the ENERGY lab

NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

2010 NETL Accomplishments
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Advancing energy options to fuel our economy, strengthen our security, and improve our environment.

Our Mission
2010 NETL Accomplishments 3

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CONTENTS

NETL Mission

Message from the Director

NETL Powers the Future of Energy

Advanced Power Systems

 10 Gasification

 14 Fuel Cells

 16 SECA Reaches 2010 Program Goal

 18 Turbines

 22 Turbine Program Develops Prototypes for Reducing Emissions

 24 Materials

Clean Energy

 30 Carbon Capture

 34 Carbon Storage

 36 Perfluorocarbon Tracers Go with the Flow

 38 Carbon Sequestration Partnerships

 44 Demand-Side Efficiency

 48 Air, Water, Land

A Century of Science

Reliable Supply

 56 Energy Infrastructure

 60 Methane Hydrates

 62 Natural Gas and Oil Production

 64 Turning Shale into Fuel

Science & Technology Leadership

 68 Technology Transfer

 72 “Project of the Year” Awarded to NETL-Managed Technology

 74 Noteworthy Publications

 78 International Cooperation

 80 Educational Outreach

 82 Awards and Recognition

Our Vision for the Future
4

Innovative Solutions for Complex Energy Challenges

It is my pleasure to present the NETL 

(National Energy Technology Laboratory) 

2010 accomplishments report. The 

achievements compiled in this report 

are the result of long-term efforts 

championed by many talented people. 

Our success is driven through onsite 

research, the work of our dedicated 

contractors, and our collaborations 

with fellow national laboratories, other 

government agencies, industry, and 

university partners.

As a national laboratory, NETL is unique 

in that we are actively engaged in all 

aspects of the U.S. Department of Energy 

mission to ensure America’s energy future. 

We serve as a broad-based technical 

resource providing guidance on many 

strategic energy initiatives that address 

complex energy and environmental 

challenges. NETL is further distinguished 

by its strategic focus on applied research 

programs that are directly linked to our 

mission of technology deployment to the 

marketplace. 

Anthony V. Cugini, Director

As you will learn from this report, we 

have achieved significant advances in 

our core program areas. For example, an 

innovative coal-drying technology that 

extracts more energy from high-moisture 

coal at less cost, while at the same time 

reducing potentially harmful emissions, 

was named Power Engineering magazine’s 

2010 Coal-Fired Project of the Year. The 

project, managed by NETL, was conducted 

with funding from the Clean Coal Power 

Initiative and was implemented at Great 

River Energy’s Coal Creek Station. This 

technology proved so successful that 

full-scale dryer modules were constructed 

for the entire Coal Creek Station. Now 

ready for commercial deployment, this 

technology will be important to America’s 

energy consumers since nearly one 

third of the electric power generated by 

coal comes from plants that burn highmoisture coal, making this technology a 

breakthrough development for efficient 

coal-fired power production. 

A significant milestone was met by the 

Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance 

when its 2010 cost goal for solid oxide 

fuel cells was achieved: $700 per kilowatt 

for high-volume production. This cost 

baseline is comparable to existing 

central power generation technologies 

and reflects an 88 percent reduction in 

production cost. The application of costeffective fuel cell technology will enhance 

industry adoption while increasing power 

plant efficiency and reducing pollutant 

emissions. 

In addition, NETL’s long-standing 

leadership in horizontal drilling and 

hydraulic fracturing, and their impact 

on natural gas recovery from hardto-reach shale gas plays, has been 

widely recognized. Three decades of 

research by NETL and our partners 

helped drive shale gas production to 

account for nearly 14 percent of the 

dry natural gas produced in the United 

States, a number that is projected to 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 5

reach 45 percent by 2035. We are now 

making technological advancements in 

remediating flowback water produced 

during hydraulic fracturing and reducing 

other environmental impacts of shale gas 

drilling.

I am particularly pleased to report that 

NETL researchers received recognition 

from the U.S. Geological Survey for 

exemplary service to the nation. During 

the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the 

Gulf of Mexico, a team of NETL scientists 

used advanced image analyses and fluid 

flow modeling, under extreme time 

constraints, to help provide accurate 

estimates of oil leakage rates and 

plume formation. The data provided by 

NETL researchers was used by Unified 

Command to set level of response. As an 

organization, we are extremely proud that 

our technical expertise was able to assist 

our nation in a time of extreme crisis. 

I think you will agree that these 

achievements and the others presented 

in this year’s report illustrate NETL’s 

commitment to advancing energy 

technologies into the public arena 

where they will have a direct impact 

on Americans’ prosperity by facilitating 

affordable, reliable, and environmentally 

responsible energy. NETL continues to 

judiciously invest U.S. taxpayer dollars 

in applied research programs that yield 

high rates of return, while ensuring 

environmental conservation. 

NETL’s successes in 2010 serve as another 

step in building and securing America’s 

energy future. We have a long and 

successful history of providing innovative 

solutions to complex energy challenges, 

and I am honored to be a part of such an 

outstanding organization. The innovative, 

translational work conducted by NETL 

and its partners will continue to touch 

America’s future.

Anthony V. Cugini, Director

National Energy Technology 

Laboratory
6

NETL Powers the Future of Energy 

Affordable, reliable, and secure energy 

played a major role in powering the 20th 

century, but what about the coming 

decades? Can we harness our nation’s vast 

fossil fuel resources without sacrificing 

clean air, clean water, and affordable power? 

Can we mitigate our dependence on fossil 

fuels through the use of alternate energy 

sources? Can we find new domestic sources 

of energy? 

In 2010, as part of an effort to secure 

America’s energy future, scientists and 

engineers working at NETL continued to 

address these vital questions. The 2010 NETL 

Accomplishments report showcases NETL’s 

cutting-edge research on coal-based power 

generation, natural gas and oil production, 

energy efficiency, power grid management, 

and more. 

Coal is America’s most abundant fossil 

fuel. In fact, coal-fired power plants 

provide nearly 45 percent of the electricity 

generated in the United States, despite 

accounting for only 30 percent of our 

power-generation capacity. 

NETL is developing technologies to 

demonstrate a virtually pollution-free 

coal plant in time for the next wave of 

power plant construction. For example, 

NETL is leading national efforts to develop 

technologies for the safe, economical 

storage of carbon dioxide (CO2

). We are 

improving the ability to capture CO2, inject 

it underground, and track its movement in 

deep geologic reservoirs. Similarly, we are 

helping the coal-power industry eliminate 

mercury and other pollutant emissions, 

reduce water use, and turn coal waste into 

marketable by-products. 

Another important fossil fuel is petroleum. 

In 2010, NETL continued to demonstrate 

that, when traditional oil recovery is 

exhausted, enhanced recovery can coax 

even more petroleum from mature wells. 

As part of our carbon management 

effort, NETL is advancing CO2

 injection for 

enhanced oil recovery coupled with CO2

storage. DOE studies indicate that we can 

produce another 40–45 billion barrels of 

oil from America’s mature oilfields if we 

successfully divert a portion of the CO2

emitted from burning fossil fuels to CO2

injection. With improvements in technology, 

we are projected to double that number. 

Natural gas, or methane, is a clean and 

convenient heating fuel. Though not as 

abundant as coal, the United States has 

significant natural gas resources, especially 

in unconventional plays. For decades, 

NETL scientists and engineers have made 

meaningful contributions to increasing 

production of coalbed methane and shale 

gas. In 2010, NETL turned its attention to 

protecting aquifers and improving ways 

to dispose of waste water during shale gas 

recovery.

NETL is also investigating another 

unconventional natural gas resource, 

methane hydrates. Trillions of cubic feet 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 7

FYi

Fossil resources supply 

approximately 85 percent of our 

nation’s energy, and experts project 

that they will remain the world’s 

dominant energy resource through 

2035. NETL supports research 

partnerships aimed at using 

fossil fuels in the most efficient, 

economic, and environmentally 

sound way possible. 

Albany, OR. NETL’s Albany site has been a premier center of energy research, particularly materials science 

research, since it was established in 1943 as the Northwest Electro-development Laboratory. 

of methane hydrates lie under continental 

shelves around the world, but only now 

are we fully learning its characteristics 

and potential. Commercial production 

of methane hydrates may be decades 

away, but NETL researchers are pioneering 

approaches that will allow us to utilize this 

enormous energy resource in the future.

While NETL’s focus is on fossil fuels, our 

research cuts across energy applications 

and industries. For example, NETL works 

closely with state energy programs and 

weatherization projects to support highefficiency building and vehicle technologies. 

Our particle-flow simulation tools are used 

in hospitals, and we have demonstrated 

the potential of using fuel cells as auxiliary 

power units in the trucking industry. 

To build on our success and launch the 

next generation of energy research, NETL 

enlists the brightest minds in academia and 

industry through partnerships such as the 

Power Systems Energy Research Center, 

Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, 

and the newly launched NETL-Regional 

University Alliance. Together we are 

pursuing advanced power systems, carbon 

management, smart-grid technologies, and 

other future energy solutions.

Finally, NETL is committed to answering the 

public’s questions about energy issues and 

promoting science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics in our nation’s schools. 

In 2010, NETL dedicated the Energy 

Challenge, a permanent educational exhibit 

at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center, and 

we continued support of programs like the 

JASON Project and the DOE National Science 

Bowl. The reason for this is simple: the 

young students inspired by these efforts will 

become the scientists who solve the energy 

challenges of tomorrow. 

The 2010 NETL Accomplishments presents 

many important projects. It also details the 

impact NETL has on our country realizing 

low-cost energy, a safe environment, job 

creation, and long-term prosperity. Most 

energy experts agree that, as global energy 

demands accelerate, we must maximize 

the output of every energy resource. These 

solutions are likely to come from the world 

of research, and when it comes to research, 

NETL is the ENERGY lab.
Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

NETL’s advanced research projects aim to provide measurable benefits to coal and power system 

technologies, including improved efficiencies, lower costs, new materials, and new processes. 

8

Advanced Power Systems
Why invest in advanced power 

generation technology?

Today’s advanced power systems 

enable America to use its most 

abundant energy resource, coal, 

while reducing its environmental 

impact. Through enhanced 

efficiency and pollution control, 

NETL’s clean coal technologies, 

such as coal gasification with 

CO2

 capture, and alternative 

energy sources, like fuel cells 

that run on synthesis gas, 

offer America a broad energy 

portfolio for enhanced energy 

security. Investments in the 

innovations that make these 

technologies possible can spur 

new commercial opportunities to 

improve cost, reliability, security, 

and environmental impact. 

NETL’s cutting-edge research is 

pioneering a global clean energy 

future.

2010 NETL Accomplishments 9
10

Gasification 

NETL’s research is advancing IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) technologies to meet U.S. energy needs while 

maintaining the highest environmental standards. By producing clean-burning syngas (synthesis gas) to fuel advanced turbines 

and fuel cells, IGCC offers many advantages over conventional coal combustion: greater energy efficiency, feedstock flexibility, 

and the potential to create multiple products, including hydrogen. NETL is supporting development of gasification technologies 

that will enhance competitiveness and increase the commercial acceptance of coal gasification both nationally and abroad. The 

success of these efforts will help position advanced gasification as the preferred technology to fulfill the nation’s growing demand 

for clean energy. 

Simulating the Future of Power Generation

AVESTARTM—NETL’s Advanced Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research simulator—is designed to train engineers and power 

plant operators to safely and efficiently operate IGCC plants. By providing comprehensive simulator-based training, AVESTAR is poised to 

develop a workforce prepared to operate these next-generation systems capable of 90 percent CO2

 capture. 

In 2010, the AVESTAR team demonstrated the simulator’s functionality by achieving a virtual IGCC plant start-up and shutdown, setting 

the stage for a 2011 unveiling of state-of-the-art facilities at NETL and West Virginia University’s National Research Center for Coal and 

Energy. At the AVESTAR center, engineers and operators will interact with a highly realistic dynamic simulation of a coal-fired IGCC 

plant. Wearing a stereoscopic headset or eyewear, trainees will also be able to enter a 3-D virtual environment, moving freely through a 

simulated facility to learn operation, control, and safety. 

NETL’s Collaboratory for Process and Dynamics Systems Research group developed AVESTAR in close collaboration with West Virginia 

University, Fossil Consulting Services, Enginomix, the Electric Power Research Institute, and Invensys Operations Management.

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
2010 NETL Accomplishments 11

NETL-Developed Instrument Used 

to Optimize Circulating FluidizedBed Operation—NETL researchers have 

invented a relatively nonintrusive method 

for measuring the flow of solids (mass flux) 

within a circulating fluidized-bed reactor. 

The new NETL measuring instrument uses 

pressure transducers that respond to the 

impact of particles in the flow stream. 

Interpretation of the transducer signal 

allows mass flux to be determined even for 

dense flow conditions without the physical 

samples of the flow stream that are normally 

required. This approach is superior to 

traditional methods and offers a viable and 

economic way to determine local mass flux. 

Modification of this parameter will allow 

for system adjustments to ensure proper 

spatial and temporal location of reactants 

to enhance system performance for energy 

output and removal of environmental 

contaminates. Additionally, this instrument 

will be an important aid in validating 

computational models for energy systems. 

The device was tested at NETL’s cold-flow 

circulating fluidized bed facility and the 

results published in Powder Technology

(Vol. 203, No. 1, 2010).

Cost Estimation Module 

Developed for Coal-Fired Power 

Plant Simulations—NETL, in 

collaboration with researchers at Carnegie 

Mellon University, has developed a cost 

estimation module for use in simulations 

of conventional pulverized coal plants and 

IGCC systems. This standardized, systematic 

approach to cost estimation reduces project 

risks with better cost accuracy. Economic 

decision making occurs earlier in the design 

process, ensuring energy plant projects are 

completed much faster and at significant 

savings. The module uses Carnegie Mellon 

University’s integrated environmentalcontrol model to calculate plant capital 

cost, operating and maintenance cost, and 

the total cost of electricity produced, based 

on the Electric Power Research Institute’s 

technical assessment guide methodology. 

The cost estimation module is compliant 

with the CAPE OPEN software standard 

and can be used in the CAPE OPEN–

compliant Aspen Plus steady-state process 

simulator and the NETL Advanced Process 

Engineering Co-simulator. 

New APECS Release Reduces 

Time and Cost of Energy Process 

Innovations—The newest release of 

NETL’s award-winning APECS (Advanced 

Process Engineering Co-simulator) has 

been integrated with FLUENT 13.0 software 

capabilities to provide an improved 

engineering tool suite to co-simulate power 

generation processes. APECS version 2.04 

further reduces the time and cost needed 

to foster energy plant innovations by 

seamlessly integrating process simulation 

with high-fidelity device-scale simulations 

built using FLUENT computational 

fluid dynamics software. The advanced 

technology behind APECS version 2.04 

includes many new features that make 

it easier, faster, and cheaper for users to 

optimize existing and future plant designs 

with a high degree of confidence that 

predicted results will be realized. The APECS 

software was developed by a collaborative 

team that includes NETL, ANSYS, and Aspen 

Technology. In addition, ALSTOM Power 

has been a valuable industrial partner 

applying APECS co-simulations to a wide 

variety of energy applications, including 

conventional pulverized coal combustion, 

oxy-combustion, IGCC, chemical-looping 

combustion, and gasification. 

APECS, NETL’s Advanced Process 

Engineering Co-simulator, is a 

first-of-its-kind process-equipment 

co-simulation software toolkit that 

aids engineers in improving the 

design and performance of power 

plants. APECS provides the highlevel accuracy and detail needed to 

model and optimize fluid flow, heat 

and mass transfer, and chemical 

reactions that drive overall plant 

performance. 

What is APECS?
NETL scientists are constructing 

extremely fast and accurate 

Raman gas sensors for measuring 

hydrocarbon gases and other 

mixtures of scientific interest. 

12

Gasification 

Raman Gas Sensing Technique 

Approaches Real Time—NETL 

researchers and collaborators at the 

University of Pittsburgh have devised an 

extremely fast and accurate approach 

for sensing hydrocarbon gases and other 

mixtures of scientific interest. The sensor 

system builds on the improved modeling 

of light transmission through metal-lined 

capillaries. With inner diameters as small 

as 250 microns, these mirror-lined gassampling tubes greatly enhance signal 

collection from laser Raman scattering 

used to analyze fuel gas composition. 

The technique can achieve complete 

multispecies gas characterization in less 

than a second with concentration accuracies 

better than 0.1 percent for most common 

gases. By treating the light-transmitting 

capillaries as waveguides rather than optical 

fibers, the improved model produced 

results that matched the performance of 

an experimental system within the error 

limits of the equipment. The unprecedented 

detection speed and accuracy of Raman gassensing instruments would improve control 

of gas turbines, fuel cells, and reciprocating 

engines, particularly in applications where 

the fuel composition could change rapidly, 

such as when switching from coal-derived 

syngas to biogas or natural gas. The results 

of this work are described in the Journal 

of the Optical Society of America B (Vol. 27, 

No.12, 2010).

NETL Develops Rapid Gas 

Analysis Technique—NETL 

researchers have developed a technique 

that can measure trace metals present in 

liquid- and gas-phase process streams at 

concentrations below 1 part per billion. 

The technique uses a modified GC-ICP-MS 

(gas chromatograph-inductively coupled 

plasma-mass spectrometer) to produce 

results 50 times faster than established 

methods. Testing at the National Carbon 

Capture Center at Wilsonville, AL, showed 

that at a temperature of 250 °C, the 

GC-ICP-MS detected trace levels of nickel 

and selenium, and 5–8 parts per billion of 

mercury in a raw syngas stream. This new 

approach dramatically reduces the response 

time for measuring trace components in 

coal syngas or flue gas, which is important 

for assessing cleanup requirements for 

advanced coal power production systems, 

including integrated gasification and fuel 

cell technology. 

Significant Milestone Reached 

Toward Commercialization of 

Ion-Transport-Membrane Oxygen 

Technology—Working in cooperation 

with NETL, engineers at Ceramatec, Inc., of 

Salt Lake City, UT, have exceeded production 

targets for a prototype manufacturing line 

that will produce commercial-size 

membrane wafers of the ion transport 

membrane called “ITM Oxygen.” The wafer 

manufacturing line, when completed, will 

have the capability to produce membrane 

components required for a process that can 

separate 100 tons per day of oxygen. The 

achievement results from optimizing more 

than 20 key process-control parameters and 

represents a critical step toward realizing the 

superb cost-reduction potential of the ITM 

Oxygen technology over previous oxygenseparation technologies. The benefits of the 

efficiency of ITM-produced oxygen could 

help partially offset carbon capture costs for 

IGCC and oxy-combustion boilers. System 

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
2010 NETL Accomplishments 13

studies predict that this novel air-separation 

technology may reduce costs of advanced 

IGCC applications when integrated with 

standard and custom turbo-machinery.

Novel Pre-combustion Carbon 

Capture Membrane Tested at 

National Carbon Capture Center—

Researchers at Membrane Technology and 

Research, Inc., working in collaboration with 

NETL have developed a new polymer 

membrane for CO2

 capture. In field tests 

conducted at the National Carbon Capture 

Center, the ProteusTM membrane was 

evaluated continuously for 3 weeks using a 

shifted coal-derived syngas containing sulfur 

components (780 parts per million of 

hydrogen sulfide). Preliminary analysis 

shows that these membranes can capture 

90 percent of the CO2

 from an IGCC plant 

while increasing the levelized cost of 

electricity by approximately 15 percent. 

Conventional absorption technologies are 

associated with increases in the levelized 

cost of electricity of 25–30 percent for the 

same capture performance.

NETL Researchers Illuminate 

Catalytic Activity of Iron Oxide 

Catalyst Particles—NETL scientists 

completed a series of experiments at 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 

ALS (Advanced Light Source) facility to 

learn more about how particle size, shape, 

structure, and defect differences affect the 

WGS (water-gas shift) activity of iron oxide 

catalyst particles. Using a specialized 

technique, NETL researchers determined 

the reaction mechanisms of iron-based WGS 

catalysts, the electronic structure changes 

required to activate them, and the molecular 

intermediates involved. Findings showed 

that defects residing at the edges of a 

catalyst’s crystalline lattice, and to some 

extent the interactions of these defects with 

underlying support material, seem to be 

critical features governing WGS activity. 

Access to the ALS—a $99 million user facility 

that provides extremely intense soft x-ray 

light for electronic structure measurements, 

crystallography, and x-ray microscopy—is 

based on a highly competitive, peerreviewed proposal process. Results of the 

NETL studies were published in the Journal 

of Physical Chemistry C (Vol. 114, No. 51, 

2010) and could help guide the production 

of cheaper and more efficient WGS catalysts 

for use in transforming gasified coal into 

useful fuels.

Produced water is the water 

extracted with oil and natural gas 

during their recovery. Historically, 

about 90 percent of this water, 

which may contain salts, oil, and 

various inorganic compounds, has 

been injected into disposal wells. 

Today, NETL and others are devising 

ways to creatively reuse and clean 

up produced water. 

What is produced

water? 

The National Carbon Capture Center is furthering national efforts in reducing 

greenhouse gas emissions, such as CO2.
14

Fuel Cells 

Alternative energy sources play an important role in our national strategy to reduce U.S. dependency on petroleum. SOFCs (solid 

oxide fuel cells) not only produce electricity from a variety of fuels, including coal, they do so with great efficiency. Advanced coalfueled integrated gasification–fuel cell (IG-FC) systems are ultimately projected to achieve at least 99 percent CO2

 capture, up to 60 

percent efficiency, and near-zero emissions of criteria pollutants while consuming significantly less water and producing electricity 

at a commercially competitive cost. 

Model Helps NETL Examine 

Hybrid System Response to Power 

Demand Changes—There is significant 

interest in using the heat generated from 

the operation of an SOFC to supplant the 

normal combustion process of gas turbine 

systems. Because the turbine uses heat 

produced by an SOFC to produce work, 

the hybrid system is capable of an overall 

system efficiency that greatly exceeds 

those of either system alone. One of 

the most critical problems that must be 

addressed in gas turbine–fuel cell hybrid 

technology is temperature control. A hybrid 

system designed to operate efficiently 

for a given base load may not be easily 

extended to accommodate peak loads. 

Using ASPEN PLUS® simulation software 

with special modules to calculate fuel cell 

performance, NETL scientists have modeled 

a simple hybrid system configuration 

consisting of a standard SOFC and a single 

compressor-turbine pair. The simulation 

model was used to determine the effects 

of key configuration parameters on system 

temperature. To explore the limitations of 

the system, the configuration model was 

then scaled over a range of fuel input and 

power output parameters. Results of this 

work were published in the Journal of Fuel 

Cell Science and Technology (Vol. 7, No. 1, 

2010).

NETL Pyrochlore Catalyst Reforms 

Liquid Fuels for SOFC Use—An 

NETL-developed catalyst exhibited stable 

near-equilibrium performance while 

reforming biodiesel throughout a 100-hour 

test. Liquid biodiesel fuel reacting with air 

and steam across the monolithic-structured 

pyrochlore-based catalyst produced 

hydrogen-rich syngas (synthesis gas) that 

powered a fuel cell in the NETL fuel cell test 

facility. The catalyst was also successful in 

reforming commercial diesel fuel during 

more than 1,000 hours of continuous 

testing at NETL, and kerosene-based 

military logistics fuel (JP8) during a 100-

hour test in collaboration with West Virginia 

University. The technology will help make 

SOFC-based auxiliary and distributed power 

units practical and economic for military 

and civilian uses. 

“My favorite part of my job is 

seeing development occur. I 

began in fuel cell technology 

about 10 years ago, and since 

that time, there’s been about an 

order of magnitude improvement 

in the ability of that technology to 

convert fuel to electrical energy. 

So, it’s a serious advancement, 

and I’d like to see that keep on 

growing.” 

Randall Gemmen

NETL reseacher

SOFCs can use a wide range of fuels, 

including coal synthesis gas, natural 

gas, diesel, biogas, and hydrogen. 

They are also inherently modular, 

and the technology is readily 

scalable. 

FYi

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
2010 NETL Accomplishments 15

Solid State Energy Conversion 

Alliance—In partnership with industry, 

university, and national laboratory 

members participating in SECA (Solid State 

Energy Conversion Alliance), NETL aims 

to develop a low-cost, high-performance, 

robust SOFC technology suitable for 

large (greater than 100 megawatt) coalfueled central generation applications. 

The SECA Industry Teams are assisted by 

participants in the NETL-supported SECA 

Core Technology Program, who develop the 

science and technologies for overcoming 

specific technical challenges and barriers 

to meeting SOFC system cost reduction 

and performance improvement goals. 

In addition to those offered here, other 

significant accomplishments are reported in 

the 2010 SECA Accomplishments Summary 

available at the NETL website.

