Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 09/30/2015
Program: AMPED
Award: $1,906,606

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is developing a wireless sensor system to improve the safety and reliability of lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery systems by monitoring key operating parameters of Li-Ion cells and battery packs. This system can be used to control battery operation and provide early indicators of battery failure. LLNL's design will monitor every cell within a large Li-Ion battery pack without the need for large bundles of cables to carry sensor signals to the battery management system. This wireless sensor network will dramatically reduce system cost, improve…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 08/15/2010 - 12/31/2014
Program: IMPACCT
Award: $3,611,376

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is designing a process to pull CO2 out of the exhaust gas of coal-fired power plants so it can be transported, stored, or utilized elsewhere. Human lungs rely on an enzyme known as carbonic anhydrase to help separate CO2 from our blood and tissue as part of the normal breathing process. LLNL is designing a synthetic catalyst with the same function as this enzyme. The catalyst can be used to quickly capture CO2 from coal exhaust, just as the natural enzyme does in our lungs. LLNL is also developing a method of encapsulating chemical solvents in…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 09/01/2019 - 08/31/2021
Program: PNDIODES
Award: $500,000

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will advance GaN device processing knowledge to enable production of GaN devices with higher speed and power at a lower cost. Using a selective area p-type doping process to move the device architecture from a lateral to a vertical configuration makes the lower cost possible. LLNL has previously demonstrated solid-state diffusion of magnesium (Mg) into GaN at temperatures under 1000ºC through a Gallidation Assisted Impurity Diffusion (GAID) process. In the GAID process, an Mg source layer is deposited in contact with the GaN followed by a capping layer of…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 11/01/2019 - 08/30/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $1,326,530

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Design, build and operate a robust, portable neutron detection system that will serve as a powerful diagnostic tool in support of efforts to transform fusion energy. The tool’s design will allow for flexible, portable experimental setup, enabling it to provide effective diagnostic measurements at multiple fusion facilities.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 09/18/2019 - 12/31/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $1,300,000

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Develop a novel process for applying metallic coatings to optical fibers that will allow the fabrication of distributed optical sensors for high-temperature geothermal wells and explore quantum sensing techniques to dramatically increase sensitivities. This new optical technology will fill an important technology gap to enable distributed sensing in high-temperature enhanced geothermal system wells and help optimize production.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 10/15/2019 - 03/24/2023
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $2,000,000

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Implement an optical Thomson scattering diagnostic to help constrain the values of the electron density and temperature, as well as ion temperature. This approach could transform the understanding of the underlying physics of each fusion concept by providing local, time resolved measurements of plasma conditions.

Status: Selected
State: TBD
Project Term: TBD
Program: ULTRAFAST
Award: TBD

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing a semiconductor transistor device to enable future grid control systems to accommodate higher voltage and current than conventional devices. The team seeks to build a high-power diamond optoelectronic device that has the inherent advantages of diamond’s superior properties relative to other wide- and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor materials. Three of the proposed devices in series would be able to support more than 6 kilovolts, almost double that of existing wide-bandgap commercial options.

Status: ALUMNI
State: DE
Project Term: 04/02/2020 - 08/31/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $500,000

Lectrolyst

Carbon dioxide utilization can help reduce carbon emissions, but gaps remain in the value chain from initial capture to high-value products. Lectrolyst LLC will develop an electrochemical platform centered on selective two-step conversion of CO2 to acetic acid and ethylene, to fill this need. Preliminary life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis indicate ~200 million metric tons of CO2 emissions reduction when targeting these products at global scale while competing on a cost basis without considering carbon pricing. Development of this platform is intended to lead to full…

Status: ALUMNI
State: PA
Project Term: 01/01/2010 - 06/30/2012
Program: OPEN 2009
Award: $560,808

Lehigh University

Two faculty members at Lehigh University created a new technique called supercapacitive swing adsorption (SSA) that uses electrical charges to encourage materials to capture and release CO2. Current CO2 capture methods include expensive processes that involve changes in temperature or pressure. Lehigh University's approach uses electric fields to improve the ability of inexpensive carbon sorbents to trap CO2. Because this process uses electric fields and not electric current, the overall energy consumption is projected to be much lower than conventional methods. Lehigh University is now…

Status: ACTIVE
State: PA
Project Term: 08/11/2020 - 06/30/2024
Program: PERFORM
Award: $2,500,623

