moves to Sugar 

Land, TX

2000

NPTO joins 

NETL

1975

 Bartlesville, Morgantown, 

and Pittsburgh stations 

renamed Energy Technology Centers (BETC, METC, 

PETC); move, with the 

Albany lab, to the U.S. 

Energy Research Development Administration

1977

BETC, METC, PETC join 

the new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); 

Albany remains with 

USBM, renamed the 

Albany Research 

Center

7

In the decades following, USBM expanded its research 

inquiries, creating a nationwide network of regionally 

focused laboratories to investigate petroleum and 

natural gas production, the mining and refining of 

rare metals, and the conversion of coal into gas and 

liquid fuels. The Bartlesville, OK, station pioneered 

enhanced oil recovery efforts by developing waterflooding techniques and chemical solutions that 

freed oil trapped within rocks underground. In Albany, 

OR, researchers developed advanced materials that 

could withstand a range of harsh environments. And 

in Morgantown, WV, engineers improved efficiencies, 

removed impurities, and reduced the cost of 

operating coal-based power systems. 

YEARS OF INNOVATION

Joseph Austin Holmes became the first director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines when 

it was founded by Congress on May 16, 1910. Its mandate: develop technologies 

and processes to protect coal mine workers. Holmes enthusiastically led Bureau 

efforts by proving the explosive nature of coal dust and driving the discovery of 

other practices to make coal mining safer. 
8

The multiple threads of these programs came together 

between 1996 and 2005. In 1996, the Pittsburgh and 

Morgantown centers merged to form the Federal 

Energy Technology Center. Three years later, this 

organization was elevated to national laboratory status 

within the Department of Energy (DOE) and given its 

current designation, NETL. The National Petroleum 

Technology Office, successor to the Bartlesville, OK, 

station was incorporated into NETL in 2000, and in 2001, 

our Arctic Energy Office was established in Fairbanks, 

Alaska. Finally, the Albany Research Center—which had 

remained with USBM until the agency closed in 1996—

rejoined its former partners at NETL in 2005, making our 

Laboratory complete. 

Our past successes include producing the zirconium 

that powered the first nuclear submarine, clarifying the 

composition and cause of smog, and being one of a 

select group to study lunar rock samples brought back 

from Apollo missions to the moon. NETL’s leading role 

in coalbed methane and gas shale research in the 1970s 

and 80s has fulfilled its promise, as coalbed methane 

now makes up almost 10 percent of our nation’s natural 

gas, and gas shale is an emerging resource. 

Today’s accomplishments are equally significant, as we 

transfer our technologies from bench-scale investigation 

to commercial demonstration. NETL is making strides in 

carbon management by developing the infrastructure 

needed to capture and permanently store carbon 

NETL: The First 100 Years
YEARS OF INNOVATION

9

dioxide (CO2) emissions. Our groundbreaking work 

in the computational sciences enables us to conduct 

research in simulated environments so we can 

realize tangible results at reduced cost and risk. We 

are maximizing our nation’s natural gas resources 

through cutting-edge drilling techniques. We are 

also enhancing our nation’s energy delivery system 

through projects that pursue “smart” power grid 

technologies and next-generation lighting that burns 

brighter and longer with less power consumption.

For 100 years, NETL and its predecessor organizations 

have helped our nation navigate the diverse 

challenges associated with energy production and 

use. Our accomplishments demonstrate real and 

measurable progress toward national energy security, 

a cleaner environment, and a robust American 

economy. NETL will continue to explore the energy 

frontier and develop exciting technologies that 

ensure a sustainable and promising energy future for 

the United States and the world.

A planned coal-mine explosion at the Bureau of Mine’s first 

research site in Pittsburgh, PA, proved beyond doubt the 

highly explosive nature of coal dust, which had been widely 

considered inert and harmless. The Bureau’s efforts to improve 

coal mine safety saved countless lives, as researchers went on 

to develop coal-dust controls, cooler-burning explosives, and 

techniques for minimizing spark and flame. 
10 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
NETL’s advanced 

power systems 

innovations are 

securing environmentally 

sound, affordable energy 

for the 21st century. Our 

researchers are developing 

fossil-fuel systems with 

greater efficiencies and 

advancing next-generation 

technologies, such as 

hydrogen-based energy, 

coal gasification with CO2

capture, and fuel cells 

that run on coal-derived 

synthesis gas. The research 

effort NETL is making today 

will help our nation realize 

advanced energy systems 

for tomorrow.

11

Facing page—Under DOE’s Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program, the Morgantown and Pittsburgh Energy 

Technology Centers promoted integrated gasification combined cycle—or IGCC—power plants, which combined 

three of the technology centers’ research specialties: coal gasification, gas purification, and advanced turbine engines. 

Under this program, the Wabash River Power Station in Indiana and Tampa Electric Company’s Polk Power Station in 

Florida, pictured here, came online. Today, they are still two of the world’s cleanest coal-fired power plants.
The USBM gasification research program, begun at 

the Bureau’s Morgantown Experiment Station in 1946, 

was the first of its kind in the United States. Its mission: 

improve synthesis gas production. The station’s earliest 

specialties became coal gasification and the removal 

of harmful impurities from manufactured gas. In the 

new millennium, NETL’s Advanced Power Program is 

developing gasification technologies and turbines that 

produce clean electrical energy while yielding an easily 

captured CO2

 stream. Computational fluid dynamics 

models aid researchers in developing gasification 

technologies that will operate at lower cost and higher 

thermal efficiency, making them reliable and able to 

operate economically on coal and petroleum coke.

NETL Researchers Identify Possible Cause of 

Low Gasifier Availability—Deposits of minerals in 

downstream coolers, known as fouling, can adversely 

affect the reliability and availability of commercial coal 

gasifiers. NETL researchers have found that during 

gasification a small amount of large, pyrite-containing 

coal particles may convert into iron in the presence 

of partially gasified coal. The iron does not dissolve in 

slag, but rather pools on the surface of the slag and 

becomes a potential fouling agent if reintroduced into 

the gas stream. The findings will aid gasifier efficiency 

by helping operators to optimize the performance of 

mineral preparation processes—such as coal grinding 

and slurry processes—and decrease fouling agents. 

NETL Assesses Current and Future Power Plant 

Technologies with Carbon Capture—A new NETL 

report analyzes a variety of process configurations 

for producing electric power from bituminous coal. 

Representing the second of a two-volume study, the 

report considers pre-combustion carbon capture 

scenarios whereas the first volume focused on noncapture scenarios. Each volume adds a series of process 

modifications representing advanced technologies 

within DOE’s research and development portfolio. 

Assessing the impacts that each technology can 

make on the cost and performance of future power 

systems allows its contribution to DOE programmatic 

goals to be measured and prioritized. With successful 

commercialization of the technologies, the study 

estimates that a 7–8 percentage-point efficiency 

improvement over conventional gasification 

technology is possible. With fuel cell technology, 

even greater process efficiency improvements 

(24 percentage points) are potentially achievable. 

Moreover, successful deployment of the advanced 

technologies evaluated would result in capital costs 

and cost of electricity more than 30 percent below that 

of conventional integrated gasification combined cycle 

(IGCC) technology with carbon capture and storage. 

NETL Model Selected for Designing HighTemperature Desulfurization Process Plant—Results 

produced by a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) 

model developed by NETL agreed favorably with actual 

data obtained from a high-temperature desulfurization 

process (HTDP) pilot plant at the Eastman Chemical 

Company facility in Kingsport, TN, and developed 

and constructed by Research Triangle Institute (RTI). 

The NETL model determined the absorption and 

regeneration of a porous zinc-based sorbent for various 

operating conditions. The model, which could also be 

applied to any sorbent-based CO2

 capture process, 

accounts for mass transfer resistance through the 

product layer and inside the porous pellet. Validated 

against lab-scale NETL experiments, literature data, and 

pilot plant data, the NETL desulfurization model will 

be utilized to design and optimize RTI’s 50 megawatt 

HTDP demonstration unit to be slipstream-tested at the 

Tampa Electric Company’s Polk Power Station.

Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell Performance and 

Cost Assessment—As part of an overall effort to 

compare the economics of fuel cell-based systems in 

central station and distributed generation applications, 

an NETL team analyzed the projected cost of electricity 

produced by two integrated coal gasification-fuel cell 

(IGFC) power plants that use planar solid oxide fuel cell 

(SOFC) technology to convert synthesis gas (syngas) to 

electricity. Results show that while the fuel cell system 

is more expensive than a conventional combustion 

turbine, that expense is counterbalanced by the 

decrease in the unit cost of upstream equipment due 

to the higher IGFC system efficiency. Moreover, as a 

natural part of operation, the fuel cell platform offers 

the opportunity for nearly 100 percent CO2

 capture. 

12 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Gasification 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

New Advanced Process Engineering Co-simulator 

Released—Version 2.0 of NETL’s R&D 100 Awardwinning Advanced Process Co-Simulator (APECS) is 

now available. APECS version 2.0 provides solutions on 

both ends of the performance spectrum, including 

parallel execution of multiple computational fluid 

dynamics (CFD) models on high-performance 

computers and the use of fast reduced-order models 

based on CFD results. The new version reduces the 

computational time required for equipment 

simulations based on high-fidelity CFD models (versus 

simplified engineering models), especially for cases in 

which one or more CFD models are embedded in 

large-scale energy system co-simulations. 

13

In the early 1930s, Bureau of Mines researchers 

mastered the basic technique of deriving 

synthetic crude oil from coals. Crude oil from 

Pittsburgh’s pilot plant yielded gasoline that 

fueled the station’s motor pool, including 

this truck photographed in 1941. Pittsburgh’s 

early work on synthetic fuels determined that 

carbon-rich coals, though harder to work 

with, tended to be the best oil sources. These 

results indicated that most of the country’s 

vast coal reserves qualified as usable raw 

material for synthetic liquid fuel production.

Image courtesy of National Archives & Records 

Administration

13
Switching to Switchgrass: Using Biomass To Reduce 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Coal + Biomass

& 90% CCS

Coal Only

Life Cycle GHG Footprint [lb GHG/MWh] 2000

1500

1000

500

-500

-1000

0

0% CCS

25% CCS

50% CCS

65% CCS

90% CCS

90% CCS + 10% Bio90% CCS + 18% Bio

90% CCS + 30% Bio

90% CCS + 61% Bio

Reducing GHG Footprint with Carbon Capture and Biomass

14 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
NETL’s Office of Systems, Analyses, and Planning 

(OSAP) has a mission: guide research and 

development toward balanced energy solutions 

in areas such as economic sustainability, supply 

security, and mitigation of global climate change. 

With this in mind, OSAP took a careful look at 

firing biomass along with coal (called co-firing) 

in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) 

power plants to see how this approach could play a 

part in low-carbon power generation.

Coal-fired power plants account for approximately 

50 percent of U.S. electric power generation and 

approximately 80 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) 

emissions from power generation. With continuing 

concerns about climate change, it is critical for 

us to find ways to reduce these emissions while 

continuing to generate secure and sustainable 

electric power. Lowering GHG emissions from 

power generation becomes even more important 

when we consider reducing transportation-related 

emissions via plug-in hybrid vehicles. Although 

plug-in hybrids individually produce less GHG 

emissions than standard vehicles, their widespread 

use will increase our nation’s overall need for electric 

power. 

Biomass is a nearly carbon-neutral fuel, meaning 

that during growth, the plants remove carbon from 

the air through photosynthesis and release it again 

during combustion. However, with the addition 

of carbon capture and storage (CCS), biomass 

combustion becomes carbon negative—actually 

removing CO2

 from the atmosphere. Carbon is 

pulled from the air during photosynthesis, released 

during combustion, and then captured and 

permanently stored underground. 

So far, commercial tests at Tampa Electric’s Polk 

Power Station in Florida and NUON Power’s 

Buggenum Plant in the Netherlands have 

demonstrated that up to 30 percent biomass 

by weight can be co-fired with coal. The chief 

constraint has been delivering an adequate supply 

of biomass to the power plant. The OSAP study 

chose switchgrass for the biomass because it is not 

a food crop, it is robust and fast growing, and it does 

not compete for agricultural land.

OSAP analyzed the performance of the coalbiomass combination in terms of energy efficiency, 

CO2

 capture, and cost. Additionally, they looked 

at the impacts that regulated pricing could 

have on GHG emissions. The study considered 

two scenarios: one at sea level using Illinois #6 

bituminous coal, and the second at 3,400 feet 

elevation with Powder River Basin subbituminous 

coal to better understand the effects that higher 

elevations might have.

OSAP’s findings show that adding biomass 

generally decreases plant efficiency because it is a 

lower-quality fuel than coal. However, when used 

as a GHG mitigation strategy, biomass reduces 

the need to use conventional CO2 capture and 

compression, both of which require substantial 

auxiliary loads. As a result, when targeting a certain 

GHG emission level, plant efficiency actually 

increases as the proportion of biomass increases. 

These efficiency trends are similar for both coal 

types and elevations examined in this study. 

Furthermore, in terms of GHG emissions, adding 

biomass to coal along with CCS can achieve netzero life-cycle emissions because CO2

 released from 

the switchgrass is captured and stored permanently 

away from the atmosphere. 

One drawback the study revealed is that despite the 

higher efficiencies in CCS systems achieved with 

biomass, producing biomass is more expensive 

than producing coal, so using it as a fuel raises 

the cost of electricity. However, because of OSAP’s 

study we know that with a regulated price on GHG 

emissions, the coal-biomass combination for IGCC 

power plants may become economically as well as 

environmentally desirable in the future. 

Through complex analytical studies like this, 

OSAP helps NETL, DOE, and the United Sates 

make informed, thoughtful, objective decisions 

about new ideas and methods for producing 

and consuming energy. OSAP’s goal in these 

studies is to help researchers identify and develop 

technologies that make the most sense in terms of 

the environment, economics, and the availability of 

different fuels to meet our energy needs—now and 

in the future.

15
Tracer Technique Evaluates Mixing Process—

The gasification effectiveness of a transport 

reactor depends on its ability to mix adequately 

the incoming flows of reactants: fuel, sorbent, and 

air. These reactants must be dispersed across the 

reactor’s cross-sectional area by the different mixing 

mechanisms. A gas tracer method applied by NETL 

scientists has led to a better understanding of gas 

and solids mixing behavior in the dense region 

of a transport reactor, where a significant portion 

of the reaction takes place. Gas tracers injected 

in the midst of the circulating solids showed that 

both gas velocity and solids circulation rate were 

instrumental in achieving good radial distribution in 

this region. A good description of the flow behavior 

is essential to develop and validate predictable 

reactor models and to develop crucial gas and solids 

mixing relationships that can be incorporated and 

validated for CFD codes, such as Multiphase Flow 

with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX).

Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell Combined Cycle 

(IGFC) System Assessed—Using today’s state-ofthe-art fuel cell design, NETL analysts determined a 

fuel cell-based power plant has the potential to 

capture greater than 90 percent of CO2 emissions and 

still be more efficient than a conventional IGCC plant 

without carbon capture. The plant uses coal 

gasification to produce syngas, which serves as the 

feedstock for a planar SOFC with separate anode and 

cathode outlet streams. This unique feature results in 

an effluent rich in fuel-cell reaction products that does 

not suffer from dilution by nitrogen present in air. 

Cooling the effluent to condense water produces 

near-pipeline-purity CO2

. A stack gas undiluted by 

nitrogen represents an advantage over pulverized 

coal or IGCC plants. Continued research and 

development could improve system efficiency to 

approximately 56 percent, including carbon capture 

and sequestration. 

Plant-Wide Dynamic Simulation Studies 

Advanced Power Plants—Researchers with the 

NETL Institute for Advanced Energy Solutions have 

developed a simulation to study the operability and 

control of coal-fired IGCC power plants with CO2

capture. The 640 megawatt-electric IGCC reference 

plant features an entrained down-flow gasifier 

with radiant syngas cooler, a two-stage water-gasshift conversion process with interstage cooling, a 

dual-stage Selexol process for acid-gas removal and 

CO2

 separation, two advanced “F” class combustion 

turbines partially integrated with an elevatedpressure air separation unit, and a subcritical steam 

cycle for heat recovery steam generation. Developed 

using commercial Aspen Plus Dynamics® software, 

the dynamic simulation has been used to evaluate 

transient performance of the IGCC system under 

various control scenarios involving fluctuations in 

coal feed. 

Simulation Technology Optimizes Pressure Swing 

Adsorption Systems for Pre- and Postcombustion 

CO2

 Capture—Developed under an NETL Institute 

for Advanced Energy Solutions project, this new 

simulation technology yields maximum hydrogen 

recovery when applied to a two-bed four-step 

pressure swing adsorption process for separating 

hydrogen from methane. Described in the March 

14, 2009, issue of the American Chemical Society 

journal, Industry & Engineering Chemistry Research, 

the technique is particularly useful for evaluating the 

suitability of different adsorbents, feedstocks, and 

operating strategies for pressure swing adsorption 

used in pre- and postcombustion CO2

 capture.

NETL Computational Fluid Dynamics Code 

Simulates Polydisperse Systems—Aided by 

NETL optical imaging technology, collaborators at 

Colorado University, Iowa State University, Princeton 

University, and Particle Science Research Institute 

have formulated a new polydispersity equation 

set to add to the NETL MFIX code. When applied 

to the flow of fluids through transparent, artificial 

media, NETL’s optical imaging technology provides 

data to validate and verify multiphase flow codes 

that describe particle-scale phenomena. The new 

capability will allow the team to model the flow of 

polydisperse systems, such as powders consisting 

of grains with different size, density, or chemical 

composition, that are found in coal combustion or 

gasification. Additionally, by enhancing the MFIX 

code to handle a distribution of particle sizes rather 

than a single particle size, researchers have improved 

the accuracy of model predictions.

16 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
YEARS OF INNOVATION

Coal

Coal Lock

Ash Lock

Ash

Rotating Grate

Steam

and

Oxygen

Quench

Cooler

SynGas

Ash

Net Power Con

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0 0.2 0.4 

average particle 

Power Consumption (kJ/kg)

17

In the 1940s, the Bureau of Mines determined 

that lignite coal had value for manufacturing 

industrial organic chemicals, including 

synthesis gas, also called water gas. Using its 

Reyerson-Gernes generator, the Grand Forks 

plant turned 381 tons of lignite into 16 million 

cubic feet of water gas in one year’s time 

and demonstrated the feasibility of gasifying 

lignite on a commercial scale. Here, an interior 

view of the retort building at the Grand Forks 

gasification plant shows the hopper and 

charging valves that fed lignite into the top of 

the Reyerson-Gernes water-gas generator. 

Image courtesy of Bureau of Mines publication

17
18 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

NETL Study Reveals Atomic Structure of FischerTropsch Catalysts—Using advanced surface 

analysis techniques, NETL scientists have obtained 

detailed images of the atomic structure of iron 

oxide catalysts similar to those used for converting 

gasified coal into liquids that can be used as 

hydrogen carriers or fuels. The study investigated 

the production of model iron and iron oxide 

catalyst particles on an inert gold growth substrate, 

reproducing the size, shape, defects, and other 

important structural features of real-world ironbased catalysts used for the Fischer-Tropsch process. 

The findings are important for understanding 

the reactivity of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts and the 

mechanisms involved in activating the iron-oxides 

into iron-carbide phases. The work is described in the 

June 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed publication, 

Journal of Physical Chemistry C.

NETL Helps Establish First Hydrogen Fueling 

Station

Acting through the West Virginia Hydrogen Working 

Group, NETL funded and coordinated the construction 

of West Virginia’s first hydrogen fueling station as part 

of a planned “hydrogen corridor” that will eventually 

refuel hydrogen-powered vehicles from Charleston, 

WV, to Morgantown, WV. 

The new facility is designed to fuel vehicles and 

other equipment while serving as a place for 

hydrogen research, development, and evaluation. 

It was dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 

August 17, 2009, as part of the 5th Annual Hydrogen 

Implementation Conference organized by the 

Mountain States Hydrogen Business Council.

Located at Charleston’s Yeager Airport, the fueling 

station produces hydrogen by electrolysis from water 

supplied by Yeager. It is operated by its primary 

user, Yeager Airport, where it currently fuels the 

airport’s hydrogen-powered pickup truck, a standard 

heavy-duty 2004 model refitted to run on hydrogen. 

Hydrogen also powers an Air National Guard fork lift at 

the Guard unit stationed at Yeager.

Hydrogen

With water as its only by-product, hydrogen is the 

ultimate in clean energy. Its value as a fuel has long 

been recognized, but economically producing hydrogen 

remains a challenge. NETL’s history of fuels separation—

from coal hydrogenation studies beginning in the 

1920s to the more recent successes with sulfur oxide 

(SOx )- and mercury-removal technologies—is informing 

the research pathway toward cost-effective production 

of pure hydrogen from coal-derived gases. Since 2003, 

NETL’s hydrogen research has focused on pioneering 

efforts to develop hydrogen gas–separation membranes. 

Our research is exploring ways to centrally produce great 

volumes of ultra-pure hydrogen, which would ultimately 

enable a hydrogen-energy economy based on abundant 

domestic coal.

Image courtesy of Arno A. Evers
1

H

1.008

1s

1

hydrogen

19

Unique Catalyst Designed To Improve 

Methane Reforming—Working in cooperation 

with NETL, researchers at Iowa State University 

developed and patented a new material that 

catalyzes the reactions of steam with methane 

or carbon monoxide to produce hydrogen while 

simultaneously separating the CO

2

 by-product. 

The core-in-shell pellet material is prepared in 

the laboratory and consists of calcium oxide 

cores surrounded by alumina-based shells that 

support a nickel catalyst. The core absorbs CO

2

as it is produced, thereby eliminating that gas’s 

reaction-inhibiting effects and simultaneously 

providing a means for its recovery in useful form. 

