Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 11/24/2015 - 07/31/2023
Program: GENSETS
Award: $5,819,406

Tour Engine

Tour Engine, in collaboration with Wisconsin Engine Research Consultants (WERC) will develop a miniature internal combustion engine (ICE) based on Tour's existing split-cycle engine technology. Traditional ICEs use the force generated by the combustion of a fuel (e.g. natural gas (NG)) to move a piston, transferring chemical energy to mechanical energy. This can then be used in conjunction with a generator to create electricity. Unlike a normal combustion engine, a split-cycle engine divides the process into a cold cylinder (intake and compression) and a hot cylinder (expansion and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 09/01/2010 - 05/28/2013
Program: ADEPT
Award: $2,947,805

Transphorm

Transphorm is developing transistors with gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors that could be used to make cost-effective, high-performance power converters for a variety of applications, including electric motor drives which transmit power to a motor. A transistor acts like a switch, controlling the electrical energy that flows around an electrical circuit. Most transistors today use low-cost silicon semiconductors to conduct electrical energy, but silicon transistors don’t operate efficiently at high speeds and voltage levels. Transphorm is using GaN as a semiconductor material in its…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 02/13/2012 - 03/31/2015
Program: Solar ADEPT
Award: $2,446,140

Transphorm

Transphorm is developing power switches for new types of inverters that improve the efficiency and reliability of converting energy from solar panels into useable electricity for the grid. Transistors act as fast switches and control the electrical energy that flows in an electrical circuit. Turning a transistor off opens the circuit and stops the flow of electrical current; turning it on closes the circuit and allows electrical current to flow. In this way a transistor can be used to convert DC from a solar panel into AC for use in a home. Transphorm's transistors will enable a single…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 03/20/2023 - 09/19/2024
Program: MINER
Award: $1,993,226

Travertine Technologies

Travertine will develop an innovative process that combines strong acid-enhanced weathering and critical metal concentration and recovery in ultramafic mine tailings with an electrolytic process for sulfuric acid recycling and base production. The process will maximize the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) reactive minerals and residual critical elements from mine tailings, while minimizing waste. Carbon dioxide will be captured from air and permanently sequestered as inert carbonate minerals. Leached critical elements will be recovered as oxides. Travertine will develop the design basis for a…

Status: CANCELLED
State: MA
Project Term: 02/06/2017 - 03/13/2018
Program: SHIELD
Award: $3,224,500

Triton Systems

Triton Systems will develop and demonstrate a high efficiency windowpane system that will encourage retrofitting of single-pane windows. Triton's Multifunctional Glazing System (MGS) will potentially provide a better balance of performance with cost and weight versus double-pane insulated glass units. The system combines a nanoparticle-polymer composite film with an insulating layer of a porous material filled with air, to provide thermal insulation. The team will enhance the pane’s durability by incorporating a nanocomposite edge seal. The thickness of the MGS will be less than ¼ inch,…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 01/01/2021 - 12/31/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $600,000

Tufts University

Tufts University will develop “living filter” technology to continuously recover and sort critical materials from electronic waste (E-waste) streams. The goal is improved throughput, specificity, facile recovery/re-utilization, and reduced material/energy consumption. The team aims to develop genetically-encoded bio-membranes capable of specific material enrichment that is environmentally safe. In addition, it will develop microorganism-encapsulated 3D matrices to continuously reduce and collect noble metals. The technology is expected to accelerate the application of biologically enabled…

Status: ALUMNI
State: LA
Project Term: 08/01/2014 - 09/30/2018
Program: FOCUS
Award: $3,299,936

Tulane University

Tulane University and its partners are developing a hybrid solar energy system capable of capturing, storing, and dispatching solar energy. The system will collect sunlight using a dual-axis tracker with concentrator dish that focuses sunlight onto a hybrid solar energy receiver. Ultraviolet and visible light is collected in very high efficiency solar cells with approximately half of this part of the spectrum converted to electricity. The infrared part of the spectrum passes through the cells and is captured by a thermal receiver that converts this part of the spectrum into heat with nearly…

Status: ALUMNI
State: KS
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 06/30/2015
Program: GRIDS
Award: $1,719,335

TVN Systems

TVN Systems is developing an advanced hydrogen-bromine flow battery that incorporates a low-cost membrane and durable catalyst materials. A flow battery’s membrane separates its active materials and keeps them from mixing, while the catalyst serves to speed up the chemical reactions that generate electricity. Today’s hydrogen-bromine batteries use very expensive membrane material and catalysts that can degrade as the battery is used. TVN is exploring new catalysts that will last longer than today’s catalysts, and developing new membranes at a fraction of the cost of today’s membranes.…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 07/20/2023 - 07/19/2026
Program: EVs4ALL
Award: $2,823,199

