Technical Topic 1: Sensors Controls; SUBTOPIC 1A:ROBUST SENSOR NETWORKS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF ADVANCEDCOAL

The summary for the Technical Topic 1: Sensors Controls; SUBTOPIC 1A:ROBUST SENSOR NETWORKS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF ADVANCEDCOAL grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Technical Topic 1: Sensors Controls; SUBTOPIC 1A:ROBUST SENSOR NETWORKS FOR INTELLIGENT CONTROL OF ADVANCEDCOAL: NOTE: This descriptive area provides an overview of this Funding Opportunity. YOU MUST READ THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY MASTER ANNOUNCEMENT FOR DETAILS ON ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, EVALUATION CRITERIA AND HOW TO PREPARE AN APPLICATION UNDER A SPECIFIC AREA OF INTEREST. Please scroll to the bottom of this page under the heading Full Announcement and Other Files and click on the link to access the Funding Opportunity Master Announcement. YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV TO BE CONSIDERED FOR AN AWARD. Significant technological advances have been made towards the development of near zero emission power plants based on advanced coal gasification and combustion processes. In an effort to meet the efficiency, environmental performance, and cost goals of these advanced power generation systems, work is being initiated on the development of intelligent control strategies that provide system integration, optimization, and prognostic health control capabilities in addition to basic process control. Control system development is viewed as an important enabling technology for the commercial deployment of these systems. A critical component of the process control system is the input from instrumentation and monitoring systems. With the evolution of new sensors, embedded intelligence capabilities, and communication platforms, opportunities exist for the development and design of robust intelligent sensor networks that enable the application of advanced control methodologies. Grant applications are requested to develop sensor networks that include one or more of the following: " Enable the use of advanced control methodologies. " Consider the use of harsh environment physical and chemical sensor as well as those that operate at more benign conditions to provide a real time diagnostic suite. " Integrate new sensor technologies with smart sensing capabilities. " Consider wireless sensor networks in areas of condition monitoring and system optimization. " Incorporate standardized communication platforms to minimize cost and increase industry acceptance. " Examine new approaches to regulatory emission monitoring. Within select sensor networks for emerging high efficiency turbine and fuel cell power systems, there are measurement needs that are currently unmet. Future power systems will likely use coal derived synthesis gas as preferred domestic fuel. Since this fuel is generated from coal, the constituents could vary widely and impact the operation of these systems. In order to protect and manage the operation of these systems with advanced control techniques, the need for an online gas quality measurement has been identified. While traditional analytical techniques can provide accurate analysis of gases, their response time and accuracy are not sufficient for the emerging power systems. New approaches are requested to rapidly detect and quantify individual gas constituents commonly found in synthesis gas (See Table 1). Response times of 1 second or shorter are targeted. Measurements showing the total BTU content of the gas mixture is not desirable. The ratio of certain gas constituents, contaminant levels, as well as detection of atypical gas constituents are important parameters that would allow operators to promptly react to and control the operation of these advanced power systems. The development of this measurement technique in combination sensor network described above is of interest under this subtopic. In fuels such as coal-derived synthesis gas, the hydrogen content is higher, whereas it is almost nonexistent in natural gas. Advanced turbine machinery will be adapted to utilize coal derived high hydrogen fuels but will also be presented with challenges that will need to be managed, in part, by advanced control and monitoring systems. One of the primary challenges of interest is to manage and control flame instabilities and flashback that occur with premixed ultra-low NOx combustion systems. Fuels with high hydrogen content, such as coal-derived synthesis gas, will be more problematic in dealing with the practical aspects of flashback and instability issues due to 1) the higher flame speed of hydrogen, 2) the broader flammability limits and 3) the lower energy content on a volume basis compared to methane. Developing an understanding and an approach to monitor and control this phenomenon in turbines that utilize high hydrogen fuels is within the purview of this subtopic. Table 1: Typical gas compositions for coal derived synthesis gas (Natural Gas is listed for comparison purposes. ) Component Natural Gas - Typical (mole % range) Coal Derived Synthesis Gas (mole % range) Methane 87.0 - 96.0 0-4.6 Ethane 1.8 - 5.1 0-0.2 Ethene 0-0.1 Propane 0.1 - 1.5 Isobutane 0.01 - 0.3 - Butane 0.01 - 0.3 - Isopentane trace - 0.14 - Pentane trace - 0.04 - Hexanes plus trace - 0.06 - Nitrogen 1.3 - 5.6 0.1-4.1 Argon - trace-1.1 Oxygen 0.01 - 0.1 - Hydrogen trace - 0.02 16.1-33.9 Carbon Dioxide 0.1 - 1.0 1.5-15.5 Carbon Monoxide - 5.8-63.1 Carbonyl Sulfide - trace-0.1 Hydrogen Sulfide - 0.2-1.3 Water - 2-61.8 Ammonia and Hydrogen Cyanide - 0-0.3 Source: http://www.uniongas.com/aboutus/aboutng/composition.asp Chapter 8, Seventh Edition Fuel Cell Handbook, page 21, www.netl.doe.gov