The innovative approach would vastly simplify 

the current industrial practice for steam reforming 

methane and allow the product of a coal gasifier 

to be converted into nearly pure hydrogen in a 

single step. This project was conducted under the 

Office of Fossil Energy’s University Coal Research 

Program.

Prototype Membrane Reactor Exceeds 

Hydrogen Production Expectation—Working 

in cooperation with NETL, researchers at Western 

Research Institute successfully completed the 

100-hour testing of an integrated device that 

removes hydrogen concurrently with the 

conversion of synthesis gas through the water-gasshift reaction. Fabricated by hydrogen equipment 

manufacturer REB Research & Consulting, Oak Park, 

MI, the device operated in a coal-derived syngas 

environment that contained significant amounts 

of carbon monoxide (20 percent) and hydrogen 

sulfide (125 parts per million), and it exceeded the 

project’s hydrogen production goal of 10,000 liters 

per day. 

19
20 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

NETL’s fuel cell research focuses on technologies suitable 

for coal-fueled central generation. In the 1980s, the 

Morgantown Energy Technology Center initiated 

fuel cell investigations to develop power systems that 

avoided burning coal directly. In 2000, the Solid State 

Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) was formed. SECA, 

an NETL-managed collaboration of industry, university, 

and national laboratory research facilities, develops 

low-cost, efficient, and clean solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) 

technology that will enable the use of the nation’s 

coal resources in an environmentally benign manner. 

SOFCs are modular and fuel-flexible, and SOFC-based 

integrated gasification fuel cell systems are capable of 

60 percent efficiency and 99 percent CO2

 capture.

Fuel Cells 

Liquid Tin Anode-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Voltage 

Reaches Theoretical Limit—A new liquid tin anode 

SOFC test cell designed by NETL produced open 

circuit voltages equivalent to theoretical values of 

1.1 volts at 900  ̊C under hydrogen. The new cell 

design features a closed-end, tubular electrolyte 

onto which a cathode is painted, with extra sensors 

for more precise and reproducible measurement 

of the movement of oxygen into, through, and out 

of the liquid tin layer. Ongoing research is directed 

at identifying the reactions causing the greatest 

losses in anode performance, thus guiding the 

development of an ideal anode composition and 

support structure for optimal cell performance. 

Molten metal anodes are of interest because of their 

ability to produce electricity directly from solid fuel 

sources, such as biomass and coal dust, without the 

need for gasification. Such direct consumption of 

coal would greatly increase system efficiency and 

reduce total system cost. Liquid tin anodes are also 

more resistant to coal contaminants that poison 

conventional nickel-based anodes. 
NETL Creates Multi-cell Array To Test Fuel Cells 

Operating on Coal Synthesis Gas

A skid-mounted array of 12 SOFCs completed 

continuous testing during gasifier operation 

at DOE’s National Carbon Capture Center in 

Wilsonville, AL. The results will be used to design 

a cleanup system for SOFCs operating on coalderived synthesis gas (syngas). 

Using syngas for powering fuel cells can help 

secure our energy independence by extending 

the useful lifetime of our most abundant energy 

resource, coal. Since SOFCs operate very efficiently, 

they can produce more energy from coal than can 

coal-fired power plants.

NETL researchers designed the array to obtain 

data on the effects of trace syngas materials on 

SOFC performance over a range of electric load 

conditions and for extended periods of operation. 

Contaminants such as arsenic, phosphorous, 

selenium, and mercury can foul SOFCs and 

limit their performance. By understanding what 

happens—and how—researchers can devise ways 

to overcome these limitations. 

Approximately 4,500 cell-hours of test data, 

together with post-operational microscopy, are 

providing insight on degradation mechanisms, 

including unwanted deposition of trace material.

The mobile fuel cell test platform is also available 

to support SOFC performance testing at other coal 

gasification sites.

21

SECA Core Technology Program Overcomes 

Technical Challenges—Fuel cell scale-up is part of 

the SECA manufacturing strategy for achieving the 

lowest possible SOFC system cost. Higher-power 

density and a larger active area combine to reduce the 

number of cells, cell interfaces, and raw materials 

required for a system of given power output. SECA 

aims to develop large fuel cell power blocks (greater 

than 100 megawatts) that will produce power with 

greater than 50 percent overall efficiency for $700 per 

kilowatt of electricity or less. The SECA industry teams 

are assisted by participants in the NETL-supported 

SECA Core Technology Program, who develop the 

science and technologies for overcoming specific 

technical challenges and barriers to meeting SOFC 

system cost reduction and performance 

improvement goals. The core teams realized the 

following accomplishments in 2009: 

• In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, 

researchers working at Argonne National 

Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source have used 

synchrotron x-rays to examine the atomic and 

chemical structure of model SOFC cathodes over 

a range of conditions. Studies have shown the 

surface chemistry and structure of strontiumcontaining cathodes to be the same under 

room-temperature laboratory conditions as under 

the high temperatures typical of SOFCs. The 

unexpected finding suggests that SOFC cathode 

materials may be studied using analytical 

techniques under room-temperature, ultrahigh 

vacuum conditions, enabling a detailed 

description of their electronic structures. The data 

will be collected and subsequently interpreted to 

guide SOFC developers toward cathode 

architectures with improved stability and activity. 

• Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National 

Laboratory have developed a low-cost technique 

for applying a continuous coating of nanocatalyst 

into porous SOFC electrodes. With this technique, 

catalyst application occurs after high-temperature 

SOFC treatments, allowing for expanded design 

flexibility and increased nanocatalyst diversity. 

Development of alternative nanocatalyst 

formulations afforded by this technique can yield 

increased SOFC performance, which will 

contribute to lower cell and stack costs.

21
22 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

SECA Industry Teams Reach Milestone for 

Central Plant Fuel Cell—Two industry teams 

participating in SECA have completed initial 

testing of SOFC stacks designed as building blocks 

for modules that can produce up to 1 megawatt 

of electricity of power. The test stacks were each 

produced with commercial manufacturing 

processes that result in high-volume stack costs 

under $290. Test results in both cases were 

consistent with those obtained at smaller scale. 

• Versa Power Systems, Inc., Littleton, CO, (firsttier subcontractor for the team led by FuelCell 

Energy, Inc., of Danbury, CT) has provided 

SOFC stacks that are 50 percent larger than 

the previous design and which produced 

approximately

20 kilowatts of electricity for more than 

5,000 continuous hours of operation at an 

average temperature of 705 °C and 61.5 

percent fuel use with simulated coal syngas. 

• Delphi Automotive LLP, Troy, MI, (first-tier 

subcontractor for the team led by UTC 

Power Corporation, South Windsor, CT) has 

developed a new “Gen4” cell that represents an 

increase in active area by a factor of four over 

that of the previous design.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

23

Initiated in the fall of 1999, the Solid 

State Energy Conversion Alliance 

(SECA) unites government, industry, 

and the scientific community in the 

common mission of advancing solid 

oxide fuel cell technology. NETL 

independently tests and verifies the 

concepts and products the SECA 

teams devise and renews funding 

to projects only as long as they 

continue to best stringent technical 

performance expectations. In 2007, 

the Office of Management and 

Budget lauded SECA’s approach: 

“This novel incentive structure has 

generated a high level of competition 

between the teams and an impressive 

array of technical approaches.” 

In 2007, Phipps Conservatory and 

Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA, 

became the first conservatory in the 

world to take advantage of fuel cell 

technology. Under an NETL building 

efficiency project, a 5-kilowatt solid 

oxide fuel cell system powered 

the 12,000-square-foot, 60-foot-tall 

Tropical Forest exhibit and provided 

energy for heating water. The primary 

by-products of the fuel cell were heat, 

water, and CO

2

, which were used in 

adjacent production greenhouses. 

The project added modern “green” 

efficiency to the Victorian glasshouse 

originally built in 1893. 

Image courtesy of Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
24 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Diluting with Nitrogen Reduces Nitrous Oxides 

(NOx) Emissions—NETL scientists demonstrated 

reduced NOx emissions from a high-hydrogen 

diffusion flame gas turbine combustor by diluting the 

fuel stream with nitrogen rather than air, as currently 

practiced industrially. Results obtained in NETL’s 

Fundamental Combustion Laboratory show that for all 

lean-diffusion-flame combustor types, including swirlstabilized combustors, flame temperatures are always 

minimized by diluting the fuel stream, leading to 

lower NOx emissions. For non-swirl combustor types, 

such as lean direct injection combustors, fuel-side 

dilution (versus airside dilution) reduces NOx formation 

times, which also has important implications for the 

design of high-hydrogen combustors.

IGCC Catalyst Scalable for Commercial 

Applicaton—Commercial-sized catalyst samples 

for the novel selective catalytic reduction process 

developed at Siemens Energy, Inc., NY, have 

undergone performance verification within a 

simulated integrated gasification combined cycle 

(IGCC) gas turbine exhaust using third-party test 

results. This accomplishment demonstrates that the 

Siemens novel selective catalytic reduction process 

can lower NOx

 emissions from the high-temperature 

gas turbine in an IGCC application to a level that 

meets program goals while high-firing temperatures 

and exhaust temperatures are maintained, both of 

which contribute significantly to the efficiency of 

the IGCC power block. The milestone verified the 

NETL’s turbine research began in the early 1960s, when 

Morgantown researchers converted a railroad turbine 

engine to a coal-based turbine energy system capable 

of powering a stationary plant. Today, NETL researchers 

and our partners continue to advance the science and 

technology behind turbines, which are the heart of 

nearly all the world’s electric generating systems. NETL 

manages a research, development, and demonstration 

project portfolio designed to develop high-performance, 

low-emission gas turbine technologies. With the use 

of unique laboratory facilities and equipment, NETL 

is evaluating new concepts in combustion, turbine 

materials, aerodynamics, and heat transfer designs.

Turbines performance of the novel selective catalytic reduction 

catalyst for simulated IGCC gas turbine exhaust, and 

the commercial size of the sample demonstrated 

that the technology can be readily scaled to full-sized 

application. This project is funded by the Advanced 

Turbine Program and managed by NETL’s Power 

Systems Division. 

Holes in Theory Hold Up to Demonstration—

In collaboration with NETL, researchers at Virginia 

Polytechnic Institute and State University investigating 

synthesis gas-ash deposition dynamics demonstrated 

that a three-row scheme of cooling holes located in 

the leading edge of a turbine blade provided effective 

protection to the blade surface by blowing away ash 

particles and cooling the ash below its deposition 

temperature. The study also showed that because low 

melting-point polyvinyl chloride and Teflon® particles 

at low temperature mimic the behavior of ash 

particles at high temperature, deposition at engine 

conditions could be studied through low-temperature 

experimentation.

Hole Geometry Cools Film, Protects Turbines—

In cooperation with NETL, engineers at the GE Energy, 

Inc., Steam Turbine Technology Laboratory in 

Schenectady, NY, completed final performance 

validation of an improved film-cooling hole geometry. 

Film cooling extends the service lifetime of turbines 

operating in high-temperature environments, and 

film-cooling geometry determines the effectiveness 

of the film cooling. With high-speed test data, 

researchers quantitatively measured improvements in 

the film-cooling effectiveness of components that use 

novel cooling hole concepts developed under the 

Office of Fossil Energy’s Advanced IGCC/Hydrogen 

Turbine Development Program. The improved design 

will contribute to increased turbine plant efficiency. As 

part of the same project, researchers also obtained 

information on mechanical response for the initial 

design concept of the largest bucket blade to be used 

in the last-stage expansion annulus of an advanced 

hydrogen gas turbine, which meets DOE turbine 

performance goals for IGCC- and FutureGen-type 

applications. Larger-than-usual buckets are required to 

meet desired power and performance levels because 

low-Btu fuel and diluents are expected in those 

applications.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

25

Angle Makes a Difference in Blade Life—

University of Pittsburgh investigators participating 

in the NETL-supported University Turbine System 

Research Program compared three surface features 

for thermal barrier coatings that would improve the 

distribution and effectiveness of films of cooling air, 

which pass over a turbine blade and protect it from 

thermal degradation. Results obtained from both 

experimental measurement and computational 

fluid dynamics simulation suggest that downstream 

performance may be improved by ramps with an 

inclined angle of 20–25 degrees located upstream 

of the film holes through which air emerges from 

the blade. 

Essential to the U.S. Government’s wartime 

preparation was ensuring America’s energy 

security. Boilers were a key component in this 

strategy, because boiler outages could snarl 

critical industries and hinder military operations. 

To deal with the problem of embrittlement, 

in which waterborne caustic minerals trigger 

cracks in steel boiler components, engineers 

at the Pittsburgh and College Park experiment 

stations developed an embrittlement detector 

that gave advance warning of hazardous mineral 

concentrations. In 1943, the Bureau of Mines 

received a patent for this device, displayed here by 

project lead Wilburn C. Schroeder. 

Image courtesy of National Archives & Records 

Administration

In 1959, a gas turbine designed for locomotives 

was installed at the Morgantown Experiment 

Station for study. Engineers transformed the 

coal-based railroad engine into a stationary 

power plant for generating electricity; 

they developed new, longer-lasting blades 

and revamped the combustor to run on 

synthesis gas—a solution to the problem 

of coal dust and ash. In 1967, a new gasifier 

came online at Morgantown that could turn 

low-rank coal into synthesis gas, offering an 

excellent, inexpensive fuel source. By 1970, 

the Morgantown Station was en route to 

integrating its coal gasification, dust removal, 

and turbine technologies. 
26 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

NETL Scientists Determine Drag Coefficient for 

Range of Powders at Key Transport Velocities—

The single most significant parameter defining the 

fluid dynamic behavior of particles in a gas flow 

stream is the drag that gas exerts on the particle. 

Current methods to establish a baseline for the 

drag of a specific granular material use the drag at 

extreme conditions for single particles and dense 

fluidization—conditions unrepresentative of the 

particle-dominated transport flow behavior found in 

circulating and transport fluidized beds. NETL scientists 

have now developed a transient method to define 

flow regime transitions. Researchers have applied the 

method to various granular materials over a variety of 

transport flow regimes and found that the resulting 

drag coefficient was constant for all granular materials 

examined near the regime transitions. This finding 

will allow CFD modelers to develop a better baseline 

for the drag law as applied to particular powders at 

well-defined conditions nearer to those for circulating 

fluidized beds. 

NETL Research Shows Feasibility of Direct Coal 

Chemical-Looping Combustion—Results of 

thermogravimetric analysis and bench-scale fixed-bed 

flow reactor studies by NETL indicate it is feasible to 

develop chemical-looping combustion directly with 

coal using metal oxides as oxygen carriers. Among 

Among NETL’s major historic accomplishments is 

the development of groundbreaking environmental 

solutions for combustion technologies. During the 

1980s and 1990s, PETC and METC partnered with 

the coal and electric-utility industries to showcase 

creative engineering solutions for mitigating acid 

rain. One solution: replace conventional burners with 

fluidized-bed burners. The development of advanced 

combustion technologies for fossil-fuel power plants 

is still paramount for producing power with negligible 

environmental impact. NETL’s advanced combustion 

research now focuses on technologies such as 

chemical looping and oxy-fuel combustion, reducing 

NOx

 emissions, and improving the efficiency of the 

combustion process while producing a sequestrationready CO2

 stream. 

Advanced Combustion various metal oxides evaluated by NETL, copper oxide 

performed the best. Chemical-looping combustion is a 

novel, flameless combustion technology that employs 

a reusable metal oxide as an oxygen carrier to deliver 

oxygen from the air to the fuel. By carrying oxygen 

from combustion air to the fuel without involving 

other air constituents, chemical-looping combustion 

produces sequestration-ready CO2 streams, while 

avoiding a significant energy penalty. The combustion 

products formed during the chemical-looping 

combustion reaction of the coal-metal oxide mixture 

were CO2

 and water with no carbon monoxide 

observed. Results of the study appear in the July 8, 

2009, issue of the American Chemical Society journal, 

Energy & Fuels.

Innovative Technique Dramatically Reduces 

Computational Time in Multiphase Flow 

Three-Dimensional Simulation—Working in 

cooperation with NETL, researchers at Princeton 

University have discovered a method to relate 

corresponding computational fluid dynamics 

parameters (e.g., drag coefficient) in fine-grid and 

coarse-grid simulations. The accurate simulation of 

fine-grid phenomena with a coarse-grid model can 

reduce the model size by more than 1,000 times, 

thereby reducing the time required to obtain a 

solution. When fully implemented, the technique will 

facilitate in little more than 2 hours the solution to 

a problem that now takes 3 months to solve. Faster 

computation times will allow numerous real system 

configurations to be analyzed for the best alternative. 

Novel Moving-Bed Heat Exchanger Operational in 

Field Test—As part of an extended-duration field test, 

a novel heat exchanger designed to cool the solids 

stream of a circulating moving-bed combustion 

system while heating a working fluid, such as steam or 

compressed air, has achieved target flow rates. 

Researchers tested the moving-bed heat exchanger 

unit at the American Bituminous Power Partners facility 

in Grant Town, WV, where the unit recovered heat from 

recycled fly ash from the boiler. In cooperation with 

NETL, major energy equipment supplier ALSTOM 

Power is testing the moving-bed heat exchanger to 

support development of other technologies, including 

an oxygen-fired circulating fluid bed, chemical looping, 

and an ultra-supercritical circulating moving bed.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

27

Test Evaluates Oxy-combustion Retrofit 

Technology for Tangentially Fired Coal Boilers—

In cooperation with NETL, engineers at ALSTOM 

Power completed the first in a series of test 

campaigns designed to evaluate oxy-combustion in 

tangentially fired boilers. Testing took place in a 

15-megawatt thermal tangentially fired boiler 

simulation facility and a 15-megawatt thermal 

industrial-scale burner facility located in Windsor, CT, 

using Powder River Basin coal from the Black 

Thunder mine. Test results confirmed predictions 

that Powder River Basin coal is highly reactive under 

both air and oxy-combustion conditions, producing 

low concentrations of carbon monoxide and little 

unburned carbon in the ash. By controlling the 

amount and location of oxygen added, operators 

were able to achieve similar heat transfer rates for 

both air and oxy-fired operations. The results 

indicate that the oxy-combustion mode of 

operation may produce equivalent power with 

smaller boiler designs. Tangentially fired boilers 

represent 41 percent of the U.S. installed base and 

44 percent worldwide. The research is providing key 

data for commercialization of oxy-combustion 

processes, which could prevent emissions of criteria 

pollutants while providing a highly concentrated 

stream of CO

2

 for sequestration or enhanced oil 

recovery without costly gas separation. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 put strict airpollution regulations into effect. In response, 

Morgantown researchers built and operated 

the first U.S. industrial-size fluidized-bed 

boiler at Monongahela Power Company’s 

Rivesville, WV, power plant. Fluidized-bed 

combustion proved to be a lower-cost, 

higher-efficiency, and cleaner way to burn 

coal. In the early 1990s, POWER Magazine

called the development of fluidized bed coal 

combustors “the commercial success story 

of the last decade in the power generation 

business.” Today, fluidized bed boilers are 

generating electricity throughout the world. 

27
28 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Oxygen Transport Membrane Technology 

Reaches Fuel Utilization Target—As part of a 

cooperative agreement with NETL, process 

developers at Praxair, Inc., Tonawanda, NY, have 

successfully tested an oxygen transport 

membrane that separates oxygen from air at a 

rate sufficient to achieve fuel utilization greater 

than 90 percent. This highly efficient rate of fuel 

use indicates a better performing membrane and 

a more cost-effective commercial-scale end 

product. More efficient use of fuel requires less 

membrane (fewer materials) and less expense. 

Oxygen transport membranes can separate 

oxygen from air less expensively than 

conventional cryogenics, while reducing the 

parasitic power consumption typically associated 

with cryogenic separation technologies. The 

partial pressure of oxygen, which is negligible at 

the activation surface where oxygen reacts with 

natural or coal-derived gases, drives the oxygen 

across the membrane. Using oxygen instead of air 

in fossil fuel combustion more cost-effectively 

produces CO2 that is concentrated and easily 

captured.

Significant Milestones Reached Toward 

Commercialization of Ion-Transport 

Membrane Oxygen Technology—Ion-transport 

oxygen-production technology is a cutting-edge 

approach to producing low-cost, high-quality 

oxygen to enhance the performance of 

integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCCs) 

that produce coal-derived synthesis gas, which is 

used to generate electricity and can be used as a 

feedstock to produce hydrogen, chemicals, and 

liquid fuels. In cooperation with its research 

partners, NETL is leading the way to developing 

the ion-transport membrane oxygen process that 

will produce oxygen at a cost and energy 

requirement approximately one-third lower than 

conventional cryogenic processes. The process 

could also have lower demand for cooling water 

and space requirements than other oxygen 

separation approaches. IGCC and other advanced 

power-generation systems, as well as other 

oxygen-intensive plants, stand to benefit from the 

technology. In 2009, researchers accomplished 

the following achievements: 

• As part of a team led by Air Products and 

Chemicals, Inc., (Allentown, PA) and working in 

cooperation with NETL, engineers at Ceramatec, 

Inc., a small business in Salt Lake City, UT, have 

cast nearly 2 miles of thin, ion-transport 

membrane precursor material. This ion-transport 

membrane precursor tape can be shaped and 

layered to make commercial-size membrane 

wafers for tonnage-scale oxygen production 

modules. The collaboration between Electric 

Power Research Institute and Air Products and 

Chemicals, Inc., will examine process and 

equipment scale-up, and integration of iontransport membrane technology with IGCC and 

other advanced coal power systems. 

• A 5 ton-per-day ion-transport membrane 

oxygen prototype facility has operated more 

than 14,600 hours and confirmed technical 

performance expectations that forecast lower 

capital costs and better efficiency for IGCC 

power plants. The facility’s 0.5 ton-per-day 

modules met or surpassed commercial targets 

for oxygen production rate and purity. 

