NETL Accomplishments in Brief

the ENERGY lab

NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

2011
Cover image: NETL researcher Corinne Disenhof examines a 

basalt thin section under a Geoscience Laboratory petrographic 

microscope. NETL is investigating the effects of microbes on basalt 

during carbon sequestration, and petrography is one of several 

analysis methods being used. Others include scanning electron 

microscopy and x-ray diffraction .

Mission

Advancing energy options to fuel our economy, strengthen 

our security, and improve our environment.

2
Contents

2011

Letter from the Director ___________________________ 4

Technical Awards_________________________________ 6

 NETL Teams Earn High Awards from Secretary of Energy______6

 Innovating Faster with APECS v.2.0 ______________________6

 Fuel Cells Live Longer with NETL Coating _________________7

Shale Development_______________________________ 7

 Let It Rain: Treating Marcellus Shale Waters________________7

Carbon Capture, Utilization, & Storage_______________ 8

 The AVESTARTM Center: Simulating the Next Generation

 of Clean Coal Technologies ____________________________8

 Testing Post-combustion Carbon Capture at PC4 ___________8

 

Oil and Natural Gas Recovery________________________ 9

 Storing CO2 and Boosting U.S. Oil Recovery: A Win-Win 

 for Everyone ____________________________________ 9

 Enhancing Environmental Protection, Increasing Production _ 9

 Retrofit Technology: Improves Performance, 

 Reduces Emissions _________________________________10

ARRA__________________________________________ 10

 Building a New Domestic Industry __________________ 10

 Recovery Act Projects Reach High __________________ 11

Technology Transfer _____________________________ 11

 State-of-the-Art Stent Sales Top $1 Billion________________11

 Pyrochlore Catalyst: Taking Fuel Cells to Market ___________12

 CO2 Capture Process Wins National Award for 

 Technology Transfer Excellence _______________________12

 NETL Garners Six U.S. Patents _________________________13

A Legacy of Benefit: 

The Return on Federal Research at NETL ______________ 14

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 3
Letter from the Director

Without question, the first quarter of the 21st 

century is an exciting time in the world of energy. 

The nation’s push to develop sound energy 

policy is strong. The need to curb CO2

 emissions 

is urgent. The call for clean, affordable power is 

clear. 

This is also an exciting time for energy 

researchers. The challenges we strive to 

overcome require far-reaching solutions: 

designing and building next-generation, nearzero-emission power plants; capturing, utilizing, 

and storing manmade carbon emissions; 

maximizing efficiencies; and getting the most 

from our energy resources with the least impact 

on our air, land, and waterways.

At the National Energy Technology Laboratory 

(NETL), we are confident in our ability to help 

America meet 21st-century challenges linked 

to fossil fuel recovery and use. After all, we have 

been meeting such challenges for generations. 

From mine safety to synthetic fuels, acid rain to 

mercury control, enhanced oil production to 

unconventional natural gas recovery, the legacy 

of public benefits realized by our programs 

stands as a testimony to the importance of our 

research and the careful means by which we 

steward federal investment in those programs.

Today, we continue to address complex energy 

issues—reducing the environmental impacts of 

shale gas recovery, mitigating carbon emissions, 

4
utilizing CO2

 to enhance our nation’s oil and 

natural gas resources, and more. Our research 

is making a fundamental difference to the 

welfare of our nation. It also gives NETL and our 

stakeholders an opportunity to enhance our 

citizens’ quality of life for generations to come.

In 2011, NETL realized a host of technical 

accomplishments and received recognition for 

our contributions to the energy arena. A full 

review of those achievements will be available 

this spring in the 2011 NETL Accomplishments. 

Until then, get an early glimpse of our diverse 

contributions in the 2011 NETL Accomplishments 

in Brief. It contains selected highlights of our 

current research and a review of the realized and 

estimated benefits provided by the programs 

implemented by our lab through the Office of 

Fossil Energy (FE). 

Thank you for taking time to browse our 

successes. I am proud of NETL’s achievements 

and of the researchers and professional staff that 

make them possible.

