Direct Coal Firing for Large Combustion Turbines: What Do Economic Projections and Subscale Combustor Tests Show?

Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Avco Research Lab/TEXTRON have been working for three years on a Department of Energy program to establish the technology required for commercially viable direct coal-fueled utility-size gas turbine combined cycles. These plants are to meet the EPA’s New Source Performance Standards for coal-fired steam generators and to generate power at a favorable cost-of-electricity relative to steam plants with flue gas desulfurization. Economic projections indicate that the latter goal is achievable by a method of approach which uses inexpensive utility-grade coal, and removes the resulting sulfur and ash through use of a slagging combustor in the gas turbine cycle. High pressure, subscale slagging combustor tests have been underway for several months at Avco Research Laboratory and are encouraging. Experimental highlights are shown here.