Award Data

This Phase I project proposes the development of a Marine Profiling Radiometer (MPR). The MPR is a passive microwave remote sensor capable to measure the stability of the marine boundary layer. Significant innovations in radiometer design, packaging, mode of operation, and calibration enable the MPR to operate in the unforgiving marine environment for an extended time without maintenance and user ...

The biomass supply chain is evolving to meet the expanding forms of biomass utilization. In particular to meet the goals to produce 60 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2030 will require a massive increase in cellulosic biofuel production. To produce 45 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel will require about 530 million tons of cellulosic biomass to be processed and converted to fuel each ye ...

Cogeneration utilizes solar insolation to simultaneously provide electricity and address other build- ing energy requirements such as Heating or Cooling. Yet, the #1 energy use in Commercial Build- ings is neither of these, but instead Lighting. We show a novel solar Co-Gen architecture that optimally targets this top requirement, with the IR portion driving high-efficiency thermo-PV for electric ...

SiC power electronics are ideally suited for reducing the size and weight of power electronics systems that are used in wind power converters. Present power electronics systems require large transformers which operate a modest frequencies that prevents their use on top of the turbine tower. The electrical parasitics introduced by the interconnections between wind turbine and power conversion elect ...

In order to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants and mitigate their impact on global climate change, DOE has called for technologies that can capture at least 90% of CO2 emissions from an existing coal-fired power plant with & lt; 35% increase in the cost of electricity (COE). One approach with the potential to achieve these goals is the use of advanced solvents to separa ...

ITN Energy Systems (ITN), along with Texas A & amp;M University, proposes to demonstrate a proof-of- concept feasibility of a low cost, oxygen separation (enrichment) system that works on the interception effect of a gradient magnetic field in the presence of magnetic polymer beads. At present much of the oxygen enrichment market is based primarily on cryogenic systems, ion transport membranes mad ...

Current commercial reactor fuel performance monitoring uses external power range monitors, and evaluates coolant water for contamination that would indicate failure of a fuel element. Estimates of the localized fission rates and temperature distributions within the reactor core are approximated using nuclear simulation codes. Real-time characterization of local in-core radiation field parameters w ...

Mikro Systems, Inc (Mikro) has a breakthrough manufacturing technology that can dramatically reduce the time and cost of designing, prototyping, and testing advanced high-temperature turbine components. The gas turbine industry needs rapid and cost effective prototyping methods to produce advanced high- temperature parts from application specific materials that can be used in hot test rigs and tes ...

NanoSonic has recently developed high strength-to-weight ratio Thoraeus Rubber composites that maintain radiation resistance and EMI shielding upon severe and repeated mechanicals strains. This state-of-the-art, flexible shielding material was designed as a bladder for space-based enclosures that required ultra-low air permeability, radiation tolerance, resistance to hydrogen (H2) embrittlement ...

This SBIR project will focus on producing novel, tunable dielectric materials that are expected to produce significantly improved high temperature capacitors for a number of DC- link, hybrid vehicle, and pulse and power electronic applications. There are a number of important new advantages in these new materials such as higher reliability, positive voltage dependence, hig ...