About The Facilities

The Energy Research Center maintains office and laboratory space in IMBT Laboratories on Lehigh University's Mountaintop Campus. The ERC laboratory space is equipped with an array of test apparatus that supports different arrangements, instrumentation, measurements and research. This includes a mercury test rig equipped with a PSA Analytical gaseous mercury speciating analyzer and a LECO solid sample mercury analyzer, a laboratory-scale fluidized bed model, a coal flow loop for two-phase flow studies, a particle seeded flue gas test section equipped with SO3 and H₂O injection, and a bench-scale reactor for algae culturing and research for CO₂ capture.

The Energy Research Center is equipped with workstations and computers with access to licensed industry-standard modeling and analysis software packages. These software capabilities include the ANSYS Fluent flow modeling simulation software, Aspen Plus for chemical process simulation, CHEMKIN PRO for chemical kinetics modeling, ANSYS and SYSWELD for structural analysis and welding simulations, and a suite of other advanced computer packages for statistical analysis, artificial intelligence modeling and for on-line software development and interfacing with plant data acquisition systems. Additionally, the Energy Research Center owns proprietary software packages for combustion and sootblowing optimization, air preheater performance studies and acid condensation and for heat rate calculations.

The Energy Research Center also has access to facilities for materials characterization and research for applications in the energy industry. These facilities include microscopy and analytical equipment such as scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes with quantitative image analysis, and X-Ray powder diffractometers; mechanical testing equipment; corrosion, coatings and heat treatment apparatuses such as thermogravimetric balances, controlled atmosphere furnaces programmable for thermal cycles; and a welding processing laboratory that includes fully automated arc welding stations and a deposition system for laser welding.