SECA Team on Target to Surpass Goal—

The SECA Industry Team led by FuelCell 

Energy, Inc., forecasts a cost of approximately 

$650 per kilowatt for producing the power 

block of an IG-FC plant, surpassing the FY 

2010 SECA goal of $700 per kilowatt (in 

2007 dollars). The estimate is based on the 

realized performance of the team’s fuel cell 

designs, IG-FC performance and cost models, 

and conventional ceramic manufacturing 

processes. 

Fuel Cell Design Exceeds Goal—

The improved fourth-generation fuel cell 

design developed by SECA member Delphi 

Automotive Systems achieved a power density 

that exceeded SECA 2011 goals with 

performance of 0.81 volts per cell using fuel 

consisting of 48 percent hydrogen, 48 percent 

nitrogen, and 3 percent moisture. A 25-cell 

stack based on the design produces power in 

excess of 5 kilowatts and is being used as the 

basis for a proof-of-concept power plant being 

developed by SECA Industry Team leader, UTC 

Power.

SECA Team Demonstrates Power Density 

Progress—The SECA Industry Team led by 

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems has 

demonstrated a 36 percent increase in power 

density for its integrated planar SOFC. Higher 

power density allows smaller overall fuel cell 

systems for a given power rating, which 

translates to lower capital cost for the power 

plant and lower cost of electricity.

NETL Analyzes IG-FC Performance—

NETL completed an analysis of multiple IG-FC 

plant configurations for both atmospheric and 

elevated-pressure fuel cell operating 

conditions using different levels of technology 

maturity. The analysis projects future cost and 

performance benefits resulting from SOFC 

technology development, provides DOE with 

a basis for selecting the most appropriate 

technology development pathway, helps 

prioritize research and development, and 

measures programmatic success. The pathway 

study, available at the NETL website, includes 

findings such as these: near-zero emissions, 

including greater than 99 percent carbon 

capture (greater than 97 percent for 

pressurized SOFCs), may be achieved; 

significant performance and cost advantages 

of IG-FC systems with either a commercial or 

advanced gasifier may be realized over today’s 

IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) 

and pulverized coal systems technology when 

considering CCUS (carbon capture, utlization, 

and storage); advanced IG-FC efficiency 

without CCUS is significantly better than that 

of IGCC (approximately 57 percent versus 

40–42 percent), and with CCUS is comparable 

in cost to today’s IGCC without CCUS 

(approximately $65 per megawatt-hour versus 

$60 per megawatt-hour); water consumption 

for IG-FC is about half that of natural gas 

combined cycle and about a third of IGCC.

New Infiltration Technique Shows

Promise—Researchers at NETL and West 

Virginia University have successfully infiltrated 

SDC (samaria-doped ceria) into a conventional 

SOFC cathode composed of strontium-doped 

lanthanum manganite. The SDC is applied as a 

liquid, but subsequent thermal processing 

deposits a homogeneously distributed array 

of sintered nanoparticles onto the surface of 

the cathode backbone. Experimental results 

show that polarization resistance of the 

infiltrated cathodes can be reduced 

significantly compared to un-infiltrated 

cathodes, and the portion of the cathode that 

is active toward oxygen reduction is increased 

at least threefold. The investigation is 

discussed in the Elsevier Journal of Power 

Sources (Vol. 196, No. 5, 2010). 

New Alloy May Lower Costs—Collaborators 

at NETL, ATI Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, 

and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

have successfully modified the metallic alloy 

AISI 441 and taken an important step toward 

achieving the SOFC electrical interconnect 

lifetime target of 40,000 hours or more. The 

suitability of AISI 441—an inexpensive, 

commercially available ferritic stainless 

steel—would mean lower manufacturing and 

sunk costs compared with producing 

state-of-the-art high-temperature metal alloys 

for SOFC electrical interconnect service.

Ceramic Coatings Protect Fuel Cell 

Components—Product developers at 

NexTech Materials have demonstrated 

impressive corrosion resistance for metallic 

components in an SOFC stack that are 

protected by ceramic coatings applied by the 

low cost, easily-scaled ASD (aerosol spray 

deposition) process. The cost for ASD-coating 

large interconnects is projected to be within 

DOE targets.
NETL researcher Randall Gemmen prepares the DOE Fuel Cell Test 

Facility for unit testing. 

16

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Fuel cell technology has traditionally been 

too expensive for broad penetration into 

commercial markets. To be practical for 

widespread use, fuel cell systems need 

to be mass produced and they need to 

generate affordable power. NETL’s SECA 

(Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance) 

program achieved its 2010 power block cost 

goal of $700 per kilowatt for high-volume 

production, which is comparable to cost 

baselines for existing stationary power 

generation. SECA’s achievement reflects 

an 88 percent reduction in cost over the 

course of the program, supported by a fourto fivefold improvement in stack power 

density, a fivefold increase in cell size, and a 

twenty-fivefold increase in stack size. Based 

on this exciting progress, DOE projects 

that SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) technology 

could be a cost-effective power generation 

technology by 2020.

Since 1999, SECA, a collaborative effort 

between NETL and our research partners, 

has been devoted to the development 

of low-cost, modular, fuel-flexible SOFC 

technology. SECA’s Core Technology 

Program has supported dozens of 

innovative fuel cell projects from leading 

universities, national laboratories, and 

businesses. These projects provide vital 

research and development, as well as 

SECA Reaches 2010 Program Goal
 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 17

How do we reduce the CO2 that 

is released into the atmosphere 

from coal-powered plants? SECA’s 

research may provide an answer.

Research Highlight

testing support to SECA Industry Teams, 

who leverage the collective ingenuity of 

the Core Technology Program to pursue 

innovations.

SECA’s primary goal is to deploy fuel cells 

in high-efficiency, near zero-emission IG-FC 

(integrated gasification-fuel cell) systems. 

The application of SOFC technology in 

gasification-based power plants increases 

the efficiency of the plants. Pollutant 

emissions are also significantly reduced, and 

SOFC-based IG-FCs appear well suited for 

use in power plants that use CO2

 capture 

technologies.

SOFC-based power generation systems are 

very efficient compared to combustionbased technologies and result in decreased 

emissions, particularly NOx

 (nitrogen 

oxides). Further, SOFCs, which are capable 

of using a wide range of fuels, can lower 

CO2 emissions and increase CO2 capture 

capabilities because fuel and air do not 

mix in an SOFC system. Isolation of the fuel 

stream permits 99 percent CO2 capture and 

easy recovery of process water, resulting 

in considerably lower water consumption 

compared to commercial technologies. 

Systems containing improved fuel cell 

technology, in combination with heat 

scalable technology, meaning they can be 

manufactured commercially and installed 

in a variety of industrial applications. 

Successful demonstrations of SECA fuel cell 

technology in auxiliary power units for the 

trucking industry and as potential power 

sources for unmanned underwater vehicles 

for the U.S. Navy speak to the flexibility of 

SECA fuel cell technology. By providing 

America with a cleaner, more affordable way 

to generate energy, fuel cell technology can 

help us secure a better future.

recovery subsystems and commercial 

CO2

 capture, can easily surpass Office of 

Fossil Energy goals that include 45–50 

percent efficiency, less than 2 parts per 

million NOx

, and at least 90 percent carbon 

capture.

 

It’s easy to see how SECA technologies 

now in development could make future 

coal-based power systems dramatically 

more efficient and cleaner while keeping 

electricity affordable. It is also worth 

noting that fuel cells are a modular, 

Scanning electron microscope image of an 

infiltrated cathode. The newly formed nanoscale 

material shown here enhances oxygen 

reduction, creating less CO2

.

Much like a battery, a fuel cell uses an anode, 

a cathode, and an electrolyte to generate 

electricty directly from the chemical energy of 

the fuel.

Anode

End Plate

Electrode Matrix

Cathode

Anode

Electrode

Cathode

Interconnect

Fuel Flow

Oxidant Flow

Fuel Flow

Oxidant Flow

End Plate

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
18

Turbines 

Turbine research at NETL is advancing technologies that will enable the development of turbine-based systems that use coal 

more cleanly, efficiently, and at lower cost. Our research is developing high-temperature systems with stronger and more efficient 

components and minimal emissions. Through our own onsite research, collaborations with U.S. universities, national laboratories, 

and partnerships with turbine manufacturers, NETL is making great strides in advancing more efficient and lower-cost power 

plants with CO2 capture. These advanced power plants are made possible—and economic and energy security are enhanced—by 

retaining U.S. technology leadership in high-performance gas turbines. 

NETL-Designed Hydrogen Fuel 

Injector Demonstrates Stable 

Operation—NETL researchers have 

completed testing a novel low-emission 

hydrogen-diffusion flame injector for gas 

turbine application. The injector design 

features a dense array of small-diameter jets 

that allow high-velocity, nitrogen-diluted 

hydrogen fuel to flow to the combustor 

at realistic firing rates. The multiple 

discrete, compact, highly strained diffusion 

“flamelets” produced with this design 

enable fast quenching of combustion 

temperatures to reduce formation of the 

pollutant NOx (nitrogen oxide). 

NETL-Regional University 

Alliance Team Advances Cooling 

Technology Critical for Advanced 

Turbines—Researchers at NETL, and 

Regional University Alliance partners at the 

University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, 

have demonstrated significant internal, 

double-wall, skin-cooling enhancement 

using novel pin-fin arrays. In bench-scale 

tests, the arrays improved heat transfer 

by nearly a factor of 4.5 over smoothchannel architectures—an outstanding 

technological achievement for single-phase 

forced convection enhancement for turbine 

airfoil cooling. Other geometric changes, 

detailed in NETL’s FY 2010 Turbine Annual 

Report, led to significant increases in the 

effectiveness of external airfoil film cooling 

and could be applied to future gas turbine 

engines where inlet operating temperatures 

may exceed 1,400 oC. 

NETL Collaborations Enhance 

Performance of Turbine Thermal 

Barrier Coatings—Researchers at NETL, 

along with university and industrial research 

partners, have made outstanding progress 

in developing protective coatings that 

have potential to extend the life of turbines 

operating at extreme temperatures: 

• Working in conjunction with commercial 

metal and coating suppliers, researchers 

at NETL and Coatings for Industry, Inc., 

demonstrated at bench scale a newly 

developed, low-cost, diffusion bond-coat 

system that exhibited extended oxidation 

resistance and excellent high-temperature 

life compared to current state-of-the-art 

materials.

• In conjunction with the University of 

Pittsburgh, NETL conducted bench-scale 

cyclic tests showing that high-purity, 

low-density thermal barrier coatings 

exceeded the thermal stability of 

conventional yttria-stabilized zirconia 

thermal barrier coatings.

• The University of Pittsburgh-NETL team 

also demonstrated that diffusion barrier 

coatings could reduce elemental 

inter-diffusion while retaining hightemperature oxidation resistance.

• The NETL-University of Pittsburgh team 

evaluated existing and potentially new 

coating compositions and determined 

appropriate thicknesses of extremetemperature overcoat layers that may be 

used in advanced high-temperature 

land-based engines. 

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
NETL-RUA researcher Dr. Roger Chen at WVU applies pulse-echo 

techniques to thermal barrier coating combustion liners. 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 19

New Non-destructive Evaluation Techniques Detect Onset of Thermal Barrier 

Coating Failure

As part of the NETL-Regional University Alliance, NETL researchers and their partners at WVU (West Virginia 

University) have developed two techniques to predict early failure in thermal barrier coatings of advanced 

gas turbine engines. 

Thermal barrier coatings provide corrosion protection in engines operating at high temperatures. Failure 

of these coatings can expose an engine to costly heat damage, causing component failures, which require 

expensive maintenance, or lead to power outages. 

In bench-scale tests, the NETL–WVU team demonstrated that their new techniques could prevent such 

failures by detecting coating damage before any external signs become obvious. The novel approaches 

examine variations in average surface stiffness (measured by micro-indentation techniques), as well as wave 

reflection amplitude and travel time (observed by pulse-echo non-destructive evaluation techniques). Both 

novel approaches are projected to be cost-effective, time-efficient evaluation tools. 

Notably, the NETL–WVU technique has already been used in industrial applications. In response to the 

pulse-echo technique’s success, a field-service supplier provided researchers with an in-service combustor 

liner and requested identification where refurbishment may be needed. 

Image courtesy of WVU 

and Liburdi Turbine LLC
20

Turbines 

Novel Ceramic-Core Casting 

Technology Enhances Heat 

Transfer and Performance of Gas 

Turbine Blades—The next generation 

of gas turbine engines must run hotter to 

provide improved performance, greater 

efficiency, and reduced emissions. To meet 

these goals, new turbine blade designs are 

needed that have improved internal cooling 

passages to allow the blades to withstand 

higher operating temperatures. With 

assistance from an NETL-managed DOE 

Phase I Small Business Innovation Research 

award, Mikro Systems, Inc., has developed 

a unique ceramic-core casting technology 

that permits the intricate design and casting 

of enhanced heat-transfer features on gas 

turbine blades. This method allows new 

cooling surface features to be created 

that would not be possible with current 

casting processes. Further, this improved 

core casting technology will seamlessly 

integrate into existing multimillion dollar 

casting processes used by the industry 

and quickly revolutionize the industry’s 

ability to enhance both existing and future 

turbines with new blade designs. Improved 

heat transfer within gas turbine blades 

will result in increased performance, lower 

manufacturing cost, and reduced emissions. 

Innovative Micro-mixing Fuel 

Injectors Demonstrate Superior 

Performance and Ultralow NOx

Emissions—Working under an NETLsponsored project, researchers at Parker 

Hannifin have demonstrated enhanced 

combustion performance with ultralow 

NOx

 emissions by using novel micromixing turbine fuel injectors powered 

by high-hydrogen fuels. These scalable, 

high-performing, multi-point injectors 

utilize multiple small mixing cups in 

place of a single conventional large-scale 

premixer. The small size enables fuel and 

air to mix rapidly within the cups, thereby 

providing well-premixed reactants to the 

flame front, which minimizes NOx

 emissions. 

The manufacturing process enables 

flexibility in the design, yielding injectors 

with superior mixing and combustion 

capabilities. Additionally, the micro-mixing 

fuel injectors are scalable to all engine sizes, 

are very economical, and are able to burn 

a wide range of fuels, from natural gas to 

synthesis gas to high-hydrogen fuels. The 

excellent emissions and performance results 

demonstrate the utility of micro-mixing fuel 

injectors for challenging high-hydrogen 

fuels. The newly developed technology is 

easily adaptable to large-scale engines, 

and future work is planned to integrate this 

technology into larger combustion engines.

NETL Facility Gaining 

International Recognition—

Several modeling groups in the United 

States and Europe—including Siemens, 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 

the Technical University of Eindhoven 

(Netherlands), and the Italian Research 

Agency on New Technologies, Energy, 

and Environment—have started using the 

experimental data generated in NETL’s 

SimVal (Simulation Validation) combustor to 

validate their computational fluid dynamics 

codes for modeling advanced combustion 

processes. The SimVal combustor is being 

For generations, turbines have been 

the world’s energy workhorses. 

Today’s power generation systems 

continue to rely on turbines to 

provide secure U.S. electric power 

production. The image above 

shows the advanced trailing edge 

feature (ceramic core) on gas 

turbine blades.

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
2010 NETL Accomplishments 21

used to better understand combustion and 

emissions issues related to variations in the 

properties of different fuels, such as natural 

gas and hydrogen-based fuels. SimVal 

provides the capability to directly observe 

high-pressure combustion processes at 

realistic gas turbine conditions. The system 

is uniquely suited to provide combustion 

data that will improve the fundamental 

understanding of key processes in turbulent 

combustion and may promote the 

development of novel, ultralow emissions, 

fuel-flexible combustors.

NETL’s Unique Turbine Program 

Focuses on Industry Needs —

The UTSR (University Turbine Systems 

Research) Program supports scientific 

research to develop advanced turbines 

and turbine-based systems that will 

operate cleanly and efficiently when 

fueled with coal-derived syngas (synthesis 

gas), hydrogen fuels, and other fossil 

fuels. Funded and managed by NETL, 

research projects focus on combustion, 

aerodynamics, heat transfer, and materials 

in support of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy’s 

Advanced Turbine Program goals. UTSR 

is unique in that it provides a dynamic 

interaction among government, industry, 

and universities with a focus on applied 

research projects that directly address 

turbine industry needs. It is anticipated 

that the deployment of research results will 

have a direct, positive impact on turbine 

performance. Current targets for UTSR 

participants include the following:

• A key goal for the University of Texas at

Austin is to create a simulation that 

models the deposits that form on gas 

turbine components operating on 

coal-derived syngas so that designs can 

be created to improve turbine efficiency. 

University researchers developed a 

process in which molten wax particles of 

the appropriate size and temperature are 

used to simulate contaminants in a 

laboratory test facility. Simulations of 

depositions to turbine components were 

verified by industry partners to be 

representative of those occurring in 

operating turbine engines.

• Virginia Tech is investigating the dynamics 

of syngas ash deposits on the edge of a 

turbine vane by using large-eddy 

simulations. They have developed 

detailed deposition profiles that model 

surface ash deposition—the first such 

comprehensive model of its type that can 

be used for calculating ash deposition. 

• Using experimental data, researchers at 

the Georgia Institute of Technology have 

developed a physics-based model for 

predicting turbulent flame speed in 

turbines. These results and models are 

being used to develop a combustion 

technology that allows gas turbines to 

operate with low emissions when using 

high-hydrogen fuels.

Synthesis gas, or syngas, is a 

mixture of carbon monoxide and 

hydrogen, which can be generated 

by reforming carbonaceous fuels 

such as natural gas, biomass, 

or coal. Syngas is valuable for 

many chemical processes, such as 

producing synthetic fuel, plastics, 

fertilizer, and other products, and 

it can be directly used to produce 

electricity in a solid oxide fuel cell. 

What is syngas?
The NETL Turbine Program is an essential element in enhancing the

nation’s energy security and environmental well-being.

22

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems

Ever since Hero of Alexandria invented 

a steam turbine toy 2,000 years ago, 

innovative thinkers have worked to improve 

turbine efficiency and expand its use to 

a variety of applications, from powering 

trains and ships to the production of 

electricity. Today, the cutting edge of 

turbine research is represented by NETL 

and its partners. Working with companies 

like GE Energy and Siemens Energy, we 

are making advancements that will offset 

much of the costs associated with CCUS 

(carbon capture, utilization, and storage), 

while simultaneously improving the 

emissions performance of coal-based power 

production. 

The inherent costs associated with CCUS 

are driving NETL turbine research, which 

addresses key technology developments 

required to achieve DOE performance goals 

for emissions reduction, efficiency, and 

costs. In an IGCC (integrated gasification 

combined cycle) power plant, syngas 

(synthesis gas) produced from coal is cleanly 

burned in a heavy-duty gas turbine. With 

pre-combustion CO2

 capture, the resulting 

fuel burned in the gas turbine is hydrogen. 

Future IGCC plants using pre-combustion 

CO2 will produce a high hydrogen content 

fuel for the gas turbine; the fuel will then 

be combusted in the turbine, and the 

CO2 will be permanently stored in deep 

underground formations.

Turbine Program Develops Prototypes for Reducing Emissions 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 23

In 2010, NETL researchers overcame many of 

the challenges associated with this approach 

to hydrogen combustion. Most importantly, 

three independent tests (one by NETL, one 

by GE Energy, and one by Siemens Energy) 

confirmed that the most recent model for 

IGCC with hydrogen gas would recover all 

the cost and performance penalties incurred 

from carbon capture.

During 2010, NETL and its research partners 

successfully lowered the NOx

 (nitrogen 

oxide) levels produced under advanced gas 

turbine operation conditions with highhydrogen fuel by nearly 25 percent. The 

team lowered NOx

 levels produced at the 

operating conditions proposed for the 2012 

prototype machine to a level approaching 

the 2 parts per million program target. At the 

same time, operability in bench tests with 

high-hydrogen fuels has improved. These 

advancements represent significant progress.

NETL and its partners also developed new 

manufacturing methods that allow for 

operation in the high-temperature, highpressure environment required for advanced 

turbines. Combustion development also 

continued, with a focus on high-pressure 

testing and refined computational fluid 

dynamics calculations. In addition, 

intermediate goals were met in the 

development of a high-temperature- capable 

thermal barrier coating.

Our oxy-fuel turbine development effort 

scored an early milestone when Clean 

Energy Systems, Inc., (CES) of Rancho 

Cordova, CA, signed a purchase order for a 

used Siemens SGT-900 B12 gas turbine. The 

machine will be refurbished and converted 

for oxy-fuel application, then tested in 

2014 at the CES Kimberlina Power Plant 

facility.

These technologies are considered key 

components of FutureGen-type plants, 

which will use NETL-developed technology 

to build and operate the world’s first nearzero-emissions power plant. The successful 

prototype will be a model for other costefficient, near-zero-emission coal plants. 

To facilitate the development of near-zero 

emission coal-based power systems, NETL 

is developing oxygen-fired turbines and 

combustors that provide high efficiency 

through the use of ultra-high-temperature 

power cycles. Meanwhile, our academic 

partners are researching advanced turbine 

combustion, aerodynamics and heat 

transfer, and materials.

Near-term goals for the NETL Turbine 

Program include development of a 

hydrogen-fueled turbine that facilitates 

integration with coal-based IGCC power 

plants designed for CCUS; demonstration 

of fuel flexibility capabilities that allow 

turbine operation on conventional syngas 

or 100 percent hydrogen; development 

of emissions control technology capable 

of reducing NOx

 emissions to near zero; 

and development of oxy- fuel turbine 

and combustor technologies for highly 

efficient, near-zero-emissions, coal-based 

power systems. 

NETL and its partners conduct computational 

fluid dynamics research to determine 

optimum blade designs for turbines.

Image courtesy of Siemens Energy

Testing a Siemens high-heat flux rig. NETL 

tests the impact of extreme and normal 

operational conditions for turbines operating 

under high-heat flux conditions. 

Image courtesy of Siemens Energy
24

Materials 

NETL researchers are developing new materials for advanced power-generation technologies, such as advanced gasification, 

advanced turbines, and advanced oxy-fuel and ultra-supercritical steam combustion systems. These systems will require materials 

that can withstand the harsh operating environments characterized by high temperatures, high pressures, and corrosive 

conditions—operating conditions that increase efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions. Through fundamental studies, 

laboratory experiments that simulate real-world conditions, and field trials, NETL is working to create materials that can perform 

effectively in these extreme environments and ensure that America continues to enjoy clean, sustainable energy. 

Thermodynamic Modeling 

Identifies Lower-Cost, HighTemperature Alloys for Advanced 

Power Plants—NETL researchers 

are working to eliminate sources of 

microstructural instability typically found in 

the alloys currently used in most coal-fired 

power plants. Using ThermoCalc software, 

researchers modeled 19 iron-based alloy 

compositions and identified three new 

and unique compositions that have the 

potential to outperform currently available 

alloys. The new tempered martensitic 

ferritic alloys show potential to withstand 

temperatures to 650 oC, which would enable 

them to be used in ultra-supercritical coalfired power plants—plants that operate 

with greater heat and efficiency, with a 

smaller carbon footprint, and at lower cost 

than today’s more conventional power 

plants. Additionally, the new compositions 

would be much less expensive than the 

austenitic iron- and nickel-based alloys 

and superalloys currently used in such 

applications, leading to significant cost 

savings.

Research Illuminates Beneficial 

Effect of Rare Earth Additions 

to Iron-Chrome Alloys—As part 

of a fundamental investigation aimed at 

improving the performance of relatively 

inexpensive alloys for use in harsh operating 

environments, NETL scientists examined 

the surface oxidation process of iron 

alloys containing 22 percent by weight 

of chromium, with and without the rare 

earth elements lanthanum and cerium. 

The process was imaged in situ through 

a confocal scanning laser microscope, 

and the results were correlated with 

post-experiment characterization through 

scanning-electron, focus-ion beam, 

and electron-beam microscopy. Results 

demonstrated that the addition of rare earth 

elements reduced scale ridge formation 

and improved the oxidative resistance of 

iron-chromium alloys. Incorporating these 

elements into SOFC interconnect materials 

will allow for the use of less expensive alloys 

while maintaining electrical conductivity at 

lower operating temperatures. Results of this 

study were published in the Journal of the 

Electrochemical Society (Vol. 157, No. 5, 2010). 

University Coal Research Team 

Devises Novel Coating Method 

for Advanced Boiler Materials—

Working under an NETL-administered 

University Coal Research grant, collaborators 

at the University of Utah have demonstrated 

a novel process for depositing intermetallic 

coatings on steel or nickel-based alloy 

substrates. In the process, the coating is 

formed by an in situ reaction between the 

metal substrate and aluminum powder (iron 

aluminide or nickel aluminide) fed through 

a plasma transferred arc. The resultant 

coatings are free of defects and capable 

of completely protecting the underlying 

surface. These coatings exhibited excellent 

high-temperature corrosion resistance 

under environments simulating the steam 

side and fire side of coal-fired boilers. In 

principle, the process could be applied 

to other intermetallic coatings and alloys, 

providing for enhanced corrosive resistance 

and operating efficiencies. By coating 

relatively inexpensive metal substrates with 

thin layers of corrosion-resistant materials, 

energy systems can be designed to operate 

at higher temperatures and pressures with 

only a modest increase in capital cost. 

