Engineering Technology

TECHNOLOGY:
Particulate and Process Gas Stream Sampler Operates at High Temperatures and Pressures

DESCRIPTION:

More than half of the electricity currently generated in the US is produced by the combustion of coal, and coal is expected to continue as the leading source of electric power for the foreseeable future. However, future coal systems will have to be increasingly clean and more efficient to satisfy environmental expectations while remaining cost competitive. To maximize the efficiency of the coal conversion to electric power, future coal-based power systems will use gas turbines operating at high temperatures and high pressures. To protect the gas turbines and to ensure environmental compliance, future power plants will need to implement gas cleanup at high temperatures and high pressures, and the validation of the cleanup systems will require high-temperature, high-pressure sampling systems. What is needed is a particulate and process gas stream sampler that can determine if the appropriate levels of particulates have been removed, and it must withstand high temperatures and high pressure. Designers at the Southern Research Institute have developed a complete particulate sampling system that meets these needs and can be operated remotely or locally, either permanently installed or portable.

Coal gasification units convert coal in a reducing environment to produce a fuel gas (syngas) that is burned in a gas turbine/combined-cycle unit. The Southern Research Institute sampling systems can be used either upstream or downstream of the particulate collection system to sample and evaluate particulates in syngas cleanup efforts. To use advanced turbines in a coal gasification system, almost all of the particulate matter in the entering gas must be removed-typically less than 20 ppmw (parts per million by weight). Ceramic or metallic barrier filters appear to be the most promising particulate removal technology to achieve these limits. But these filters are susceptible to reliability issues with failures typically caused by the accumulation of ash deposits on the filter elements or support structures. The sampling system provides an in situ method to monitor and address particulate characteristics that lead to these deposits, withstanding temperatures up to 1600degF and pressures as high as 500 psig under combustion and gasification conditions. The Southern Research Institute's sampling system includes the necessary hardware and operation methods for collecting, sampling, and characterizing particulate matter from a high-temperature and/or high-pressure gas stream. The system includes a cyclone sampler for use at high temperature and pressures, a cascade impactor (including jet plates with integral spacers and alignment features), and an activated bauxite alkali collector with an alumina liner.

PATENT PROTECTION:

US Patent issued: US 6,685,759
New Zealand Patent No. 525,287. Issued April 7, 2005.
European Patent No. EP 1,330,637. Issued July 30, 2003.
Australian Patent No. AU 9,309,201. Issued April 8, 2002.
Canadian Patent No. CA 2,423,408. Issued April 4, 2002.

REFERENCE NUMBER: S0228

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