QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT
PHASE 3: CLEAN AND SECURE ENERGY FROM COAL
University of Utah
DE-NT0005015
July 30, 2014
Philip J. Smith (PI)
Project Period
May 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Results and Discussion.................................................................................................................................. 4
Task 1.0 – Project Management ................................................................................................................ 4
Task 2.0 – Technology Transfer and Outreach ......................................................................................... 4
Task 3.0 – Power Generation “Retrofit”: Oxy-Coal ................................................................................. 4
Subtask 3.1 – Oxy-Coal Combustion Large Eddy Simulations ............................................................ 4
Subtask 3.2 – Near-Field Aerodynamics of Oxy-Coal Flames with Directed Oxygen and Minimum
Flue Gas Recycle .................................................................................................................................. 4
This subtask submitted their topical report, which was reviewed and revised. .................................... 4
Subtask 3.3 – Advanced Diagnostics for Oxy-Coal Combustion ......................................................... 5
This subtask is complete. ...................................................................................................................... 5
Subtask 3.4 – Oxy-Coal Combustion in Circulating Fluidized Beds ................................................... 5
Subtask 3.5 – Single-Particle Oxy-CO2 Combustion ............................................................................ 5
Subtask 3.6 – Ash Partitioning Mechanisms for Oxy-Coal Combustion with Varied Amounts of Flue
Gas Recycle........................................................................................................................................... 5
Task 4.0 - Power Generation “Retrofit”: Gasification .............................................................................. 5
This task is complete. ................................................................................................................................ 5
Task 5.0 – Chemical Looping Combustion Reactions and Systems......................................................... 5
Task 6 - In-Situ Fuel Production: SNG from Deep Coal .......................................................................... 5
Task 7.0 – Mercury Control ...................................................................................................................... 9
Task 8.0 – Strategies for Coal Utilization in the National Energy Portfolio ............................................ 9
8.1 Regulatory Promotion of Emergent CCS Technology ................................................................... 9
8.2 Emerging Legal Issues for CCS Technology .................................................................................. 9
Task 9.0 – Validation/Uncertainty Quantification for Large Eddy Simulations of the heat flux in the
Tangentially Fired Oxy-Coal Alstom Boiler Simulation Facility ........................................................... 10
Subtask 9.1 – LES simulation and V/UQ for heat flux in Alstom oxy-coal-fired BSF ...................... 10
Subtask 9.2 – LES simulation and V/UQ for heat flux in subscale UofU oxy-coal-fired OFC ......... 10
Subtask 9.4 – Heat flux profiles of UofU OFC using advanced strategies for O2 injection ............... 13
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report this quarter. ...................................... 13
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Milestone Status .......................................................................................................................................... 14
Completed milestones ............................................................................................................................. 14
Delays/Problems with upcoming milestones and deliverables ............................................................... 14
Accomplishments ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Cost Plan ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
2
Recent and Upcoming Presentations/Publications ...................................................................................... 15
References ................................................................................................................................................... 15
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The University of Utah is pursuing research to utilize the vast energy stored in our domestic coal
resources and to do so in a manner that will capture CO2 from combustion from stationary power
generation. The research is organized around the theme of validation and uncertainty quantification
through tightly coupled simulation and experimental designs and through the integration of legal,
environment, economics and policy issues. The results of the research will be embodied in the computer
simulation tools which predict performance with quantified uncertainty; thus transferring the results of the
research to practitioners to predict the effect of energy alternatives using these technologies for their
specific future application. A summary of highlights from the last quarter follows.
During this quarter the Oxycoal Team finalized their topical report, and it is currently being formatted.
The UCTT Team finished their experimental tests and developed a simulation setup based on realistic
coal-seam information.
