Award Data

City planners and engineers need detailed assessments of public rights-of-way to evaluate existing conditions, determine compliance with draft accessibility guidelines, and plan reconstruction projects. Current assessment methods are inadequate and inefficient due to the time and resources required. This project will develop an automated public rights-of-way assessment process and the measuremen ...

The membrane drying process for ethanol plants should be of great value in increasing capacity and/or reducing energy consumption for existing ethanol plants. We will manufacture modules of the novel membrane with a commercial partner. A pilot demonstration unit will be constructed and deployed at an actual ethanol plant for demonstrating the membrane process capabilities and advantages.

Oil and coolant drips, leaks and spills from vehicles, machines, oil transfer units and a myriad of business and personal activities account for nearly 36% of petroleum waste that is polluting the Nations surface water, ground water, surface soil and sub-soil. (U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service, 2009). The usual clean up method of these drips and spills, on a hard surface ...

So many Americans are overweight that the condition has been declared a serious public health problem and is burdening our health care systems. Obesity increases the risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea and other diseases. Researchers are making progress to find and control the behavioral and biochemical factors that drive weight gain and their progress points to ...

Tens of millions of tons of prunings, land clearing debris, logging slash, and urban greenwood are chipped or ground each year as a means of volume reduction and disposal. Commingled chipped whole plant materials have little value other than as compost, mulch and direct combustion energy. Capture of clean wood fiber from commingled shredded and chipped wood will increase the fiber supply to compos ...

Biodiesel is a renewable substitute and additive for petroleum diesel and its use can improve air quality, combat climate change and increase national energy security. The current biodiesel production methods are not well suited for efficient, large-scale continuous production and improved technology is needed. Recent Phase I research findings from SarTec Corporation demonstrate that biodiesel can ...