Award Data

Shale gas is reshaping petrochemicals. A big change is the generation of “on purpose” propylene (OPP) plants. These OPP plants in most cases are based on propane dehydration (PDH). The reason for OPP plants is the change of mixtures being fed to crackers produces less propylene. In PDH plants, propane are converted to propylene but not quantitatively (e.g. 85% yield) so there is a need to impr ...

The development of a web-based software toolbox is proposed to enable predictions of product yields and product composition in thermal biomass- conversion processes. Biomass pyrolysis is the main focus because of its commercial importance, and because it is the first step in all thermal-conversion processes (gasification, combustion, etc.). Several kinetic models will be incorporated in the softwa ...

We propose a unique design approach for enabling ultra-stable, high conductivity anion exchange membranes for solar-to-hydrogen generation applications. The innovation is targeted to address performance deficiencies in state-of-the-art membranes relating to conductivity, durability and permeability and was identified after analyzing the conduction and degradation mechanisms. The proposed design wi ...

Direct conversion of shale gas components ethane, propane, and butane to useful chemicals or transportation fuels has faced the central challenge that reaction rates and product yields high enough to be economic are accompanied by overreaction to full combustion products in either conventional or unconventional approaches. This is further strained by small processing scales associated with strande ...

The US scientific and industrial research communities in the broad areas of soft matter (i.e., polymers, complex fluids, nano and colloidal solutions, coatings and inks) and biological materials (i.e., drug delivery, hydrogels, tissue engineering) need, but lack, the ability to effectively study these important materials under flow conditions. Shear fields are widely used as much to process and co ...

A growth of renewable energy technologies will help to accommodate the growing demand for electricity, provided that energy storage technologies address the intermittency of renewable energies such as solar and wind power. Lithium polysulfide (Li-PS) redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been considered as one of the most promising electrochemical energy storage technologies because of their high energ ...

Automobiles (cars and trucks for instance) are the predominant mode of transportation in the United States. These vehicles are powered by internal combustion engines that consume fossil fuels such as gasoline. Improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines is an ongoing challenge of enormous impact to energy consumption in the world. In order to improve engine efficiency and thus fuel eco ...

Currently spark ignition (SI) engines dominate the light vehicle market, and over 80 million light vehicle engines are made worldwide. However, such SI engines experience exceptionally poor efficiency at low to medium loads and speeds, and this makes it difficult to meet new fuel efficiency standards expected to be imposed in many locations around the world. Furthermore, the insufficient wall temp ...

Offshore wind turbines have the inherent drawbacks of being remotely located and subject to harsh weather conditions such as storms, snow and sleet, that subject them to operational stresses. With the growing demand for wind energy in the US, it is imperative to maximize the operational efficiencies of the wind turbines and minimize the Levelised Cost Of Energy (LCOE). Qualtech Systems, Inc. (QSI) ...

High quantum efficiency photodetectors are a critical component of quantum squeezed state systems. Providing optical-to-microwave transduction fidelity allows these systems to significantly improve upon the noise performance of traditionally shot noise limited photonic links and sensors. However, as quantum information science is still a small, but rapidly growing field, there is a distinct lack o ...