Newsletter Archives; Winter 2001

Stager Prevaporizer-Premixer developed by John C. Y. Lee and Philip C. Malte

Energy

In light of the rising prices for gasoline and natural gas, in light of the pressure on hydro-electric dams for restoration of salmon habitat, and in light of the electricity crisis this winter in California, which impacts the Pacific Northwest, what is the Mechanical Engineering Department doing about energy?

Starting about 1990, through the work of Professors Phil Malte and John Kramlich, the Combustion Laboratories of the M.E. Department launched research programs on the combined cycle combustion turbine and on biomass and coal combustion. This was accomplished with the help of grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Energy and from private industry. The gas-fired combined cycle combustion turbine is attractive because of its very high electrical generation efficiency and very low pollutant emissions. Biomass combustion is important because of its potential for little net CO2 emission, if the forest is re-grown, and its relevance to the forest and paper products industries of the region. Coal combustion is important because of the vast coal resource, the approximately 55% reliance on coal for electricity generation worldwide, though this may diminish because of global climate change concerns, and the toxicity of the effluents from coal use. During the 1990s the UW research efforts have grown and have graduated several engineers now working in the energy industries and significantly contributing their expertise to society.

The research projects undertaken have been focused on environmental control-understand-ing, predicting, and reducing the exhaust emissions of combined cycle combustion turbines, biomass combustors, and coal-fired power generation furnaces. For example, a current effort involves the development of prevaporizing-premixing technology so that oil can be cleanly burned in the combustion turbines when the natural gas supply is interrupted during severe winter weather. Another major effort has as its goal the understanding of the trace emissions of mercury from coal furnaces, so that this toxic vapor may be significantly reduced by advanced control technology.

In the late 1990s, with help from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, our program began applications and design research on renewable energy technology. An example of the work is the solar photovoltaic system recently installed at Watchman Lookout, Crater Lake National Park. And starting in early 2001, research on fuel cell technology for state of Washington industry will be getting underway.

Because of the renewed interest in energy, enrollment in the energy courses offered by Professors Malte and Kramlich is growing by about 50%. Such growth is being experienced in the introductory courses, Energy and Environment I and II, open to all UW students, and offered by the M.E. Department in cooperation with the Program on the Environment, the Physics Department, and the Chemical Engineering Department. The growth is also being experienced in the M.E. senior elective courses Advanced Energy Conversion Systems and Sustainable Energy Design, and the Graduate Seminar on Energy and Environment. In spring 2001, a new course Integrating Renewable Energy into Society will be offered by M.E through the Program on the Environment.

The world appears to be entering a truly remarkable period regarding energy. Never before have global environmental pressures on energy conversion been so great, and not since the last part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century have so many energy system changes and needs for change appeared on the horizon. With intriguing energy challenges and opportunities, the next decades should be exciting, rewarding times for energy engineers.

For more information on the M.E. Department's projects and courses on energy, please contact Professor Phil Malte (malte@u.washington.edu) or Professor John Kramlich (kramlich@u.washington.edu).