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At least 1,351 records · Page 75

Critical Research for Cost-Effective Photoelectrochemical Production of Hydrogen

The objective of this project is to develop critical technologies required for cost-effective production of hydrogen from sunlight and water using a-Si triple junction solar cell based photo-electrodes. In this project, Midwest Optoelectronics, LLC (MWOE) and its collaborating organizations utilize triple junction a-Si thin film solar cells as the core element to fabricate photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. Triple junction a-Si/a-SiGe/a-SiGe solar cell is an ideal material for making cost-effective PEC system which uses sun light to split water and generate hydrogen. It has the following key features: 1) It has an open circuit voltage (Voc ) of ~ 2.3V and has an operating voltage around 1.6V. This is ideal for water splitting. There is no need to add a bias voltage or to inter-connect more than one solar cell. 2) It is made by depositing a-Si/a-SiGe/aSi-Ge thin films on a conducting stainless steel substrate which can serve as an electrode. When we immerse the triple junction solar cells in an electrolyte and illuminate it under sunlight, the voltage is large enough to split the water, generating oxygen at the Si solar cell side (for SS/n-i-p/sunlight structure) and hydrogen at the back, which is stainless steel side. There is no need to use a counter electrode or to make any wire connection. 3) It is being produced in large rolls of 3ft wide and up to 5000 ft long stainless steel web in a 25MW roll-to-roll production machine. Therefore it can be produced at a very low cost. After several years of research with many different kinds of material, we have developed promising transparent, conducting and corrosion resistant (TCCR) coating material; we carried out extensive research on oxygen and hydrogen generation catalysts, developed methods to make PEC electrode from production-grade a-Si solar cells; we have designed and tested various PEC module cases and carried out extensive outdoor testing; we were able to obtain a solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency (STH) about 5.7% and a running time about 480 hrs, which are very promising results; we have also completed a techno-economic analysis of our PEC system, which indicates that a projected hydrogen generation cost of $2/gge is achievable with a 50 Ton-per-day (TPD) scale under certain conditions.

08 HYDROGEN↗

AO13. High energy, low methane syngas from low-rank coals for coal-to-liquids production

An experimental program was undertaken to develop and demonstrate novel steam reforming catalysts for converting tars, C2+ hydrocarbons, and methane under high temperature and sulfur environments at lab scale. Several catalysts were developed and synthesized along with some catalysts based on recipes found in the literature. Of these, two had good resistance at 90 ppm H 2 S with one almost not affected at all. Higher concentrations of H 2 S did affect methane conversion across the catalyst, but performance was fairly stable for up to 200 hours. Based on the results of the experimental program, a techno-economic analysis was developed for IGCC and CTL applications and compared to DOE reference cases to examine the effects of the new technology. In the IGCC cases, the reformer/POX system produces nearly the same amount of electricity for nearly the same cost, however, the reformers/POX case sequesters a higher percentage of the carbon when compared to IGCC alone. For the CTL case the economics of the new process were nearly identical to the CTL case, but due to improved yields, the greenhouse gas emissions for a given production of fuels was approximately 50% less than the baseline case.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Carbon Absorber Retrofit Equipment (CARE)

During Project DE-FE0007528, CARE (Carbon Absorber Retrofit Equipment), Neumann Systems Group (NSG) designed, installed and tested a 0.5MW NeuStream® carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture system using the patented NeuStream® absorber equipment and concentrated (6 molal) piperazine (PZ) as the solvent at Colorado Springs Utilities’ (CSU’s) Martin Drake pulverized coal (PC) power plant. The 36 month project included design, build and test phases. The 0.5MW NeuStream® CO 2 capture system was successfully tested on flue gas from both coal and natural gas combustion sources and was shown to meet project objectives. Ninety percent CO 2 removal was achieved with greater than 95% CO 2 product purity. The absorbers tested support a 90% reduction in absorber volume compared to packed towers and with an absorber parasitic power of less than 1% when configured for operation with a 550MW coal plant. The preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) performed by the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) predicted an over-the-fence cost of $25.73/tonne of CO 2 captured from a sub-critical PC plant.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Unit Price Scaling Trends for Chemical Products

