Award Data

Distributed energy offers a means of providing reliable, cost-effective electrical power to residents of rural communities. These requirements often cannot be met by current distribution methods due to limitation of remote central station power generation and transmission. With the migration of population from urban areas to rural areas and the increased power demands placed on electrical grids fr ...

There is a finite amount of fossil fuels, which will only last a few more decades. Therefore, it is imperative to develop renewable sources of energy. An area that has recently attracted a lot of attention is the conversion of renewable oils to biodiesel, primarily through the methanolysis of triglycerides. The use of an immobilized lipase as a heterogeneous biocatalyst to transform oils into biod ...

In this program, Omega Optics, Inc. and the University of Texas, Austin, propose a novel lab-on-chip photonic crystal slot waveguide infrared spectrometer for detection and spectroscopic analysis of BTEX hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene) in water and greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in air. The device utilizes the unique dispersive properties of slow light photonic crystal waveguides together with ...

Chlorinated hydrocarbons represent the most prevalent contaminants of groundwater in the country. When released in the subsurface, they tend to persist below the water table, and it can take decades or centuries before slow-moving groundwater completely dissolves accumulations of chlorinated solvent product. Analytical methods currently available for monitoring these compounds require extensive ...

Heavy metal species mobilized and released into the environment by technological activities tend to persist indefinitely, circulating and eventually accumulating throughout the food chain, posing a serious threat to the environment, animals, and humans. Typical industrial metal-containing discharges can be considered as point-source emissions, which in turn offer the possibility of feasible remed ...

CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER BY TRICHLOROETHYLENE AND OTHER VOLATILE HALOGENATED SOLVENTS REPRESENTS A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE NATION'S DRINKING WATER. CURRENT TREATMENT TECHNIQUES FOR CONTROLLING SUCH CONTAMINATION ARE LIMITED TO AERATION, ADSORPTION, AND LINKING. A PROMISING ALTERNATIVE IS PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDATION, BUT THIS PROCESS IS AS YET UNOPTIMIZED, POORLY UNDERSTOOD, AND LARGELY LIMITED. PHOT ...

Distributed energy offers a means of providing reliable, cost-effective electrical power to residents of rural communities. These requirements often cannot be met by current distribution methods due to limitation of remote central station power generation and transmission. With the migration of population from urban areas to rural areas and the increased power demands placed on electrical gri ...

In this program, Omega Optics, Inc. and the University of Texas, Austin, propose a novel lab-on-chip photonic crystal slot waveguide infrared spectrometer for detection and spectroscopic analysis of BTEX hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene) in water and greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) in air. The device utilizes the unique dispersive properties of slow light photonic crystal waveguides together ...

There is a finite amount of fossil fuels, which will only last a few more decades. Therefore, it is imperative to develop renewable sources of energy. An area that has recently attracted a lot of attention is the conversion of renewable oils to biodiesel, primarily through the methanolysis of triglycerides. The use of an immobilized lipase as a heterogeneous biocatalyst to transform oils into ...