Tyfast Energy

Tyfast Energy will develop a High sYmmetric PowER (HYPER) Battery that leverages a novel oxide-based anode and high conductivity electrolyte that has been demonstrated to perform well over a wide temperature range. This new HYPER combination of electrode material and electrolyte chemistry will enable a high-energy density, < 6 minutes ultrafast-charging battery with > 3,000 cycle life. Tyfast Energy’s novel anode, made with earth abundant metals with stable domestic supply chain, has fast lithium transport and has demonstrated 15,000 stable cycles operating under <3 mins ultrafast…

Status: ALUMNI
State: WI
Project Term: 09/08/2020 - 03/31/2023
Program: BETHE
Award: $2,472,145

Type One Energy Group

A stellarator is a fusion energy concept that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. International R&D is underway with a new class of stellarators setting performance records with the goal of generating stable and disruption-free power. Stellarators have been expensive and time consuming to build. Their large and complex electromagnets need to be shaped, supported, and positioned with precision. To overcome these challenges, two game-changing technologies hold great promise: advanced manufacturing (AM) to enable the complex shapes to be built accurately,…

Status: ACTIVE
State: DC
Project Term: 09/10/2020 - 09/09/2023
Program: BETHE
Award: $1,750,000

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) will advance the science and technologies of the electron-beam-pumped argon fluoride (ArF) laser as a potential method of improving laser-target coupling, a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for advancing low-cost inertial fusion energy (IFE). ArF’s deep UV light and capability to provide a wider bandwidth than other laser drivers improves the laser-target coupling efficiency and enables high gain at driver energies below 1 MJ. The ArF technology will use solid-state pulsed power and similar electron-beam pumping used by krypton fluoride lasers…

Status: ALUMNI
State: KY
Project Term: 01/01/2014 - 10/15/2020
Program: METALS
Award: $3,521,189

UHV Technologies

UHV Technologies is developing a sorting technology that uses X-rays to distinguish between high-value metal alloys found in scrap of many shapes and sizes. Existing identification technologies rely on manual sorting of light metals, which can be inaccurate and slow. UHV’s system will rapidly sort scrap metal passed over a conveyer belt, making it possible to lower metals waste while simultaneously increasing the quality of recycled metal alloys. By analyzing the light emitted from X-rayed metal pieces, UHV’s probe is able to identify alloy compositions for automated sorting. By automating…

Status: ALUMNI
State: KY
Project Term: 06/23/2017 - 06/22/2022
Program: ROOTS
Award: $2,500,000

UHV Technologies

UHV Technologies will develop and demonstrate a low cost, field deployable 3D x-ray computed tomography system that will image total root systems in the field with micron-size resolution and can sample hundreds of plants per cycle. This system is based on UHV's low cost linear x-ray tube technology and sophisticated reconstruction and image segmentation algorithms. The linear x-ray tube technology was originally designed for extremely high throughput scrap aluminum sorting, and when used with an array x-ray detector the system can also produce 2D and 3D imaging of plant roots in the field…

Status: CANCELLED
State: KY
Project Term: 04/15/2020 - 04/14/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $500,000

UHV Technologies

UHV Technologies will develop and demonstrate an innovative aluminum smelting technology that will significantly increase the range of aluminum alloys that can be manufactured from recycled scrap aluminum. This will reduce the need for primary aluminum with corresponding energy and environmental benefits. Using UHV’s patented high-throughput sorter, aluminum alloys will be pre-sorted, then melted in an energy-efficient vacuum furnace to avoid the typical 5% metal loss from molten metal oxidation, allowing for lower-cost production of high-value aluminum alloys. Currently ~60% of total U.S.…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 03/15/2021 - 11/06/2022
Program: REPAIR
Award: $999,999

ULC Technologies

ULC Technologies and its partners, PSU Applied Research Lab (PSU ARL) and Brookhaven National Lab (BNL), will develop a novel Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) process for fabricating stainless-steel pipes inside aging gas distribution pipelines. Using methane as the carrier gas, the operation can be performed in a live, natural gas pipeline resulting in zero service disruptions. Stainless steel offers high resistance to corrosion, compatibility with standard pipe fittings, and low permeability to hydrogen for future hydrogen transport. By minimizing reliance on the aging host pipe…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 04/09/2020 - 07/08/2021
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $500,000

Ultra-low Loss Technologies

To further the development of energy efficient integrated photonic networking technologies for datacenters and high performance computing, Ultra-low Loss Technologies (ULL) proposes to revolutionize chip-to-chip interconnects with massively parallel photonic channels based on photonic integrated circuit technology and spatial division multiplexing (SDM). This technology achieves between 10-1000X reduction in loss compared to competing technologies, which translates directly into lower power consumption.

