Award Data

Non-technical Summary: The profitability of small and mid-sized dairy farms is strongly affected by increases in feed costs and energy costs. Unfortunately, farm operators have limited control of these factors, especially in the long term. New technology is needed to allow farmers to manage energy costs on their farms. One excellent solution is to use existing organic farm waste material to create ...

Cooling and drying of feed pellets are the most important operations in the feed manufacturing industry. These operations are carried out simultaneously, in a single machine, by passing ambient air through a moving bed of pellets. However, simultaneous control of both these processes is very difficult. Overdrying of pellets is a common problem that costs several million dollars to feed processi ...

NMR offers comprehensive capabilities for quantitative investigation of the chemistry, structure and deterioration conditions of concrete. Single-sided NMR provides opportunities for nondestructive, spatially resolved field evaluation of concrete. A first-generation single-sided NMR system was developed in Phase I project, and its potential for investigation of concrete deterioration mechanisms wa ...

During Phase I of the project, Sharma & Associates, Inc. developed a concept for a high speed freight truck intended for 70-ton, regular freight and bi-modal operation at speeds up to 150 mph. The truck uses a rigid frame and an independent, compliant, primary suspension for its basic architecture. Constant contact side-bearings and yaw dampers were also added to improve dynamic performance. Ve ...

During Phase 1 of the project, Sharma & Associates, Inc. developed a concept for high speed freight truck intended for 70-ton, regular freight and bi-modal operation, at speeds up to 150 mph. The truck uses a rigid frame and an indpendent, compliant, primary suspension for its basic architecture. Constant contact side-bearings and yaw dampers were also added to improve dynamic performance. Vehi ...

WE PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW RADIO-FREQUENCY VACUUM DRYER THAT UTILIZES AN OVERMODED RESONANT CAVITY TO COUPLE POWER TO WOOD. THE DEVICE WILL BE MUCH MORE ENERGY-EFFICIENT THAN CAPACITOR-PLATE DEVICES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN USE. THE INCREASE IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY COMPARED TO CAPACITOR-PLATE DEVICES IS GREAT ENOUGH THAT THE INITIAL COST OF OUR PROPOSED DRYER WILL BE RECOVERED IN JUST A FEW YEA ...

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of western wildfires.The threat to peopleand infrastructure is growing with more population living in the wildland-urban interface.Advances in technology provide the opportunity to improve wildfire mapping accuracy timelinessand dissemination. An un-stabilized airborne fire mapping sensor is proposed utilizing an array ofminiature thermal inf ...

SYSTEMS & ELECTRONICS, INC. (SEI) IS PROPOSING A PROGRAM OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO MANUFACTURE, TEST, INSTALL AND EXPERIMENT WITH AN EFFICIENT, LIGHTWEIGHT, LOW-COST, RELIABLE AIRFRAME CUMULATIVE FATIGUE RECORDING DEVICE THAT CAN EFFECTIVELY BE USED IN MEASURING AIRCRAFT USAGE. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL BE USED ALONG WITH ACCELEROMETERS INSTALLED ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT AND WILL RECORD AND SEPARAT ...

Despite its clean and green nature when utilized in fuel cells and other devices, most hydrogen is currently produced primarily from non-renewable sources, such as natural gas, oil, and coal. Anaerobic digestion provides a potentially improved alternative to manufacturing hydrogen from petroleum and natural gas. Anaerobic digesters can produce hydrogen from inexpensive and renewable energy sources ...

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus first appeared in the United States of America in the late 1980's and causes a disease characterized by reproductive failure in sows and significant respiratory distress in growing and finishing swine. Being a major economic problem for the pork industry, the National Pork Board (NPB) considers the control and elimination of PRRS virus ...