Award Data

Ultrasupercritical (USC) steam boilers will operate at higher temperature/pressure than subcritical and supercritical steam boilers in service today. However, the majority of current high-temperature materials do not posses the desired characteristics for the operating conditions of a USC unit (760 C/35MPa). This project will develop innovative composite powders and composites that will surpass th ...

Ammonia has an important role in the chemistry of the atmospheric environment and air quality. Ammonia emissions are a major environmental concern, yet they remain poorly quantified. There is a need for a sensitive ammonia instrument to monitor emissions and evaluate their effects on the local and regional environments. An instrument capable of continuous monitoring is required to understand diurn ...

Aerosol particles have important impacts on visibility, acid deposition, human health, and climate. A large fraction of the anthropogenic aerosol is generated from energy-related activities known to contribute a significant fraction of ambient aerosol mass in many locations. Black carbon, formed in combustion processes, is believed to have a particularly strong influence on the earth¿s climate o ...

Aerosol particles affect the radiative balance of the earth directly, by scattering and absorbing solar and terrestrial radiation, and, indirectly, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. It is now recognized that the atmospheric loading of aerosols generated through human activities can exert an influence on the earth¿s radiation budget comparable in magnitude with greenhouse gases. However, unc ...

Aerosol particles have important impacts on visibility, acid deposition, climate, and human health, although large uncertainties remain in quantifying their chemical composition and atmospheric transformations. However, of the organic aerosol mass, only a small fraction has been compositionally resolved, and little work has been done on the volatility and partitioning of organic compounds between ...

The increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth¿s atmosphere is the most important driver of global warming. In order to predict future carbon dioxide concentrations under various mitigation strategies, a better quantitative understanding of the sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide is required. The ratios of the stable isotopes of CO2 has long been recognized as markers for identifyi ...

Methane (CH4) is the second most important atmospheric greenhouse gas after CO2, yet its global sources and sinks are still inadequately characterized. Monitoring the isotopic composition of atmospheric methane is one of the most promising approaches to closing the methane budget. Recent claims that plants may account for a substantial fraction of atmospheric methane have lead to an increased e ...

Aerosol particles have important impacts on visibility, acid deposition, climate, and human health. A large fraction of the anthropogenic aerosol is generated from energy-related activities, and organic compounds are known to constitute a significant fraction of ambient aerosol mass in many locations. Of this organic aerosol mass, only a small fraction has been compositionally resolved, and much o ...

Improved methods of neutron detection are needed not only for nuclear physics research but also for international control of weapons and neutron based therapies in medical applications. He-3 tube-based neutron detectors and planar solid-state neutron detectors are the two currently available technologies for thermal neutron detection. Although He-3 tube-based neutron detectors have efficiencies ...

The gamma ray spectrometers used for nuclear physics research at national laboratories are expensive, bulky, and limited in maximum count rate and other performance measures. Scintillators would be a viable alternative, provided that conventional glass photomultiplier tubes could be replaced with a high quantum efficiency, UV sensitive solid state detector that operates at low voltage, has low no ...