Vision 21 Project

Overview

The NFCRC and its partners are working under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy in it's Vision 21 Program managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory to define engineering issues associated with integrating fuel processing, power generation, and emissions control subsystems and components into overall power systems that meet Vision 21 goals. Unlike today's energy plants, which often are based on a single technology, Vision 21 energy plants will need to use combinations of advanced technologies in order to meet Vision 21 efficiency goals. Advanced power generation technologies now being developed, such as the solid oxide fuel cells and advanced turbines, cannot reach Vision 21 goals by themselves. Rather, these technologies will need to be combined into complex configurations that utilize as much of the feedstock energy as practicable. Major advances in systems integration "know-how" are necessary if reliable, cost-effective, Vision 21 plants are to be built.

In carrying out this work, the NFCRC team is using unique computational modeling and simulation tools, including a simulator called APSAT (for Advanced Power System Analysis Tools) developed at the NFCRC. Existing commercially available models for energy plants, including models for simulating power plants and chemical plants, do not have the capabilities and flexibility needed to study advanced Vision 21 energy plants. APSAT was developed to handle complex configurations of advanced energy systems, especially those combining electrochemical and thermodynamic cycle.

Objectives

The NFCRC team is conducting a three-part study that promises to change the way in which the next generation of energy plants, utilize fossil fuels. The study asdfsdfobjectives include:

1. Identify those combinations of fossil fuels and "opportunity" feedstocks (e.g., biomass, petroleum coke, municipal and industrial wastes), fuel handing/processing systems, power generation modules, and emission control modules that meet Vision 21 goals.
2. Determine the key technical, operability, and economic factors of the resulting plants that would affect the integration of subsystems and components.
3. Define R&D needs that address the issues that must be resolved to assure successful systems integration into viable Vision 21 plants. The many possible plant configurations and thermodynamic cycles will be evaluated in a systematic and consistent manner to ensure that all technologies are considered on a "level field" and that those combinations that meet the stringent Vision 21 requirements are accurately identified.

Status

• Sept 14, 2000 - Start Date
• December 2000 - Market and Economic Data for the evaluation of potential Vision
  21 power plants
• December 2001 - Identification of modules and subsystems for the promising Vision 21 power plants
• June 2002 - Analyze and optimize selected technology scenarios at a screening level to select cycle configurations. (Cases of natural gas based)

Sponsors

U.S. Department of Energy

Personnel

Student: Yaofan Yi (Grad)

Faculty: Prof. Scott Samuelsen

Staff:Dr. Ashok RaoDr. Jack Brouwer

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