Award Data

Problem Statement: In order to obtain energy independence from conventional sources, there is a significant interest in the production of biogas and“green energy” during wastewater treatment. Due to increased emphasis on sustainability and potential for additional revenue streams, utilities are expected to adopt energy production from digester gas in the near future. Although biogas from tr ...

This Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Project develops methods of recycling rare earth alloys from used nickel metal hydride batteries. Alloys of rare earth metal, nickel and other metals provide functional hydride storage materials that are critical to the operation of nickel metal hydride batteries and their applications. The current fleet of hybrid electric vehicles relies upon nick ...

Organophosphates cannot currently be analyzed in the field using existing technologies, due to insufficient sensitivity of currently fielded instruments. This inability reduces the number of analyses that a government agency can perform on a water supply to ensure its safety to humans and the environment. The objective of this Phase I effort is to design a novel strategy that preconcentrates org ...

GVD proposed to develop high performance, solventless and PFOA-free, non-stick mold release coatings based on its novel PTFE fluoropolymer technology. Most commercial mold release agents make use of organic solvents that when liberated during the drying process may have a significant air quality impact. The drying/curing process may also be energy intensive, requiring additional consumption of f ...

Current anaerobic digester systems are designed for capturing energy from waste from large heads of farm animals. GHD, Inc., a leading manufacturer of anaerobic digesters, has stated that a minimum dairy heard size for economical implementation of a biogas system as 800 cows. These require turbine or diesel generator sets of 100 Kilowatt size and larger, a limiting factor in economically scaling ...

OPTRA has developed a novel approach to phase shift cavity ring down spectroscopy (PS-CRDS) using a Fourier transform infrared (FTlR) modulator to impose the spectrally-dependent amplitude modulation on a broadband JR light source. As with previous PS-CRDS measurements, we excite a resonant cavity with amplitude modulated energy and measure the phase shift of the modulated signal exiting the cavit ...

CONTAMINATION OF THE NATION'S DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES BY HAZARDOUS, SYNTHETIC VOLATILE ORGANIC CHEMICALS (VOCS) IS BECOMING A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS OF GREAT CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER. GROUNDWATER IS THESOURCE OF DRINKING WATER FOR ABOUT HALF THE NATION. THE EPAESTIMATES THAT UP TO 20% OF THE DRINKING WATER THAT COMES FROM GORUNDWATER CONTAINS VOCS. METHODS FOR ...

METALS AND METAL COMPLEXES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MANY INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES. DUE TO THE WIDESPREAD AND LARGE-SCALEUSE OF METALS, MONITORING THEIR PRESENCE IN WASTE STREAMS AND CONTROLLING THEIR LEVELS OF DISCHARGE INTO THE ENVIRON-MENT ARE DIFFICULT AND COSTLY TASKS--TASKS THAT ARE ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT GIVEN THE TOXICITY OF MANY COMMONLY USED METALS. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE SENSOR TECHNOLOGY FOR ...

VAST QUANTITIES OF INDUSTRIAL ACIDS, BASES, PROCESSING SOLUTIONS, AND SLUDGES CONTAIN HEAVY METALS. THESE ARE OFTEN HAZARDOUS, AND IF LEFT UNREGULATED, PRESENT A SERIOUS THREAT TO GROUNDWATER AND THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT. TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE FOR TREATING INDUSTRIAL WASTES ARE TYPICALLY INADEQUATE AND EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. NEW METHODS ARE CLEARLY NEEDED FOR REMOVING TOXIC METALS FROM PROCESS S ...

THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING AN INNOVATIVE OPTRODE DEVICE FOR THE DETECTION, IDENTIFICATION, AND QUANTIFICATION OF TRACE LEVELS OF CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS IN WATER. THIS FIBER OPTIC BASED INSTRUMENT WILL HAVE A RESPONSE DETECTOR AND CAN MEASURE CONCENTRATIONS OF CONTAMINANTS AT PARTS PER BILLION CONCENTRATIONS. IT IS ALSO ANTICIPATED THAT THIS INSTRUMENT WILL BE ABLE TO I ...