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The Carbon-Capture Multidisciplinary Simulation Center

The Carbon-Capture Multidisciplinary Simulation Center (CCMSC) is demonstrating exascale computing with V&V/UQ to more rapidly deploy a new technology for providing low cost, low emission electric power generation to meet the growing energy needs of the U.S. We are using a hierarchal validation approach to obtain simultaneous consistency between a set of selected experiments at different scales embodying the key physics components (large eddy simulations, multiphase flow, particle combustion and radiation) to predict performance in a 350MWe oxy-fired boiler. To solve this problem, we will be developing the following tools:
  1. exascale computing software that will be regularly released through open-source licensing,
  2. tools for V&V/UQ for use with other large applications with expensive function evaluations and sparse/expensive experimental data, and
  3. new advances in computational fluid dynamics, multiphase reacting flow and radiative heat transfer. The CCMSC is funded by the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program.
Work is just beginning as illustrated by the following images of particle distribution for three distinct particle sizes (normalized by the inlet concentration) in a 15MW coal-fired boiler. Small particles with low inertia tend to disperse evenly throughout the flow field while the larger particles form clusters, showing dendritic structures within the boiler.

smallpart-208x300 med part-208x300 largepart-208x300
Small (30 µm) particles. Medium (60 µm) particles. Large (90 µm) particles.


Tackling this challenging problem is multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers from the University of Utah, the University of California, Berkeley, and Brigham Young University. Prof. Philip Smith leads this effort with his executive commitee of President David Pershing and Prof. Martin Berzins. To ensure applicability of the CCMSC results, we have established a collaborative agreement with Alstom Power to jointly use this exascale technology to contribute to the design of a new 350MWe oxy-coal boiler. The CCMSC is organized into three teams, which correspond to our validation hierarchy: the Exascale Team, the Predictive Science/Physics Team, and the V&V/UQ Team.