University Turbine Systems research

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6.0.3-1 Introduction
The University Turbine Systems research (UTSR) Program began
in 1992, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s major development
program in gas turbines1. Between 1992 and 2001 the program was funded
with about $400 million of DOE money and a similar amount of contractor
money. Part of the program was a university research effort. Major emphasis
areas were university research projects, internships, and technology transfer.
The university program was coordinated by the South Carolina Institute for
Energy Studies (SCIES), a part of Clemson University, under the overall
direction of DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Total cost of the university research program from 1992 until 2001
was $35.5 million, of which $34.2 million came from DOE and $1.2 million
came from industry. The UTSR activity, which began in 2002, is budgeted
for $15 million in DOE funds and $750,000 from industry over 5 years.
More details on the UTSR Program can be found in note 12
.
The DOE Program has continued since 2002 and is now called the
Turbine Program. The university activity is continuing as the University
Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) Program. In 2003, the UTSR program
shifted from an emphasis on natural gas fuel to research that supports a
future power industry needing turbines fueled by syngas and hydrogen
(SGH).
Under the university research program 108 universities in 40 states
did/do research in the fi elds of aerodynamics and heat transfer, combustion,
and materials. Besides the universities, the UTSR consortium includes
leading gas turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) and users,
and gas turbine component manufacturers. These companies comprise
the Industry Review Board (IRB), who recommend and track research
projects that are funded, and are the host sites for graduating seniors and
graduate students from UTSR universities placed for summer assignments
(Fellows).
Current IRB Member Companies are BP, Capstone Turbine
Corporation, Cinergy Energy Services, Clean Energy Systems, EPRI,
ExxonMobil, General Electric Company, Ingersoll Rand Energy Systems,
Parker Hannifi n, Pratt & Whitney/UTRC, Precision Combustion Inc.,
RAMGEN, Rolls-Royce, Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation, Solar
Turbines, Inc., Southern Company Services and Woodward FST. Voting
member companies are gas turbine manufacturers: GE, Pratt & Whitney,
Rolls-Royce, Siemens Westinghouse and Solar Turbines. The others are
Associate Member companies.
1. The overall program in 1992-2001 was called the Advanced
Turbine Systems (ATS) Program, and the university research
portion of ATS was called the Advanced Gas Turbine Systems
Research (AGTSR) Program.
An Academic Advisory Board (AAB) was formed in 2004 to
provide a mechanism for obtaining input from the academic community to
the UTSR program and to develop short courses on gas turbine technologies.
Their fi rst product was a short course in August 2004 on the impact of
synfuels on gas turbines. Current AAB members represent Virginia Tech,
Georgia Tech, U. of California Irvine, U. of Central Florida, Penn State, U.
of Connecticut, Brigham Young and U. of Wisconsin.
The program is geographically broad – based, see fi gure 1.66