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The Use of Real Time Measurement and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Emissions at Coal-Fired Power Plants

The team of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Energy Research Company (ERCo), Lehigh University (LU-ERC), and Brayton Point Utility (a coal-fired electric generating power plant) are developing a technique to measure coal properties in real time, and to process the data such that coal-fired electric utility operators can adjust their operation to avoid slagging and fouling. For an individual 600 MW power plant, this results in a total cost savings of over $16 million per year as follows: Since there are about 1500 coal fired electric power plants in the US with an average size of 300 MW, the total projected benefits would be over $12 billion per year. In addition, there would be an overall reduction in energy use of 268 trillion Btu/year with a commensurate reduction in emissions.

The proposed concept, termed Laser On-Line Fuel Advisory (LOFA), uses a laser to measure the elemental concentrations of the coal, in real-time and in situ. This information, along with other measurements made at the plant, is ported into Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that then provides the operator with information that guides his actions. The operator can operate his sootblowing, for instance, at an optimal level that does not allow slagging to build up yet doesn’t overblow so as to avoid boiler damage. Other options are also available to the operator such as blending fuels; changing airflow rate, firing rate, or burner tilt.

Contact:

Energy Research Company
2571-A Arthur Kill Road
Staten Island, NY 10309
(718) 608-8788
Contact: Robert De Saro
Email: rdesaro@er-co.com

Partners:

Brayton Point Generating Station - U.S. Gen New England, Inc.
Lehigh University (LU-ERC)

Cost:

Total project cost: $750,000
STAC-DOE portion: $600,000
Participant portion: $150,000

Statement of Work and Status

Quarterly Reports

Below are the quarterly reports as provided by the project to STAC, excluding some non-substantive and financial information. All available reports are listed below.

Last Updated: 05/01/08