Operating campaigns are ongoing to test 

proprietary process-control techniques, assess 

the robustness of ceramic membranes to 

significantly improve module reliability, and 

meet other technology challenges for potential 

pre-commercial readiness by 2014. 

• To aid commercialization efforts, Electric Power 

Research Institute has organized a collaboration 

of several utility companies to help ion-transport 

membrane oxygen technology developers focus 

on features and designs relevant to the power 

industry as well as specific studies aimed at 

rapid technology commercialization. The 

collaboration will examine scale-up issues and 

integration of ion-transport membrane 

technology with other advanced coal power 

operations, and participants will gain a first-hand 

understanding of the advantages of iontransport membrane technology over 

conventional oxygen supply systems.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

29

J. W. Ambrose, who headed the 

Bureau of Mines from 1920 to 1921, 

began the strategy of modeling so 

that oil field operators could “see” the 

lay of the land before drilling. These 

three-dimensional (3-D) peg models 

represented ground contours and 

underground geologic structures 

with cross-sectional layers—such 

as the sand layer known to contain 

oil—helping speculators determine 

drilling and shot depths. 

Computer modeling shows 

temperature variations inside a coal 

combustor. Engineers in Morgantown, 

WV, adapted the ASPEN modeling 

system developed at the Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology for use in 

fossil-fuel research during the early 

1980s. Today, NETL’s award-winning 

Computational Sciences Division 

creates computer models of everything 

from individual technologies to power 

plants to geologic formations for 

carbon storage. 
30 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Ceramic Materials Help Preserve Oxidation 

Resistance of Ultra-supercritical Boiler 

Materials—Tests conducted by the Electric Power 

Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, in cooperation with 

NETL, determined that nitrides of titanium and 

aluminum applied between a steel substrate and 

nanostructured oxidation-resistant top coatings form 

effective barriers to aluminum diffusion. Corrosion 

may cause unscheduled outages in conventional 

coal-fired plants and is anticipated to be even more 

severe for advanced boilers operating at ultrasupercritical steam conditions, as well as for oxy-fuel 

combustion systems. Nanostructured coatings may 

provide excellent corrosion resistance for the 

high-temperature materials required in advanced 

coal-fired plants, but the loss of aluminum through 

diffusion limits the lifetime of these coatings. Using 

titanium and aluminum nitrides to prevent 

aluminum diffusion may help ensure the reliability 

and availability of ultra-supercritical fossil-fuel boilers 

and advanced combustion systems. 

Materials

NETL’s world-class materials research dates back to the 

establishment of the Northwest Electrodevelopment 

Station in 1944 in Albany, OR. Albany researchers 

actualized technologies for coal and minerals use, 

piloted catalyst systems for synthetic fuels, launched 

the first production of ductile zirconium, and helmed 

the successful processing of titanium and its alloys. 

Today, NETL scientists and engineers are using 

advanced experiential and computational approaches 

to develop materials that will perform effectively in 

harsh environments and enable systems to operate at 

extreme temperatures and pressures—advances that 

will increase efficiencies and reduce the environmental 

impact of producing power with fossil fuels.

Electroplated Interconnects Improve Solid Oxide 

Fuel Cell Performance

An electroplating technique developed by NETL 

researchers in collaboration with West Virginia 

University holds great promise for improving solid 

oxide fuel cell performance. Testing by NETL showed 

that inexpensive ferritic stainless steel interconnects 

coated with manganese cobalt oxide degraded by 

less than 1.5 percent after 600 hours, whereas cell 

performance with uncoated interconnects degraded 

approximately 20 percent during the same test 

period. Longer-term testing at Pacific Northwest 

National Laboratory with similar material achieved 

excellent performance and stability in terms of both 

oxidation resistance and electrical conductivity. The 

NETL interconnects were coated using an 

environmentally friendly process based on 

electroplating, which is cheaper and easier to 

employ than other coating methods. 
31

“Cold Spray” Oxidation-Resistant Coating 

Strongly Adheres to Metal Substrates—As part 

of an NETL-administered Phase I Small Business 

Innovation Research project, researchers have 

successfully applied a cold-spray oxidationresistant coating on iron alloys using a lowtemperature process called Kinetic Metallization 

developed by Inovati, Santa Barbara, CA. Because 

Kinetic Metallization is performed at temperatures 

significantly below the melting point of the 

substrate materials, the coating can be applied 

without compromising the mechanical strength of 

the base material. Kinetic Metallization produces 

adhesion strengths comparable to those of 

thermal spray coatings, and oxidation testing 

demonstrated stable oxidation performance of the 

coated materials. These results confirm the 

potential of the environmentally innocuous Kinetic 

Metallization method to provide superior 

oxidation and hot corrosion protection for 

ultra-supercritical boiler structures at a cost lower 

than that of competing processes. 

New Thermal Barrier Coating Improves Turbine 

Efficiency—An advanced thermal barrier coating 

developed by Solar Turbines, Inc., San Diego, CA, in 

cooperation with NETL, is now a standard material 

for use in all advanced, backside-cooled 

combustor liners manufactured by Solar Turbines. 

A fully integrated Mercury 50 combustion system, 

modified with the advanced materials technology, 

operated successfully for 4,000 hours at a host site. 

Combustors outfitted with the new thermal barrier 

coating will operate more efficiently between 

regular overhauls. NETL managed the project for 

the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability. 

Ceramic Matrix Composite Combustor 

Demonstrated—As part of an interagency 

agreement between DOE and the Office of Naval 

Research, United Technologies Corporation 

(Hartford, CT) successfully demonstrated a ceramic 

matrix composite combustor. Ceramic matrix 

composites are favorable for their hightemperature stability and high-corrosionresistance properties. The combustor 

demonstrated a 40–50 percent reduction in 

temperature distribution and a 30 percent 

reduction in NOx

 levels at maximum power 

conditions. Results were determined by fabricating 

ceramic matrix composites into complex shapes, 

applying environmental barrier coatings to engine 

hardware, testing a ceramic matrix compositecombustor in a Pratt and Whitney Aircraft engine 

test rig, and validating performance benefits 

against a metal baseline. NETL managed this 

project in support of DOE’s Office of Electricity 

Delivery and Energy Reliability.

Novel Brazing Process Could Seal Ceramic 

Membranes to High-Temperature Metals—

Working in cooperation with NETL, product 

developers at Aegis Technology, Inc., Santa Ana, 

CA, have successfully joined various ceramic 

membrane materials and stainless steels with filler 

material that exhibited high bending strength at 

both room and elevated temperatures. 

Researchers used a novel, cost-effective method 

called reactive air brazing, which provides stronger, 

more reliable joints than conventional approaches. 

This technical achievement is a significant 

milestone in the development of a method for 

hermetically joining ceramic membranes to 

underlying metallic support structures in hightemperature gas separation devices—an enabling 

technology essential for high-efficiency, lowemission fossil energy systems. 

31
YEARS OF INNOVATION

32 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Using the zirconium casting 

process developed by William 

Kroll, Albany supplied 85 

percent of the zirconium raw 

material for the first nuclear 

submarine USS Nautilus. As 

zirconium production was 

in progress, Admiral Hyman 

Rickover made several hurried 

trips to Albany to inspect the 

equipment and discuss the 

results. On January 17, 1955, 

the Nautilus was launched, 

marking the beginning of 

the era of naval nuclear 

propulsion.

Famed metallurgist Dr. William Kroll 

spearheaded the development of 

zirconium casting in the 1940s at the 

Northwest Electrodevelopment Laboratory 

in Albany, OR. Later, in 1959, the Lab’s 

successful casting of molybdenum 

caused stocks in light metals to rise 

sharply. Zirconium proved to be the 

key for powering nuclear applications, 

while molybdenum’s stability at high 

temperatures made it an ideal candidate 

for critical assemblies in extreme 

environments, such as the exhaust pipe of 

a rocket or missile.
33

In 1953, scientists at Bartlesville, OK, and 

the University of Lund, Sweden, invented 

the world’s first rotating bomb calorimeter 

to obtain precise measurements of 

thermodynamic properties. Applied to crude 

petroleum, such knowledge optimized 

the refining process and allowed chemists 

to make reliable predictions about the 

properties of other compounds. A bomb 

calorimeter comprises two containers—an 

outer container filled with water and an inner 

container that houses chemical reactions. 

The thermodynamic heat of these reactions 

is determined from the temperature increase 

of the surrounding water. Chemical reactions 

within the calorimeter’s inner container are 

nearly explosive, hence 

the name “bomb.” 
NETL’s accomplished materials research groups tackle the toughest of challenges daily as they investigate the 

theoretical and fundamental makeup of fossil energy and renewable energy systems. Addressing fundamental 

mechanisms and processes, the materials labs are capable of melting, casting, and fabricating up to one ton 

of materials; completely characterizing the physical properties of materials; and addressing the waste and 

by-product issues of materials processes.

Meeting the Challenge: NETL’s Materials Capabilities

34 Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Unused gasifier refractory

NETL-developed gasifier 

refractory after 237 days 

of commercial use

Conventional gasifier 

refractory after 237 days of 

commercial use
NETL scientists and engineers also work closely with 

industrial partners to identify material issues such as 

the required performance characteristics for specific 

applications. They then engineer improved materials, 

develop methods to produce those materials at an 

affordable cost, and evaluate material performance, 

both in the laboratory and in the field. For more than 

half a century, the NETL materials labs have been 

recognized for expertise and capabilities in wear 

and corrosion, melting and casting, and in materials 

development.

As an example, NETL recently developed an advanced 

refractory brick to be used in the severe service 

environment of gasification.

Gasification is a clean and efficient way to produce 

energy using available carbon sources such as coal, 

petcoke, or biomass. Gasification also has enormous 

potential for aiding capture and storage of the 

greenhouse gas CO

2

, which makes gasification one of 

the most promising technologies for energy plants of 

the future. Coal gasification is an advantageous way 

to use our most abundant energy resource, coal, in an 

environmentally responsible manner.

One drawback of gasification, however, is that it 

operates at such a high temperature and under such 

harsh internal conditions that the refractory brick 

protecting the reaction chamber where gasification 

occurs can fail in as little as 3 months, at which time 

the whole system must be shut down while the 

expensive refractory is replaced. The lack of reliable and 

long-lasting refractory linings has caused limitations 

to a widespread acceptance and use of this otherwise 

very desirable technology. It is for this reason that 

gasifier users have identified improved refractory as 

one of the top research needs for gasifiers.

To meet these challenges, scientists at NETL developed 

an improved refractory material, worked with 

industry to commercially produce the material and 

evaluate its performance in industrial gasifiers, and 

then licensed the technology to the private sector. 

This NETL-developed refractory is now commercially 

available to the gasifier industry as AUREXTM 95P, and 

it is becoming the refractory of choice for advanced, 

high-temperature plants.

The success of AUREX 95P represents the most 

significant improvement in gasifier refractories in over 

25 years. It reduces or eliminates the structural spalling 

that has been one of the major wear problems in 

existing refractory material. The new refractory lasts 

over 50 percent longer, and its commercial availability 

paves the way for an increase in the use of gasification 

as a clean and efficient means of producing electrical 

power and other products.

In addition, the new refractory helps DOE meet 

several of its goals for its gasification technology 

research and development, including— •To achieve between 45 and 50 percent electrical 

efficiency at a capital cost of $1,600 per kilowatt (in 

constant 2007 dollars) or less for a coal-based plant.

 • To be able to sequester 90 percent of the CO

2

 from 

coal with minimal impact to the cost of electricity.

In other areas, the materials research groups at NETL 

are also addressing the challenges associated with 

minimizing the carbon footprint of fossil fuel use. This 

includes developing materials for CO

2

 capture and 

sequestration, improving the performance of solid 

oxide fuel cell systems, and designing the materials 

that will enable the development and construction 

of next-generation gas turbines associated with coalgasification systems producing synthetic gas. 

Other recent contributions by NETL include new 

protection strategies for the nation’s bridges 

(infrastructure); new protection strategies for 

thermocouples used in gasifiers; CO

2

 sequestration by 

mineral carbonation; micro-reactors for reforming and 

continuous reforming and separation of hydrogen 

for fuel cells; and alloys for fuel cells, gasifiers, and 

supercritical and ultra-supercritical power plants.

From the atomic-level design of new materials to 

the development of pilot-scale processes, NETL’s 

materials scientists and engineers provide answers 

as they engage in basic research and partner with 

industry, academia, and other government agencies 

to research and resolve vital materials issues. 

35
Image courtesy of The Babcock & Wilcox Company

36 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
E

nvironmentally safe 

energy production 

became an important 

focus for NETL in 1926 

when automobile exhaust 

in heavy traffic areas was a 

noted atmospheric pollutant. 

The Pittsburgh Experiment 

Station sampled the air in 

downtown Pittsburgh and 

discovered that excessive 

exposure to pollutants and 

smog could harm humans. In 

2010, we are creating cleaner 

fuels and enabling more 

efficient production and 

use by reducing emissions 

and reusing waste products. 

Abundant, affordable fossil 

fuels will remain a key part of 

our nation’s energy economy, 

and NETL has set the stage for 

their continued use through 

groundbreaking research 

on capture of greenhouse 

gases, lighting and vehicle 

technologies, and carbon 

storage. 

Facing page—In the 1980s, acid rain was identified as causing damage to forests, aquatic life, and historic 

buildings. By the early 1990s, new technologies were being developed to remove SOx

 and NOx emissions from 

coal-fueled power plants, helping eliminate this threat. Sorbents injected into the gas stream at these power 

plants were one of the earliest NETL successes in reducing pollutants released without decreasing electricity 

production or increasing cost to consumers.

37
38 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

NETL Develops Regenerable Sorbent Suitable for 

Coal Gasification Applications—NETL scientists 

developed and patented a warm-gas-temperature 

sorbent for CO2 capture at temperatures of 

200–315 °C, often encountered in coal gasification. 

This unique magnesium hydroxide sorbent exhibits 

a high CO2 capture capacity, is unaffected by 

steam, and can be regenerated at 375 °C and high 

pressure. High-pressure regeneration incurs lower 

compression costs when preparing captured CO2 for 

geologic sequestration. A multi-cycle test conducted 

in a high-pressure, fixed-bed flow reactor at 200 °C 

with 28 percent CO2

 showed stable reactivity and 

increasing capture capacity with increasing pressure. 

The study is described in the American Chemical 

Society publication Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 

Research.

NETL’s gas separation research began with SOx

 capture 

in the 1960s, expanding to include NOx and mercury 

capture in the 1980s and early 1990s. CO2 capture 

was added to the NETL research portfolio in the 

late 90s. Managing CO2 at its source using solvents, 

sorbents, membranes, and other technologies 

will help prevent atmospheric CO2

 accumulation, 

which contributes to global climate change. NETL 

works toward cost reduction, improved capture 

technology efficiency, and more effective methods to 

prepare CO2 for storage or conversion for other uses. 

Promoting the development of cost-effective CO2

reduction technologies underpins NETL’s efforts to 

achieve 90-percent carbon capture systems ready for 

commercial deployment beginning in 2020.

Carbon Capture

NETL Creates National Carbon Capture Center

In May 2009, the first National Carbon Capture Center 

(NCCC) opened its doors. NETL, along with Southern 

Company Service, Inc., and other industrial participants 

have established the NCCC to further national efforts in 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2, that 

are thought to contribute to global climate change.

Test equipment for precombustion CO2 capture 

includes an existing transport reactor, a hot-gas filter 

using candle-type filter elements, syngas cooling, 

and high-pressure solids-handling systems. Multiple 

slipstreams containing CO2

 are available for testing 

capture technologies on coal-derived synthesis gas 

(syngas) in an industrial setting. Further, a flexible post 

combustion test facility is being built close by. The post 

combustion facility is designed to support multiple, 

parallel test bays to investigate candidate processes at 

scale.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

39

NETL Completes Costs Analysis of Retrofitting 

U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants with CO2 Capture—

An NETL analysis shows that approximately 

142 gigawatts of pulverized-coal power plant 

capacity could be retrofitted with carbon capture 

technology for $61 or less per metric ton of CO2. The 

candidate power plants had a combined unit 

generation capacity greater than 100 megawatts, an 

average heat rate below 12,500 Btu per kilowatt hour, 

For projects that have been successfully tested at 

bench scale, the NCCC will provide a 1,000 poundsper-hour flue gas slipstream for screening tests. 

And for technologies that have been successfully 

tested at screening scale, the NCCC will provide a 

flue gas stream for pilot-scale testing. Construction 

has already begun on the pilot-scale unit, planned 

as a versatile pilot solvent test unit and designed 

for a 5,000 pound-per-hour flue gas slipstream for 

testing advanced solvents. The pilot-scale unit will 

be equivalent to a 0.5-megawatt power plant. 

and were located within 25 miles of a potential 

carbon sequestration site. Analysts completed the 

study using the Carbon Capture Model, which 

comprises programmatically linked databases, report 

spreadsheets, and geographic information system 

map documents. The model considers space 

constraints in calculating capital expense, operating 

expense, and parasitic load associated with 

retrofitted carbon capture technology. 

“Clean coal” research began in the 1950s, with researchers 

removing sulfur-containing pyrite from coal, as shown here, 

to prevent the sulfur from causing extensive equipment 

damage and interfering with chemical reactions during power 

production. In the 1980s and 90s, investigators turned their 

attention to separating SOx

, NOx, mercury, ash, water, and 

particulate matter from the power production waste stream. This 

work has positioned NETL to develop the technologies needed 

to separate and capture CO2 emissions from power plants and 

other industrial facilities.

Image courtesy of National Archives & 

Records Administration
40 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

“Thick” Hydrogen Separation Membrane Exceeds Performance Target

NETL and Eltron Research & Development, Inc., of Boulder, CO, have developed a 

freestanding hydrogen transport membrane (HTM) that has exceeded the DOE hydrogen 

flux target for 2010. The new HTM, which is 131 microns thick, operated more than 300 hours 

without failure or loss of performance. 

System studies show that the new HTM, integrated with warm gas cleaning at an integrated 

gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant, improves efficiency by 6.2 percent compared to a 

two-stage gas cleanup process with CO2

 capture using conventional solvents. It achieves 

99 percent CO2 capture and reduces the cost of electricity by 9.5 percent.

Thick hydrogen transport membranes have the advantages of being robust, easily shaped 

with conventional techniques, and resistant to failure during thermal and pressure cycling. 

Further, they are less complex than substrate-supported thin membranes. HTMs are 

important because they make a high degree of CO2 capture possible, thus minimizing CO2

emissions into the atmosphere. 
41

Novel Solvent Improves Precombustion CO2

Capture—NETL collaborators at the University 

of Pittsburgh have demonstrated a new class 

of solvents particularly suited to capturing CO2

produced in IGCCs. The materials, which are 

solid under normal conditions, melt under the 

high pressures encountered in synthesis gas 

production, forming a liquid phase containing 

as much as 50 weight percent of CO2 captured 

from the syngas. The liquid may then be decanted 

and the solid recovered by a slight reduction 

in pressure, releasing purified CO2

 at a pressure 

higher than conventional approaches. Production 

at higher pressure reduces the penalty associated 

with compressing the CO2 for purposes such as 

geologic sequestration.

Second-Generation Ionic Liquids Synthesized 

for CO2 Capture—In NETL-sponsored testing, 

University of Notre Dame researchers synthesized 

amine-functionalized ionic liquids that have 

potentially higher CO2-carrying capacities than 

conventional amine-based solvents. Synthesis 

efforts were based on molecular modeling studies, 

which revealed that the strategic attachment of 

the amine group to the ionic liquid can lead to an 

increased CO2 capacity. This increase in capacity is 

an important step in the development of a novel 

solvent aimed at enabling more cost-effective 

post combustion CO2 capture from power plant 

emissions. 

NETL Sorbents Exhibit Exceptional 

Performance for CO2

 Capture—In cooperation 

with NETL, investigators at ADA-ES, Inc., of 

Littleton, CO, evaluated the laboratory-scale 

CO2 capture performance of solid sorbents in a 

temperature-swing adsorption process. These 

were collected from over 15 developers in 

7 different countries. Using simulated and actual 

flue gas, more than 100 sorbents were tested in 

a fixed-bed system through multiple adsorption 

and regeneration cycles for comparison to the 

benchmark aqueous monoethanolamine solvent. 

The superior performance of NETL-patented 

sorbents during the evaluation has made them 

leading candidates for use in solid sorbent-based 

CO2

 capture technology development. 

41
42 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

Because CO2 is closely linked to global climate change, 

methods must be found to stabilize atmospheric 

levels of this greenhouse gas. Since 1997, NETL’s 

Sequestration Program has explored many facets of 

carbon sequestration, including direct and indirect 

storage options and monitoring storage sites. We lead 

the nation’s innovation of technologies for permanently 

sequestering CO2

 in deep underground geologic 

formations and terrestrial sinks. We also pursue 

coupling CO2 storage with enhanced oil recovery. 

Numerous successes over the years have paved the 

way for extending the life of depleted oil fields while 

developing productive ways to sequester CO2. 

Carbon Storage

NETL Report Estimates CO2 Storage Potential 

Beneath Federal Land—A newly completed NETL 

report estimates potential storage for 126–375 billion 

metric tons of CO2 lies beneath 400 million acres of 

leasable federal lands. Of that estimate, 68 percent 

can be found in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, 

and South Dakota. The report also summarizes 

relevant laws, regulations, and federal and state 

legislation, and locates wells on and near federal 

land, pipeline rights-of-way, and point sources 

that might utilize federal lands for CO2 storage. 

