Research & Development: Babcock & Wilcox Research Center: Barberton, Ohio

At The Babcock & Wilcox Company Research Center (BWRC) in Barberton, Ohio, our mission is to innovate ... to be visionary in developing technology solutions for current and future challenges.

The $14 million, 55,000-square foot facility, which was inaugurated in August, 2007, is located near B&W's Barberton headquarters. It features new laboratory and test facilities with state-of-the-art instrumentation and controls. It replaces an outdated facility in Alliance, and will be a center for innovation as the company works to develop the next generation of steam production and pollution control technologies, including technologies to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the emissions of coal-fired power plants.

More than 50 B&W employees work at the BWRC.

Labs, equipment and other features:

• Small Boiler Simulator (SBS) II: an integrated combustion and environmental control system
• Hydraulic Model: this model is used to study fluid interactions and flow dynamics of flue gas desulfurization systems (scrubbers)
• Clean Environment Development Facility (CEDF): located in Alliance, Ohio, this test facility will be used for oxy-coal combustion research
• CO₂ Capture Lab: used for the design and development of absorption systems using advanced amines and an enzyme-based process being developed jointly with CO2 Solution, Inc. of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
• High-Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope: this advanced electron microscope technology is used to evaluate materials to enhance B&W's ultra-supercritical boiler technology and to improve catalytic systems for emissions control
• Entrained Flow Reactor: the reactor is used to study the fundamental science of coal combustion
• Fireside Corrosion Facility: the equipment is used to evaluate advanced materials for super- and ultra-supercritical boilers
• Catalysis Lab: provides support for catalyst deactivation studies for selective catalytic reduction systems
• Plasma Transferred Arc Facility: this equipment is used in formulating advanced alloys
• Bench-Scale Mercury Testing Lab: this lab provides enhanced understanding of the chemistry of mercury within B&W's scrubbing systems for capture improvements

For more information, please contact us.