Anthony V. Cugini, Director

National Energy Technology Laboratory

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 5
NETL Teams Earn High Awards from 

Secretary of Energy—Secretary Steven Chu 

presented 2011 Secretary of Energy Achievement Awards 

to NETL and partner agencies for significant contributions 

made to two critical national efforts in 2010. Secretary Chu 

honored NETL for the Lab’s part in our nation’s response to 

the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and teh 

Department of Energy’s (DOE) remediation activities at the 

Hanford nuclear materials production site in Washington State. 

In both efforts, researchers dedicated their time, effort, and 

expertise to solving critical problems facing the United States. 

NETL federal and contractor staff members that responded to 

Deepwater Horizon were George Guthrie and Grant Bromhal—

both team leads—and Brian Anderson, Bob Enick, Roy Long, 

Shahab Mohaghegh, Bryan Morreale, Neal Sams, and Doug 

Wyatt. The Hanford Site team was co-led by John VanOsdol and 

Tom O’Brien and staffed by Sofiane Benyahia, Syam Syamlal, 

Tingwen Li, and Mehrdad Shahnam.

In congratulating all of the 2011 Honor Award winners, 

Secretary Chu stated, “The employees recognized today have 

gone above and beyond the call of duty, demonstrating an 

exceptional commitment to public service. Their dedication, 

knowledge, and skills have served to strengthen our nation’s 

economic and energy security and the work of the Energy 

Department.”

For more information, visit 

www.netl.doe.gov/teams.html 

Using APECS v.2.0, design engineers can integrate, solve, and analyze 

co-simulations, such as for an integrated gasification combined cycle 

(IGCC) power plant.

Innovating Faster with APECS v.2.0—

NETL developed the Advanced Process Engineering 

Co-Simulator (APECS) v.2.0 with ANSYS® DesignXplorerTM 

and ROM Builder in response to demand by the process and 

energy industries for sophisticated, computer-aided process 

design, simulation, and optimization tools to provide solutions 

to energy and environmental challenges. 

APECS v.2.0, which won an R&D 100 award in 2011, can 

design and optimize existing and next-generation plants 

for aggressive performance that meets strict economic and 

environmental objectives. Version 2.0, created in collaboration 

with ANSYS, Inc., reduces the time and cost needed to foster 

plant innovations by combining process simulation with fast 

reduced-order models based on high-fidelity equipment-scale 

models. 

APECS v.2.0 continues APECS’s R&D 100 Award-winning 

tradition. The first version, APECS v.1.0 with ANSYS 

Engineering Knowledge ManagerTM, won an award in 2008. 

Version 2.0 improves on the previous version by offering 

many new features that make it easier, faster, and cheaper for 

engineers to optimize existing and future designs. The Energy 

Department’s multi-laboratory Carbon Capture Simulation 

Initiative uses APECS v.2.0 to accelerate the development 

of carbon capture technologies from initial design to 

deployment in hundreds of power plants.

The NETL Hanford site team with Energy Secretary Stephen Chu. 

Technical Awards

6
This schematic of stacked SOFCs indicates fuel flow, oxidizer, 

interconnect, and electrolyte.

Fuel Cells Live Longer with NETL 

Coating—NETL’s manganese-cobalt (Mn-Co) coating for 

solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) interconnects, which garnered a 

2011 R&D 100 Award, prevents the evaporation of chromium 

from the interconnects in an SOFC stack, thereby extending 

the stack’s ability to conduct electricity.

Individual SOFC cells generate a relatively small amount 

of power on their own. However, when cells are joined 

together—or stacked—they generate enough power to 

meet residential, commercial, and even industrial demand. 

The cells are joined by “interconnects” to link the individual 

SOFCs electrically while keeping air and fuel properly 

separated. Preventing chromium from evaporating out of 

these interconnects increases the SOFC stack’s lifetime, 

ultimately making the power generated less expensive for the 

consumer.

Through an extended research effort, NETL and West Virginia 

University collaborators determined that a (Mn,Co)3O4 spinel 

makes the best interconnect coating, and it can be applied 

using their low-cost plating process. The Mn-Co coating 

method offers significant advantages in cost, ease of coating 

large samples, capability of scaling up for mass production, 

and environmental friendliness.

Let It Rain: Treating Marcellus Shale 

Waters—Altela, Inc.,’s AltelaRain® 600 water desalination 

system is successfully turning flowback water from shale gas 

development in Pennsylvania into clean water, ready for reuse 

by the gas industry or even for discharge into waterways.

