the ENERGY lab

NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

2012
2

Mission

Advancing energy options to fuel our economy, strengthen 

our security, and improve our environment.
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 3

Contents

2012

Introduction_____________________________________ 4

Clean Energy ____________________________________ 6

Reliable Supply _________________________________ 14

Science & Technology Leadership __________________ 20

Technical Awards________________________________ 24

A Legacy of Benefit ______________________________ 26
Resolving the nation’s energy challenges 

remains the primary focus of the exciting work 

being done at the National Energy Technology 

Laboratory (NETL). Our progress in 2012 was 

impressive, and here in NETL Accomplishments 

2012 we share the results of those efforts. 

On the national level, NETL made important 

contributions toward the President’s all-of-theabove energy strategy as we focused research 

on making the most of our domestic resources. 

We are making significant contributions in 

next-generation power plants with near-zero 

emissions, capturing and permanently storing 

carbon emissions, and maximizing our energy 

assets with the smallest possible impact on our 

air, land, and waterways. For example, in 2012 

NETL continued its leading role in the remarkable 

“shale boom” that is transforming our nation’s 

energy profile. Technologies developed at NETL 

or with NETL support helped make possible 

the development of this domestic resource, 

and we are committed to efforts that ensure its 

environmental safety. 

NETL Accomplishments 2012 contains a selection 

of our technical achievements and the recognition 

we received during the year. Although our work is 

integrated, for ease of reading the information is 

grouped in three broad areas: clean energy, reliable 

supply, and science and technology leadership. 

The report concludes with a historic look at some 

of our most significant accomplishments over the 

last quarter-century. These successes illustrate our 

commitment to advancing energy technologies 

that positively impact America’s prosperity. 

In clean energy, our goal is to reduce emissions 

and conserve energy while building a portfolio of 

technologies for sustainable energy production. 

We’re developing economic, effective methods 

to capture and store carbon from power plants 

that use conventional technologies as well as 

pursuing advanced technologies, such as fuel 

cells and chemical looping combustion, that have 

inherently low emissions. In one notable 2012 

accomplishment, the NETL-led Carbon Capture 

Simulation Initiative, released—a year ahead 

of schedule, in response to intense industry 

Welcome to the 2012 NETL Accomplishments Report
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 5

interest—a set of computational tools and models 

to accelerate the development and deployment of 

carbon capture technologies. 

Recognizing that a reliable supply of energy is the 

foundation of America’s high standard of living, 

NETL conducts research to ensure that our energy 

supply remains uninterrupted and affordable. One 

of the ways in which we do this is by exploring 

new energy resources. In a noteworthy example 

from April 2012, NETL, along with ConocoPhillips 

and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National 

Corporation, completed an unprecedented 

demonstration of natural gas extraction from what 

could become a game-changing energy resource: 

methane hydrate. NETL is also helping conserve 

America’s electricity usage by making advances 

in the areas of solid-state lighting and smart grid 

technologies. 

NETL’s proven leadership in science and 

technology is demonstrated not only through 

the patents and awards we’ve received, but 

also in the ways in which our research extends 

beyond the energy sector to provide far-reaching 

benefits. We’re gratified that in 2012 one of our 

sorbent technologies was commercialized to make 

HVAC systems more efficient. We also managed 

a training program that is developing a skilled 

workforce capable of implementing a national clean 

energy smart grid. Our expertise stretched into the 

transportation sector as well, as NETL researchers 

evaluated and helped optimize nanocoatings to 

protect turbine engines, such as those used in 

aircraft. Within these pages you can read more about 

these and other successes of which we’re rightfully 

proud. 

From mitigating acid rain to enabling shale gas 

recovery, from improving health to creating jobs, 

NETL research has provided a tremendous return on 

investment for the American taxpayer. Our pledge is 

that the Laboratory researchers and professional staff 

who have made these achievements possible will 

continue to deliver the new technologies we need 

to maximize domestic energy supplies, improve the 

environment, and fuel the economic prosperity of 

these United States.
6

Clean Energy

Schlumberger technicians and rig crew 

lower the monitoring instrumentation into 

a well. Image courtesy of the Illinois State 

Geological Survey.

Southern Company 

carbon capture project, 

Mobile County, AL.

Blue skies, clear water, and crisp, fresh air. The benefits of clean energy are obvious and can be achieved by making fossil fuel use more environmentally friendly as we transition to greener technologies. NETL’s researchers strive to 

make our most abundant energy resources—coal, natural gas, and oil—burn cleaner to protect our planet. 

Carbon Capture and Storage from 

Biofuels Production Is First in 

Nation—In the first demonstration-scale 

project in the United States to use CO2 from 

a biofuels plant, the Midwest Geological 

Sequestration Consortium is capturing CO2

Now Operational: Largest, Fully 

Integrated Carbon Capture and 

Storage Project in the United 

States—The Southeast Regional Carbon 

Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) has 

completed integration of the capture, 

transport, and injection systems for CO2

emitted from the Southern Company coalfired James M. Barry Electric generating plant 

in Bucks, AL. After capture, the CO2

 is being 

transported to an injection well 12 miles 

away where it is stored in a saline aquifer 

within the Paluxy Formation over 9,000 feet 

deep. 

SECARB is one of seven NETL-managed 

regional partnerships studying the 

viability of carbon capture and storage as 

a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. Up 

to 550 metric tons of CO2 per day are being 

captured and compressed at Plant Barry by 

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which receives 

no federal funding. Operations will continue 

for approximately 2 years, with subsurface 

CO2 plume movement being monitored 

through 2017 to ensure safe and permanent 

storage. 

As one of the SECARB Phase III large-scale 

field tests, this demonstration has brought 

together disparate industries to capture, 

pipeline, and inject anthropogenic carbon 

into a stable geologic formation, providing 

lessons learned as carbon capture and 

storage technologies move ahead.

from Archer Daniels Midland Company’s 

ethanol production facility in Decatur, IL. 

After compression, the CO2 is injected 7,000 

feet deep into the Mount Simon sandstone 

reservoir.

The project team plans to inject 1,000,000 

metric tons over a 3-year period. As 

part of the U.S. Department of Energy 

(DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration 

Partnerships program managed by NETL, 

the demonstration is led by the Illinois State 

Geological Survey. Schlumberger Carbon 

Services is also a project partner.

Since November 2011, over 380,000 metric 

tons have been injected into the Mount 

Simon sandstone. Lessons learned from this 
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 7

 DID YOU KNOW?

The Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), an international body of 23 member nations dedicated to promoting the development and deployment of 

CO2 capture and storage technologies, recognized and honored 3 NETL-supported 

projects in 2012: the Illinois Basin project, the Illinois Industrial Carbon Capture 

project, and the ARRA project in Pennsylvania with Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.

The 8-inch diameter Polaris modules are installed in a membrane test system that was 

developed by MTR. Image courtesy of MTR.

project are proving highly valuable toward 

future CO2

 geologic storage projects.

Carbon capture and storage is a strategy for 

reducing the amount of CO2

 emitted into 

our atmosphere. CO2

 separated from the 

emission stream of industrial and powerproduction sources can be used beneficially 

or stored permanently in deep geologic 

formations. Geologic storage of CO2

 prevents 

the greenhouse gas from escaping into the 

atmosphere and contributing to climate 

change.

PolarisTM Post-combustion CO2

Membrane—Membrane Technology 

and Research, Inc. (MTR) of Newark, CA, 

developed an alternative approach to 

cryogenics for separating CO2 from flue gas 

produced through fossil fuel production. 

Subjected to more than 4,000 cumulative 

hours of field testing at 2 operating coalfired power plants as part of an NETLadministered, Recovery Act-funded project, 

this polymeric spiral-wound membrane 

exhibited very encouraging results, with test 

values that fell within the upper range of the 

objectives for the project. 

