Award Data

Heat exchangers are often required to remove waste heat and cool vital components in industrial processes, automobiles, and commercial heating and cooling systems. The thermal efficiencies of these heat exchangers directly affect the overall energy efficiencies of these processes, and many aspects of the heat exchangers can be improved to increase efficiency. Research generally involves investig ...

The Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 2005 mandated that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shall establish a ¿Next Generation Nuclear Plant¿ (NGNP) project. For this project, the DOE elected the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) design as a concept that will demonstrate the production of both electricity and hydrogen production without greenhouse gas emissions. The Framatome reactor design is ...

Research reactors such as the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have a long history of service to the nation and are expected to continue to operate successfully for many more years. However, these reactors are old and have not benefited much from recent advances in maintenance and ...

Power generation utilities are striving to use wireless technologies in nuclear power plants, but a number of important challenges must be overcome. These challenges include infrastructure issues, security risks, reliability questions, and interference problems. This project will develop a prototype system to acquire data from wireless sensors for equipment and process diagnostics in nuclear pow ...

The designs of many existing Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) incorporate a Digital Rod Position Indication (DRPI) system to monitor the positions of the control and shutdown rods within the reactor. These DRPI systems have been in service for over 30 years in nuclear power stations worldwide, and are currently being used as the basis for the rod position indication systems in new designs. In re ...

Research reactors in the United States use numerous motors, compressors, fans, turbines, and other rotating equipment that need systematic maintenance. These devices could benefit from advanced predictive maintenance techniques that have become available in recent years. Although some reactor facilities currently incorporate some of these techniques, many lack an adequate complement of test sens ...

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has a long history of service to the nation and is expected to continue to operate for many more years. Recently, ATR was designated as a user facility, making it accessible to a wider spectrum of researchers, engineers, and scientists from around the globe. In order to preserve this valuable asset, this project will establis ...

Several hundred beam lines are used around the world at today¿s third-generation synchrotron facilities. These facilities must deal with monochromator-based performance problems due to high heat load. Many have resorted to the use of costly, complicated, high maintenance cryogenic cooling of silicon crystals. Single crystal diamond monochromators present an advantage over the silicon crystals ...

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 ...