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
Microstructure of carbon steel 

meeting Americian Petroleum Institute (API) 5L pipe standards 

as viewed by a scanning electron microscope.

2010 NETL Accomplishments 25

Advanced Electrochemical Approach Assesses Pipeline Corrosion in 

Supercritical CO2 Fluids

To transport CO2 from a power plant to a sequestration site, operators compress the gas into a 

supercritical liquid state and send it via steel pipeline. While pure supercritical CO2 fluid is not 

corrosive, impurities commonly present in real fluid—water, sulfur dioxide, and oxygen—are. 

To help identify materials that can be used safely in pipeline walls, NETL researchers and NETLRegional University Alliance collaborators at Penn State University have successfully demonstrated a 

time-efficient electrochemical method for investigating the corrosion performance of carbon steels 

when they are exposed to contaminated supercritical CO2. The method would enable engineers to 

quickly learn how the low-cost steel alloys currently used in pipelines respond to different levels of 

impurity. 

For example, in one experiment, results showed that a non-protective film forms on the steel surface 

when it comes in contact with supercritical CO2

 containing water. A precise understanding of how 

impurities affect steel alloys is important to evaluating pipeline corrosion and will help optimize the 

safety and economy of CO2 transportation via pipeline. 
26

Materials 

Aluminide Coatings Developed 

for Oxidation Protection in 

Ultra-supercritical Boilers—Working 

in cooperation with NETL, researchers 

at Tennessee Technological University 

developed an aluminizing procedure that 

provided tempered martensitic ferritic 

alloys with excellent oxidation resistance in 

humid air at 650 °C for more than 14 months 

of testing. The coatings also exhibited good 

oxidation protection at 700 °C for 6,000–

8,000 hours. Applied at lower temperatures 

than that of conventional aluminizing 

processes, the procedure offers protection 

from steam-side oxidation for boiler 

components exposed to ultra-supercritical 

steam conditions without undermining 

key substrate mechanical properties, such 

as high-temperature strength and creep 

resistance. Advanced boilers operating at 

ultra-supercritical steam temperature and 

pressure are expected to produce power 

from coal with greater efficiency and lower 

emissions than conventional power plants. 

Supplier Assists Advanced 

Ultra-supercritical Turbine 

Consortium—In an NETL-supported 

project, Houston-based Wyman-Gordon, 

a manufacturer of components for the 

power generation industry, has undertaken 

compression testing of nickel-based 

alloys (Nimonic 105 and Haynes 282) to 

better understand the effects of strain 

rate and temperature on final grain size 

(re-crystallization). The alloys were identified 

by the Advanced Ultra-supercritical Steam 

Turbine Consortium—a team of scientists 

and engineers from NETL, industry, and 

academia—as candidate materials for 

service at advanced ultra-supercritical steam 

conditions (1,400 °F and 5,000 pounds per 

square inch). The study will help materials 

scientists determine the processing window 

and processing issues that might arise when 

forging large components from the alloys. 

Supplier collaboration with the consortium, 

which is led by Energy Industries of Ohio, 

Inc., in cooperation with NETL, is crucial to 

ensuring the availability of materials and 

components that will enable advanced coalfired power plants to generate electricity 

with greater efficiency and lower fuelrelated emissions, including CO2

. 

“Coal is a modern energy resource 

in the United States. My job is 

to use this energy resource very 

efficiently without hurting the 

environment, so we don’t have 

to depend on foreign energy 

resources.” 

Ranjani Siriwardane

NETL researcher

Low-Impact, Cost-Effective Energy

Advanced Power Systems
2010 NETL Accomplishments 27

Novel Material Joins Dissimilar 

Metals—Using data from a number of 

different weldability tests, researchers 

working in cooperation with NETL have 

shown that EPRI P87 is an acceptable 

filler material for making welds in various 

combinations of creep-strength-enhanced 

ferritic steels with traditional and advanced 

austenitic stainless steels. Weld metals and 

joint designs that help minimize the use of 

austenitic materials would greatly reduce 

the cost of high-efficiency coal-fired boilers 

operating at advanced ultra-supercritical 

steam conditions. The work is part of a 

collaboration led by Energy Industries 

of Ohio in cooperation with NETL—and 

with participation by major U.S. boiler 

manufacturers, the Electric Power Research 

Institute, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

— to develop the materials technology 

necessary for construction and operation of 

advanced supercritical boilers. 

Simulation Evaluates Effects 

of Oxy-firing on Fireside 

Corrosion—Foster Wheeler engineers 

are performing a 3-D computational fluid 

dynamics simulation of a 750 megawatt 

oxy-fired pulverized coal plant operating 

at advanced ultra-supercritical steam 

conditions. The effort utilizes data obtained 

from an earlier computational fluid 

dynamics study that characterized the 

chemical composition and distribution of 

gases representing the oxy-combustion 

of high-sulfur, eastern bituminous coal 

(Illinois 6), and low-sulfur western (Eagle 

Butte) coal in retrofitted air-fired furnaces, 

as well as in new, significantly smaller units 

specifically designed for oxy-combustion. 

The work is part of a collaboration led by 

Energy Industries of Ohio in cooperation 

with NETL—with participation by major 

U.S. boiler manufacturers, the Electric 

Power Research Institute, and Oak Ridge 

National Laboratory—that is developing 

the materials technology necessary for 

construction and operation of higher 

efficiency coal-fired boilers operating 

at advanced ultra-supercritical steam 

conditions. In addition to the higher 

efficiency obtained at those conditions, the 

oxy-combustion process would discharge a 

sequestration-ready stream of CO2

. 

Science-based computer simulations 

save time and money by reducing 

the number of experiments 

required to develop a technology 

and by improving the quality of 

experiments actually conducted.

Why simulations?
The Science of Sustainability

Fossil fuels are considered to be the most dependable, cost-effective energy source in the world.

The availability of these fuels to provide clean energy will be essential for domestic and global prosperity and 

security well into the 21st century. 

28

Clean Energy
Can we use fossil-based 

energy without harming the 

environment?

NETL scientists and engineers 

are discovering and developing 

ways to find, supply, and 

deliver ever cleaner and more 

economic energy for our nation. 

Building upon work done in the 

past of developing methods 

to capture air pollutants, like 

mercury and NOx , and practical 

uses of by-products of coal, 

our researchers are developing 

innovative methods to capture 

and use greenhouse gases, such 

as CO2. They are focused on 

finding ways to increase energy 

efficiency in our industries, our 

homes, and our power grid. 

And, they are protecting our 

water supply by seeking ways 

to limit and reuse the water 

required by power plants and 

industrial processes. 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 29
30

Carbon Capture 

Climate change concerns could require reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources. NETL 

researchers are developing novel CO2

 capture concepts to effectively remove carbon from stationary source emissions. This work 

will reduce costs associated with carbon capture by decreasing capital costs of capture equipment and processes and by reducing 

the amount of energy required to operate CO2 capture systems. Through in-house and external research, we are approaching 

DOE’s target of developing technologies that achieve 90 percent carbon capture—with less than 35 percent increase in cost of 

electricity—that will be ready for commercial demonstration by 2020. 

Photo-excited cadmium 

selenide transfers electrons 

to titanium dioxide, allowing 

titanium dioxide to convert 

CO2 into other compounds. 

Light-Activated Catalyst Converts CO2 for Reuse

NETL scientists have developed a new light-activated catalyst, or photocatalyst, for converting CO2 and water 

from power plant emissions into methane, methanol, and other chemicals. The novel material is believed to 

be the first titania-based photocatalyst capable of reacting to visible light, which means that it can use natural 

light to produce energy—and then the energy to initiate the chemical reaction between CO2 and water. 

This improves the catalyst’s carbon-management efficiency and permits revenue from sales of the resulting 

chemicals to offset costs associated with carbon capture. 

This significant advance in the development of technologies for CO2 capture and reuse is detailed in the 

inaugural issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Vol. 1) published by the American Chemical Society. 

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 31

NETL Researchers Develop New 

Ionic Liquids for Carbon Capture—

NETL researchers have devised a robust 

method for CO2 capture by the synthesis 

of triazolium cations to create new ionic 

capture liquids. Important not only as 

capture solvents, ionic liquids are key to 

the potential use of membranes, which do 

not require regeneration as do solvent and 

sorbent technologies. This new method 

allows a wide range of functional groups to 

be easily placed on the triazole (C2H3N3) ring. 

The resulting triazolium cation can then be 

coupled with various anions to form unique 

ionic liquids with distinct properties. The 

inherent flexibility in this synthesis method 

makes it a powerful tool for creating 

ionic liquids tailored to particular capture 

applications. Several new ionic liquids have 

been synthesized and tested as solvents and 

supported ionic liquid membranes for CO2

capture. 

NETL Testing Shows 

Electrochemical Reuse of CO2

— 

NETL researchers have electrochemically 

reduced CO2 to ethylene at ambient 

temperature and pressure. The 

electrochemical reduction of CO2 was 

studied at lab scale using halide anions 

(potassium chloride, potassium bromide, 

or potassium iodide) as the electrolytes. 

Results of the work, described in 

Electrochimica Acta (Vol. 56, No. 1, 2010), 

suggest that the stronger the adsorption 

of these halide anions to the electrode, the 

more strongly CO2

 is restrained, resulting in 

a higher CO2 reduction current and a higher 

CO2

 conversion rate. Moreover, adsorption 

of halide anions onto the working electrode 

may impede hydrogen evolution—a 

competing reaction—by suppressing 

the adsorption of protons, promoting 

greater CO2 electrochemical reduction. This 

technique could be utilized as an alternative 

to geologic storage of CO2, with potential 

application in industrial and power plants. 

The resulting ethylene is a valuable product, 

widely used in many industries to create 

other chemical compounds. 

NETL Process Makes Beneficial 

Use of CO2

—Researchers at NETL 

have incorporated CO2 into polymeric 

materials similar to epoxy. Like epoxy, 

these materials are made by mixing two 

liquid components: a multifunctional cyclic 

carbonate and a multifunctional amine. 

Using novel chemistry, CO2 is incorporated 

into these materials, and the two liquid 

components react to form a cross-linked 

polymer (hydroxyurethane) that is strong 

and adheres well to aluminum and 

glass surfaces. In addition to their use as 

adhesives, these materials have potential 

application as sealants and binders for 

composites such as fiberglass and plywood. 

By developing technology that utilizes CO2

as a chemical feedstock in the preparation 

of useful products, NETL is working to 

reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases 

that must be geologically stored, as well 

as providing industry a means to partially 

offset storage costs through product sales. 
32

Carbon Capture 

NETL Discovery Could Produce 

Sequestration-Ready CO2 from 

Low-Temperature Combustion— 

Recent studies in chemical-looping 

combustion have considered the difficulty 

of reacting solid fuels (e.g., coal, waste 

streams) directly with solid metal oxides. 

To proceed at a practical rate, such solidto-solid reactions were assumed to require 

temperatures high enough to gasify the 

solid fuel or decompose the metal oxide. 

Now, NETL researchers have demonstrated 

that solid-to-solid reactions between 

copper oxide and carbon-rich fuels can be 

completed at much lower temperatures, 

with comparable rates, as long as adequate 

fuel-to-metal oxide contact is maintained. 

Theoretical analysis, flow reactor studies, 

and data from thermogravimetric and 

various spectroscopic analyses indicate 

that carbon induces the copper oxide bond 

to break, initiating combustion of carbon 

at temperatures significantly lower than 

required for spontaneous decomposition. 

This lower temperature of combustion may 

allow for reduced bed sintering tendencies 

and more reliable plant operation. A 

paper presenting evidence of this novel 

reaction mechanism for combustion of 

fossil fuels using oxygen from metal oxides 

for the production of sequestration-ready 

CO2 appears in the Elsevier publication 

Combustion and Flame Journal (Vol. 157, No. 

11, 2010). 

Oxy-combustion Tests Completed 

at Pilot Scale—A multi-campaign test 

program using a modified Siemens oxycombustion research burner was completed 

in the 1.2-megawatt thermal pilot-scale 

boiler facility at the University of Utah in Salt 

Lake City. The test campaigns are part of a 

research effort involving multiple partners 

led by Reaction Engineering International in 

cooperation with NETL to characterize and 

predict the impacts of CO2 flue gas recycle 

and burner feed design on corrosion, 

fouling, slagging, heat transfer, emissions, 

and other flame characteristics when 

oxy-combustion systems are retrofitted to 

existing coal-fired boilers. The research is 

providing key data for commercialization 

of oxy-combustion processes, which could 

prevent emissions of many pollutants while 

providing a highly concentrated stream of 

CO2

 for permanent storage or enhanced oil 

recovery without costly gas separation. 

Test Confirms Effectiveness 

of Oxy-combustion Retrofit 

Technology—Working with NETL, 

engineers at Alstom Power completed the 

third in a series of test campaigns designed 

to evaluate oxy-combustion using the 

15-megawatt thermal, tangentially fired 

boiler simulation facility in Windsor, CT. 

Conducted with high-sulfur coal obtained 

through the Illinois Clean Coal Institute, 

the general operation and combustion 

An NETL breakthrough oxycombustion concept under 

development is the chemicallooping combustion process. 

Chemical looping splits combustion 

into separate oxidation and 

reduction reactions. A metal (e.g., 

iron, nickel, copper, or manganese) 

oxide is used as an oxygen carrier, 

which then releases the oxygen in 

a reducing atmosphere, and the 

oxygen reacts with the fuel.

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 33

performance of the unit with flue gas 

recycle presented no significant technical 

issues and attained all desired test points 

and combustion conditions. A dry flue gas 

desulfurization unit controlled the amount 

of sulfur in the flue gas recycle. The testing 

complements prior tests with West Virginia 

bituminous and Powder River Basin coals. 

Data from this research are valuable for 

commercialization of oxy-combustion 

processes. Along with preventing pollutant 

emissions, these oxy-combustion processes 

could circumvent the cost of gas separation 

and provide a highly concentrated stream of 

CO2 for permanent storage or enhanced oil 

recovery. 

Follow-On Test Campaign 

Supports Initial Oxy-combustion 

Flue Gas Processing Unit Results—

Working with NETL, APCI (Air Products and 

Chemicals, Inc.) investigators successfully 

completed a second test run of the 

APCI oxy-combustion purification and 

compression unit. The APCI PDU (process 

development unit), which provides flue 

gas cooling, compression, and acid gas 

removal, processed a slipstream of flue 

gas from the oxy-combustion of Illinois 

high-sulfur bituminous coal in the Alstom 

15-megawatt thermal boiler simulation 

facility in Windsor, CT. While the first test 

campaign used low-sulfur West Virginia 

bituminous coal, the second campaign 

more rigorously tested the PDU’s sulfurremoval feature needed to operate Alstom’s 

oxy-combustion unit with recycled flue 

gas. Data from the test campaigns will 

help finalize a reaction model of the PDU 

system. The APCI technology may enable 

oxy-combustion systems to capture CO2

with the purity requirements for permanent 

storage, enhanced oil recovery, and other 

beneficial uses. 

Leading Metal Organic 

Framework for CO2

 Capture 

Identified—In cooperation with NETL, 

a project team led by UOP LLC discovered 

that favorable CO2

 adsorption at flue gas 

conditions is dominated by one particular 

structure type of MOF (metal organic 

framework) called M/DOBDC, where “M” 

is a metal such as zinc, cobalt, nickel, or 

magnesium and the “DOBDC” refers to the 

form of organic linker in the resultant MOF 

structure, dioxybenzenedicarboxylate. The 

magnesium/DOBDC has outperformed all 

MOF and zeolite materials evaluated to 

date, capturing approximately 25 percent 

by weight of CO2

 at flue gas conditions. A 

technical and economic analysis suggests 

that an MOF-based vacuum-pressure swing 

adsorption process could be less expensive 

than using amines to capture CO2

. 

Pulverized coal oxy-fuel combustion 

burns fossil fuels in a mixture of 

recirculated flue gas and oxygen, 

rather than air. The products of 

oxy-fuel combustion are just CO2

and water. The water is easily 

separated, producing a stream of 

CO2

 ready for sequestration. The 

above image shows single particle 

oxy-combustion measurements 

being taken.

FYi

Oxy-fuel Combustion 

Image courtesy of Sandia National 

Laboratory
34

Carbon Storage 

Once CO2 has been captured, it is injected deep underground in areas, such as depleted oil fields, unminable coal seams, and 

saline water-bearing geologic formations, for safe and effective storage. NETL leads the nation in innovating technologies for 

permanently storing CO2, with many pioneering developments on the horizon. We are also developing technologies to monitor 

CO2

 storage sites to ensure the gas is permanently confined in deep geologic formations. Projects currently underway are stationed 

across the United States as NETL partners with multiple organizations to advance safe and permanent storage technologies. 

NETL Successfully Simulates Coal 

Seam Carbon Storage—NETL has 

developed a new model to determine 

the geologic and mechanical responses 

of coal-seam systems to CO2

 storage. The 

new model has improved the ability of 

simulating coal permeability so it agrees 

with field data obtained from the Allison 

field in northwest New Mexico—the site 

of the world’s first enhanced coalbed 

methane-carbon storage field project. 

In addition to permeability, the model 

yields a better description of the roles of 

coal shrinkage and swelling, coal’s elastic 

properties, and porosity of fractures in the 

coal seam. The simulation also gives better 

estimates for geophysical parameters that 

are difficult to measure in the laboratory. 

Results of the study appear in a special 

section on CO2

 storage in the journal 

The Leading Edge (Vol. 29, No. 2, 2010), 

published by the Society of Exploration 

Geophysicists. 

NETL’s Seismic Surveys Track CO2

Movement Underground—NETL 

researchers and collaborators at the 

University of Pittsburgh have developed a 

correlation between acoustic wave velocity 

and relative CO2

 saturation that can be used 

to calibrate and refine the interpretation of 

3-D seismic reflection surveys. Discussed 

in a special section on CO2

 storage in The 

Leading Edge (Vol. 29, No. 2, 2010), the 

lab-scale study, conducted with actual 

reservoir rocks, shows the procedure 

could be employed to effectively track 

the movements of CO2 after injection for 

carbon storage or enhanced oil recovery. 

Tracking injected CO2 will help determine 

if a site is effective in keeping CO2 trapped 

underground, preventing it from being 

released into the atmosphere. 

Study of Offshore Geologic 

Storage Publicized by American 

Association of Petroleum 

Geologists—An article in the September 

2010 issue of The Explorer describes a firstof-a-kind study to investigate the potential 

for underground storage of CO2

 in offshore 

U.S. geologic formations. Launched in 

cooperation with NETL by researchers at the 

Bureau of Economic Geology, the project 

will evaluate new and historic data to 

identify at least one injection site within an 

As part of NETL’s diverse carbon 

sequestration research, scientists 

are studying chemical reactions in 

the reservoir. Shown here, the flow 

path of an acidic fluid through a 

fracture in cement is discolored by 

chemical reactions.

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
A key goal of NETL’s carbon 

sequestration research program is 

at least 99 percent retention of CO2

in underground reservoirs over a 

100-year period. Pictured here, an 

injection well head at a sequestration 

test site near Natchez, MS.

2010 NETL Accomplishments 35

area of Texas offshore state lands that could 

be suitable for the safe and permanent 

storage of CO2 from commercial CCUS 

(carbon capture, utilization, and storage) 

operations. Using a cable, researchers send 

high-energy sound waves into the shallow 

marine sediments. When they bounce 

back, the sound waves are converted 

into high-resolution images, much like 

a sonogram, to determine potential 

storage sites. Submerged state lands of 

the northern Gulf of Mexico offer geologic 

storage advantages, such as existing oil 

and gas infrastructure, available sources 

of industrial CO2

, reduced environmental 

risks to underground sources of drinking 

water (as compared to storage beneath 

land onshore), and state land ownership 

extending 12 nautical miles offshore—

compared to 3 miles for all other states 

except Florida. 

Canada and United States Renew 

Investment in Leading Carbon 

Capture and Storage Project— 

DOE Secretary Steven Chu and Canada’s 

Minister of Natural Resources Christian 

Paradis announced a total of $5.2 million in 

new funding for the Weyburn-Midale CO2

Monitoring and Storage project. To date, a 

record 18 million metric tons of CO2

 have 

been sequestered in the Weyburn and 

Midale oil fields in southern Saskatchewan 

as part of EOR (enhanced oil recovery) 

operations. EOR operations are expected to 

yield 215 million additional barrels of oil by 

2035, while storing 40 million metric tons 

of CO2

—the equivalent of taking nearly 

9 million cars off the road for an entire 

year. NETL represents DOE’s interest in this 

largest-ever full-scale CCUS field study to 

determine permanency and best practices 

of geologic sequestration in conjunction 

with EOR. Recognized as part of President 

Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s 

2009 United States-Canada Clean Energy 

Dialogue, the research project is conducted 

by the Petroleum Technology Research 

Centre with sponsorship from the DOE 

Office of Fossil Energy, Natural Resources 

Canada, and 14 other international 

government and industry sponsors from 

Canada, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, and 

the United States. 
Perfluorocarbon tracers in a syringe pump are added to CO2

 as it is 

injected underground at the Lower Michigan Basin saline aquifer 

sequestration test site near Gaylord, MI. 

36

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

A big part of keeping energy clean is 

preventing by-products like CO2 from being 

released into the atmosphere. We can 

remove CO2 from power plant emissions, 

but what can be done with it once we have 

it? If we store it, can we be sure it will not 

leak out and add to the greenhouse gas 

burden in our air?

To answer these questions, NETL is 

researching the permanent storage of CO2

in geologic reservoirs that have already 

stored fluids and gases for millions of years. 

Carbon sequestration involves capturing 

CO2

 emissions at their source, compressing 

the CO2

 into a liquid, and injecting it deep 

underground in rock formations that act as 

reservoirs. CO2 can be injected into confined 

rock reservoirs where it won’t escape, as 

well as depleted oil or natural gas fields to 

enhance resource recovery. In addition to 

capture and storage aspects, the success 

of carbon sequestration also depends 

on monitoring techniques, such as PFTs 

(perfluorocarbon tracers) used by NETL 

scientists, that ensure carbon sequestration 

is permanent and leak-free. 

When examining reservoirs as potential 

CO2

 storage targets, researchers seek out 

the ideal porosity, permeability, storage 

space, and seal to trap the liquid CO2

. Rock 

is often not as solid as it appears. On the 

microscopic level, rock can appear like 

a jar of marbles. The “marbles” represent 

grains in the rock or coal, while the open 

Perfluorocarbon Tracers Go with the Flow 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 37

spaces between the marbles are referred 

to as pores. Cracks also appear as spaces 

between the marbles. The way those grains 

are positioned defines the way the pores 

connect to determine a rock’s permeability. 

A rock with very connected pores, or 

lots of open spaces, is highly permeable. 

Injected CO2 will move into these pores, so 

high permeability is highly desirable for a 

reservoir. The opposite holds true for the 

caprock seal that keeps the CO2

 trapped. 

Because liquid CO2 tends to rise, a caprock 

seal with very low permeability is needed 

so fluids will not pass through. This caprock 

must also cover a reservoir that has enough 

volume to store millions of tons of liquid 

CO2. 

Once researchers have located an ideal 

site, the next critical step is to actualize 

technology that will monitor sequestration 

sites for leakage. PFTs are an effective way 

to monitor injected CO2

. PFTs are non-toxic, 

clear, colorless liquids injected with CO2

to easily track its migration, making them 

appealing for NETL to use in research. PFTs 

do not occur in nature and can be detected 

at extremely low concentrations, so they are 

easy to identify and track. 

Once the PFT and CO2 are injected, 

researchers can tell if the CO2

 plume is 

moving, and where, by testing gas samples 

from monitoring wells surrounding the 

injection site. A range of PFTs are available 

commercially, so researchers can use a 

different type in each injection well within 

an injection field, tailoring their efforts 

to specific wells. Tracking the PFTs helps 

researchers build an image of the reservoir, 

which can be used to predict how well 

CO2

 will remain sequestered in a particular 

reservoir, estimate the potential for leakage, 

and quantify the reservoir’s storage 

capacity. 

