General Electric Co said itsresearchers will investigate the potential of a gas turbine
powered by the combustion gases of burning coal.
    The company said the research is part of a five-year, 19.1
mln dlr program supported by the U.S. Energy Department's
Morgantown Energy Technology Center. The center is expected to
put up 15 mln dlrs of the cost while GE contributes equipment
and services valued at 2.0 mln dlrs, New York State contributes
1.1 mln dlrs and Norfolk Southern Corp &lt;NSC> adding 1.0 mln
dlrs.
    Rather than using the conventional gas turbine fuels,
distillate oil or natural gas, GE said, the program will look
at the feasability of powering a turbine with coal/water slurry
-- a mixture of water and finely ground coal particles from
which most of the ash has been removed.
    Besides using a cheaper fuel, the company said, such a
system would also be less expensive to build than conventional
coal plants which require a boiler in which coal heats water to
make steam to drive a turbine or a coal gasifier which converts
to coal into gas, which is then burned to power a turbine.
 Reuter