Lehigh University

The Lehigh University team will develop a framework for asset and system risk management that can be incorporated into current electricity system operations to improve economic efficiency through the establishment of an electric assets risk bureau. Discrepancies exist between the power scheduled by a system operator and actual power generated and/or consumed. These discrepancies—exacerbated by unplanned contingencies (e.g., variable renewable energy sources, natural disasters)—are caused by multiple factors, including the different financial, environmental, and risk preferences of power…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NE
Project Term: 05/15/2015 - 08/12/2017
Program: MONITOR
Award: $2,849,950

LI-COR Biosciences

LI-COR Biosciences is working with Colorado State University (CSU) and Gener8 to develop cost-effective, highly sensitive optical methane sensors that can be integrated into mobile or stationary methane monitoring systems. Their laser-based sensor utilizes optical cavity techniques, which provide long path lengths and high methane sensitivity and selectivity, but previously have been costly. The team will employ a novel sensor design developed in parallel with advanced manufacturing techniques to enable a substantial cost reduction. The sensors are expected to provide exceptional long-term…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 12/01/2020 - 06/30/2022
Program: FLECCS
Award: $479,965

Linde

Linde Gas aims to develop a system for natural gas-fired power plants using post-combustion carbon capture and hydrogen technologies. This unique process produces and stores hydrogen when it is not profitable for the power plant with carbon capture to export electricity to the grid. The process then uses that stored hydrogen to offset natural gas fuel consumption when electricity prices are high. Integrating an electrolyzer for hydrogen production and tanks for hydrogen storage with a natural gas power plant that has carbon capture will enable the plant to operate under more steady-state…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MA
Project Term: 09/30/2021 - 09/29/2024
Program: SHARKS
Award: $3,517,507

Littoral Power Systems

To advance in-current marine and riverine hydrokinetic energy conversion through a step change in levelized cost of energy, Littoral Power Systems, Inc., and its partners propose to design, fabricate, and test a novel in-current hydrokinetic energy turbine device that imposes no net torque on the mooring. It is a submersed buoyant vehicle on a single flexible tether that flies a turbine up in the water column. The team will use a control co-design engineering framework to characterize and numerically optimize the system for minimized LCOE through three parallel activities: (1) minimize and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 08/10/2021 - 08/09/2023
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $500,000

Living Carbon

The rate of photosynthetic assimilation and decay of lignocellulosic biomass currently limits carbon drawdown and retention in terrestrial biomass. Living Carbon is developing innovative methods to reduce the susceptibility of vegetative biomass to decay by lignin-eating fungi, thereby reducing the rate of release of carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere through fungal respiration. Living Carbon’s trees resist fungal decay through absorbing small amounts of nickel and copper from the soil and depositing these metals in their xylem (wood) tissue as they grow, which offers a biological strategy…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 03/03/2021 - 09/28/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $1,100,755

Lixivia

Current environmental, capital equipment, and reagent unit costs of metal extraction and refinement, including from waste minerals, are high. A technical solution will increase the domestic supply of metals as well as reduce consumer cost of downstream power and new technology devices. Lixivia Inc. proposes to use bio-inspired molecules, complemented by conventional chemical reagents to reduce reagent costs, the environmental burden of using such reagents, and the capital equipment needed to produce metals from MSWI ash. Simultaneously, the project will introduce step-change capabilities in…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NM
Project Term: 08/01/2015 - 06/30/2020
Program: ALPHA
Award: $6,627,332

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), along with HyperV Technologies and other partners, will design and build a new driver technology that is non-destructive, allowing for more rapid experimentation and progress toward economical fusion power. The team will use a spherical array of plasma guns to produce supersonic jets that merge to create an imploding plasma liner. Because the guns are located several meters away from the fusion burn region (i.e., they constitute a “standoff driver”), the reactor components should not be damaged by repeated experiments. This will allow the team to perform…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NM
Project Term: 07/01/2020 - 09/30/2023
Program: BETHE
Award: $425,000

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory and its partner, the University of Nevada-Reno, will provide visible spectroscopy and soft x-ray imaging diagnostics to characterize the performance of a number of lower-cost, potentially transformative fusion-energy concepts. Multi-chord visible spectroscopy measurements will enable the identification of impurities and their spatial and temporal variation in the plasmas, which is essential for understanding plasma composition and plasma conditions. A state-of-the-art, solid-state X-ray imager, the Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector (AGIPD), will be used…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NM
Project Term: 06/29/2020 - 03/28/2024
Program: BETHE
Award: $4,618,000