Increased interest in carbon sequestration 

has led to NETL’s small-scale and nearindustrial-scale pilot CO2

 injection projects 

for greenhouse gas mitigation, many of 

which are now including PFTs to study 

plume flow. Tracer measurements at an 

injection site in the San Juan Basin in New 

Mexico showed subsurface migration of the 

plume—lateral movement underground, 

away from the injection field. In another 

case, the plume was expected to migrate 

in one direction, but PFTs were detected 

at a well in the opposite direction, alerting 

researchers to the inconsistency. PFTs can 

also be used to distinguish between naturally 

occurring CO2

 and CO2 that has been injected, 

thus eliminating confusion if CO2 is detected at 

the surface.

As technologies for carbon storage mature, 

more tools for monitoring, such as PFTs, 

will become essential, ensuring that human 

health and safety and the host ecosystem are 

not adversely affected by sequestration 

projects. At NETL, researchers continue to 

embrace and develop new carbon storage 

technologies, with the constant goal of 

finding solutions for tomorrow’s energy 

challenges.

Depth profile sampling at the San Juan Basin 

sequestration test site. A sorbent tube at the 

bottom of each pipe detects perfluorocarbon 

tracers in the strata below or the atmosphere 

above.
38

Carbon Sequestration Partnerships 

Over 400 state agencies, universities, and private companies in 43 states and 4 Canadian provinces belong to the RCSP (Regional 

Carbon Sequestration Partnership) program. The RCSP program is developing effective CO2

 transport and storage solutions, as well 

as advancing public understanding of the process and tailoring these efforts to the needs and resources of its seven regions. NETL 

leads the Partnerships through management and funding, working groups, technical oversight, and conferences. Currently, CO2

injection testing is underway for Phases II and III of the program. The RCSP program remains the centerpiece of national efforts to 

commercialize carbon capture and storage technologies. 

Atlas III map of North 

America identifying 

stationary CO2 sources. 

Third Edition of Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada Released

In November, the Office of Fossil Energy released a new edition of its Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada, called 

Atlas III. The updated version describes current activities of the seven NETL-managed Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, 

including details about commercialization opportunities for carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies from each region.

Produced in cooperation with carbon sequestration experts from local, state, and federal agencies, as well as industry and academia, 

Atlas III contains updated information on stationary CO2

 emission sources, as well as the locations and CO2 storage potential of geologic 

formations across the United States and portions of Canada. Estimates suggest that these formations could store up to 5,900 years of 

CO2

 emissions. 

In addition, Atlas III outlines DOE’s Carbon Sequestration Program, international carbon capture and sequestration collaborations, 

projects, and regulatory issues. 

Atlas III is available in hard copy from NETL. It can also be accessed online from NATCARB (National Carbon Sequestration Database and 

Geographic Information System)—a tool that provides a view of carbon capture and storage potential in the United States and Canada. 

NATCARB is updated every 3 months, while the hard copy of the Atlas is updated every 2 years.

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 39

Midwest Geologic Sequestration 

Consortium Regional Partnership 

Proceeds to Injection Phase of 

Large-Scale Demonstration—

NETL approved continuation of the 

development phase of the MGSC (Midwest 

Geologic Sequestration Consortium) 

Regional Partnership’s effort to inject and 

monitor 1,000 metric tons of CO2 per day at 

a depth of 7,000 feet into the Mount Simon 

sandstone formation of the Illinois Basin. 

More than 1 million metric tons of CO2 from 

a nearby Archer Daniels Midland ethanol 

facility in Decatur, IL, will be compressed, 

piped, and injected into the bottom 400 feet of 

the 1,300-foot thick formation over a 3-year 

period beginning in early 2011. MGSC is led 

by the Illinois State Geological Survey. 

Southeast Regional Carbon 

Sequestration Partnership 

Reaches CO2

 Injection Milestone— 

More than 2.5 million metric tons of CO2

have been injected at depths greater than 

10,000 feet into the lower Tuscaloosa 

Formation near Natchez, MS, as part of a 

project by the SECARB (Southeast Regional 

Carbon Sequestration) Partnership. 

Beginning with EOR (enhanced oil 

recovery) operations conducted at the 

Cranfield site by Denbury Resources, 

Inc., the SECARB project proceeded to 

demonstrate the feasibility of injecting 

CO2

 from Jackson Dome, near Jackson, 

MS, into a regionally significant, deep 

brine-bearing formation along with the 

use of multiple tools to monitor subsurface 

movement of the injected CO2

. The 

project will help determine whether the 

immediate commercial benefit of EOR can 

offset infrastructure development costs for 

follow-on, large volume, long-term storage 

of CO2

 in underlying saline formations. 

SECARB is a public-private partnership led 

by the Southern States Energy Board, which 

represents 11 southeastern states. 

SECARB Completes Phase II CO2

Injections—The last SECARB Phase II 

injection has been completed: injection 

operations for the Black Warrior Basin Coal 

Seam project located near Tuscaloosa, 

AL, have concluded. An existing coalbed 

methane well was converted for the CO2

injection, and three wells were drilled to 

monitor reservoir pressure, gas composition, 

and the CO2 plume. A total of 277 tons of 

CO2 were injected into coal seams of the 

Pratt, Mary Lee, and Black Creek coal groups 

within the upper Pottsville Formation. The 

targeted seams range from 940 to 1,800 

feet deep and from 6 inches to 6 feet thick. 

Coal in the Black Warrior Basin—an area of 

about 23,000 square miles in northwestern 

Alabama and northeastern Mississippi—has 

the potential to sequester 1–2 gigatons 

of CO2—approximately the amount that 

Alabama coal-fired power plants emit in 

two decades—and CO2

-enhanced coalbed 

methane recovery could extract another 

1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the 

reservoirs. 

Permit Issued to Big Sky Carbon 

Sequestration Partnership for 

World’s First CO2

 Injection into 

Continental Basalt Formation—

The Washington State Department of 

Ecology issued a permit—the world’s first 

for a continental flood basalt sequestration 

project—for the pilot-scale injection of 

CO2 near Wallula, WA. The BSCSP (Big Sky 

Carbon Sequestration Partnership), a 

public-private partnership led by Montana 

State University, plans to inject 1,000 metric 

tons of CO2 over 14 days into a candidate 

injection test zone, between 2,716 and 

2,870 feet deep. The maximum working 

pressure at 2,720 feet will not exceed 1,893 

pounds per square inch, and the radius 

of the injected supercritical CO2 is not 

expected to extend beyond 180 feet per 

year after injection begins. Simulations 

predict no CO2 migration into the overlying 

Slack Canyon flow interior, even after a year. 
40

Carbon Sequestration Partnerships 

Drilling Completed for 

Observation Well at Midwest 

CO2

 Storage Site—Drilling operations 

organized by MGSC are complete for a 7,264 

foot-deep observation well that will be used 

to monitor injection of 1 million metric tons 

of compressed CO2 piped from the Archer 

Daniels Midland ethanol facility in Decatur, 

IL, over a 3-year period. The CO2 will be 

injected into the Mount Simon sandstone 

formation—a potentially vast CO2 storage 

reservoir within the Illinois Basin. In 

conjunction with drilling operations, core 

samples were taken from the bottom 400-

foot injection zone of the formation, as well 

as from top- and mid-regions to evaluate 

permeability variation. The core data will 

improve the accuracy of computational 

models used to predict migration pathways 

of the CO2 plume during and following 

injection. Core samples of the overlying 

500 foot-thick Eau Claire Shale formation 

and other cap rock formations were also 

recovered to characterize their sealing 

properties. MGSC is led by the Illinois State 

Geological Survey. 

Best Practices Manual for 

Carbon Capture and Storage 

Public Outreach and Education 

Published—The RSCP program has 

released a new manual to recommend 

best practices for public outreach and 

education for CO2 storage projects. The 

recommendations are based on lessons 

learned by the seven members of the RCSP 

during the first 6 years of the partnership 

program. The new publication, titled Best 

Practices for Public Outreach and Education 

for Carbon Storage Projects, is intended to 

assist project developers in understanding 

and applying best outreach practices 

for siting and operating CO2

 storage 

projects. The manual provides practical, 

experience-based guidance on designing 

and conducting effective public outreach 

activities. The best practices highlighted 

in the new manual take into account the 

social context within which projects are 

deployed, addressing the critical social 

implications of implementing CO2

 storage 

projects across a variety of U.S. geologic 

and cultural settings. Conducting effective 

public outreach will not necessarily ensure 

project success, but underestimating its 

importance can contribute to significant 

delays, increased costs, and lack of 

community acceptance. 

Terrestrial CO2 Storage Practices 

Demonstrated in Great Plains 

Region of the United States and 

Canada—A field test demonstrating the 

best approaches for terrestrial CO2

 storage 

in the heartland of North America has 

been successfully completed by one of the 

RCSPs. The PCOR (Plains CO2 Reduction) 

Partnership, a collaboration of over 80 U.S. 

and Canadian stakeholders, conducted 

the field test at sites in the Prairie Pothole 

region. The area contains thousands 

of shallow wetlands called “potholes” 

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

Initial drilling at the launch of a 

geologic sequestration project that 

plans to deposit one million metric 

tons of CO2

 into the ground by 

2012.
2010 NETL Accomplishments 41

that were formed by retreating glaciers 

approximately 10,000 years ago. Terrestrial 

carbon storage involves removal of CO2

from the atmosphere using photosynthesis 

of plants, resulting in storage of the carbon 

in biomass and soils. Participating PCOR 

Partnership organizations—including 

Ducks Unlimited, Inc., the U.S. Geological 

Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife 

Research Center, and North Dakota State 

University—collected soil and gas samples 

from restored grasslands, native prairie, 

cropland, and wetlands throughout 

Montana, North and South Dakota, 

Minnesota, and Iowa. In addition to 

carbon uptake and storage measurements, 

methane and nitrous oxide gas levels were 

also measured to estimate the net change 

in greenhouse gas levels.

Test Demonstrates Viability 

of Simultaneous CO2

 Storage 

and Enhanced Oil Recovery in 

Carbonate Reservoirs—A field test 

conducted by a PCOR Partnership team 

of regional partners has demonstrated 

that using CO2

 in an EOR method dubbed 

“huff-and-puff” can help assess the carbon 

storage potential of geologic formations 

while tapping America’s valuable 

oil resources. The PCOR Partnership 

collaborated with Eagle Operating, Inc., 

to complete the test in the Northwest 

McGregor Oil Field in Williams County, 

ND. The huff-and-puff method of EOR 

proceeds in three phases: injection 

(the huff stage), “soaking” for a short 

period of time, and production (the puff 

stage). Compared to other huff-and-puff 

operations, the PCOR Partnership test was 

unique because the depth (approximately 

8,050 feet) was among the deepest, 

pressure (3,000 pounds per square inch) 

and temperature (180 °F) were among 

the highest, and the formation was a 

carbonate rather than clastic reservoir. 

The test also determined that two 

Schlumberger technologies—a reservoir 

saturation tool and vertical seismic 

profiling—may be effective tools for 

detecting and monitoring small-volume 

CO2 plumes in deep carbonate reservoirs 

to ensure safe and permanent storage. 

Project outcomes may be applicable to 

many other sites in the PCOR Partnership 

region and in similar settings globally.

NETL Releases CO2 Storage 

Best Practices Manual—A best 

practices manual developed by NETL, 

Site Screening, Site Selection, and Initial 

Characterization for Storage of CO2

 in Deep 

Geologic Formations, focuses on the most 

promising methods for assessing potential 

CO2 geologic storage sites. This resource 

intended for future project developers 

and CO2 producers and transporters can 

also be used to apprise government 

agencies of best practices for exploring 

potential CO2 geologic storage sites and 

to inform the general public about the 

rigorous analyses conducted for potential 

storage sites. Developing reliable and 

consistent standards and operational 

characteristics for CO2 collection, 

injection, and storage provides the basis 

for legal and regulatory framework and 

encourages widespread global carbon 

capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)

deployment. This newest manual, the 

fourth in a series, communicates rigorous 

analyses and guidelines for paring down 

potential subregions into qualified 

sites for geologic storage. It provides a 

framework for reporting resources and will 

be instrumental in developing consistent 

industry-standard terminology and 

guidelines for communicating storage 

resources and storage capacity estimates, 

including project risk, to stakeholders. It 

can be found on NETL’s website along with 

other documents and reference materials 

related to CCUS.
42

Carbon Sequestration Partnerships 

New Roadmap Updates Carbon 

Capture and Storage Project 

Status—An overview of RD&D (research, 

development, and demonstration) efforts 

to supply cost-effective, advanced CCUS 

technologies for coal-based power systems 

is the focus of a new roadmap published by 

DOE. Prepared by NETL, the latest DOE/NETL 

Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage RD&D 

Roadmap outlines the program’s efforts to 

develop advanced CCUS technology. CCUS 

is considered by many experts as a strategic 

component in reducing greenhouse gas 

emissions and mitigating climate change. As 

outlined in the roadmap, DOE’s Clean Coal 

Research Program integrates advances and 

lessons learned from fundamental research, 

technology development, and large-scale 

demonstration. 

Study Confirms NETL Research 

on Monitoring of Carbon Capture 

and Storage Sites—In another step 

toward improved scientific understanding 

of potential geologic CO2

 storage impacts, 

a DOE-sponsored study has confirmed 

previous NETL research showing that proper 

site selection and monitoring is essential 

for helping anticipate and mitigate possible 

risks. “Potential Impacts of Leakage from 

Deep CO2

 Geosequestration on Overlying 

Freshwater Aquifers,” published in the 

October 26, 2010, edition of Environmental 

Science & Technology, presents the results of 

a year-long study investigating the impact 

of CO2

 injection into different geologic 

formations and the possible dissolution of 

metals from specific rocks that naturally 

contain high concentrations of these metals. 

The researchers incubated core samples 

from a variety of freshwater aquifers with 

CO2

 for more than 300 days and found 

increased acidity and metal concentrations 

in water surrounding the samples. They 

concluded that “the relative severity of 

the impact of leaks on overlying drinking 

water aquifers should be considered in 

the selection of CO2 sequestration sites.” 

This confirms earlier research conducted 

by NETL, several other DOE national 

laboratories, the U.S. Geological Survey, and 

others indicating that carbon storage sites 

must be carefully selected and monitored. 

Field Test Finds Potential for 

Permanent Storage of CO2

in Lignite Seams—A field test 

sponsored by DOE has demonstrated that 

opportunities to permanently store carbon 

in unminable seams of lignite may be more 

widespread than previously documented. 

The PCOR Partnership collaborated with 

Eagle Operating, Inc., to complete the 

field test in Burke County, ND. Testing 

demonstrated that the injected CO2 did 

not significantly move away from the 

wellbore and was contained within the 

coal seam for the duration of a 3-month 

monitoring period. The partnership also 

evaluated a variety of carbon storage 

operation conditions to determine their 

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy

The DOE/NETL Carbon Dioxide 

Capture and Storage RD&D 

Roadmap was prepared by NETL’s 

Innovations for Existing Plants and 

Carbon Sequestration Programs. 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 43

applicability to similar coal seams. While 

the results did not change the initial 

regional storage capacity estimates, they 

do suggest that suitable lignite seams are 

potential targets for carbon storage. The 

study also investigated the feasibility of 

combining CO2

 storage with enhanced 

methane production. When CO2 comes in 

contact with coal, including low-rank coals 

like lignite, the CO2

 molecules physically 

attach to the coal. In many cases, the CO2

displaces methane, the primary component 

of natural gas, making it easier to recover. 

This combination potentially offers both a 

near-term economic return and a long-term 

environmental benefit. 

Manual Studies 11 Major CO2

Geologic Storage Formations—

A manual developed by NETL contains a 

comprehensive study of 11 geologic 

formations suitable for permanent 

underground CO2

 storage. With data from 

the Regional Carbon Sequestration 

Partnerships and other sponsored research 

activities, the manual provides a better 

understanding of characteristics of geologic 

formations that could be used for carbon 

storage. The manual investigates 11 major 

classes of geologic reservoirs for formations 

that can store large volumes of CO2, receive 

CO2 at an efficient and economic rate of 

injection, and safely retain the CO2

 over long 

time periods. It builds on lessons learned 

from CO2

 behavior in geologic reservoirs 

during earlier investigations. NETL 

evaluated the geology and depositional 

environments of each of the sponsored 

projects to determine if additional efforts 

are needed. The resulting manual allows 

carbon storage participants to better 

understand depositional environments and 

predict the behavior of CO2

 within those 

environments. With this information, 

government agencies and their project 

partners and private investors can optimize 

their storage efforts, saving time and funds.

Study Shows “Sour” Gas Streams 

Safe for Carbon Storage—Gas 

streams containing high levels of both CO2

and hydrogen sulfide can be safely used 

for CCUS operations, according to results 

from a field test completed by the PCOR 

Partnership. PCOR’s test also demonstrated 

that carbon sequestration using “sour” 

gas streams can be combined successfully 

with EOR and hydrogen sulfide disposal. 

Some of these same geologic formations 

may also be fit for large-scale storage 

of CO2

 streams containing significant 

quantities of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic and 

flammable sour gas that smells like rotten 

eggs. Results from the Zama field test in 

Alberta, Canada, will help in determining 

the technical and economic viability of 

CO2

 and sour gas storage and support the 

ultimate deployment of commercial-scale 

projects. About 33,500 tons of sour gas 

were injected, simultaneously storing 

CO2

, disposing of hydrogen sulfide, and 

increasing oil recovery by reducing the 

viscosity of the crude oil and pushing 

it toward the production well. Apache 

Canada, Ltd., undertook the injection and 

hydrocarbon recovery processes, while the 

PCOR Partnership conducted monitoring, 

verification, and accounting activities 

to verify and validate the containment 

integrity of the reservoir. 
44

Demand-Side Efficiency 

In supporting the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE-EERE), project management expertise at NETL has 

been instrumental in promoting the use of alternative fuels, helping consumers conserve energy, and advancing the state of the art 

in high-efficiency lighting. Annual energy savings from solid-state lighting by 2030 could be approximately 190 terawatt-hours, or 

the equivalent annual electrical output of about 24 large (1,000 megawatt) power plants.

Recovery Act Milestone: 300,000 Homes Weatherized

In January of 2011, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that states 

and territories across the country have weatherized more than 300,000 low-income homes 

under the Recovery Act, a major milestone in the Department’s efforts to reduce home energy 

bills for families.

The weatherization program, which NETL helps manage, is helping families save money on 

their energy bills by improving home energy efficiency with upgrades like insulation, airsealing, and more efficient heating and cooling systems. The program has also trained a new 

generation of clean energy workers and currently employs more than 15,000 people. 

“Through the weatherization program,” said Secretary Chu, “we are laying the groundwork for a 

broader efficiency industry in the United States that will help grow our economy while saving 

money for American families.” 

Weatherization assistance reduces energy consumption for low-income families 35 percent on 

average, saving families about $400 on their heating and cooling bills in the first year alone. 

Nationwide, the weatherization of 300,000 homes is estimated to save $161 million in energy 

costs in just the first year. 

The Weatherization Assistance Program 

enables low-income families to 

permanently reduce their energy bills by 

making their homes more energy efficient.

Typically, 17 percent of the total 

annual income for a low-income 

household is spent on energy, 

compared to 4 percent for other 

households. Through DOE’s 

WAP (Weatherization Assistance 

Program), NETL and the DOE-EERE’s 

Golden Field Office collaborate with 

state and local agencies to help 

these homes become more energy 

efficient, reducing their annual gas 

heating consumption by 32 percent. 

Each dollar invested through WAP 

leverages $1.54 in other federal, 

state, utility, and private resources, 

and returns $2.73 in economic 

and environmental benefits. 

Weatherization measures reduce 

CO2

 emissions by 1 metric ton per 

weatherized home, or one-third the 

average emissions of an automobile. 

Weatherization 

Assistance Program 

Awards Federal Grants

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 45

Energy-saving houses built as part of the NETL-managed Villa 

Trieste project. 

Image courtesy of Pulte Homes 

NETL-Supported Project Lowers Homeowner Power Bills

For residents of Pulte Homes’ Villa Trieste, “green” means more than just a healthier 

environment. It also means lower power bills. 

Pulte Homes’185-unit green community was developed in partnership with Nevada Energy 

and the University of Nevada and aided by an NETL-managed grant through the DOE Office 

of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. Each home in the community is designed to 

minimize energy use, especially during “peak” hours—periods of time each day during 

which electricity prices are highest.

Solar panels are installed on roofs, a community battery stores power for use during peak 

hours, and interactive smart meters—intelligent computer agents—help homeowners 

individually reduce their electricity use. They will also help evaluate homeowner 

participation during the project. In addition, developers used “Environments for Living” 

methods to build the community’s structures. Energy-conserving features such as highefficiency lighting, low-e (low-emissivity) windows, and airtight construction have earned 

the buildings Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. Each 

home is also equipped with high-efficiency toilets, low-flow faucets, and ENERGY STAR 

appliances.

Saving homeowners money, conserving power, and protecting the environment—these 

goals are being realized at Villa Trieste today.
46

Demand-Side Efficiency

LEDs use tiny inorganic 

semiconductors to create an 

intense point source of light. OLEDs 

are made of organic polymers 

and emit a soft diffuse light over a 

relatively large area. Both promise 

to be 10 times more efficient than 

incandescent lighting.

NETL-Managed Projects Improve 

Lighting Systems—NETL supports 

DOE-EERE with project management 

expertise that has been instrumental in 

advancing the state of the art in high-efficiency 

lighting. By 2030, annual energy savings from 

solid-state lighting could be approximately 

190 terawatt-hours, or the equivalent 

annual electrical output of about 24 large 

(1,000 megawatt) power plants.

• Researchers at DuPont Displays have 

demonstrated the application of low-cost 

solution deposition techniques for 

manufacturing large-area OLEDs (organic 

light emitting diodes). Produced at the 

DuPont Displays pilot-line located in 

Santa Barbara, CA, the 4-inch diagonal, 

square lighting panels mounted in two 

light boxes were attached to a controller 

that allowed the light to be color-tuned 

by individually adjusting the output of 

red, green, and blue pixels.

• Osram Sylvania has demonstrated a down 

light luminaire that achieves 1,256 lumens 

at an efficacy of 68 lumens per watt—very 

close to the project goal of 1,300 lumens 

at 70 lumens per watt. The white light is 

generated by an array of blue LEDs (light 

emitting diodes) covered by a phosphorcoated glass disk. Osram expects to reach 

its goal by improving the phosphor, 

optical, electronic, and thermal systems of 

the luminaire. 

• Philips Lumileds Lighting Company has 

demonstrated an LED-based source that 

produces a light output of 811 lumens 

with an efficacy of 99 lumens per watt—

very near the project goal of 800 lumens 

of warm white-light output at100 lumens 

per watt. The 2 x 2 array of 1-mm2

 LEDs 

exhibits a correlated color temperature of 

3307 Kelvin. 

• Delivering more than 400 lumens with 

an efficacy of 69 lumens per watt, new 

LED components developed at Cree, Inc., 

are smaller, brighter, and more efficient 

than previous products. Conventional 

20-watt halogen MR16 products deliver 

up to 350 lumens, but with an efficacy of 

less than 20 lumens per watt. Other LED 

MR16 products can reach 50 lumens per 

watt, but CALiPER (Commercially Available 

LED Product Evaluation and Reporting) 

tests show they typically deliver less than 

half the light of conventional products. 

An LED-based MR16 replacement lamp 

could eventually deliver as much light as 

a conventional lamp but with three times 

the efficiency. 

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 47

Clean Cities Initiative Wins 

Golden Bullet Award—DOE’s CCI 

(Clean Cities Initiative) received the Golden 

Bullet Award for speed and success in 

deploying alternative fuel and advanced 

technology vehicles through the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Established 

in 1993, CCI is part of the Vehicle Technology 

Program within EERE. CCI projects 

coordinated through NETL are designed 

to reduce petroleum consumption in the 

transportation sector by advancing the use 

of alternative fuel vehicles, idle reduction 

technologies, hybrid electric vehicles, fuel 

blends, and fuel economy. CCI is responsible 

for managing $300 million in Recovery 

Coal

Renewables

Natural Gas

Nuclear

Oil & Other Liquids

U.S. Electricity Generation by Fuel 

2009 By 2035

Fuel cells have unique characteristics 

that make them robust and efficient 

electricity providers. Integrated 

solid oxide fuel cell system designs 

are nearly twice as efficient as 

conventional power systems fueled 

with pulverized coal. These systems 

also generate almost half the CO2

and a fraction of the nitrogen and 

sulfur oxides. 

Why fuel cells? 

