Award Data

This project focuses on the design, integration and optimization of a flexible natural gas combined cycle plant with carbon capture, capable of operating in a highly variable renewable energy environment. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power offer unique solutions in our quest to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, the increasing penetration of these high variab ...

This project focuses on the design, integration and optimization of a flexible natural gas combined cycle plant with carbon capture, capable of operating in a highly variable renewable energy environment. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power offer unique solutions in our quest to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, the increasing penetration of these high variab ...

Hydrogen compression represents a key technical challenge for the widespread use of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV). To dispense hydrogen to a FCEV tank, hydrogen must be compressed to a minimum of 875 bar. Conventional compressors account for over half of the refueling station’s cost, have poor reliability, and insufficient flow rates. To enable the widespread use of FCEVs, an additional maj ...

Direct fired supercritical CO2 (sCO2) cycles are gaining interest because of their potential as a zero emission power source that operates at high efficiency. The oxy-combustors in these systems operate at high supercritical pressures and current simulation tools to support design evaluation are deficient in this regime. Our proposed work here addresses this deficiency. The proposed program seeks ...

Ceramic matrix SiC-SiC composites are currently the leading candidate for Generation IV nuclear reactor fuel cladding and other structural components, due to their excellent thermal and chemical stability under extreme conditions. However, robustly joining SiC structures when exposed to such harsh operating conditions still presents a major roadblock. A novel bonding joint compound leveraging grap ...

Cherenkov radiation, caused by fast charged particles in a transparent medium, is widely used for charged particle identification. To date, gaseous, liquid, and solid radiators have been used as sources of Cherenkov radiation. Aerogels with low refractive index and high light transmittance, are highly desirable for Cherenkov detectors. Development and testing of aerogels with a refractive index as ...

Functional metabolic imaging of plant and microbial systems requires a sensitive, high spatial resolution microscopy method that can image metabolically important compounds in situ. This will require new chemically sensitive imaging methods to be developed. In this SBIR/STTR, we will develop a new coherent Raman-based microscopy technique that will improve ensitivity over existing stimulated Raman ...

The goal of the research is to provide pixelated diamond x-ray detectors with the required readout electronics for transmission imaging of hard and soft x-ray beams to facilitate the use of dynamic focusing at advanced light source facilities. This program investigates the use of polycrystalline diamond detectors and the associated readout electronics for x-ray imaging. The present technology, dev ...

The Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences has identified a need for new proton conducting membranes for solar fuel generator applications. Specifically, development of block copolymers with good proton conductivity at ambient temperatures and low gas diffusion and ionic transports are needed. There are currently no commercially available proton conducting membranes which possess ...

Understanding the genomic basis of economically important plants for growth time, crop yield, responses to drought and disease resistance is of critical importance to sustaining and improving food supplies for humans and livestock, as well as insuring sufficient raw material availability for industries that depend on plant materials, such as biofuel manufacture. Current computational methods for a ...