To facilitate early-stage life-cycle techno-economic modeling of emerging technologies, here we identify scaling relations between unit price and sales quantity for a variety of chemical products of three categories - metal salts, organic compounds, and solvents. We collect price quotations for lab-scale and bulk purchases of chemicals from both U.S. and Chinese suppliers. We apply a log-log linear regression model to estimate the price discount effect. Using the median discount factor of each category, one can infer bulk prices of products for which only lab-scale prices are available. We conduct out-of-sample tests showing that most of the price proxies deviate from their actual reference prices by a factor less than ten. We also apply the bootstrap method to determine if a sample median discount factor should be accepted for price approximation. We find that appropriate discount factors for metal salts and for solvents are both -0.56, while that for organic compounds is -0.67 and is less representative due to greater extent of product heterogeneity within this category.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Manufacturing Cost Levelization Model – A User’s Guide

The Manufacturing Cost Levelization Model is a cost-performance techno-economic model that estimates total large-scale manufacturing costs for necessary to produce a given product. It is designed to provide production cost estimates for technology researchers to help guide technology research and development towards an eventual cost-effective product. The model presented in this user’s guide is generic and can be tailored to the manufacturing of any product, including the generation of electricity (as a product). This flexibility, however, requires the user to develop the processes and process efficiencies that represents a full-scale manufacturing facility. The generic model is comprised of several modules that estimate variable costs (material, labor, and operating), fixed costs (capital & maintenance), financing structures (debt and equity financing), and tax implications (taxable income after equipment and building depreciation, debt interest payments, and expenses) of a notional manufacturing plant. A cash-flow method is used to estimate a selling price necessary for the manufacturing plant to recover its total cost of production. A levelized unit sales price ($ per unit of product) is determined by dividing the net-present value of the manufacturing plant’s expenses ($) by the net present value of its product output. A user defined production schedule drives the cash-flow method that determines the levelized unit price. In addition, an analyst can increase the levelized unit price to include a gross profit margin to estimate a product sales price. This model allows an analyst to understand the effect that any input variables could have on the cost of manufacturing a product. In addition, the tool is able to perform sensitivity analysis, which can be used to identify the key variables and assumptions that have the greatest influence on the levelized costs. This component is intended to help technology researchers focus their research attention on tasks that offer the greatest opportunities for cost reduction early in the research and development stages of technology invention.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Thermochemical Research Pathways with In Situ and Ex Situ Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Vapors

This report was developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’s efforts to enable the development of technologies for the production of infrastructure-compatible, cost-competitive liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass. Specifically, this report details two conceptual designs based on projected product yields and quality improvements via catalyst development and process integration. It is expected that these research improvements will be made within the 2022 timeframe. The two conversion pathways detailed are (1) in situ and (2) ex situ upgrading of vapors produced from the fast pyrolysis of biomass. While the base case conceptual designs and underlying assumptions outline performance metrics for feasibility, it should be noted that these are only two of many other possibilities in this area of research. Other promising process design options emerging from the research will be considered for future techno-economic analysis. Both the in situ and ex situ conceptual designs, using the underlying assumptions, project MFSPs of approximately $3.5/gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE). The performance assumptions for the ex situ process were more aggressive with higher distillate (diesel-range) products. This was based on an assumption that more favorable reaction chemistry (such as coupling) can be made possible in a separate reactor where, unlike in an in situ upgrading reactor, one does not have to deal with catalyst mixing with biomass char and ash, which pose challenges to catalyst performance and maintenance. Natural gas was used for hydrogen production, but only when off gases from the process was not sufficient to meet the needs; natural gas consumption is insignificant in both the in situ and ex situ base cases. Heat produced from the burning of char, coke, and off-gases allows for the production of surplus electricity which is sold to the grid allowing a reduction of approximately 5¢/GGE in the MFSP.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Carbon Mineralization by Aqueous Precipitation for Beneficial Use of CO 2 from Flue Gas

The objective of this project was to demonstrate an innovative process to mineralize CO 2 from flue gas directly to reactive carbonates and maximize the value and versatility of its beneficial use products. The program scope includes the design, construction, and testing of a CO 2 Conversion to Material Products (CCMP) Pilot Demonstration Plant utilizing CO 2 from the flue gas of a power production facility in Moss Landing, CA as well as flue gas from coal combustion. This final report details all development, analysis, design and testing of the project. Also included in the final report are an updated Techno-Economic Analysis and CO 2 Lifecycle Analysis. The subsystems included in the pilot demonstration plant are the mineralization subsystem, the Alkalinity Based on Low Energy (ABLE) subsystem, the waste calcium oxide processing subsystem, and the fiber cement board production subsystem. The fully integrated plant was proven to be capable of capturing CO 2 from various sources (gas and coal) and mineralizing it into a reactive calcium carbonate binder and subsequently producing commercial size (4ftx8ft) fiber cement boards. The final report provides a description of the “as built” design of these subsystems and the results of the commissioning activities that have taken place to confirm operability. The report also discusses the results of the fully integrated operation of the facility. Fiber cement boards have been produced in this facility exclusively using reactive calcium carbonate from captured CO 2 from flue gas. These boards meet all US and China appropriate acceptance standards. Use demonstrations for these boards are now underway.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Advanced Acid Gas Separation Technology for Clean Power and Syngas Applications