Act funding to support the investments 

made by transit authorities and state and 

local governments in clean vehicles and 

alternative fuel infrastructure. Twenty-five 

cost-shared projects will put more than 

9,000 alternative-fuel and energy-efficient 

vehicles on the road, establish 542 refueling 

locations, and install more than 1,000 electric 

charging stations nationwide. These projects, 

which support local coalitions that promote 

the growth of alternative fuels and energy 

efficient vehicles, include the use of natural 

and renewable gas, propane, ethanol, 

biodiesel, electricity, and hybrid technologies 

and will displace 38 million gallons of 

petroleum annually.
48

Air, Water, Land 

NETL’s scientists and engineers have a mandate to protect and conserve our air, water, and land resources while ensuring we have 

economic, abundant, and secure energy supplies to meet the needs of the nation. In this pursuit, NETL is dedicated to developing 

innovative or improved technologies for capturing air pollutants such as mercury and NOx (nitrogen oxides); treating and 

reclaiming water used in the production of oil, gas, and coal; responsibly using water in the production of electrical power; and 

remediating soil that was contaminated by historical, energy-related activities. NETL’s work yields technologies that will make our 

country—and our world—a cleaner place. 

The Centribaric centrifuge 

can recover tons of waste 

coal for energy use.

Image courtesy of 

Decanter Machine, Inc. 

NETL-Supported CentribaricTM Centrifuge Turns Waste Coal into Energy Resource

Every year, U.S. coal producers discard up to 2 billion tons of moisture-laden fines (very fine, wet coal particles) as slurry in containment 

ponds or impoundments because the moisture left over in fines processed through conventional dewatering systems leaves them 

unmarketable. 

Now, an exciting new technology is available that can turn this waste coal into a viable energy resource. The CentribaricTM centrifuge, 

developed by Virginia Tech with support from NETL’s Hydrogen and Clean Fuels Program, takes the wet sludge and wrings dry coal 

fines from it, working much like the spin cycle of a washing machine with the addition of compressed air. The centrifuge can enable the 

reclamation and profitable use of billions of tons of what is now considered waste coal, including 70–90 million tons of coal fines that are 

currently added to slurry impoundments each year. 

The Centribaric centrifuge also offers the possibility of creating jobs in the recovery industry while reducing the volume of waste 

impoundments in the environment without the expense and emissions of conventional thermal drying.

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 49

Canadian Tests Show 

Effectiveness of NETL MercuryRemoval Process—CanmetENERGY, the 

Canadian leader in clean energy research 

and technology development, extensively 

tested the ability of NETL’s patented 

photochemical oxidation process (originally 

called the GP-254 Process) at lab scale, 

with flue gas slipstreams from a vertical 

combustor burning Saskatchewan lignite, 

and from a mini-circulating fluidized-bed 

combustor burning subbituminous Powder 

River Basin coal. Available for license, the 

process utilizes ultraviolet light to convert 

elemental mercury in flue gas to a more 

readily captured oxidized form. Obtaining 

as much as 91 percent oxidation of mercury 

at lab scale and 66 percent oxidation of 

mercury in the slipstream tests, the Canmet 

researchers concluded the method merits 

further development. 

NETL-Developed NOx

Management Technology 

Patented—Fossil Energy Research 

Corporation of Laguna Hills, CA, received a 

U.S. patent for technology developed under 

the Office of Fossil Energy’s Innovations for 

Existing Plants Program. The nonintrusive 

monitoring system provides a real-time 

view of catalyst deactivation within SCR 

(selective catalytic reduction) units used to 

control NOx released from the combustion 

of coal. Developed in collaboration between 

NETL, Southern Company, and the Electric 

Power Research Institute, the Knoxcheck 

Online Catalyst Activity Test system enables 

optimized catalyst management for 

year-round SCR operation by predicting 

remaining catalyst life and evaluating 

catalyst replacement options without 

requiring a costly unit outage to obtain 

and analyze catalyst samples. Fossil Energy 

Research Corporation recently received 

the first commercial purchase order for the 

catalyst. 

Report Cites Coal Plant 

Wastewater’s Total Maximum 

Daily Loads—Argonne National 

Laboratory researchers, working under 

the Office of Fossil Energy’s Existing Plants 

Research and Development program 

implemented by NETL, produced a 

report on the impact of state-regulated 

TMDLs (total maximum daily loads) on 

coal-fired power station wastewater 

operations—including cooling water, flue 

gas desulfurization, and ash handling, as 

well as coal-pile and other storm-water 

runoff. Each point and nonpoint source 

discharging to a water body is allocated 

a fraction of the TMDL allowed for a 

pollutant, with some allocation held in 

reserve as a margin of safety. The report 

examines three rivers serving coal-fired 

power plants: the Roanoke River (VA, NC), 

the Monongahela River (PA, WV), and the 

Susquehanna River, which is the largest 

source of water for the Chesapeake Bay 

(NY, PA, MD). Over 175 TMDLs are operative 

along the more than 6,000 impaired 

watershed segments on these rivers. As new 

TMDLs are developed and existing ones 

become more stringent, the most likely 

pollutants to affect the power industry are 

metals (mercury and other heavy metals), 

nitrogen, excessive heat and temperature 

changes, PCBs, phosphorus, storm water 

sediment, pollutants associated with acid 

mine drainage (aluminum, iron, manganese, 

and acidity), and pollutants associated with 

salinity (total dissolved solids and chlorides). 

Novel Sorbents Stabilize Metals 

in Coal-Fired Power Plant 

Wastewater—Working under an 

NETL-administered grant funded through 

the Office of Fossil Energy’s University Coal 

Research Program, researchers at Texas 

A&M University have found that microand nano-sized iron sulfide and disulfide 

sorbents have the ability to remove arsenic, 

mercury, and selenium from ash and 

scrubber-pond effluent by producing 

solid phases of the pollutants that 

are stable when disposed in landfills. 

Stability after disposal is important 

to ensure that removal of these 

compounds from wastewaters will not 

result in contamination of soils and 

groundwater. Methods for producing 

these inexpensive sorbent materials 

reliably and economically could improve 

the environmental performance of coalfired power plants. 

Report Assesses Impact of 

Water Shortages on Power 

Plant Operations—In a report 

titled Water Vulnerabilities for Existing 

Coal-Fired Power Plants, Argonne 

National Laboratory researchers 

working under the Office of Fossil 

Energy’s Existing Plants Research and 

Development program implemented 

by NETL have identified 347 coal-fired 

plants that are vulnerable to water 

demand and supply concerns. The study 

uses GIS (geographical information 

system) and plant-specific data for 

more than 500 plants in the NETL Coal 

Power Plant Database. Moreover, the 

GIS-based study provides an overview 

of the general proximity of vulnerable 

plants to locations of nontraditional 

water sources, which the Office of Fossil 

Energy’s Research and Development 

program is evaluating as substitutes for 

a portion of freshwater used in power 

plants. The identification of vulnerable 

power plants, as well as the location of 

available alternative water sources, will 

help avert power outages caused by 

water shortages.
50

Air, Water, Land 

Mine Pool Water Is an 

Environmentally Friendly 

Alternative for Power Plant 

Cooling—Working in cooperation with 

NETL, West Virginia University researchers 

have evaluated the potential economic and 

environmental benefits of using mine water 

as an alternative to traditional freshwater 

supplies when operating a 320-megawatt 

power generation facility fired by waste coal 

left from mining operations. The facility is 

to be located in Washington County, PA. 

The study shows that, in addition to lower 

water acquisition and delivery costs, using 

the colder mine water from the five mines 

adjacent to the proposed Beech Hollow 

Plant would increase operating efficiency 

by lowering turbine backpressure. Greater 

efficiency means more electricity can be 

generated from less fuel while yielding 

environmental benefits in the form of 

reduced emissions. The study provides a 

framework for systematically evaluating 

the hydrologic, chemical, engineering, 

and environmental factors that need to 

be considered in using mine water as 

an alternative to traditional freshwater 

supplies. 

Flue Gas Water-Capture 

Technology Tests Completed—

Working with NETL and industrial partners, 

investigators at the University of North 

Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research 

Center have completed pilot-scale tests 

aimed at the recovery of water from flue 

gas using an aqueous solution of calcium 

chloride as a drying agent. The LDDS (liquid 

desiccant dehumidification system) recycles 

the desiccant solution between an absorber 

tower (packed bed or spray) and a vacuum 

flash vaporization-and-condensation stage 

for recovering water and re-strengthening 

the solution. Testing was performed with 

flue gas produced from the oxy-combustion 

of coal. The gas was cleaned of sulfur oxide 

and particulates and scrubbed of CO2

 with 

an amine-based process. Although the low 

heat recovered from a condensing flue gas 

heat exchanger precluded auto-thermal 

operation, and chemical treatment was 

needed to adjust the desiccant solution’s 

pH, novel integration strategies to 

distribute the capital expenses and energy 

requirements among several power plant 

functions could make the LDDS concept 

attractive. 

Marcellus Shale Frac Water 

Treatment Initiated—A project 

team led by Altela, Inc., working with 

NETL, has installed a frac flow-back water 

treatment system at a well site in Indiana 

County, PA. Frac water is produced during 

hydraulic fracturing, a method used to 

fracture rock in the production of natural 

gas or oil. The project team, consisting of 

Altela, CWM Environmental, Inc., and BLX, 

Inc., has successfully deployed Altela’s 

patented mobile desalination system to 

“My favorite part of my job is 

solving problems that people 

can’t seem to be able to solve 

or that have simple solutions 

and they just look past them.” 

Bill Ayers

NETL researcher

The Science of Sustainability

Clean Energy
2010 NETL Accomplishments 51

treat frac flow-back and produced water 

directly at the wellhead in the Marcellus 

Shale. The Altela water treatment system 

removes all contaminates from the frac 

flow-back water generated from hydraulic 

fracturing and natural gas production. 

To date, approximately 275,000 gallons 

of Marcellus Shale frac flow-back water 

have been treated and purified at the 

well site, resulting in the production of 

approximately 182,380 gallons of clean 

distilled water. This successful NETL-funded 

demonstration project has permitted Altela 

to accelerate its commercialization efforts 

with development and deployment of the 

recently released AltelaRain® 600 Module 

that can treat 600 barrels (25,300 gallons) 

of fluid per day. 

NETL Method Measures 

Subsurface Water Interaction 

with Coal Utilization 

By-Product—Using strontium isotopes, 

NETL scientists quantified the extent to 

which mine water interacts with grout 

containing coal utilization by-products. The 

grout, consisting of 98 percent fluidized-bed 

combustion ash and fly ash with 2 percent 

Portland cement, is used in remediation 

at the inactive Omega Coal Mine in West 

Virginia. The ratio of strontium isotopes 

in the mine water clearly distinguished 

discharges from grouted and non-grouted 

areas, whereas conventional chemical 

analysis could not. Based on results of the 

study, water that interacted with the grout 

received 30–40 percent of its strontium 

from the grout mixture, suggesting the 

grout is chemically eroding at a rate of 

approximately 0.04 percent per year. The 

same approach is now being used to study 

the interaction of subsurface CO2

-laden 

waters with geologic media at carbon 

storage sites. The February 2010 issue of the 

Elsevier journal Applied Geochemistry (Vol. 

25, No. 2, 2010) describes the study.

Industry Shows Interest in NETL 

Pipeline Inspection Sensor—NETL 

researchers are continuing discussions with 

interested commercial companies who, 

at the recent American Gas Association 

Conference, learned of NETL’s novel 

capacitance sensor technique for detecting 

changes in the dielectric properties 

of plastic pipe material. Changes in 

capacitance have been successfully used 

to identify discontinuities, which would 

indicate potential trouble spots or leak 

points in plastic pipeline. The researchers 

are also looking at similar applications 

such as pre-installation inspection of 

plastic pipe fusion joints to ensure pipeline 

integrity. The amount of plastic pipeline 

used in the natural gas transmission and 

distribution network across the United 

States continues to increase as new 

capacity is added and aging metal pipes 

are replaced with polyethylene pipe.

NETL-Developed Toxicology 

Technique Validated—Results from 

five independent laboratories completing a 

round-robin study of the SPME (solid phase 

micro-extraction) method of detecting 

PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) 

were accepted by the technical committee 

at ASTM International, an organization 

that develops international standards for 

materials, products, systems, and services 

used in construction, manufacturing, 

and transportation. By measuring the 

concentration of PAHs in pore water 

rather than in sediment, SPME predicts 

more accurately PAH bioavailability and 

environmental effects than does current 

practice. Developed in cooperation with 

NETL at the University of North Dakota’s 

Energy & Environmental Research Center, 

the method has been provisionally 

accepted as ASTM Standard Test Method 

D7363-07, and the round robin test results 

now warrant full acceptance. Because PAH 

bioavailability decreases over time, the 

approach promises to reduce to a small 

fraction the quantity of soil or sediment 

requiring remediation to fully protect the 

environment.

CUBs (coal utilization by-products) 

are the solid materials, such as ash, 

slag, and desulfurization gypsum, 

formed during the combustion or 

gasification of coal for electric power 

generation. Instead of depositing 

CUBs in ash ponds or landfills, NETL 

and others are working on ways 

to turn CUBs into safe and useful 

commodities. 

What are CUBs?
NETL’s Century of Science Commemorated at Carnegie Science Center

A Century of Science

U.S. Representatives Tim Murphy and 

Mike Doyle present NETL’s Anthony Cugini 

and Cynthia Powell with a Congressional 

proclamation, “In recognition of the 

100th Anniversary of the National Energy 

Technology Laboratory.” 

NETL’s Energy Challenge exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA, 

was dedicated during NETL’s centennial commemoration. 

52

NETL launched our second exciting century 

of scientific advancement with an event 

at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center on 

October 13, A Century of Science: NETL Launches 

the Next 100 Years of Energy Innovation. In 

conjunction with this event, NETL highlighted 

our NETL-Regional University Alliance (NETLRUA)—a collaborative partnership with URS 

Corporation and five regional universities—

and dedicated a new science exhibit, the 

Energy Challenge, which will remain on 

display at the Carnegie Science Center for the 

next several years.

During the event’s opening ceremonies, Dr. 

Anthony Cugini, Director of NETL, spoke 

enthusiastically of the “Shared Laboratories, 

Shared Intellect, Shared Resources” 

concept of NETL-RUA, saying that “it 

promises advanced energy technologies 

and growth in our regional and national 

economies, high-tech jobs for our nation’s 

engineers and scientists, and the education 

of a new generation of researchers and 

entrepreneurs who are passionate about 

pursuing sustainable energy sources for our 

children and our children’s children.” 
NETL Director Anthony Cugini welcomes 

guests to A Century of Science, including 

(pictured left to right) former ASFE 

James Markowsky, WVU President James 

Clements, CMU Vice President of Research 

Richard McCullough, University of 

Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, 

Penn State President Graham Spanier, and 

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger.

2010 NETL Accomplishments 53

Dr. James Markowsky, DOE’s then Assistant 

Secretary for Fossil Energy, also praised 

the project, stating that “NETL-RUA will 

certainly benefit from NETL’s expertise in 

the laboratory, its project management 

experience, and its understanding of 

demonstration and technology transfer and 

commercialization.”

A panel discussion on “The Role of NETL 

and Its Collaborations in Developing 

Innovative Technology and Promoting 

Economic Development” gave the heads 

of the five universities, Cugini, Markowsky, 

and others an opportunity to talk energy—

past, present, and future—and how to 

best ensure secure, reliable, and affordable 

energy supplies for the coming decades.

NETL welcomed several special guests 

to A Century of Science, many of whom 

congratulated NETL on the recent 

celebration of its 100-year anniversary. 

U.S. Representatives Mike Doyle and 

Tim Murphy presented NETL with a 

special Congressional proclamation, “In 

recognition of the 100th Anniversary 

of the National Energy Technology 

Laboratory.” Congressman Doyle praised 

the partnership, adding his hope that 

it will “not only strengthen our region 

but also address the critical energy and 

environmental challenges that will face our 

nation for years to come.” Congressman 

Murphy also commended NETL’s “100 great 

years of research,” adding that it will quickly 

compound with the addition of “NETLRUA’s tremendous universities. We look 

forward to great things coming from this 

partnership.”

The celebration culminated with the 

dedication of the Energy Challenge. The 

energy quiz game is a new, permanent 

exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center and 

a first for Pittsburgh, one that will help 

children think early on about careers in 

energy science and engineering. NETL’s 

Deputy Director Scott Klara dedicated the 

exhibit with help from the Marshall Middle 

School Science Bowl team of Wexford, 

PA, who won the 2010 Southwestern 

Pennsylvania Science Bowl middle school 

competition and kicked off the Energy 

Challenge as the game’s first contestants. 

The Energy Challenge teaches Science 

Center visitors about the importance of 

energy in our daily lives, how energy works, 

and how we can conserve and reduce our 

energy use. It also illustrates the unique 

collaboration among the region’s academic, 

government, business, and nonprofit 

organizations in addressing the challenges 

posed by energy use.

NETL greatly appreciates the work put forth 

by the Carnegie Science Center in hosting 

A Century of Science. Through the 

event, NETL entered our next 100 

years of technology development and 

commercialization. With our scientific, 

engineering, and administrative talent, 

we will continue to conduct the research, 

implement the partnerships, and manage 

the programs that will help provide clean, 

affordable, reliable energy in the 21st 

century.

A recording of the full A Century of Science

event can be seen on YouTube. For more 

information about NETL-RUA, please visit 

http://www.netl.doe.gov/rua.

Mike Becich from Marshall Middle School 

cuts the ribbon for NETL’s Energy Challenge.
Abundant, Secure, Affordable

Securing America’s energy supply is a central part of NETL’s mission. Our research is dedicated to 

innovating solutions that will continue to provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy to meet 

our country’s growing demands. 

Image courtesy of DMSP & NASA

54

Reliable Supply
How does NETL help ensure 

Americans’ energy security? 

NETL supports and directly conducts 

research and development activities 

to secure America’s domestic 

energy supply and recover that 

supply efficiently and with minimal 

environmental impact. NETL’s longterm research in natural gas and oil 

recovery is returning economic and 

energy security benefits today and 

is projected to do so for decades to 

come. In addition, the infrastructure 

technologies pursued by NETL 

have dramatically improved how 

we deliver our power. Through 

continued innovations related to 

environmental sustainability and 

improved safety of next-generation 

enhanced oil recovery, tapping nonconventional sources like methane 

hydrates, and the development of 

smart grid technologies, NETL is 

helping to ensure the clean, costcompetitive recovery of our nation’s 

remaining energy resources. 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 55
56

Energy Infrastructure 

Modernizing our nation’s aging energy infrastructure is critical to improving how we use and distribute energy. Energy stoppages 

can disrupt lives, harm our economy, and cause cascading impacts to other critical infrastructures. NETL’s strategic partnership 

with DOE-OE (DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability) is developing advanced technologies for electricity 

transmission and distribution and improving the ability of the energy sector to prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats and 

supply disruptions. In addition, NETL staff supports DOE-OE during exercises and emergencies involving energy infrastructure, 

security, and restoration of services. 

Power Systems Engineering Research Center Studies Future 

Technology Impacts

Researchers at PSERC (Power Systems Engineering Research Center) have identified a 

method for improving the reliability of electricity distribution systems and concluded that 

the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on America’s electricity distribution systems 

is likely to be negligible. 

PSERC researchers at Texas A&M University found that the reliability of electricity 

distribution can be dramatically improved when intelligent electronic devices are 

preloaded with non-operational system characterization data, such as the wear on a 

circuit breaker. The devices can then more accurately monitor grid conditions, helping 

reduce the frequency and duration of outages. 

In another study, PSERC collaborators at the University of Illinois and the Georgia Institute 

of Technology examined the collective impact of plug-in hybrids, which are expected 

to become more prevalent in our nation’s vehicle fleet. The study forecasts no adverse 

impact on electricity distribution systems, energy resources, or grid security if vehicles 

use an optimal power mix (62 percent battery, 38 percent internal combustion) and the 

national fleet includes 10 percent plug-in hybrids. The study also predicts that emission 

standards would be met, power demand would increase by only 3.3 percent, and 

household capacity for battery recharging would be adequate for typical driving needs. 

Participation of the 13 universities in PSERC is led by Arizona State University in 

cooperation with NETL. The group also receives substantial input from the Consortium for 

Electricity Reliability Technology Solutions. 

PSERC research indicates plug-in hybrid 

electric vehicles will have a negligible impact 

on America’s electricity distribution systems.

Abundant, Secure, Affordable

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2010 NETL Accomplishments 57

New Tool Finds Cost Targets 

for Superconducting Power 

Equipment—A framework has been 

developed to enable planning engineers 

at electric utilities to evaluate HTS 

(high-temperature superconductivity) 

applications against traditional T&D 

(transmission and distribution) solutions, 

while taking into account unique value 

drivers of the HTS applications, such as 

cost. For example, one of the “bottom line” 

outputs of the analysis is the installation 

costs of HTS equipment that the utility 

could pay and still achieve parity with 

a conventional T&D solution. Navigant 

Consulting, Inc., built the macro-driven Excel 

spreadsheet, and NETL is implementing 

this and other superconductivity-related 

projects on behalf of DOE-OE. The project 

supports DOE goals to accelerate the 

modernization of the nation’s electric 

delivery system through the application of 

HTS technology.

Fuel Pretreatment Reduces 

Nitrogen Oxide Generated by 

Large Reciprocating Engines—

Researchers working with NETL have 

reduced generation of NOx (nitrogen oxide) 

by more than 50 percent in large-bore, 

natural gas-fueled, two-stroke engine 

tests. More than 6,000 existing natural gas 

pipeline pump engines could be retrofitted 

with the technology, which would reduce 

NOx

 emissions some 25,000 tons per year 

with only 25 percent market penetration. 

Reduction of NOx

 is accomplished by 

extending lean-combustion limits through 

the injection of small amounts of syngas 

(synthesis gas). This Congressionally 

directed project was managed by NETL for 

DOE-OE and was performed by researchers 

from Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (U.S.), 

Inc., and collaborators at Colorado State 

University. The technology developers 

are now pursuing private partnership 

agreements to demonstrate a combined 

engine-syngas generator in the field. 

Cyber Security Solutions Debut 

at DistribuTECH—Several devices 

and tools developed in cooperation with 

NETL through funding by DOE-OE were 

demonstrated March 23–25, 2010, at 

Pennwell Corporation’s 20th DistribuTECH 

Conference and Exhibition—industry’s 

leading grid event. The products help 

protect the energy infrastructure 

from cyber attacks and diminish the 

risks of energy disruptions because of 

cyber-related incidents. Organizations 

displaying the outcome of their projects 

included Schweitzer Engineering 

Laboratories, Inc., EnerNex Corporation, 

Digital Bond, Inc., Siemens Corporate 

Research, SRI International, and Sandia 

National Laboratory. Developed rapidly 

from concept to commercialization, 

the showcased products resulted from 

industry-driven initiatives that involve 

successful partnerships between vendors, 

asset owners, end users, and national 

laboratories.

Microgrid Concept for Distributed 

Energy Sources Successfully 

Tested—Under a cooperative 

agreement with NETL, PSERC (Power 

Systems Engineering Research Center)—a 

collaboration of 13 universities organized 

to support research for a reliable grid—

performed a series of tests designed to 

help demonstrate the ease of integrating 

distributed energy sources into a microgrid. 

Conducted at the CERTS (Consortium 

for Electric Reliability Technology 

Solutions) Microgrid Laboratory, the tests 

demonstrated stable behavior at critical 

operations points, the flexibility of control 

concepts, and the ability to island and 

reconnect to the grid in an autonomous 

manner. All tests were performed as 

expected, demonstrating the robustness of 

the coupled microgrid concept. Successful 

connection of numerous microgrids in a 

distribution system would contribute to 

achieving a truly “smart” grid with greater 

reliability, high penetration of renewable 

sources, self-healing characteristics, 

distributed control, and improved 

generation efficiencies. CERTS membership 

draws from the utility industry, national 

laboratories, universities, and government 

agencies in researching, developing, and 

disseminating new methods, tools, and 

technologies to protect and enhance the 

reliability of the U.S. electric power system 

and the efficiency of competitive electricity 

markets. 
58

Energy Infrastructure 

Research Helps Ensure Reliable 

Inter-regional Flow of Electricity—

Working in collaboration with NETL, 

researchers at Cornell University and the 

University of California at Berkeley can 

now simulate and analyze the likelihood of 

electricity flow disruptions caused by such 

things as bad weather, high demand, or 

equipment outages. The approach helps 

planners anticipate where the infrastructure 

should be fortified in order to preserve the 

economically preferred direction of flow, 

i.e., from low-cost to high-cost regions. 

The study confirmed the hypothesis that 

electricity transport costs can blunt the 

advantage of introducing arbitrage across 

boundaries of electricity-control areas. 

It also confirmed the high likelihood of 

significant electricity price reductions if 

theoretical analysis of spatial competition 

were practiced as the basis for planning 

new facilities. The researchers are PSERC 

participants led by Arizona State University 

in cooperation with NETL, with funding 

from DOE-OE.