Task 9 simulation efforts focused on performing V/UQ simulations of the BSF and making some
improvements to the OFC simulations. On the experimental side, the student working on subtask 9.3 has
been processing the two-color temperature data and IR data taken on the OFC in February, 2014. The
current code to process the two color images is providing unreasonable results, so the code and calibration
for the camera are currently being investigated. The IR data has been processed and is used to compare to
the radiometer data. The student is finishing this processing and analysis for inclusion in the topical
report.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Task 1.0 – Project Management
During this quarter, the Project Team submitted the seventeenth quarterly report, completed the oxycoal
topical report, which is being formatted, and continued to work with the Program Manager to ensure that
the tasks and subtasks are on target.
Task 2.0 – Technology Transfer and Outreach
Activities this quarter focused on finalizing peer-reviewed publications and submitting these to DOE as
well as keeping the web page updated.
Task 3.0 – Power Generation “Retrofit”: Oxy-Coal
Subtask 3.1 – Oxy-Coal Combustion Large Eddy Simulations
This subtask is complete.
Subtask 3.2 – Near-Field Aerodynamics of Oxy-Coal Flames with Directed Oxygen and Minimum Flue
Gas Recycle
This subtask submitted their topical report, which was reviewed and revised.
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Subtask 3.3 – Advanced Diagnostics for Oxy-Coal Combustion
This subtask is complete.
Subtask 3.4 – Oxy-Coal Combustion in Circulating Fluidized Beds
This subtask has been discontinued, and the investigators submitted their contribution to the topical
report.
Subtask 3.5 – Single-Particle Oxy-CO2 Combustion
Single-particle CFB
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report.
Single-particle char oxidation
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report.
Subtask 3.6 – Ash Partitioning Mechanisms for Oxy-Coal Combustion with Varied Amounts of Flue Gas
Recycle
Ash partitioning mechanisms in lab-scale oxy-coal combustion
This portion of the subtask is complete.
Ash partitioning mechanisms in pilot-scale oxy-coal combustion
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report.
Task 4.0 - Power Generation “Retrofit”: Gasification
This task is complete.
Task 5.0 – Chemical Looping Combustion Reactions and Systems
This task is complete. The investigators are working on a providing a webpage with the ASPEN
simulation cases.
Task 6 - In-Situ Fuel Production: SNG from Deep Coal
Experimental studies
During this quarter, the investigators completed their rubbleized-bed reactor (RBR) experiments (Table 1)
including a total of two high-pressure experiments. The tests were performed with Utah Sufco coal in a
nitrogen environment.
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Table 1. Summary of completed RBR experiments as well as gas and liquid yields.
Run
#
Date
Pressure
(psi)
1
incomplete
incomplete
SS Temp C
inside/all1
Temp
Range
(all) C
Temp
STDEV
(all) ©
Coal
C7+ liquid
yield2
Gas yield2
2
3
2/13/14 15
520/532
426-588 58.0
Chunk
12%
16%
4
3/10/14 15
558/562
460-621 53.7
Rubble
5
3/13/14 15
382/398
349-436 31.3
Rubble
8%
12%
6
3/28/14 300
530/536
311-348 62.6
Rubble
5%
18%
7
4/08/14 15
531/534
452-592 62.8
Rubble
8-10%
11-12%
8
4/28/14 15
554/545
482-603 43.2
Chunk
9 – 12%
13 – 16%
9
5/7/14
350
549/423
389-598 52.5
Chunk
6-7%
18 – 19%
10
5/19/14 15
557/567
509-606 45.9
Chunk
10-12%
14 - 16%
1 SS: steady state Inside indicates temperatures measured inside the coal particles, and all includes temperatures
measured inside the coal particles as well as temperatures measured on the surface of the particles.
2 For the later runs, we were able to estimate gas yields by two different methods (by difference between coal mass,
char, and liquids, and by a dry gas meter). Consequently, we present a range of yields for these runs.
In order to assess the heterogeneity of the coal, several samples (before and after pyrolysis) were sent for
ultimate and proximate analysis (Table 2). The moisture content was on average 3.2 ± 0.15 %. The ash
content was more variable with an average of 5.04 ± 1.82 %, which could indicate that inclusions in the
coal are affecting the composition.