Complementing DOE’s Carbon Sequestration Atlas of 

the United States and Canada, the report “Storage of 

Captured Carbon Dioxide Beneath Federal Lands” is 

based on information obtained from the National 

Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographic 

Information System and can be accessed at 

http://www.netl.doe.gov/energy-analyses/pubs/

Fed%20Land_403.01.02_050809.pdf

Balloons, Bees, and Pollen Make a Novel 

Approach to CO2

 Monitoring 

NETL researchers field-tested the use of balloons, 

bees, and pollen to verify that CO2 is permanently 

stored in sequestration sites. 

At the Center for Zero Emissions Research and 

Technology, researchers and bee experts from 

Montana State University placed hives around a 

known CO2 source marked with perfluorocarbon 

tracers to determine if the bees or the pollen they 

collected would carry measurable quantities of 

tracer. In parallel, Apogee Scientific used balloons 

to test for atmospheric variations in tracer content. 

Apogee elevated carousels containing sealed 

sorbent tubes above the field using platforms 

tethered to large helium-filled balloons. 

NETL will continue to pursue tracer research using 

balloons, towers, and groundwater chemistry.

Image courtesy of Apogee Scientific
YEARS OF INNOVATION

43

Field Data Validate NETL Simulations of CO2

Sequestration Field Project—An advanced 

model developed by NETL to account for coal 

shrinkage and swelling effects encountered when 

coalbed methane production is enhanced by CO2

injection has been validated with field data from 

the Allison Field in northern New Mexico—site of 

the first commercial enhanced coalbed-methane 

production project. Simulation results agreed with 

the field data, yielding values for several geophysical 

and geochemical parameters. A paper describing 

the coal shrinkage and swelling model and the 

interpretation of the Allison Field data appears in 

the Elsevier publication, International Journal of Coal 

Geology (2009). 

NETL Assists in Reducing the Carbon Footprint 

of Iron Production—NETL’s unique capabilities in 

ore processing are helping to reduce the amount 

of CO2

 produced during iron smelting by the 

Cardero Iron Ore Company, Ltd., a subsidiary of the 

Cardero Resources Corporation. Natural processes 

of erosion and deposition have created a deposit of 

finely divided particles that do not require grinding 

before further processing, avoiding the energy cost 

of size reduction—up to about 30 kilowatt hours 

per ton of ore. In initial series tests, NETL researchers 

briquetted 500 pounds of a magnetic concentrate 

provided by Cardero Iron, and then performed 

direct smelting tests on the unsintered briquettes in 

an electric arc furnace. Eliminating sintering, which 

oxidizes the magnetite to hematite, reduces the 

production of CO2

 during the smelting operation by 

approximately 11 percent. 

Long-Term Test Successful for Large-Scale 

Biofixation of CO2

—A successful 32-day period of 

continuous, automated operation demonstrated 

that a scalable prototype algae cultivator could 

grow nannochloropsis—a green algae—during 

the winter months in Phoenix, AZ, by providing 

aggressive mixing and efficient CO2 distribution 

throughout the unit’s growth area. In cooperation 

with NETL, Arizona Public Service (APS) is evaluating 

the techno-economic feasibility of capturing and 

beneficially using CO2 from the power plant to 

cultivate algal biomass as a component of hydrogasification fuel for the coproduction of substitute 

natural gas and electric power from western coals. 

APS will eventually supply a slipstream of flue 

gas to a cluster of eight prototype 6-meter radius 

bioreactors at the Red Hawk power plant near 

Phoenix. 

Developed by NETL and its partners in 2007, SEQURETM

technology uses magnetic and methane sensors to quickly 

locate abandoned and leaking wells. This R&D 100 Awardwinning technology can be attached to helicopters to 

cover large areas to determine if possible sequestration 

sites will retain injected CO2

. 
Image courtesy of 

Image courtesy of Haifang Wen

44 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

Completed Injection Uses Methane Recovery Offset 

Costs—Approximately 1,000 tons of CO

2

 have been 

injected into unmineable coal seams in Russell County, 

VA, under SECARB leadership. The project site represents 

an area that could store 1.3 billion tons of CO

2

 while 

producing up to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Prior 

to the injection, the seams were fractured hydraulically 

to increase the number and size of CO

2

 pathways into 

the coal, doubling the initial estimated injection rate to 

40 tons of CO

2

 per day. Underlying saline formations 

could store additional CO

2

 when the storage capacity of 

the coal seams is reached. The project is designed to 

demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of utilizing the 

immediate commercial benefits of methane recovery to 

offset infrastructure development costs for the safe and 

permanent storage of larger volumes of CO

2

. 

Sequestration Project Shows Promise for 

Maintaining Injected CO

2

—MRCSP partners have 

successfully injected 1,000 metric tons of CO

2

 into the 

Mount Simon Sandstone, a deep saline formation 

widespread across much of the Midwest. Preliminary 

results indicate the formation has good potential for 

serving as a repository for CO

2

 emissions captured from 

stationary sources in the region. Liquefied CO

2

 was 

injected at Duke Energy’s East Bend Generating Station 

located along the Ohio River near the town of Rabbit 

Hash, KY. Formation properties in this area, such as 

depth, thickness, porosity, and permeability, are 

considered conducive to CO

2

 storage. Overlain by layers 

of low-permeability rock, the formation is expected to 

keep the CO

2

 safely and permanently confined. 

Additional Injection of CO

2

 Completed in Michigan 

Basin—Building on an initial injection of 10,000 metric 

tons of CO

2

, MRCSP partners injected an additional 

50,000 metric tons into the deep saline Silurian-age Bass 

Island dolomite formation in the Michigan Basin near 

Gaylord, MI. This formation may be capable of storing 

hundreds of years’ worth of CO

2

. MRCSP injected the CO

2

in the summer of 2009. 

First Injection of CO

2

 into Lignite Coals Initiated—

The Plains CO

2

 Partnership (PCOR) member 

organizations have begun injecting CO

2

 into a deep 

lignite coal seam in Burke County, ND, to demonstrate 

the economic and environmental viability of geologic 

The NETL-managed Regional Carbon Sequestration 

Partnership (RCSP) Program was launched in 2003 as 

the centerpiece of national efforts to commercialize 

carbon capture and storage technologies. 

Representing more than 400 state agencies, 

universities, and private companies in 43 states and 

4 Canadian provinces, the RCSPs are working toward 

the capture and storage of CO

2

 according to the 

differing needs and resources of seven North American 

regions. In Phase I of the program, the Partnerships 

identified CO

2

 stationary sources and estimated the 

CO

2

 storage resources available in geologic formations 

within each RCSP region. In Phases II and III, now 

underway, they are performing small- and large-scale 

injection testing. RCSP information on identified CO

2

sources and storage is available through the Carbon 

Sequestration Atlas of the United States and 

Canada.

Carbon Sequestration Partnerships

Partnerships Team with NETL for Best Practices 

Manuals—Collaboration between the RCSPs and 

NETL has resulted in two best practices manuals 

based on lessons learned during the first 6 years of the 

partnerships program. Best Practices Manual: Monitoring, 

Verification, and Accounting of CO2 Stored in Deep Geologic 

Formations—available to regulatory organizations, 

project developers, national and state policymakers, 

and interested public—provides a comprehensive 

overview of monitoring, verification, and accounting 

(MVA) techniques for improving the accuracy of 

greenhouse gas inventory estimates and ensuring the 

safety and efficacy of carbon storage projects. Available 

technologies can already verify 95 percent retention of 

sequestered CO

2

, and a suite of technologies ensuring 

99 percent retention is expected from the Office of 

Fossil Energy research and development program 

by 2012. Best Practices Manual: Public Outreach and 

Education for Carbon Storage Projects provides project 

developers with guidance on designing and applying 

best outreach practices for siting and operating CO

2

storage projects. These manuals can be downloaded 

from the NETL website at www.netl.doe.gov/

technologies/carbon_seq/refshelf/refshelf.html. 
45

CO2 storage in the U.S. Great Plains region. Previous 

characterization activities suggest the region’s 

low-rank coal seams could store up to 8 billion tons of 

CO2 while releasing more than 17 trillion cubic feet of 

methane. The first to focus on lignite coals, the 

demonstration will provide insight broadly applicable 

throughout western North America. 

Injection Project Set To Assess Enhanced Oil 

Recovery Potential—MGSC partners have begun 

injecting 8,000 tons of CO2

 to evaluate the carbon 

storage strategies and potential of the Mississippianaged Clore Formation in Posey County, IN. The 

injection will also help assess the potential for 

enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from abandoned wells. 

DOE researchers believe EOR programs can 

dramatically improve the efficiency and economics of 

using the technology in a wider variety of geologic 

applications. 

Equipment Installed To Track Post-Injection CO2

Movement—SECARB has installed scientific 

instrumentation 2 miles beneath the surface to track 

movement of 1 million metric tons of CO2 from 

injections by Texas-based Denbury Resources, Inc., 

near Natchez, MS. Use of in-zone and above-zone 

pressure-response monitoring techniques has proven 

a cost-effective strategy for MVA that can be widely 

deployed in CO2 storage projects. The project is 

designed to demonstrate that the immediate 

commercial benefit of EOR can offset infrastructure 

development costs for follow-on, large-volume, 

long-term storage of CO2

 in underlying saline-bearing 

formations. 

Preliminary Activities Completed in Anticipation 

of CO2 Injection—Drilling operations organized 

by MGSC were completed upon reaching the 

Precambrian-granite basement rock underlying the 

Mount Simon sandstone formation near Decatur, IL. 

More than 1 million tons of CO2 from a nearby Archer 

Daniels Midland ethanol facility will be injected into 

the formation over a 3-year period. A core sample 

of the overlying Eau Claire shale formation was 

recovered to evaluate the sealing properties of the 

500-foot-thick cap rock. 

Core Samples Collected in Preparation for Major 

Sequestration Activity—To assess the viability of 

carbon storage in brine-saturated formations, PCOR 

collected core samples from a new characterization 

well near the Spectra Energy Fort Nelson natural gas 

processing plant in British Columbia, Canada. The 

samples are being analyzed in conjunction with a 

sophisticated well logging program. With plans to 

inject more than 2 million tons of CO2

 per year, the 

international project will be one of the largest carbon 

sequestration projects in the world and among the 

first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage 

projects at a North American saline formation. 

Midwest Geological

Sequestration Consortium
Image courtesy of Cree, Inc.

NETL and Cree, Inc., Help Shed New Light on 

Walmart Goods

Cree, Inc., is installing its LRP-38 LED lights in 

650 Walmart stores across America. Cree designed 

a key element of this lamp, the prototype multi-chip 

component for the PAR38 envelope, in partnership 

with NETL, before completing development 

and taking the lamp to market. Cree LEDs will 

replace existing lights in produce and electronics 

departments in both new and remodeled buildings. 

The lamp was selected for its energy efficiency, long 

life, and high color rendition. The tightly focused 

beam of the LRP-38 also reduces glare for customers. 

LED lights are gaining popularity as an 

environmentally friendly alternative to other 

common light bulbs. Incandescent and fluorescent 

bulbs provide adequate light for daily life but are 

vastly inefficient. Cree’s mercury-free LED lamps 

use 82 percent less energy and deliver no producedegrading UV or infrared energy. In addition, the 

lamp has an operating life of 50,000 hours—lasting 

roughly 5 years before replacement and reducing 

the number of bulbs that find their way into 

municipal landfills.

46 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

After World War II, USBM began conducting research 

on a new gasifier design, which allowed researchers to 

examine variables affecting efficiency and costs, such 

as temperature, pressure, and type of coal. The final 

design brought NETL into a new era of technology, as 

the Laboratory collaborated with boiler manufacturer 

Babcock & Wilcox to establish a second-generation 

pilot plant. Today, NETL projects continue to address 

efficency issues in both power plants and consumer 

products. Reducing power consumed by lighting, 

making transportation more efficient, and decreasing 

home energy use are all important to maximize our 

energy supplies. Creating more efficient and costeffective means of fuel use preserves our resources, 

reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and lessens our 

environmental impact. 

Demand-Side Efficiency 

NETL Commissions Appliance Technology 

Evaluation Center—NETL has commissioned 

an Appliance Technology Evaluation Center 

(ATEC) that will support the Appliances and 

Commercial Equipment Standards Program at the 

DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE). ATEC will establish minimum 

efficiency standards for residential appliances and 

commercial equipment and develop procedures 

for testing these products. ATEC is located in a 

1,600-square-foot facility specially designed for 

engineers to improve test methodologies for 

measuring the energy efficiencies of modern 

appliances. Appliance testing performed at ATEC 

guides energy rulemaking teams in determining 

possible upgrades in energy efficiency that can 

be applied to new models of these appliances. In 

2009, ATEC staff completed standby power testing 

for residential clothes washers, dehumidifiers, 

dishwashers, stoves, ovens, cook tops, battery 

chargers, and external power supplies. 
47

Weatherization Assistance Program Awards 

Federal Grants—Low-income families spend an 

average of 10 percent of their income on energy, 

compared to a 3.3 percent average nationwide. 

Through DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program, 

NETL and EERE’s Golden Field Office collaborate with 

state and local agencies to help these families make 

their homes more energy efficient, reducing home 

energy bills by an average of 24 percent or $437 per 

year. In 2009, Weatherization Assistance Program 

funding helped weatherize 95,000 homes, and 

additional funds were allocated to weatherize 

600,000 homes over 3 years under the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The 

Weatherization Assistance Program decreases overall 

U.S. energy use by the equivalent of 24.1 million 

barrels of oil annually and generates thousands 

of direct jobs and even more through indirect 

employment. Each dollar invested in the program 

returns $2.50 in benefits. 

NETL-Managed Projects Make Lighting Systems 

Brighter, Warmer, and More Efficient—DOE’s 

demand-side efficiency goals include cost-effective, 

market-ready lighting systems that by 2025 will 

produce 160 lumens per watt, compared to the 

15 lumens per watt obtained today from a standard 

60-watt incandescent lamp. The research conducted 

in cooperation with NETL by industrial partners 

produced several accomplishments in the quest to 

reduce power consumed for lighting purposes— 

• A product development team at Universal 

Display Corporation is working with Armstrong 

World Industries to incorporate a white organic 

light emitting diode (OLED) lighting panel into a 

commercial TechZoneTM Ceiling System. The OLED 

achieves 68 lumens per watt, correlated color 

temperature (CCT) of 3420 K, and color rendering 

index (CRI) of 80. 

• Add-Vision’s high-quality, flexible, cool-white OLED 

device features small cross sections that allow it 

to be easily integrated into a variety of lighting 

products designed to use significantly less energy. 

The OLED acheives a CRI of 70 and a CCT of 5000 K, 

a significant step in developing an efficient, longlived, low-cost OLED.

• Whereas typical phosphors used in solid-state 

lighting only emit at one color with efficiencies 

that drop rapidly as temperature increases, 

proprietary new phosphors developed at 

PhosphorTech are efficient, can emit at a range 

of colors, and become more efficient at higher 

temperatures. The phosphors can be blended to 

achieve good quality color that remains stable at 

typical operating temperatures. 

• A power supply developed by Osram Sylvania 

(Danvers, MA) has been demonstrated to be 

90 percent efficient with a power factor greater 

than 99 percent and a total harmonic distortion 

of less than 5 percent. Unlike constant voltage 

sources used in most power supplies for 

electronics, the constant current sources needed 

for solid-state lighting are especially challenged by 

size restrictions, thermal environments, and cost 

constraints. 

• Osram Sylvania has also demonstrated a light 

engine consisting of an array of blue LEDs on a 

circuit board covered by a glass disk coated with 

new red phosphor that converts blue light into a 

warm white light, achieving greater efficiency, CCT 

of 3500 K, and CRI of 80. Thermal simulations show 

that a luminaire designed with these components 

would have a peak circuit-board temperature only 

4 °C above the surrounding heat sink, and the 

center LED in the array would be only 1 °C hotter 

than those on the edge. 

• Philips Lumileds Lighting Company has 

demonstrated a warm white 2x2 mm2 LED with 

573 lumens light output and CCT of 2650 K. Small, 

efficient, and high-output light sources would give 

luminaire manufacturers more flexibility when 

designing lighting products. 

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has demonstrated 

a wavelength-stable green LED grown on a nonpolar plane of a gallium nitride crystal. Growing 

LEDs on non-polar surfaces eliminates polarization 

effects that reduce efficiency. Efficient green LEDs 

are also important when using the color-mixing 

approach to produce white light.

47
NETL and Industry Experts Look To Reduce 

Carbon Emissions by Improving Power Plant 

Efficiency—An industry workshop hosted by NETL 

in Chicago, IL, July 2009, explored opportunities for 

improving the thermal efficiency of existing and 

future coal-fired power plants, which is one of the 

most promising, low-cost options for reducing nearterm carbon emissions. Participants included utility 

owners and operators, equipment vendors, energy 

consultants, and power industry associations. Workshop 

proceedings established the following objectives: to 

refine cost-savings estimates of efficiency improvement 

and related carbon savings; build a public-private 

partnership to leverage the available resources of 

industry and federal and state governments; and 

educate key audiences about opportunities to reduce 

greenhouse gas emissions by developing public 

outreach and stakeholder engagement. A workshop 

report is available from the Energy Analysis Reference 

Shelf at the NETL website. 

Multi-pollutant Clean Coal Power Initiative 

Demonstration Meets All Goals—In partnership with 

NETL, We Energies, a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy 

Corporation, successfully demonstrated TOXECONTM 

Mercury and Multi-Pollutant Control Technology at 

the Presque Isle Power Plant, in Marquette, MI. By 

injecting sorbents such as powdered activated carbon 

downstream of existing particulate-control devices 

but upstream of a pulsed-jet baghouse, the process 

captures mercury while retaining the sales value of fly 

ash as a cement additive. The technology consistently 

Sorbents Successful in Sweet and Sour Syngas

Palladium sorbents, previously found successful in 

removing mercury from sweet synthesis gas (syngas), 

have also seen success in removing mercury, arsenic, 

and selenium from sour syngas. Using technology 

developed by NETL and Johnson Matthey, Southern 

Company tested the palladium sorbent, shown here 

with drops of mercury, in sour syngas at a higher 

flow-rate than used in experiments with sweet syngas. 

The palladium sorbent removed over 98 percent of the 

mercury, over 99 percent of the arsenic, and over 

99 percent of the selenium during extended exposures 

to real syngas at 550 o

F—an outstanding outcome.

Syngas, the end product of gasification, is either “sweet” 

or “sour” depending on the amount of sulfur present, 

with sour syngas containing more. Higher levels of 

sulfur make removal of trace elements more difficult. 

Once trace elements are removed, syngas can be used 

in fuel production.

With a national mercury-control regulation expected 

by November 2011, low-cost mercury-removal 

techniques must be developed for integrated 

gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants. By removing 

these trace elements at high temperatures with 

palladium sorbents, an IGCC plant can maintain better 

efficiency—leading to lower operating costs—than by 

using low-temperature capture by activated carbons. 

Because so few sorbents have been shown to remove 

mercury from high temperature syngas, this is a major 

success.

Image courtesy of Johnson Matthey

48 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

Realizing economical, secure, abundant fuel supplies must 

balance with protecting our air, water, and land. NETL’s 

pursuit of environmental technologies dates back to 1919, 

when USBM mine safety experts helped design the Holland 

Tunnel’s ventilation system to control carbon monoxide 

levels. Today, NETL seeks to protect the environment on 

a global scale, including development of the latest water 

conservation and treatment methods, soil remediation 

approaches, and air-pollutant removal technologies.

Air, Water, Land 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

removed more than 90 percent of the mercury 

contained in the flue gas combined from three units 

(270 megawatts total) firing Powder River Basin coal, 

which contains a high percentage of difficult-toremove elemental mercury. TOXECON is expected 

to remove 97 pounds of mercury and 32 tons of 

fine particulate matter annually at the plant, and 

represents a low-cost retrofit option for an estimated 

167 gigawatts of existing coal-fired capacity. 

Final Technical Report Completes Series for 

Power Plant Improvement Initiative—The 

Greenidge Multi-Pollutant Control Project final 

report has been approved and posted on the Clean 

Coal Technology Compendium page of the NETL 

website. This last of five Power Plant Improvement 

Initiative (PPII) projects successfully demonstrated 

the commercial readiness of an emissions-control 

system that—due to low capital and maintenance 

costs and small space demands—is particularly 

suited to existing small- to medium-size electricity 

generating facilities. Completed by CONSOL Energy, 

Inc., AES Greenidge, and other industrial partners 

working in cooperation with NETL, the project met 

all goals for the removal of NOx

, sulfur dioxide, sulfur 

trioxide, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and 

mercury, demonstrating that multiple pollutants 

can be controlled collectively for less money than it 

would cost to control them separately. The PPII was 

launched in October 2000 to further demonstrate the 

commercial-scale, clean coal technologies at existing 

and new electric generating facilities.

49

In 1921, the Pittsburgh Experiment Station, 

having worked on mine safety through 

ventilation of dangerous gases, helped develop 

a safe ventilation system for New York’s new 

Holland Tunnel. Testing was done at the 

Bruceton site’s Experimental Mine, shown here. 

Researchers built life-size tunnel models and 

monitored volunteers breathing the air near 

running vehicles to determine the effects of 

concentrated exhaust fumes. The resulting 

ventilation system kept carbon monoxide levels 

far below the safety threshold.

Image courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration
Mercury-Removal Goal Met in Long-Term Field 

Test—In cooperation with NETL, investigators 

from ADA-ES, Inc. (Littleton, CO) effectively and 

economically achieved 90-percent mercury removal 

using sorbent injection technology at the Rocky 

Mountain Power station located in Hardin, MT. The 

121-megawatt Hardin Station fires Powder River 

Basin coal and is equipped with a selective catalytic 

reduction unit for NOx control, a spray dryer absorber 

for SO2

 control, and a fabric filter for particulate 

control—an appealing configuration for new plants. 

