Award Data

Conventionally, deep desulfurization in a refinery is accomplished by a multi-stage process including hydrodesulfurization (HDS) over CoMo/Al2O3 and NiMo/Al2O3 catalysts and subsequent removal of the H2S. However, the HDS process is not well suited to produce ultra clean (essentially sulfur free) transportation fuels. At the severe reaction conditions required for deep desulfurization, the ol ...

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 ...

Petroleum is finite and as world economies develop it will be increasingly expensive. Consequently, crude oils containing contaminants including mercury and sulfur will be processed. The resulting extensive pollution along with concerns over climate change make it highly desirable to find alternative sources for plastics as a means of pollution prevention. Plastic water bottles in California ar ...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) remain a significant environmental threat even though manufacturing of PCBs was discontinued 30 years ago. Due to the chemical and thermal stability of PCBs in the environment and the continued use of transformers containing these chemicals, very specific regulations are in place that require quantification of PCBs in all transformer oil. The Toxic Substance C ...

Coal contains substantial sulfur which, if not captured when burned, can significantly impact human health. SO2 and SOx emissions are highly regulated. This SBIR project presents a novel, proprietary approach for removing sulfur from gasified coal products at gasification temperatures. The approach is based on the use of sulfide ion-conducting metal sulfides. At high temperatures, ...

Coal is a major source of both electricity production and greenhouse gases (i.e., carbon dioxide, CO2). To minimize the effect on the environment, CO2 capture is required, but previous capture technologies have been both inefficient and expensive. Coal gasification can produce a CO2-rich gas at high temperature and pressure. Removing the CO2 at high temperature and pressure and recovering that CO2 ...

There continues to be a need for the production of fuel-grade ethanol from agricultural sources. The Federal Government is actively looking for biomass renewable feed stocks for enhancing gasoline and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol from agricultural sources has many advantages, including fuel independence and its significant value as an oxygenate and octane improver. Unlike gas ...

Biodiesel is a fuel made by processing vegetable oil or animal fats into a liquid fuel that can be combusted in a standard diesel engine with no modifications. Biodiesel is made from renewable feedstocks, does not contribute to global warming, and can be made from domestically produced agricultural products. Growth of the biodiesel industry has decelerated, however, because the current productio ...

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 ...

Clean and renewable liquid fuels from biomass offer reduced net emission of CO2 and less dependence on expensive and unreliable foreign oil. Currently, bioethanol serves in the United States as a blend for gasoline, but eventually it could replace gasoline in passenger cars altogether. Ethanol, however, contains only two-thirds of the energy of gasoline on an equal volume basis, and if used at hig ...