BIOS and ABSTRACTS – MARCH 24, 2011

JEFFREY PHILLIPS – EPRI

BIO: Jeffrey Phillips is a Senior Program Manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

He is responsible for EPRI’s advanced generation research activities including the CoalFleet for Tomorrow^® program which is focused on deploying advanced coal-based power plants that include CO₂ capture.

Dr. Phillips began his involvement with the Institute in graduate school, providing support to an EPRI-sponsored project as part of his PhD research. He joined EPRI’s CoalFleet program in 2004 after working for 18 years on coal gasification and combined-cycle projects.

Before joining EPRI, Dr. Phillips worked for the Royal Dutch/Shell group for ten years where he provided technical support to Shell’s 250 ton/day coal gasification demonstration plant in Texas and was part of the start-up team for a 250 MW IGCC in the Netherlands. He then worked as a researcher at Molten Metal Technology where he conducted tests on gasifying hazardous wastes. Later he joined Fern Engineering as a vice president and engineering consultant specializing in performance monitoring of combined cycle power plants.

Dr. Phillips holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Austin College in Sherman, Texas and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He also holds a Master of Science degree and doctorate from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, also in mechanical engineering.

ABSTRACT: Dr. Phillips will provide an overview of the US Dept of Energy's and Ohio Coal Development Office's Advanced Ultrasupercritical Boiler and Steam Turbine Materials Development Program. This is a $50 million, 9-year effort aimed at increasing steam temperatures by more than 250 deg F above the current state-of-the-art.  This remarkable effort has now resulted in a code case submission to the ASME Boiler Code committee for a new material which can operate at the targeted conditions. Approval of this material will open the door to the most significant improvement in the thermodynamic performance of coal power plants in 50 years.

KEITH PRONSKE – CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEMS

BIO: Keith is President and CEO of Clean Energy Systems, a Sacramento-based alternative energy company using high-pressure, oxygen-fuel combustion technology to produce power without pollution.  He has more than 25 years experience in the power industry in North America, South America and Europe. He previously served as Vice President of Business Development for Belgian-based Tractebel SA, now part of the GDF Suez Group, and prior to that worked for the AES Corporation, one of the largest independent power companies. Keith was instrumental in the acquisition and development of power plants, gas distribution systems, and energy companies with an aggregate equity investment in excess of $2 billion and an installed capacity in excess of 6,000 MW. Keith has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Davis, and a Masters in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.

DUANE ABBOTT – BELTRAN TECHNOLOGIES

ABSTRACT: Mist and Particulate Removal with Wet Electrostatic Precipitators in Power Plants and Gasifiers

Power plants and gasification plants produce fine particulate during combustion as well as when the process gas is cooled. When chlorides and sulfur compounds are present in the fuel, sub-micron acid mist forms as the vapors drop below the acid dew point. This particulate and mist if not removed can result in corrosion and potentially a smoking stack. While dry electrostatic precipitators can effectively remove particulate in the hot section of the plant wet electrostatic precipitators are an ideal choice because of their ability to efficiently remove acid mist along with very low pressure drop.

This presentation discusses the design of a Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) wet electrostatic precipitator as applied to mist and particulate removal as part of tail gas cleaning. Operation efficiencies of 99.7% to 99.9% are required. FRP is a cost effective alternative to metal and reduces the risk of corrosion.