U.S. Grid Health Study 

Completed—Under a cooperative 

agreement with NETL, researchers at 

Washington State University have shown 

that the analysis and communication 

of electrical waveform data (phasor 

measurements) would streamline the 

assessment of grid health if shared interregionally with state estimators. As part of 

a PSERC study, researchers also developed 

an algorithm to determine the optimal 

selection of conventional measurements in 

the external system—that is, external to the 

system in which the state estimator resides. 

The study frames an approach for managing 

data from interconnection-wide monitoring 

centers, which will become mandatory to 

avoid cascading blackouts similar to the one 

that occurred in August 2003. 

New Techniques Could Enhance 

Power System Situational 

Awareness—University of Illinois at 

Urbana-Champaign researchers with 

collaborators at the University of WisconsinMadison have identified several techniques 

for extracting useful information from the 

voluminous data contained in electrical 

waveforms (phasor measurements). The 

techniques, presented in “Using PMU 

Data to Increase Situational Awareness,” 

can allow operators to look beyond 

direct control center display of phasor 

measurement unit data and reach critical 

understanding quickly, avoiding cascading 

blackouts similar to the one that occurred 

in August 2003. The researchers are PSERC 

participants led by Arizona State University 

in cooperation with NETL, with funding 

from DOE-OE. 

Improved Fault Reliability Index 

Could Significantly Reduce 

Blackouts—Researchers participating 

in PSERC have developed an improved 

reliability index by integrating a database 

for transmission-system equipment asset 

management with an outage management 

database. Together, the two databases 

Why Smart Grid? Our country’s 

outdated power grid is vulnerable 

to sabotage and breakdowns, 

which can lead to dangerous 

blackouts. “Smartening up” 

our power grid by replacing the 

old parts with new, innovative 

equipment and, most importantly, 

installing much-needed computer 

controls and software will guard us 

against power outages and provide 

higher reliability, greater national 

security, lower costs, and reduced 

foreign dependency. 

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2010 NETL Accomplishments 59

blend business data with technical field data 

and include equipment rating and system 

models, outage trouble calls, operational 

records, and data stored in equipment 

devices. The integration results in an 

improved business process that correlates 

outage management with risk-based 

management of equipment assets, allowing 

optimized equipment maintenance 

practices while minimizing the risk of 

outages. Through a cooperative agreement 

with NETL, PSERC is funded by DOE-OE and 

led by Arizona State University.

Variability of Renewable Power 

Has Cost Impact—Research conducted 

at Cornell University has found that the 

need for additional standby conventional 

generating capacity will increase as the 

nation’s energy grid derives more electricity 

from variable wind and solar power sources. 

Associated costs could be mitigated by 

regulatory practices or by offering end users 

incentives to invest in more controllable 

loads and storage capacity. Such incentives 

ensure traditional electricity transmission 

and delivery standards are maintained on 

networks with a high permeation of energy 

generation from renewable sources. Cornell 

University is conducting the research as a 

participant in PSERC, led by Arizona State 

University in cooperation with NETL with 

funding from DOE-OE. 

Technology May Accommodate 

Variability of Wind Power—

Collaborators at Iowa State University 

and the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign have found that special 

DFIG (double-fed induction generation) 

wind turbine controls may help alleviate 

problems of transient frequency dip. DFIG 

controls trim turbine blades commensurate 

with wind force to produce more uniform 

electricity output, whereas traditional wind 

turbine designs maximize blade inertia 

for greater power output. Within limited 

market penetration (up to 8 percent), the 

technology could improve grid frequency 

control, assuming its cost benefit outweighs 

penalties attributable to “spilling” wind. The 

researchers are participants in PSERC, led by 

Arizona State University in cooperation with 

NETL with funding from DOE-OE. 

Improved Infrastructure Permits 

Full Staffing of Mississippi Toyota 

Plant—The City of New Albany, MS, has 

extended electrical services to support the 

new Toyota Automobile Assembly Plant at 

Blue Springs, MS. Completed on budget 

and ahead of schedule, the infrastructure 

improvement allows the plant to begin 

ramping up to full operation by the fall of 

2011 with full employment levels expected 

to top 2,000 people. This Congressionally 

directed project is funded by DOE-OE and 

managed by NETL. 

Electric Infrastructure Design 

Supports World’s Most Advanced 

Microchip Fabrication Plant—

The NETL-managed construction of 

the electrical infrastructure design for 

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fabrication Facility 8 in 

Saratoga County, NY, is complete and the 

infrastructure itself is largely in place. The 

facility, when complete, will be the most 

advanced semiconductor manufacturing 

plant in the world. Nearly 1,500 high-tech 

workers will be employed when mass 

production begins in 2012. Funding 

from DOE-OE supported the design of 

the electrical infrastructure for this $4.2 

billion project. The money represents the 

only federal dollars contributed under 

Congressional direction to develop the 

shovel-ready Luther Forest Technology 

Campus site in New York’s Tech Valley. 

Worldwide nanotech industries will benefit 

from the scale, operational efficiency, and 

technology leadership of the Fab 8 plant 

and will give upstate New York a world class 

facility.
60

Methane Hydrates 

One of the most promising unconventional energy sources under investigation by NETL is the planet’s vast store of gas hydrate 

deposits, in particular methane hydrates. The science and technology to find and produce gas from hydrates could boost U.S. 

and international economies and energy security by providing new supply options to address future demand. On the other hand, 

methane derived from gas hydrates may play a key role in the process of climate change. NETL has also been leading the effort to 

ensure that an accurate understanding of gas hydrate occurrence and behavior is incorporated into leading climate models. 

Estimated U.S. in-Place Methane Resource –

All Non-hydrate Reservoirs (25,000 Tcf)

U.S. Methane Hydrate in-Place Resource

(200,000 Tcf)

Remaining Recoverable

(1,400 Tcf)

Produced Methane

(900 Tcf)

Hydrate Resource (in trillion cubic feet)

Methane hydrate, “ice that burns.” 

NETL Develops Method for Near-Instantaneous Hydrate Formation

NETL researchers have engineered a new “rapid formation” process that could economize the use of domestic natural gas resources by 

reducing production, transportation, and storage costs. 

Conventionally, natural gas is cooled and compressed into liquid form to reduce its volume for transport over long distances—a process 

that is neither energy efficient nor cost effective. Additionally, some of the gas is lost to vaporization during transport and storage. NETL’s 

novel process creates synthetic hydrates of natural gas in seconds with just water and methane, using much less energy and time than is 

required to liquefy it. 

Using Raman spectroscopy, NETL researchers verified that rapid formation produces Type 1 methane hydrates, the same type found in 

nature. As part of their experiments, researchers also developed nozzle technologies that produce the exact mix of water and methane 

required to economically form the synthetic hydrates. NETL researchers designed, machined, and assembled a variety of nozzles before 

selecting one that performed optimally, resulting in the near instantaneous and continuous formation of a snow-like synthetic hydrate. 

The successful new process has the potential to significantly reduce costs associated with production, transportation, and storage, while 

enhancing the efficient use of natural gas from remote or stranded resources.

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2010 NETL Accomplishments 61

Initial Results of DOE-Funded Gulf 

of Mexico Gas Hydrate Expedition 

Made Public—NETL has released 

comprehensive initial scientific reports from 

the most recent gas hydrate expedition 

in the Gulf of Mexico through the NETL 

website. The series of 13 reports details 

initial findings obtained during the 22-day 

expedition, during which gas hydrates were 

discovered at high concentrations in sand 

reservoirs. NETL provided direct geologic 

expertise for drill site selection and an 

NETL scientist to serve as science co-chief 

for the expedition. Obtained as part of the 

Chevron-led Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrates 

Joint Industry project, the findings are 

critical to evaluating whether gas hydrate 

accumulations exist in sufficient quantity 

and quality to become a significant energy 

supply source—a major goal of the DOE-led 

National Methane Hydrate R&D Program. 

NETL contributed further by reporting these 

results via a special session at the 2010 

Offshore Technology Conference and also 

in several invited presentations, including 

the Gordon Research Conference and the 

Goldschmidt Conference.

NETL Assesses Alaska North Slope 

Gas Hydrate Production Testing 

Opportunities—NETL scientists have 

collaborated with the U.S. Geological Survey 

and BP Exploration (Alaska) to identify two 

viable gas hydrate production test sites 

from an established production pad in 

the Prudhoe Bay area of the Alaska North 

Slope. NETL geologists conducted extensive 

mapping of the detailed subsurface 

environment and utilized numerical 

simulation to identify areas in which a test 

could be conducted that would not impact 

existing or future planned well bores and 

also would not encounter areas in which 

the in situ gas hydrates may have been 

impacted by the prior drilling operations 

from the pad. This work was instrumental 

in gaining industry partner approval for 

forward production testing operations in 

the area. 

First Detailed Results of Methane 

Production Simulator Published—

NETL researchers have successfully applied 

HRS (HydrateResSim) to predict the amount 

of methane produced from a laboratoryscale hydrate reservoir. Originally developed 

for NETL at Lawrence Berkeley National 

Laboratory, HRS is the sole open-source 

code available for simulating complex 

physical, chemical, and thermodynamic 

processes. NETL researchers employed 

HRS to compare two dissociation theories: 

kinetic and pure equilibrium. Generally, the 

kinetic model revealed a dissociation rate 

lower than that of the equilibrium model. 

Hydrate dissociation patterns differed 

significantly when the thermal boundary 

condition shifted from adiabatic to constant 

temperature, and the deviation between 

the two models increased with decreasing 

surface area. The work appears in the peerreviewed journal Industrial and Engineering 

Chemistry Research (Vol. 49, No.11, 2010). 

NETL Helps U.S. Geological 

Survey Expedite Hydrates 

Research—An automated controls 

configuration developed by NETL has 

enabled U.S. Geological Survey researchers 

to bring a new experimental system online 

quickly and collect data efficiently in real 

time. Used to guide a bank of syringe 

pumps through a highly specialized 

routine for performing natural gas hydrate 

formation and dissociation tests under in 

situ conditions, the automated procedure 

provides improved control of experimental 

parameters and enables a single operator to 

obtain immediate feedback while recording 

data. 

NETL Provides Key Support 

for International Gas Hydrate 

Programs—At the invitation of gas 

hydrate programs in India and Korea, 

NETL scientists served on expert advisory 

panels to aid in the planning for future gas 

hydrate programs. NETL geochemists also 

served as shipboard scientists for a second 

natural gas hydrate expedition organized 

by the government of South Korea. NETL 

scientists served as senior science advisors 

to the project and were significantly 

involved in the planning, logistics, and 

training related to geochemical evaluations 

during the expedition. NETL’s international 

collaborations support DOE international 

agreements and are key to maintaining the 

program’s leadership position in global gas 

hydrate research and development. 

“The punctuation point of the 

impact of hydrates research here 

at NETL—and particularly for 

me as a geologist—has to do 

with its multifaceted aspects: 

it has an energy component, it 

has a climate component, it has 

a seafloor stability component, 

and all of these are large, critical 

issues that are facing not just the 

United States, but populations 

worldwide.” 

Kelly Rose

NETL researcher
62

Natural Gas and Oil Production 

NETL has a long history of characterizing shale resources, matching technology to geology, and leading the development of 

enabling technologies for shale gas development. Innovations in fracturing, drilling, motors, downhole tools, and fracture 

mapping have all resulted from NETL research—technologies that today’s oilfield service industry uses for shale development with 

high research and development cost benefits. NETL’s progressive research in gas shales, “tight gas,” coalbeds, EOR (enhanced oil 

recovery), and ultra-deep drilling give rise to technologies that help America’s producers, especially small independent companies 

with limited research capital, economically tap our domestic oil and natural gas resources while also protecting our environment. 

Inorganic Nanoparticles Could 

Make Better Drilling Mud—

Collaborating researchers at NETL, 

Carnegie Mellon University, and West 

Virginia University have developed a novel 

application of “nanoparticle haloing” 

to stabilize drilling-mud formulations. 

Nanoparticle haloing involves adding highly 

charged nanoparticles to a suspension 

of neutrally charged particles to form a 

stable colloidal mixture. Tests showed 

the mechanism worked when applied to 

barite, a real drilling mud constituent. The 

approach should be applicable for many 

drilling fluids and could help in developing 

stable polymer and organic-free drilling 

fluids.

NETL Develops Smart Drilling 

Fluids—Researchers at NETL and the 

University of Pittsburgh have developed 

hybrids of clays and iron oxide nanoparticles 

that can be used as rheological additives 

in drilling fluids. Rheological qualities 

are those having to do with the flow or 

deformation of materials. The hybrids 

possess unique magnetic properties 

unattainable in individual clay or iron oxide 

particles. Adding nanoparticles allows the 

rheology of water- or oil-based fluids to be 

finely tuned using an external magnetic 

field. The innovation could not only increase 

the efficiency of drilling operations and 

the longevity of drilling tools, but could 

also find a wide range of applications in 

mechanical, electronic, and biomedical 

systems.

Enhanced Oil Recovery with CO2

Injection Initiated in Alabama 

Formation—A university-industry 

project team working in cooperation with 

NETL and led by the University of Alabama 

at Birmingham has successfully initiated 

CO2 injection as part of a pilot study of CO2

used for EOR in the highly heterogeneous 

sandstone reservoirs of the Citronelle 

oilfield in southwest Alabama. The Citronelle 

field is Alabama’s largest producer and is 

an ideal candidate for a CO2 flood because 

the field’s structure and lack of faulting are 

well-suited for CO2 storage. The 5-month, 

7,500-ton injection and incremental 

oil-recovery effort produced 60 percent 

more oil than conventional secondary EOR 

by water flood. Full-scale CO2

 EOR in the 

Citronelle field meets the programmatic 

goal of introducing the technology in areas 

where it has not previously been deployed.

Seismic Project Helps Identify 

Untapped Oil—Using technologies 

developed with funding from NETL, a 

Kansas drilling company has discovered 

an untapped 10-foot-thick oil zone in an 

already developed reservoir. Mull Drilling 

Company of Wichita, KS, discovered the 

untapped zone near Cheyenne Wells, CO, 

using seismic technology designed to 

detect hydrocarbons. The project improves 

our understanding of karst reservoirs, which 

are characterized by low permeability, fluidcontrol problems, and low recovery rates. 

These reservoir systems account for 30–50 

percent of the hydrocarbon production in 

the U.S. mid-continent region. The project 

can help incrementally increase oil and 

natural gas production, and extend the 

productive life of mature fields.

Innovative Telemetry System Will 

Help Tap Hard-to-Reach Natural 

Gas Resources—The commercialization 

of an innovative telemetry communications 

system developed through an NETL 

research program will help U.S. producers 

tap previously hard-to-reach natural gas 

resources deep underground, resulting in 

access to additional supplies that will help 

enhance national energy security. Using 

novel technologies normally associated 

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2010 NETL Accomplishments 63

with interplanetary deep-space navigation 

and missile-guidance systems, the patented, 

proprietary measurement-while-drilling 

electromagnetic telemetry system is 

designed to transmit data to and from 

downhole equipment in real time, enable 

surface processing of downhole sensor 

data, and control downhole tools directly 

from the surface. The technology allows 

the system to successfully operate at 

greater depths than other electromagnetic 

systems and to propagate signals 

through formations that typically weaken 

electromagnetic waves.

Rugged Reconfigurable Processor 

Developed—Through a cooperative 

agreement with NETL, Honeywell 

International, Inc., has developed an 

RPDA (reconfigurable processor for 

data acquisition)—a reprogrammable, 

multifunctional device tailored to 

downhole applications in terms of physical 

dimensions, wide operating temperature 

ranges, and the ability to withstand 

high-shock and -vibration environments. 

Honeywell’s RPDA utilizes highly reliable, 

co-fired ceramic multichip modules similar 

to an electronic circuit board implanted 

in a single, solid piece of ceramic material. 

The RPDA addresses a unique, previously 

unfilled need for flexible, reprogrammable 

digital electronics that can operate in 

extreme downhole oil and natural gas 

drilling, exploration, and production 

environments.

NETL Studies Environmental 

Effects of Producing Marcellus 

Shale Gas—NETL scientists are 

investigating the connection between 

shale geology and gas productivity and 

preparing to monitor the environmental 

impacts of shale gas drilling and production 

at several well sites in Pennsylvania. With 

the cooperation of a major gas production 

company, the researchers will obtain 

onsite baseline values for environmental 

parameters within air, water, habitat, soils, 

and ecosystems during the year preceding 

drilling operations. Monitoring will continue 

throughout the drilling and production life 

cycle. Results are expected to help industry 

improve management practices to lessen 

environmental impacts, allow regulators 

to focus on monitoring the most sensitive 

environmental indicators, and help inform 

the environmental debate over shale gas 

development. The American Geophysical 

Union weekly, Eos (Vol. 91, No. 32, 2010), 

describes the effort. 

Unique Ultra-deep Drilling 

Simulator Sets Operational 

Record—The NETL UDS (ultra-deep 

drilling simulator) reached a major 

milestone by successfully operating at 

pressures of 10,000 and 15,000 pounds per 

square inch while drilling a fine-grained 

limestone specimen. The performance 

demonstrates a capability superior 

to currently available test platforms. 

Designed and assembled at TerraTek, Inc., 

a Schlumberger company, the UDS is a 

one-of-a-kind research instrument that 

physically simulates the bottom-hole 

conditions of ultra-deep wells. When fully 

commissioned, the UDS will routinely 

operate at pressures up to 30,000 pounds 

per square inch and temperatures up to 

250 °C, allowing the Extreme Drilling 

Laboratory team at NETL to conduct 

fundamental studies of rock-cutter-fluid 

interactions under extreme conditions.

Study Allows Better Evaluation 

of Mesaverde Sandstone—In 

cooperation with NETL, scientists at the 

University of Kansas Center for Research 

have completed a study of Mesaverde 

sandstones in six basins of the western 

United States. These tight-gas sandstones 

represent a significant portion of the U.S. 

unconventional natural gas resource base. 

More than 9 gigabytes of Web-based 

data are available to provide improved 

algorithm tools for wire-line log analysis 

and petrophysical formation evaluation of 

important reservoir properties. The detailed 

and accurate assessment of moveable 

gas-in-place resources is most critical 

in marginal gas plays. Results from this 

project have provided improvements to the 

quantitative tools used to determine water 

saturation as well as gas production.

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Canada

Mexico

Saudi Arabia

Venezuela

Nigeria

Colombia

Algeria

Iraq

Angola

Ecuador

Million barrels per day

U.S. Crude Import Sources 2010
The Marcellus Shale stretches from New York, through Pennsylvania, 

across parts of Maryland and Ohio, and into West Virginia. The miledeep rock formation holds trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. 

Image courtesy of USGS

64

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The Marcellus Shale gas play represents an 

enormous energy resource, but if the gas 

has been trapped in the shale for millions 

of years, why has it taken so long to tap its 

potential? The answer is a clear indicator 

of the positive impact of NETL’s long-term 

research projects. 

A $92 million DOE research investment 

begun in the 1970s is widely credited 

with pioneering key technologies that 

have stimulated natural gas production 

from the Marcellus Shale. The result: more 

U.S. jobs, increased energy security, and 

higher revenues for states and the federal 

government. 

The Marcellus Shale is a vast, mile-deep, 

natural gas-bearing rock formation 

stretching from southern New York through 

Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern 

Ohio, and West Virginia. According to the 

U.S. Geological Survey, the shale holds 

trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Because 

it burns more cleanly than coal, shale gas is 

a potential bridge between fossil fuels and 

a greener energy future. The United States 

is already the world’s largest producer of 

natural gas, and recent increases in shale 

gas production may allow the country to 

become a net exporter, enhancing our 

energy security while helping stabilize 

domestic natural gas prices. 

Before the development of advanced 

drilling techniques, many of which were 

Turning Shale into Fuel: NETL Leads Natural Gas Breakthroughs 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 65

According to Dr. Terry Engelder, 

Professor of Geosciences at Penn 

State University, DOE’s Eastern Gas 

Shales Research Program, initiated 

in the 1970s, “helped expand the 

limits of gas shale production 

and increased understanding of 

production mechanisms.... It is one of 

the great examples of value-added 

work led by the DOE.”

Research Highlight 

pioneered by NETL, the commercial natural 

gas industry did not have the advanced 

technology necessary to profitably 

extract natural gas from deep shales like 

the Marcellus. Beginning around 2008, 

however, NETL-developed advanced drilling 

techniques began to be applied to new gas 

wells. 

These techniques had been developed 

across three decades, as NETL collaborated 

with industry to improve horizontal drilling 

and develop high-efficiency tools, such 

as electromagnetic measurement-whiledrilling, advanced hydraulic fracturing, shale 

well simulation, and fracture mapping—a 

technique that uses sound waves to map 

fractures. Applied originally to the Devonian 

Shale, these technologies also included 

multistage fracturing and slick-water 

fracturing—two additional advances that 

are currently being adapted for use with 

Marcellus Shale. 

Today, NETL is widely recognized for having 

contributed directly to the growth of U.S. 

shale gas production. Because we can 

now tap rich stores of gas from these once 

out-of-reach formations, shale gas amounts 

to nearly 14 percent of the dry natural gas 

produced in the United States. That share 

could reach 45 percent by 2035. 

NETL continues to partner with industry 

to examine the environmental impact of 

advanced drilling, with 27 active shale gas 

projects across all program areas.

In 2010, NETL began a collaborative effort 

with Range Resources, one of the largest 

companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale, 

to monitor well sites. The resulting data are 

expected to drive management practices 

by industry, as well as provide government 

policy makers and environmental scientists 

with data on how advanced drilling 

activities impact the area around the sites.

NETL is at the forefront of shale gas water 

management research. These projects aim 

to provide solutions to some of the most 

vexing shale gas challenges, such as how to 

cleanly dispose of water used in hydraulic 

fracturing. NETL also conducts research 

to monitor air emissions from shale gas 

wells and determine the environmental 

impact of constructing access roads and 

drill pads. Related NETL projects focus on 

improving the characterization of shale gas, 

determining the weathering products of 

shale drill cuttings, and assessing depleted 

gas shale reservoirs for their potential to 

store CO2

.

The success of our natural gas shale research 

in 2010, and across the previous three 

decades, has been recognized by industry 

and academia, and it has supported real 

returns. Developing domestic natural gas 

resources means additional jobs. Larger 

volumes of domestic natural gas translate 

into lower fuel and feedstock prices for 

industries that use natural gas to process 

or manufacture products. Increased 

domestic natural gas production improves 

national energy security and results in 

higher tax revenues to states and the 

federal government. Each of these benefits 

represents a high-value return on NETL’s 

long-term research projects.

NETL contributions to advanced drilling techniques, such as horizontal drilling, have helped 

make possible the profitable extraction of natural gas from deep shales like the Marcellus. 
Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

NETL partnerships and collaborations transfer knowledge and technologies that improve energy 

production and pave the way for future generations to maintain a lead in the energy industry. From left, 

Scott Klara (NETL), Congjun Wang (URS Corporation), and Jonathan Lekse and Kristi Kauffman (Oak Ridge 

Institute for Science and Education).

66

Science & Technology Leadership
How does NETL’s research make 

the leap from laboratory to real 

life? 

NETL conducts research to 

solve our nation’s energy 

challenges, and it is our 

responsibility to maximize 

returns to the American people 

by transferring technologies 

from our lab to individual 

households. To achieve this, we 

pursue regional, national, and 

international partnerships to 

lead our discoveries into the 

marketplace. Our researchers, 

scientists, and engineers 

also double as educators 

and authors who transfer 

their knowledge and lessons 

learned to tomorrow’s scientific 

workforce, ensuring that 

we continue to improve on 

yesterday’s accomplishments. 

With research as the backbone 

to our energy solutions, NETL 

will continue to lead the way to 

a secure energy future. 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 67
68

Technology Transfer 

The greatest ideas, developments, and discoveries cannot become solutions to energy challenges without being placed in the 

hands of those who can use them. That’s why NETL’s technology transfer is key; we must ensure that advances travel from the 

laboratory to the public domain. In pursuit of this, we partner with commercial, educational, not-for-profit, and government 

entities to maximize returns to America and to support international causes such as limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Through 

partnerships, patents, licensing, publications, and policy discussions, NETL is ensuring that our accomplishments profit the 

nation—and the world. 

NETL Patents Novel Catalyst That Makes Elemental Mercury Easier to Capture

NETL’s Evan Granite and Henry Pennline have created and patented a catalyst combination that can assist 

in controlling problematic elemental mercury from the flue gas of power plants. Elemental mercury is 

extremely difficult to control since it is not soluble in water and, thus, eludes capture by the wet scrubbers 

that eliminate acid gases in today’s power plants.

With new mercury laws coming into effect in the next few years, restricting mercury output from power 

plants, which contribute a third of the mercury released each year, has become more urgent. Mercury 

released into the air contaminates our lakes, rivers, and streams, making it necessary to set limits on how 

much fish humans may safely consume from certain waters to avoid mercury poisoning. 