Air Products has developed an acid gas removal technology based on adsorption (Sour PSA) that favorably compares with incumbent AGR technologies. During this DOE-sponsored study, Air Products has been able to increase the Sour PSA technology readiness level by successfully operating a two-bed test system on coal-derived sour syngas at the NCCC, validating the lifetime and performance of the adsorbent material. Both proprietary simulation and data obtained during the testing at NCCC were used to further refine the estimate of the performance of the Sour PSA technology when expanded to a commercial scale. In-house experiments on sweet syngas combined with simulation work allowed Air Products to develop new PSA cycles that allowed for further reduction in capital expenditure. Finally our techno economic analysis of the use the Sour PSA technology for both IGCC and coal-to-methanol applications suggests significant improvement of the unit cost of electricity and methanol compared to incumbent AGR technologies.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Utilizing geothermal heat for hydrothermal liquefaction of algae

The distribution of utilizable geothermal reservoirs in the US is concentrated in areas of low population density. In order to increase the scale of geothermal operations, we proposed to develop a modular biofuel production facility that directly uses geothermal heat. By transforming geothermal heat to chemical potential energy (rather than electricity), the scale of existing or new geothermal operations can be increased and distributed to areas of higher population density. Simultaneously, the economics of producing biocrude oil is improved significantly where geothermal heat is used, instead of natural gas-fired systems for providing heat and power. In the Phase I project, we demonstrated that it was economically feasible to sustainably produce a biofuel by integrating geothermal heat. It was found that, for the best case scenario at a scale of 10T(biomass)/hr, it was possible to produce a biofuel for $0.26/L, as compared to crude oil at $0.3/L (current selling price). Ultimately this demonstrates that this technology can be economically sustainable when integrated with geothermal heat. We also demonstrated that the addition of modular biofuel-production technologies can be more profitable for a geothermal plant operator. For 1000kg/day scale, it was found that it could be 2.5 times more profitable for a geothermal plant operator to sell bio-oil rather than electricity (with a waste source within 20 miles of the processing facility). Furthermore, as the design of the proposed technology recycles significant heat, requiring between 5% and 20% of the total heat load of the biofuel process to be supplied by the geothermal plant, it is feasible for an operator to initially implement the technology at small scale (i.e. less than 100gal/day) with the plans of scaling up operations in the future. Implementing the technology incrementally may minimize initial the investment and financial risk for the operator. Finally, in the Phase I project, we built and tested a hydrothermal system developed at ARI. We tested three different feedstock types, pure algae feed, algae mixed with manure, and algae with in-situ catalysts (molybdenum trioxide), over a range of temperatures and residence times. In terms of oil products, our results (yield, process times and elemental balance) were similar to what was obtained at PNNL. As such our experiments matched well with the techno-economic design (mass throughput specifications), and will thus well inform the Phase II process design. The experimental data obtained on the hydrothermal treatment of algae indicated that the highest recovery of oil occurred at 250°C. This shows that HTL can be carried out 100°C lower than what is currently considered ‘state of the art’, and thus save significant energy savings. Further, it was found that oil-recovered fractions had lower amounts of nitrogen at lower temperatures, indicating that oil produced at 250°C is of higher quality than if we were to produce fuel at 350°C.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Materials for advanced ultrasupercritical steam turbines

