Filter Component Assessment

The objectives of this program are to provide a more ruggedized filter system that utilizes porous ceramic filters which have improved resistance to damage resulting from crack propagation, thermal fatigue and/or thermal excursions during plant or process transient conditions, and/or mechanical ash bridging events within the candle filter array. As part of the current Phase 1, Task 1, effort of this program, Westinghouse is evaluating the filtration characteristics, mechanical integrity, and corrosion resistance of the following advanced or second generation candle filters for use in advanced coal-fired process applications: 3M CVI-SiC composite--chemical vapor infiltration of silicon carbide into an aluminosilicate Nextel{trademark} 312 fiber preform; DuPont PRD-66--filament wound candle filter structure containing corundum, cordierite, cristobalite, and mullite; DuPont SiC-SiC--chemical infiltration of silicon carbide into a silicon carbide Nicalon{trademark} fiber mat or felt preform; and IF and P Fibrosic{trademark}--vacuum infiltrated oxide-based chopped fibrous matrix. Results to date are presented.