Fundamental Developments in Sensors and Controls for Power and Fuel Systems

Post Date

April 1st 2009

Application Due Date

May 12th 2009

Funding Opportunity Number

DE-FOA-0000059

CFDA Number(s)

81.089

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Energy
Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Eligibility Categories

Unrestricted

Funding

• Award Range:

  $None - $None

Grant Description

The instructions for completing the application package are contained in the full text of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) which can be obtained at: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/ You MUST follow the instructions contained in the FOA in order to be considered for award. Questions regarding the content of the announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal. You must register with FedConnect to submit questions. More information is available at http://www.compusearch.com/products/fedconnect/fedconnect.asp. DOE will try to respond to a question within 3 business days, unless a similar question and answer have already been posted on the website. Sensors FOA 2009: Fundamental Developments in Sensors and Controls for Power and Fuel Systems This document illustrates DOE, National Energy Technology Laboratory apos;s (NETL) strategy for evaluating and selecting applications received in response to FOA Number DE-FOA-0000059 entitled, Advanced Research: Fundamental Developments in Sensors and Controls for Power and Fuel Systems. The scope of this activity will include soliciting both fundamental and applied research projects from the four areas of research described under one technical topic. TECHNICAL TOPIC: FUNDAMENTAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SENSORS AND CONTROLS FOR POWER AND FUEL SYSTEMS The United States Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is seeking innovative research and development of sensor and control systems to support the full-scale implementation and operation of highly efficient, near zero emission power generation technologies. These technologies include advanced combustion, gasification, turbines, fuel cells, gas cleaning and separation technologies, and carbon capture. Technology development is also in place for the concurrent production of synthetic fuels from coal and other domestic resources. Future power generation facilities and plants are expected to be highly efficient and complex, requiring a high level of system integration for efficient operation. To manage complexity and achieve performance goals, advances in the capability and architecture of instrumentation, sensors, and process controls are vital in assuring highly efficient unit operations, predictive on-line maintenance, and continuous life cycle monitoring, which ensure further reduction in emissions. Innovations in these areas are being supported by NETLs Advanced Research Program which aims at bridging the gap between the basic sciences and applied research as it relates to Fossil Energy applications. Long range transitional type research is needed to support the identification and growth of novel concepts leading to the potential for scientific breakthrough as well as the early adoption of innovative concepts into applications for power generation. With the goals of enabling, improving, and protecting power systems through the application of advanced sensors and controls, the areas for long range transitional research are outlined below. Applications are sought in these areas with specific focus on novel and innovative concepts and the application to Fossil Energy Power Generation and Fuel Production Technologies. Advanced Materials Development for High Temperature Sensing Applications are sought for the identification and development of materials that can be engineered for high temperature sensing applications. For purposes of this research area, high temperature is defined as 700oC-1600oC and materials are expected to survive and function within a reasonable portion of this temperature range. Materials to facilitate sensing and quantification of temperature, pressure (300-700 psi), strain, or gas composition (e.g. H2, HCl, CO, CO2, O2, H2O, CH4, NOx, H2S, SOX, COS, etc.) are of interest. Sensor materials of interest include non-silica optical fibers, piezoelectric crystals, non-carbon nanotubes or nanowires, and three-dimensional ceramic and metal oxide nanostructures. Upon successful development, it is desirable for the materials to survive a minimum of 5,000 hours when placed in the high temperature environment. Novel Sensor Constructs for Harsh Environments Applications are sought for the development of novel sensor constructs that enable on line, in situ sensing of harsh environments produced during the conversion of fossil fuels. Traditional approaches have generally included the design of a sensor probe with cooling capability or an extractive system. This topic seeks to depart from traditional approaches and to support novel approaches that enable real time multi-dimensional mapping of key parameters via sensor networks, imaging techniques, and/or distributed and heterogeneous sensors designed for harsh environments. Non intrusive techniques are also of interest if approaches do not require significant investments in ancillary equipment to maintain access or purging of non-intrusive equipment. For the purposes of this research area, harsh environments created in highly efficient Fossil Energy power systems (combustion, gasification, fuel cells, gas turbines) includes a temperature