Based on the field-test data obtained 

through a preliminary technical and 

economic analysis completed with support 

from the Electric Power Research Institute 

and WorleyParsons, it was forecast that the 

MTR technology could capture 90 percent 

of the CO2

 in flue gas from coal-fired power 

plants with a 40–45 percent increase in the 

cost of electricity (COE)—not far from the 

programmatic COE target of 35 percent at 

90 percent capture. 

MTR engineers are now fabricating a pilot 

system that captures 20 tons of CO2

 per 

day, which will be subjected to a six-month 

period of validation testing.
NETL won an Federal Laboratory Consortium award for its technology transfer efforts related to 

the CO2-capturing BIAS process. This image shows one of several sorbents that are used during 

the process.

275 to 600 μm dia.

8

Clean Energy

30 kW stack tower by FuelCell Energy. Image 

courtesy of FuelCell Energy.

Fuel Cell Designs Taking Shape 

for Central Power Generation—

The Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance 

(SECA) Industry Team led by FuelCell Energy 

constructed and is now testing a 192-cell 

stack tower comprised of two 96-cell building 

blocks in which each cell has an active area of 

550 square centimeters, making it the largest 

single Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stack 

ever operated. In previous tests, the tower’s 

building blocks produced 16 kilowatts of 

DC power and exhibited a performance 

degradation rate of 1.4 percent per 1,000 

hours during 3,500 hours of steady-state 

operation—well under the target limit 

of 2 percent per 1,000 hours. The tower 

design is the basis for a 60 kilowatt module 

incorporating most of the design elements 

used in scaling up to a 1 megawatt unit. 

Meanwhile, the SECA Industry Team led by 

LG Fuel Cell Systems has constructed and 

is testing a pressurized 20 kilowatt block 

that will serve as the basic repeat unit 

when scaling up to a 1 megawatt fuel cell 

system. After approximately 1,250 hours, 

the performance of this fuel cell block had 

degraded less than 1 percent per 1,000 hours. 

The same cell technology has been tested 

to over 16,000 hours in subscale test articles, 

also showing less than a 1 percent per 1,000-

hour degradation rate. Screening has begun 

on next generation technology to improve 

long-term durability

SOFC achievements such as these are 

made possible with concepts and materials 

developed and evaluated by SECA Core 

Technology Program participants at 

universities, national laboratories, and 

businesses. For example, NETL demonstrated 

repeatable power density increases greater 

than 30 percent by infiltrating laboratoryscale cells with catalyst materials. Infiltration 

involves depositing a solution of catalyst 

precursors into a pre-sintered backbone of 

cathode material to form a discontinuous 

(particles) or continuous (film) coating upon 

thermal treatment. In addition to increased 

power density, extended performance 

tests lasting 1,500 hours showed enhanced 

stability—a key objective for achieving 

commercial viability of SOFC technology. 

This most recent success has attracted the 

interest of an industrial cell developer as 

well as a commercial firm for scaling up and 

supplying this innovative technology.

Dry Solids Feed Pump Opening 

New Avenues in Gasification—An 

innovative technology, developed by Pratt 

& Whitney Rocketdyne in collaboration 

with NETL, could make gasification more 

economically competitive by improving plant 

NETL-Patented Sorbent Exhibits 

Extraordinary Capacity for 

Removing Mercury, Arsenic, and 

Selenium from High-Temperature 

Syngas—Results of a 42-day test at the 

National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) show 

that an NETL palladium-on-alumina sorbent 

removed virtually all of the mercury present 

in a slipstream of particulate-free sour 

syngas derived from gasification of Powder 

River Basin coal, and no breakthrough was 

observed.

The syngas was periodically monitored 

for mercury, arsenic, and selenium upon 

entering and exiting the sorbent reactor, and 

spent sorbent was analyzed for mercury and 

other elements. The extended exposure at 

260 oC and 180 pounds-per-square-inch was 

the fifth in a series of increasingly challenging 

tests arranged by Johnson Matthey, 

technology licensee, to be conducted at 

the NCCC, which is operated by Southern 

Company in Wilsonville, AL. In each previous 

test, the R&D 100 award-winning sorbent 

removed nearly all of the trace contaminants. 

A sixth test is planned for 2013.

Removing mercury and trace elements by 

sorbents at elevated temperatures preserves 

the high thermal efficiency of an integrated 

gasification-combined cycle power system.
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 9

Today’s commercial dry-feed gasification 

systems are limited to processing pressures of 

about 450 pounds per square inch (psi); this 

novel pump more than doubles those pressures 

to 1,000 psi. Higher system pressures mean 

higher system efficiencies and less coal used 

to produce power and other products. Image 

courtesy of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

 SECA

The NETL-managed Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) is a public/

private partnership working to develop solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies 

for coal-fired central power generation. When fueled with syngas produced by the 

latest coal gasification technology, SOFCs can achieve 45–60 percent efficiency 

while capturing virtually all of the carbon contained in the coal feed.

Diagram of the process for producing clean energy 

with limestone-based chemical looping.

Autothermal Operation Achieved 

for Limestone Chemical Looping 

Combustion—Researchers at ALSTOM 

Power have successfully achieved 

autothermal operation—self-sustained 

operation with coal, without external heat 

input—of their limestone chemical (CACO3

)

looping combustion (LCL-CTM) process.

 

The ALSTOM process utilizes commercially 

proven circulating fluidized bed technology 

and low-cost, abundant limestone as both 

the oxygen carrier sorbent and sulfur 

capture reagent. The testing, which validated 

the process chemistry and technology 

concepts, was conducted in a 3-megawatt 

thermal prototype pilot plant. 

This patented process allows electricity 

production with at least 90 percent CO2

capture at the lowest cost and energy 

penalty to date and will enable the clean, 

cost-effective, sustainable use of coal in new 

and retrofit applications. This project was 

conducted under the DOE Carbon Capture 

program, which is managed by NETL.

reliability, availability, and maintainability 

while additionally improving process 

efficiency and introducing low-rank Western 

coal as a viable feedstock option. 

This first-of-a-kind, commercial-scale drysolids feed pump prototype is designed 

as a reliable means of feeding coal directly 

into gasification processes operating at 

efficiency-boosting pressures without the 

energy penalty inherent with coal-water 

slurries. The prototype pump, commissioned 

by the Energy & Environmental Research 

Center in April 2012, will undergo 12–18 

months of commercial-scale testing to 

determine the pump’s flexibility in handling 

feed types, particle sizes, and pressure 

ranges. 

If successful, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne 

will make the pump available to industry 

for commercial use, giving gasification the 

opportunity to make a difference in the 

economic and energy security of the United 

States and the world.
10

Clean Energy

The novel Power LCAT, developed by NETL and 

Sandia National Laboratories, allows quicker, 

more versatile analyses of energy production 

technologies.

A virtual simulation of the 

Hyper facility shows the actual 

experimental facility (left), a 3-D 

scan of the experimental facility 

(middle), and a color-enhanced 

3-D scan (right). This sequence 

of real data turned into virtual 

simulation is also representative 

of the process for inputting 

data from experimental runs 

into the virtual facility, allowing 

researchers to test advanced 

control strategies safely prior to 

implementation. 

NETL Releases New Energy 

Analysis Tool—A new energyproduction technology analysis tool 

available through NETL presents 

opportunities to help policy-makers, 

students, and interested stakeholders 

better understand the economic and 

environmental tradeoffs associated with 

various electricity production options. 

Developed in partnership with Sandia 

National Laboratories, the Power Systems 

Life Cycle Analysis Tool (LCAT) can be used 

to analyze the entire life cycle of an energy 

technology—from raw materials acquisition 

to final product transport.

