Award Data

Bio-ethanol penetration into the marketplace is limited by its cost, making it non-competitive with petroleum-based fuels. Energy consumed during fermentation and distillation steps accounts for 17% of the total cost. Because fermentation is exothermic, the reactor must be cooled to preserve mesophilic microbial viability. Then, the product must then be heated to vaporize the ethanol for purificat ...

Many refinery product streams, particularly those from Ultra Low Hydrodesulfurisation units, are prone to haze due to water emulsions. Haze is also problematic for biodiesel production, as hazy fuel cannot be used until the haze settles or is removed, which creates costly scheduling and shipping delays. This project will develop a novel membrane process for the removal of dissolved and dispersed ...

Process intensification methodologies are need for the chemical processes and bioprocesses used in a biorefinery, in order to make the biorefinery a viable commercial alternative to the production of fuels and chemicals. Because the molecular mixing of reactants can enhance reactions, it is a key to process intensification. Significant process inefficiencies can occur (especially with highly react ...

Since 1990, the cost of hydrogen needed to treat one barrel of oil has increased from 10 cents to $1. This problem is being exacerbated because of stricter environmental regulations and because the crude now being processed by refiners contains less hydrogen and more sulfur. To deal with the hydrogen shortage, most large refineries have outsourced their hydrogen generating capacities to industrial ...

It is fairly assumed that if a substitute for natural gas is not found, energy intensive industries such as glass, cement, and steel will suffer irreparable damage, with higher unemployment and lower productivity for the U.S. economy. Amongst many alternatives, inexpensive small-and-medium-scale coal and biomass gasifiers may offer certain relief to those industries. Thus far, such gasifiers are n ...

Research is proposed to develop a locking mechanism for intercity (Amtrak) rotating seats that can be retro-fit to existing seats. Current intercity rail seats, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), present a safety hazard to the riding public. Post accident investigations show that passenger rail seats were found to have been uncontrollably rotated even though current se ...

This project will develop the magnets needed to create bright muon beams for many applications ranging from scientific accelerators and storage rings, to beams to study material properties and new sources of energy. The Helical Cooling Channel (HCC), a new technique for six-dimensional (6D) cooling of muon beams using a continuous absorber inside superconducting magnets, has shown considerable pro ...

Physics experiments often use low-energy beams of unstable particles that stop in a target in order to provide high sensitivity to rare processes with reduced backgrounds. However, the stopping rate in the target is limited by the dynamics of the production process and by multiple scattering and energy straggling in the material used to slow the particles. As a result, the event rates and sensiti ...

The high-current RF cavities needed for many accelerator applications often are limited by the power transmission capability of the pressure barriers (windows) that separate the cavity from the power source. Most efforts to improve RF window design have focused on alumina ceramic, the most popular historical choice, and have not taken advantage of new materials. In this project, alternative window ...

Magnets using new high temperature superconductor (HTS) materials are showing great promise for high magnetic field applications such as particle accelerators and the plasma-confinement systems for fusion reactors. However, the development and operation of these magnets is limited because appropriate sensors and diagnostic systems are not yet available to monitor the manufacturing and operational ...