Energy Department Opens First Major Competition For Vision 21 Energy Plants of the Future

Synopsis of Solicitation--Extracted from "Official Solicitation"

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SOLICITATION, NUMBER DE-PS26-99FT40578 (get it from FETC)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has opened the competition for companies to begin designing a new type of energy facility that could change the way people think about fossil fuel power plants in the 21st century. Called Vision 21, the new class of fossil fuel plants would produce electricity, chemicals, fuels or perhaps a combination of products in ways tailored to meet specific market needs.

Through this solicitation, FETC expects to support applications in the following Areas of Interest: (A) enabling and supporting technologies upon which the components and subsystems ("modules") of Vision 21 plants depend, (B) systems integration capability needed to combine two or more modules in Vision 21 plants, and (C) advanced plant design and visualization software leading to virtual demonstration of Vision 21 components, modules, and complete plants.

The solicitation is open for proposal submission for a one-year period with multiple closing dates. Any resultant awards are expected to be Cooperative Agreement instruments and will require cost sharing. This solicitation will be open to receive qualifying proposals through September 29, 2000. Proposals will be evaluated and selections made approximately every four months beginning about January 31, 2000. The proposal due date for the first evaluation period is November 30, 1999. Subject to the availability of funds, DOE expects to provide up to $2.5 million per project for projects under area A, and up to $1.5 million per project for projects under areas B and C. Periods of performance for all projects are up to three years. The minimum cost share is 20%. DOE anticipates making a total of approximately 10-15 awards over the open period for the solicitation. DOE encourages teaming of industrial firms with other kinds of organizations.

Specific Areas of Interest to DOE ("…not limited to")

A. Enabling Technologies

• gas separation, e.g., membranes that can be used to separate oxygen from air, hydrogen from syngas, and CO₂ from combustion products
• high-temperature heat exchangers, e.g., alloy exchangers capable of heating high-temperature steam or air for use in advanced, high-efficiency cycles
• fuel-flexible, thermally efficient gasification to allow the use of low-cost feedstocks, e.g., municipal waste, petcoke, and biomass, with coal
• gas stream purification systems capable of operating at high temperatures for removing sulfur compounds and other constituents that may corrode or erode downstream components, e.g. turbines, or poison downstream catalysts
• high-performance combustion systems, both suspension-fired and fluidized bed, including ultra-low-NOx combustion and combustion systems that burn fuels in O₂/CO₂ mixtures and produce exhaust streams containing only CO₂ and water
• fuel-flexible combustion turbines and engine systems, especially turbines and engines capable of operating on coal-derived gases or hydrogen; fuel cell/turbine-engine hybrids capable of 70-80% efficiency; advanced combustion turbines, including ceramic turbines and engines; advanced steam turbines
• fuel cells, e.g., high-efficiency, low-cost fuel cells; cascaded fuel cell systems capable of operating at multiple temperatures and pressures; fuel cells bottomed by fuel cells; fuel cell/turbine hybrids; new, low-cost, fuel cell concepts capable of approaching $100/kilowatt stack costs and, when incorporated into a system, 70-80% system efficiency
• advanced fuels and chemicals development: systems and catalysts for fuels and chemicals production; hydrogen production and storage

B. Supporting Technologies

• advanced materials for high-temperature applications in aggressive environments, e.g., boiler tubes for high-temperature steam bottoming cycles, and very high-temperature (>2000⁰F) heat exchangers for use in indirectly fired cycles and other applications, as well as functional materials needed for gas cleanup or separation
• advanced controls and sensors to control highly integrated Vision 21 plants; new algorithms that utilize state-of-the-art hardware to assure reliable performance, optimum plant efficiency, and low emissions
• environmental control technology for low-NOx combustion and control of fine particulate matter and management of byproducts from Vision 21 plants; improved concepts for CO₂ capture and separation systems
• advanced manufacturing and modularization techniques to reduce costs and improve quality. (Modular design is desired where it can reduce costs by maximizing shop fabrication and minimizing field construction, while maintaining or increasing flexibility in plant design.)

C. Systems Integration

Systems Integration prescribes how to combine high-performance technology modules into safe, reliable, economic Vision 21 plants and, as such, is a critical part of the Vision 21 program. Systems integration can be divided into three key subelements: systems engineering, dynamic response and control, and industrial ecology. Systems integration topics of interest to DOE include:

• systems engineering and compatibility issues related to linking Vision 21 modules and components, e.g., gasifiers with combustion turbines, fuel cells, and gas cleanup devices; development of design modifications and interconnections for major subsystems and components
• dynamic response and control of Vision 21 modules and integrated plants; studies of the transient response of subsystems and total plants to changes in load and other operating parameters, startup and shutdown, and upset conditions including component and subsystems failures; modeling of the dynamic response of Vision 21 systems; development of control strategy for integrated Vision 21 plants, including investigation of complex control theory needed for operation, and the computer software and process control hardware necessary to implement the strategy
• application of industrial ecology principles to Vision 21 systems; development and evaluation of designs to recycle or utilize all process effluents that would otherwise be regarded as waste streams

D. Computational Modeling and Virtual Demonstration

Computational modeling and virtual demonstration software that provides a cost-effective complement to experimental development is also of interest. Advanced models can assist in the design process by providing physically based simulations of Vision 21 components, modules, and complete plants. An integrated suite of codes (software) that includes submodels for components and subsystems, dynamic response and process control, and visualization capabilities is called the "virtual demonstration." The virtual demonstration will have a visualization "front-end" that is based on 3-D solid modeling. The geometrical information can be shared with other subprograms to allow detailed "virtual" analysis in many areas of the simulation. Virtual demonstration will illustrate equipment configuration and orientation and simulate plant operation, including dynamic response to changes in load, variations in feedstock properties, changes in component or subsystem operation, and upset conditions.

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Fact Sheet on Vision 21 (from FETC)