NETL Hyper-MESA Facilities Show 

Potential for a Clean Energy 

Future—Collaboration between NETL 

and Ames National Laboratory has led 

to innovative research and development 

of novel process control technologies to 

improve environmental performance and 

help reduce emissions during power systems 

operations. 

With the NETL Crosscutting Research 

program taking the lead, this initiative is 

developing novel sensor placement and 

control methodologies to achieve seamless, 

integrated, automated, optimized, and 

intelligent power systems equipped for 

carbon capture and storage. This research 

endeavor will employ the NETL Hyper 

facility as a test platform for novel control 

approaches developed in partnership with 

Ames Laboratory as part of the Merged 

Environment for Simulation and Analysis 

(MESA) Lab project for power generation 

systems. 

Power LCAT covers a broad spectrum, with 

capabilities to compare 6 energy production 

technologies: natural gas combined cycle, 

integrated gasification combined cycle, 

supercritical pulverized coal, conventional 

pulverized coal, nuclear, and wind. 

Based on NETL life cycle analysis reports, 

Power LCAT allows for a quick evaluation of 

sensitivities concerning key technical and 

financial assumptions, such as construction 

time; heat rates; capacity factors; fuel, capital, 

operations, and maintenance costs; and 

interest rates, taxes, and depreciation. For 

more information on downloading Power 

LCAT, visit the NETL Energy Analysis Models 

and Tools webpage. 

The MESA Lab—developed as a component 

of this research—will provide a platform for 

investigating sensor-placement algorithms, 

novel control strategies, sensor hardware, 

hardware-in-the-loop algorithms, and 

computational algorithms for improved 

plant performance. 
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 11

Ionic liquids have properties, such as low 

vapor pressure, nonflammability, and 

a wide liquid temperature range, that 

make them useful in various applications, 

including synthesis, energy storage, and gas 

separation.

 DID YOU KNOW?

Through NETL, Ohio State is testing chemical looping with coal to produce electricity. In their process, coal is reacted with iron oxide (instead of air) to 

produce heat. This process produces very little N0x and yields a nearly pure stream 

of CO2

 that is easily captured.

NETL Demonstrates Synthesis 

Technique for Ionic Liquids for 

CO2

 Capture—Scientists at NETL have 

demonstrated a novel synthesis technique 

for ionic liquids that are designed for precombustion CO2

 capture. 

The “one-pot” synthetic methodology 

produces a chemically diverse range of 

ionic liquids with good yields, high purity, 

and potentially lower costs than competing 

materials. Furthermore, the process allows 

researchers to examine how the physical and 

electronic changes in the ionic liquids relate 

to CO2

 sorption and separation properties. 

Consequently, the method may potentially 

reveal key structural relationships that give 

rise to high selectivity and high capacity in 

CO2

 sorbent materials. 

Additional proof-of-concept was obtained 

by chemically modifying promising ionic 

liquids to form new materials with markedly 

different physical properties.

Hybrid Membrane Structure for Separating CO2 from Flue Gas

Schematic of the Ohio State hybrid membrane structure for separating CO2 from flue gas. The 

membranes are designed to reduce energy costs associated with CO2

 separation.

NETL Partner Develops GameChanging Membranes for CO2

Capture—From automobiles to x-ray 

machines, technology innovations usually fall 

into one of two camps: those that offer better 

performance than current state of the art and 

those that function more cost-effectively. A 

new CO2 capture membrane developed at 

The Ohio State University with DOE funding 

is excelling at both and may be a gamechanger for commercializing coal-fired power 

plants with carbon capture. 

The new membrane combines the 

separation performance of inorganic 

membranes with the cost-effectiveness of 

polymer membranes. The Ohio State highperformance, low-cost hybrid model—

consisting of a thin, inorganic “zeolite Y” 

layer sandwiched between an inorganic 

intermediate and a polymer cover—is 

a breakthrough that could potentially 

lower the costs associated with clean coal 

technologies, including carbon capture and 

storage (CCS). 

CCS will be a key element in national efforts 

to mitigate climate change, but the energy 

cost of current separation technologies is 

too high for rapid commercial deployment. 

Because it is designed to eliminate most 

of the energy costs of separation, this new 

membrane could be a key player in enabling 

commercialization of CCS.
12

NETL Tools Speed Ideas

to Market

Carbon capture and storage—the capture 

of CO2

 at point sources, such as coal-fired 

power plants, followed by injection into 

permanent underground storage sites—are 

key components in our nation’s strategy 

to manage CO2

 emissions. However, rapid 

deployment of carbon capture and storage 

technologies will require the development 

of new approaches to quickly scale up 

laboratory concepts for commercial 

deployment. 

One approach to accelerating technology 

adoption is through the use of 

computational modeling, which involves 

developing and solving mathematical 

equations and computer codes to simulate 

the real-life behavior of engineered and 

natural systems. Computational models are 

developed to study and help solve problems 

in complex systems because they are able to 

consider the effects of multiple independent 

variables. The use of these models allows 

researchers to develop technologies in a 

more efficient, timely, and cost-effective 

manner. Computational modeling is being 

successfully used in a variety of disciplines, 

ranging from aerospace engineering to 

drug development and urban design. 

Meteorologists routinely use predictive 

computational models to provide our daily 

weather forecasts.

Several initiatives undertaken by NETL and its 

partners are using predictive computational 

modeling to address the challenges 

associated with CO2

 capture and storage. 

In 2012, the Carbon Capture Simulation 

Initiative (CCSI) and the National Risk 

Assessment Partnership--both public-private 

partnerships led by NETL–released their first 

set of software tools and models aimed at 

carbon capture technology development 

and CO2

 storage security.

CCSI Delivers First Toolset To 

Accelerate Carbon Capture 

Technologies

The first version of the CCSI Toolset, a suite 

of 21 computational tools and models, 

will enable the rapid development and 

deployment of new carbon capture 

technologies. The availability of the first CCSI 

Toolset comes a year ahead of the original 

release date and is the result of intense 

industry interest in having early access to 

these tools. 

The CCSI Toolset works with commercial 

and open-source software currently used by 

article

Carbon Capture and Storage
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 13

 NETL Publications

Much of what NETL gains through research and development is 

shared through online publications. 

Some of these include, Best Practices 

Manuals for carbon storage, the 

North American Carbon Storage 

Atlas produced through the North 

American Carbon Atlas Partnership, 

the National Carbon Sequestration 

Database and Geographic 

Information System (NATCARB), and 

the NETL Energy Data Exchange 

(EDX).

industry and includes new software tools and 

models developed to fill technology gaps. 

The tools are highly versatile; in addition to 

their uses in developent of carbon capture 

technologies, they can be used to accelerate 

the development of related technologies 

used for refining, chemicals production, and 

oil and natural gas production. The Toolset 

has been well received by CCSI industry 

partners, with multiple partners executing 

nonexclusive licensing agreements.

Under NETL’s leadership, CCSI was formed 

to provide technology developers and 

plant operators with a validated suite of 

models and simulation tools to accelerate 

the commercialization of carbon 

capture technologies from discovery to 

development, demonstration, and ultimately 

widespread deployment to hundreds of 

power plants.

The use of the Toolset could dramatically 

reduce the 20–30 years of development 

time usually required for commercial 

energy technology deployment. Further, 

the Toolset enables industry to use sciencebased models with pilot-scale data to reach 

larger scales more quickly and with greater 

confidence, thereby reducing the time and 

expense of scale-up. 

NRAP Releases First-Generation 

Integrated Assessment Models for 

Risk Quantification

Full-scale carbon storage requires the 

injection of millions of tons of CO2

 into 

geologic formations. The effectiveness of 

carbon storage depends on the ability of 

a specific site to store CO2

 permanently. 