Integrating the commercial-grade activated-carbon 

injection system with new-generation continuous 

emissions monitors allows sorbent injection to be 

regulated based on actual mercury levels. Activated 

carbon consumption then automatically decreases 

at low load as mercury capture at Hardin increases 

from less than 20 percent to about 50 percent. 

Project results will help develop technology options 

for the current fleet of coal-fired power plants to 

comply cost-effectively with any future mercury 

regulations

Commercial Deployment of NOx-Control 

Technology Expands—Novel NOx-control 

technology developed at Reaction Engineering 

International (REI) of Salt Lake City, UT, and fieldtested in cooperation with NETL, has been installed 

on eight cyclone power boilers, totaling 1,460 

megawatts in generating capacity. By employing 

reagent injection and over-fire air hardware similar to 

systems commercially available for cyclone boilers, 

REI’s Advanced Layered Technology Approach (ALTA) 

for NOx

 control appeals to utility personnel seeking 

to attain compliance, particularly with smaller, 

older facilities where economic considerations and 

space constraints make selective catalytic reduction 

installation difficult. ALTA technology was fieldtested at AmerenUE’s Sioux Unit 1 Station near St. 

Louis, MO. At the Kansas City Power & Light Sibley 

Plant, two ALTA-equipped 50-megawatt cyclone 

boilers demonstrated NOx

-removal efficiencies up to 

70 percent at a capital cost of $32.5 per kilowatt—

85 percent lower than an installed selective catalytic 

reduction unit. 

Adverse Impact Reduction Handbook 

Released—An NETL-initiated study has resulted in 

a new publication on technologies and practices 

that help minimize the potential of environmental 

impact attendant to oil and gas development. 

Based on input from stakeholders, including nongovernmental organizations, local governmental 

bodies, industry, state and federal agencies, and 

individual landowners, the handbook outlines key 

practices for onshore exploration and production 

that avoid, minimize, and mitigate environmental 

impacts. Recommended solutions apply to rural 

and urban areas nationally. Prepared by the 

Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission 

(IOGCC) with ALL Consulting, the handbook can be 

downloaded from the NETL website, which links to 

the IOGCC website for ordering hard copies. 

Primer on Shale Gas Development Now 

Available—The Ground Water Protection Council 

(GWPC), a national association of state ground 

water and underground injection agencies that 

promotes the protection and conservation of 

ground water for all beneficial uses, has released 

Modern Shale Gas Development in the United 

States: A Primer in cooperation with NETL. Natural 

gas production from hydrocarbon rich shale 

formations, known as “shale gas,” is one of the most 

rapidly expanding trends in onshore domestic oil 

and gas exploration and production today. Key 

to the emergence of shale gas production has 

been the refinement of horizontal drilling and 

hydraulic fracturing technologies, which enable 

industry to produce more natural gas from the 

shale formations economically and with fewer 

disturbances to surface environments. Available 

at the GWPC website, the primer is an objective 

source of fact-based technical information for 

public education and informed regulatory and 

policy decisions regarding environmentally 

responsible development of the nation’s shale gas 

resources. 

50 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
YEARS OF INNOVATION

Online Tool Helps Operators Prepare Drilling 

Plans in Environmentally Sensitive Areas—

The University of Arkansas partnered with 

Argonne National Laboratory and NETL to 

develop a Web-based decision-support tool 

to help minimize adverse ecosystem impacts 

associated with oil and gas recovery in sensitive 

areas in central Arkansas’s Fayetteville Shale Play. 

With more than 2 million acres currently under 

lease, the 50-mile wide Fayetteville Shale is 

becoming one of the most active shale plays in 

the United States. By mapping the intersection of 

proposed features with sensitive water locations, 

existing transmission lines, soil data, etc., the 

Infrastructure Placement Analysis System can 

help small- and mid-sized oil and gas exploration 

and production companies plan more effectively, 

streamlining the process for well-placement 

permitting and infrastructure development. 

51

Over a 15-year period, NETL’s mercury 

program—the world’s premiere mercury 

research and development initiative 

for coal-fired power plants—brought a 

suite of low-cost capture technologies 

to the marketplace. From 2006 to 2009, 

the We Energies Presque Isle Power 

Plant in Marquette, MI, shown here, 

demonstrated the TOXECONTM mercury 

and multi-pollutant control system as 

part of NETL’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. 

The artificial-intelligence system updates 

older power plants to deal with modern 

environmental concerns by monitoring 

performance and making adjustments 

for optimized pollution control. 

51
52 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

Ice Road Planning Model Developed—

Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, 

working in cooperation with NETL, have developed 

a novel planning model that could reduce costs 

and improve environmental compliance when 

constructing ice roads. Incorporating spatial 

databases, mathematical optimization, and userdefined values, the model determines multiple 

route options and associated tradeoffs relative to 

various planning objectives such as risk, cost, and 

construction time. The Water Resources Section of 

the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has 

shown particular interest in the tool, noting its timely 

development in view of recent increases in the 

number of operators new to the North Slope. 

Project Restores Capacity of Water Supply to 

North Dakota Municipality—As part of a joint 

venture between NETL and the University of North 

Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center 

(EERC), contaminant levels in soils and groundwater 

menacing a municipal well near the Vining Oil 

Co. (Carrington, ND) have been reduced below 

regulatory limits. The equivalent of 2,022 gallons of 

gasoline was removed from within the capture zone 

of the municipal well using multiphase extraction 

and soil-vapor-extraction techniques integrated with 

air-oxidant sparging. 

Reports Assess Impact of Drought on Power Plant 

Operations—Argonne National Laboratory researchers 

working with NETL produced two reports on the impact 

of drought on power-plant cooling-water intake. Based 

on data obtained for 423 power plants in 44 states, one 

report concludes that high precursory water-supply 

temperature or shallow intake depth could cause some 

power plants to curtail or shut down operations during 

moderate or severe drought. Priority systems governing 

water use during droughts to enable preferred uses, 

such as continued power plant operations, may reduce 

the risk of losing power capacity. A second report 

modeled the effect of drought on western power 

production and identified five plants in four states 

that could face curtailed operations or be shut down. 

The study also found that hydroelectric generation 

could drop by almost 30 percent in a severe drought, 

but natural gas plants would replace virtually all lost 

generation. Increases in competing water demands 

and warmer or more variable climatic conditions 

in coming years could exacerbate future droughts. 

Drought-related power losses that prevent running air 

conditioners and fans during hot weather can have 

devastating effects on populations. 

New Contaminant Prediction Method Can 

Reduce Soil Remediation Costs—Used to 

determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels 

in soils, the solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) 

method promises to reduce the quantity of soil or 

sediment contaminated by coal tar, pitch, and a 

variety of industrial waste products that requires 

massive remediation. This new approach will help 

to protect endemic species from contaminants 

and reduce costs of remediation. Developed by 

RETEC and the EERC at the University of North 

Dakota in cooperation with NETL, the approach 

has been accepted both by ASTM International 

and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) and welcomed by many public and private 

organizations. The SPME method is valued for its 

speed and accuracy of assessment compared to 

other regulatory models on the market and is now 

being applied at industrial, EPA Superfund, and U.S. 

Department of Defense sites. 

Water-Saving Technology Successful in PowerPlant Field Test—An Air2AirTM Water Conservation 

Cooling Tower installed at the San Juan Generating 

Station near Farmington, NM, extracted heat 

contained in hot saturated air from evaporative 

cooling, and returned high-purity condensate to the 

plant for boiler makeup or other purposes. The field 

test was conducted by SPX Cooling Technologies 

as part of an NETL-managed project under the 

Office of Fossil Energy’s Innovations for Existing 

Plants program. Nationally, power-plant cooling 

towers evaporate 3 billion gallons of water each day. 

Recovering a portion of that amount at the 

18.5 percent condensation rate demonstrated 

during the field test would provide relief from 

drought conditions or allow growth in many waterstarved areas of the country. 
53

Water Recovery Technique Field-Tested at 

Georgia Power Plant—Slip-stream testing 

of acid and water recovery from flue gas was 

completed at Southern Company’s Plant Yates near 

Newnan, GA, using a series of four condensing 

heat exchangers installed downstream of the wet 

flue gas desulfurization unit. Organized by Lehigh 

University researchers in cooperation with NETL, 

testing was conducted over a range of flue gas and 

cooling water flow rates to simulate the effects of 

changes in unit load. Preliminary results suggest 

that acid traps located before and after the first 

heat exchanger were successful in collecting a 

small amount of concentrated acid. The heat rate 

and emissions co-benefits of the technology could 

be significant by recovering sensible and latent 

heat, removing some mercury constituents, and 

condensing sulfuric, hydrochloric, and nitric acid 

vapors from the flue gas. Based on U.S. annual 

averages, the amount of cooling tower makeup 

water that could be provided by condensing heat 

exchangers is estimated at approximately 6–8 percent 

for units firing low-moisture bituminous coals (e.g., 

Plant Yates), 14–16 percent for units firing Powder 

River Basin coals, and 22–25 percent for units firing 

high-moisture U.S. lignite coals. 

Constructed Wetlands Could Make NonTraditional Sources of Water Suitable for Power 

Plant Use—Clemson University researchers 

working in cooperation with NETL have successfully 

tested the application of constructed wetlands 

for treating non-traditional water sources that 

could serve in power plants. Four non-traditional 

waters—ash basin water, cooling water, flue gas 

desulfurization water, and produced water—were 

treated using the approach and tested against EPA 

water quality criteria, USDA irrigation standards, 

and power plant reuse standards. The pilot-scale 

test results show that while limited to chloride 

concentrations of less than 4,000 milligrams per 

liter, constructed wetland treatment systems can 

remediate the water sources tested for reuse or 

discharge, offering an economical alternative to 

conventional approaches that are comparatively 

costly and often unable to achieve new, rigorous 

water-quality standards. 

Laboratory Tests Validate Novel Water-Saving 

Filtration Method—Drexel University researchers 

working in cooperation with NETL have confirmed 

that pulsed electric fields can prevent fouling in 

filters used to limit solids content in power plant 

cooling-water circuits. The researchers showed that 

the pressure drop across a filter in an experimental 

circulating water loop equipped with a pulsed power 

system could be maintained almost indefinitely at a 

value corresponding to that of the initial clean state. 

Self-cleaning filters could curtail wasteful water blowdowns, which account for approximately 30 percent 

of cooling tower water loss, reducing the impact of 

power plant cooling on freshwater supplies by nearly 

4 million gallons per day for a 1,000-megawatt fossil 

fuel power plant. Results of the study are discussed 

in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

(2009). 

53
Computational Sciences: It’s a Virtual World

Imagine designing and operating highly efficient and environmentally friendly power 

plants without sufficient insight, understanding, and analysis of the underlying physical 

and chemical processes. NETL’s Computational Science (CS) division combines physical 

and chemical research with computational sciences to provide tools for designers to 

understand, develop, and optimize technologies for advanced fossil fuel utilization, 

including carbon management. 

This image shows a detailed look into a gasifier simulated by NETL’s in-house model, 

MFIX. Design engineers use information from this simulation to evaluate mixing in the 

gasifier and determine which areas of the gasifier are operating in a combustion mode 

versus a gasification mode. Conducted in 2009, this simulation used more than 10 million 

computational cells and was run using more than 4,000 central processing units.

54 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
The computational models, methods, and tools 

developed and used by NETL enable virtual energy 

and environmental research, from small-scale 

scenarios through virtual plant simulations, reducing 

the time and research dollars needed to achieve 

ultimate success. Technologies developed by CS are 

enhanced in each subject area and then passed to 

the next. This builds on prior research, culminating in 

multiple levels of investigation and capabilities. 

The Multiphase Flow Research Group within CS 

accelerates the development of simulation capability 

and promotes its use in the design, operation, and 

troubleshooting of multiphase flow devices in fossil 

fuel power plants. One tool developed by NETL is 

Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX): 

a computer code that provides data on pressure, 

velocity, gas-solid species mass fractions, and 

temperature in gas-solids systems. MFIX is applied 

in areas where gases and solids come into contact, 

such as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) 

power generation. It has also met with significant 

success in researching subbituminous, bituminous, 

and lignite fuels. MFIX is open-source software, and 

over 1,600 users from national and international 

laboratories, universities, and industry are contributing 

to the software’s ongoing development. 

CS’s Device-Scale Modeling Research Group develops 

computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models for carbon 

capture, carbon management, and gas cleanup 

systems for use by NETL and industrial organizations. 

One example is a CFD model for postcombustion 

CO2

 capture using MFIX. This reactor design has 

been used for NETL’s studies of a CO2 capture system 

in which inert solids are injected into the reactor 

with the sorbent. Researchers are also working on 

CFD models for chemical looping and pulverizedcoal oxyfuel combustion—two other CO2

 capture 

technologies—and are using a recently developed 

transport desulfurizer model to aid industry in the 

commercialization of this gas clean-up technology. 

During 2009, chemical looping CFD models were 

developed and simulations performed of several gasand coal-based experiments.

The Model Validation Research Group generates 

experimental data used to validate computational 

models and identify ways to improve and update 

the models for a more accurate representation of 

phenomena of interest to industry. Recently, NETL 

and Particulate Solids Research, Inc., evaluated 

variation in time and space in the gas-solids mixing 

for different granular materials over a range of flow 

conditions. This data set resulted in a challenge 

problem for modelers worldwide to evaluate their 

computational models against this data. The problem 

is available on the MFIX website along with historical 

fluidization data and results. As another project, a 

facility to test sorbent-based CO2

 capture is being 

built that will validate computer models and assess 

the economic viability of commercial concepts being 

proposed to remove this greenhouse gas.

NETL’s final CS area, Process and Dynamic Systems 

Modeling Research Group, accelerates research, 

development, and application of advanced simulation 

and optimization solutions for process systems 

engineering challenges arising across the energy 

plant life cycle. One software tool, NETL’s Advanced 

Process Engineering Co-Simulator (APECS), was 

upgraded in 2009, offering important enhancements 

for large-scale energy applications, such as IGCC and 

chemical looping systems. The availability of APECS 

helps industry design next-generation energy plants 

that operate efficiently at low cost and with nearzero emissions. In collaboration with Ames National 

Laboratory and Reaction Engineering International, 

NETL has also developed the Virtual EngineeringProcess Simulator Interface (VE-PSI). Used with APECS, 

the VE-PSI software enables engineers to improve 

existing designs and create virtual prototypes of new 

energy plant designs more quickly, efficiently, and 

cost-effectively than ever before.

The collaboration of these four groups of NETL’s CS 

division results in computational tools that simulate 

and facilitate the development of clean, highly 

efficient energy systems for the future. By working 

in a computational environment, researchers 

can accelerate technology development and 

deployment, as well as troubleshoot problems in 

existing systems, all while minimizing environmental 

impacts and reducing cost. Creating a computational 

model allows engineers—both at NETL and 

elsewhere—to view systems in a virtual world. 

55
56 Abundant, Secure, Affordable 

Reliable Supply
When the petroleum 

embargo in the early 

1970s resulted in gas 

shortages, soaring fuel prices, 

and an economic slump, our 

nation urgently needed to 

discover ways and means to 

increase our energy security 

and independence. This 

20th century crisis illustrates 

America’s continuing concern 

for abundant, accessible, and 

affordable energy supplies. 

Over the last century, NETL 

and its predecessors have 

addressed this concern 

through a diverse research 

agenda. We have advanced 

technologies for the

efficient and environmentally 

safe production of domestic 

energy resources, modernized

U.S. energy transmission 

and distribution systems, 

and investigated novel 

techniques to produce and 

recover conventional and 

unconventional energy 

resources.

57
58 Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Reliable Supply

NETL Produces First Statewide Smart Grid 

Implementation Plan—NETL analysts have 

identified technological approaches that could close 

the gap between today’s electricity grid conditions 

in West Virginia—a state with grid reliability well 

below the national average—and those likely to be 

required for a 21st-century economy. If implemented 

in a coordinated effort rather than independently, 

the 20-year cost (less than $10 billion) of the 

recommended solutions would provide more 

than $12 billion in benefits to consumers, utilities, 

and society. The solutions include a distribution 

management system, distributed energy 

resources, demand response tools, an advanced 

meter infrastructure, and an upgraded customer 

information system to accommodate advanced 

meter infrastructure and demand response 

functionality and outage management. Details of 

the plan can be accessed from the Energy Analysis 

Reference Shelf at the NETL website. 

America’s energy challenges are demanding, requiring 

our undivided attention to every phase of the energy 

cycle. It is not enough to produce and generate reliable 

energy; we must also transmit and distribute it safely 

to the consumer. USBM was established in 1910 to 

address safety in our nation’s coal mines. In the late 

1920s, research began at the Bartlesville Petroleum 

Experiment Station in Oklahoma that included the 

detection and prevention of leaks in natural gas 

pipelines and evaporation of stored petroleum and 

gasoline. Today, our efforts have expanded to include 

support for development of sustainable communities, 

implementation of a modernized electricity grid, 

research into unconventional fuel resources, and 

improved federal response to national emergencies. 

NETL lends its century of expertise to confront these 

infrastructure challenges economically and with 

minimal environmental impact.

Energy Infrastructure DOE Office Releases First-of-a-Kind Analysis of 

Hurricane Impacts on U.S. Energy Sector—The 

Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration Division 

of the DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability (OE) released a report analyzing hurricane 

impacts on our national energy infrastructure during 

the 2005 and 2008 storm seasons. The report compares 

the magnitude and duration of hurricane-induced 

production and supply disruptions, as well as the extent 

of damage to the energy sector (e.g., electricity, natural 

gas, petroleum, energy prices, and supply). Whereas 

previous studies measured the effect on a single energy 

sector during a single season, the NETL-supported 

study examines the impacts on all U.S. energy sectors 

during two hurricane seasons (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, 

Wilma, Gustav, and Ike). The study finds that experience 

gained from the 2005 season better prepared the 

energy industry to mount extensive restoration efforts 

in 2008, and describes actions taken by DOE and other 

federal agencies to assist in these efforts. The report title 

Comparing the Impacts of the 2005 and 2008 Hurricanes on 

U.S. Energy Infrastructure, is publicly available at

www.oe.netl.doe.gov/outreach.aspx. 

Sustainable Communities Proven To Be Feasible—

The Energy-Efficient Community Development: Chula 

Vista Research project has proven that developing 

sustainable communities through energy-reduction 

strategies in large-scale commercial, residential, and 

mixed-use developments is feasible. Completed in 

cooperation with NETL for DOE’s OE, the study involved 

188 commercial and 863 residential structures in Chula 

Vista, CA, and suggests energy requirements could 

be reduced from 31 to 36 percent, while community 

peak electricity demand could be reduced from 16 to 

29 percent. Developers estimate investment payback 

periods of 5–15 years and realization of market interest 

in energy and environmental benefits. Corresponding 

reduction in CO

2

 emissions from the community would 

be 31 to 35 percent. A related “Green Analysis” completed 

by Consolidated Edison of New York with support from 

Verizon, Innoventive Power, Infotility, and Enernex found 

that simply using a fuel cell in a Verizon network of 

30 telecom facilities can annually avoid nearly 1,500 tons 

of CO

2

 emissions for each megawatt of installed capacity. 

In addition to the environmental benefits, installation 

costs are estimated at about $4 million per megawatt and 

annual revenues (net costs) are estimated at about 

$1 million per megawatt. 
Brooklyn ShopRite Saves More than Pennies with 

Energy Innovation 

Most supermarket shoppers focus on prices and 

produce and take for granted the technologies and 

expense required to maintain fresh fruits and frozen 

foods. But energy is vital to supermarket operations. 

Refrigeration units place a high demand for electricity 

and can reduce a supermarket’s profit by half. 

NETL research partners have discovered a way to 

restock the energy shelves with waste heat from a 

supermarket’s power-generating equipment. 

ShopRite Supermarket in Brooklyn, NY, was the 

feature location for an NETL-managed project funded 

by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy and carried out by the Gas Technology 

Institute (GTI). GTI product developers designed 

and installed a combined heat-and-power system 

that uses waste heat from a natural gas combustion 

engine/electric generator to provide cooling and 

increase the efficiency of ShopRite’s refrigeration 

system. Based on a conventional generator, the 

integrated system provides base electric load power 

for the supermarket. Recovered heat is used to 

indirectly fire a 20-ton absorption chiller, which in turn 

provides cooling for the store’s refrigeration system. 

The configuration maximizes generator output and 

assures maximum recovery of waste thermal energy 

while reducing demand for grid-supplied power and 

providing cost-effective outage protection. 

Image courtesy of Marek Czachorski, Gas Technology Institute

59
60 Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Reliable Supply

Latest Second-Generation High-Temperature 

Superconducting Wire Goes to Greater 

Lengths—NETL and industry partners have 

achieved the domestic capacity to produce highvolume, high-quality second-generation hightemperature superconducting (HTS) wire as part of 

an interagency agreement between DOE and the 

Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, OH. As a 

result of the partnership formed under Title III of the 

Defense Production Act, two domestic suppliers 

(SuperPower and American Superconductor) of 

HTS wire can now offer an affordable enabling 

technology with benefits for military and commercial 

applications. One example of this technology was 

the successful production of wire for the world’s first 

HTS transmission cable in a commercial power grid. 

Prior to the Title III work, both supply companies 

were achieving nominal conductor lengths of 10- to 

20-meter production runs capable of carrying less 

than 50 amps per centimeter of conductor width. 

At the conclusion of the Title III work, production 

capability for wires made from yttrium barium copper 

oxide—an HTS material—is over 1,500 meters per run 

with a current-carrying capacity of greater than 

280 amps per centimeter of conductor width. 

