Award Data

The capability to efficiently remove carbon dioxide from industrial gas streams is desirable for a wide variety of applications. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a byproduct of many industrial processes associated with the transformation of fossil fuels into usable products such as heat, electricity, and chemicals. In addition to being a greenhouse gas pollutant, the presence of carbon dioxide in chemical ...

This proposal addresses the challenge of mapping groundwater and hydrogeologic parameters in the subsurface, with a focus on improving sensitivity and spatial resolution for shallow groundwater targets. We will apply imaging methodologies at the core of medical MRI to efficiently map shallow groundwater and hydrogeologic properties at improved resolution. Conventional surface NMR has been proven a ...

Finite element analysis (FEA) is severely underutilized in the mining industry. The complexity of the physics and the geometry of mining problems is not suitably handled by the faceted mesh descriptions commonly used in other industries, such as automotive and aerospace. Furthermore, the time required to convert computer-aided design (CAD) files and geologic survey data to FEA is prohibitively lon ...

One of the major challenges facing the world is the creation of sustainable energy sources. Biofuels and bioproducts have great potential. But the development of sustainable and efficient agricultural production methods requires deep understanding of the dynamics of plant-microbe-mineral interactions within the rhizosphere. Technologies that probe soil microbial activity in real time with high spa ...

As an industry, agriculture is rapidly adopting modern data collection and analysis procedures to help guide farming practices. Despite the increasing amounts of data in agriculture and almost universal adoption rates of major seed, synthetic fertilizer, and chemical innovations, worldwide crop yield growth rates have plateaued to less than 1% annually. This increased data on multiple aspects of c ...

In the biological and environmental sciences, data are being generated at an unprecedented rate. There are many scientific discoveries pertinent to DOE missions that are waiting to happen from high-throughput biological data, if only it could be efficiently and effectively managed and explored. The size and complexity of the data are the main factors that pose challenges to effective exploration, ...

The current cost of implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is well above practical levels, more than tripling the cost of power generation, without carbon credit offsets. Therefore, for US coal plants to be able to implement CCS without significant negative economic impact, there is a critical need for new CCS technologies that can change this economic picture dramatically. One way to ...

This Small Business Innovation Research project will develop new additive strategies to improve the cost and cell reliability of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicle applications. Xilectric’s technology seeks to dramatically improve Li-ion abuse tolerance to high temperatures and voltages by better maintaining the Li-ion electrolyte. Our additives improve the capacity retention and rate capabil ...

Power electronics for Grid-tied Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) featuring: (a) newly developed monolithically integrated High Voltage SiC MOSFET- Schottky Diodes; (b) Intelligent Gate Drivers that provide in-situ monitoring and restoration capabilities; and (c) novel three level Neutral point clamping topology are proposed. An isolated topology such as dual active bridge followed by an activ ...

Next-generation extreme fast charging stations with 400 kilowatt output is identified as key to significantly increase the market share of electric vehicles. As compared to the existing 50 kW fast charging stations, future 400 kW rated extreme charging stations directly connected to the medium-voltage electricity grid will require the development of 3300 volt rated, automotive-qualified silicon ca ...