Carbon storage risk analysis is complicated 

by variables among geologic storage sites, 

such as geology, existing wellbores, and 

subsurface faults or fractures. In addition, the 

characteristics of a site change over time, as 

do the risks associated with it. A significant 

challenge to geologic carbon storage is 

predicting and addressing risks to the safety 

and health of our citizens, the environment, 

and individual property. 

To address these concerns, NRAP was 

formed to develop and deploy state-ofthe-art computational tools to accelerate 

commercialization of carbon storage 

technologies. The partnership has completed 

first-generation predictive models that, for 

the first time, offer a means to quantitatively 

forecast the probability of complications 

that could arise from specific CO2

 storage 

sites. The computational tools will be used to 

calculate risk profiles that not only quantify 

the likelihood of long-term risks and liabilities 

but also help design efficient monitoring 

programs for risk-based standards. The 

NRAP Toolset will benefit project operators 

in refining risk-based strategies and 

quantifying potential long-term liabilities, 

and stakeholders will benefit from knowing 

that a strong science-based approach has 

predicted long-term safety.

The NRAP project is led by NETL and 

leverages core capabilities in sciencebased prediction for engineered natural 

systems across five national laboratories, 

with participation also from the NETLRegional University Alliance. In addition to 

development of computational tools, NRAP 

will also develop monitoring and mitigation 

protocols to reduce uncertainty in the 

predicted long-term behavior of a storage 

site. 
14

Reliable Supply

Our nation is brimming with natural resources available to fuel our energy needs. As our demand for energy increases, production, too, must increase. Modeling and monitoring ensure more efficient energy production so 

we can maximize our resources while minimizing environmental impact. 

Field Trial Moves Our Nation 

Closer to Tapping Methane 

Hydrate and Managing Carbon 

Emissions—In April 2012, ConocoPhillips, 

the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National 

Corporation, and NETL completed an 

unprecedented demonstration of natural 

gas extraction from what could become an 

extremely significant energy resource—

methane hydrate. 

At a test well on the Alaska North Slope 

called Iġnik Sikumi (“fire in the ice” in the 

Inupiaq language), ConocoPhillips scientists 

and engineers safely produced a steady 

flow of natural gas using the company’s 

laboratory-tested method of trading CO2

for methane. This was the first field trial 

of methane hydrate production using 

CO2 exchange, which the team hopes 

will eventually couple the production of 

methane hydrate as an energy source with 

the permanent storage of CO2

 to address 

climate change. 

The long-term goal of DOE’s methane 

hydrate research is to develop safe, reliable, 

affordable methods for tapping the natural 

gas that lies within these structures. 

Estimates show that the energy content of 

methane hydrate deposits exceeds that of 

all other fossil fuels combined and could 

help meet our nation’s energy needs for 

decades to come.

When ice molecules form a 

series of cages with natural gas 

locked inside, the structure is 

known as methane hydrate. 

Some have nicknamed it “fire 

in the ice.”

NETL-RUA’s Marcellus shale gas well monitor 

is carried in a portable case and is powered by 

the sun. Image courtesy of C. Tatachar, WVU 

Office of Research.

One-of-a-Kind Well Pad Monitor 

Set To Protect Air Quality During 

Marcellus Shale Gas Recovery—

A team of NETL-Regional University Alliance 

(NETL-RUA) researchers has designed and 

field-tested a portable monitoring system 

that can help ensure that Marcellus shale 

drilling sites comply with environmental 

regulations.

The system is capable of measuring dust, 

volatile organic compounds, light, and sound 

coming from well pad operations and is 

unique in its usability. Its radio transceiver, 

monitoring device, and battery are packaged 

in a case small enough to be carried on an 

all-terrain vehicle and handled by a single 

technician. A 2- by 5-foot solar panel, also 

easily managed by one person, powers the 

system, which is monitored remotely via 

cell phone signal from its operator’s office 

computer.

Thousands of Marcellus shale gas wells 

have been drilled or permitted across the 

northeastern United States, and effective 

environmental monitoring is essential to the 

responsible management of this important 

energy resource.
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 15

A dynamic line rating system gives operators 

an accurate, in-the-moment measurement 

of how much power a line may safely carry. 

Image courtesy of Oncor Electric Delivery 

Company.

The monitoring system developed by the 

NETL-RUA is designed to be inexpensive, 

off the shelf, and useful in a wide variety 

of drilling contexts. With it, well operators 

will be able to track the impact of their 

operations around the clock to detect and 

address problems early on.

Dynamic Line Rating Improves 

Infrastructure—An NETL-managed 

project is demonstrating and validating best 

practices for collecting real-time transmission 

line data and is developing a dynamic rating 

based on the line loading (the current), solar 

radiation, ambient temperatures, and wind 

blowing across the conductors. 

As part of this demonstration, Oncor 

Electric Delivery Company is streaming 

dynamic line rating data to their internal 

grid operations control room and also to the 

Electric Reliability Corporation of Texas for 

real-time assessment of eight transmission 

circuits within the Texas grid. The results are 

used in the Security-Constrained Economic 

Dispatch process, which gives grid operators 

an accurate, in-the-moment measurement of 

how much a line is sagging and how much 

more power can be pushed through the line. 

As power demands grow, dynamic line rating 

will allow operators to provide more power 

to homes, businesses, and industry using the 

transmission infrastructure in place today. 

The project, which is part of DOE’s Office of 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability 

Smart Grid Demonstration program, is the 

largest known installation of dynamic rating 

equipment.

Chemical Synergy Increases 

Illinois Basin Oil Production—

Working with University of Illinois 

researchers and NETL, operators for Rex 

Energy Corporation (Bridgeport, IL.) reported 

that use of an alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) 

formulation increased the effectiveness of 

water flooding in a 15-acre test field in the 

Lawrence Field of the Illinois Basin, leading to 

a rise in oil production. Researchers injected 

into the reservoir an alkali and a surfactant 

to reduce the tension between the oil 

and injected water, and also a polymer to 

control the oil’s mobility. This helped release 

the oil that was previously difficult to extract, 

increasing yield from 16 barrels per day to 

65–75. 

Like other mature U.S. fields, Lawrence 

is approaching its limit of economically 

recoverable crude, despite the significant 

amount of oil remaining in its formations, 

having exceeded the extraction capabilities 

of traditional oil recovery methods. Using 

ASP floods, an estimated 130 million barrels 

of oil could be recovered from the Lawrence 

Field.

Permeability model visualization for Section 32 in Bridgeport Reservoir.
16

Reliable Supply

New LED Driver Enables SolidState Lighting Advancement—A 

project managed by NETL on behalf of the 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy is producing illuminating results. 

First-of-a-Kind Smart Grid Proves 

Highly Effective—Engineers at Chevron 

Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Chevron 

Corporation, successfully integrated existing 

backup generators and solar, wind, and fuel 

cell power with a battery bank and upgraded 

older equipment to new energy-efficient 

equipment at the high-security Santa Rita Jail 

in Alameda County, CA. 

This new Consortium for Electric Reliability 

Technology Solutions (CERTS) powermanagement system allows the 113-acre 

facility to operate independently from the 

electrical grid for several hours and reduces 

peak demand at the facility by about 

15 percent. The first-of-its-kind smart grid 

ensures uninterrupted power while shaving 

approximately $100,000 from peak-hour 

operational costs, improving grid stability, 

and avoiding the emission of 3,200 tons of 

greenhouse gases per year. 

NETL managed implementation of the CERTS 

microgrid technology, which monitors and 

controls the system. CERTS demonstrations 

pave the way for future commercial 

applications and benefit the economy by 

reducing the peak load burden on the grid.