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will lead a team that will test an innovative approach to controlled fusion energy production: plasma-jet driven magneto-inertial fusion (PJMIF). PJMIF uses a spherical array of plasma guns to produce an imploding supersonic plasma shell, or “liner,” which inertially compresses and heats a pre-injected magnetized plasma “target” in a bid to access the conditions for thermonuclear fusion. LANL will develop a magnetized target plasma for the approach at a smaller scale than would be needed for a reactor. The team will perform first integrated liner-on-…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NM
Project Term: 07/29/2019 - 07/31/2023
Program: OPEN 2018
Award: $2,900,000

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory will develop proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for light-duty vehicles that operate on hydrogen or dimethyl ether (DME) fuel in the temperature range of 80-230°C (176-446°F) without first warming or humidifying the incoming fuel stream. The team’s concept uses a new polymer-based PEM that will provide high conductivity across a wide temperature range and can operate without humidification, simplifying the system components necessary to keep the cell running effectively, streamlining design, and reducing system size and costs, which are crucial for light…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NM
Project Term: 04/25/2019 - 08/31/2024
Program: OPEN 2018
Award: $4,420,064

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory will develop a scalable, compact, high-temperature, heat pipe reactor (HPR) to provide heat and electricity to remote areas. A 15MWth HPR could be built on-site in less than a month and self-regulate its power to plug into microgrids. The team will use high temperature materials via advanced manufacturing to reduce costs, and further cost reduction will be achieved from novel sensors embedded in the reactor core for continuous monitoring, reducing the number of operational staff needed.

Status: ALUMNI
State: NM
Project Term: 11/01/2019 - 09/30/2023
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $630,000

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Develop a portable suite of proven, absolutely calibrated neutron and soft x-ray diagnostics to characterize the performance of a number of fusion energy concepts. The tool will be able to determine neutron yields as low as 105 neutrons per pulse, identify hot regions and structures in the plasma, and make estimates of the core plasma electron temperature.

Status: ALUMNI
State: NM
Project Term: 09/07/2020 - 09/30/2022
Program: DIFFERENTIATE
Award: $897,577

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) seeks to increase the efficiency with which oil and gas are extracted from unconventional reservoirs while reducing the environmental impact of such processes. Current hydrofracturing-enabled extraction efficiencies are only 5 to 10%. LANL seeks to improve upon these levels by developing physics-informed machine learning (ML) based models from field data to discover effective well design characteristics. LANL will use its ML framework, which is based on recent advances in ML, differentiable programming, and cloud computing, to extract actionable…

Status: ALUMNI
State: VA
Project Term: 01/15/2021 - 05/31/2022
Program: FLECCS
Award: $989,660

Luna Innovations

Luna Innovations is developing FlueCO2, a process that enables traditional power generators to respond to increased VRE while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. FlueCO2 is a combined membrane and gas processing technology that integrates into existing natural gas combined cycle power plants and actively removes CO2 from the exhaust gas. The membrane separates CO2 at unrivaled rates using steam generated within the plant. The CO2-rich steam leaving the membranes is processed further to remove the water so it can be regenerated into steam at the most energy efficient conditions. Remaining CO2…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 10/01/2015 - 03/31/2019
Program: ALPHA
Award: $4,598,239

Magneto-Inertial Fusion Technologies, Inc. (MIFTI)

MIFTI is developing a new version of the Staged Z-Pinch (SZP) fusion concept that reduces instabilities in the fusion plasma, allowing the plasma to persist for longer periods of time. The Z-Pinch is an approach for simultaneously heating, confining, and compressing plasma by applying an intense, pulsed electrical current which generates a magnetic field. While the simplicity of the Z-Pinch is attractive, it has been plagued by plasma instabilities. MIFTI’s SZP plasma target consists of two components with different atomic numbers and is specifically configured to reduce instabilities. When…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MI
Project Term: 11/01/2015 - 12/31/2019
Program: GENSETS
Award: $3,572,223

MAHLE Powertrain

MAHLE Powertrain with partners at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Louthan Engineering, Kohler Company, and Intellichoice Energy will design and develop a CHP generator that uses an internal combustion engine with a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) combustion system. Similar to an automotive internal combustion engine, the proposed system follows the same process: the combustion of natural gas fuel creates a force that moves a piston, transferring chemical energy to mechanical energy used in conjunction with a generator to create electricity. The TJI combustion system incorporates a pre-chamber…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MI
Project Term: 07/25/2022 - 07/24/2025
Program: REMEDY
Award: $3,253,088

