Combustion and Carbon Cycle 2.0

Robert K. ChengCombustion Technologies GroupEnvironmental Energy Tech. Div

Feb 3, 2010

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Combustion Provides > 83% of Our Energy

• Burning fossil fuels will be a major energy source for the foreseeable future

• Near term carbon reduction by

– fuel switching

– efficiency enhancement of combustion systems

• Long term carbon reduction from combustion by

– renewable fuel sources

– advanced combustion for renewable fuels

– carbon capture and storage

Primary EnergyConsumption (Quads) Coal

Petroleum

Natural Gas

Nuclear

Renewable

Transportation 27.7   26.2 0.7 0.8

Industrial 20.8 1.9 8.7 8.2 2.1

Residential & Commercial 10.8 0.1 1.7 8.2 0.7

Electricity Gen. 39.8 20.5 0.4 6.8 8.4 3.7

TOTAL (Quads) 99.1 22.4 37.0 23.9 8.4 7.32008 U.S. Energy consumption

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Combustion Technologies Vary by Energy Sector

Electricity GenerationGas turbines & Coal Boilers 100-400 MWMetrics – long duty cycle (20,000+ hrs), highly reliable, fuel-flexible, ultra-low emissions

Aviation – Jet engines 5 - 22 MWMetrics – highly reliable, high power density, fuel efficient

Land & Sea Transport –Reciprocating engines60 kW – 7 MW Metrics – fuel efficient,durable, low emissions

Residential –Gas burners 10 – 100 kWMetrics – safe, durable,ultra-low emissions Commercial & Industrial –

gas & oil burners 1 – 30 MWMetric – high efficiency, ultra-low emissionslong duty cycle (24/7 operation)

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Wide Spectrum of Combustion Science & Engineering Topics

• Combustion is humankind’s oldest technology – reducing emissions and increasing efficiency present many challenges

• Combustion integrates multi-scale dynamic interactions between chemistry, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics

• Combustion R&D targets specific needs of each energy sector

Chemistry:Fuel Type: solid, liquid, gasOxidizer: air, O2, diluents

Combustion mode: Premixed, Non-premixed, Partially premixed

Thermodynamics :Phase change, heat releaseInflow temperature and pressure

Fluid mechanics : steady flows, transient flows,velocity, turbulence, & shear

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Near Term – Carbon Reduction by Fuel Switching

• Burning gaseous fossil fuel is cleanest and most efficient– Replacing coal with natural gas for electricity generation– Producing syngases from coal gasification – Vaporizing liquid fuels– Fueling land vehicles with gaseous fuels

• Reciprocating engines or fuel-cells– Charging electric land vehicles with electricity generated

from natural gas and syngases• Technology challenges

– Developing fuel-flexible combustion systems– Meeting stringent emissions standards for stationary

combustion systems– Fuel distribution and storage

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Near term – Increasing Efficiency to Reduce Carbon

• Increased firing pressure & temperature and reduce system losses– Gas turbines

• Ultra-low emissions combustion concepts• Advance materials for higher temperature combustion

– Waste heat recovery• Technology integration: gas/steam turbines, gas

turbines/fuel cells, gas turbine/steam boilers– Advanced reciprocating engines

• Direct injection, homogeneous charge compression ignition & active controls

• Challenges– Optimize emissions/efficiency trade-off

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Combustion Research at LBNL

• Chemistry– Combustion chemistry at the

molecular scale (CSD and EETD)– Detailed chemical measurements

of low pressure flames using soft X-ray probes (ALS)

– Chemical mechanisms for flame modeling (EETD)

• Premixed Turbulent Flames– Numerical simulations (CRD)– Fundamental studies of

flame/turbulence interactions and technology transfer (EETD)

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Bridging Science-Technology Gap

• LBNL’s low-swirl burner evolved from laboratory tool to clean combustion technology

– Developed for basic studies of flame/turbulence interactions

• supports stable ultra-low NOx lean premixed flames

– Scientific underpinnings facilitate adaptation to 5 kW to 200 MW systems

• residential furnaces & water heaters• commercial & industrial heaters• gas turbines operating on natural

gas, digester gas, syngases & H2

• Petroleum refining process heaters– Enabling technology for next-generation

advanced combustion systemsLow-swirl injector for Taurus 70 gas turbine

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Low-Swirl Burner Exploits Self-Propelling Natureof Turbulent Premixed Flame

LSB swirler Quartzcombustor

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Technology Transfer Provides Useful Feedback to

Prioritize Basic Research• Natl. Labs./University/Industry collaboration

to develop low-swirl burner for high-hydrogen fuel gas turbines in clean coal power plants

– Turbulent flame studies at gas turbine conditions

– Chemical kinetics of H2 and syngases– Heat release models for H2 and syngas

• Laminar and turbulent flames • Turbulence effects on NOx

– High fidelity computational tools for engineering design

• Challenges– High-hydrogen fuel systems operate in

combustion regimes outside of traditional engineering design practicesSimulations (top) gives a window into

combustion processes that cannot be measured by experiments (bottom)

Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Carbon Cycle 2.0Combustion Science & Technology Loop

  Heating Power* Land & Sea transport

Aviation

Fuel Treatment/ Generation

Biomass gasification cleanup

Coal/Biomass gasificationcleanup

Bio-dieselBio-gasoline

Bio-jet fuels

Combustion Chemistry

Turbulent Combustion Fluid Mechanics

Stationary premixed flames at atmospheric condition

Stationary premixed flames at high P & T

Transient and stationary premixed flames at high P& T

Stationary partially premixed flames at high P & T

Technology Needs

Fuel-flexible burners

Airfoils, fuel-flexible burners, advanced materials

Battery, new concept IC engines, controls

Fuel atomizer and injector

Combustion Devices

Furnaces, Ovens10 kW –30+ MW

Gas turbines100 kW –400 MW

Recip-enginesgas turbines60 kW - 7 MW

Prop engines Jet enginesup to 22 MW

* Exclude direct coal-fired systems

chemical kinetics and transport

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Combustion and CC 2.0| Feb. 3, 2010

Long Term – Examples of Combustion Technology Needs

• Reciprocating and jet engines for bio-fuels– Combustion properties of biofuels dictate their suitability for

advanced concepts (e.g. HCCI engines)• Near-zero emissions coal power plants

– gasification and separation technologies– ultra-low emission fuel-flexible gas turbines– carbon capture and storage technologies

• Fuel-cell/gas-turbines hybrid systems• Opportunities for LBNL

– New simulation capabilities offer game-changing possibilities for designing new combustion systems

– Combustion chemistry of bio-fuels and renewable fuels– Advance materials and electro-chemistry