POWER May 2011 - 10

its 150-GW target for 2020; installations of cleaner power could
total 240 GW, they say.
The country will continue to source a majority of its power
from coal, and it plans to add an estimated 260 GW of coal power
by 2015, though coal's share is expected to fall to 63% from the
current 72%. A key difference between the 11th and 12th plans
is that the government will likely control the growth of the coal
industry and cap annual production capacity at 3.8 billion tons
by 2015, up from the current capacity of 3.2 billion tons. " To
cap growth at this level means the growth rate will need to be
less than half of the rate in the 11th [five-year plan] period, "
analysts from HSBC said.
The 12th plan also calls for a fundamental shift in the nation's
solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. Analysts say that in 2011, China
is expected to increase its share of the global PV module market
by 10%, making it responsible for 59% of the world's solar PV
industry. The country recently enacted regulations to phase out
excess polycrystalline silicon manufacturing in the long term;
overproduction led to a supply glut in 2010.
Last year China made major strides in installing high-voltage
transmission lines, and within the next five years it will continue
to develop its grid. State Grid has announced an investment plan
for 2009-2020 with provisions for 384.1 billion yuan (US$58.5
billion) worth of investment in smart grid technology (split between
30.8% for smart use, 23.2% for smart distribution, and
19.5% for substations). This will account for just 11% of total
grid investment, however.
Large-Scale Tests Begin to Convert Flue
Gas to Usable Water
Subsidized by the Dutch government, a number of Dutch utilities,
the European Membrane Institute at the University of Twente,
and Dutch consulting firm KEMA have, for over a decade, been
testing membrane technology that promises to directly convert
water vapor from power and other industrial plants' flue gases
into drinking water. The technology could provide a new source
of large volumes of potable water.
Since October 2010, the European Union and 13 partners from
industry and academia across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
have also lent financial backing to the project. KEMA and partners
plan to begin large-scale tests at power plants in Spain and
Israel and at a geothermal well in Tunisia within the next two
years. Armed with €5 million, the new project has been dubbed
" CapWa " (short for " Capture of Evaporated Water with Novel
Membranes " ).
" The power plant in Spain will be a gas-fired power plant (location
not confirmed as yet), " Ludwin Daal, a consultant with
KEMA told POWER in March. " The Ruthenberg coal-fired power
plant in Ashkelon is located near the Gaza strip and provides
electricity to both the Palestinian authority and Israel. The end
system will be the size of a sea container, capable of capturing
1 [cubic meter] of liquid water. Bypasses will be made at
both plants to facilitate this capture. " The consortium ultimately
hopes for industrial production and large-scale implementation
of the technology by 2014.
As KEMA explains on a dedicated project website (www
.watercapture.eu), the main membrane technology used is " much
different " from other processes, like reverse osmosis or nanofiltration,
because it does not directly involve a liquid-to-liquid separation.
In the process, water molecules are transported through
a membrane fiber via a diffusion mechanism, and the permeated
water is collected through a condensation step (Figure 3). KEMA
10
3. Catching the flue. Dutch firm KEMA and partners have been
researching and developing a novel membrane that promises to convert
at least 40% of water in flue gases of power plants into drinkable
water. Backed by the European Union and 14 entities from around the
world, the project, dubbed " CapWa, " plans to begin large-scale tests at
power plants in Spain and in Israel. Courtesy: KEMA
Special
coating
N2
Flue gas
CO2
SO2
H20
NO2
O2
H20
Vacuum
H20
N2
NOx CO2
SO2
O2
H20
P=1atm
Hollow membrane fiber
Micro scale
Dehydrated
flue gas
Macro scale
says that copermeation of gases " affects " the vacuum, which
stops the process, so the company constructed a dense polymer
coated with a selective, water-permeable membrane to make it
selective for water molecules over nitrogen gas. The membranes
are supposedly thermally and chemically stable at temperatures
of 50C to 150C and are resistant to fouling.
KEMA says pilot tests were begun in 2001 following concerns
about water scarcity and rising prices. Since then, the group has
significantly improved gas-separation membranes with which water
vapor could be captured on a large scale. Tests on industrial
plants in the Netherlands and Germany showed that at least 40%
of the water in flue gases can be recovered with the new membrane
technology. " Beforehand, researchers counted on a recovery
of 20%, " the company said in late February. " This means that
an average [coal-fired] power plant of 400 megawatts can supply
twice as much water as it needs for steam generation. "
Major Offshore Players Introduce
Colossal Wind Turbines
Competition among offshore wind turbine vendors vying for market
share went into overdrive in the first three months of 2011 as
several key players announced gigantic new turbine models.
Vestas, the Danish firm whose overall offshore capacity exceeds
555 MW, in late March unveiled the V164-7.0 MW, a turbine
designed specifically for the " roughest North Sea " conditions.
Vestas President Anders Søe-Jensen told reporters that the company
had foreseen a major share of offshore wind development
occurring in the northern part of Europe, but it was prepared to
take the turbine to other parts of the world " in due time. "
The 7-MW turbine's technical advantages include a mediumspeed
drive train. Vestas revealed that it had researched and
developed, in parallel, two options-direct drive and a geared
solution-but found the medium-speed drive train delivered the
lowest cost of energy. Construction of V164-7.0 MW prototypes
are expected in late 2012, and Vestas said that-provided it had
a " firm order backlog in place to justify the substantial investment
needed " to finish development of the turbine-production
could begin in early 2015 (Figure 4).
Also in March, at a European Wind Energy Association conference,
GE Energy launched its 4.1-113 wind turbine. The 4-MW
machine builds on a prior 3.5-MW design, uses direct-drive techwww.powermag.com
POWER
| May 2011
Vacuum &
condenser
Saturated
flue gas
PVS
casing
vacuum
chamber
Array of 20
modules
http://www.watercapture.eu http://www.powermag.com
POWER May 2011

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