MAHLE Powertrain

MAHLE Powertrain proposes an aftertreatment package to minimize methane emissions from natural gas-fired lean and ultra-lean burn engines. The package features a methane oxidation catalyst with a novel hydrothermally stable catalyst formulation that significantly increases methane conversion efficiencies under low temperature exhaust conditions. The methane source addressed is methane that “slips” through the engine, unconverted to other species during combustion. The burden falls on the emissions control system to oxidize methane slip; however, in lean and ultra-lean burn engines, the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: FL
Project Term: 01/16/2023 - 01/15/2025
Program: CURIE
Award: $1,580,526

Mainstream Engineering

Mainstream Engineering will research a series of vacuum swing separation unit operations to separate and capture volatile radionuclides from the off-gassing of UNF aqueous reprocessing facility operations. Off-gas management and disposal accounts for roughly 13% of aqueous reprocessing systems’ capital costs and at least 10% of their operating costs for product/waste containers and utilities. The vacuum swing adsorption units researched in this project will contain targeted, specific adsorbents for the removal and concentration of radionuclides to maximize the overall process efficiency,…

Status: ALUMNI
State: HI
Project Term: 05/21/2018 - 11/20/2021
Program: MARINER
Award: $995,978

Makai Ocean Engineering

Makai Ocean Engineering will lead a MARINER Category 3 project to develop tools to simulate the biological and structural performance of offshore macroalgae systems. Macroalgae farming systems will require significant capital and operating costs. Investment and management decisions can be guided by the development of advanced modeling tools to help better understand the nature of macroalgae production for profitable operation. Makai's project will result in a hydrodynamic-mechanical model which simulates forces on offshore algae structures from to waves and currents.…

Status: ACTIVE
State: HI
Project Term: 08/19/2022 - 08/18/2024
Program: OPEN 2021
Award: $811,320

Makai Ocean Engineering

The Makai Ocean Engineering team will develop novel mooring and anchoring methods to reduce the costs of offshore renewable energy. Makai will enable grid-scale FOWT and MHK systems to be deployed in areas that would otherwise be inaccessible or too expensive with current mooring and anchoring technologies. At the center of this program is Makai’s Remote Anchoring and MicroPiling (RAMP) system, which can remotely install micropiles on the seafloor. The micropiles enable an anchorage strong enough to secure FOWT or MHK systems, negating the need for large drag embedment anchors, drilled piles…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 09/01/2010 - 10/16/2013
Program: OPEN 2009
Award: $5,584,267

Makani Power

Makani Power is developing an Airborne Wind Turbine that eliminates 90% of the mass of a conventional wind turbine and accesses a stronger, more consistent wind at altitudes of near 1,000 feet. At these altitudes, 85% of the country can offer viable wind resources compared to only 15% accessible with current technology. Additionally, the Makani Power wing can be economically deployed in deep offshore waters, opening up a resource which is 4 times greater than the entire U.S. electrical generation capacity. Makani Power has demonstrated the core technology, including autonomous launch, land,…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 09/25/2023 - 05/24/2025
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $449,065

Marathon Fusion

Marathon Fusion will develop a test stand to support the evaluation of metal foil pumps in nuclear fusion systems that could propel the novel technology into pilot plants within a decade. Metal foil pumps tested by the proposed device could drastically reduce tritium inventories and the cost of tritium processing, significantly improving the fuel cycle cost for fusion power.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 06/06/2016 - 05/31/2023
Program: MARINER
Award: $3,477,787

Marine BioEnergy

The team led by Marine BioEnergy will develop an open ocean cultivation system for macroalgae biomass, which can be converted to biocrude. Giant kelp is one of the fastest growing sources of biomass, and the open ocean surface water is an immense, untapped region for growing kelp. However, kelp does not grow in the open ocean because it needs to attach to a hard surface, typically less than 40 meters deep. Kelp also needs nutrients that are only available in deep water or near shore but not on the surface of the open ocean. To overcome these obstacles, the team proposes to build inexpensive…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MA
Project Term: 05/01/2018 - 04/30/2024
Program: MARINER
Award: $7,515,793

Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), located in Woods Hole, will lead a MARINER Category 1 project to design and develop a cultivation system for the tropical seaweed Eucheuma isiforme to produce biomass for biofuels. Eucheuma is a commercially valuable species of “red” macroalgae, primarily cultivated in Asia, which has been difficult to propagate in a cost-effective manner. Cultivation of Eucheuma is labor intensive — making up almost 70% of the production costs — and is limited to easily accessible areas near shore. The MBL team will design and development a farm system…