Status: ALUMNI
State: TN
Project Term: 05/28/2020 - 11/27/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $500,000

Ultrasonic Technology Solutions

Direct contact ultrasonic drying is a novel, non-evaporative dewatering process that uses no heat to significantly lower the energy required for industrial drying. The technology mechanically removes water by shaking the object rapidly, on the micron scale, using piezoelectric transducers. The technology can achieve 5X higher efficiency and 2-3X faster drying rates than traditional dryers on typical textiles. UTS will develop and demonstrate a proof of concept prototype expanding the technology’s application from a batch into a continuous process, enabling easy integration into roll to roll…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 03/16/2018 - 12/30/2024
Program: MARINER
Award: $5,779,213

Umaro Foods

Umaro Foods (formerly Trophic), together with Otherlab and the University of New Hampshire, will lead a MARINER Category 1 project to design and develop a rugged and resilient offshore seafarm with high yield and low capital cost. The advanced design includes a passive, wave-driven upwelling system that brings nutrient rich seawater to the surface of the ocean, dramatically increasing yields (higher concentrations of nutrients exist in deeper ocean water). A robotic anchoring system will quickly and efficiently deploy environmentally friendly helical anchors into the seafloor with minimal…

Status: Selected
State: TBD
Project Term: TBD
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: TBD

Umaro Foods

Umaro Foods is leveraging advancements in chelator technology to efficiently extract rare earth elements and platinum group metals from seaweeds. They will be applying advanced metal chelator molecules to selectively extract metals in a non-destructive manner from process streams producing valuable food-grade seaweed proteins and commodities such as agar, alginate, and carrageenan. Combined with these co-commodities, the development of a sustainable and efficient extraction process from seaweed could bring about an independent, sustainable, and strategically resilient supply of rare earth…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 09/02/2010 - 03/16/2012
Program: BEETIT
Award: $1,427,515

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing an efficient air conditioning compressor that will use water as the refrigerant. Most conventional air conditioning systems use hydrofluorocarbons to cool the air, which are highly potent GHGs. Because water is natural and non-toxic, it is an attractive refrigerant. However, low vapor density of water requires higher compression ratios, typically resulting in large and inefficient multi-stage compression. UTRC’s design utilizes a novel type of supersonic compression that enables high-compression ratios in a single stage, thus enabling…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 09/02/2010 - 08/31/2014
Program: BEETIT
Award: $3,079,168

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing an air conditioning system that is optimized for use in warm and humid climates. UTRC's air conditioning system integrates a liquid drying agent or desiccant and a traditional vapor compression system found in 90% of air conditioners. The drying agent reduces the humidity in the air before it is cooled, using less energy. The technology uses a membrane as a barrier between the air and the liquid salt stream allowing only water vapor to pass through and not the salt molecules. This solves an inherent problem with traditional liquid…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 04/06/2018 - 10/05/2021
Program: CIRCUITS
Award: $1,574,638

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) and its project team will develop an extremely efficient power converter capable of handling kilowatts of electricity at ultra-high power densities. The team will leverage the superior performance of silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN) devices to achieve its efficiency and power density goals. In the aerospace industry, electrical power distribution can begin to displace pneumatic power distribution using this technology. Efficient power conversion in aircraft will be needed as hydraulic systems, including landing gear systems, are…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 04/06/2018 - 07/05/2021
Program: CIRCUITS
Award: $1,899,939

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop a silicon carbide-based, single stage, 15 kW direct AC-to-AC (fixed frequency AC to variable frequency AC) power converter that avoids the need for an intermediate conversion to DC or energy storage circuit elements. The team seeks to build a device that weighs about half as much as available converters while demonstrating scalability for a broad power range (from kW to tens of MW) and achieving conversion efficiencies greater than 99%. If successful, the UTRC team will produce advances that help greatly reduce energy losses in a range…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 01/23/2019 - 05/31/2022
Program: DAYS
Award: $3,799,728

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

The United Technologies Research Center team will develop an energy storage system based on a new flow battery chemistry using inexpensive and readily available sulfur and manganese based active materials. The team will employ innovative strategies to overcome challenges of system control and unwanted crossover of active materials through the membrane. The affordable reactants, paired with the unique requirements for long-duration electricity discharge, present the opportunity for very low cost energy storage.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 06/19/2020 - 12/18/2022
Program: DIFFERENTIATE
Award: $1,548,000

