The DoE has selected 7 American universities to conduct advanced turbine technology studies under the Office of Fossil Fuel's University Turbine Systems Research Programme. The initiative will be managed by the Fossil Fuel's National Energy Technology Laboratory, and will examine the technology required for efficient and clean operation of turbines fuelled by coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas) and high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels. Such research is key to furthering advanced coal-based power generation processes, such as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), and eventually to the operation of IGCC power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Each project will last 36 months, and will focus on the following areas:

Georgia Tech Research Corporation will seek to improve the state-of-the-art understanding of turbulent flame propagation characteristics of syngas and HHC fuels at realistic conditions and also in inhomogeneous environments.

Texas A&M University will develop a database of turbulent burning velocities, NOX mechanism validation data, a comprehensive fuel mechanism with a validated NOX submechanism, and experimental data on the effect of contaminants on laminar flame speed and ignition kinetics.

University of Texas at Austin seeks to develop integrated film cooling and thermal barrier coatings (TBC) configurations that will mitigate the effects of contaminants that naturally occur when using syngas/HHC fuels.

University of North Dakota will develop the heat transfer and deposition predictive tools and surface protective cooling technologies which allow for the reliable design of leading edge cooling schemes in a syngas environment.

Louisiana State University and A&M College seeks to develop novel molecular dynamics methods to improve the efficiency of novel TBC materials, and demonstrate the new TBC systems under IGCC environments.

University of California-Irvine will investigate degradation mechanisms of hot-turbine hot section component protective oxides and high-temperature TBCs unique to coal-derived syngas and HHC fuel.

Stone Brook University will explore the science and technology of advanced TBCs in IGCC turbines that use HHC fuels.

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