Engineering Support Services for the DOE/GRI Coal Gasification Research Program. Cost/Benefit Analysis of Extending Demonstration Run of Westinghouse PDU from 15 Days to 30 Days

摘要

At the request of DOE, Pullman Kellogg has investigated the costs and technical advantages of extending a planned 15-day demonstration run of the Westinghouse process development unit to 30 days. This reactor, in Waltz Mill, Pennsylvania, has been operated during test runs over a two-year period in both air-blown and oxygen-blown modes with a variety of coal feedstocks. Kellogg obtained reactor operating data, descriptions and costs of additional hardware required, and information regarding other costs from Westinghouse. Based on its investigation, Kellogg offers these general conclusions: analysis of operating data and the dynamics of the gasifier indicate that a 15-day length for the demonstration run should be sufficcient to allow any slowly-developing effects to be observed; and the extra cost for extending the run to 30 days is $0.8 to 0.9 million based on Westinghouse information which seems satisfactory. Other factors which might affect the decision are discussed briefly. (ERA citation 09:000010)