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) have sponsored a project aimed at identifying, evaluating, and qualifying the materials needed for the construction of the critical components of coal-fired power plants capable of operating at much higher efficiencies than the current generation of supercritical plants. This increased efficiency is expected to be achieved principally through the use of advanced ultrasupercritical (A-USC) steam conditions. A limiting factor in this can be the materials of construction for boilers and for steam turbines. The overall project goal is to assess/develop materials technology that will enable achieving turbine throttle steam conditions of 760°C (1400°F)/35MPa (5000 psi). This final technical report covers the research completed by the General Electric Company (GE) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with support from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) – Albany Research Center, to develop the A-USC steam turbine materials technology to meet the overall project goals. Specifically, this report summarizes the industrial scale-up and materials property database development for non-welded rotors (disc forgings), buckets (blades), bolting, castings (needed for casing and valve bodies), casting weld repair, and casting to pipe welding. Additionally, the report provides an engineering and economic assessment of an A-USC power plant without and with partial carbon capture and storage. This research project successfully demonstrated the materials technology at a sufficient scale and with corresponding materials property data to enable the design of an A-USC steam turbine. The key accomplishments included the development of a triple-melt and forged Haynes 282 disc for bolted rotor construction, long-term property development for Nimonic 105 for blading and bolting, successful scale-up of Haynes 282 and Nimonic 263 castings using traditional sand foundry practices, and a techno-economic study of an A-USC plant including cost estimates for an A-USC turbine which showed A-USC to be economically attractive for partial carbon and capture compared to today’s USC technology. Based on this successful materials research and a review with U.S. utility stakeholders, a new project to develop a component test facility (ComTest) including the world’s first A-USC turbine has been proposed to continue the technology development.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Hydropower Baseline Cost Modeling, Version 2

Recent resource assessments conducted by the United States Department of Energy have identified significant opportunities for expanding hydropower generation through the addition of power to non-powered dams and on undeveloped stream-reaches. Additional interest exists in the powering of existing water resource infrastructure such as conduits and canals, upgrading and expanding existing hydropower facilities, and the construction new pumped storage hydropower. Understanding the potential future role of these hydropower resources in the nation’s energy system requires an assessment of the environmental and techno-economic issues associated with expanding hydropower generation. To facilitate these assessments, this report seeks to fill the current gaps in publically available hydropower cost estimating tools that can support the national-scale evaluation of hydropower resources.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Supply Chain Sustainability Analysis of Fast Pyrolysis and Hydrotreating Bio-Oil to Produce Hydrocarbon Fuels

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technology Office (BETO) aims at developing and deploying technologies to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts and biopower through public and private partnerships (DOE, 2015). BETO and its national laboratory teams conduct in-depth techno-economic assessments (TEA) of technologies to produce biofuels. These assessments evaluate feedstock production, logistics of transporting the feedstock, and conversion of the feedstock to biofuel. There are two general types of TEAs. A design case is a TEA that outlines a target case for a particular biofuel pathway. It enables identification of data gaps and research and development needs, and provides goals and targets against which technology progress is assessed. On the other hand, a state of technology (SOT) analysis assesses progress within and across relevant technology areas based on actual experimental results relative to technical targets and cost goals from design cases, and includes technical, economic, and environmental criteria as available.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Low Cost High-H 2 Syngas Production for Power and Liquid Fuels

This report summarizes the technical progress made of the research project entitled “Low Cost High-H2 Syngas Production for Power and Liquid Fuels,” under DOE Contract No. DE-FE-0011958. The period of performance was October 1, 2013 through July 30, 2015. The overall objectives of this project was to determine the technical and economic feasibility of a systems approach for producing high hydrogen syngas from coal with the potential to reduce significantly the cost of producing power, chemical-grade hydrogen or liquid fuels, with carbon capture to reduce the environmental impact of gasification. The project encompasses several areas of study and the results are summarized here. (1) Experimental work to determine the technical feasibility of a novel hybrid polymer/metal H2-membrane to recover pure H2 from a coal-derived syngas was done. This task was not successful. Membranes were synthesized and show impermeability of any gases at required conditions. The cause of this impermeability was most likely due to the densification of the porous polymer membrane support made from polybenzimidazole (PBI) at test temperatures above 250 °C. (2) Bench-scale experimental work was performed to extend GTI's current database on the University of California Sulfur Recovery Process-High Pressure (UCSRP-HP) and recently renamed Sulfur Removal and Recovery (SR2) process for syngas cleanup including removal of sulfur and other trace contaminants, such as, chlorides and ammonia. The SR2 process tests show >90% H2S conversion with outlet H2S concentrations less than 4 ppmv, and 80-90% ammonia and chloride removal with high mass transfer rates. (3) Techno-economic analyses (TEA) were done for the production of electric power, chemical-grade hydrogen and diesel fuels, from a mixture of coal- plus natural gas-derived syngas using the Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) Advanced Compact coal gasifier and a natural gas partial oxidation reactor (POX) with SR2 technology. Due to the unsuccessful experimental results with the hybrid polymer/metal H2 membrane, a conventional CO2 capture (single-stage Selexol) and hydrogen purification (PSA) technologies were used in the appropriate cases. In all cases, the integrated system of Advanced Compact coal gasifier, non-catalytic natural gas partial oxidation, and SR2 multicontaminant removal with state-of-the-art auxiliary system provided a 5-25% cost advantage over the base line plants using GEE coal gasifier with conventional Selexol/Claus sulfur removal and recovery. These plants also produce 18-30% less CO2 than with the conventional coal gasification plants.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Bench-scale Development of an Advanced Solid Sorbent-based CO 2 Capture Process for Coal-fired Power Plants

