Award Data

70454 Intense beams of epithermal neutrons, at sites close to major medical centers, are needed to advance the development of the boron neutron capture modality of cancer therapy. Particle accelerators are the top candidates to meet this need. This project will develop a new rf-focused drift tube linear accelerator structure as an economical source for these neutron beams. The source ...

"A need exists for an inexpensive lightweight portable Tactical Antenna Switching and Positioning System to be employed on ships. The system should be capable of unattended operation, and continuous tracking of UHF geosynchronous satellites despite shipmovement and periodic blockage of the satellite by the ship's superstructure. Closed-loop and open-loop tracking systems will be designed, built, ...

70449 There have been a number of cases, particularly in the subsurface vadose zone, where contaminants have moved much more quickly than expected. Recent examples include the apparent movement of radionucleides from storage tanks into the groundwater at the Hanford reservation and at the Nevada Test Site. The establishment of an effective monitoring methodology, particularly a cost-effect ...

70835 Power electronic systems currently used with variable-speed wind turbines suffer from poor efficiency at power levels less than their rated power. Since wind turbines often operate at less than full rating, this inefficiency degrades the energy production and the economics. This project will address this fractional power inefficiency by partitioning the power electronics into severa ...

"There is a need in the modern military to train soldiers in the detection and identification of RF signals such as cellular, radar, INMARSAT, military communications, etc. Currently soldiers are given what amounts to "on the job" training in signalrecognition. There is no specific training system for this application. More specifically there is no system that would allow a soldier to train on ...

70566 Lithium-based batteries for vehicles need to be longer lasting, faster recharging, able to deliver high power pulses, safer, higher energy density, and lower in cost. However, the commercial microporous plastic polymer separators used in these batteries are too expensive and are very limited in their ability to provide these needed performance improvements. This project will develop n ...

"The Air Force is responsible for surveying assault zones the world over. These zones, which include landing zones for fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and drop zones for troops and equipment. The Air Force surveys these areas on a regular basis tophysically measure assault zone characteristics. Air Force Special Tactics operators need to take precise measurements compromising their safety or oth ...

70127 The fate of the CO2 produced by fossil fuel burning depends on the ability of the oceans and the terrestrial biosphere to act as sinks for this increasing burden. The magnitudes of these sinks are still somewhat uncertain. Precise knowledge of the partitioning into these sinks has important implications for global climate change modeling and international energy policy making. One m ...

70033 Coal gasification has been under development for several years as a desirable means of power generation, with higher efficiency and lower emissions compared to current power-producing technologies. However, an effective method for controlling the emission of toxic metals such as mercury has not been devised. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of using treated zeolite sorbent ...

70495 In laser and reactor chambers for inertial fusion energy (IFE) programs, optical surface damage is a significant problem (particularly for the final optics), admitting very high-energy laser beams into the fusion reactor chamber. Critical optical components require a contamination resistant coating, so that they may be used (and cleaned, if necessary) without damage. This project wi ...