Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is getting a nearly $300,000 federal grant meant to further clean-coal technology.

The money bound for the university's Coal Research Center will go toward work on powder coatings to protect coal boiler and turbine parts from corroding.

The university will kick in $142,000 from funds already raised by the research center.

Twenty universities submitted a total of 23 research projects for Department of Energy consideration. The department ultimately chose nine projects for a total of $2.7 million.

The grants are part of more than $5 billion President Barack Obama's administration has allocated to clean coal research and development.