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

The United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will work to accelerate the design of high-efficiency multi-stage compressors, via machine learning (ML), with considerations of aerodynamics, structures and additive manufacturability through their framework, MULTI-LEADER. The framework addresses four design challenges in current industrial practices: (1) concurrent optimization of multiple stages under non-linear constraints; (2) evaluation of high-fidelity and expensive solvers and their gradients during optimization convergence in high-dimensional design spaces; (3) multi-disciplinary design…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 06/08/2020 - 12/07/2022
Program: DIFFERENTIATE
Award: $1,439,858

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

The United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop an AI-accelerated search technique, LENS, to quickly discover new design concepts for energy applications. The project will combine the strengths of the two pillars of AI—logical inference and statistical learning—to achieve this task by using constraint programming, generative models, reduced order models, active learning, and rule discovery. The end goal is to accelerate the design of power converters, which have a significant impact on energy savings. UTRC’s project will aim to address key challenges in power converter design by…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 09/09/2010 - 09/30/2013
Program: GRIDS
Award: $3,599,894

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing a flow battery with a unique design that provides significantly more power than today's flow battery systems. A flow battery is a cross between a traditional battery and a fuel cell. Flow batteries store their energy in external tanks instead of inside the cell itself. Flow batteries have traditionally been expensive because the battery cell stack, where the chemical reaction takes place, is costly. In this project, UTRC is developing a new stack design that achieves 10 times higher power than today's flow batteries. This high…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 01/04/2012 - 01/03/2015
Program: HEATS
Award: $2,646,509

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing a new climate-control system for EVs that uses a hybrid vapor compression adsorption system with thermal energy storage. The targeted, closed system will use energy during the battery-charging step to recharge the thermal storage, and it will use minimal power to provide cooling or heating to the cabin during a drive cycle. The team will use a unique approach of absorbing a refrigerant on a metal salt, which will create a lightweight, high-energy-density refrigerant. This unique working pair can operate indefinitely as a traditional…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 09/23/2019 - 08/31/2022
Program: HITEMMP
Award: $2,277,636

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

UTRC will develop an ultra-compact, topology-optimized heat exchanger capable of operating in environments with temperatures and pressures up to 800°C (1472°F) and 250 bar (3626 psi) that is substantially smaller and more durable than state-of-the art high-temperature, high-pressure heat exchangers. A quadruple optimization approach that addresses performance, durability, manufacturing, and cost constraints provides the framework for the superalloy-based heat exchanger. UTRC will leverage extensive additive manufacturing research and aerospace and supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 11/06/2019 - 11/30/2022
Program: HITEMMP
Award: $1,779,646

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

UTRC will develop a high temperature, high strength, low cost glass-ceramic matrix composite heat exchanger capable of a long operational life in a range of harsh environments with temperatures and pressures as high as 1100°C (2012°F) and 250 bar (3626 psi). UTRC designed its Counterflow Honeycomb Heat Exchanger (CH-HX) configuration with an oxidation-resistant material developed initially for gas turbine applications. Its core feature is a joint-free, 3D-woven assembly of webbed tubes and cylindrical shapes to reduce stress and simplify manufacturing. The CH-HX is devoid of nearly all…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 04/01/2017 - 03/31/2018
Program: IDEAS
Award: $479,232

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop design tools and software for new thermofluidc components that can lead to 50% efficiency improvements in heat exchangers and other related energy systems. Modern heat exchangers and flow headers used in energy systems such as thermal power plants are not optimally designed due to a lack of advanced design tools that can optimize performance given manufacturing and cost limitations. UTRC's design framework will focus on topology exploration and optimization - the mathematical method of optimizing material layouts within a given…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 07/02/2015 - 07/01/2016
Program: IDEAS
Award: $499,922

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop a proof-of-concept for an innovative new vehicle energy-storage system. The UTRC team is leveraging experience from a previous ARPA-E project focused on grid-scale energy storage, the GRIDS: Breakthrough Flow Battery Cell Stack project, to develop a high-performance redox-air flow cell (RFC) system for EVs. A flow battery is a cross between a traditional battery and a fuel cell. Flow batteries store their energy in external tanks instead of inside the cell itself. If successful, the RFC will: (1) store its energy in a liquid solution at…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 02/17/2017 - 11/16/2019
Program: IONICS
Award: $3,111,792

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop a redox flow battery system that combines next-generation reactants with an inexpensive and highly selective membrane. This SMART-FBS project addresses the two highest cost components in redox flow battery systems: reactants and membranes. The team plans to develop these two components simultaneously using core materials that will work in tandem. Polymer membranes will be developed that include benzimidazole or pyridine structures; ionic conductivity will come from the membrane’s structure that allows acid to be imbibed into the polymer…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 03/31/2016
Program: MOVE
Award: $4,188,331