In an NETL demonstration project, AltelaRain effectively 

treated flowback water at BLX, Inc.,’s Sleppy well site in Indiana 

County, PA, during nine months of operation. The system 

processed 77 percent of onsite water to rainwater quality, cut 

disposal costs, and reduced the need to truck wastewater to 

an offsite facility. Altela is now offering its desalination system 

commercially, with modules sold and installed in Williamsport, 

PA, and a second installation underway in McKean County, PA.

In two other NETL projects, researchers at West Virginia 

University (WVU), FilterSure, Inc., and ABSMaterials have tested 

other flowback and produced water treatment technologies. 

WVU and FilterSure used their Mobile Treatment Unit to 

process more than 500,000 gallons of flowback water for 

reuse at a Chesapeake Energy shale gas production site. 

ABSMaterials successfully tested its Osorb® material, which 

removes hydrocarbons from the flowback and produced water 

from oil and natural gas production.

For more information, visit 

www.netl.doe.gov/rain.html and

www.netl.doe.gov/shale.html

The AltelaRain® 600 turns flowback water resulting from shale gas 

production into rain-water quality

Shale Development

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 7

Anode

End Plate

Electrode Matrix

Cathode

Anode

Electrode

Cathode

Interconnect

Fuel Flow

Oxidant Flow

Fuel Flow

Oxidant Flow

End Plate
The AVESTARTM Center: Simulating 

the Next Generation of Clean Coal 

Technologies—A world-class training and research 

center focused on the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of 

clean energy plants is now up and running at NETL. Known as 

Advanced Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research, 

or AVESTARTM, the Center was established as part of DOE’s 

initiative to advance new clean coal technology for power 

generation. 

AVESTAR features a state-of-the-art, highly realistic, dynamic 

simulator and operator training system for integrated 

gasification combined cycle (ICGG) power plants with carbon 

dioxide (CO2) capture. The IGCC simulator is unique among 

power plant simulators in that it merges, for the first time, 

a “gasification with CO2

 capture” process simulator with a 

“combined-cycle” power simulator. The simulator trains 

operators, engineers, and researchers on normal and faulted 

IGCC plant operations, as well as plant start-up, shutdown, and 

power demand load changes. The simulator also allows users 

to test different types of fuel sources, such as petcoke and 

biomass, as well as cofiring fuel mixtures.

NETL plans to continue building the AVESTAR portfolio of 

dynamic simulators, immersive training systems, and advanced 

research capabilities to satisfy industry’s growing need for 

training in the operation and control of high-efficiency, nearzero emission energy plants. 

For more information, visit

www.netl.doe.gov/avestar.html

Testing Post-combustion Carbon 

Capture at PC4—In another step forward in the 

research that will speed deployment of innovative CO2 capture 

techniques for coal-based power plants, NETL and Southern 

Company Services have commissioned the new PostCombustion Carbon Capture Center, or PC4, at the National 

Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in Alabama.

At PC4, technology developers worldwide are testing and 

evaluating post-combustion carbon capture technologies 

under power plant conditions, with the purpose of developing 

a wide variety of CO2 capture technologies. Activities are 

ongoing at several scales and include the testing of new 

CO2-capturing solvents and gas-liquid contacting systems, 

the regeneration of solvents at high pressures, the evaluation 

of novel technologies like sorbents and membranes, and the 

reduction of capital and operational costs associated with 

adding CO2

 capture to existing plants.

The NCCC was established in 2009 by NETL, Southern 

Company, and other partners. Current participants include 

American Electric Power, Arch Coal, the Electric Power Research 

Institute, Luminant, NRG Energy, Peabody Energy, and RioTinto.

For more information, visit 

www.netl.doe.gov/innovating.html

The AVESTAR Center is focused on developing a workforce well prepared 

to effectively operate, control, and manage the next-generation of highefficiency IGCC power plants. Operators can interact with the system in 

real time, simulating real-world power plant conditions. 

In this pilot solvent test unit at the PC4, NCCC tests new solvents 

against a baseline reference.

Carbon Capture, Utilization, & Storage

8
Storing CO2 and Boosting U.S. Oil 

Recovery: A Win-Win for Everyone—

One way of reducing the amount of CO2 being released into 

our atmosphere is to capture and store it safely underground. 