Status: ALUMNI
State: WI
Project Term: 06/03/2019 - 06/02/2022
Program: BREAKERS
Award: $500,000

Marquette University

Marquette University will leverage the technology gap presented by the lack of DC breaker technology. The project objective is to create an industry standard DC breaker that is compact, efficient, ultra-fast, lightweight, resilient, and scalable. The proposed solution will use a novel current source to force a zero current in the main current conduction path, providing a soft transition when turning on the DC breaker. A state-of-the-art actuator that can produce significantly more force than current solutions will also be used. The approach represents a transformational DC breaker scalable…

Status: ALUMNI
State: WI
Project Term: 12/15/2017 - 12/14/2021
Program: CIRCUITS
Award: $632,437

Marquette University

Marquette University will develop a small, compact, lightweight, and efficient 1 MW battery charger for electric vehicles that will double the specific power and triple power density compared to the current state-of-the-art. The team aims to use MOSFET switches based on silicon carbide to ensure the device runs efficiently while handling very large amounts of power in a small package. If successful, the device could help to dramatically reduce charging times for electric vehicles to a matter of minutes - promoting faster adoption of electric vehicles with longer range, greater energy…

Status: ACTIVE
State: WI
Project Term: 03/01/2021 - 02/28/2025
Program: ASCEND
Award: $5,419,340

Marquette University

Marquette University and its partners are developing the next generation of electric drivetrains for aerospace propulsion. The proposed system consists of a high-power density motor enabled by (1) an additively manufactured winding and heat pipe based thermal management scheme, (2) a modular power electronics topology, and (3) tight system integration and shared thermal management between the motor and power electronics to meet or exceed system-level targets. In the project’s first phase, the team will develop concepts, perform tradeoff studies and perform sub-component/component testing and…

Status: ACTIVE
State: WI
Project Term: 06/01/2022 - 05/31/2025
Program: REMEDY
Award: $3,975,058

Marquette University

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. Simulations have shown that this non-premixed combustion system yields a 10-fold…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 09/01/2010 - 12/31/2013
Program: ADEPT
Award: $4,414,003

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is teaming with Georgia Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, and the University of Pennsylvania to create more efficient power circuits for energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) through advances in 3 related areas. First, the team is using semiconductors made of high-performing gallium nitride grown on a low-cost silicon base (GaN-on-Si). These GaN-on-Si semiconductors conduct electricity more efficiently than traditional silicon semiconductors. Second, the team is developing new magnetic materials and structures to reduce the size…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 04/03/2020 - 01/02/2023
Program: DIFFERENTIATE
Award: $1,350,000

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will develop a machine learning (ML) approach to optimize surfaces for boiling heat transfer and improve energy efficiency for applications ranging from nuclear power plants to industrial process steam generation. Predicting and enhancing boiling heat transfer presently relies on empirical correlations and experimental observations. MIT’s technology will use supervised ML models to identify important features and designs that contribute to heat transfer enhancement autonomously. If successful, MIT’s designs will lead to more readily adopted…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 06/17/2020 - 06/23/2023
Program: DIFFERENTIATE
Award: $3,381,819

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will develop machine learning (ML) enhanced tools to accelerate the development of catalysts that promote the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) or the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). These reactions are critical to the cost-effective generation (OER) or oxidation (ORR) of hydrogen. Available catalysts for promoting these reactions include scarce and costly precious metals like platinum. Hence, their practical applications are limited by high cost and low abundance in addition to moderate stability. The MIT team will tailor the chemical…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 07/15/2010 - 10/01/2013
Program: Electrofuels
Award: $1,770,269

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is using solar-derived hydrogen and common soil bacteria called Ralstonia eutropha to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) directly into biofuel. This bacteria already has the natural ability to use hydrogen and CO2 for growth. MIT is engineering the bacteria to use hydrogen to convert CO2 directly into liquid transportation fuels. Hydrogen is a flammable gas, so the MIT team is building an innovative reactor system that will safely house the bacteria and gas mixture during the fuel-creation process. The system will pump in precise mixtures of hydrogen, oxygen…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 07/15/2010 - 03/31/2014
Program: Electrofuels
Award: $3,863,563

