Generation

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will explore using inorganic metal halide perovskites (MHPs) as advanced salt waste forms to immobilize fluoride-based salt wastes from advanced reactors. The RPI team will demonstrate low-temperature wet-chemistry processes to effectively separate fluoride salt wastes at temperatures lower than 200oC and reduce the waste volume of alkali and alkaline earth fluoride salt waste by 90 l.%. The second technical goal is to separate useful lithium fluoride from the fluoride salt wastes with a yield over 95%.

Citrine Informatics will use a combination of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, physics-based simulations, and experimental results to design novel phosphate waste forms (including glasses, ceramics, and their composites) to enable dehalogenation (removal of halides) and more secure immobilization of salt waste from molten salt reactors (MSRs). Current disposition pathways for salt wastes from MSRs, or used nuclear fuel reprocessing, produce waste forms with relatively low halide loading potential, large volumes, poor thermal stability, and poor mechanical durability.

Brigham Young University (BYU) will apply two-step chloride volatility (TSCV) to co-extract uranium (U) and transuranics (TRU) in a solventless, gas-solid separation scheme to reduce waste volumes and repository footprint by 10x. The BYU team will reduce risks and uncertainty of the TSCV process by quantifying the volatility of U/TRU chlorides in simulated UNF mixtures, optimizing process parameters for U/TRU extraction, and demonstrating TSCV up to a one-kilogram batch size.

Precision Combustion (PCI) proposes an innovative modular array to eliminate the release of ventilation air methane (VAM) associated with coal production. The team’s technology combines (1) a short contact time, low thermal mass reactor design to achieve high methane conversion in a small volume, (2) catalyst formulation and loading to minimize the required operating temperature of the oxidation reactor, and (3) system design and architecture to maximize the degree to which released heat is retained and recirculated.

Cimarron Energy aims to develop a cost-competitive flare and control system to achieve over 99.5% methane destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) from the current 98% DRE. The proposed system will include a novel flare apparatus to overcome all observed difficulties in achieving high DRE for flares, a microprocessor based electronic controller, an image-based closed-loop feedback system, and flow meters for high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) flare gas streams sent to the flare. The HP gas is associated with oil extraction and contains a large fraction of methane.

Advanced Cooling Technologies (ACT) proposes an innovative Swiss-roll incinerator that effectively recuperates the heat from combustion products to fully combust the flare gas over a wide range of flow rates and concentrations. ACT's design comprises a spiral heat exchanger surrounding the incinerator, which effectively minimizes the heat losses from flue gas, incinerator wall convection, and radiation. The excess enthalpy in the reactants significantly extends the range of flammable mixtures to provide a complete methane combustion.

Colorado State University (CSU) and Caterpillar will develop technology to reduce methane emissions from lean-burn natural gas engines by reducing methane ventilation through the crankcase, the engine base that contains the crankshaft and integrates other engine components. Methane that leaks past the ring and valve seals during compression and combustion enters the crankcase and is usually vented to the atmosphere. The team proposes a system that would capture the crankcase methane, treat it, and reroute it back to the engine intake where it would be re-ingested and combusted.

INNIO’s Waukesha Gas Engines will develop a new piston, liner, and head gasket design that dramatically reduces crevice volumes, the largest source of unburned fuel, in engine combustion chambers. The team will optimize a large-bore steel piston to achieve the same reciprocating mass as current aluminum pistons. The new technology will broadly apply to all natural-gas-fueled lean-burn engines and can be used to retrofit a fleet of existing engines with little-to-no increase in budgeted costs.

Foro Energy will use a downhole, high-power laser access tool to create geometric and surface area access in wells to set an alternative barrier material—a bismuth alloy plug (BiSN)—instead of cement.

The University of Houston aims to develop Miniaturized Pulsed Power System (Mini-PulPS) architectures to improve the power density (with 10-X reduction in capacitor size) and the life of converters used in pulsed power supplies. The University of Houston will perform multi-disciplinary research with Harvard University and Schlumberger-Doll Research Center for high- and low-power NMR applications. These technologies will improve the power converter system efficiency and reliability and reduce the risks of equipment or formation failures.