Award Data

As the single largest consumer of materials and energy use worldwide, the construction sector remains a prime target for materials reuse reform. (Krausmann et al., 2009; De Ia Rue du Can & Price, 2008). Construction and ongoing operation of the built environment extracts a significant amount of resources -- and on an ongoing basis. According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), buildings ac ...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a pervasive and persistent threat to drinking water throughout the world. Called ‘forever chemicals” because their high stability leads PFAS to build up in the environment. PFAS accumulates in the blood from exposures and is associated with various cancers and other illnesses. There is an urgent need for a technology that can both remo ...

EPA launched its drinking water guidelines for PFOA and PFOS in response to rising concerns of these chemicals toward water security. Many conventional wastewater treatment processes are ineffective at removing perfluorochemicals due to their strong resistance to hydrolysis, photolysis, and chemical or microbial degradation. This SBIR project will demonstrate an innovative microwave-assisted membr ...

A team at EP Purification has performed research for the development and commercialization of low-cost microchannel plasma reactor modules capable of efficiently producing ozone for water treatment and other environmental applications in a slim form factor and size. The conservation of water resources for human consumption is a growing national priority. Ozone is a unique purification agent as it ...

NEI Corporation proposes to develop a new and sustainable aqueous electrolyte-based lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery system that is capable of delivering high energy density, comparable to state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries. Almost all commercial Li-ion batteries use an organic electrolyte, which is flammable and has been a concern particularly in large format Li-ion batteries. In addition, there are t ...

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will employ Nanofiltration to generate sulfate ion feedstocks and high current density on-site generation (synthesis) of the powerful oxidant peroxodisulphate (“persulfate”) with novel, high reliability boron-doped untrananocrystal-line diamond (UNCD) electrodes to dramatically lower the cost of unconventional fossil fuel (FF) waste water ...

A team of EP Purification and the University of Illinois engineer and chemists is pursuing the commercialization of low cost microchannel plasma modules capable of efficiently producing ozone for water treatment. The conservation of water resources for human consumption is a growing national priority. Contamination of ground municipal water by animal manure, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals, for e ...

Problem Statement: The worldwide manufacture and use of Portland cement for use in concrete accounts for roughly 5% of global CO2 emissions. A common practice in the production of Portland cement concrete (PCC) to reduce CO2 emissions levels is the partial substitution of cement with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from recycled industrial waste streams. The incorporation of these m ...

In 2011, there were 60,000 dairy farms in the US. Of there, 56,600 had herds of fewer than 500 animals. Currently, manure digester installations are only considered economical for herds of at least 500 animals. There require turbine or diesel generator sets of 100 Kilowatt size and larger. The need exists for a smaller waste to energy conversion approach for implementation on small farms were ...

The projected population growth and limited availability of fresh water sources have forced utility companies and industries to consider the use of alternate water for non-potable application, such as industrial cooling. While in excess of 100 billion gallons per day of water is used for cooling purposes in a power plant, and estimated 6 billion gallons per day of freshwater is not returned to th ...