Using corrosion-resistant and regenerable iridium and platinum, the new catalysts bring together oxidizing 

agents that change the mercury into an easily captured and water-soluble species that current scrubbing 

solutions—or NETL’s previously patented Thief carbons—can eliminate. The new catalysts are more 

temperature- and corrosion-resistant than those currently available, while the Thief catalyst is far less 

expensive than many used previously.

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 69

NETL Launches World’s Most 

Comprehensive Benchmarking 

of Fluid Dynamic Models—NETL 

scientists and their collaborators at PSRI 

(Particulate Solid Research, Inc.) posted the 

third CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) 

Challenge Problem Package on the MFIX 

webpage at the NETL public website on 

May 9, 2010. The international commercial 

and academic CFD community was 

thus challenged to model the behavior 

of selected bed materials in the NETL 

circulating fluidized bed and the PSRI 

bubbling fluid bed based on detailed 

descriptions of those facilities as well as 

information on the four different bed 

materials being tested. The comparisons 

will identify strengths and weaknesses 

associated with the different modeling 

approaches, allowing shortcomings to 

be targeted for future development and 

improvement. 

NETL Research Resolves Scientific 

Debate on Gas Absorption in 

Ionic Liquids—NETL scientists applied 

an ensemble of classical molecular 

dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations to 

calculate the self-diffusivity and solubility 

of pure and mixed CO2

, hydrogen, and 

argon gases adsorbed in a popular ionic 

liquid. Supported ionic liquid membranes 

represent a promising method for CO2

capture in precombustion processes. Results 

of the investigation indicate that only one 

of several experimental studies available in 

the scientific literature presents accurate 

data for the ionic liquid examined. Carefully 

designed measurements corroborate the 

investigators’ theoretical findings. The study 

also yields the important conclusion that 

ionic liquids with smaller molar volumes 

that interact strongly with CO2

 will perform 

best for separation of CO2 and hydrogen. 

Presented in the Journal of Physical 

Chemistry B (Vol. 114, No.19, 2010), the 

work demonstrates the increased accuracy 

provided by computational chemistry in 

describing thermochemical and transport 

properties of ionic liquids, and it shows 

how scientific disputes among different 

experimental groups can be resolved by 

complementary use of theoretical and 

experimental methods. 

NETL Licenses Patented 

Technology to International 

Instrument Manufacturer—

Officials at NETL and Zolo Technologies, 

Inc., have signed a memorandum of 

understanding for the licensing and use 

of the NETL-patented transpiration probe. 

The probe can stay cool and maintain clean 

optical surfaces while allowing optical 

access to high-temperature, hazardous, and 

dirty environments for extended periods. 

Zolo Technologies plans to incorporate 

the technology into laser-based ZoloBOSS 

sensors, which can see through flame, dust, 

and ash to measure multiple constituents 

in the harshest environments, including 

coal-fired combustion processes. 

“Fluid dynamics” is the technical 

term for the natural flow of 

liquids and gases and the effect of 

forces on their motion. NETL uses 

computational modeling of fluid 

dynamics to improve operation, 

prevent risk, and reduce cost in 

turbines, solid oxide fuel cell systems, 

CO2 management devices, gasifiers, 

and related technologies. 

What are fluid 

dynamics? 
NETL researchers Yee Soong, 

Sheila Hedges, and Robert Dilmore 

are inventors of a novel process to 

separate CO2 from utility emissions 

streams.

70

Technology Transfer 

Active Combustion Throttle 

Valve Improves Gas Turbine 

Performance—Collaborators at NETL 

and the University of Pittsburgh have 

filed a provisional patent application for 

a valve design that fine-tunes the control 

of advanced lean-premixed gas turbines. 

With the ability to modulate flow around a 

nominal set point, a turbine-control circuit 

can tune or balance multiple injectors 

to achieve greater efficiency and lower 

emissions by reducing hot spots that may 

otherwise result from uneven distribution 

of fuel. Designed for high-pressure and 

high-temperature gas turbine fuel inlet 

conditions, the novel high-frequency 

electromagnetic valve can rapidly modulate 

fuel flow to counteract the onset of 

combustion dynamics that can accelerate 

aging and cause expensive damage to gas 

turbine components. 

NETL Patents Novel Carbon 

Capture Concept—An innovative 

NETL process to separate CO2

 from utility 

emissions streams (U.S. Patent Number 

7,842,126) has proven effective as an 

alternative to current practice using 

“monoethanolamine scrubbing.” In the 

NETL process, CO2 from combustion flue 

gas dissolves into an aqueous solution of 

amine and soluble sodium or potassium 

carbonate. The dissolved carbonate rapidly 

reacts with amine-associated carbamate 

and water to form a bicarbonate precipitate. 

The precipitating reaction serves to separate 

CO2

 as solid bicarbonate while regenerating 

the amine solution by removing carbamate. 

The separated bicarbonate can then be 

treated thermally to release concentrated 

CO2

 gas, regenerating the carbonate for 

recycling with the regenerated amine 

solution. In an alternate configuration, the 

CO2

-loaded amine solutions can be used to 

promote rapid carbonation of solid streams 

that have significant carbonation potential 

(e.g., waste cement, calcium oxide-bearing 

fly ash, and other industrial by-product 

streams). Through carbonation, CO2 can be 

sequestered as a stable mineral carbonate, 

and the CO2

 capture capacity of the amine 

solution can be chemically regenerated. 

NETL Patents Probe That Detects 

Anomalies in Non-metallic Plastic 

Pipe—Since the 1970s, a large portion of 

gas distribution lines have been fabricated 

from polyethylene. A special investigative 

report issued by the National Transportation 

Safety Board indicates that hundreds of 

thousands of miles of plastic pipe installed 

from the 1960s through the early 1980s 

may be vulnerable to a phenomenon 

called “brittle-like cracking.” Failures from 

brittle-like cracking may represent the 

second most frequent failure for older 

plastic piping, exceeded only by excavation 

damage. During the 1980s, standards were 

changed, and the phenomenon of brittlelike cracking was eliminated; however, 

no satisfactory technique exists for the 

inspection of older, buried plastic pipelines. 

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 71

To overcome this problem, scientists at NETL 

developed a device and method that can 

detect flaws in buried plastic pipelines (U.S. 

Patent Number 7,839,282). The probe uses 

a sensor that measures changes in electrical 

properties of the plastic to evaluate 

structural integrity. Using this device will 

allow for the inspection and replacement 

of older polyethylene gas lines and prevent 

disruption in gas distribution service.

New Patented Regenerable 

Sorbent Removes Hydrogen 

Chloride and Hydrogen Sulfide 

from High-Temperature Gas 

Streams—A number of components in 

coal and other carbon-based fuels form 

corrosive and toxic compounds during 

the gasification process. If gasification 

processes are to be successful, all 

contaminants in gas streams must be 

removed. Hydrogen chloride and hydrogen 

sulfide are two of the most significant 

corrosive compounds that need to be 

removed from coal gas streams. This NETL 

invention (U.S. Patent Number 7,767,000) 

addresses an industry need by providing 

a reusable multifunctional sorbent for 

the simultaneous removal of hydrogen 

chloride and hydrogen sulfide. Using a 

multifunctional sorbent will minimize the 

number of steps involved in the treatment 

process and contribute to lower power 

plant operating costs. The regenerable 

sorbent is more environmentally friendly 

than other methods of hydrogen chloride 

and hydrogen sulfide capture because it 

eliminates waste disposal problems. 

Thermal Barrier Coatings 

Patented by NETL Will Protect 

Turbine Components—Higher 

operating temperatures increase turbine 

efficiencies for gas turbine engines, but 

to achieve these increased efficiencies, 

the gas turbine systems must operate 

under extreme temperatures and in harsh 

environments. Significant advances in 

high-temperature capabilities of turbine 

components have been achieved through 

the formulation of nickel- and cobalt-based 

superalloys, but the use of alloys alone is 

inadequate to maintain the mechanical 

and material properties of gas turbines. For 

this reason, turbine components are often 

protected using thermal barrier coating 

systems. Work done by NETL has resulted in 

the development of novel metallic-ceramic 

overlay coating materials that protect gas 

turbine blades and engine components 

from high temperatures and corrosive 

gases (U.S. Patent Number 7,740,948). 

The coating material provides enhanced 

oxidation resistance to the underlying 

superalloy. Thermal barrier coatings can be 

applied using low-cost commercial spraying 

techniques and low-temperature curing. 

The use of these coatings will allow turbine 

systems to operate at higher temperatures 

with increased efficiency.

This NETL-patented probe uses a 

sensor to measure changes in the 

electrical properties of plastic pipe 

to evaluate structural integrity.
DryFining provides an economic way to produce more electrical power 

from low-rank coals, and it also eliminates many impurities that might 

otherwise enter the environment. 

72

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership

DryFiningTM, a major breakthrough solution 

in coal-fired energy production, earned the 

title “2010 Project of the Year” in the category 

“Best Coal-Fired Project” from the editors of 

the prestigious Power Engineering magazine. 

DryFining was developed by GRE (Great River 

Energy) and NETL under the CCPI (Clean 

Coal Power Initiative) of DOE’s Office of Fossil 

Energy.

DryFining provides an economic way to 

produce more electrical power from low-rank 

coals, and it also eliminates many impurities 

that might otherwise enter the environment. 

Since 280 U.S. power stations burn low-rank 

coal, discovering an economic and cleaner 

way of raising the power output of this coal is 

truly a major advance.

Coal comes in four broad categories 

according to hardness and energy content. 

Anthracite is the hardest, followed in order by 

bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite. The 

low-rank coals, subbituminous and lignite, 

have less density, are higher in moisture and 

pollutants, and produce the lowest amount 

“Project of the Year” Awarded to NETL-Managed Technology 

of energy when burned (measured in Btus). 

These low-rank coals together make up 

51 percent of coal mined in the United States 

today, with lignite, a high-moisture, “brown” 

coal, making up about 7 percent. More 

than 100 gigawatts of power are produced 

in the United States today by burning 

subbituminous and lignite coals. 

The high moisture content in low-rank 

coals causes a less efficient conversion to 

electricity, the same way that wet wood does 

not burn as efficiently as dry wood. Lignite 
2010 NETL Accomplishments 73

may contain up to 40 percent moisture and 

subbituminous up to 30 percent. When used 

to produce power, these low-rank coals must 

first expend some of their energy burning 

off water. Further, the high moisture creates 

a tendency for the pulverized coal to cake 

and jam in the handling, lowers the heat rate, 

and causes a higher number of maintenance 

problems compared to higher quality coal. 

DryFining addresses the moisture content 

in these low-rank coals by partially drying 

it with the power plant’s own waste heat. 

About 50 percent of a plant’s heat is lost from 

the plant’s condenser and stack—heat that 

ordinarily cannot be harnessed to produce 

energy. But, with DryFining, that heat is used 

to pre-dry the coal so that when it is fed to 

boilers, more power is generated from less 

coal. 

The DryFining method also reduces 

potentially harmful emissions by segregating 

the coal particles according to density. Since 

particles containing mercury and sulfur are 

heavier than the all-coal particles, they are 

easily separated out. DryFining has reduced 

sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions by 

more than 40 percent, nitrogen oxide by 

more than 20 percent, and—by increasing 

unit efficiency—also reduced CO2

 emissions. 

The dryer, cleaner coal thus produces more 

energy than an equal amount of untreated 

coal—and with less environmental penalty. 

Years of effort went into this elegant 

technology. Beginning in 2004, NETL 

partnered with GRE to develop the 

DryFining technology. In July of that year, 

the collaborators began working on a 

115-ton prototype dryer design at GRE’s 

546-megawatt Unit 2 located at their lignitefueled Coal Creek Station. The prototype 

started operation in March 2006, and it 

became apparent almost immediately that 

this dryer design was working well. In fact, 

DryFining increased the energy content of 

the lignite from 6,200 to 7,100 Btu per pound, 

the same amount of coal producing more 

heat, which translates into more power.

This significant improvement in plant 

performance led GRE to begin construction 

of full-sized dryers at their Coal Creek Unit 

2 in September 2007. In fact, GRE was so 

impressed with the success of DryFining that 

they simultaneously began full-scale dryer 

modules for Unit 1 at their own expense. Fullscale dryer operation on both units started in 

December 2009. The DOE CCPI project was 

concluded in March 2010. 

GRE is now in a formal agreement with 

WorleyParsons to begin licensing the 

technology. Already, more than 50 U.S. and 

international utilities have expressed interest 

in DryFining technology and have signed 

confidentiality agreements.

NETL is proud of the significant award won 

by DryFining and proud of their position 

at the forefront of discovering, developing, 

and introducing this effective clean coal 

technology. NETL’s leadership in fossil 

energy—energy that today produces the 

great majority of our nation’s electricity—

profits us all. 

Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station, Underwood, ND. 

Image courtesy of Great River Energy
74

Noteworthy Publications 

Ideas, innovation, and invention have the farthest-reaching benefit when they are made available for others to build 

on. Making our discoveries available to the public is crucial to NETL’s mission. To encourage access to our results and 

lessons learned, NETL scientists and engineers offer their research findings through books, scientific journals, and 

other media. By disseminating this information, these publications are helping accelerate the development of energy 

technologies to boost efficiencies, drive down costs, and protect public health and shared resources. 

NETL’s MFIX software simulates a gasification system. 

NETL Shares Gasification Resources with the Nation

Gasification is an exciting and desirable technology for future power plants. Using gasification to convert coal into hydrogen, and 

then using the hydrogen to make power, results in a truly clean way to convert coal into electricity. Gasification is more efficient than 

conventional means of producing power, and it produces a CO2

 stream ready for capture and storage. Further, gasification can be used to 

produce fuels and chemicals from coal, petroleum coke, and biomass.

To educate the public about this technology and its benefits, the Gasification Technology Program, which operates under NETL’s Office of 

Coal and Power Research and Development, has made available two new gasification resources on the NETL website. 

The first, called “Gasifipedia,” is a comprehensive collection of resources that gives both an introductory and an in-depth understanding of 

gasification technology and its benefits. The second, the “World of Gasification Database,” documents gasification’s worldwide growth, plant 

data, current world industry, and planned near-term capacity additions. It reveals that the worldwide gasification capacity has continued to 

grow for the past several decades and is now at 70,817 megawatts thermal of synthesis gas output at 144 operating plants with a total of 

412 gasifiers.

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 75

NETL Contributes to New Book 

on Natural Gas Hydrates—NETL’s 

methane hydrates technology manager 

Ray Boswell served as co-editor for a 

new publication released by the AAPG 

(American Association of Petroleum 

Geologists) titled Natural Gas Hydrates—

Energy Resource Potential and Associated 

Geologic Hazards, Memoir 89 in the AAPG 

Memoir series. The book also contains 

chapters authored by NETL’s Ray Boswell, 

Yongkoo Seol, Charles Taylor, and Robert 

Warzinski where they provide an overview 

of the National Methane Hydrates R&D 

Program and report on their research, 

simulation, and modeling activities. The 

book also contains reports from other 

research organizations participating in the 

NETL-managed program. The publication, 

an outcome of the 2004 AAPG Hedberg 

Research Conference in Vancouver, British 

Columbia, is a comprehensive treatment of 

the geology of gas hydrates that is of value 

to the gas hydrate research community, 

as well as exploration and development 

geologists working in arctic and deep 

marine environments. 

NETL Scientist Co-authors 

Chapter in New Gas Hydrates 

Publication—Ray Boswell co-authored 

“Motivations for the Geophysical 

Investigation of Gas Hydrates,” NETL’s 

contribution to Geophysical Characterization 

of Gas Hydrates, published by the Society 

of Exploration Geophysicists. Geophysical 

Characterization of Gas Hydrates is the 

first book to document geophysical 

approaches used in detecting and mapping 

gas hydrates. The book’s comprehensive 

treatment of the geology of gas hydrates 

is of value to both the gas hydrate 

research community and exploration and 

development geologists working in arctic 

and deep marine environments.

NETL Researcher Serves as 

Guest Editor for Special Elsevier 

Issue—NETL’s Ronald Breault was invited 

to be guest editor of a special issue of 

Powder Technology (Vol. 203, No. 1, 2010). 

The special issue contains a selection of 

papers presented at NETL’s 2009 Workshop 

on Multiphase Flow Science, as well as the 

3rd CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) 

Challenge Problem, which encouraged the 

international commercial and academic CFD 

community to meet modeling challenges in 

granular-fluid hydrodynamics. The feedback 

on predictions of competing models, as 

compared to actual experimental results, 

identified strengths and weaknesses 

associated with different modeling 

approaches. The continued development 

and improvement of CFD models will 

make multiphase science-based computer 

simulations accessible by 2015 for the 

design, operation, and troubleshooting of 

energy conversion processes. This new CFD 

technology will be applied in gasifiers, coal 

combustion systems, carbon capture, clean 

coal power and hydrogen production, and 

chemical-looping combustion.

NETL Researchers Contribute 

to New John Wiley & Sons 

Geosciences Volume—NETL 

researchers Dustin Crandall, Grant Bromhal, 

and Dustin McIntyre found a new approach 

to couple experimental and numerical 

information that is described in Advances 

in Computed Tomography for Geomaterials, 

edited by Khalid A. Alshibli and Allen H. 

Reed. By employing digital information 

obtained from CT (computational 

tomography) scans of core fractures as input 

to computational fluid dynamics codes, the 

researchers can obtain high-resolution data 

that allow simulation of fluid flow through 

fractures to be more precise with minimal 

loss of intrinsic roughness information. 

Data re-sampling of the CT-scanned 

fracture produces more efficient numerical 

simulations, which would otherwise be time 

consuming and computationally costly to 

achieve with equivalent resolution. 

NETL Researchers Serve as Guest 

Editors for Special Elsevier Issue—

NETL researchers Dushyant Shekhawat, 

Henry Pennline, Evan Granite, and David 

Berry co-edited a special issue on advanced 

fossil energy utilization for the journal 

Fuel (Vol. 89, No. 6, 2010). The special issue 

contains a selection of papers presented 

at a symposium the researchers organized 

for the 2009 American Institute of Chemical 

Engineers Spring National Meeting in 

Tampa, FL, April 26–30, 2009. Nineteen 

refereed articles by authors in government 

research laboratories, academia, and 

industries of Austria, Belarus, Canada, China, 

Germany, Greece, Ireland, Russia, Spain, and 

the United States present informative and 

thought-provoking research on hydrogen 

production and separation for fuel cell 

applications, carbon capture and separation 

for power generation systems, and mercury 

and other trace elements removal from 

coal-derived gas. 
76

Noteworthy Publications

NETL Recounts History, Details 100 Years of Innovation

May 16, 2010, marked NETL’s centennial. To commemorate our organization’s many successes along 

its 100-year journey, NETL published its history, A Century of Innovation. The book chronicles NETL’s 

rich past, the evolution of our programs to meet the nation’s ever-changing energy needs, and the 

dedication of the NETL community to solving new energy challenges. 

A Century of Innovation places NETL and its predecessor organizations in the context of the energy 

issues that have shaped today’s technology landscape. From mine safety and air quality issues 

prevalent at the beginning of the 20th century, through World War II’s energy demands and the 

nation’s postwar shift from coal to petroleum, to the energy shortages in the 1970s, 

A Century of Innovation presents a comprehensive discussion of how NETL has responded to each new 

energy hurdle the nation has faced and how those solutions have impacted America’s energy frontiers 

and prosperity. 

Limited print copies are available for libraries, and the PDF version may be accessed at NETL’s 100-year 

anniversary website www.netl.doe.gov/newsroom/100yr. 

NETL’s history book, 

A Century of Innovation.

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 77

NETL Paper on New Photocatalyst 

for CO2 Reuse Among Most 

Read—In the American Chemical Society 

publication, Journal of Physical Chemistry 

Letters (Vol. 1, 2010), a paper authored by 

NETL scientists Congjun Wang, Robert L. 

Thompson, John Baltrus, and Christopher 

Matranga was recognized as one of the top 

10 most accessed journal articles in 2010. 

The paper discusses CO2

 management 

technologies and describes the synthesis and 

characterization of a new photocatalyst and 

its ability to convert CO2 into value-added 

fuels and chemicals. The new photocatalyst 

is activated by visible light—comprising the 

majority of sunlight available at the earth’s 

surface—while previous photocatalysts for 

this application were activated by ultraviolet 

light that makes up only 1–5 percent of light 

reaching the Earth’s surface. The use of visible 

light activation will increase the efficiency of 

the catalytic process, which is a significant 

advancement for CO2 reuse applications. 

NETL Research Paper Included 

Among Top 20—NETL scientist Dr. 

Charles Taylor co-authored a paper with 

researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National 

Laboratory that was among the “top 20 

most cited articles” published in a special 

Elsevier issue in The Journal of Petroleum 

Science and Engineering (Vol. 56. Nos.1–3) for 

the years 2007–2010. The paper discusses 

the groundbreaking use of computerized 

tomography to monitor the formation 

and dissociation of methane hydrates in 

sediment. The research provides extensive 

pressure, temperature, and density data 

obtained with the use of a large x-ray 

transparent pressure vessel, and shows 

significant water migration and possible 

shifting of mineral grains in response to 

hydrate formation and dissociation.

NETL Scientists Author Chapter for 

Encyclopedia of Energy—

John Wiley & Sons invited NETL researchers 

to provide a chapter for the coal section 

in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Energy Science, 

Technology, and Applications. The researchers 

discussed an innovative technique called 

the “pressure transient method,” refined by 

NETL, for making relatively rapid and reliable 

permeability measurements of coal samples 

with very low permeability. The method 

prevents errors that can arise when changes 

in permeability occur at approximately 

the same rate as conventional measuring 

procedures. Upon its 2011 release, the 

five-volume encyclopedia will become the 

largest and most comprehensive assortment 

of information on energy ever published. 

NETL Researchers Contribute 

to New Book on Synthesis Gas 

Combustion—In response to increased 

interest in the use of coal- and bio-derived 

syngas (synthesis gas) in future power 

generation, CRC Press-Taylor & Francis 

has released a new title, Synthesis Gas 

Combustion: Fundamentals and Applications. 

The volume contains chapters authored 

by NETL’s George Richards, Kent Casleton, 

and Nate Weiland and covers such topics as 

the background and history of gasification 

processes, implications of the different 

gasification technologies, and the tradeoffs 

and research and development issues 

associated with using syngas in different 

application areas, such as fuels, chemicals, 

electrical production, and CO2

 removal 

and management. The NETL chapters 

titled “Gasification Technology to Produce 

Synthesis Gas” and “Syngas Utilization” 

have already been cited in several technical 

publications. 

These yearly awards, the “Oscars 

of Innovation,” identify and 

celebrate the top 100 technology 

advancements entering the market 

place each year from industry, 

academia, and governmentsponsored research. 

FYi

R&D 100 Awards

NETL Researchers Profiled in 

Innovation Magazine—A special April/

May issue of Innovation magazine featuring 

“Innovators in the Federal Laboratories” 

details the work of NETL researchers Henry 

Pennline and Evan Granite in detecting, 

measuring, and removing mercury from coalderived flue gas in power plants. Developed 

over the years with other colleagues, their 

methods include the Thief Process, which 

removes partially activated carbon from 

an operating coal furnace for injection in 

downstream ductwork; a palladium sorbent 

that also removes trace pollutants; and 

ultraviolet radiation that requires no sorbent 

material at all. The researchers received R&D 

100 Awards for the palladium sorbent in 

2008 and for the Thief Process in 2009.
78

International Cooperation 

NETL is fully engaged in the worldwide effort to expand paths to clean, affordable energy. We collaborate with global energy 

partners in joint research, conducting workshops, publishing studies, and exchanging information to advance clean energy 

sources and reduce the global carbon footprint. By applying our best practices at a global scale, we can prevent risks in technology 

development, help our partners advance their capabilities in clean coal and carbon storage, and lessen the environmental impact 

of all energy sources. NETL’s commitment to global cooperation is furthering international progress of energy technologies and 

positively impacting global climate challenges and emerging economies. 

NETL and Polish Institute 

Researchers Investigate 

Chemical-Looping Combustion 

of Synthesis Gas—Thermogravimetric 

analysis data from chemical-looping 

combustion experiments conducted with 

simulated coal-derived syngas (synthesis 

gas) in the presence of sulfur show that 

nickel-oxide oxygen carriers performed 

best when supported on sepiolite 

(magnesium silicate) compared to the 

other support materials tested. Sulfur, 

in the form of hydrogen sulfide, greatly 

affected the reaction profile by decreasing 

reduction reaction rates significantly, but 

the sulfur also increased oxidation rates 

of reduced samples without affecting 

capacity. Details of the collaborative study 

conducted by NETL and the Institute for 

Chemical Processing of Coal at Zabrze, 

Poland, appear in Energy & Fuels (Vol. 24, 

No. 8, 2010) published by the American 

Chemical Society. Using oxygen from metal 

oxide instead of air to combust fuels has 

the significant advantage of exhausting 

concentrated CO2

 without requiring energy 

for separation or purification.

