Award Data

75239S Municipal solid waste landfills are the single largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States, producing 7 million tons, or 34% of the nation's total methane pollution. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control¿s third assessment report, methane has a global warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide and is a key contributor to global clim ...

75655S The photovoltaics (PV) industry is having difficulty finding enough raw materials to match its rapid growth. In addition, traditional sources of secondary grade polysilicon are no longer readily available at inexpensive prices. Reducing the cost of solar silicon wafers is the key to lowering the price of crystalline silicon solar cells. This project will develop a single-step wafer fabr ...

A need exists to develop cost effective and reliable submersible cage technology for exposed aquaculture. The team assembled as part of this SBIR incorporates JPS Industries, Great Bay Aquafarms and the University of New Hampshire. In Phase I, a design will be developed based on concepts known to work in the industry. Concepts to be investigated include a cage constructed around HDPE pipe, with ...

In Phase I, Nomadics demonstrated that a novel chemical weapon indicating chromophore (CWIC) developed by Professor Tim Swager at MIT will allow equipment to be quickly and easily examined to show any areas of contamination, making targeted decontamination manageable. When exposed to CW agent simulants, CWICs react to become fluorescent under UV stimulation. In the first phase, we implemented a s ...

The current methodology for testing the penetration resistance of textile materials to various chemical agents has a number of drawbacks, including significant uncertainties in the resulting data, inefficiency and expense, risk to test personnel, and limited range of test conditions. The objective of the proposed work is to apply unique computer models for textiles with accompanying experimental ...

SIDE SCAN SONAR HAS DEVELOPED TO THE POINT WHERE IT IS NOW AN ACCEPTED PART OF HYDROGRAPHIC CHARTING PROJECTS, AS WELL AS A BROAD RANGE OF OCEAN SEARCH AND SURVEY APPLICATIONS. ONE LIMITATION ON ITS UTILITY, HOWEVER, IS THE REQUIREMENT TO OPERATE THE SYSTEM AT RELATIVELY LOW SPEEDS (5 KNOTS OR LOR LESS) IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE HIGH-QUALITY DATA. ANY INCREASEIN VESSEL SPEED CAPABILITY WOULD RESULT IN G ...

CRYOGENIC HELIUM REFRIGERATORS AND LIQUIFIERS CONVENTIONALLYEMPLOY OIL LUBRICATED POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT COMPRESSORS AT THE WARM END AND FREQUENTLY USE PISTON TYPE EXPANSION ENGINES AT THE COLD END. THESE SYSTEMS REQUIRE EXTENSIVE AND VIGILANT MAINTENANCE TO CONTROL CONTAMINATION FROM LUBRICATING OIL AND ITS VOLATILE COMPONENTS MIGRATING TO THE COLD END. HENCE THE NEED FOR LOW MAINTENANCE COMPRESSO ...

IN MOST CRYOGENIC SYSTEMS, THE PIPING JOINTS IN COLD REGIONSOF THE SYSTEM ARE MADE BY WELDING OR SOLDERING. THIS IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE EXISTING DESIGNS OF CRYOGENIC PIPE SEALS CANNOT BE RELIED ON NOT TO LEAK. ANY SUCH LEAKS INTO THE COLD BOX REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INSULATION, THEREBY REDUCING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE REFRIGERATOR. WELDEDJOINTS MAKE REPLACEMENT OF COMPONENTS DIFFICULT AND HAVE ...