Award Data

Dynamic Line Ratings (DLRs) can dramatically increase transmission line current capacity, allowing increased renewable energy penetration, decreased line congestion, and prevention of line construction. However, DLR implementation highly depends on unmeasured local line wind, solar irradiation, and line conditions. Today these conditions are only modeled or measured at isolated locations along a s ...

2-Methylfuran (2MF) is a versatile non-food biomass derived low-carbon number performance advantaged bio-product. It is used for manufacturing green solvent (2-methyltertrahydrofuran (2MeTHF)), UpSycal?oils that RiKarbon is manufacturing for end-use natural and sustainable cosmetics and lubricants, and chemical/pharmaceutical intermediates. Currently fossil-based incumbent solvents such as tetrahy ...

AMA Tech is developing a cutting-edge metallization paste for the front side of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) crystalline silicon solar cells, which is expected to improve TOPCon solar cell efficiency significantly. This development has the potential to disrupt the photovoltaic industry, as even a small increase in cell efficiency could replace current passivated emitter and rear cell ( ...

1. Problem StatementCurrent industrial-scale rare earth element separation technologies are based on solvent extraction schemes which produce large amounts of undesirable chemical waste, including the loss of volatile organic solvents and reagents employed in the treatment of feed streams. These concerns have severely limited the development of U.S.-based rare earth element separation facilities. ...

Current methods of manufacturing sodium fast reactor (SFR) fuels are constrained to small window of manufacturability. Powder forming processes could provide unique material advantages over traditional casting and extrusion techniques; however, fuel materials in powder form are highly reactive with oxygen and represent a pyrophoric hazard. U and Pu alloys and ceramics are easily dispersible in pow ...

Globally, the majority of nuclear reactors in operation are light water reactor (LWR) designs and are expected to remain a steadfast low-energy carbon sources for the foreseeable. LWR technology would greatly benefit from fuel materials that can withstand increased burnup, however. By creating a fuel with higher burnup capability, fuels can remain in the reactor longer, leading to less refueling o ...

We propose to develop a robust, accurate multi-frequency torsional resonator system for the simultaneous measurement of density and viscosity of molten salts at high temperature. The goal of the project is to develop a stand-alone resonator system that is accurate, precise and robust, and therefore can be used as the basis for a laboratory instrument as well as an on-line process monitoring sensor ...

C56-12c-272445Carbon fiber composites (CFCs) exhibit superior properties and combined with part consolidation, reduce system weight significantly compared to metal approaches. But CFCs have high embodied energy (~230MJ/kg) and the virgin carbon fiber (vCF) feedstock is expensive (>$20/kg). Recycling of CFCs has the potential to recapture the material value at a much lower cost, reduce the embodied ...

The production of high-Q superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities involves a complex chain of fabrication and inspection operations. Currently, much of this demanding work is performed manually within the tightly controlled environment of a production cleanroom. However, as the design precision and cleanliness requirements of modern SRF cavities have increased, this “human factor” has em ...

Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymers are the primary membrane material used in the manufacturing of water electrolyzers and fuel cells for the hydrogen economy. The discarding of these materials, especially when they are combined with precious metals, presents an unwanted introduction of these materials into the environment. Thus, the opportunity being addressed by this SBIR proposal is the deve ...