DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND TESTING OF AN ADVANCED, NON-POLLUTING TURBINE DRIVE GAS GENERATOR

The objectives of this report period were to continue and complete testing of the Gas Generator hardware, to complete and submit a Draft Final Report, and after incorporation of adjustments required, to then submit the Final Report. Focus during this report period was initially on testing the Gas Generator. While conducting scheduled full power tests of the Gas Generator at the facilities of the testing sub-contractor, National Testing Services [NTS], in Santa Clarita CA, anomalies in the performance of the Gas Generator were discovered. All testing was stopped on November 6, 2002. An expert team was formed to evaluate the anomalies and to recommend any appropriate corrective actions. After extensive analyses of the actual hardware, the test data acquired and recorded during testing, and a review of the test facilities and procedures, the Anomalies Review Team recommended that CES modify the combustion chamber front end cooling method and modify the configuration of the diluent injectors downstream of the combustion chamber, to eliminate the anomalies. At a review meeting convened in Sacramento CA on November 23, 2002, outside experts from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Air Liquide's Research Center in Chicago IL, and the California Energy Commission, confirmed that the expert team's assessed cause of the problem was the likely cause, and the recommended corrective actions were appropriate. Modified hardware drawings were produced in late November-early December 2002, hardware fabrication was begun in December, and was in process at the end of December. Also during December, the NTS test facility was being adjusted to take account of the modified hardware configuration being produced. All work was aimed toward realizing a schedule of resumed testing by mid-January for completion of tests by end of January or early February, 2003. Original objectives of the program remain in place and approximately ninety (90) percent of those objectives had been completed prior to discovery of the anomalies. The accomplished objectives to date are described in this report