Table 2. Proximate and ultimate composition (%) of coal samples from several runs before (coal) and
after (char). For run number 8, three coal samples were collected, which are labeled 1, 2 and 3. For run
number 8 and 9, three char samples from different heights above the heater were collected, which are
labeled labeled top, mid (middle) and bott (bottom) based on their distance from the heater.
Coal
C
V
A
M
S
B
C
H
N
O
No. 9, 300
psi, 540 C
49.31
40.24
6.96
3.49
0.59 12504 70.12
No. 8, 15
psi, 550 C, 1
49.24
41.7
6
3.06
0.69 12935 71.54
5.15 1.58 11.98
No.8, 15
psi, 550 C, 2
51.55
42.24
3.07
3.14
0.52 13187 73.66
5.26 1.68 12.67
No. 8, 15
psi, 550 C, 3
52.02
41.93
2.8
3.25
0.54 13165 73.38
5.22 1.68 13.12
No. 6, 300
psi, 530 C
50.81
41.36
4.65
3.18
0.6 12992 72.51
5.13 1.51 12.42
48.49
41.61
6.76
3.14
No.4, 15
psi, 560 C
0.64 12717
70.7
5
1.5 12.34
5.14 1.52
12.1
6
Char
Position C
Block 2
Top
No. 9, 300 Block 2
psi, 540 C
Mid
Block 2
Bott
Block 2
Top
No. 8, 15 Block 2
psi, 550 C
Mid
Block 2
Bott
V
A
M
S
B
C
H
N
O
85.31 9.15 4.37
1.17 0.45
14207 86.44 2.46 1.93 3.19
85.87 6.34 6.66
1.13 0.44
13861 85.68 1.91 1.79 2.39
85.08 4.78 9.04
1.10 0.55
13386 84.26 1.46 1.67 1.91
85.58 10.22 3.04
1.15 0.52
14361 86.70 2.48 2.17 3.93
88.51 6.97 3.33
1.19 0.59
14291 88.37 1.92 2.06 2.55
89.89 5.18 3.84
1.09 0.82
14124 89.34 1.39 1.89 1.63
C: carbon; V: volatile content; A: ash content; M: moisture content; S: sulfur; B: heating value (btu/lb); H:
hydrogen; N: nitrogen; O: oxygen.
Figure 1 illustrates how the fixed carbon content increases and the volatile content increases for char
samples that are closer to the heater (bottom). This trend is apparent for both the ambient pressure (8) and
elevated pressure (9) runs.
Figure 1. Comparison of fixed carbon and volatile matter content for runs number 8 and 9.
Figure 2 summarizes the yields for the scoping and RBR studies. It shows that yield increases with
temperature, as expected, and that the yields for the scoping and the RBR studies agree reasonably well.
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Figure 2. Summary of yield results for the scoping and RBR studies. The left side indicates ambient
pressure runs, and the right side indicates high-pressure runs. LES in Reacting Porous Media
In the past quarter the investigators continued to improve their HPC simulation tool to simulate
underground thermal treatment of coal. They redesigned the simulation geometry for in-situ heating based
on thickness of an actual Utah coal field, which is used as the target location for this simulation. In the
previous quarter they have created a simulation geometry that depicted a diagonal heating well with a
vertical production well. However, upon review of available coal fields in Utah, which could serve as
potential candidates for this technology, they modified the simulation geometry to reflect the actual coal
field thickness as well as well as modified the orientation of heating wells. The new geometry can be seen
in Figure 3.
The investigators selected the Wasatch Plateau coal field as the target coal field for this simulation. The
thickness of this coal field ranges from about 6.3 ft to 14 ft. They picked depth of 8.4 ft to be represented
in our simulation. To heat this coal field we use horizontal wells placed 12.5 meters apart. The simulation
domain shown in Figure 3 captures only a small representative section of the entire coal field. We use
periodic boundary conditions to account for the very large coal field size.