NETL Collaboration Helps 

Polish Institute Secure Research 

Grant—During a recent visit to the 

Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal at 

Zabrze, Poland, NETL scientist Dr. Ranjani 

Siriwardane completed a joint research 

NTPC’s coal-based Korba 

power plant, located in 

Chhattisgarh, India. 

Image courtesy of Pankaj 

Bhartiya, National Thermal 

Power Corporation 

NETL-USAID/India Projects Carry Technology, Best Practices to 

India

A collaboration between NETL and U.S. manufacturer Paragon Airheater Technologies 

is expected to improve efficiency in NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), Ltd.’s, 

200-megawatt Korba, India power plant. NTPC installed Paragon seals, new deflector 

plates, and other hardware in two air preheaters—rotary devices used in plants 

to recover the heat in the flue gas exiting a coal-fired boiler. The Paragon seals are 

expected to last longer than the seals they replaced and reduce air leakage of 15–18 

percent to single digits. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of State and 

NTPC as part of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention project under the USAID’s 

(U.S. Agency for International Development’s) India mission.

NTPC also worked with NETL, AEP (American Electric Power), and Allegheny Energy 

to organize workshops on U.S. best practices that would improve the knowledge of 

plant engineers, maximize power generation, and decrease harmful emissions into 

the environment. AEP and Allegheny Energy executives hosted a four-member NTPC 

delegation at three U.S. power plants, and two utility experts from AEP and Allegheny 

Energy paid reciprocal visits to an NTPC power plant to observe practices and 

exchange information with senior engineers and managers. 

It is estimated that the widespread use of advanced technologies and best practices 

from U.S. utilities by Indian plants will avoid millions of tons of CO2

 emissions in the 

future, while improving plant reliability and reducing operating costs.

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 79

paper with Dr. Ewelina Ksepko on aspects 

of chemical-looping combustion of coalderived syngas. The paper was based on 

data obtained during an earlier exchange 

visit at NETL with samples brought from 

Poland. The joint research was instrumental 

in obtaining the substantial sum of 

1.5 million Polish zloty (approximately 

$500,000 USD) over 3 years from a Polish 

funding agency to develop the Institute’s 

laboratory facilities and continue the 

collaborative work. 

NETL Provides Assistance to 

Engineers Without Borders—

NETL engineer Isaac K. Gamwo participated 

in a review panel organized by the American 

Institute of Chemical Engineers to evaluate 

selected proposals submitted to Engineers 

Without Borders U.S.A. The nonprofit 

organization receives hundreds of proposals 

from developing countries annually asking 

for assistance in meeting basic human 

needs, such as clean water, sanitation, 

and energy. From among five proposals 

demonstrating the application of chemical 

engineering principles to humanitarian 

and sustainable development, the panel 

unanimously chose a project submitted 

by Kenya for a 2010 grant award to be 

conducted in collaboration with Montana 

State University. 

United States–India Utility 

Executive Exchange Program 

Successfully Concluded—

An institutional development program 

implemented by NETL as part of a 

Participating Agency Service Agreement 

with the India Mission of the USAID/India

(U.S. Agency for International Development) 

completed executive exchanges aimed 

at creating within India’s largest electric 

generating utility, NTPC (National Thermal 

Power Corporation) Ltd. , a broader, deeper 

understanding of U.S. best practices and 

technologies for coal-fired power plant 

operations. American Electric Power and 

Allegheny Energy executives hosted a fourmember delegation from NTPC at three U.S. 

power plants, and two utility experts from 

Amercian Electric Power and Allegheny 

Energy paid a reciprocal visit to observe 

practices at an NTPC power plant and to 

participate in an information exchange with 

senior engineers and managers. Widespread 

use of U.S. utility best practices for plant 

operations and maintenance at NTPC and 

other Indian utilities will avoid millions of 

tons of CO2

 emissions over the long term 

through greater plant efficiency, while also 

improving plant reliability and reducing 

plant operating costs. 

New Cooperation Agreements 

Signed with China—NETL signed two 

new agreements with leading research 

and development organizations in China 

for cooperation on advanced clean coal 

technologies, including carbon capture 

and storage. The first agreement was with 

ENN Group Co., Ltd., as a project under 

Annex IV: Energy & Environmental Control 

Technologies of the Fossil Energy Protocol 

between the Office of Fossil Energy and 

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology. 

This cooperation focuses on CCUS (carbon 

capture, utilization, and storage), including 

using algae to capture CO2 from flue gases, 

catalytic gasification, and hybrid power 

systems that combine fossil and renewable 

energy sources such as fuel-flexible 

gasification. The other agreement was 

the new Annex VI: Advanced Coal-Based 

Energy Systems Research, Development, 

and Simulation between NETL, the Pacific 

Northwest National Laboratory, and 

the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This 

agreement focuses on high-volume CO2

CCUS; advanced gasification and gas 

turbines; advanced syngas conversion 

technologies; and multiphase and multiscale modeling of advanced coal conversion 

technologies and CCUS. Joint research has 

been initiated under both agreements with 

cooperation under the latter agreement 

already leading to a joint publication, 

“Computational Science: Enabling 

Technology Development” (Chemical 

Engineering Progress, January 2011), on how 

computational science will play a key role 

in accelerating technology development 

and in the realization of virtual process 

engineering of advanced energy systems. 

3rd U.S.–China CO2 Symposium 

Convened—Following the success of 

the 2nd Symposium held in 2008 under 

Annex IV: Energy & Environmental Control 

Technologies of the Fossil Energy Protocol 

between the Office of Fossil Energy and 

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, 

the 3rd U.S.–China CO2 Emissions Control 

Science & Technology Symposium was 

organized by NETL, Columbia University, 

Zhejiang University, and China University 

of Petroleum in Hangzhou, China, on 

December 10–12, 2010. The event drew over 

130 participants from the two countries, 

including representatives of 16 leading 

U.S. companies and organizations. The 

Symposium highlighted China’s growing 

interest in considering CCUS as a CO2

mitigation option for their rapidly growing 

power sector, which is about 80 percent 

coal-based. The presentations represented 

a cross-section of the state-of-the-art 

research and development underway in 

both countries. A 4th Symposium will be 

organized in late 2011 or 2012. 
80

Educational Outreach 

The stewardship of a clean energy future is in the hands of next-generation researchers and scientists. NETL is encouraging the 

next wave of science scholars through outreach efforts like DOE’s National Science Bowl and NETL’s interactive Energy Challenge 

exhibit, while National Lab Day activities and research experience through programs, such as the Oak Ridge Institute for Science 

and Education, deepen our educational impact with students. With outreach efforts such as these, our experienced researchers 

inspire not only student achievement today, but also the energy researchers of tomorrow. 

NETL’s Energy Challenge Fosters the Next Generation of Energy 

Scientists and Engineers

In 2010, NETL unveiled its innovative educational outreach exhibit at the Carnegie 

Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Dubbed the Energy Challenge, the exhibit is the 

newest addition to NETL’s ongoing education and outreach program to help provide 

students at all levels a fundamental understanding of energy science and technology. 

Designed to teach children and young adults about the science of energy and the 

importance of energy in our daily lives, the interactive exhibit uses a game-show style 

presentation and animated videos. The interactive kiosk quizzes contestants on all 

things energy, from sources of energy, to the science behind energy, to environmental 

issues and conservation. The game matches players against one another to answer 

multiple-choice questions. Points are earned by the player that responds with the 

correct answer first. Questions are grouped by education level and fall into three 

categories: kindergarten through fourth grade, fifth through eighth grade, and high 

school. The exhibit also features informative facts about types of energy, how energy 

is produced and used, and energy efficiency, conservation, and safety. While geared 

for students, the questions and other content are engaging and challenging for 

adults, as well. 

The Energy Challenge was unveiled during the NETL-sponsored A Century of Science 

celebration held on the occasion of NETL’s 100-year anniversary. The event was hosted 

by the Carnegie Science Center and featured regional DOE Science Bowl champions 

from Marshall Middle School (Wexford, PA), who helped dedicate the exhibit and 

served as the Energy Challenge’s first contestants. 

NETL’s Energy Challenge is the first such exhibit to be developed by a national laboratory, and it is increasing public awareness, 

particularly with young people, about the role that science and technology play in responsible environmental stewardship. The exhibit 

is a permanent display at the Carnegie Science Center and will continue to be maintained and developed by NETL.

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership

NETL’s Energy Challenge kiosk.
2010 NETL Accomplishments 81

NETL Collaboration on JASON 

Project Yields Three CODiE 

Awards—The JASON Project’s multimedia 

energy curriculum unit “Operation: Infinite 

Potential,” developed in part with NETL 

assistance, won three coveted CODiE Awards 

from the SIIA (Software & Information 

Industry Association). Representing the 

industry’s sole peer-recognition awards 

program, CODiE Awards celebrate excellence 

and vision in educational technology, 

digital content, and software. The SIIA 

pool of educators and technology experts 

recognized “Operation: Infinite Potential” 

“It’s always fun to get in the lab, to put 

together a new experiment, to work 

with students on a variety of problems. 

That’s really a highlight to the work, 

too, when you can take what you do 

and get excited about it, and work 

on getting young people to be just as 

excited about it as you are.” 

Steve Woodruff

NETL researcher

as the nation’s Best K–12 Instructional 

Solution, Best Online Instructional Solution, 

and Best Education Game or Simulation for 

2010. Founded by the National Geographic 

Society, the JASON Project puts student 

“Argonauts” in contact with practicing 

explorers and researchers to excite them 

about learning science. Resulting curricula 

become available through print, video, 

games, and free online resources to tens 

of thousands of teachers and millions of 

students in the United States and worldwide. 

“Operation: Infinite Potential” empowers 

students to work alongside leading 

scientists to explore past, current, and future 

challenges in energy generation, storage, 

and consumption. 

NETL Celebrates National Lab 

Day—On May 6, 2010, scientists and 

engineers from NETL led 20 fifth-grade 

students at South Park Middle School, PA, 

in a series of hands-on science experiments 

designed to excite the students about 

science and inspire interest in future careers 

in science, technology, engineering, and 

math. The students explored topics such as 

polymerization, crystallization, and acid-base 

chemistry in an environment that engaged 

both hand and mind. The event was part of 

a nationwide celebration of National Lab 

Day, a DOE-supported education initiative 

inviting scientists, engineers, and other 

technology professionals into classrooms 

across the country to support the President’s 

stated goals of moving American students 

to the top of the pack in science and math 

while expanding science, technology, 

engineering, and math education and career 

opportunities for underrepresented groups. 

The NETL demonstration was webcast live to 

Memorial Middle School in Albany, OR, West 

Fairmont Middle School in Fairmont, WV, and 

Brentwood Middle School in Pittsburgh, PA. 

To reach additional students and teachers, a 

video of the demonstration was also posted 

at the NETL website following the event. 

The JASON Project is an interactive 

software program that connects 

students with scientists and 

researchers from NETL, NASA, NOAA, 

and JASON’s parent company, the 

National Geographic Society. Via 

video, interactive games, print, 

and HTML, the students engage 

in real-time “missions” designed 

around standard classroom learning 

objectives. 

FYi
82

Awards and Recognition 

The innovative technology and research contributions made by NETL researchers continue to earn our lab recognition. In 2010, 

the diligence of our scientists and engineers resulted in technology developments that garnered two prestigious R&D 100 Awards, 

several technology transfer awards, and recognition for leadership in energy research. These awards reflect NETL’s experience in 

resolving energy and environmental challenges and leading innovation. Building on our history of success and accomplishment, 

NETL continues to help structure America’s sustainable energy future with novel innovations and superior research. 

National Technology Transfer Award—

The FLC awarded a 2010 Excellence in 

Technology Transfer Award to NETL for 

successfully developing the innovative software, 

VE-PSI (Virtual Engineering-Process Simulator 

Interface). VE-PSI facilitates the collaborative 

design of next-generation energy plants with an 

interactive 3-D tour of current power plant 

systems. The capability enables the cost- and 

time-efficient creation of virtual prototypes for 

new plant designs, which reduces risks in 

development on actual pilot- and 

demonstration-scale plants. The open-source 

software was a result of collaborative efforts 

between NETL, Ames National Laboratory, and 

Reaction Engineering International and is now 

available to the private sector and other 

government laboratories. 

Technology Transfer Achievement 

Recognized—The FLC presented a 2010 

Excellence in Technology Transfer Award to 

NETL for successfully developing and 

commercializing a significant dry sorbent 

CO2

-capture technology. The sorbent has a high 

selectivity and capacity for CO2

 capture and low 

projected heat requirements. Once its capacity 

is reached, the sorbent can be recycled and 

used to capture more CO2, which will increase 

the overall efficiency in plants. NETL 

collaborated with ADA-Environmental Solutions 

to optimize the patented amine sorbent 

technology for potential use in conventional 

coal-fired power plants.

NETL Researchers Receive Regional 

Awards—The outstanding work of two NETL 

research groups was recognized at the 2010 

FLC Regional Awards for establishing 

innovative approaches to sustainability in 

materials under high mechanical stresses. Paul 

Jablonski and David Alman received an 

Outstanding Technology Development Award 

for creating a coating material that can extend 

the lifetime of metal components used in 

high-efficiency energy production. James 

Bennett and colleagues received the 

Outstanding Commercialization Success 

Award recognizing their development of a 

high-wear refractory material for use in 

industrial gasification units.

Partnership Achievement Recognized—

The FLC has recognized the developments 

of DOE and DOD (Department of Defense) 

national laboratories for the 2010 FLC 

Interagency Partnership Award. DOE’s NETL 

and DOD’s Air Force Research Laboratory 

have collaborated in support of the 

Superconductivity Program to develop 

breakthrough technology for producing large 

quantities of high-quality superconducting 

wire. Superconducting wire will increase 

power transfer while decreasing losses 

and emissions associated with current 

wire conductors. The collaboration was 

conducted through the High-Temperature 

Superconducting Research and Development 

agreement managed by both laboratories.

The FLC (Federal Laboratory 

Consortium) each year recognizes 

both regional and national 

achievements by federal 

laboratories in transferring their 

technologies to the marketplace. 

The FLC is an organization of 

federal laboratories, centers, and 

agencies created to promote 

technology transfer nationwide. In 

2010, the FLC honored several NETL 

accomplishments.

NETL Garners FLC 

Awards and Recognition

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill as captured by NASA’s Terra satellite 

on May 24, 2010. 

2010 NETL Accomplishments 83

NETL Researchers Recognized for Exemplary Service to the Nation

NETL researchers George Guthrie, Grant Bromhal, and Franklin Shaffer earned the U.S. 

Geological Survey Director’s Award for Exemplary Service to the Nation. They were recognized 

for applying advanced techniques under extreme time constraints to estimate leakage rates 

following the drilling rig explosion at the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

The Deepwater Horizon National Incident Command asked the researchers to serve on the 

Flow Rate Technical Group, which gave scientific estimates of oil flow during the spill. They 

served with two of four divisions—Plume Analysis and Nodal Analysis—with personnel 

from other DOE national laboratories, academia, and industry. NETL researchers who also 

dedicated their expertise to the teams included Bryan Morreale, David Huckaby, 

George Richards, Madhava Syamlal, Mehrdad Shahnam, Roy Long, and Sofiane Benyahia. 

The Plume Analysis Team evaluated oil leak jets 5,000 feet below the sea surface using particle 

image velocimetry and computational fluid dynamics simulations. In June, NETL researchers 

from the Plume Team estimated a flow rate of 60,000 bpd (barrels per day), which was 

proximate to measurements of 55,000 bpd taken in early August after the well was capped. 

The Nodal Analysis Team simulated flow restrictions in the oil reservoir and wellbore systems 

to evaluate uncertainties associated with the oil spill well, wellbore system, and fluids and 

how those uncertainties affected flow rate estimates. 

Ultimately, the Unified Command used the Flow Rate Technical Group’s estimate of the oil 

leak rate to set the level of response—such as number of ships and personnel—in the Gulf of 

Mexico.

Image courtesy of NASA
84

Awards and Recognition 

NETL Wins Two R&D 100 

Awards in 2010—Selected by an 

independent panel of judges and the 

editors of R&D Magazine, the R&D 100 

Awards are presented to the 100 most 

technologically significant products 

to enter the marketplace in the past 

year. NETL technologies garnered two 

of these prestigious awards in 2010: 

Cerium Oxide Coatings for Oxidation 

Rate Reduction in Stainless Steels and 

Nickel Superalloys, and osgBullet.

osgBullet—This set of computational 

modeling tools provides an integration 

interface that links two object visualization 

tools, OpenSceneGraph and Bullet, and 

significantly enhances engineering design and 

simulation. With osgBullet, researchers can 

investigate multiple alternatives and explore 

the “what if” questions that can lead to 

breakthroughs in design. Users can create and 

modify design scenarios collaboratively in real 

time, experimenting with numerous design 

changes on the fly and instantly visualizing the 

impact of those changes on the overall 

system. This capability provides engineers, 

designers, managers, and their customers with 

a dynamic decision-making environment for 

immediate product assessment and 

development. The osgBullet was developed 

jointly by NETL, Ames Laboratory, Idaho 

National Laboratory, Skew Matrix Software, 

and the U.S. Army. 

Cerium Oxide Coating for Oxidation Rate 

Reduction in Stainless Steels and Nickel 

Superalloys—This surface treatment extends 

the lifetime of metal components exposed to 

oxidizing environments. Higher efficiency in 

energy production can save resources, such as 

coal and petroleum, while protecting our 

environment. However, higher efficiency also 

generally means more severe operating 

conditions. To avoid the premature failure of 

components associated with such extreme 

conditions, NETL researchers developed a 

cerium oxide–based coating that can be 

applied as a slurry to a metal part by brushing, 

spraying, or dipping. Because these methods 

of application are simpler and less costly than 

alternative approaches, the novel surface 

treatment could help extend our natural 

resources at a substantial savings. 

Communication, Collaboration, Commercialization

Science & Technology Leadership
2010 NETL Accomplishments 85

NETL Wins 2010 

Communications Award—NETL 

captured an Award of Excellence for the 

publication of its 2008 Accomplishments 

Report in the Technical/Statistical Report 

category. The award was presented 

at the Blue Pencil/Gold Screen annual 

competition conducted by the NAGC 

(National Association of Government 

Communicators). The award honors 

excellence in publications, media 

relations, photography, video, 

multimedia, and other visual 

communications. NAGC recognizes 

writers, editors, graphic artists, and 

others who work in communications for 

federal, state, and local governments.

NETL’s Expertise Requested 

in Development of Standard 

Test—The American Society for 

Testing and Materials consulted NETL 

in developing a standard test for 

evaluating the performance of carbon 

used for mercury capture from coalderived flue and fuel gases. The request 

was made based on NETL research that 

shows that a simple packed-bed reactor 

treating simulated gas mixes can 

qualitatively predict the performance 

of sorbents in actual flue or fuel gas 

even though contact time and gas 

composition may differ significantly 

from the full-scale application. 

U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency Selects NETL Model 

for National Standard—The EPA 

(Environmental Protection Agency) is 

referencing NETL’s life cycle analysis of 

petroleum-based transportation fuels 

to determine the level of reduction in 

greenhouse gases that can be expected 

from compliance with the EPA’s Renewable 

Fuel Standards. Selected for its accuracy 

and transparency, the NETL study provides 

a comprehensive baseline of greenhouse 

gas emissions generated over the life cycle 

of conventional transportation fuels—

gasoline, diesel fuel, and kerosene-based 

jet fuel—in the United States. The study 

also identifies greenhouse gas reduction 

opportunities in each life cycle stage of the 

conventional fuels. According to the EPA’s 

Renewable Fuel Standards program, the 

volume of renewable fuels that refiners and 

importers are required to phase into their 

products will now be based on greenhouse 

gas reduction goals measured from NETL’s 

2005 life cycle baseline.

NETL’s Decision Tool Selected 

for National Science Foundation 

Project—NETL collaborated with 

researchers at the University of Alaska 

Fairbanks to develop an ice-road planning 

model. The model was selected by the 

NSF (National Science Foundation) Data 

Conservancy Team at Johns Hopkins 

University as an exemplar case of how 

to create cyber infrastructure and 

methodologies for preserving and 

presenting scientific data. By incorporating 

spatial databases, mathematical 

optimization, and user-defined values, 

the model determines multiple route 

options and associated tradeoffs relative 

to objectives such as risk, cost, and 

construction time. The model is part of the 

North Slope Decision Support System being 

developed for water resources planning 

and management related to oil and gas 

development on the Alaskan North Slope. 
NETL officials and representatives from the five universities that 

form the NETL-Regional University Alliance executive committee.

86

NETL-Regional University Alliance

Our Vision for the Future

Today’s energy challenges require timely 

solutions to ensure that our nation realizes 

a clean energy future. The 2010 launch of 

the NETL-RUA (National Energy Technology 

Laboratory-Regional University Alliance) offers 

solutions. By engaging faculty and students 

from five regional universities—Carnegie 

Mellon University, Penn State, the University 

of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia 

University—in conducting research alongside 

scientists and engineers at NETL and the 

Alliance’s industry partner, URS Corporation. 

These established research institutions are 

combining their expertise and resources, 

including analytical, computational, and 

experimental facilities, to achieve a common 

set of research, education, and economic 

objectives. 

NETL-RUA was formally launched October 

13, 2010, during a celebration at the Carnegie 

Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. As a growing 

force for economic advancement and a fusion 

of intellectual property and resources, the 

Alliance is a platform for developing clean, 

affordable, abundant energy. NETL-RUA is 

conducting basic and applied energy research, 

educating emerging scientists and engineers, 

and fostering energy innovation and 

accelerating its deployment—efforts that will 

not only advance energy solutions but will also 

spur business development and create jobs. 

Developed collaboratively by its member 

organizations, NETL-RUA’s fully integrated 

research program allows researchers from 

across the Alliance to work side by side; share 

facilities, data, and ideas; and jointly identify 

technology solutions to such challenges as 

carbon management and transitioning to 

sustainable energy systems for the future. 

The complementary strengths of the Alliance 

combine to broaden each institution’s 

research capacity, allowing NETL-RUA to 

explore multiple paths to multiple solutions 

in shorter periods of time. With projects 

ranging from bench-scale demonstrations 

and computational modeling to field 

experiments to commercialized innovations, 

this collaboration is ready to make its mark on 

the energy industry. 

The Alliance is working to find energy 

solutions through its research and technology 

developments, but it’s NETL-RUA’s investment 

NETL-RUA: Innovation 

for the Future
2010 NETL Accomplishments 87

in education that will allow it to stay a step 

ahead of future challenges. NETL-RUA is 

connecting current accomplishment and 

future potential by transferring knowledge to 

the next generation of researchers. Students 

are stepping out of the classroom and into the 

lab, working with premier scientists and faculty 

to conduct research in response to real energy 

concerns. Through its educational programs, 

the Alliance develops students’ laboratory skills 

and instills in them an entrepreneurial mindset, 

which they need to both succeed in the fields 

of science and engineering and produce 

meaningful benefits to our society. 

Once a technology demonstrates commercial 

potential, it must make the leap from 

laboratory to marketplace to affect positive 

change. Located in a region that is a hub of 

the energy industry—rich in raw materials, 

power-production facilities, high-tech energy 

businesses, and research organizations—

NETL-RUA is well positioned to accelerate 

commercial technology deployment. The 

Alliance can draw on the engineering, design, 

and construction expertise of URS to help 

commercialize NETL-RUA innovations, spur 

new businesses, and promote job growth. 

This will build the bridge between research 

and commercialization and help the region 

continue to provide maximum returns on 

research investment to the nation. 

From inception to marketplace, NETL-RUA 

is poised to play a pivotal role in expanding 

the frontiers of energy technology. As this 

powerful collaboration builds momentum, 

its combined efforts will provide a greater 

impact than would the seven institutions 

working alone. A multifaceted organization 

with common research pursuits, the Alliance 

will focus on its long-term goals of mapping its 

expertise and capabilities against our nation’s 

most pressing energy challenges. NETL-RUA’s 

ability to provide the framework, commitment, 

and integration of regional capabilities 

will address these challenges with energy 

solutions. 

“NETL-RUA has already tackled a 

large feat—identifying the right 

problems to address, the right 

research to answer these problems, 

and bringing together the right 

people to carry out those tasks.”

Cindy Powell,

Director, NETL Office of Research 

and Development

NETL-RUA draws upon our collective intellectual, research, and commercialization infrastructure to develop the advanced energy 

technologies required to solve domestic and global energy and environmental issues, train future generations of energy researchers, and 

promote regional economic development.

NETL-RUA Mission
Printed September 5, 2011

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