Generation

Polymath Research will enable the use of longer-wavelength lasers for IFE. This project seeks to control LPI using pulses composed of Spike Trains of Uneven duration and Delay (STUD), a sequence of precisely timed laser pulses designed to disrupt LPI growth and memory build up in the plasma due to persistent self-organization of the plasma undergoing continuous and undisrupted laser energy deposition.

Using a computationally-guided approach, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed carbide strengthened alloys in small laboratory-scale trials that show good resistance to corrosion by fluorides but with significantly improved strength and/or creep rupture life at temperatures up to 850°C compared with Hastelloy® N.

Enegis will use Ambient Seismic Imaging (ASI) to image permeability pathways and fluid flow in rock to advance geothermal development. Proper geothermal resource development must ensure project feasibility and integrity, improve targeting of permeability structures, and control induced seismicity. ASI overcomes the need for a controlled signal source (e.g., vibroseis) by using seismic emission tomography methods and passively listens to vibrations due to stress changes by fluid-rock interactions during the creation of permeability pathways.

Artimus Robotics aims to enable environmentally conscious deep-sea mining of rare earth elements and precious metals using next-generation bio-inspired unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The team will focus on developing inexpensive electronics for its hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators, which enable ‘soft’ autonomous vehicles that can facilitate environmentally conscious mineral collection methods to access the deep ocean. More than 50% of the total UUV cost is attributed to the motors and associated drive systems.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) will develop a high-temperature, chemically resistant, diamond-based microfluidic alpha spectrometer (DiMAS) that will enable accurate online and/or at-line (the sample is removed and analyzed near the production process) measurement of alpha-emitting isotopes in LF-MSR fuel. The team will develop an optimal spectrometer design by using experimental and computational methods to evaluate the sensor architecture, packaging, and performance.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aims to develop a complete system to remove low-level methane from high-flow gaseous streams associated with coal mining. Because state-of-the-art mine ventilation air systems offer zero methane conversion, the system will be developed and tested on ventilation air methane. MIT’s design will include real-time input determination, output performance sensing, advanced machine learning algorithms, and feedback control for process optimization.

Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) seeks to reduce methane emissions from compressor station natural gas (NG) engines by improving lean-burn operation, thereby reducing exhaust methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and maintaining low-criteria pollutant emissions. The project team will develop a nanosecond non-thermal plasma-based ignition system capable of generating radicals, ions, and highly reactive intermediate species that result in rapid self-sustaining combustion, and a cyclic combustion control strategy that predicts and mitigates partial-fire and misfire cycles.

Johnson Matthey, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Consol Energy will adapt the Catalytic Oxidation METhane (COMET™) methane abatement system to convert vent air methane at a Consol Energy coal mining site. The COMET methane system has shown potential for controlling dilute methane emissions. The team will use cost-effective technology to achieve over 99.5% methane conversion efficiency at temperatures below 1112 ºF for methane concentration in the range of 0.1-1.6%, representing nearly all ventilation air methane sources in the U.S.

Marquette University will enable an innovative combustion technology for lean-burn (high air-fuel ratio) natural gas engines to potentially reduce the amount of methane slip—or methane in the inlet fuel stream that escapes to the atmosphere—to 0.25% of the inlet fuel stream. The 0.25% target would represent a 90% reduction from current levels. The proposed system aims to achieve a non-premixed, mixing-controlled combustion process with natural gas in a lean-burn engine through an actively fueled prechamber.

The University of Minnesota will develop a non-thermal, low-temperature, plasma-assisted system for (1) in-situ flare gas reforming, (2) ignition, and (3) flame stabilization for small, unmanned pipe flares. Flares safely dispose of waste gases by burning them under controlled conditions. The new system will substantially enhance fuel reactivity by producing intermediate species such as ethylene, acetylene, and hydrogen. These hydrocarbons are highly reactive compared with methane and dramatically increase flare efficiency.