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Figure 3. New simulation geometry representing Wasatch Plateau coal field with horizontal heating
CO2 Adsorption
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report.
Task 7.0 – Mercury Control
This task is complete.
Task 8.0 – Strategies for Coal Utilization in the National Energy Portfolio
8.1 Regulatory Promotion of Emergent CCS Technology
The topical report was submitted to the program manager for review this quarter.
8.2 Emerging Legal Issues for CCS Technology
This subtask is complete.
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Task 9.0 – Validation/Uncertainty Quantification for Large Eddy Simulations of the heat flux in the
Tangentially Fired Oxy-Coal Alstom Boiler Simulation Facility
Subtask 9.1 – LES simulation and V/UQ for heat flux in Alstom oxy-coal-fired BSF
During the previous quarter, the various cases involved in the V/UQ analysis of the BSF have been
running. Significant delays have occurred due to the end of allocation on OLCF’s Titan supercomputer,
and a transition of data back to the in-house super computer at the University of Utah.
Current progress on the BSF simulation is illustrated in Figure 4, showing the average oxygen mole
fraction on a plane located near the center of the BSF. The figure shows that the current base case has
reached steady-state operation; the remaining cases are currently being run to completion. It is anticipated
that the suite of simulations will be completed in the upcoming weeks, in order to finalize the V/UQ
analysis.
Figure 4. Average O2 mole fraction at a plane located 3.86 meters from the bottom of the boiler. The
figure indicates the simulation has reached steady state operation, and is ready for statistical analysis in
order to compare with the BSF experimental dataset.
Subtask 9.2 – LES simulation and V/UQ for heat flux in subscale UofU oxy-coal-fired OFC
During the last quarter, several updates were made in the ARCHES LES code, and the coal
devolatilization models were improved. The OFC base case has been run out to near completion (see
Figure 5), and the remaining simulations required for the V/UQ analysis are in progress.
In order to decrease runtime and increase stability to the simulation, a simplification in the interpolation
algorithm, was removed, increasing the accuracy of the look up for density and several other fundamental
variables, resulting in increased stability and smaller run times.
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A better description of the coal devolatilization was achieved by fitting a 1-step reaction rate of the form
used by Yamamoto et al. (2011) to the more robust CPD model (Fletcher 1992), which was run with the
new Sufco coal properties. In addition, the ability to use 2-step rate kinetics was added, for future use.
Figure 5. 2D images showing the temperature (top left), density (top right), and the rate of devolatilization
(bottom), for the OFC burner. The images are rendered at 3.4 seconds in simulation time. The results
show the dense CO2 purge, leaving the radiometer ports and falling down through the domain. A
relatively large recirculation zone is observed due to the buoyancy effects on the down-fired flame. The
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devolatilization rate is consistent with the physical dynamics of the flame showing larger values where
the coal particles are heating up.
Subtask 9.3 – IR camera diagnostics & V/UQ for temperature measurements in UofU OFC
The data presented in this report were taken on February 25-28, 2014 on the Oxy-fuel Combustor (OFC)
with an axial burner (Burner A). Temperature data were taken with a high-speed, visible camera using
narrow-band, two-color pyrometry. Infrared radiative heat flux data were taken with an infrared camera
with a wavelength band of 150 nm centered around 3900 nm. A detailed discussion of how these data
were obtained is given in a previous report. For this test campaign, a single operating condition was
studied in an attempt to quantify the uncertainty of the temperature and heat flux measurements. This
uncertainty includes potential variations in the operating conditions of the reactor, such as feed rates and
wall temperatures, and potential variations in data collection operations as well. Fifteen data sets were
taken at this same condition on three days with a minimum time of 40 minutes between sets. The electric
wall heaters normally used to heat the walls within the OFC were out of order. They were removed and
replaced with refractory. Thus, despite having the minimum allowable amount of CO2 dilution (no CO2 in
the secondary stream), the flame remained unattached.