World’s Largest Commercial Order Placed 

for Second Generation , High-Temperature 

Superconductor Wire—Under a current NETLmanaged award, the American Superconductor 

Corporation (AMSC) refines second generation 

(2G) HTS wire, develops optimum manufacturing 

methodologies, and demonstrates the ability to 

manufacture large quantities of superconductor 

wire. On an unprecedented scale, Korean company 

LS Cable, Ltd., has ordered approximately 50 miles 

of 2G HTS wire proprietary to AMSC. Known as 

“344 superconductors,” the wire will become part 

of a 22.9-kilovolt cable system to be installed and 

energized in the Korea Electric Power Corporation 

commercial power delivery network by the end of 

2010. The cable system will be nearly a half-mile in 

length, making it the world’s longest distributionvoltage superconductor cable system. The proposed 

cable installation near Seoul follows similar recent 

superconductor cable deployments in U.S. power 

grids partially funded by DOE’s OE. Among them is the 

world’s first transmission-voltage cable system, which 

was energized on the Long Island Power Authority’s 

138-kilovolt system in April 2008.

New Compact Design for Superconducting 

Fault Current Limiter Tests Successfully at High 

Voltage—As part of an NETL-managed project 

to develop a 138-kilovolt Superconducting Fault 

Current Limiter (SFCL), engineers at Zenergy Power, 

Inc. successfully completed high-voltage fault testing 

of a three-phase prototype compact SFCL design. 

The test was conducted at the world-class facilities 

of Powertech Laboratories in British Columbia. In 

the compact design, the direct current is generated 

by high-temperature superconducting coils, called 

“magnets,” directly on the iron holding the coil in 

which the current is to be limited. Successful testing 

of this critical component is an important milestone in 

developing a method of limiting ever-increasing fault 

currents in today’s transmission systems.

New Cyber Security Tool Protects Electric Power 

Systems—Product developers at Schweitzer 

Engineering Laboratories, Inc., (SEL), a world 

leader in protecting electric power systems, have 

designed, built, and successfully tested a prototype 

cryptographic daughter card (CDC). The hardware 

plug-in card secures serial communications using 

the Secure Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 

(SCADA) communications protocol developed at 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL). 

SCADA systems serve as the link between the 

Internet and critical infrastructure systems, such as 

power networks, making them a key vulnerability 

in the infrastructure cyber security loop. The new 

SEL product will improve energy infrastructure 

security uniformly and independently of protocols 

or configurations by ensuring the authenticity and 

integrity of communications and engineering access 

to new and existing control systems. Managed by 

NETL on behalf of DOE’s OE, the CDC was developed 

as part of the “Hallmark project,” an alliance among 

SEL, PNNL, and Houston-based CenterPoint Energy. 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

61

Alpha Version of Cyber Security Tool for Utilities 

Released—Working under a DOE-OE contract 

managed by NETL, Digital Bond, Inc., released the 

first Portaledge© files as part of a cyber security audit 

and attack detection toolkit. Designed to work with 

OSIsoft’s plant information server, which is widely 

implemented in the energy sector, Portaledge 

collects security events from a variety of data sources 

on the control system network, and then correlates 

the events to identify cyber attacks. The initial set 

of Portaledge files will detect and analyze events 

relating to degradation in plant performance or in 

the availability of computer systems, networks, or 

network and field devices. Available to owners and 

operators from Digital Bond through a subscription 

service, the Portaledge tool will detect intrusions and 

identify potential attack modes and vulnerabilities 

without requiring purchase or deployment of 

additional systems. 

Before and during World War II, the Bartlesville 

Petroleum Experiment Station conducted a 

national survey of crude petroleum samples 

to identify which domestic supplies could be 

converted into high-quality, high-octane fuels for 

fighter planes. Here, a Bartlesville worker checks 

a shipment on its way to the lab for chemical 

and physical testing. Results helped guide the 

production of aviation fuel, asphalt, and lubricants. 

61
CT Images Capture Methane Hydrates Formation 

NETL scientists have successfully captured the first 

real-time x-ray-computed tomography (CT) images 

of methane hydrates being formed in a sandy porous 

media. The technique allows the hydrate to be viewed 

without destroying its structure, a major milestone.

The experiment was designed to study how hydrates 

are formed and how water migrates through hydratebearing sediments. Depending on hydrate saturation, 

water can migrate into the hydrate region or go around 

the region, first filling areas with less hydrate. Using the 

CT images, researchers have created 3-D maps showing 

the distribution of solid hydrate and any liquids and 

gases present. They have also conducted simulation 

studies to predict water flow through hydrate-bearing 

sediments. Results will aid researchers in designing 

production techniques, understanding mechanisms 

responsible for gas leaks in hydrate-rich areas, and 

characterizing samples for use in methane production 

tests. 

Beaufort Sea Expedition Explores Role of Methane 

in Global Climate Cycle—An international, 

multidisciplinary science team, including an NETL 

geologist serving as co-chief and senior scientist for the 

project, completed a 12-day research expedition into 

the Beaufort Sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker 

Polar Sea. Completed in fall 2009, the Beaufort Sea 

expedition, which was the first dedicated to a 

comprehensive study of marine methane hydrates 

systems off Alaska’s North Slope, included research 

partners from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and 

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. The science 

team collected geophysical surveys, subsurface 

sediment cores, and water column samples for analyses 

NETL Simulations Provide Insight on Hydrate 

Dissociation Mechanisms—Using molecular-level 

simulations, collaborators at NETL and the University of 

Pittsburgh have gained a better understanding of how 

methane hydrates decompose under conditions 

anticipated for methane production. Researchers 

observed transitory, partial hydrate structures at the 

point of decomposition—a key finding since these 

structures, in the presence of methane molecules and at 

appropriate conditions, could serve as potential sites for 

bulk hydrate reformation. Reservoir-scale simulations 

have shown that such formation causes lower gas 

production. Improved understanding of this 

phenomenon could lead to better predictive reservoirscale models. The study appears in the January 7, 2009, 

issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A of the 

American Chemical Society.

62 Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Reliable Supply

Methane Hydrates 

As traditional fuel resources have become scarcer 

and increasingly difficult to retrieve, NETL has 

continuously looked ahead to using non-traditional 

fuel sources, such as coalbed methane, and 

processes, such as enhanced oil recovery, to help 

meet our national energy demand. In 1983, the 

Morgantown Energy Technology Center began 

studying a new source of natural gas: methane 

hydrates. Known as “fire in the ice,” and found 

within deepwater sediments and in association 

with Arctic permafrost, methane hydrates are 

crystal structures of water-ice containing trapped 

molecules of methane gas. Through the DOEled National Methane Hydrates Research and 

Development Program, NETL has focused its 

research on establishing a basic understanding 

of hydrate resources and developing technologies 

to enable hydrate exploration in both marine and 

Arctic environments. A team of NETL researchers is 

currently working with a wide range of domestic and 

international partners to assess methane hydrate’s 

energy resource potential and to understand its role 

in the global environment.
YEARS OF INNOVATION

aimed at characterizing the fate of methane from the 

sub-seafloor sediment through the water column 

above and into the atmosphere. Understanding these 

systems provides key insights into hydrate’s role in 

global climate change and its potential as an energy 

resource.

Methane Seepage from Arctic Lake Could Reveal 

Impacts of Global Climate Change—A team of 

scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks 

(UAF) collected sediment cores and samples of gas 

and water from Lake Qalluuraq. Like other lakes in 

the North Slope region, Lake Qalluuraq has shown 

methane actively bubbling up from the bottom 

for several years. Scientists from NETL, the UAF, the 

University of California at Santa Barbara, and the U.S. 

Geological Survey are investigating these thermokarst 

lakes—formed by meltwater from permafrost—to 

study their role in global climate change. The current 

analysis will determine the spatial and temporal 

distribution of the methane seeps, the amount and 

rate of methane being released to the atmosphere, 

and the linkages, if any, between ongoing methane 

out-gassing and permafrost-associated gas hydrates. 

The 8-day field sampling excursion southwest of 

Barrow, AK, produced 15 sediment cores and water 

samples from more than 20 locations, far exceeding 

planned sampling expectations. Upcoming analyses 

will focus on determining the exact methane source 

and the correlation of past climate-warming events to 

increased methane flux from these arctic lakes. 

Novel Technique Estimates Hydrate 

Concentration from Advanced Geophysical 

Data—Working in cooperation with NETL, 

researchers with the Bureau of Economic Geology at 

the University of Texas at Austin have demonstrated 

the value of combining ocean-bottom cable, chirpsonar, and new rock physics models to estimate the 

concentration of hydrate in near-seafloor sediments. 

The innovative technique advances industry’s ability 

to obtain valuable detail about the stratigraphic 

architecture and sedimentary properties of deepwater gas hydrate systems and to assess them as a 

future energy resource. Geomechanical studies that 

provide a more comprehensive understanding of 

the relationship between seafloor stability and the 

transition of gas captured during marine hydrate 

formation were conducted at two project sites in the 

Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. 

63

A Bartlesville Petroleum Experiment Station 

engineer shows a display of the “five square” water 

flooding technique for secondary recovery of oil 

in May 1948. Water flooding was a technology 

developed in the 1910s to release petroleum 

that remained behind in a well after the “easy oil” 

was extracted. Bartlesville perfected the flooding 

technique depicted here, in which operators drilled 

four wells in a square pattern and pumped water 

into all four. Secondary oil was forced out through 

the fifth well in the middle of the square. 
Image courtesy of Impact Technologies

Advanced Mud Handling System Drills Microholes in 

a FLASH 

In cooperation with NETL, product developers at Impact 

Technologies, LLC, of Tulsa, OK, have designed and 

assembled an advanced cutting technique and mudhandling and processing system for microhole drilling. 

Impact’s FLASH abrasive slurry jetting system quickly 

bores through nearly any material encountered in oil 

and gas wells, including steel, cement, and rock. The 

pump directs mud slurry at the rock, carving a hole while 

removing debris as the slurry is deflected back out of the 

hole. Cuttings and abrasives are captured at the surface 

and can be recycled into the system for deeper boring. 

As pictured here, water was used during testing.

Microhole drilling—less than a 4-inch diameter drill 

hole—allows for quicker oil and gas exploration and 

production. It also minimizes costs and environmental 

impacts by using less fluid and energy and creating less 

debris for disposal. Impact’s compact, portable FLASH 

system requires much less space than a standard drilling 

rig, permitting drilling in tight, previously inaccessible 

spaces and the possibility of transportation via helicopter. 

Further, its small footprint makes environmentally 

responsible drilling possible in sensitive areas.

64 Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Reliable Supply

U.S. natural gas and oil resources are tremendous 

energy assets to our nation, providing more than 

60 percent of the total energy used by commercial 

and residential consumers. However, more than 

two-thirds of all the oil discovered in America to 

date remains in the ground, in geologically and 

operationally complex settings that are often 

economically unrecoverable with current technology. 

In 1913, Joseph Austin Holmes, first director of USBM, 

urged the conservation of natural resources and 

claimed that one of the most urgent areas of reform 

was the unnecessary waste of oil and natural gas. 

Following this mindset, NETL explores ways to retrieve 

our nation’s vital petroleum resources responsibly. 

Our progressive research in gas shales, “tight gas,” 

enhanced oil recovery, and ultradeep drilling gives 

rise to technologies that help America’s producers—

especially small, independent companies with limited 

research capital—economically tap our domestic 

oil and natural gas resources while protecting our 

environment. 

Natural Gas and Oil Production 

Innovative Device Increases Marginal Oil Well 

Production—An easy-to-use control box for 

reciprocating oil pumps increased production 

25–50 percent for several marginal wells in a 

demonstration funded through the Stripper Well 

Consortium (SWC). Unlike conventional controllers, 

the Oil Well Sentry prevented the pumps from 

operating when intake fluids slowed or stopped, 

eliminating excessive wear and tear on the pumps 

while reducing energy consumption up to 30 percent. 

Moreover, the device can pay for itself in less than 

1 month by optimizing several operating conditions 

and parameters. Marginal wells account for 9 percent 

of total natural gas and 18 percent of domestic 

onshore oil production, and the SWC offers small, 

independent operators the opportunity to work 

together with technology developers and researchers 

from across the country to solve production problems. 

Managed by The Pennsylvania State University, the 

consortium has more than 75 members and receives 

funding from NETL and the New York State Energy 

Research and Development Authority. 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

65

Innovative Technology Finds More Oil in Kansas 

and Colorado—A project team led by the 

University of Kansas Center for Research and funded 

by NETL has successfully applied a new visualization 

technology in two Midwest oil fields. The 

technology can identify sizeable undrained 

compartments in new and mature fields, 

particularly karst-modified carbonate reservoirs, in 

which water erodes carbonate rock and increases 

subterranean drainage and rock porosity. Such 

reservoirs account for 30–50 percent of the 

hydrocarbon production in the U.S. Midcontinent. 

Using the technology, Mull Drilling Company 

completed an oil well in Gove County, KS, that 

produced approximately 850 barrels of water-free 

oil. The company also completed a well in 

Cheyenne County, CO, where 10 feet of oil-rich 

reservoir rock in the productive zone has remained 

unaffected by drainage from nearby productive 

wells. Karst-modified reservoirs are often 

characterized by low matrix permeability, fluidcontrol problems, and low hydrocarbon recoveries. 

The new technology is able to image karst 

sinkholes, field-scale fracture systems, and other 

usually elusive sub-seismic features in relatively 

low-cost, conventionally acquired 3-D seismic 

surveys. 

In this picture from 1947, a worker mixes drilling 

mud. Investigation into “mud” for drilling—a fluid 

needed to flush drilled-out material to the surface 

when boring for gas or oil—began as early as 

1915 by the Petroleum Division of USBM. The 

mud is forced into the borehole, thereby clearing 

it, cooling the drill bit, and protecting the drill 

hole from fluids in the surrounding area. Today, 

specialized mud may be a water-based, oil-based, 

or a gaseous fluid, depending on the kind of 

drilling to be done. 
66 Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Reliable Supply

Project Develops High-Temperature, Downhole 

Data Acquisition Processor—Product developers 

at Honeywell International, Inc., working in 

cooperation with NETL, have demonstrated the 

functionality of a compact cofired ceramic package 

that uses multiple high-temperature (225 °C) electronic 

components for acquiring data in oil- and gas-field 

operations. The multichip module is a rugged, 

reconfigurable processor capable of providing a 

wide range of digital functionality for deep 

downhole oil and gas well logging, measurementwhile-drilling, and permanent installation 

applications. 

Seismic-While-Drilling System Attracts Industry 

Interest—A new technology that will enable 

operators to steer a drill bit toward desired targets 

and away from hazards, such as pockets of highpressure gas and undrillable tars, was successfully 

demonstrated at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing 

Center. The advanced seismic-while-drilling (SWD) 

system features a novel acoustic source that can 

produce low frequencies at depths of 15,000 feet 

or more. Powered by a drill-string turbine generator 

and control subsystem located directly above the 

drill bit, the source is designed to generate seismic 

information from subsurface to surface, creating realtime images of geologic conditions (e.g., rock properties, 

pore pressure) approximately 1,000 feet ahead. 

Developed in cooperation with NETL by a team led 

by Technology International, Inc. (Kingwood, TX), the 

technology will significantly improve well safety and 

economics. The success of the SWD demonstration 

has prompted licensing discussions with petroleum 

service companies and trade press coverage at 

PennWell and Hart Energy Publishing Companies. 

New Databases Help “Tight Gas” Resource 

Development—Independent operators now 

provide data online to help expand natural gas 

recovery in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and 

the central Appalachian Basin of West Virginia and 

Pennsylvania. Developed in cooperation with NETL, 

the geospatial databases are Web-accessible from 

the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology 

and the West Virginia Geological and Economic 

Survey sites. The digitized databases contain well 

logs, core analysis data, natural gas production 

results, and other information useful to researchers 

and operators for identifying natural gas targets and 

selecting new drilling prospects. As production from 

conventional natural gas resources declines, “tight 

gas” or natural gas from low permeability sandstone 

formations is expected to contribute a growing 

percentage to the nation’s energy supply. Improved 

data availability, analysis, and synthesis for these tight 

sandstone reservoirs will enable operators to expand 

natural gas recovery through more cost-effective 

exploration strategies and more efficient infill drilling 

and recompletion programs. 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

67

Surface

Coalbed

Leading the way to increased production of oil 

wells, Pittsburgh and Bartlesville researchers 

developed directional drilling, which can 

substantially increase production of domestic 

oil and gas reserves while minimizing damage 

to the environment. Directional drilling reaches 

laterally under the surface to follow oil and gas 

reserves for miles from the drilling site. In 1976, 

the U.S. Patent office awarded a patent to our 

staff for work in adapting directional drilling to 

coalbed methane recovery.

Image courtesy of Bureau of Mines publication

67
In January 2009, researchers at NETL’s Extreme Drilling Laboratory (XDL) 

celebrated the much-anticipated arrival of the lab’s prototype Ultradeep 

Drilling Simulator (UDS). The XDL’s new “rock star” achieves operating pressure 

and temperature ranges three times greater than similar drilling rigs, enabling 

researchers to conduct drilling research in an aboveground setting at conditions 

found in ultradeep wells with total vertical depths approaching 30,000 feet. 

Rocking at the Extreme Drilling Laboratory

68 The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
A significant decline in domestic annual oil and 

natural gas production rates, as well as more 

accessible foreign resources, has required U.S. 

energy stakeholders to tap resources in increasingly 

challenging geologic environments. Only 30 years 

ago, deepwater drilling referred to offshore wells 

drilled hundreds of feet underwater. Today, ultradeepwater drilling can occur in water depths greater 

than 10,000 feet, with the majority of deep wells 

expected to be drilled in water depths greater than 

5,000 feet. 

This substantial increase in depth is matched 

by significant increases in well pressures and 

temperatures, which hinder the drilling rate of 

penetration. In addition, costs for unconventional 

production methods such as deep-well drilling can 

be staggering, since deeper wells command higher 

investments. Through its high-tech equipment and 

advanced research, the XDL is hoping to optimize 

drilling methods and technologies that reduce risks 

and cost of drilling deep. 

Much of the work done in the UDS will literally be 

cutting-edge research. By studying the physical 

phenomenon present at the cutter-to-rock interface, 

researchers can explore and develop the technology 

required to drill rock efficiently. 

The UDS was designed and constructed with the 

unique capability of replicating well pressures up to 

30,000 pounds per square inch and temperatures up 

to 250 °C through a computer control system. This 

world-class prototype simulator consists of a pressure 

vessel, load frame, and ancillary equipment, such as 

high-pressure pumps and hydraulics. The rock test 

specimen is mounted in the bottom of the pressure 

vessel to the bottom plug, which has been designed 

and fitted with a hydraulic motor and actuator. The 

rock is then rotated and forced against a stationary 

cutter assembly, which measures the magnitude of 

force vectors created during the cutting process. 

Two visualization systems will enable researchers to 

observe events inside the reaction chamber. XDL 

currently uses a high-speed video imaging system 

that visually captures the rock-to-cutter interface 

in slow motion at full-system pressure. In the near 

future, XDL researchers expect to use x-ray imaging 

in a novel application to visualize the cutting in the 

presence of opaque drilling fluids.

Since its arrival last year, the UDS has undergone a 

multitude of intricate instrumentation and system 

checks to prepare for initial research operations in 

the third quarter of 2010. 

In addition to the UDS, the XDL features a state-ofthe-art Drilling Fluids Lab (Mud Lab), Mineralogy 

and Materials Lab (Rock Lab), and Modeling Lab, 

which complement the simulator and enhance the 

diversity of research conducted. 

• In the Mud Lab, XDL researchers mix and 

measure the properties of various mud 

compositions to create lubricants optimized for 

specific rock formations and bit-rock interfaces 

and to simulate rock and pore pressure 

interactions. 

• The Rock Lab enables preparation of rock 

samples, detailed analyses of test specimens, 

and assessment of typical rock properties, such 

as hardness, porosity, and permeability. 

• The Modeling Lab uses computer-based 

mathematical models to provide modeling and 

simulation capabilities that advance the science 

of rock mechanics, cutter design, and drilling 

fluids technology. 

The high-tech drilling facility located in 

Morgantown, WV, was conceived in cooperation 

with industry and funded by the federal 

government under Section 999 of the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005. Research conducted in the XDL is 

expected to have a direct impact on increasing our 

nation’s supply of oil and natural gas by developing 

affordable, efficient, and environmentally safe 

means to harvest ultradeep oil and natural gas 

resources. 

69
70 Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
NETL and its predecessors 

have long been on the 

cutting edge of research 

and development. We impact 

our country—and the world—

in a positive way by sharing 

our research and development 

discoveries, expertise, and 

lessons learned. We do that 

in several ways: partnering 

with private industry to put 

new technologies into the 

public domain; partnering with 

colleges and universities in 

both research initiatives and 

outreach such as the Science 

Bowl for students in middle 

schools and high schools; 

helping other nations become 

more energy-efficient and 

environmentally friendly; and 

writing and publishing papers, 

books, and software that are 

freely available to the public.

Facing page—NETL has long been a leader in improving air quality. When smog became an 

international concern in the 1950s, staff at Bartlesville created one of the first environmental smog 

chambers in the world, shown here. The mystery researchers sought to solve—how is smog made? The 

answer—by a photochemical reaction between sunlight, exhaust fumes, and air. Today, NETL is working 

to find ways to capture industrially produced CO2 and store it securely away from the atmosphere.

71
NETL’s High-Speed Particle Imaging System Studies 

Energy Systems—and Blood Flow

It is nearly impossible to follow a moving particle 

smaller than a grain of salt. Now imagine following 

that particle if it is one of millions moving randomly 

in a high-speed liquid or gas stream. NETL’s highspeed particle imaging (HSPI) system can do just that, 

allowing researchers to observe, measure, and study 

particle motion via thousands of high-speed video 

frames. Now, NETL’s HSPI system has left the laboratory, 

finding application in commercial energy research and 

medical investigations.

