Seven universities have picked up a significant funding boost from the US Department of Energy in an effort to investigate the technology needed for turbines using coal-derived synthesis gas and high hydrogen content fuels.
Universities in Georgia, California, Louisiana, Texas, North Dakota and New York will benefit from more than $3.3million for advanced turbine technology studies as part of the Office of Fossil Energy’s University Turbine Systems Research Programme.
Let’s take a closer look at each project:
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation: Based in Atlanta, this aims to improve the understanding of turbulent flame propagation characteristics of syngas and high hydrogen content fuels. It will also develop physics based models of turbulent burning rates with a total of $404,404 from the DOE.
- Louisiana State University and A&M College: Based in Baton Rouge, this establishment benefits from $504,863 to develop novel molecular dynamics methods to improve the efficiency of TBC materials.
- University of California-Irvine: Has been set a project to investigate degradation mechanisms of hot turbine hot section component protective oxides and high temperature TBCs that are unique to syngas and high hydrogen content fuel with $500,000 awarded.
- University of North Dakota: A total of $500,000 is aimed at developing the heat transfer and deposition predictive tools and surface protective cooling technologies that will in turn allow for the reliable design of leading edge cooling schemes.
- Stony Brook University: Based in New York, this university benefits from $401,238 to explore the science and technology of advanced TBCs in IGCC turbines using high hydrogen content fuels.
- Texas A&M University: Will pick up $501,711 from the DOE to develop a database of turbulent burning velocities and nitrogen oxides mechanism validation data while also researching the development of syngas/HHC-fired gas turbines.
- University of Texas as Austin: Has the aim of developing integrated film cooling and thermal barrier coatings configurations to mitigate the effects of contaminants that naturally occur when using syngas and high hydrogen content fuels – will pick up $500,000 from the DOE.