Figure 6 shows the calculated blackbody temperature from the radiometer data and the IR camera. Since
the IR camera only measures the intensity of the flame from a small wavelength band and the radiometer
measures intensity over the entire spectrum, the blackbody temperature for both methods was calculated
using the Planck distribution over the respective wavelength bands in order to better compare the two
methods. As can be seen in Figure 6, the calculated blackbody temperatures differ by ~130 K. However,
the MWIR camera is oriented such that there is a relatively cool quartz window in the background behind
the flame, and the radiometer is oriented such that the inner reactor wall composed of hot refractory is in
the background. The MWIR images were then analyzed to find the difference in pixel response between
the window and the refractory background. This difference was then added to MWIR images in order to
simulate the same refractory background as the radiometer. Then, the MWIR blackbody temperatures
were recalculated and the results are shown in Figure 7. As can be seen, the calculated temperatures with
the additional background response correlate very closely to the temperatures measured by the
radiometer.
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Figure 6.The calculated blackbody temperature for each of the 15 repeated conditions for the IR camera
and the radiometer.
Figure 7. The calculated blackbody temperature for each of the 15 repeated conditions for the IR camera
and the radiometer, including the adjusted IR camera calculation when the background radiation from the
refractory wall is added in.
The processing and evaluation of two-color pyrometry image sets for temperature and emissivity
measurements are currently in progress, as is the writing of the topical report.
Subtask 9.4 – Heat flux profiles of UofU OFC using advanced strategies for O2 injection
The investigators completed their contribution to the topical report this quarter.
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CONCLUSIONS
The UCTT experimental results in the RBR agree with the scoping studies and indicate that yield is a
function of temperature, with higher temperatures producing higher yields. Despite the large difference in
scale, the FRB and RBR results agree reasonably well. Finally, the effect of coal particle size on yield
appeared to be limited, which may be due to the difference in coal particle size (roughly a 2.5” cube
versus a 4 – 5” cube).
MILESTONE STATUS
Table 3 summarizes the key milestones.
Table 3. Phase 3 key milestone status.
Milestone
Project management plan
Proof of concept OFC demonstration of
coaxial segregated/directed O2 injection
Characterization of gasifier at 15 atm
Preliminary dataset including thermochemical parameters from the lab-scale
test facility
Heat flux profiles of the UofU OFC using
advanced strategies for O2 injection
Demonstrate simulation tools &
preliminary V/UQ (Task 6)
Summarize lessons learned from BSF
simulations
Planned Completion
Actual
Date
Completion Date
June 2011
June 2011
August 2011
August 2011
December 2011
June 2012
June 2012
June 2012
December 2012
March 2013
Notes
March 2012
May 2014
July 2014
Updated completion
date August 2014
Completed milestones
None.
Delays/Problems with upcoming milestones and deliverables
Task 6. The UCTT team completed the experimental studies, but the simulation team has not been able to
complete the milestone “demonstrate simulation tools & preliminary V/UQ” because they changed their
simulation conditions to replicate actual coal-field dimensions. They anticipate that this will be
completed in August.
Subtask 9.1. Due to downtimes associated with computational resources and a shift of data back to the inhouse super computer at the University of Utah, the summary of the lessons learned from the BSF
simulations has been delayed. It is anticipated that the simulations will be completed in early August
with the lessons learned completed by the end of August.
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS
COST PLAN
The cost plan can be found in the attached appendix.
RECENT AND UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS
K. Kelly, D. Wang, E. Eddings Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Underground Coal Thermal
Treatment for Production of Syngas and Liquid Fuels, submitted to Clearwater Coal Conference.
REFERENCES
Fletcher, Thomas H., et al. "Chemical percolation model for devolatilization. 3. Direct use of carbon-13 NMR data
to predict effects of coal type." Energy & Fuels 6.4 (1992): 414-431.
Yamamoto, Kenji, et al. "Large eddy simulation of a pulverized coal jet flame ignited by a preheated gas
flow." Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 33.2 (2011): 1771-1778.
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