Award Data

The Need and Our Technology: Most wall systems built in the US emit carbon during production (embodied carbon). The building industry accounts for 39% of global CO2 emissions, with 11% of these emissions from the embodied carbon of materials due to sourcing, manufacturing, and implementation. Verdant Structural Engineers (VSE) will combat embodied carbon emissions and strengthen the structural ins ...

Approximately 25% of all anthropogenic generated methane comes from the oil and gas industry, and it is estimated that ~6% of those emissions are from storage tanks used in the production phase. Methane has a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere but has a significantly greater warming potential than carbon dioxide on short time scales. The emissions from these storage tanks are not well known, and n ...

We propose to develop a software system to generate systematic reviews of the scientific literature on chemical risks. The technology improves on what is currently available because it automates the full process of literature review. Unlike existing technologies that simply help humans find and filter relevant articles, our system uses state-of-the-art neural networks to find, filter, extract, sum ...

Annually over 8 million tons of plastic flows into the ocean causing an estimated $13 Billion damage to marine ecosystems. Microplastic particles (MP) are those with diameters

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent chemicals that have been introduced to the environment through manufacturing, use, and disposal of products containing PFAS. The U.S. EPA has issued a lifetime drinking water Health Advisory Level (HAL) for the perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorosulfonic acid (PFOS), two of the more than 3,000 PFAS compo ...

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are an increasing problem in waterways all over the world, costing an average of $17 billion in damages each each year. HABs have shut down water supplies to entire US cities in recent years. Blooms occur when nutrient-rich waters stimulate cyanobacterial growth, resulting in unsightly sludges that discolor waterways, rendering them dangerous to humans, liverstock and ...

Electrodialytic nutrient recovery (ENR) is a bolt-on technology for existing products in the onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) market. ENR is set apart from competitive technologies in that it can meet or exceed strict regulatory standards for nutrient removal without biological processes or added chemicals. The United States has a growing population reliant on OWTS products, and many regi ...

This research has demonstrated that an ethylene-oxide monitor with ultra-low limit of detection based on sensitive and selective optical measurement technology is feasible and will meet the needs for an ambient monitor. The exposure limits for ethylene oxide (EtO) in ambient air have been recently reduced to 11 parts per trillion (long-term, 1/10,000 risk level). Monitoring EtO at this low concen ...

This SBIR Phase II project aims to further advance the progress made during phase I toward the development of a portable handheld detector for real-time onsite detection of sulfur dioxide (SO2). SO2 is an air pollutant, which can adversely affect respiratory and cardiovascular health in humans. Onsite monitoring of SO2 would enable real-time detection of chronic and acute exposure to this toxic ga ...

Acidic metal-contaminated mine water impacts tens of thousands of miles of streams in the US. Treatment requires neutralization of acidity followed by precipitation and management of the metals. Conventional mine water treatment systems use lime (CaO) or caustic (NaOH) to generate acid-neutralizing alkalinity. The high cost of these conventional technologies has contributed to the bankruptcies of ...