It is increasingly clear that CO 2 capture and sequestration (CCS) must play a critical role in curbing worldwide CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. Development of these technologies to cost-effectively remove CO 2 from coal-fired power plants is very important to mitigating the impact these power plants have within the world’s power generation portfolio. Currently, conventional CO 2 capture technologies, such as aqueous-monoethanolamine based solvent systems, are prohibitively expensive and if implemented could result in a 75 to 100% increase in the cost of electricity for consumers worldwide. Solid sorbent CO 2 capture processes – such as RTI’s Advanced Solid Sorbent CO 2 , Capture Process – are promising alternatives to conventional, liquid solvents. Supported amine sorbents – of the nature RTI has developed – are particularly attractive due to their high CO 2 loadings, low heat capacities, reduced corrosivity/volatility and the potential to reduce the regeneration energy needed to carry out CO 2 capture. Previous work in this area has failed to adequately address various technology challenges such as sorbent stability and regenerability, sorbent scale-up, improved physical strength and attrition-resistance, proper heat management and temperature control, proper solids handling and circulation control, as well as the proper coupling of process engineering advancements that are tailored for a promising sorbent technology. The remaining challenges for these sorbent processes have provided the framework for the project team’s research and development and target for advancing the technology beyond lab- and bench-scale testing. Under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy, and part of NETL’s CO 2 Capture Program, RTI has led an effort to address and mitigate the challenges associated with solid sorbent CO 2 capture. The overall objective of this project was to mitigate the technical and economic risks associated with the scale-up of solid sorbent-based CO 2 capture processes, enabling subsequent larger pilot demonstrations and ultimately commercial deployment. An integrated development approach has been a key focus of this project in which process development, sorbent development, and economic analyses have informed each of the other development processes. Development efforts have focused on improving the performance stability of sorbent candidates, refining process engineering and design, and evaluating the viability of the technology through detailed economic analyses. Sorbent advancements have led to a next generation, commercially-viable CO 2 capture sorbent exhibiting performance stability in various gas environments and a physically strong fluidizable form. The team has reduced sorbent production costs and optimized the production process and scale-up of PEI-impregnated, fluidizable sorbents. Refinement of the process engineering and design, as well as the construction and operation of a bench-scale research unit has demonstrated promising CO 2 capture performance under simulated coal-fired flue gas conditions. Parametric testing has shown how CO 2 capture performance is impacted by changing process variables, such as Adsorber temperature, Regenerator temperature, superficial flue gas velocity, solids circulation rate, CO 2 partial pressure in the Regenerator, and many others. Long-term testing has generated data for the project team to set the process conditions needed to operate a solids-based system for optimal performance, with continuous 90% CO 2 capture, and no operational interruptions. Data collected from all phases of testing has been used to develop a detailed techno-economic assessment of RTI’s technology. These detailed analyses show that RTI’s technology has significant economic advantages over current amine scrubbing and potential to achieve the DOE’s Carbon Capture Program’s goal of >90% CO 2 capture rate at a cost of < $40/T-CO 2 captured by 2025. Through this integrated technology development approach, the project team has advanced RTI’s CO 2 capture technology to TRL-4 (nearly TRL-5, with the missing variable being testing on actual, coal-fired flue gas), according to the DOE/FE definitions for Technology Readiness Levels. At a broader level, this project has advanced the whole of the solid sorbent CO 2 capture field, with advancements in process engineering and design, technical risk mitigation, sorbent scale-up optimization, and an understanding of the commercial viability and applicability of solid sorbent CO 2 capture technologies for the U.S. existing fleet of coal-fired power plants.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Technical and Economic Assessment of Solar Photovoltaic for Groundwater Extraction on the Hanford Site

