Award Data

Biodiesel is a fuel that is made by processing vegetable oil or animal fats into a liquid fuel that can be combusted in a standard, unmodified diesel engine. The use of biodiesel reduces CO2 emissions by over 80% compared to petroleum and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil while promoting economic opportunities in rural America. When biodiesel is made from low-cost waste oils or fats the e ...

Large farms and feedlot operations produce large quantities of manure in a small area. Anaerobic digester units capable of producing pipeline quality methane installed at each farm or dairy could be instrumental in eliminating the difficulties associated with the transport of manure off site. If consumed properly, use of manure-derived fuels can also protect against environmental problems such as ...

As part of its mission to protect human health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency develops and promotes innovative cleanup strategies that restore contaminated sites to productive use, reduce associated costs, and promotes environmental stewardship. Testing and characterization of the environment for potentially harmful contaminants is a costly endeavor. Current technolo ...

Aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) are among the most popular fire-fighting foams used against fuel and oil fires because of their effectiveness and their ease of application. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that certain fluorosurfactants used in AFFFs are toxic to aquatic life and tend to accumulate in the blood of animals and humans. The manufacturer recently has phased out ...

During Phase I of this research project, ADA Technologies, Inc. (ADA) identified a new class of amended silicate sorbents, based on a novel amendment chemistry and amendment process. During Phase I, static bed testing identified sorbents with mercury capacities as high as 12,000 g per gram of sorbent. Testing of the new sorbents in a dynamic, in-flight test rig constructed during the P ...

Uncontrolled oxidation of sulfide minerals in mine wastes causes acid rock drainage (ARD) that contaminates receiving waters with acid and heavy metals. ARD is an enormous environmental problem, and the most significant environmental issue faced by the mining industry. Effectively dealing with ARD has been and continues to be a formidable challenge for which no global solutions exist. ...

Biodiesel is a fuel that is made by processing vegetable oil or animal fats into a liquid fuel that can be combusted in a standard, unmodified diesel engine. The use of biodiesel reduces CO2 emissions by over 80% compared to petroleum and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil while promoting economic opportunities in rural America. When biodiesel is made from low-cost waste oils or fats the e ...

Tunable diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS) is one of the most versatile and powerful detection technologies. Essentially, any contaminant can be detected, and with emerging cavity-enhanced techniques, sensitivities can be in the parts per trillion. Despite this tremendous potency, however, widespread use of TDLS has been prevented largely by the lack of economical, reliable, and wavelengt ...

Agve BioSystems in collaboration with Carl A. Batt propose to develop decon-nanoparticles which will leverage ongoing opportunities in enzyme engineering and the fabrication of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. Enhanced performance will be engineered into the system to improve the catalytic degradation of chemical agents. Through an iterative process optimizing the particles and the enzyme ...

Isobutanol can be produced biotechnologically from the same biomass sources as ethanol. Compared to ethanol, however, isobutanol is a superior biofuel due to its higher energy content and its compatibility with existing fuel infrastructure. In addition, due to the vapor pressure issues posed by ethanol, requirements to produce gasoline that meet the specifications for the reformulated gasoline ( ...