caer timeline

1972 - The Kentucky General Assembly appropriated $400,000 to establish the Kentucky Coal Utilization Research Program at the University of Kentucky's Institute for Mining and Minerals Research (IMMR).

1973 and 1974 - The Arab Oil Embargo created new era of consciousness regarding energy security.

1974 - Kentucky's General Assembly approved Governor Wendell Ford's request to create an Energy Development and Demonstration Trust Fund and authorized up to $50 million for coal development projects. The General Assembly also appropriated $3.7 million for coal research to support the demonstration projects and $4 million to construct a coal research laboratory.

1975 - Governor Julian Carroll strengthened the synfuels-focused energy research program by establishing the Kentucky Center for Energy Research to administer the demonstration projects and related laboratory research.

1977 - The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) was created.

1977 - Construction of the Kentucky Center for Energy Research Laboratory was completed. The General Assembly appropriated additional funds of $1.25 million to complete the initial equipping of the laboratory. IMMR, which had initiated the Kentucky Coal Utilization Program, was vested with the laboratory's management under contract with the state.

1978 to 1980 - Events in Iran and Iraq led to another round of crude oil price increases in 1979 and 1980.

1980 - Catlettsburg's H-Coal direct liquefaction facility, the largest ever built in the U.S., began operations. The Commonwealth contributed funds for the design and construction of this coal liquefaction plant; purchased options for the plant site; and conducted research at the laboratory on conversion of Kentucky coals. Engineering design and site acquisition for a commercial plant to employ indirect liquefaction technology utilized in South Africa to produce motor fuels also began.

1981 - A program to develop a fluidized bed technology for retorting Kentucky oil shale began. This technology was selected because of its potential for extracting greater amounts of oil from Kentucky shale than was possible with typical retorting. A bench-scale retort was constructed and experimentation began.

1982 to 1992 - A 1.2MW atmospheric fluidized bed combustion (AFBC) unit for combustion and emissions control was started this year. It was operated and tested over many years to ascertain the performance (thermal efficiency and emissions control) of a variety of Kentucky coals and limestones. The unit also provided research support for the design and operation of a 20 MW AFBC demonstration unit constructed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Shawnee Power Plant and later for the world's first utility scale AFBC unit. 1982 - Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., restructured the Kentucky Department of Energy and created a new cabinet-level agency, the Kentucky Energy Cabinet. The laboratory's research program continued to be managed by the University of Kentucky's Institute of Mining and Minerals Research under contract to the Energy Cabinet.

1982 - The Center began research on the utilization of coal combustion by-products (ash and flue gas desulfurization materials) for road building and construction applications. The utilization of coal combustion by-products for wall board, cinder blocks and concrete were under investigation.

1983 - The Center initiated the Hope Creek Project to determine the most environmentally sound way to dispose of shale from which the oil has been extracted and to find economical ways to utilize spent shale. A lysimeter facility was constructed as a field research station in Montgomery County. The eight-chamber, six inch concrete chamber studied leaching behavior under natural conditions.

1984 - Combustion by-products work was expanded to include agricultural uses of AFBC spent-bed material as a lime substitute and soil amendment, as well as to investigate the environmental consequences associated with landfill disposal of AFBC solid wastes.

1984 - The Center's synfuels research capabilities were improved by installation of the Prototype Integrated Process Unit. This was a 10 pound per hour pilot-scale nuous-flow direct coal liquefaction mini-plant.

1986 - The United States synfuels demonstration program ended with the abolishment of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Kentucky's projects were also discontinued.

1986 - The management contract for the Center for Energy Research Laboratory was moved by the Kentucky Energy Cabinet from IMMR to the University of Louisville Speed Scientific School and the laboratory was renamed the Kentucky Energy Cabinet Laboratory.

1987 - Work with industry to develop column flotation processes to recover low-ash coal from coal fines resulted in KENFLOTE, a commercial column flotation unit.

1988 - The General Assembly passed legislation which again restructured the Commonwealth's energy research program, and returned management responsibility for the laboratory back to the University of Kentucky. The laboratory was renamed the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER).

1989 - A proprietary process based on column flotation that was developed by CAER for cleaning fine coal was licensed and commercialized at a Powell Mountain Coal Company Preparation Plant in West Virginia.

1990 - Governor Wallace Wilkinson abolished the Energy Cabinet by Executive Order. Later, by act of the General Assembly, conservation and renewable energy programs were placed in the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet. Coal policy and market development responsibilities were placed in a new Governor's Office for Coal and Energy Policy.

1990 - A carbon materials research program was established to investigate alternative, high-value uses for coal and other carbonaceous feedstocks for producing structural, amorphous and graphitic carbons. Early carbon research investigated the synthesis and application of granular and powdered activated carbons, activated carbon fibers and related composite materials.

Early 1990's - CAER developed an array of indirect liquefaction reactor types, ranging from the large 1/8 ton per day reactor to smaller continuous stirred tank reactors for catalyst testing associated with improved processes for coal, biomass and natural gas feedstocks. The center established a leading open-access laboratory for producing and testing catalysts for the synthesis of liquid hydrocarbons.

1991 to 2001 - A US DOE-funded project developed and tested catalysts and operating methods for the Fischer Tropsch slurry phase liquefaction process to produce ultra-clean transportation fuels. This project attracted more than $14 million (sponsor and matching) in total funding during its eleven-year span.

