Plant Design

The need for emissions-free power generation, along with the ability to provide more power when and where it’s needed, is driving research and development of smaller nuclear reactors. Energy industry

Simple cycle gas turbines provide efficiency levels of around 35% to 40%. Combined cycle units boost efficiency to 60% and beyond. But another option is emerging that combines the attributes of simple and combined cycle designs. This hybrid configuration uses a single power turbine expander and recycles exhaust heat back to the combustor to combine […]

Microreactors are a class of very small modular reactors targeted for non-conventional nuclear markets. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports a variety of advanced reactor designs, including gas, liquid-metal, molten-salt, and heat-pipe-cooled concepts. In the U.S., microreactor developers are currently focused on designs that could be deployed as early as the mid-2020s. The key […]

In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7 billion initiative to establish seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, aiming to scale the use of cost-effective clean hydrogen. This initiative comes as utilities face growing pressures from data centers and other industries that are demanding increasingly large amounts of reliable power. Hydrogen’s role […]

Caithness Energy’s Guernsey Power Station, which features GE Vernova equipment, is an important gas-fired facility helping replace retired coal-fired generation in the PJM Interconnection territory

Oil shale doesn’t fuel a lot of power plants around the world, but in Jordan, it’s a vital option, offering energy security and independence. The success of the Attarat Power Plant in capitalizing on this

Space-based solar power (SBSP) could prove transformative to global energy demand by providing price-efficient, continuous clean energy from orbit (Figure 1). Recent developments, including low-cost space access, mass-produced satellites, robotics, and other commercial-led innovations, will unlock this capability within the next 10 to 20 years. While both U.S. allies and adversaries are rapidly advancing their […]

Fusion energy is a promising form of power generation that aims to harness the same process that powers the sun and stars. Fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms apart. […]

Back in the early 2000s, some controversy emerged about the practice of spraying large amounts of fog directly into the compressor. Some claimed that this led to blade erosion, pitting, and scaling. So, is it safe to use wet compression on gas turbines by pumping water droplets into the compressor inlet? The answer is yes—provided […]

A run-of-river hydro project on the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend, Indiana, spearheaded by the University of Notre Dame, was one of the first ever in the U.S. to utilize the StreamDiver propeller