An overview of Westinghouse coal-fueled combustion turbine programs

Coal utilization projects at Westinghouse relating to gasification, atmospheric fluidized beds (AFB), pressurized fluidized beds (PFB), and direct firing are currently in progress and in various stages of development. Performance evaluation of the Westinghouse 150 MW advanced gas turbine (designated 501F), integrated with modern gasifiers, has been progressing under an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) contract. The study of atmospheric fluidized bed air heater cycle performance, economics, and in-bed tube materials has been sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy. The DOE Office of Fossil Energy is sponsoring The Direct Coal-Fired Turbine program in which Westinghouse is the prime contractor, and Second Generation Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion systems R and D in which Westinghouse is a subcontractor to Foster Wheeler Development Corporation. This paper presents an overview of objectives and progress for these programs and discusses the potential for additional development and other techniques for using coal as the fuel for gas turbines.