Award Data

It is critical to have a validated modeling tool for fluid bed-based chemical looping combustion to develop scaled-up designs of equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal and biomass fuels in power generation. The proposed work aims to develop such a modeling tool for widespread use in research and industry.

This program will develop and commercialize an ultra-fine pixel pitch, direct-detection, x-ray imaging camera. These cameras will provide scientists with 5 to 10 fold increase in measurable energy resolution enabling greater discovery and new material science.

Realizing solid state lighting systems with high efficiency and enhanced functionality will require the adoption of color-mixing (cm-LEDs) architectures combining highly efficient red, green, blue and amber light emitting diodes. Already, the hybrid architectures (hy-LEDs) pair phosphor-converted wide bandgap nitride LEDs with (AlxGa1-x)0.51In0.49P red LEDs to improve the emission spect ...

Neutron-sensitive microchannel Plates (MCPs) are now providing state-of-the-art user-based, high spatial resolution neutron imaging systems at several US government neutron research facilities as well as university research reactors. Using enriched 10B, thermalized neutron detection efficiencies exceeding 50% have been demonstrated, and cold neutron detection efficiencies of up to 70% have been do ...

Synchrotron light sources and X-ray free electron lasers are now generating shorter pulses with more intense light than ever before possible. The capabilities of these new sources grant unprecedented access into the workings of the natural world. X-ray scattering experiments are among the most common and critical types of experiments conducted in the light source community today. X-ray detectors, ...

Despite enormous advantages of high efficiency and fuel flexibility, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have seen limited development in mobile, including aerospace, application areas. On the technical front, this condition has been primarily driven by the low specific power density of SOFCs, typically less than 0.5 kW/kg. On the manufacturing front, limitations have been related to catalyst infiltrat ...

Superconducting magnets used for plasma confinement in magnetic fusion energy systems operate at cryogenic temperatures. The support structures used to hold them in place act as a heat leak path from room temperature areas to the superconductors. This results in the need for additional cryogenic refrigeration capacity, which is expensive. High-strength, low thermal conductivity, radiation-tolerant ...

One daunting challenge facing future plasma burning fusion reactors is the extreme conditions that expose plasma-facing components (wall materials) are exposed to. Extreme particle and heat fluxes exceeding 10-20 MW/m2 drive traditional material surfaces out of equilibrium and induce topographical and compositional changes that can have deleterious effects on the plasma edge and, ultimately, the c ...

Nickel super alloys, such as Inconel®, are leading candidates for fossil energy-based power production components due to their resilience in extreme environments. A significant technical roadblock to the implementation of nickel-based power plant systems is the inability to produce large-scale components in a cost competitive manner. We will address the problem of manufacturing large, low-cost su ...

Since drilling the earliest gas and oil wells, migration of hydrocarbons to the surface has challenged the oil and gas industry. With the recent onset of geologic CO2 sequestration activities, it has become even more important to develop well leakage mitigation strategies that can seal even microscopic apertures around injection, abandoned, and monitoring wells—especially in cases where traditio ...