Award Data

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 ...

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 ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will explore the synthesis and use of novel lignin-derived carbon-magnetite nanocomposites for removal of aqueous phosphate– a run off pollutant from agricultural farms that leads to eutrophication of lakes and other water reservoirs. The intellectual property related to nanocomposite synthesis (and associated applications) is exclu ...

We hypothesize that infrared (IR) cameras mounted on unmanned tethered helium balloons accessed via a wireless network can remotely sense water quality in mixing zones at site scales. Mixing zones are limited regions in water bodies where the initial dilution of point-source wastewater discharge occurs. Mixing zones are an important component of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Sy ...

Lead in household paint and dust is a serious health hazard, as low-level lead exposure can result in a number of adverse health effects, especially in children. Onsite and real-time detection and quantification of lead in paint/dust are very important to homeowners and certified lead-based paint removal professionals. Toward this end, both field-portable equipment (such as X-ray fluorescence inst ...

At present, the most economically efficient lighting technologies rely on discharge emission from mercury vapors. Mercury, however, is extremely toxic and has the potential to accumulate in the human body over time. The alarming increase in mercury levels in our soils, sediments, and waters is driving the push to find economically viable alternative lighting sources that do not contain mercury. ...

Under the current Hazardous Waste Combustor Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule, heavy metal emissions from the nation’s thermal hazardous waste combustion facilities are estimated using control efficiencies determined during performance testing and estimated metal feed rates during normal operation. The error in estimates of metal emissions from this approach can be on the order of 100 ...

Reduction in dependency on imported petroleum and the quest to identify renewable energy sources has led to a search for innovative biofuels derived from renewable biomass, which promise long-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Butanol is one possible biofuel. It is an industrial fuel that can be produced from crops using acetone-butanol (AB) fermentation by butanolagenic microbes, such a ...

Under current Hazardous Waste Combustor Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule, heavy metal emissions from the nations thermal hazardous waste combustion facilities are estimated using control efficiencies determined during performance testing and estimated metal feed rates during normal operation. The error in estimates of metal emissions from this approach can be on the order of 100% or mor ...

Lead in household paint and dust is a serious health hazard, as low level lead exposure can result in a number of adverse health effects, especially in children. Onsite and real time detection and quantification of lead in paint/dust are very important to homeowners and certified lead based paint removal professionals. Toward this end, both field-portable equipment (such as X ray fluorescence ins ...