Labs and Equipment
IES labs and equipment are used to help advance energy technologies.
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
- FEI Quanta 650 FEG SEM
- Operable in high and low vacuum as well as ESEM modes
- Incorporates a Bruker QUANTAX 200 detector
- Able to achieve 1-3 nm resolution.
- Retractable DBS detector and beam deceleration allow analysis of conductive samples
- Software allows overlaying data sets as well as tiling and stitching of large image areas
- Optical camera inside the chamber provides images of samples mounted on specimen stage
X-ray Fluorescent (XRF) Analyzers
- Bench-top:
- Rigaku Supermini 200
- Wavelength dispersive XRF
- Provides low ppm detection limits for major, minor, and trace elements
- Equipped with a 12 sample autosampler and can analyze either solids or liquids
- Software allows rapid analysis of known and unknown samples
- Handheld:
- Bruker Tracer IV Geo handheld XRF.
- Equipped with a large area silicon drift detector as well as a vacuum system for the analysis of lighter elements
- Portable, can be taken to field sites
- Can analyze bulk samples (e.g., rock outcroppings, cuttings, steel beams) without any sample preparation.
Gamma Ray Logger
- OFITE 740 gamma ray logger
- Collects both total and spectral gamma (uranium, thorium, and potassium) ray logs
- Takes high resolution gamma ray logs at a scan rate of 5 min/ft
- Housed in the USGS Core Library
X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Analyzer
- Rigaku SmartLab
- Fully automated
- Utilizes cross-beam optics (CBO) to enable changing of the incident X-rays by substituting selection slits
- Can operate in either Bragg-Brentano or parallel beam focusing methods
- Flexible design allows for analysis of samples ranging from loose powder to solid samples
- Equipped with both a scintillation counter detector and a D/tex detector for fast data acquisition
- A Ka1 system with a monochromator is also available for high intensity measurements
- The system is equipped with a CCD camera for imaging of specific areas on a sample
- Has a variety of stages allowing analysis of a wide array of sample types and applications
Core Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Analyzer
- Oxford Geospec2 Core NMR
- Can analyze core samples with diameters of 1 inch, 2 inches, and 4 inches
- One of first core NMR instruments that can perform q-switched analysis on 4-inch cores
- Advanced Green Imaging Technologies GIT-CAPTM software allows determinations of the
followingpetrophysical parameters:
- pore size distributions
- effective porosity
- capillary pressure
- FFI
- BVI
- CBW
- hydrogen index permeability
- 2-D data mapping (fluid typing)
Vitrinite Reflectance
- Leica microscope with J&M Analytik electronics
- System is designed for geological samples
- Well suited for the analysis of kerogen (age and maturity)
- Acquires data and images with acquisition times of less than 1 second
Other Equipment
- Hitaachi SEM
- High-pressure porosimeter
- Shale sample preparation system
- Autolab 1500: Multi-purpose triaxial test system
Advanced Circulating Attrition Test System
- Provides a realistic estimate of the sorbent attrition in entrained fluidization-type systems operating at very high fluidization velocities.
- Consists of a transport bed, and alternating filters/sorbent recirculation loops.
- Automated to operate for long periods, independent of supervision.
- Operates at ambient conditions.
- Originally designed evaluate attrition of CO2 sorbents.
- Can be used to evaluate a wide range of materials that would be used in a fast fluidization process.
Advanced High Temperature Attrition Test System
- Designed to evaluate attrition characteristics of oxygen carriers in coal-based chemical looping systems.
- Capable of high temperature operation (800-1000°C)
- Continuously cycles between oxidizing and reducing atmospheres.
- Completely instrumented to monitor flows, pressures, temperatures and compositions.
- Reaction cycling matches applications - between oxidizing and reducing atmospheres for chemical looping, capture and reducing conditions for CO2 based sorbents, calcination and sulfation for sulfur sorbents, etc.
- Applications include any solid materials, such as sorbents for carbon and SO2 capture (e.g. activated carbons and limestone), proppants, etc.
Modes of operation include:
- Low temperature with inert gas – provides an indication of the mechanical strength;
- High temperature with inert gas – provides an indication of the mechanical strength at elevated temperatures;
- High temperature with reaction cycling – continuous cycling gives an indication of the mechanical strength under cyclic reaction conditions
CACHYS CO2/Solid Sorbent Test Platform
- Designed to demonstrate solid sorbent-based CO2 capture technologies
- Utilizes ~30-40 acfm of flue gas from the University of North Dakota steam plant’s coal-fired boilers with propane-fired furnace backup.
- Flue gas conditioning system consists of a fabric filter for particulates and wet packed-bed scrubber for SO2
- 20-ft tall circulating fluid-bed adsorber includes variable speed forced draft fan, flue gas heat exchanger, and fresh sorbent feed system.
- Pneumatic transport system to move sorbent between the adsorber and regenerator.
- Regenerator system including a moving bed heat exchanger, preheater and cooler
- Instrumented to continuously monitor temperatures, pressures, flow rates, compositions, sorbent levels…etc.
- Available for evaluation of solid materials for CO2 or SO2 capture and sampling or testing that can be accomplished with the test facility’s slipstream of real coal-fired flue gas.
Other Equipment
- Atmospheric Test Chamber
- Down-fired combustor (conventional and oxy-fired; particulate formation; fouling characterization; MATC characterization and control)
- Fluid bed combustor/gasifier
- Fixed-bed sorbent test system
- Underground coal gasification simulator
- Fast pyrolysis system
- Diesel, turbine and avgas engines
- High temperature autoclaves
- Slag sticking apparatus
- Syngas cooler simulator
- High temperature Deltec furnace (sintering and refractory corrosion
- Fixed-bed sorbent/catalyst reactor
- Attrition test system
- Pressurized TGA
- TGA/DTA/DSC
- Particle size samplers: Dekati / TEOM / SMPS
- Process Modeling and System Integration (Aspen Plus , HYSYS and ChemCAD)
- Heat & Mass Flow (ANSYS Fluent)
- Oil & Gas (ECLIPSE, PETREL)
- Mapping (Arc GIS)
- Well Logging Processing (Tech Log, Petra)
- 3D Reservoir Characterization (PETRELL)
- Mechanical Design (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, etc.)
- Process Instrumentation and Controls (LabView)
- System Dynamics
- Statistics & Quality (Minitab, SPSS)