Award Data

DNA microarray technology, in combination with statistical and predictive modeling tools, could be used to evaluate thousands of genes against distinct gene expression patterns induced by chemical/biological agents to provide early identification and speed therapeutic intervention. The overall objective of this Phase II effort is to leverage existing public domain resources and commercial tools t ...

78204SThe conversion of corn and other biomass to fuel grade ethanol not only would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources but also would be a major industrial application for agricultural products. However, the process of drying the ethanol from a 95% ethanol-5% water mixture (the azeotrope) to fuel grade ethanol consumes significant amounts of energy, incurring costs that continue to ...

78749S Distillation is a very valuable chemical engineering unit operation, but it is both energy and capital intensive. This is especially true when components either form azeotropes or have small relative volatility differences. A hybrid, robust membrane process could eliminate azeotropes and process pinch points. Therefore, this project will develop chemically and thermally stable high flux ...

78243S Substantial amounts of natural gas reserves contain large amounts of non-methane gases, such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide, which make them uneconomical to market. While commercially available membranes offer the potential to remove these gases and produce pipeline grade natural gas, these membranes have limited separation capability or have failed due to unanticipated poisoning ...

76101-With the increased push toward system miniaturization and automation there exists a growing need for components that are small in size, reliable, robust, and cheap to manufacture. This is particularly true for systems used to detect the presence of weapons of mass destruction. Among those miniature components, high performance gyros are needed in real-time synthetic aperture radar systems ...

The pressing need exists within industry to accurately measure high aspect ratio microscale structures. For example, diesel injector nozzles are manufactured with microscale holes ranging from 50-200 micrometers in diameter and 3-5 mm depths. One fundamental challenge is to nondestrucvely measure these features in order to validate models, enhance manufacturing processes, and reduce fuel emissions ...

Manning Applied Technology proposes to develop a handheld infrared spectrometer, ideally suited to detection of airborne chemical agents at and below permissible exposure limits. This approach offers unmatched sensitivity and specificity for detection of all types of chemical vapors. The instrument is modular, rugged, compact and highly sensitive. Volume pricing will be less than $1000 each. ...

78845S The Department of Energy desires to increase fuel efficiency by reducing vehicle weight. Carbon fiber composites offer one promising way to do this, but difficulties in building economical, consistent, high quality preforms has limited the introduction of this material. This project will to adapt a well established pulp molding technology to produce carbon fiber preforms for lightweight ...

75376B Reactor studies have identified liquid lithium walls as a promising solution to magnetic fusion energy first wall problems. For near-term applications, such as the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX), a thin-film approach has been pursued; however, thin lithium films can become saturated with hydrogen and form LiH, which is not attractive as a plasma facing component. A ¿thick¿ lithiu ...

79454S Despite advances in modern electron optics, which have permitted observation with unprecedented resolutions, most materials science research involves the quantification of static properties of materials. This is mostly due to limitations in modern day equipment and the time and cost associated with modifying existing microscopes. Consequently a need exists to extend the current ability t ...