Award Data

76295-Beam transport in inertial fusion induction accelerators requires reliable, compact, and low cost superconducting quadrupole arrays. To correct the field at the outer edges of an array, and to reduce the stray magnetic field to meet the requirements of the surrounding induction cores needed for acceleration, an elaborate system of coils is required. This project will address this problem b ...

76035-As the U.S. becomes increasingly dependent on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns with CO2 emissions may stifle increased development of domestic coal energy. The prominent methods of carbon dioxide capture, using pressure and temperature swing processes, have thermodynamic limitations that result in low efficiencies and unacceptable added energy costs. New technologies, which a ...

75290-Current Nd-Fe-B and Sm-Co based magnets are not able to simultaneously achieve the thermal stability and high-temperature operation required for use in high energy accelerators. For example, Nd-Fe-B magnets have excellent room temperature magnetic performance but very poor thermal stability. Attempts at making hybrid Nd-Fe-B/Sm2(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)17 magnets with micron grain structure have encou ...

75133-In many industrial processes, dilute aqueous solutions of heavy metals are formed as waste, byproduct, or intermediate streams. If released to the environment, the heavy metals contained in these streams become toxic pollutants, which cause detrimental biochemical effects in living organisms. This project will develop a new process for reducing the heavy metal ion concentration(s) in aqueo ...

75189-While many high-value, low-volume chemicals, commodity chemicals, and fuels can be generated from ¿green¿ and renewable biomass feedstocks, their relatively high cost, compared to fossil fuel production, limits commercial application. One of the primary obstacles is the lack of cost-effective product recovery techniques, such as advanced separation membranes, which could serve as an alter ...

75771-The coupling of intense radio frequency waves in the ion range of frequencies (ICRF) to the edge plasma of a fusion device produces strong nonlinear interactions with the plasma and surrounding material walls. These effects must be controlled in order to protect the antenna and to obtain efficient heating of the core plasma. This project will develop a quantitative numerical simulation of ...

75339-Annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) makes possible the formation of incoherent electron images with atomic-scale spatial resolution. However, two sources of error degrade the quality of these images: (1) electron counting noise and (2) blurring, which results from either geometric aberrations in the electron optics or the physics of the beam-sample inter ...

75092-Approximately 35% of the worlds known oil shale reserves, amounting to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil, are located in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. In spite of this, there has not been an active full-scale oil shale project in the U.S. since 1991, largely due to the costs involved in operating such a project and the environmental problems associated with retorted shale material. This project w ...

75691-A new process is needed to satisfy the growing demand for hydrogen, arising from the emphasis on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the movement to a hydrogen economy. Catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) of natural gas using short contact time (SCT) reactors is potentially the most economical way to meet this need. Unfortunately, SCT reactors require extremely high catalyst temperatures, ...

75341-Trace quantities of certain atmospheric species can have profound effects on the complex chemical processes in the troposphere. However, the detection and quantification of these species will require the development of rapid response, ultra-sensitive (part-per-trillion) chemical detection technologies. This project will construct an optically based, chemical detection system with extraordi ...