The overall goal of environmental remediation is to protect human health and the environment. Implementing renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) in groundwater extraction and pump-and-treat (P&T) systems may help minimize the environmental footprint of remediation efforts. The first step in considering solar PV for powering Hanford groundwater extraction is assessing the technical and economic feasibility and identifying potential target locations where implementation would be most successful. Accordingly, a techno-economic assessment of solar PV for Hanford groundwater extraction was completed in FY15. Multiple solar PV alternatives ranging in size from 1.2 to 22.4 kWp DC were evaluated and compared against traditional grid-powered systems. Results indicate that the degree to which solar PV alternatives are feasible is primarily a function of the distance of avoided power cable costs and the inclusion of an energy storage component. Standalone solar PV systems provide an energy source at the well and avoid the costs and logistics associated with running long lengths of expensive power cable to the well-head. When solar PV systems include a battery storage component, groundwater can be pumped continuously day and night in a year-round schedule. However, due to the high cost premium of the energy storage component, a fully solar-powered solution could not provide an economic direct replacement for line-powered pumping systems. As a result, the most ideal target locations for successful implementation of solar PV on the Hanford Site are remote or distant extraction wells where the primary remedial objective is contaminant mass removal (as opposed to hydraulic containment) and three-season (March through October) intermittent pumping is acceptable (e.g. remediation of hexavalent chromium in 200-UP-1).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Renewable Energy Zones for the Africa Clean Energy Corridor

Multi-criteria Analysis for Planning Renewable Energy (MapRE) is a study approach developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with the support of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The approach combines geospatial, statistical, energy engineering, and economic methods to comprehensively identify and value high-quality wind, solar PV, and solar CSP resources for grid integration based on techno-economic criteria, generation profiles (for wind), and socio-environmental impacts. The Renewable Energy Zones for the Africa Clean Energy Corridor study sought to identify and comprehensively value high-quality wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and concentrating solar power (CSP) resources in 21 countries in the East and Southern Africa Power Pools to support the prioritization of areas for development through a multi-criteria planning process. These countries include Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The study includes the methodology and the key results including renewable energy potential for each region.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NRG CO 2 NCEPT - Confirmation Of Novel Cost-effective Emerging Post-combustion Technology

Under DOE's solicitation DE-FOA-0001190, NRG and Inventys conceptualized a Large-Scale pilot (>10MWe) post-combustion CO 2 capture project using Inventys' VeloxoThermTM carbon capture technology. The technology is comprised of an intensified thermal swing adsorption (TSA) process that uses a patented architecture of structured adsorbent and a novel process design and embodiment to capture CO 2 from industrial flue gas streams. The result of this work concluded that the retrofit of this technology is economically and technically viable, but that the sorbent material selected for the program would need improving to meet the techno-economic performance requirements of the solicitation.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Use of Cultivation Data from the Algae Testbed Public Private Partnership as Utilized in NREL's Algae State of Technology Assessments

The Algae Testbed Public Private Partnership (ATP3) conducted algal growth experiments over the course of 16 months termed the Unified Field Studies (UFS). These experiments were conducted at 5 different geographic locations in Arizona (ASU), California (CP), Florida (FA), Georgia (GT), and Hawaii (CELL). The UFS sought to evaluate different algal biomass harvesting strategies using identical ponds, media, and operational conditions through all four seasons across different geographic regions to isolate the effects on productivity attributed to locational climate and seasonal variability, overlaid by the differing harvest strategies. Set up as the baseline against which other experiments would build upon, it must be emphasized that as per the stated, approved experimental goals of the ATP3 UFS, no attempts at growth or lipid accumulation optimization were made; rather, the primary focus of the UFS work was to cultivate algal biomass under deliberate, consistent conditions, time periods, and harvesting protocols, to provide public data on year-round outdoor biomass production that could be directly compared between one site and another (with accompanying climate data for each site). Thus the resulting productivity numbers in effect represent a conservative baseline of non-optimized algal growth one may expect at these sites. Also clearly weather can vary dramatically from season to season and from year to year, and even within a given 'season' where an individual season's data was typically based on 4-6 week operating windows. Thus these numbers also only reflect a short snapshot in time, and must be interpreted carefully in projecting what may be expected over many years or decades (for example, a 30-year facility lifetime as evaluated in techno-economic models).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