Some good points. I didn't mean to imply that Texaco Energy Systems, Inc. (TESI) was a traded company, just an acronym commonly used in the oil and gas industry. The future energy IPOs I DO like are Hydrogen Burner Technologies, International Fuel Cells and ITN Energy Systems (see below). Economical ceramic reformers will be the breakthrough the the 'hydrogen economy' is looking for in the future.
Issued on August 3, 2000
DOE Takes 2nd Step Toward Ultra-Clean Energy Plant;
Selects Seven More Projects to Join Vision 21 Program
The U.S. Department of Energy today added more of the technological "building blocks" to its Vision 21 program - an effort the agency expects to lead to a nearly pollution-free energy plant by the next decade.
"We are building the foundation for a new generation of energy facilities capable of efficiently using our most abundant traditional fuels while virtually eliminating environmental concerns," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "Vision 21 represents the future of clean energy, and these projects will help us get there faster."
Richardson announced the selection of seven new projects. Each will add a key engineering or computational component to the portfolio of technologies the department ultimately expects will converge into the Vision 21 concept. The projects join six others chosen last March (see Fossil Energy Techline, March 7, 2000).
Vision 21 is a new approach to energy production. The futuristic concept envisions a suite of highly-advanced technology modules that can be customized to meet different energy markets.
Vision 21 plants could process a wide range of fuels - coal, natural gas, biomass, municipal waste or perhaps mixtures of these fuels - and generate multiple energy products, such as electricity, fuels and chemicals. The "multi-fuel, multi-product" capability is a significant departure from today's energy plants that typically use a single fuel and produce a single product.
Also, by incorporating the latest technological improvements, the department hopes to make Vision 21 plants nearly emission free. Wastes would be either recycled or turned into products such as fertilizer or commercial chemicals.
Four of the new projects will focus on technologies crucial to the Vision 21 technical basis:
Huntington Alloys, Huntington, WV, will develop stronger, heat- and corrosion-resistant alloys for Vision 21 heat exchangers. Durable, high-performance heat exchangers will be necessary to boost fuel-to-energy conversion efficiencies and reduce maintenance requirements and costs of Vision 21 plants. Proposed DOE award: $2.38 million; private sector cost-share: approx. $600,000.
Foster Wheeler Development Corp., Livingston, NJ, will design and test a key module that will be capable of fully gasifying some fuels or operating as a partial gasifier to produce a char for advanced combustion processes. This capability will give engineers the flexibility to tailor a Vision 21 plant to process a wide variety of different fuels. Proposed DOE award: $2.29 million; private cost share: approx. $570,000.
ITN Energy Systems, Wheat Ridge, CO, will develop a novel ceramic membrane to separate hydrogen from fossil fuel gas streams. Hydrogen can be used as the energy source for a fuel cell, or in gas turbines, or to upgrade the quality of liquid fuels and chemicals. Proposed DOE award: $2.33 million; private cost share: approx. $585,000.
GE Energy and Environmental Research Corp., Irvine, CA, will develop an advanced gasification-combustion concept that simultaneously produces separate streams of (1) fuel-grade hydrogen, (2) concentrated carbon dioxide that would be ready for disposal, and (3) high-temperature, high-pressure oxygen-depleted air to generate electricity in a gas turbine. Proposed DOE award: $2.5 million; private cost share: approx. $880,000.
The other three projects will focus on advanced plant design and visualization software:
Reaction Engineering International, Salt Lake City, UT, will develop a computational "virtual workbench" that can be used by a non-specialist to simulate the performance of Vision 21 energy plant boilers, advanced combustors, gasifiers, and fuel cells. Proposed DOE award: $1.49 million; private cost share: approx. $375,000.
CFD Research Corporation, Hunstsville, AL, will develop an advanced computational tool to design low emission combustion systems for gas turbines. Using a computer to simulate the fluctuations that often occur when gaseous fuels are combusted can lessen the need for expensive experimental tests and lead to innovative concepts for reducing emissions. Proposed DOE award: $1.49 million; private cost share: approx. $860,000.
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, will develop computer simulation software that can model the pneumatic flow of microscopic solid particles and predict the interactions - such as friction - that can occur between them. The computational tools will give engineers the capability to simulate the transport of coal particles and model their behavior in advanced fluidized bed combustors. Proposed DOE award: $430,117, private cost share: approx. $115,000.
The Energy Department plans to select another round of proposals in the next eight months to complete the initial set of Vision 21 projects. Developers have until the end of September to submit proposals. |