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is using carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen generated from electricity to produce natural oils that can be upgraded to hydrocarbon fuels. MIT has designed a 2-stage biofuel production system. In the first stage, hydrogen and CO2 are fed to a microorganism capable of converting these feedstocks to a 2-carbon compound called acetate. In the second stage, acetate is delivered to a different microorganism that can use the acetate to grow and produce oil. The oil can be removed from the reactor tank and chemically converted to various hydrocarbons. The…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 07/01/2017 - 04/15/2021
Program: ENLITENED
Award: $1,564,812

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will develop a unified optical communication technology for use in datacenter optical interconnects. Compared to existing interconnect solutions, the proposed approach exhibits high energy efficiency and large bandwidth density, as well as a low-cost packaging design. Specifically, the team aims to develop novel photonic material, device, and heterogeneously integrated interconnection technologies that are scalable across chip-, board-, and rack-interconnect hierarchy levels. The MIT design uses an optical bridge to connect silicon…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 06/17/2014 - 09/16/2017
Program: FOCUS
Award: $2,765,422

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing a hybrid solar converter that integrates a thermal absorber and solar cells into a layered stack, allowing some portions of sunlight to be converted directly to electricity and the rest to be stored as heat for conversion when needed most. MIT’s design focuses concentrated sunlight onto metal fins coated with layers that reflect a portion of the sunlight while absorbing the rest. The absorbed light is converted to heat and stored in a thermal fluid for conversion to mechanical energy by a heat engine. The reflected light is directed to…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 05/15/2014 - 07/31/2015
Program: FOCUS
Award: $594,327

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing a high-efficiency solar cell grown on a low-cost silicon wafer, which incorporates a micro-scale heat management system. The team will employ a novel fabrication process to ensure compatibility between the indium gallium phosphide (InGaP) solar cell and an inexpensive silicon wafer template, which will reduce cell costs. MIT will also develop a color-selective filter, designed to split incoming concentrated sunlight into two components. One component will be sent to the solar cells and immediately converted into electricity and the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 01/09/2012 - 01/08/2015
Program: HEATS
Award: $2,966,654

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

MIT is developing a thermal energy storage device that captures energy from the sun; this energy can be stored and released at a later time when it is needed most. Within the device, the absorption of sunlight causes the solar thermal fuel's photoactive molecules to change shape, which allows energy to be stored within their chemical bonds. A trigger is applied to release the stored energy as heat, where it can be converted into electricity or used directly as heat. The molecules would then revert to their original shape, and can be recharged using sunlight to begin the process anew. MIT's…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 11/21/2011 - 11/30/2014
Program: HEATS
Award: $871,612

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing efficient heat storage materials for use in solar and nuclear power plants. Heat storage materials are critical to the energy storage process. In solar thermal storage systems, heat can be stored in these materials during the day and released at night—when the sun's not out—to drive a turbine and produce electricity. In nuclear storage systems, heat can be stored in these materials at night and released to produce electricity during daytime peak-demand hours. MIT is designing nanostructured heat storage materials that can store a…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 12/13/2011 - 09/30/2016
Program: HEATS
Award: $3,555,627

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is developing a low-cost, compact, high-capacity, advanced thermo-adsorptive battery (ATB) for effective climate control of EVs. The ATB provides both heating and cooling by taking advantage of the materials' ability to adsorb a significant amount of water. This efficient battery system design could offer up as much as a 30% increase in driving range compared to current EV climate control technology. The ATB provides high-capacity thermal storage with little-to-no electrical power consumption. MIT is also looking to explore the possibility of…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 08/22/2019 - 08/21/2023
Program: HITEMMP
Award: $1,835,929

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

MIT will develop a high performance, compact, and durable ceramic heat exchanger. The multiscale porous high temperature heat exchanger will be capable of operation at temperatures over 1200°C (2192°F) and pressures above 80 bar (1160 psi). Porosity at the centimeter-scale will serve as channels for the flow of working fluids. A micrometer-scale porous core will be embedded into these channels. A ceramic co-extrusion process will create the channels and core using silicon carbide (SiC). This core design will significantly improve heat transfer and structural strength and minimize pressure…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 07/01/2010 - 01/31/2013
Program: IMPACCT
Award: $998,111

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Siemens Corporation are developing a process to separate CO2 from the exhaust of coal-fired power plants by using electrical energy to chemically activate and deactivate sorbents—materials that absorb gases. The team found that certain sorbents bond to CO2 when they are activated by electrical energy and then transported through a specialized separator that deactivates the molecule and releases it for storage. This method directly uses the electricity from the power plant, which is a more efficient but more expensive form of energy than heat,…