The new drivers from Philips Lighting boast 90 

percent energy efficiency. Image courtesy of 

Philips Lighting Electronics of North America.

The battery bank at the 

Santa Rita Jail contains 

between 100 and 200 

individual batteries 

connected as a system 

capable of powering 

the facility for up to 8 

hours independent of 

the electrical grid. Image 

courtesy of Chevron.

Philips Lighting Electronics of North America, 

located in Rosemont, IL, has developed a new 

family of light-emitting diode (LED) drivers 

for use in a wide variety of LED lighting 

applications, including outdoor applications. 

The new drivers are switch-mode power 

supplies and boast design improvements 

over today’s drivers that render them smaller 

and more cost-efficient. Additionally, the new 

drivers are expected to have efficiencies of 

90 percent or higher, a notable advancement. 

Driver efficiency, along with thermal and 

light-extraction efficiencies, are key elements 

in making highly advanced solid-state 

lighting (SSL) luminaires. By 2030, SSL could 

potentially reduce national lighting electricity 

use by nearly one half—representing the 

output of 50 1,000-megawatt power plants 

and an annual savings of $30 billion (2012 

dollars).
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 17

Turbines have been the world’s energy 

workhorses for generations. They are needed 

to provide secure power production that is 

clean, efficient, and affordable, and they are 

adaptable to CO2

 capture as well.

Prototype testing showed the hybrid 

compressor’s efficiency is more than 30 

percent higher than conventional compressor 

technology. It is also one-tenth the size, so 

it reduces the overall footprint of well site 

operations. 

 Promising New Turbine Airfoil

Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc., is developing their proprietary 

spar-shell concept as part of an 

NETL-administered Small Business 

Innovation Research Phase III 

project for improved blade cooling 

and overall performance in nextgeneration gas turbines. The 

spar-shell cooling technology, which 

is expected to improve the efficiency 

of gas turbines, will be demonstrated 

in the first stage of a Siemens 208 

megawatt SGT6-5000F engine at 

Siemens’ Berlin test facility in 2013.

Hydrogen Turbine Critical to 

Clean Power Production—NETL’s 

Hydrogen Turbine program’s industrial 

partner, GE Energy, has successfully 

completed full-scale testing of the precommercial high-hydrogen turbine 

combustion system intended for coal-based 

integrated gasification combined cycle 

power generation. The system incorporates a 

new premixed fuel injector design essential 

for developing gas turbine technologies 

that support reliable, affordable, and 

environmentally friendly electric power 

generation. 

The testing exceeded the program’s 

requirements for low-NOx

 emissions 

at specific firing temperatures and 

validated a manufacturing process that 

has potential for industrializing future 

combustion hardware—a key step toward 

commercializing the technology. 

The turbine nozzles used in the full-scale 

testing included more than a dozen 

enhancements derived from computational 

modeling and combustion rig test 

experiments included in the NETL-funded 

Hydrogen Turbine Development project. 

The cumulative technology research and 

development has improved mechanical 

design, manufacturability, emissions, 

and operability of the complex turbine 

combustion system.

Innovative Compressor Design 

Has Potential To Extend 

Productive Life of Stripper 

Wells—With funding from the NETLsupported Stripper Well Consortium, 

OsComp Systems has developed a low-cost, 

wet-gas compressor at laboratory scale. The 

compressor design decreases the energy 

required to compress and transport natural 

gas, lowers operating costs, and improves 

efficiencies of well site operations. 

Conventional compressors are not optimized 

to handle wet gas, but OsComp’s hybrid 

compressor uses an advanced rotary design 

coupled with gas-cooling capabilities 

that allow it to handle wet or dry gas. 

The innovative technology is capable of 

exceeding a 40:1 compression ratio, uses 

less fuel gas than previous compressors, 

and dramatically reduces the footprint of 

compression operations. In addition to its 

use for stripper wells—wells that produce 

less than 10 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic 

feet of gas per day—the technology could 

be applied to small-scale liquid natural gas, 

enhanced oil recovery, mobile compression, 

sour aggressive gas, and compressed natural 

gas for the refueling industry. 

The success of this collaboration has 

earned OsComp two additional projects 

to explore further development of the 

compressor technology and to perform field 

demonstrations through NETL-supported 

programs.
18

Research Demonstrates the 

Breadth of NETL’s Energy 

Commitment

NETL has a long record of initiating 

technologies that make producing our fossil 

energy resources safer, cleaner, and more 

economic. Our nation relies on the energy 

produced by fossil fuels for more than 80 

percent of our energy needs, so we can’t do 

without them at the present time. But we 

must make their production and use safe and 

environmentally benign. 

Addressing Hydraulic 

Fracturing

In the area of unconventional resources, a 

technology known as hydraulic fracturing 

(fracking) is unlocking abundant supplies of 

AltelaRain unit modules and treatment towers. This technology is now treating wastewater from 

Marcellus shale activities, making extraction of this resource more environmentally sound.

domestic natural gas. However, the practice 

is also generating environmental concerns, 

which NETL is addressing in a variety of ways. 

For instance, fracking requires water, which 

picks up various salts and contaminants 

during the process. This “produced water” 

must be treated to remove pollutants before 

it can be reused or discharged into the 

environment. 

A water-treatment technology validated 

by NETL is being used by Altela, Inc., in the 

two water treatment plants they opened in 

Pennsylvania in the fall of 2012. The plants 

provide low-cost and environmentally 

friendly treatment, recycling, and disposal of 

liquid waste from hydraulic fracturing well 

operations. Altela’s unique, patented water 

desalination process, called AltelaRain®, 

cleanses produced water so that it 

exceeds the Pennsylvania Department 

of Environmental Protection’s Chapter 95 

water quality requirements. Each of Altela’s 

water treatment facilities can process up to 

12,000 barrels of wastewater per day—about 

500,000 gallons per facility. 

In a separate 2012 project involving hydraulic 

fracturing, NETL researchers observed and 

monitored fracture growth through borehole 

microseismic measurements during an 

active hydraulic fracturing job. Using these 

observations, along with geomechanical 

properties corresponding to the Marcellus 

and adjacent formations, NETL verified that 

hydraulically generated fractures behaved as 

predicted by commercially available fracture 

models and remained thousands of feet 

below drinking water aquifers. The results 

were reported in the Society of Petroleum 

Engineers’ journal Production & Operations 

(Volume 27, Number 1, pp. 8–19). Next steps 

for the project involve developing models 

that can account for the behavior of preexisting fractures as well as considering the 

potential for generated fractures to intersect 

pre-existing (legacy) wellbores, features 

that currently are unavailable through 

commercial software. 

article

Ultra-deepwater and Unconventional Resources

 DID YOU KNOW?

FracFocus, a national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry, was 

developed with NETL support by the 

Ground Water Protection Council and 

the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact 

Commission. By December 2012, 

9 states had endorsed FracFocus 

for regulatory compliance and over 

34,000 well records were registered 

and available publically, along with 

fracturing regulations and technology 

information.

Photo courtesy of Clarion Altela Environmental Services.
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 19

Shown ready to be launched, the autonomous underwater vehicle “Marlin” performs inspections 

of undersea energy platforms faster, safer, and more affordably than previous inspection methods. 

Image courtesy of Locheed Martin.

Working with RPSEA

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 instructed 

the Department of Energy to identify a 

consortium that would implement a research 

program to develop, demonstrate, and 

bring to commercialization technologies 

for the exploration and production of ultradeepwater and unconventional natural gas 

and other petroleum resources.

Under DOE, NETL selected the Research 

Partnership to Secure Energy for America 

(RPSEA), a consortium now numbering 

over 180 members, to initiate and manage 

proposals approved by the Office of Fossil 

Energy for supporting companies to 

accomplish the goals set by DOE. Safety and 

environmental sustainability are underscored 

for all proposals considered. 

