Simulating Coal-fired Power Technology

coalOver at the Salt Lake Tribune Lindsay Whitehurst writes that researchers at the University of Utah will ultilize powerful super­computers to simulate and test a new type of low-emission coal-fired power plant.

We’re going to be building the biggest simulations ever done in the world,” said U. chemical engineering professor Philip Smith, who will use the grant to establish the Carbon Capture Multidisciplinary Simulation Center with Martin Berzins and U. President David Pershing, a professor of chemical engineering by training.

Using a five-year, $16 million grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration, researchers will develop new simulation software to predict the performance of a 350-megawatt boiler system in a plant capable of powering a midsize city. Such a plant would use oxy-combustion technology to burn coal dust using pure oxygen.

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