But why only store a potentially useful product?

For instance, NETL has been on the forefront of using injected 

CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for decades. Especially 

useful for mature oilfields, EOR prevents them from being 

abandoned prematurely. Typically, as much as two thirds 

of the oil remains stranded in a reservoir after primary and 

secondary recovery processes.

A study of oilfields in Kansas, funded by DOE through NETL 

and administered through the Research Partnership to 

Secure Energy for America, demonstrates the possibility of 

recovering between 250 million and 500 million barrels of 

oil using near-miscible CO2

 flooding for extending the life 

of mature oilfields. Because 90 percent of the Kansas wells 

are operated by more than 100 small producers and pump 

less than 5 barrels per day, enhancement of yield with CO2

would be a great boon—and the CO2 can be permanently 

stored underground via the wells when oil production is truly 

exhausted. 

NETL is also exploring CO2

 as a component in plastic 

production, chemicals production, and a mineralization 

process for building projects. 

For more information, visit

www.netl.doe.gov/recovery.html

Enhancing Environmental 

Protection, Increasing Domestic 

Production—“Stripper” wells are oil and natural gas 

wells that are nearly depleted but can still produce up to 10 

barrels of oil or 60,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas per 

day. They provide about 20 percent of current U.S. oil and gas 

production.

The Stripper Well Consortium, partially funded by NETL, 

has supported nearly 100 technology-driven projects since 

2000. Reservoir remediation, wellbore clean-up, and surface 

system optimization projects have helped maximize resource 

recovery in stripper wells while minimizing environmental 

impacts and, ultimately, strengthening our nation’s energy 

security.

Some of the technologies developed through these projects 

include—

• A gas-operated automatic plunger lift tool to remove 

fluids from stripper wells.

• A second tool for removing liquids from gas wells and 

gathering lines.

• A highly efficient submersible electric pump that reduces 

electricity costs.

• A smaller, lighter variable-capacity compressor and pump. 

• A low-cost, real-time, wireless gauge for permanent or 

service applications.

• Pumper-well tender PDA and Smartphone software 

programs. 

• An economical chemical delivery system that reduces 

corrosion and maintenance costs. 

• A low-cost control box that optimizes production.

• A low-cost soil amendment technology for remediation 

and re-vegetation of brine-contaminated soils.

For more information, visit 

www.netl.doe.gov/production.html

Developing smartphone software 

programs is one approach 

being taken by the Stripper 

Well Consortium to help in the 

recovery of oil and natural gas 

by small operators.

The major apparatus to study phase behavior 

of CO2 and oil at near miscible conditions was developed in-house 

at the University of Kansas. This is a close up of a vapor liquid 

equilibrium view cell, which is used to measure the swelling and 

extraction of oil samples as a result of interaction with CO2

.

Oil and Natural Gas Recovery

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 9
Building a New Domestic Industry—

The Electric Drive Vehicle Battery & Component Manufacturing 

Initiative, funded by DOE through the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA), supports a portfolio of 30 projects 

for the construction of a domestic battery and electric drive 

component industry. 

The projects will create a complete U.S. battery and electricdrive vehicle manufacturing industry to meet the President’s 

goal of having 1,000,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles 

(PHEV) on the road by 2015. The projects already have a 

manufacturing capacity of 113,800 vehicle-equivalent 

batteries, and construction is being completed for 7 new 

facilities. These projects have inserted over $1 billion into the 

economy already and should create nearly 7,000 long-term 

domestic jobs. 

This industry is still in its infancy and is expected to grow 

dramatically as the electric vehicle market grows due to the 

paradigm shift from petroleum use to battery technologies. 

The result will be a new era of highly skilled jobs in the United 

States. The DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory’s 

Power & Vehicles Technology Division manages these projects 

in support of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE) Vehicle Technologies Program, with a $2 billion DOE 

investment matched dollar-for-dollar by industry.

Construction of the LG Chem 850,000-square-foot lithium-ion polymer 

battery cell and battery manufacturing facility is taking place in 

Holland, Michigan. LG Chem is a key supplier of batteries to General 

Motors for the Volt Program.