As part of RPSEA’s ultra-deepwater research 

and development portfolio, Lockheed Martin 

developed an autonomous underwater 

vehicle (AUV) capable of remotely inspecting 

subsea drilling and production structures up 

to four times faster than other methods—

and at significantly lower cost. Called the 

Marlin®, this AUV contains unique 3D 

imaging sonar, advanced sensors, software, 

and special navigation capabilities that allow 

surface operators to direct the AUV to rapidly 

inspect structures up to 1,000 feet beneath 

the surface.

The 10-foot long AUV is highly maneuverable 

and able to operate in tight spaces, sprint up 

to four knots, and cruise for up to 18 hours, 

all without endangering divers or operators 

of tethered undersea inspection apparatus, 

traditional inspection methods. Before the 

Marlin, when a maintenance issue arose or 

weather damage occurred in an oil or gas rig, 

companies needed two weeks or more to 

adequately inspect their rigs and pipelines 

before production levels could return to 

normal. This translates into lost productivity 

for those companies. Now the Marlin can 

quickly generate accurate, high-resolution, 

3D, geo-referenced models, giving users 

a clear view of subsea structures. Two 

Marlins are currently available for lease from 

Lockheed Martin.

RPSEA also has projects in unconventional 

resources. One project—an important 

study completed in 2012 by the University 

of Texas–Permian Basin (UTPB)—shows 

that residual oil zones, called ROZs, below 

the water-oil contact in reservoirs in the 

Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas may 

contain up to 100 million barrels of oil that 

potentially could be recovered to increase 

domestic supply, reduce imports, and 

increase U.S. energy security. 

Ordinarily, oil wells—including those in 

ROZs—are capped and abandoned when 

oil production falls below the point of 

profitability. However, UTPB researchers were 

able to better identify and characterize these 

untapped ROZs and determined that this 

immense resource is amenable to enhanced 

oil recovery techniques, such as CO2

 flooding. 

This is only one of several Office of Fossil 

Energy-supported RPSEA research projects 

that will help recover this valuable resource.

These and many other ultra-deepwater 

and unconventional oil and natural gas 

projects underway at NETL demonstrate the 

Laboratory’s commitment to investigating, 

researching, developing, and assisting in 

the commercialization of state-of-the-art 

technologies to make our nation’s energy 

affordable, available, and environmentally 

safe. 
As the ENERGY lab, NETL strives for solutions to our nation’s energy challenges. Making our accomplishments 

available to companies large and small leads to technological advances that benefit the public through secure 

and affordable energy options. 

20

Science & Technology Leadership

Licensing of Sorbent Technology 

Promises To Save Energy and 

Money for Consumers—An NETLdeveloped solid sorbent technology is being 

used in the first commercial retrofit system 

that removes CO2 and organic contaminants 

from circulating air in commercial and public 

buildings, saving energy and improving air 

quality. 

Boston-based start-up Enverid Systems, 

Inc., will incorporate the sorbent as the CO2

-

removal mechanism in its EnClaireTM system, 

a technology designed to reduce the need 

for air replacement in heating, ventilation, 

and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. 

Current commercial sorption processes 

require high-temperature regeneration, 

making them energy intensive and costly. In 

contrast, NETL’s sorbent regenerates at low 

temperature, saving energy and lowering 

costs. 

HVAC is one of the largest draws of electric 

power in the United States. In many cities, 

it represents more than half the power load 

on the electric grid. During peak daytime 

hours, especially during extreme weather, 

HVAC demands can stress the grid and 

contribute to power failures and rolling 

blackouts. Many efforts are underway to 

improve the efficiency and reduce the power 

consumption of HVAC systems.

Smart Grid Workforce Training 

Produces Successful Graduates—

NETL has served as the project management 

organization on 52 American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) smart grid 

workforce training projects awarded in 2010 

and worth $195 million. 

The training program provides an 

opportunity to facilitate the development 

of a well-trained, highly skilled workforce 

capable of implementing a national 

Smart grid workforce training projects 

increase workforce capacity and capabilities 

by addressing skills shortages in a variety of 

power sector disciplines.

clean-energy smart grid. It provides a chance 

for colleges and universities, including 

community colleges, to develop new 

curricula and training activities in areas 

needed to achieve the next generation of 

skilled technicians, engineers, and managers 

for the electric power workforce. 

The Strategic Training and Education in 

Power Systems (STEPS) initiative focuses on 

cross-disciplinary electric power systems 

training programs leading to degrees or 

certificates that span the breadth of science, 

engineering, social science, and economics 

to help transform the traditional power 

system into a national smart grid. The 

program boasts over 55,000 students, with 

over 17,000 graduates in 2012 alone and will 

have additional student participation and 

graduations in 2013 and 2014.
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 21

NETL Research Results in New 

U.S. Patents—Researchers at NETL 

received nine patents in 2012 for innovations 

that address the nation’s energy challenges. 

Deployment of these technologies will 

enhance energy efficiency, improve 

metallurgical processes, and allow for better 

emissions monitoring and control. Here are 

NETL’s 2012 patents: 

• An integrated process for removing 

pollutants from fossil fuel combustion 

systems.

• Two patents related to stainless steel 

compositions and heat treatment 

processes to enhance stainless steel 

durability. 

• A metallurgical melting process to 

produce defect-free metal ingots. 

• Three patents related to catalysts that 

make it easier to reform hydrocarbon 

fuels. 

• A method to measure the circulation rate 

of coal solids in gasification reactors. 

• A process for CO2

 separation and 

purification. 

Delta Air Lines is evaluating nanocoatings to protect compressor blades in their aircrafts’ engines. 

NETL pursues patent protection for NETLdeveloped technologies to protect U.S. 

taxpayers’ investment in energy-related 

research. The NETL Technology Transfer 

Office manages the process, identifying 

those technologies with the greatest 

commercial potential. The office also fosters 

the development and deployment of new 

technologies by moving inventions from the 

laboratory into the commercial marketplace. 

These activities lead to cleaner air, more 

efficient power plants, and lower energy 

production costs—all of which have a direct 

impact on U.S. energy consumers.

NETL-Industry Collaboration 

Helps Nanocoating Technology 

Take Off—During aircraft operation, gas 

turbine engines are continuously exposed 

to erosive environments that damage 

engine components and impair operating 

efficiency. To address this issue, researchers 

at MDS Coating Technologies designed and 

optimized a wear-resistant nanostructured 

coating that has been demonstrated to 

reduce erosion of compressor airfoils in 

aeroturbines, leading to increased fuel 

efficiency. 

Development of this technology was 

supported by Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy’s Nano-Manufacturing 

Initiative. The project was a collaboration 

between NETL’s Office of Research and 

Development and MDS.

In 2012, MDS received Federal Aviation 

Administration approval, allowing for 

application of the coating to commercial 

aviation engines. Delta Air Lines plans to 

apply the coating technology to a portion of 

their fleet engines in 2013. The nanocoating 

promises the U.S. commercial aviation 

industry significant fuel savings. Considering 

that U.S. commercial aviation is projected 

to consume an average of approximately 

19 billion gallons of fuel per year from 2013 

through 2022, U.S. commercial aviation 

could realize fuel savings approaching 100 

million gallons annually and cost savings 

greater than $300 million per year at today’s 

jet fuel prices. 
22

How Regional Coordinators 

from NETL Keep Energy 

Flowing

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy made 

landfall in New Jersey, impacting the most 

densely populated area of the United States. 

The Superstorm was one of the strongest to 

hit the northeast in decades, causing billions 

of dollars worth of damage. 