Using HSPI, members of Particulate Solid Research, 

Inc., of Chicago have been the first to observe the 

important phenomenon of clustering in fluidized bed 

combustion. Clustering can dramatically affect particle 

dynamics, the basis for half of all industrial chemical 

processes. Researchers have also produced new views 

of particle phenomena in simulated gasifier flow fields.

Regenerable Sorbents Capture CO2

 from 

Moderate and High-Temperature Gas Streams—

Patent Number 7,314,847 has been awarded to NETL 

researchers for developing a sorbent that outperforms existing sorbents in capturing CO2

 . The new 

sorbents also reduce the cost of capture. The 

innovative sorbents remove CO2 at high temperature 

before combusting the fuel in applications such as 

turbine systems. The ability to remove CO2 at high 

temperatures avoids the compromise in efficiency 

caused by other methods of CO2 removal that require 

cooling the CO2-containing fuel gas stream. NETL’s 

novel sorbents are not only inexpensive but also 

possess higher CO2-sorption capacities than existing 

sorbents, and they can be regenerated for reuse in 

additional cycles. The high-CO2 sorption-capture 

capacity of the sorbent will also contribute to size 

reduction of the equipment required for the CO2-

removal process, contributing to further cost savings.

NETL Patents Mercury-Removal Method—

Applying a novel approach that employs sorbent 

particles embedded in commercial baghouse 

fabricator material, NETL researchers have received 

Patent 7,494,632 for a mercury-capture method that 

demonstrated over 90 percent capture from a flue-gas 

slipstream from a 500-pound-per-hour pulverizedcoal-fired combustion unit. In principle, other sorbent 

materials also can be incorporated into the fabric, not 

only for mercury capture but also for mercury 

oxidation to facilitate capture further downstream 

when a wet scrubber is available. This new approach 

avoids cross-contamination of fly ash by activated 

carbons and mercury, which adversely affect the fly 

ash’s suitability for use as a concrete amendment. This 

mercury-removal method makes easier the cleanup of 

aqueous waste streams and synthesis gas (syngas) 

when sorbent and supporting membrane are 

compatible with process conditions. 

72

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Technology Transfer

NETL’s goal is to discover and develop energy 

technologies that, when brought to the marketplace, 

offer improved solutions to today’s energy challenges. 

We partner with commercial, educational, not-forprofit, and government entities to investigate new 

ways to produce, manage, and streamline advanced 

innovations that can cut costs, improve efficiency, and 

preserve our environment—and we shepherd these 

advances from the laboratory to the marketplace. NETL’s 

technology transfer maximizes returns to the American 

people and supports international causes such as 

the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions. Through 

partnerships, patents, licensing, publications, and policy 

discussions, NETL ensures our discoveries profit our 

nation. 

Image courtesy of the Medical Devices

Laboratory-McGowan Institute
YEARS OF INNOVATION

Module-based Oxy-fuel Boiler Is Practically 

Emissions-Free—U.S. Patent Number 7,516,620 has 

been assigned to NETL researchers for an invention 

that applies an oxy-fuel combustion system to a boiler, 

resulting in reduced environmental pollution and a 

higher-efficiency operation. The novel system 

comprises a series of oxy-fuel boilers that work 

independently of each other, creating a system for 

producing steam from water. Unlike conventional 

boilers, which use air to carry in oxygen for the 

combustion process, the oxy-fuel system uses only 

The human “machine” can be studied under similar 

terms, because blood is a mixture of fluid and 

particles—in this case, blood cells. The University 

of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative 

Medicine employed NETL’s HSPI system as part 

of its hemodynamics (blood flow) study in an 

oxygenation catheter that functions as an artificial 

lung. The device, named the Percutaneous 

Respiratory Assist Catheter, is intended to provide 

partial breathing support independent of the lungs 

and could be used to treat patients who suffer from 

short-term reversible lung failure. Data provided by 

HSPI are being used to validate a computational 

fluid dynamics model and optimize the design of 

impellers within the device.

oxygen. Accordingly, the volume and flow rate of gas 

is lower, which affords the opportunity for an overall 

smaller physical plant and lower capital cost for the 

system. Because NETL’s oxy-fuel boiler system is 

designed to capture and sequester CO2

, this system 

results in a near-zero emissions plant. 

NETL Patents Ionization-Based Multidirectional 

Flow Sensor—NETL researchers have received U.S. 

Patent 7,523,673 for the invention of an ionizationbased multidirectional flow sensor for monitoring 

flow speed and direction in advanced power systems 

such as hybrid fuel cell-turbine systems. The new 

sensor technology will provide a fast-response 

flow measurement to enable the efficient and safe 

operation of such hybrid systems. The innovation 

works by measuring ion movement in flames 

to detect changes in flow and will be especially 

useful for monitoring airflows at critical locations 

in systems where flow reversal can be detrimental 

to performance. The pressure-drop penalty of the 

sensor is low, which is important to maintaining the 

improved efficiency expected from hybrid systems. 

Because fuel cell–turbine hybrid systems are expected 

to dramatically increase power generation efficiency 

from fossil fuels while reducing emissions, this new 

sensor promises to boost efforts toward clean, 

abundant energy at an affordable cost. 

73

Because of its strong early focus on mining safety, 

Pittsburgh personnel gained great expertise in 

the field of explosives while developing safe ways 

to wrest coal from mines. This experience with 

explosives placed Pittsburgh in a position to share 

its know-how by helping solve the mystery of a 

massive explosion on Wall Street in 1920, which 

killed 38 people and injured hundreds. Pittsburgh 

experts determined through tests that a bomb 

containing about 100 pounds of dynamite 

had caused the explosion, probably set off by 

anarchists.
NETL Patents Method for Determining Optimum 

Catalyst Size for Chemical Reactors—U.S. Patent 

7,619,011 has been assigned to scientists at NETL 

for a significantly advanced method of employing 

multiphase computational fluid dynamics to 

predict systematically the optimum particle size for 

hydrocarbon-producing reactors. This advanced 

method produces results more accurately than models 

currently used. NETL researchers successfully applied 

the technique to determine that the optimum catalyst 

size is 60–70 microns for methanol production from 

syngas in a slurry bubble-column reactor. 

Process for Sequestering CO2 and SO2 Mimics 

Nature—The U.S. Patent Office has awarded Patent 

Number 7,604,787 for an innovation that mimics the 

naturally occurring weathering of rocks to provide a 

route for carbon sequestration. Developed by NETL 

in conjunction with research partners, the cyclic 

process employs mineral CO2 sequestration in which 

magnesium-rich minerals react with CO2 to form 

geologically stable mineral carbonates. The process 

will provide for the safe and permanent storage of 

CO2 in solid form. While mineral CO2 sequestration 

occurs very slowly in nature, this invention significantly 

increases the reaction rates and efficiencies for 

forming carbonates from the mineral matrix, thereby 

speeding up the process. This alternative acid-based 

technology uses exothermic reactions rather than 

the high-temperatures and pressures of other 

methods, providing a cost-effective option toward the 

environmentally safe use of fossil fuels.

Electrochemical Society Publishes NETL Research 

on Turbine-Fuel Cell Hybrid Systems—An article 

co-authored by NETL scientists for the Electrochemical 

Society’s Fall 2009 issue of Interface describes the 

unique flexibility of systems tested in the NETL Hybrid 

Performance (Hyper) project facility. Results show 

that synergies obtainable from a hybrid configuration 

that couples a SOFC topping cycle with a gas turbine 

bottoming cycle could result in the highest electrical 

conversion efficiency ever realized. The article was one 

of only four contributions selected for the publication’s 

fall issue that focused on SOFC research. Interface

reaches more than 10,000 readers worldwide in the 

fields of electrochemical and solid-state science and 

technology. 

NETL Patents Method To Reduce Metal 

Wastage— The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

awarded NETL researchers Patent Number 7,553,517 

for “Method of Applying a Cerium Diffusion Coating 

to a Metallic Alloy.” Laboratory tests show that 

the simple and inexpensive surface treatment of 

chromia-forming alloys with a rare earth element, 

such as cerium, can allow them to dramatically 

improve oxidation resistance at high temperature. 

Applicable to flat or curved structures, including the 

interior surfaces of tubes, the method is of particular 

interest where system performance, reliability, 

and affordability are significantly affected by the 

corrosion of structural materials in hostile service 

environments, such as power generation. By several 

factors, the process has reduced oxidation for ferritic 

steels used in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), as well as 

for martensitic, austenitic, and nickel-based alloys 

for advanced ultra-supercritical boiler and turbine 

applications.

NETL Patents Real-Time Combustion-Control 

Monitor—NETL researchers have received U.S. 

Patent Number 7,559,234 for the invention of a 

monitor that controls combustion and senses and 

diagnoses pressure oscillations in gas turbines. 

Lean premixed gas-turbine combustors operate 

near the fuel-lean flame extinction limit to achieve 

very low NOx

 emission levels, but operating near 

the lean limit may result in combustion instabilities 

that can reduce the life of engine components and 

significantly increase maintenance costs. This new 

NETL monitor will help improve cost and efficiency 

of power generated by fossil fuels by detecting 

and mitigating potentially detrimental combustion 

instabilities before they can cause damage to engine 

components. Using an electrode integrated into the 

combustor, this monitor measures hydrocarbon ions 

produced by the combustion process by using a 

calibrated relationship to determine the amplitudes 

of the pressure oscillations. The turbine control 

system then uses these calculations to assess the 

operating condition of the combustor and adjust the 

amount of fuel to maintain stable combustion. 

74

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization
YEARS OF INNOVATION

New NETL Model Aids in Examination of HybridSystem Response to Power-Demand Change—

Using ASPEN PLUS® simulation software with 

special modules to calculate fuel cell performance, 

NETL scientists have modeled a simple hybrid 

system configuration consisting of a standard SOFC 

and a single compressor-turbine pair to determine 

the effects of key configuration parameters on 

system temperature. Temperature control is one of 

the most critical problems that must be addressed 

in gas turbine-fuel cell hybrid technology because 

a hybrid system designed to operate efficiently for 

a given base load may not easily accommodate 

peak loads. A discussion of the results of scaling the 

configuration model over a range of fuel input and 

power output has been accepted for the February 

2010 issue of the Journal of Fuel Cell Science and 

Technology, a quarterly publication of the American 

Society of Mechanical Engineers. 

Scientists Report Unique Reaction in Molecular 

Chains Self-Assembled on a Metallic Surface—

Scientists at NETL and the University of Pittsburgh 

demonstrated the possibility of inducing a selfperpetuating chain reaction on a metal surface 

with low-energy electrons injected from the tip of 

a scanning tunneling microscope. The researchers 

demonstrated that a single electron caused a 

self-perpetuating chain reaction that rearranged 

the bonds in 10 consecutive dimethyldisulfide 

(CH3

SSCH3) molecules self-assembled on a gold 

surface. As the original bond of each molecule was 

broken by the reaction, the molecule rearranged 

itself to form a new molecule. The scientists provide 

theoretical and experimental evidence supporting a 

mechanism involving electron attachment followed 

by dissociation of a CH3SSCH3 molecule and 

initiation of a chain reaction by one or both of the 

resulting methylthio radical (CH3S) intermediates. 

The ability to sustain chain reactions on metal 

surfaces has potential implications in areas such as 

nanotechnology, photocatalysis, and data storage.

75

In the 1970s, Albany, Morgantown, and Pittsburgh 

shared their expertise with the U.S. space program. 

This cryogenic device at Albany was used to 

rapidly cool metals to low temperatures to 

simulate conditions they might encounter in outer 

space. The Pittsburgh Explosives Research Center 

conducted research on solid rocket propellants, 

safety procedures for liquid hydrogen fuel, the 

behavior of explosives in lunar-like atmospheres, 

and shielding for space vehicles. In addition, 

Morgantown researchers analyzed rock samples 

brought back from the moon. 
Essential to NETL’s mission is transferring to the public 

domain our lessons learned and project results. To 

encourage access to this information, NETL publishes 

its latest ideas, innovations, and discoveries in books, 

scientific journals, and other media.

Metallographic Masterpiece Showcases NETL 

Materials Expertise 

Since 1961, NETL metallographer Paul Danielson 

has fused science and art, and since 2001 he has 

practiced his craft as part of NETL’s materials program. 

International scientific instruments manufacturer 

Buehler featured one of Danielson’s photomicrographic 

works in its “2009 Materials Masterpieces” calendar. The 

image, shown here, illustrates the microstructure of 

zircaloy-4 under polarized light at 400 magnification. 

Danielson’s craft is an integral part of alloy development 

and performance assessments by NETL. The art of 

metallography is to create the most striking contrast 

of the microstructures with the most pleasing colors 

while still representing the product. Capturing the 

perfect image is a blend of technique and technology. 

Using a fine abrasive and acid, Danielson polished a 

zircaloy sample to emphasize the various grains. When 

he applied heat, gases in the atmosphere added a 

colorized layer to the microstructure, and polarized 

reflective lighting brought out the contrast among the 

grains, represented by the different colors. The resulting 

image details the as-cast microstructure and provides 

information about localized changes in chemistry and 

structure during manufacture and service. 

When Danielson first entered the field, metallographic 

images were limited to black and white and contrasting 

the grays in between. Today’s advanced metallography 

employs digital cameras and software, such as Adobe® 

PhotoShop®, to enhance the colors. An adroit use of 

color, Danielson notes, accentuates features that black 

and white simply cannot capture. 

76

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

NETL Scientist Co-authors Practical Introduction 

to Density Functional Theory—John Wiley & Sons, 

Inc., has published a new title, Density Functional 

Theory: A Practical Introduction, authored by NETL 

Physical Scientist Janice A. Steckel and Georgia 

Institute of Technology Professor David S. Sholl. The 

book provides a readable guide for anyone in math, 

science, or engineering who wishes to study physical 

processes such as adsorption or chemical reactions in 

gas phase, bulk materials, interfaces, or on surfaces. 

Density Functional Theory (DFT) may be used to give 

important insight into the structure or reactivity of 

known materials as well as predictive information 

regarding possible new materials. Without relying 

heavily on complicated theoretical derivations, the 

book covers key concepts and provides examples, 

exercises, and extensive references for students, 

theorists, and experimentalists interested in 

performing DFT calculations. 

Noteworthy Publications
YEARS OF INNOVATION

77

New Book Captures NETL Research on Laser 

Spark Plug Development—VDM Verlag, publisher 

of academic research, has released the title, Laser 

Spark Plug Development and Engine Testing: Design of 

a Diode Side Pumped Solid State Passively Q-Switched 

Laser for Use as an Ignition Source for a Lean-Burn 

Stationary Natural Gas Engine. The book describes 

the development of a miniaturized laser spark 

plug designed to enable operation of large-bore 

natural gas engines at higher efficiencies and 

leaner conditions than current standard operating 

conditions. The spark plug can replace traditional 

electrical spark plugs that quickly wear out at the 

modified engine conditions needed to achieve 

higher efficiencies. Conducted by NETL, the 

research was sponsored under DOE’s Advanced 

Reciprocating Engines Systems Program from 2002 

to 2007. 

NETL Team Writes Book Chapter on New

Sensor Technology—By invitation, collaborators

at NETL and the University of Pittsburgh have

prepared a chapter for the book, Trends in

Photonics, edited by University of Sydney

Professor John Canning. The chapter, titled

“Photonic-Bandgap-Fiber Sensors for Gas

Detection,” summarizes results of recent NETL work

completed under the NETL University Research

Initiative on developing fast-response gas sensors

for power generation applications. The book was

produced by Research Signpost, publisher of

more than 2,000 high-quality review books written

by eminent scientists at major laboratories around

the world.

One of NETL’s primary objectives has always 

been education and public service. In this 

photo of a USBM exhibition booth from 

the 1930s, two manikins demonstrate the 

then-new way to resuscitate someone 

who has stopped breathing. Today, 

NETL’s educational outreach includes the 

Regional University Alliance, the National 

Science Bowl for middle school and high 

school students, and internships through 

which university students work on real-life 

challenges in the energy field.
As the global marketplace brings the world closer 

together, NETL is increasingly involved in global 

technology issues. Today, energy security and 

the environment are of paramount importance 

worldwide. Global climate change driven by the 

rising amounts of CO2 in our atmosphere is a major 

research area for today’s scientists, engineers, and 

policy makers. NETL is taking a lead in international 

efforts to reduce CO2

 emissions from power 

generation sources through joint research and 

development initiatives, exchange of researchers, 

and information exchange at meetings and seminars 

with developed and developing countries. 

NETL Assists India in Cutting CO2 Emissions 

An NETL-led team is helping power plant operators at 

Indian state utilities upgrade operations using U.S. utility 

industry best practices and protocols for operations 

and maintenance. These protocols can improve plant 

efficiency and reliability, avoid millions of tons of CO2

emissions, and reduce operating costs. 

In 2009, NETL’s project team identified improvements 

at two power plants that could avoid approximately 

124,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually per unit 

tested at each plant. Defficiencies included air leakage 

into the furnace, inadequate insulation, improper sensor 

locations, coal leakage from pulverizers, and steam leaks. 

Storm Technologies, Inc., a U.S. specialist in combustionperformance improvement, and the Centre for Power 

Efficiency and Environmental Protection of NTPC, Ltd., 

India’s largest power generator, provided technical 

support. 

NETL’s efforts are being implemented under the Power 

Generation and Transmission Task Force of the Asia 

Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, 

as part of their Power Generation Best Practices project. 

The project traces its roots to similar NETL-supported 

activities conducted over the past 15 years in India 

under the U.S. Agency for International Development’s 

Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention project. To date, 

nearly 100 million metric tons of CO2

 emissions from coal 

activities in the Asia-Pacific region have been avoided 

through NETL’s efforts.

78

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

United States and United Kingdom Celebrate 

Collaboration on Virtual Power Plant Simulation—

The U.S. Patent Office has awarded Patent Number 

7,604,787 for an innovation that mimics the naturally 

occurring weathering of rocks to provide a route 

for carbon sequestration. Developed by NETL in 

conjunction with research partners, the cyclic 

process employs mineral CO2 sequestration in which 

magnesium-rich minerals react with CO2 to form 

geologically stable mineral carbonates. The process 

will provide for the safe and permanent storage of 

CO2 in solid form. While mineral CO2 sequestration 

occurs very slowly in nature, this invention significantly 

increases the reaction rates and efficiencies for 

forming carbonates from the mineral matrix, thereby 

speeding up the process. This alternative acid-based 

technology uses exothermic reactions rather than 

the high-temperatures and pressures of other 

methods, providing a cost-effective option toward the 

environmentally safe use of fossil fuels.

NETL and Chinese Scientists Initiate Technical 

Exchange—In June 2009, NETL scientists and engineers 

met with representatives of the Chinese Academy of 

Sciences and with scientists, engineers, and managers 

representing the China National Petroleum Corporation 

—China’s largest oil company—for initial technology 

dialogues under memorandums of understanding 

(MOUs) signed earlier by the organizations. The MOUs 

aim to foster U.S.-China collaboration in studies relating 

International Cooperation 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

79

to the efficient use of fossil fuels and the capture and 

storage of CO2. Such collaboration by the two largest 

users of fossil fuels and generators of CO2 is essential 

for ensuring energy security and addressing climate 

change in a synergistic manner. 

NETL Contributes to Administration’s Efforts for 

Greater Middle East Stability—In advance of a visit 

to Turkey by President Obama, the U.S. Trade and 

Development Agency (USTDA) awarded Turkish Coal 

Enterprises the funds to use competitively selected 

U.S. consulting and engineering firms to study the 

commercial feasibility of a lignite gasification plant in 

that country. NETL staff developed the underlying 

general statement of work and cost estimates for the 

award after participating with other U.S. energy 

experts on a USTDA-funded assessment mission to 

Turkey in January 2009. Estimates made during the 

mission indicated that a single large coal gasification 

facility, similar in capacity to the Great Plains 

Gasification Plant in Beulah, ND, could displace 

approximately 10 percent of the annual growth 

projected for Turkey’s natural gas imports. Diversifying 

Turkey’s energy sources is an element of the 

Administration’s strategy for improving economic and 

political stability in the region. 

NETL Researchers Participate in International

Gas Hydrates Science Advisory Committees—

By invitation, NETL geoscientists completed trips 

to Daejeon, South Korea, and Delhi, India, to assist 

national gas hydrate programs for those countries in 

selecting potential drill sites for major marine drilling 

and coring expeditions planned for the summer of 

2010. Officials for the national programs expressed 

interest in pursuing a targeted search for gas hydrate 

within sand reservoirs suitable for future production 

testing, and they were eager to implement the 

integrated geologic and geophysical approach that 

guided the highly successful drilling expedition 

recently completed in the Gulf of Mexico by 

participants in the DOE-Chevron Joint Industry project. 

In support of individual MOUs signed with Korea and 

India in 2008, NETL participated in the International 

Gas Hydrates Science Advisory Committees to 

offer recommendations regarding site evaluations, 

operational planning, and drilling-and-coring locations 

that would ensure the success of these expeditions. 

During a 3-year collaborative effort, researchers from 

NETL and the United Kingdom developed compatible 

software platforms for virtual process and equipment 

co-simulations of advanced power plants. Using NETL’s 

Advanced Process Engineering Co-Simulator and 

the U.K. Virtual Plant Demonstration Model, process 

engineers analyze and optimize plant performance 

by looking at complex fluid flows, heat and mass 

transfer, chemical reactions, and other dynamics that 

impact power plant design and operation. This type 

of computer-based research speeds up technology 

development and can help researchers and operators 

achieve aggressive environmental, performance, and 

economic goals for advanced fossil-based power 

generation systems.
NETL actively encourages tomorrow’s energy problemsolvers to pursue careers in science. Through the Regional 

University Alliance, NETL partners with university students 

and faculty to find solutions to energy challenges. We 

sponsor Science Bowl competitions each year for middle 

school and high school students, and we welcome 

undergraduate and graduate students as they intern in 

the fields of energy sciences and engineering. NETL encourages a culture of excellence and 

accomplishment. We are proud of the awards and 

recognition our scientists and engineers achieved in 

2009. From such prestigious honors as technology 

transfer and R&D 100 Awards to recognition given 

to NETL’s partners in various projects, NETL has 

long been acknowledged and valued for superior 

contributions in the field of energy research and 

development.