ARRA

Retrofit Technology: Improves 

Performance, Reduces Emissions—

In the natural gas industry, thousands of reciprocating engines 

are used to produce electricity, compress and re-inject natural 

gas to increase oil production, or compress natural gas to feed 

it into gas transmission pipelines. These engines are aging, and 

new federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions 

regulations may mean cost-prohibitive replacements are 

needed.

However, with funding from NETL, researchers at Kansas State 

University (KSU) and partners are designing and testing retrofit 

emissions control and monitoring technologies for these 

engines that will efficiently upgrade them while mitigating 

greenhouse gases—at a fraction of the cost of new engine 

replacements.

KSU researchers have developed a four-stroke cycle engine 

model and exhaust gas oxygen sensor model that will predict 

emissions from small engines better than current emission 

compliance measures, which are based on plume models for 

larger emission sources. The updated KSU models take into 

account small-engine characteristics and preferred catalytic 

conditions. Once validated, the models can be used in field 

engine control boards that can help meet new EPA emission 

standards by replacing outdated air fuel controllers.

Test engine at Kansas State University’s National Gas Machinery 

Laboratory has been used to evaluate new retrofit technologies for 

emissions control. Image courtesy of Kansas State University. 

10
State-of-the-Art Stent Sales Top 

$1 Billion— The use of coronary stents saves 

thousands of lives each year by reopening blocked or 

restricted arteries, allowing blood to flow freely again to 

cardiac tissue. A new coronary stent, which incorporates 

an innovative metal alloy developed by scientists at NETL 

and Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC) has achieved more 

than $1 billion in sales and captured a 45 percent share of 

the coronary stent market. The platinum-chromium alloy 

is the first stainless steel formulation with a significant 

concentration of a highly radiopaque element, platinum, 

which makes it visible on x-ray and easier for coronary 

specialists to see during placement.

Utilizing the improved alloy, BSC developed new coronary 

stents with superior properties compared to existing stainless 

steel stents. After a lengthy series of clinical trials, BSC 

received foreign regulatory market approval in November 

2009, and in early 2011 approval was received from U.S. and 

Canadian regulatory agencies, followed by approval from 

India. Recently, BSC announced that they have received 

regulatory approval in China, the world’s largest stent 

market. BSC has announced that all future stents will use this 

innovative alloy in their manufacture. 

For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/stents.html

Recovery Act Projects Reach High—

New jobs created, old jobs sustained, and the environment 

protected in diverse ways: the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides funds through the 

DOE Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology 

Laboratory for many projects that benefit our nation. Here are 

three of the many ways NETL is investing ARRA funding:

• NETL, Archer Daniels Midland, and others are constructing 

an Illinois ethanol plant that will demonstrate carbon 

capture and storage and move the technology closer to 

commercial deployment. It includes construction of a 

National Sequestration Education Center to be located at 

Richland Community College. Approximately 260 new jobs 

will be created by this project.

• Mikro Systems, Inc., managed by NETL with ARRA funding, 

is developing their proprietary technology for the 

fabrication of next-generation gas turbine blades that will 

shorten development time and improve performance. This 

Small Business Innovation Research Phase III Xlerator 

project will result in cleaner, more reliable, and more 

affordable energy.

• Clean Energy Systems, Inc., (CES) and partners are 

developing ARRA-supported oxy-fuel power systems that 

are capable of capturing over 99 percent of CO2

 emissions 

from power generation using coal syngas and other fossil 

fuels. This advanced turbo-machinery project is part of the 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Sequestration portfolio. 

CES’s oxy-fuel gas turbine, the OFT-900 is a key component of CES’s 

oxy-fuel power generation system, which is capable of capturing 

greater than 99 percent of CO2 produced in the combustion of a 

variety of fuels, including coal syngas and natural gas. Image courtesy 

of Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. and Clean Energy Systems, Inc.

Coronary stents made from a novel platinum-chromium alloy are 

more flexible and conformable than traditional stainless steel stents. 

The novel alloy was developed by scientists at NETL and BSC. Image 

courtesy of BSC.

Technology Transfer

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 11
CO2

 Capture Process Wins National 

Award for Technology Transfer 

Excellence—The NETL-developed Basic Immobilized 

Amine Sorbent (BIAS) process, which prevents the release 

of CO2 into the air from the flue or stack gas of power plants, 

received a 2011 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer 

from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology 

Transfer (FLC). Application of the technology reduces the 

costs and energy penalty associated with more conventional 

scrubbing processes to capture CO2.