NETL employees were called in to assist with 

the post-storm disaster response and recovery. 

Jay Hanna and Bob Reed are the regional 

coordinators for DOE’s emergency responses 

under the Office of Electricity Delivery and 

Energy Reliability in FEMA Regions II (NY, NJ, 

Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands) and III (DC, 

PA, DE, WV, VA, and MD), respectively—the 

areas battered most by the storm. Rob Gross, 

Katy Kweder, and Ryan Watson, regional 

or backup coordinators for other regions, 

reported to stations in the worst of the 

damaged areas to help Jay and Bob.

Their response focused on restoring electricity 

service to the 8.5 million customers who lost 

power and addressing critical fuel shortages—

which exacerbated the overall recovery 

effort—caused by damage to the petroleum 

infrastructure near New York Harbor and Long 

Island. The storm made landfall just a few 

days before the election, adding additional 

complexity to the response effort, as many of 

the usual polling locations became temporary 

shelters and mass feeding locations.

Jay was deployed to the FEMA Region II 

Regional Response Coordination Center 

(RRCC) and the Joint Field Office in New 

Jersey 3 days before the storm made landfall. 

For 19 straight days, Jay supported federal 

response operations and returned later for 

an additional week of recovery work. He and 

the other federal responders worked 18-hour 

days and slept under their desks, in supply 

closets, and in their cars when not on duty 

during the early part of the response effort. 

Although conditions eventually improved, 

there was still little fuel for the responders’ 

cars, and the hotels, restaurants, and other 

businesses had no electricity. Even with these 

difficulties, Jay coordinated energy issues 

with other federal responders to help with 

emergency medical support, feeding and 

sheltering survivors, providing emergency 

backup power to critical facilities, ensuring 

fuel was available for first responders, 

and helping with other vital activities. 

Additionally, Jay communicated the status 

of the energy sector to other responders and 

government leaders, helping speed other 

sectors’ return to normalcy. 

Early predictions for the path of the storm 

and potential for impact to Region III 

meant that FEMA activated their RRCC in 

Philadelphia, PA, several days before landfall. 

Bob and Rob, the regional coordinator for the 

Gulf Coast portion of Region VI—covered the 

RRCC’s 24-hour operations during pre-landfall 

and through several days after landfall. The 

major impact for Region III was in eastern 

Pennsylvania and West Virginia, both of which 

handled emergency response with state 

resources. Soon, Rob was deployed to FEMA 

Region II’s RRCC in Colts Neck, NJ, to assist Jay 

before transitioning to the state’s Emergency 

Operations Center in Trenton. He remained 

there for the duration of his deployment. 

Katy—the regional coordinator for Region 

IV, the southeastern United States—assisted 

Jay at New York’s state operations center in 

Albany, focusing on problems in New York 

State, and she was later deployed to the New 

York joint field office in Queens for additional 

recovery work. Ryan—Katy’s backup for 

Region IV—was deployed to New York for a 

week to help develop the long-term recovery 

plan for the New York energy infrastructure. 

For the first time since Jay became a regional 

coordinator 8 years ago, he needed to 

help coordinate military air transport of 

restoration crews from Energy Department 

Power Marketing Agencies from the western 

United States to assist utilities with the most 

significant electricity infrastructure damage. 

Overall, about 200 of these crews and their 

trucks, cranes, and other equipment entered 

the region, supplementing the other privatesector crews, to facilitate restoration of 

electricity, most notably on substation and 

transmission facilities.

Although NETL involvement in disaster 

recovery is not well known, it hasn’t gone 

unnoticed. In particular, Jay received the 

Secretary’s Appreciation Award from Energy 

Secretary Steven Chu for his efforts. 

“Superstorm Sandy was especially bad 

because it impacted our homes and families, 

too,” Jay said. “It was tough on everyone, 

not just the responders, but I’m happy that 

I could make a difference to those who saw 

the most storm damage.” 

article

Emergency Preparedness
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 23

During the tidal surge on the northern barrier island of New Jersey, corrosive 

saltwater, mud, sand, and debris flooded the substations.  With significant 

assistance from substation electrician crews from DOE’s Bonneville Power 

Authority, components in the substations were cleaned, refurbished, 

or replaced so power could be restored to the vicinity following the 

Superstorm.  

Houses on the northern barrier island of New Jersey were destroyed by the 

tidal surge from Superstorm Sandy.
Accolades recieved by the Laboratory confirm that our research successes benefit the nation. Prestigious 

awards conferred to NETL in 2012 honor our technologies and our researchers who propel energy 

science toward a brighter tomorrow.

24

Technical Awards

NETL-RUA Engineer Earns 

Presidential Award—NETL-RUA 

researcher Dr. John Kitchin of Carnegie 

Mellon University’s Department of Chemical 

Engineering was awarded a 2012 Presidential 

Early Career Award for Scientists and 

Engineers, or PECASE, for his work in carbon 

capture technology development. 

PECASE awards are the highest honor 

bestowed by the U.S. government on 

outstanding scientists and engineers in 

the early stages of their research careers. 

Awardees are selected for their pursuit of 

innovative research at the frontiers of science 

and technology and their commitment to 

community service. 

NETL Captures Three 

Sustainability Awards—DOE 

challenged employees to meet sustainability 

goals by initiating environmental, energy, 

and economic improvements. NETL staff 

exceeded these goals, earning three 

Departmental Sustainability Awards for its 

efforts.

Gregg Sawl was recognized as an Exceptional 

Service/Sustainability Champion in his role 

as NETL’s energy manager. His commitment 

to sustainability was evidenced in a variety 

of new construction projects and energy 

management initiatives, and through 

renovations to meet federal guidelines 

for sustainable buildings. Under Sawl’s 

leadership, NETL reduced the energy 

intensity of its buildings by 23 percent.

In the Environmental Management System

category, the NETL EMS/Sustainability Team 

earned an award by implementing and 

NETL-RUA researcher John Kitchen stands with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and White 

House Science and Technology Advisor John Holdren after being presented with a 2012 

PECASE award. 

Since its dedication in 2008, the Technology 

Support Facility at NETL’s Morgantown, WV, 

site has received a gold rating from the U.S. 

Green Building Council certifying Leadership 

in Energy and Environmental Design and was 

recognized as a top-performing building in 

energy conservation.

Dr. Kitchin was recognized for being the first 

to electrochemically separate oxygen from air 

using an alkaline ion exchange membrane. 

This advance could replace cryogenic air 

distillation as a more affordable method 

of producing oxygen for oxycombustion 

power generation, one of the most promising 

technologies for helping to cut CO2

 emissions 

in fossil-based power plants to nearly zero. 

During the presentation ceremony at the 

White House, President Obama met with Dr. 

Kitchen and 95 other 2012 PECASE winners, 

saying “Discoveries in science and technology 

not only strengthen our economy, they 

inspire us as a people. The impressive 

accomplishments of today’s awardees so 

early in their careers promise even greater 

advances in the years ahead.”
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 25

 DID YOU KNOW?

The NETL-Regional University 

Alliance (NETL-RUA) is an 

applied research collaboration that 

combines NETL’s expertise with the 

broad capabilities of five nationally 

recognized universities—Carnegie 

Mellon, Penn State, the University 

of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, and 

West Virginia University—and URS 

Corporation. This partnership joins 

facilities, equipment, professional 

staff, and other resources to 

accelerate the development of 

innovative energy and environmental 

technology.

NETL’s award-winning BIAS sorbents increase 

the capture rate of CO2

 in fossil fuel power 

plants, a key approach to reducing carbon 

emissions and mitigating climate change.