1991 - The "Coolside" Project explored alternative uses of cement-forming desulfurization byproducts and fly ash from a pulverized coal combustion plant. It also determined the leachate properties and long-term environmental stability of the materials in the laboratory and under natural weathering conditions at the CAER field lysimeter test site at Hope Creek.

1991 to 1993 - Combustion research shifted from AFBC to circulating fluid bed combustion for control of flue-gas emissions. The CAER constructed a 0.6 MW circulating fluid bed pilot unit for work concentrating on Gas Suspension Adsorption (GSA) technology, one of 45 clean coal technologies developed under US DOE's Clean Coal Technology Program for power plant emissions control.

1992 - The CAER had a longstanding research and development program on oil shale retorting. Kentort II processed 50 pounds per hour of oil shale. It was a multi-staged fluidized-bed oil shale retort, designed to maximize the extraction and use of the shale's organic and inorganic components through pyrolysis, gasification and combustion. The main product of the KENTORT II process was a crude shale oil that could be upgraded to transportation fuel or potentially used as asphalt paving material.

1992 to 2002 - The CAER conducted research related to Advanced Concepts for Coal Liquefaction, sponsored by the US DOE. The first phase evaluated process concepts to effect reductions in the cost of producing coal liquids in a two-stage direct liquefaction process. The project was later extended to the production of potential value-added materials from coal liquids. The project's total value with extensions was nearly $8 million (sponsor and matching).

1992 - CAER was selected to administer the Kentucky DOE Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The program is designed to improve the research capabilities (human capital and physical infrastructure) of select states so that they may better compete for federal research funding.

1993 - Based on the CAER's work related to activated carbon, The Lexington Carbon Company, LLC (and its successor-in-interest companies) was incorporated in. LexCarb, LLC was formed to commercialize advanced separation and adsorption products - primarily activated carbons, carbon fibers and related composite materials - for use in chemical recovery, water treatment, environmental processing of gas and liquid streams, catalysis, military and industrial protective filters, and other applications.

1994 - CAER began assessing the impact of low NOx burner conversion on fly ash quality, including the problem of significant carbon carry-over associated with incomplete combustion. The CAER developed methods for carbon removal from ash for re-burn in the power plant, and as potential precursors for active carbon. The Center's work concentrated on both dry and wet methods for separating and recovering carbon from ash, as well as other materials (course aggregate, etc.) for re-use in other applications. Dry separation research included the triboelectric separation of materials from ash. Wet methods incorporated the use of flotation equipment, improved surfactants, spirals and hydraulic classification, among other technologies.

1995 - Catalysis expertise was extended to the problem of low-cost production of reformulated gasoline (RFG), in which aromatics associated with ozone formation were reduced. The use of RFG is required by the EPA in a number of urban areas. Supported by grants from US DOE, CAER made progress in preparation, activation, and utilization of sulfated zirconia catalysts to create high octane paraffins needed for RFG production.

1997 - An initiative was launched to extend CAER's analytical and consulting services to include problem-solving, collaborative research and testing for industry. Called the Industrial Support Initiative, the purpose was to provide a single point of contact for requests from industry.

1997 - Based on earlier nano-catalyst work, the Carbon Materials program at CAER was expanded to include research on the synthesis and application of fullerene solids (e.g., primarily single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes). The CAER, along with several departments on campus, won a prestigious $4.0 million award from the National Science Foundation for the creation of a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UK focusing on advanced carbon materials for structural, thermal, electrical and adsorption applications.

1997 - The CAER Celebrated 20 Years of Service.

1998 - Catalyst Research and Testing Center within the CAER was established to recognize the prominence of this program, and its large industrial support.

2001 - From the project on dry ash separation that began in the early 1990s, spin-off company called TFS - Tribo Flow Separations - was incorporated. TFS received a two-year, $1.8 million start up grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), making TFS the first Kentucky-based company to receive a grant from the NIST program since its inception in 1990.

2002 - CAER demonstrated a technology to recover fuel and aggregates from the coal combustion waste ponds at Western Kentucky Energy's Coleman Power Station in Hawesville, Kentucky. The high-quality fuel is very low in sulfur. Its recovery and use increases the overall efficiency of the power plant. Some of the carbon recovered is so high in quality that it may be useful as a low-cost adsorbent for environmental clean up.

2003 - Two new hires this year brought experts in the fields of electrochemistry and environmental catalysis to the lab. This added to the expertise in the Carbon and Clean Fuels and Chemicals Groups.

2004 - The CAER began to look toward renewable energy investigations in addition to its traditional research on fossil fuels.

2005 - With a vision of improving national security, CAER began to carry out research funded by the Department of Homeland Security. The research ranged from using carbon materials for blast mitigation in wall treatment to reducing the explosion potential of ammonium nitrate coated with coal combustion by-products. This year also saw the first joint conference of CAER and ACAA, called WOCA (World of Coal Ash).

2006 - With funding from E-ON US, the CAER began an extensive program on clean combustion technology and emissions control research. Additional work in renewables continued.

2007 - The state began, once again, to consider coal-to-liquids technologies. The CAER maintained its expertise in this area, while continuing to include emerging technologies.   The CAER also celebrated its 30th Anniversary.

2008 - The Kentucky Ash Education Site was created to explain the issues surrounding coal combustion (by-) products, their potential for beneficial utilization, environmental cleanup, and what the University of Kentucky is doing to study them.