The BIAS process uses a regenerable, solid, amine-based 

sorbent to capture CO2

 from the flue gas. Once the CO2 is 

captured, the sorbent is heated to release the greenhouse 

gas for either storage or utilization in other products, thereby 

refreshing the sorbent for reuse.

Because of NETL’s technology transfer efforts, one company is 

beginning to develop commercial applications based on the 

BIAS process and several other organizations are investigating 

the potential for using it outside the power industry. Transfer 

of BIAS from the laboratory to the marketplace is another 

important step in NETL’s effort to deploy innovations that will 

decrease man-made emissions of greenhouse gases.

For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/award.html

NETL won an FLC 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.

Pyrochlore Catalyst: Taking Fuel Cells 

to Market—Fuel cells produce electricity using half the 

fuel of conventional internal combustion systems and release 

fewer emissions, but they have not realized their potential for 

everyday energy applications. If we could easily transform a 

readily available fuel—like diesel—into syngas to power fuel 

cells, however, they could begin to supply us with day-to-day 

energy.

NETL’s pyrochlore catalyst, developed in partnership with URS 

Corporation and Louisiana State University, is the first catalyst 

shown to be highly effective in transforming diesel and 

other heavy-carbon fuels into syngas. NETL has licensed the 

catalyst to Pyrochem Catalyst Company, a start-up company 

founded to develop market-ready reforming technologies 

based on the pyrochlore catalysts, which earned NETL a 

2011 Federal Laboratory Consortium award for excellence in 

technology transfer.

If the pyrocholore catalyst technologies prove successful, fuel 

cells could quickly make their way into the trucking industry 

to supply auxiliary power for HVAC, lighting, and other 

necessities, helping the industry meet anti-idling regulations. 

They could also be used in military operations, in recreational 

vehicles, and for primary and emergency power in homes 

and businesses.

For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/catalyst.html

Auxiliary power units can help truckers meet anti-idling regulations. 

However, the weight, expense, and noise associated with 

conventional small internal combustion engines make it hard for 

industry to adopt them. Fuel cells could be the answer.

12
NETL Garners Six U.S. Patents—Researchers

at NETL received six patents in 2011 for inventions in energyrelated technology, including the following:

• An integrated process for removing multiple pollutants from 

fossil fuel combustion systems.

• Mercury detection within, and removal from, coal-derived flue 

and fuel gases.

• A process for neutralization of toxic bauxite residues resulting 

from aluminum extraction via flue gas and brine.

• A method for production of mineral wool for use in insulation 

materials, with co-production of iron (see image).

• A microchannel reactor technology that allows for higher 

conversion efficiency in chemical synthesis.

• Biomass and syngas processing.

NETL pursues patent protection for novel technologies as a means 

to protect taxpayer’s investment in energy-related research. NETL’s 

Technology Transfer office manages the process, identifying those 

technologies having greatest commercial potential. Deployment 

of these technologies will lead to enhanced energy efficiencies 

and better pollution monitoring and control.

These mineral wool fibers, as seen by a scanning electron microscope secondary electron image, range from 2–12 microns in 

diameter. The spherical particle with fiber “tail” is indicative of the formation process and is formed by elongation of droplets of 

the molten (liquid) slag. Image courtesy of Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc., and Clean Energy Systems, Inc.

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 13

100μm
A Legacy of Benefit

In the world of technology innovation, 

both the private and public sectors 

play critical roles in bringing scientific 

and engineering solutions to American 

markets. 

Breakthroughs that have revolutionized 

the energy industry have often been 

made possible by our collective 

investment in the ideas of the researchers 

who are tackling problems presented by 

the production and use of fossil fuels, the 

generation of nuclear power, the promise 

of renewable energy, and our need to 

continuously improve energy efficiencies. 

Federal research often pursues high-risk 

technologies that have the potential for 

great public benefit and require long-term 

investments the private sector can find 

difficult to make. It also helps industry 

bring novel innovations to commercial 

readiness by sharing in demonstrationscale research. 

