Award Data

Heat exchangers are a used in a commercial, residential, and military cooling systems. Their thermal performance is measured by their ability to efficiently transfer heat. By increasing the heat exchanger efficiency, the size and weight of the system can be reduced. This work explores the use of twisted tape technologies and the use of advanced nanofluids for improving thermal performance. ACT ...

The conventional process for making dry tetrahydrofuran is very energy intensive because of the need for azeotropic distillation. Substituting distillation by membrane drying can reduce the energy consumption for heating by a factor of 50. A membrane based process for purifying tetrahydrofuran with 98% less energy consumption than with a conventional azeotropic distillation process has been demons ...

There continues to be a need for production of fuel-grade ethanol from renewable sources. Ethanol from agricultural sources has many advantages including development of fuel independence. While there continues to be a significant need for ethanol, the cost of agricultural based ethanol is quite severe although existing and new legislation provides significant incentives for its use. This program ...

Bio-oil is a liquid fuel made from biomass such as wood chips and low grade wood byproducts by fast pyrolysis process. Presence of carboxylic acids in raw-bio-oil makes the bio-oil very acidic and corrosive. Raw bio-oil has low heating value primarily because of its high water content (up to 35 %). Oligomerization aldehydes and other compounds with an unsaturated carbon bond in raw bio-oil resu ...

Most conventional air conditioning systems based on mechanical vapor compression cycle (VCC) suffer from low efficiency and cause adverse environmental effect. In addition, air conditioning is a major contributor of electric utility peak loads. In the times of rising energy prices and ever-increasing concern of environment, it is imperative to invest in more efficient and clean cooling technology. ...

In the US today, over 1,800 trillion BTU/year is lost as waste heat from industrial processes as has been identified by the DOE. The energy loss in this category is primarily derived from the waste heat contained in flue gas and drying operation exhausts generated from a wide array of manufacturing processes. The recovery of this

Biodiesel production has grown substantially in the past few years in response to the increased price of imported fossil energy and significant interest in the private and public sectors for a clean renewable energy source, a desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and a desire to provide opportunities for American agricultural products. The U.S. market is expected to grow to between 1 to 2 bi ...

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 ...

Compared with conventional processes used to produce many oxygenated chemicals, processes based on the selective catalytic oxidation of alkanes to produce oxygenates could yield enormous economic, energy, and environmental benefits. However, commercial development of such processes has been hindered, in part, because the excessive heat released by alkane oxidation causes over-oxidation (burning) ...

The recovery of heat currently wasted in exhaust gases can reduce fuel consumption in almost every commercial and industrial sector. In the electricity generation sector alone, even modest improvements in energy recovery effectiveness would result in billions of dollars in savings annually. New materials made from conductive graphite have created a significant opportunity to produce heat exchang ...