Paul Turner accepts the Secretary of Energy 

Achievement Award from Dr. Stephen Chu on 

behalf of the NETL Coronary Stents Team.

reaching goals within its own environmental 

management system. Along with other 

accomplishments, NETL reduced routine 

nonhazardous waste by 15 percent, 

hazardous waste by 30 percent, and direct 

and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by

13 percent.

The NETL Site Operations Division earned 

a Water Resources award by exceeding the 

2020 water intensity reduction goal of 

26 percent—9 years ahead of schedule. The 

Lab’s water intensity was slashed 44 percent 

through site-wide reductions in potable 

water usage, incorporation of closed-loop 

cooling systems, development of rainwater 

harvesting systems, and other initiatives. 

NETL Team Earns U.S. Secretary 

of Energy Achievement Award—

NETL’s Coronary Stents Team was recognized 

with a U.S. Secretary of Energy Achievement 

Award for exceptional performance in 

carrying out DOE’s mission. 

The team was honored for its work in 

formulating a unique platinum-chromium 

stainless steel alloy that served as the basis 

for a new generation of coronary stents used 

to treat patients with coronary artery disease. 

The NETL team, Paul Turner, Paul Jablonski, 

and Ed Argetsinger, jointly developed the 

alloy with Boston Scientific, which then 

designed an advanced stent that is stronger, 

thinner, more flexible, and easier to see on 

x-ray than conventional stents. 

Since its introduction in 2010, Boston 

Scientific’s platinum-chromium stent series 

has become the leading stent platform in 

the world, with more than $4 billion in sales. 

Its development has created 300 new jobs 

at Boston Scientific and 150 jobs within the 

company’s manufacturing and distribution 

networks, all of which are located in the 

United States. 

Each year, the Secretary of Energy presents 

Honor Awards “to those within our workforce 

who have risen to the challenge and 

achieved notable mission successes during 

the previous year.” The Honor Awards, one 

of which is the Achievement Award, are the 

highest internal, non-monetary recognition 

DOE employees can receive.

NETL’s BIAS Process Earns R&D 

100 Award—Producing clean energy is a 

compelling issue that can only be solved by 

innovation. Every year there are new energy 

challenges, and every year NETL works 

to create solutions. In 2012, one of these 

solutions was recognized by R&D Magazine

as among the 100 most technologically 

significant products introduced into the 

commercial marketplace. Earning the 

Laboratory an R&D 100 Award was its Basic 

Immobilized Amine Sorbent (BIAS) process, 

encompassing a portfolio of patented and 

patent-pending sorbent technologies for the 

capture of CO2

 from flue gas streams. 

Many power plants lack the technology 

required to produce the cleanest forms of 

energy. But the application of NETL’s lowcost, regenerable amine-based sorbents 

offer many advantages over existing 

CO2

 capture technologies: increased CO2

capture capacity, reduced corrosion, 

lower energy requirements and costs, and 

minimized water usage. The process can 

also be retrofitted to older power plants that 

currently burn coal, as well as applied to new, 

more efficient pulverized coal-fired power 

plants. 

While primarily envisioned as a postcombustion CO2

 capture method for power 

generation point sources, BIAS sorbents also 

show potential for other applications, such as 

natural gas cleanup, systems for life support 

and/or entering confined spaces, and aircapture systems.
26

A Legacy of Benefit

Since our laboratory’s earliest research 

days, transferring technology from 

development to demonstration to 

commercialization has been at the 

heart of NETL’s mission.

We have confronted each decade’s 

most pressing fossil energy challenges 

and pursued innovations that 

companies could take to market to 

benefit us all. Looking back, we see that 

our efforts have increased domestic 

energy supplies and reduced pollution 

while keeping costs in check. They 

have also stretched the boundaries of 

science and engineering to provide 

other benefits equally important to our 

nation’s citizens.

Here is an historic look at some of our 

most significant accomplishments from 

the last quarter-century.

Shale Gas Recovery 

Widely recognized as having helped 

stimulate today’s shale gas boom, 

three decades of NETL-supported 

research led to the commercialization of 

horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, 

microseismic monitoring, and other 

technologies needed to recover hardto-reach shale gas plays. In 2011, shale 

gas production accounted for nearly

32 percent of the dry natural gas 

produced in the United States and has 

saved the U.S. economy nearly $400 

billion over the last 4 years.

Coronary Stents Alloy

In 2000, NETL was asked by Boston 

Scientific to develop a new material for 

coronary stents. We delivered a unique 

platinum-chromium alloy that laid the 

groundwork for a new line of Boston 

Scientific stents that are strong, flexible, 

and highly visible on x-ray. Since its 

introduction in 2010, the series has 

become the leading stent platform in 

the world. 

Acid Rain Mitigation

When acid rain became the number 

one environmental threat of the 

1980s, NETL tackled the problem 

through programs that developed and 

demonstrated such solutions as wet 

scrubbers and advanced combustion 

control systems. These and other 

technologies with roots in NETL 

programs are now used in 75 percent of 

U.S. coal power plants to control sulfur 

dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. 

Largely as a result of our efforts, 

these acid rain precursors have been 

dramatically reduced and the effects 

of acid rain neutralized across much of 

North America.

Taking NETL Technology to Market
 2012 NETL Accomplishments 27

Enhanced Oil Recovery

To increase domestic energy supplies, 

NETL has dedicated resources to the 

science of enhanced oil recovery. 

From waterflooding to CO2 injection 

to thermal and chemical treatments, 

our laboratory investigations and field 

demonstrations have helped bring 

these technologies to market. Today, 

enhanced oil recovery contributes 

more than 10 percent of U.S. crude 

oil production, and that percentage 

will continue to grow as primary and 

secondary oil resources become scarcer.

Coalbed Methane Recovery

Methane trapped in our nation’s coal 

seams once posed a deadly hazard to 

miners. When found, it was burned off 

or vented into the air, contributing to 

industrial greenhouse gas emissions. 

After all, unburned methane is ten 

times more proficient at warming 

the atmosphere than CO2. NETL 

engineers, however, saw the potential 

for turning this dangerous waste gas 

into an industrial asset and pursued 

technologies to realize that goal. 

Today, coalbed methane accounts for 

6 percent of domestic dry natural gas 

production.

Titanium and Cast-Steel Armor

NETL and Department of Defense 

scientists worked together for nearly 

two decades to develop and perfect 

a low-cost titanium alloy to meet 

challenging U.S. and Swedish army 

specifications. They also developed 

a steel-casting technique for a new 

kind of armor with outstanding 

dimensional stability and high yield 

characteristics. U.S. soldiers in Iraq and 

Afghanistan have benefitted from the 

lightweight, ballistically efficient armor 

produced through these lower-cost 

manufacturing processes. 

What’s on the Horizon

In the next quarter-century, NETL will 

build on these successes and continue 

bringing critical innovation to bear on 

fossil energy production. Look for our 

technologies to help control mercury 

and CO2

 emissions in our nation’s power 

plants, address the water impacts of 

shale gas recovery, and realize the next 

promising fossil fuel resource, methane 

hydrate. These solutions will make a 

difference for our nation—and for you.
Scan this with your 

smartphone to link to 

NETL’s website.

National Energy Technology Laboratory

1450 Queen Avenue SW

Albany, OR 97321-2198

541-967-5892

420 L Street

Suite 305

Anchorage, AK 99501

907-271-3618

3610 Collins Ferry Road

P.O. Box 880

Morgantown, WV 26507-0880

304-285-4764

626 Cochrans Mill Road

P.O. Box 10940

Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940

412-386-4687

Granite Tower, Suite 225

13131 Dairy Ashford

Sugar Land, TX 77478

281-494-2516

WEBSITE

www.netl.doe.gov

CUSTOMER SERVICE

1-800-553-7681

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY •

U N I T ED STAT ES OF AM E RICA