In 2011, the Office of Fossil Energy took 

a look at the many public benefits that 

have been realized by technologies and 

processes developed and supported by its 

office and NETL. 

Did you know the United States has 

reduced its NOx

 emissions 88 percent 

and SO2 emissions 82 percent since 

1970, essentially eliminating acid rain?

Major contributors to these reductions 

have been the scrubbers, low-NOx burners, 

and selective catalytic reduction systems 

demonstrated through the clean coal 

programs managed by NETL. Continued 

research is expected to directly realize 

another 37 million ton reduction in SO2

emissions and 16 million ton reduction in 

NOx emissions between 2000 and 2020, 

while also reducing other pollutants.

Did you know that low-cost mercury 

controls developed at NETL are being 

deployed on U.S. coal-fired power 

plants?

NETL’s Mercury Control program research 

reduced the cost of controlling the mercury 

emitted by coal power systems by 50–70 

percent. As of 2010, vendors have sold nearly 

150 full-scale activated carbon injection 

(ACI) systems, a signature technology 

of the program, to U.S. coal-fired power 

generators. This represents more than 

56 gigawatts of our coal-fired electric 

generating capacity. The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency projects that 60 percent 

of our coal capacity (146 gigawatts) will use 

ACI by 2015.

Did you know that NETL has been a 

pioneer in enhanced oil recovery for 

nearly a century?

Since the 1920s, NETL and its predecessors 

have pioneered enhanced oil recovery 

(EOR) techniques like water flooding, 

chemical applications, and CO2

 injection. 

Coaxing hard-to-recover oil out of the 

ground adds to our domestic petroleum 

resources—today enhanced recovery 

amounts to nearly 13 percent of total U.S. oil 

production. CO2-EOR, especially if nextgeneration technologies are developed and 

deployed, promises a profitable avenue for 

sequestering manmade CO2 emissions deep 

underground.

Did you know that U.S. shale gas 

production has increased 12-fold over 

the last decade?

Advanced technologies have helped 

increase oil and natural gas production 

from abundant shale resources. NETL helped 

The Return on Federal Research at NETL

14
lead the characterization of shale plays 

and development of such techniques as 

horizontal drilling, microseismic monitoring, 

and hydraulic fracturing, making it possible 

for us to tap widely present shale layers and 

release the natural gas trapped inside. With 

these technologies comes the potential for 

the United States to move closer to energy 

independence and even export natural gas.

Did you know the Clean Coal 

Technology program,

 implemented by NETL, is

 expected to realize a 

$13 benefit for every taxpayer 

dollar invested?

In fact, between 2000 and 2020, the clean 

coal program is expected to realize $111 

billion in total monetary benefits. Our air 

will be cleaner, we’ll see further reductions 

in pollution, energy efficiencies and U.S. 

exports will increase, and national security 

will be enhanced. The program is also 

expected to generate 1.2 million jobs, 

predominantly well-paid manufacturingrelated employment.

Like our nation’s domestic 

energy supplies, American 

taxpayer dollars are a precious 

resource. They must be 

carefully managed and they 

must yield real benefits. From 

sustainable coal technologies 

to unconventional petroleum 

recovery and beyond, the extraordinary 

economic returns FE 

and NETL have realized on the 

investments made through our 

organizations is a testament to the 

productivity of our research. 

The risks are sometimes high, but so is the 

return. Our researchers and our partners 

will continue to work ahead of the curve, 

and we will continue to achieve the 

technological breakthroughs needed to 

keep our nation’s energy industry on the 

cutting edge.

To see FE’s complete Legacy of Benefits 

series, visit them on the Web at 

www.fossil.energy.gov

Total cost of the original Clean Coal 

Technology Demonstration program 

was $5.3 billion. The cost-share 

requirement was a 50/50 split, but 

private sector confidence in the 

program was high enough to spur 

a 2/3 investment.

$3.4B

Private Sector

$1.9B

Federal

 2011 NETL Accomplishments in Brief 15
National Energy Technology Laboratory

1450 Queen Avenue SW

Albany, OR 97321-2198

541-967-5892

2175 University Avenue South

Suite 201

Fairbanks, AK 99709

907-452-2559

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

Scan this with your 

smartphone to link to 

NETL’s website.

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY •

U N I T ED STAT ES OF AM E RICA