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The Orinoco Belt in Venezuela contains huge deposits of a bitumen that is complex to handle and refine into lighter hydrocarbon fractions. These deposits are in the early commercialization stage, being marketed as an emulsion with 30% water as a boiler fuel. The fuel is similar to oil in heating value (about 18,100 BTU/lbm) and ash (less than 0.4%). It has an extremely high carbon to hydrogen ratio, a parameter that is important in MHD for electrical conductivity. The authors evaluate the potential for this bitumen as a fuel for an MHD Steam Combined Cycle Power Plant. An experimental program to demonstrate the merit of the bitumen as an MHD fuel and validate the calculations is suggested.

Coal fired MHD repowering is considered for the TVA Allen Steam Plant. The performance of the repowered plant is presented. Cost comparisons are made of the cost of repowering with MHD versus the cost of meeting similar standards by installing scrubbers and selective catalytic NOx reduction (SCNR). For repowering of a single 250 MWe unit, the costs favor scrubbing and SCNR. If one considers a single repowering of all three 250 MWe units by a single MHD topping cycle and boiler, MHD repowering is more economical. Environmental emissions from the repowered plant are estimated.