Resource Efficiency

Glass WRX SC’s technology transforms post-consumer waste glass stored in landfills into porous ceramics called engineered cellular magmatics used in a wide variety of applications. By incorporating municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) ash into their existing and new processes, they will introduce industrial-scale upcycling into MSWI operations. MSWI will become “beyond zero waste,” eliminating landfilling ash byproducts of the incineration process and landfill space currently taken up by unrecycled glass at the same time.

Current Ni-based alloys used in turbine blade applications operate at 1100°C. This project seeks to develop two classes (Ni) alloys that can continuously operate at 1300°C with coatings, enabling gas turbine inlets of 1800°C or higher. Temperature increases can be achieved through the use of refractory alloys, including molybdenum, niobium, tungsten, and tantalum. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will provide data on alloys and coatings developed by ULTIMATE teams.

Southwest Research Institute will apply energy storage to a natural gas, direct-fired supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power generation cycle (Allam-Fetvedt cycle with near 100% carbon capture) by incorporating oxygen storage adjacent to the air separation unit (ASU). By operating the ASU at higher capacities when power from alternative energies is available (e.g., wind power at night or solar photovoltaic power during the day) and storing liquid oxygen (LOX), greater output from the power plant can be achieved during times of peak electricity demand.

GE Research will optimize an oxy-combustion natural gas-fired turbine—the Allam-Fetvedt cycle—for flexible generation on a grid with high (VRE) penetration at near-zero carbon emissions. The team will use gas or liquid buffering tanks and tight thermal integration between the air separation unit (ASU) and the oxy-combustion turbine. The proposed technology easily separates the CO2 and H2O in the flue gas of an oxy-combustor. The post-combustion outlet gas is more easily separated into water and CO2 to the pipeline, thereby lowering the electricity costs of grids with high levels of VRE.

RTI International will develop a cost-effective, resilient, load-following advanced CO2 capture technology for natural gas power plants. The team's CO2 capture process will maximize the net present value of the of the electricity sale by minimizing the levelized cost of electricity under dynamic plant loads and high VRE environments. The two key innovations proposed are the use of plant by using advanced water-lean solvents (WLSs) and process intensification equipment, such as a rotating packed bed (RPB) centrifugal absorber and dual-stage flash solvent regeneration.

Envergex aims to integrate a flexible, low-temperature CO2 capture system (E-CACHYSTM) into a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant, capable of operating in a high VRE environment, to attain a net-zero carbon electricity system. The technical approach is based on an innovative multi-phase sorbent technology for post-combustion capture of CO2 from flue gas. The hybrid sorbent technology, which consists of a regenerative sorbent and a novel heat exchange system for optimal energy recovery, seamlessly integrates into the NGCC architecture.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will investigate the cost-effective design and operation of a negative carbon emissions power plant concept, invented by 8 Rivers Capital, that combines flue gas CO2 capture with a lime-based direct air capture (DAC) process while not affecting power plant flexibility. First, the power plant flue gas is fed into a calciner, a reactor that breaks down calcium carbonate (CaCO3) into lime and CO2. Next, the CO2-rich gas (>30% CO2) from the calciner is separated to recover high- purity CO2, which can be stored.

Colorado State University and its partners—ION Clean Energy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Bright Generation Holdings—will develop a thermal energy storage system with flexible advanced solvent carbon capture technology. The system aims to decrease the levelized cost of electricity for natural gas-fired combined cycle (NGCC) power plants to <75 $/MWh while simultaneously capturing >95% of CO2 emissions when operating in highly VRE penetration markets. The team's approach uses a novel and low-cost heat-pump thermal storage system.

Luna Innovations is developing FlueCO2, a process that enables traditional power generators to respond to increased VRE while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. FlueCO2 is a combined membrane and gas processing technology that integrates into existing natural gas combined cycle power plants and actively removes CO2 from the exhaust gas. The membrane separates CO2 at unrivaled rates using steam generated within the plant. The CO2-rich steam leaving the membranes is processed further to remove the water so it can be regenerated into steam at the most energy efficient conditions.

Georgia Institute of Technology aims to develop a simple, scalable, and modular device that can remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The device will be designed such that ambient wind is sufficient to contact the CO2-laden air with the materials that filter CO2 out. The filtered CO2 will then be concentrated using localized electric heating, which allows the device to be easily deployed and integrated with renewables or the existing electrical grid.