range of 500oC-1600oC, pressure range 300-700 psi and have present constituents that result in corrosive and erosive conditions. Molten slag produced during coal gasification in a reducing environment is one example of an extremely harsh environment. Systems utilizing high levels of oxygen in turbulent flow regimes (e.g. oxy-fired combustion, oxygen enriched combustion turbines) are other examples of a harsh environment. Commercially available sensor technology for these environments is extremely limited, but monitoring in these environments is important for performance. Specific measurements of interest may include one or more of the following: temperature (flame, gas and/or surface temperature), dynamic gas pressure (flow, e.g. turbine entry), fuel/exhaust gas composition (e.g. H2, CO, CO2, O2, H2O, CH4, NOx, H2S, SOx, etc), and component integrity (e.g. surface strain, refractory degradation). Approaches that include the use of radiation or ionizing sources are outside the scope of this research area. Modeling the Placement and Performance of Sensors Extensive modeling and simulation are being performed on advanced energy systems to assist in design, scale up, performance, and control of individual components as well as integrated systems within a power plant. Additional process model and simulation development is being sought for the fundamental understanding of the relationships involved in the sensor placement, interaction with the process and hierarchal interactions of the sensor intelligence being sought with a goal of identifying the type, number, and placement of sensors for maximum effectiveness and efficiency of the measurement technology and the process itself. It is envisioned that optimization of the location, number, and type of sensors will contribute to enhanced control of a process. It is of interest to develop new fundamental algorithms and hybrid sensor architectures capable of describing and initiating new sensor to sensor communication networks based on intelligent sensors that are unrestrictive and self-organizing. High fidelity coupling to simulation models of a process or vessel as well as a measurement may initially be generic to evaluate approaches. However, desired approached must be adaptable and transitioned to Fossil Energy Applications such as but not limited to gasification, advanced combustion, or turbines. Multizonal Reduced Order Model Development for Gasification and Combustion Reactors The power generation and fuel production industries face the enormous challenge of designing next-generation plants to operate with increased efficiency and reduced emissions, while ensuring profitability amid changes in environmental regulations and fluctuations in the cost of raw materials, finished products, and energy. To achieve aggressive performance and economic objectives, significant advancements in process equipment technology must be conceived, analyzed, and optimized in the context of large-scale, complex, and highly-integrated process systems. Fundamental to designing a new plant or improving the performance of an existing facility is an accurate virtual representation of the basic processes. Advanced modeling and simulation solutions are needed to foster rapid technology development, reduce pilot and demonstration-scale facility design time and operating campaigns, and lower the cost and technical risk in realizing high-efficiency, near-zero emission plants of the future. Process simulation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software tools provide the solutions to meet this need, solving the critical engineering and operating problems that arise throughout the lifecycle of a plant. Process/CFD co-simulation enables better understanding and optimization of the coupled fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and related phenomena that drive overall performance of advanced fossil energy plants. In addition, the optimization of individual equipment items using CFD is not done in isolation, but within the context of the overall process, so that a global improvement is achieved, especially for cases in which plant performance depends strongly on local mixing and fluid dynamics. Applications are sought for the automatic and systematic development of multizonal reduced order models (ROMs) that approximate high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based equipment simulations of gasifiers and combustion reactors used in the simulation of power generation and fuel production systems. Multizonal (network-of-zones) models are a class of ROMs where a CFD model of a single equipment item (e.g., gasifier, combustor) is represented by an interconnected network of reactor models, including the complex chemical kinetics required to accurately model gasification and combustion. Applicants are encouraged to consider the application of the multizonal ROM technology to coal gasification and combustion reactors used in the production of clean power and coal-derived fuels. It is also desirable for applicants to make use of the process industry CAPE-OPEN (CO) software standard such that the multizonal ROMs can be used with CO-compliant process simulators and NETLs CO-compliant Advanced Process Engineering Co-Simulator (APECS).

Contact Information

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  Department of Energy

• Office:

  National Energy Technology Laboratory

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  Martin Byrnes
  Martin.Byrnes@netl.doe.gov
  

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