Award Data

As a result of doubt about water quality, American consumers spend about $5 billion dollars annually on bottled water and home purification systems. Since 1994, total revenues of the U.S. residential water treatment industry have grown at a compound annual rate of 8.2%, increasing from $1.6 billion at the retail level in 1994 to $2.2 billion in 1998. Most of the existing home treatment systems for ...

The objective is to modify and test gas turbine engines presently installed in/on marine craft to demonstrate that by adapting technology used on street legal vehicles can be used to reduce the heat and noise levels in marine craft. Whether or not the IR15dB level or lower, and the above water acoustic/noise level to 60dB level or lower can be achieved, is a matter that can only be demostrated by ...

Economic losses due to inadequate ripeness detection in the orchard and post-harvest continue to plague the apple industry. It is anticipated that the in-orchard/packinghouse sensor approach will significantly reduce the waste/spoilage-to-edible-fruit ratio, thereby increasing fruit quality and availability and resultant consumer demand at the domestic retail level as well as in the export market. ...

Small businesses are the bedrock of the American economy. To bring economic development to rural America, these regions must have more effective tools for attracting and retaining the businesses that will provide the jobs and investment these communities need to thrive. The proposal seeks to apply an existing technology, Geographic Information Systems, on a proven platform, DecisionTree, in an inn ...

The need for economical on line sensors in the food industry is clear. Discussions with the food industry have led us to conclude that existing sensors do not meet their needs in terms of price and accuracy. Such a sensor must be non-contact and sufficiently rugged to withstand the industrial environment. Most important, it must be robust enough to accurately measure one component (i.e. salinity) ...

The aquaculture industry considers off-flavor in catfish to be one of the biggest problems facing the industry and representing a significant cost to catfish farmers and processors due to the unmarketability of the fish that have acquired these distasteful compounds. To avoid marketing fish with off-flavor, fish are screened for flavor quality before harvesting. Current quantitative chemical analy ...

Commercial-scale marine aquaculture has the potential to close the gap between an increasing demand for high quality seafood products and a marine fisheries near maximum sustainable yields. Intensive recirculation systems are regarded as one critical component of a commercially viable marine aquaculture development program. However, the application of recirculating technology for the production of ...

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a synthetic chemical which does not occur naturally in the environment,it has been used in many commercial applications. A number of scientific findings since the late 1990's have elevated PFOAs to the category of great environmental concern beacuse of its persistence, and the potential for bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Effective environmental and health pr ...

Commercial microalgal production still relies heavily on batch culture methods. Recent investigations have been successful in the development of enclosed photobioreactors, though mostly still at the research level. Due to several factors, production costs of continuous culture methods remain high and thwart the adoption within the commercial aquaculture sector. This project will investigate the us ...

Commercial microalgal production still relies heavily on batch culture methods. Recent investigations have been successful in the development of enclosed photobioreactors, though mostly still at the research level. Due to several factors, production costs of continuous culture methods remain high and thwart the adoption within the commercial aquaculture sector. This project will investigate the us ...