Award Data

COAL-FIRED GASIFIER COMBINED CYCLES (GCC) HAVE BOTH HIGH EFFICIENCY AND VERY LOW EMISSIONS. A CRITICAL NEED FOR GCCS IS A METHOD OF REMOVING THE HYDROGEN SULFIDE (H2S) PRODUCED FROM THE SULFUR IN THE COAL FROM THE HOT GASES. THERE HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON HOT GAS CLEAN-UP SYSTEMS, FOCUSED ON THE USE OF A ZINC OXIDE BASED SORBENT (E.G., ZINC TITANATE). UNFORTUNATELY, CURRENT SORBENTS CAN B ...

The combustion of fossil fuels, particularly coal, introduces large quantities of arsenic into the environment, much of which reaches natural waters. Acute arsenic poisoning results from ingestion of only 100 mg of the element, while chronic poisoning occurs with the continued ingestion of smaller amounts. Processes developed for arsenic removal from drinking water are appropriate for small volu ...

Coal fired Gasifer Combined Cycles (GCC) have both high efficiency and very low emissions. A critical need for GCCs is a method of removing the H2S produced from the sulfur in the coal from the hot gases. There has been extensive research on hot gas clean-up systems, focused on the use of a zinc oxide based sorbent (e.g., zinc titanate). Unfortunately, current sorbents are relatively expensive, ...

HEAVY OILS, INCLUDING RESIDUES FROM CRUDE OIL DISTILLATION (RESIDS), REPRESENT AN ABUNDANT ENERGY RESOURCE THAT IS NOT FULLY UTILIZED. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT IF ONLY 20% OF THESE CRUDES COULD BE RECOVERED, THEY WOULD PRODUCE 1.27 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL PER DAY FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS. USE OF HEAVY OILS REQUIRES CATALYTIC HYDROGENATION FOR REMOVAL OF SULFUR AND NITROGEN, AND TO LOWER THE BOILIN ...

ENDOHEDRAL METALLOFULLERENES (CLOSED SHELL CARBON MOLECULES CONTAINING ONE OR MORE METAL ATOMS WITHIN THE CAGE) HAVE BEEN SYNTHESIZED BY THE GRAPHITE ARC PROCESS FOR OVER A YEAR. WHILE THERE IS SPECULATION THEY ARE HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS AND HAVE UNIQUE ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES, THERE IS LITTLE DATA ON THEIR CHEMICAL OR ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES. THIS IS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE FACT THAT THE C ...

AMMONIA SYNTHESIS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST ENERGY INTENSIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. FOR A TYPICAL SINGLE TRAIN AMMONIA SYNTHESIS PLANT, THE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR AMMONIA PRODUCTION ARE 29 GJ/TON NH3. ONE OF THE MORE ENERGY INTENSIVE STEPS INVOLVED IN PURIFYING THE SYNGAS STREAM IS REMOVAL OF CO2 FROM THE STEAM REFORMED METHANE GAS STREAM. THE CURRENT CO2 REMOVAL TECHNOLOGIES C ...

Aircraft designed for high Mach number flight must incorporate active cooling in the turbo-ramjet propulsion system. The required cooling can be provided by endothermic reactions of the fuel prior to combustion. TDA Research proposes to investigate hydrocarbon reforming reactions as a method of absorbing heat on high Mach number aircraft. Hydrocarbon reforming reactions are very endothermic and ...

POLYMER ELECTROYTE MEMBRANE (PEM) FUEL CELLS ARE PROMISING CANDIDATES FOR LOCALIZED POWER GENERATION AND TRANSPORTATION APPLICATIONS BECAUSE OF SIMPLICITY OF DESIGN, LOW WEIGHT, AND LOW TEMPERATURE OPERATION. ALTHOUGH HYDROGEN BASED PEM FUEL CELLS ARE CONSIDERABLY MORE ADVANCED, DIRECT METHANOL PEM FUEL CELLS HAVE BETTER LONG TERM COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL BECAUSE OF THEIR HIGH ENERGY DENSITIES ...

WHILE THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF FULLERENE CARBON HAS LED TO INTENSE RESEARCH ACTIVITY AND MANY PROPOSED APPLICATIONS, MOST OF THE WORK TO DATE HAS FOCUSED ON C60, AND TO A LESSER EXTENT, C70. THE HIGHER FULLERENES (C76, C78, C84, ETC.), WHICH MAY HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AND USEFUL PROPERTIES, HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN IN PURIFIED FORM. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELO ...

POROUS INORGANIC MEMBRANES CAN BE USED AT HIGH TEMPERATURES, AND HAVE HIGH FLUXES, MECHANICAL STRENGTH, AND CHEMICAL STABILITY. TODAY'S COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE INORGANIC MEMBRANES HAVE LARGE PORES (>40 ), A WIDE PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION, AND ARE IDEALLY SUITED FOR REMOVING HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT COMPONENTS FROM A LIQUID STREAM (ULTRAFILTRATION). HOWEVER, BECAUSE THESE MEMBRANES OPERATE ON ...