JASON Project on Geology Curriculum Development

A large contingent of NETL researchers shared their 

expertise in the study of earth materials with a visiting 

team of three students, a middle school teacher, and a 

JASON Project film crew. Founded by the National 

Geographic Society, the JASON Project puts student 

“Argonauts” in contact with practicing explorers and 

researchers to motivate them about learning science. 

The resulting curriculum in geology will be available 

through print, video, games, and online resources to tens 

of thousands of teachers and millions of students in the 

United States and worldwide.

80

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

NETL Technology Transfer Achievements 

Recognized—The Federal Laboratory Consortium 

selected two flue gas cleaning processes invented by 

NETL for 2009 Awards of Excellence in Technology 

Transfer. The first is the Thief Process for mercury capture. 

Patented by NETL researchers and licensed to NalcoMobotec for commercial development, the Thief Process 

extracts partially combusted coal from the furnace of a 

coal-fired power boiler for re-injection downstream into 

flue gas ductwork. Tests up to and including pilot-scale 

Awards and Recognition 

NETL Initiates Leadership Program for Young Scientists 

and Engineers from India—NETL staff met with 

interested faculty, students, and research fellows at several 

of India’s leading educational institutions and national 

laboratories to launch a new international post-graduate 

program consistent with education and outreach 

objectives of high-level, multinational partnerships, such as 

the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum and the AsiaPacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. 

Through the Young Scientists and Engineers Leadership 

Program, NETL aims to attract young researchers interested 

in specializing in the areas of carbon capture, transport, and 

storage. Organizations visited included Anna University, the 

Indian Institutes of Technology in Madras and Delhi, the 

National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, and 

the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute 

in Nagpur. NETL and its university partners are contacting 

several prospective candidates who expressed interest in 

the program. 

Educational Outreach

NETL Hosts Delegation from Eurasia—

On May 6, 2009, NETL hosted a group of 16 delegates 

representing government agencies and private-sector 

organizations in the coal areas of the former Soviet 

republics of Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, 

and Ukraine. The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) 

arranged the visit to NETL as part of the Special American 

Business Internship Training (SABIT) Coal Mining and 

Clean Coal Program. SABIT provides mid- to senior-level 

specialists with a comprehensive understanding of the 

U.S. coal industry as well as opportunities to establish U.S. 

business contacts. The visitors and DOC considered their 

visit to NETL a highlight of the program, and commented 

favorably about the valuable technical interchange 

that familiarized them with DOE’s work in clean coal 

technologies, mining, and cooperation with the private 

sector on technology transfer. 
81

• SEQURETM Tracer Technology—This innovation 

uses perfluorocarbon tracers to tag CO2 stored in 

geologic formations, differentiating it from natural 

CO2 fluxes. The technology has proven successful 

in detecting tagged CO2 in field-simulation tests at 

several pilot-scale sequestration sites.

• Super Hard and Slick (SSC) Material— A super 

hard and slick coating jointly developed by a team 

from ANL and Istanbul Technical University as a 

nanomanufacturing activity under the Industrial 

Technologies Program of DOE’s Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) captured 

one of R&D Magazine’s prestigious awards in the 

Thin Film category. Applied using high-power 

impulse magnetron sputtering, the computerdesigned metallic composition reduced friction in 

test engines by 80 percent when compared to 

uncoated steel, and it virtually eliminated wear 

under severe boundary-lubricated sliding regimes. 

Friction losses in vehicle engines can waste 10–20 

percent of total fuel energy. NETL is managing this 

and other nanomanufacturing activities for DOE’s 

EERE. 

NETL-Patented Refractory Judged Superior—

AUREXTM 95P is now specified as the approved product 

for high-wear areas of any future gasifier built by GE 

Energy. The NETL-developed refractory has shown 

“exceptional” or “excellent” performance at four gasifier 

sites. The high phophate-modified chrome oxide 

refractory is produced and marketed under license to 

ANH Refractories Company near Pittsburgh, PA. 

Refractory brick with greater longevity will help make 

gasification a more reliable and economic technology 

for coal-based power and hydrogen production. 

have shown that Thief sorbent capacities for mercury 

are comparable to those of commercially available 

activated carbons, but, because they are cheaper, the 

novel sorbents promise to reduce significantly the 

cost of mercury removal from flue gas. The second 

award went to a wet scrubbing process that uses an 

ammonia-based solution to remove SO2

, NOx , and 

CO2 from flue gas. Licensed to Powerspan Corp., the 

process produces a salable commodity in the form of 

ammonium sulfate or nitrate fertilizer, and, with 

respect to capturing the greenhouse gas CO2

, the 

ammonia solution can be regenerated and recycled 

to minimize cost.

NETL Technologies Earn Five R&D 100 Awards—

Following years of development, five NETL 

technologies captured R&D Magazine’s prestigious 

R&D 100 awards, which represent the top 

100 innovations introduced into the marketplace 

during the previous year: 

• Virtual Engineering Process Simulation Interface 

(VE-PSI)—Developed in collaboration with Ames 

National Laboratory (ANL) and Reaction 

Engineering International (Salt Lake City, UT), 

the VE-PSI software gives engineers the ability to 

create virtual prototypes of new plant designs and 

to improve existing designs more quickly, 

efficiently, and at less cost than ever before.

• Clay-Liquid CO2

-Removal Sorbent—This sorbent, 

developed in cooperation with Sud-Chemie 

(Louisville, KY), removes CO2 and other gases from 

coal combustion exhausts at temperatures 

ranging from ambient to 60 °C. The regenerable 

sorbent’s low cost, availability, and simple 

preparation can significantly reduce total energy 

costs compared to those of commercially 

available carbon capture methods.

• Thief Mercury-Removal Process—Licensed to 

Nalco-Mobotec for commercial development, the 

Thief Process extracts sorbent in the form of 

partially combusted coal from the furnace of a 

coal-fired power boiler for re-injection 

downstream into flue gas ductwork. 

81
82

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

NETL Computational Scientists Present AwardWinning Paper—An NETL computational study 

addressing turbulence modeling for particle-laden 

swirling flow was awarded a Certificate of Merit at 

the 2009 International Conference on Modeling, 

Simulation, and Control. The conference was part of 

the annual World Congress on Engineering and 

Computer Science hosted by the International 

Association of Engineers (IAENG) in San Francisco on 

October 20–22, 2009. The award-winning NETL 

paper will appear in a special issue of Engineering 

Letters, an IAENG quarterly on frontier issues in 

engineering and computer science. 

NETL Partner Receives Major International 

Award—The Centre for Power Efficiency and 

Environmental Protection (CenPEEP) and its parent 

company, NTPC, Ltd.—India’s largest electric 

utility—have received the International Star Award 

for Quality (ISAQ) in the Gold category. ISAQ is the 

international analogue of awards made based on 

Total Quality Management, such as the Deming 

Award (Japan), the Baldrige Award (United States), 

and the EFQM Excellence Award (Europe). CenPEEP 

functions as a resource center for acquisition, 

demonstration, and dissemination of state-of-the-art 

technologies and practices that optimize the 

performance of power stations in India. NETL 

provides technical assistance to CenPEEP as part of 

the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention project 

implemented under the 1994 protocol between 

India and the United States by the New Delhi 

Mission of the U.S. Agency for International 

Development. Joint efforts to date have conserved 

tens of millions of tons of coal, thereby avoiding the 

emission of millions of tons of CO2

. CenPEEP 

previously received a 2003 Climate Protection Award 

from the EPA and a 2002 Climate Technology Award 

from the Climate Technology Initiative for significant 

accomplishment in promoting climate-friendly 

technologies. 

Interagency Partnership Honors NETL Technology 

Development Leader—NETL scientist Mary Anne 

Alvin received the 2009 Propulsion and Power 

Systems Alliance (PPSA) Chairman’s Award for 

outstanding contributions to PPSA objectives both 

individually and as team leader. Alvin was recognized 

for reinvigorating and expanding the Materials 

Technology Area Team from three participating 

agencies to five, all of which share an interest in 

higher temperature materials to achieve greater 

turbine system efficiency and power. A collaboration 

among the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration and the U.S. Departments of Defense, 

Energy, and Transportation, the PPSA is designed to 

utilize existing program resources more effectively in 

the areas of power and propulsion.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Selects 

NETL Model for National Standard—

To determine the level of reduction in greenhouse 

gases (GHG) that can be expected from compliance 

with renewable fuel standards, the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) is referring to the NETL lifecycle analysis of petroleum-based transportation fuels. 

Selected for its accuracy and transparency, the NETL 

study, “Development of Baseline Data and Analysis of 

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of PetroleumBased Fuels,” provides a comprehensive baseline of 

GHG emissions generated over the life cycle of 

conventional petroleum-based transportation fuels in 

the United States. The study also identifies key 

contributions to the GHG emissions profile in each 

life- cycle stage of these conventional fuels. According 

to the EPA final rule on the recently revised Renewable 

Fuel Standard Program, the volume of renewable fuels 

that refiners and importers are required to phase into 

their products will be based on GHG reduction goals 

measured from the NETL 2005 life-cycle baseline 

model utilized by EPA. The NETL petroleum baseline 

report and underlying Microsoft Excel model are both 

publicly available on the Energy Analysis Reference 

Shelf at the NETL website. Collaboration with the EPA 

Office of Transportation and Air Quality over the past 

2 years has established NETL as a leader in the field of 

life-cycle analysis while strengthening the working 

relationship between DOE and EPA. 
83

NETL-Supported Carbon Sequestration 

Documentary Recognized for Excellence—

The environmental documentary, Out of the 

Air—Into the Soil: Land Practices that Reduce 

Atmospheric Carbon Levels, produced for a general 

audience by Prairie Public Broadcasting (Fargo, ND) 

in collaboration with the Plains CO2 Reduction 

(PCOR) Partnership, won two international awards: 

a 2009 Communicator Award of Excellence 

honoring creative distinction and a 2009 Golden 

Aurora Award recognizing film and video 

excellence. The 30-minute program, for which 

NETL provided guidance, technical review, and 

funding, introduces terrestrial CO2

 sequestration as 

a way of reducing atmospheric CO2 by using the 

natural ability of plants to absorb the gas and store 

the carbon in roots, stems, trunks, leaves, and soils. 

Led by the Energy & Environmental Research 

Center at the University of North Dakota, PCOR is 

one of seven NETL-managed regional partnerships 

studying the viability of carbon sequestration as a 

greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. Other PCOR 

documentaries, Nature in the Balance and Reducing 

our Carbon Footprint: The Role of Markets, were 

released in 2005 and 2008, respectively. The 

educational series is part of an extensive PCOR 

outreach effort to raise awareness of the benefits 

and opportunities of carbon sequestration, both 

regionally and globally. 

NETL Scientist Elected Fellow of ASM 

International—The Board of Trustees of ASM 

International—the preeminent worldwide 

materials science and engineering technical 

society—elected David Alman, Director of NETL’s 

Materials Performance Division, as a Fellow of the 

Society. The honor recognizes Alman for his 

contributions to the field of materials science and 

engineering, particularly for the development and 

design of novel materials and surface structures for 

power generation and high-temperature 

applications.

YEARS OF INNOVATION

Image courtesy of National 

Archives & Records 

Administration

The Henry H. Storch Award in Fuel Chemistry, sponsored by the 

Division of Fuel Chemistry of the American Chemical Society and 

Elsevier, Ltd., was established in 1964 to honor Henry Herman 

Storch, once director of research and development for the Office 

of Synthetic Liquid Fuels in Pittsburgh. Storch was a leading figure 

in American physical chemistry during the mid-twentieth century 

and a prolific writer. His masterpiece, The Fischer-Tropsch and Related 

Syntheses (1951), is still being cited as valuable source material 

more than a half century later. Storch awards are given biennially to 

individuals who make outstanding contributions to research in the 

field of fuel science.
NETL’s Thief Process Steals the Show

84

Science & Technology Leadership

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization
What if the mercury created by coal burning power 

plants could simply be plucked from the combustion 

system? NETL’s Thief Process gives operators the 

means to do just that. Requiring only an innovative 

lance and an on-hand sorbent, the novel procedure 

filches unwanted mercury by-products and helps 

clear the way for environmentally sound fossil energy 

production. 

NETL has a proven record of tackling air quality 

challenges. Our researchers have realized persistent 

success in developing technologies that enable the 

continued use of our most abundant natural resource, 

coal. In the 1980s, acid rain was found to be a highly 

detrimental by-product of coal combustion. Power 

plants emitted SOx

 and NOx into the atmosphere, 

which then precipitated back into the environment 

as acid rain. NETL’s precursor, the Federal Energy 

Technology Center, performed and directed advanced 

research to address these pollutants, equipping new 

and existing plants with an army of SOx and NOx

controls. In most of the nation, acid rain was soon put 

to rest. 

In the new millennium, mercury emissions proved to 

be the next formidable environmental concern related 

to coal energy. NETL set its goal to achieve greater than 

90 percent capture in its mercury-control technologies 

by 2010. Thanks to the hard work of NETL scientists, 

that goal was met a full 2 years ahead of schedule—

effective, affordable mercury-capture technologies 

have been on the market since 2008. Today, mercury 

concerns can be alleviated by cutting-edge innovations 

like the Thief Process. 

In 2009, NETL’s Thief Process for the Removal of Mercury 

from Flue Gas received two prestigious awards. The 

Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) presented its 

Excellence in Technology Transfer Award to researchers 

Mark Freeman, Evan Granite, Richard Hargis, William 

O’Dowd, and Henry Pennline. Additionally, the editors 

of R&D Magazine honored the research team with 

an R&D 100 Award, which recognizes the 100 most 

technologically significant products to enter the 

marketplace each year. 

The award-winning Thief Process is NETL’s showcase 

mercury success, providing an economical means to 

effectively capture more than 90 percent of mercury 

from coal combustion plants. Patented in 2003, the 

innovation was licensed to Nalco-Mobotech, Orinda, 

CA, in May 2005 and made available for sale to coalburning utilities in December 2008.

The secret to the Thief’s success is making use of a 

ready-made sorbent created during the combustion 

process. A high-temperature probe (the “thief”) 

snatches partially burned coal from the furnace of a 

power plant. This coal is then injected into the flue gas 

downstream where it acts as a sorbent to capture the 

mercury. Traditionally, coal-burning utilities have relied 

on activated carbon injection (ACI) to adsorb mercury 

from flue gas. ACI is a popular method because it is 

effective, but it is also quite costly. Activated carbons 

soak up many components of a flue gas stream, so 

the mercury must compete with other gases for 

adsorption sites and more carbon must be used. 

Additionally, activated carbons must be purchased 

from the manufacturer and delivered to the plant, and 

this increases costs as well. 

The Thief Process avoids both of these drawbacks 

and enables an overall cost savings over ACI of 

82–93 percent. Thief sorbents are also more effective 

because partially burned coal retains chemicals 

on its surface that react with mercury and aid in its 

chemical adsorption, thus increasing the sorbent’s 

capture capability. In short, the Thief process makes 

mercury clean-up affordable and effective. And, 

by mitigating the environmental threat posed by 

mercury associated with coal combustion, the Thief 

process is helping to ensure safer air, water, and food 

supplies while protecting both the environment and 

the economy.

In addition to its 2009 awards, the Thief process has 

been recognized with a 2008 regional Excellence in 

Technology Transfer Award for the mid-Atlantic FLC 

region, as well as articles published in Fuel, Journal 

of Environmental Management, and Fuel Processing 

Technology. 

The Thief Process adds to a long line of NETL successes 

in environmental controls. Today, concerns about 

carbon emissions and global climate change are 

paramount. While CO2

 emissions remain the next 

great challenge, NETL’s proven track record with acid 

rain and mercury lays the groundwork for ensuring 

that carbon-related global climate change will soon be 

a concern of the past.

85
86

Our Vision for the Future

The Next 100 Years

NETL’s past successes have contributed to our nation’s 

energy safety and security. We have now entered our next 

century of innovation and the grand challenge it presents: 

America’s transition to an energy portfolio that is 

environmentally acceptable, sustainable, and capable of 

tapping the full potential of our nation’s energy resources. 

The technical advancements required to meet this 

challenge are underway at NETL. We are taking the path 

to achieving scalable renewable energy by looking to 

coal, natural gas, and oil as transition fuels. This means 

integrating fossil-energy platforms with renewable energy 

resources, realizing ever-greater efficiency in our power 

production and use, and developing an integrated grid 

structure to transmit electrical power more efficiently and 

reliably. 

NETL’s research program is organized around core 

elements that recognize the systems-design and 

integration issues posed by a global transition of energy 

technologies. 

• Carbon capture and storage—NETL is a leader in 

technology development aimed at safely, 

economically, and permanently storing CO2

 from 

fossil-based energy systems. We target the 2020 

timeframe for moving needed technologies to 

market.

• Advanced fossil-fuel power systems—Tomorrow’s 

affordable, ultra-clean, ultra-efficient power systems 

are under development today. The Office of Fossil 

Energy’s research and development program, 

implemented by NETL, targets 90 percent carbon 

capture and storage at electricity costs that 

approach today’s supercritical pulverized coal plant 

costs without carbon capture.

• Existing coal plants—Applying carbon capture to 

existing coal-fueled power plants through 

retrofitted technologies imposes an enormous 

economic penalty. NETL aims to reduce today’s 

incremental capital and operating costs by 

approximately 50 percent, averaged across the 

existing fleet, through advanced postcombustion 

capture and compression.

• Methane hydrates and gas shale—These 

technically and economically challenging resources 

are under intense investigation at NETL. Our 

researchers also continue to advance the costeffective, environmentally sound exploration of 

domestic oil and natural gas.

• The Smart Grid—Through 2009, NETL’s Modern 

Grid Strategy team led development of a national 

vision to upgrade our electricity distribution system 

to a 21st-century Smart Grid. NETL is now 

accelerating America’s transition to the grid 

through implementation-strategy development, 

key analyses, and technology innovation. NETL also 
87

participates actively in ongoing stakeholder 

communities consisting of federal government, 

academic, and industry organizations. 

• Energy efficiency—Energy efficiency in both 

supply and demand is critical to America’s future. 

NETL works on both sides of the equation by 

increasing power-production efficiencies and 

making strides in demand-side efficiencies. NETL 

works closely with state energy programs and 

weatherization projects. Our partners develop, 

evaluate, and deploy high-efficiency building, 

vehicle, industrial, and appliance technologies—

all of which are key to slashing energy 

consumption and consumer costs. 

NETL also manages $15.5 billion in American 

Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding 

for the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of Energy 

Reliability and Renewable Energy, and the Office 

of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. NETL’s 

ARRA activities give independent organizations the 

opportunity to make significant strides in energy 

research while they create more than 160,000 job 

years by the program’s 2015 expiration date.

The successes our project partners realize will jumpstart new industries for clean transportation, building 

technologies, industrial efficiencies, and renewable 

energy. They will translate into achievements for 

the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships 

and Smart Grid program, and they will augment 

intergovernmental programs at the state level. 

In addition to conducting sponsored research 

programs, NETL is committed to acting as a catalyst 

for regional development. The primary vehicle for 

this work is our newly formed Regional University 

Alliance for Energy Technology Innovation, or NETLRUA. This program combines NETL’s fossil energy 

expertise with the broad capabilities of five regional 

institutions: Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania 

State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Virginia 

Tech, and West Virginia University.

NETL-RUA will help our nation develop a workforce 

highly skilled in the energy field, providing 

stimulus for high-tech job creation and economic 

development. Deployment of new technologies 

stemming from this Alliance will be aided by key 

partnerships with the region’s commercial energy 

sector and serve as the basis for regional economic 

development and nationwide job creation. 

Rebuilding our nation’s energy infrastructure based 

on resources with ultralow environmental impact 

will require decades of technology development 

and commercialization. NETL is working to help 

America achieve this complex energy transition. 

With our scientific, engineering, and administrative 

talent, we continue to implement the partnerships 

and manage the programs that can accomplish 

the mission of providing affordable, reliable, and 

environmentally safe energy for the 21st century. 
YEARS OF INNOVATION

88

Image courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration

We’ve made a lot of progress in 100 years.

In the earliest days of the USBM Experimental

Mine in Pittsburgh, mules were used to

move coal samples and mining equipment.

In contrast, NETL now uses sophisticated

methods and instruments to analyze,

research, and develop advanced technologies

and processes that will enter the public

domain. In this way, the Energy Lab is

helping our country produce safe, affordable,

abundant energy for today—and for the

future.
Find a link to this report at:

www.netl.doe.gov/publications

DOWNLOAD

About NETL

The National Energy Technology Laboratory is 

owned and operated by the U.S. Department of 

Energy. NETL’s efforts are focused on advancing 

energy options to fuel our economy, strengthen our 

security, and improve our environment.

To accomplish this mission, NETL draws on 

1,700 federal and support-contractor employees to 

implement and manage a broad spectrum of 

research programs. NETL conducts more than 

1,800 research activities in the United States and in 

more than 40 foreign countries.

NETL is a single organization comprising three 

research facilities located in Albany, OR; Morgantown, 

WV; and Pittsburgh, PA. NETL also has offices in 

Fairbanks, AK, and Sugar Land, TX. The Laboratory’s 

activities are primarily funded through DOE’s Office 

of Fossil Energy, but NETL also conducts work for 

other DOE offices and federal agencies.
Printed August 5, 2010

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