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing a conformable modular storage tank that could integrate easily into the tight spaces in the undercarriage of natural gas-powered vehicles. Traditional steel and carbon fiber natural gas storage tanks are rigid, bulky, and expensive, which adds to the overall cost of the vehicle and discourages broad use of natural gas vehicles. UTRC is designing modular natural gas storage units that can be assembled to form a wide range of shapes and fit a wide range of undercarriages. UTRC's modular tank could substantially improve upon the…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 12/15/2009 - 01/09/2012
Program: OPEN 2009
Award: $1,815,719

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing a process for capturing the CO2 emitted by coal-fired power plants. Conventional carbon capture methods use high temperatures or chemical solvents to separate CO2 from the exhaust gas, which are energy intensive and expensive processes. UTRC is developing membranes that separate the CO2 out of the exhaust gas using a synthetic version of a naturally occurring enzyme used to manage CO2. This enzyme is used by all air-breathing organisms on Earth to regulate CO2 levels. The enzyme would not survive within the gas exhaust of coal-fired…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 02/12/2013 - 03/31/2016
Program: OPEN 2012
Award: $2,699,970

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is using additive manufacturing techniques to develop an ultra-high-efficiency electric motor for automobiles. The process and design does not rely on rare earth materials and sidesteps any associated supply concerns. Additive manufacturing uses a laser to deposit copper and insulation, layer-by-layer, instead of winding wires. EV motors rely heavily on permanent magnets, which are expensive given the high concentrations of rare earth material required to deliver the performance required in today’s market. UTRC’s efficient manufacturing method would…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 05/14/2019 - 06/30/2023
Program: OPEN 2018
Award: $2,234,134

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center will assess the feasibility of using CMC technologies and immersive systems to reduce business travel and its associated energy and emissions. Currently, every roundtrip trans-Atlantic flight emits enough carbon dioxide to melt 30 square feet of Arctic sea ice. This technology (if successful) will displace air travel. The team’s SCOTTIE system will identify the types of travel best suited for replacement by CMC technologies and quantify the minimum CMC system performance needed to satisfy users' communication objectives. The team will then demonstrate…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 10/01/2014 - 03/19/2018
Program: REBELS
Award: $3,349,695

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is developing an intermediate-temperature fuel cell for residential applications that will combine a building’s heating and power systems into one unit. Existing fuel cell technologies usually focus on operating low temperatures for vehicle technologies or at high temperatures for grid-scale applications. By creating a metal-supported proton conducting fuel cell with a natural gas fuel processor, UTRC could lower the operating system temperatures to under 500 °C. The use of metal offers faster start-up times and the possibility of lower manufacturing…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 05/11/2018 - 11/10/2020
Program: SENSOR
Award: $1,956,775

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC)

United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will develop a low-cost occupancy solution that combines radar sensing technology with an infrared focal plane array (IR-FPA) to determine occupancy in buildings. The solution will also be deployed as a radar-only residential sensor for true human presence sensing. The radar will detect respiration or heartbeat of non-moving occupants by measuring the radar signal reflections caused by chest movement. The system’s machine learning algorithms will allow it to distinguish humans from pets in residential settings and to reduce under-counting errors in…

Status: Selected
State: DC
Project Term: 01/29/2024 - 07/28/2025
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $600,000

Universities Space Research Association

Universities Space Research Association is developing a real-time, cloud-based aviation contrail prediction and observation system that would improve airspace operations through new atmospheric data services and ensemble modeling approaches. The system would advance an existing cutting-edge contrail computer model with a novel machine learning approach to produce forecasts of persistent contrail-forming regions.

Status: ALUMNI
State: AL
Project Term: 02/08/2012 - 09/30/2013
Program: REACT
Award: $712,950

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is developing new iron- and manganese-based composite materials for use in the electric motors of EVs and renewable power generators that will demonstrate magnetic properties superior to today's best rare-earth-based magnets. Rare earths are difficult and expensive to refine. EVs and renewable power generators typically use rare earths to make their electric motors smaller and more powerful. The University of Alabama has the potential to improve upon the performance of current state-of-the-art rare-earth-based magnets using low-cost and more abundant materials such…

Status: ALUMNI
State: AL
Project Term: 08/16/2018 - 08/15/2021
Program: SENSOR
Award: $610,039

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama and their partners will develop a new testing and validation protocol for advanced occupancy sensor technologies. A barrier to wide adoption of new occupancy sensors is the lack of rigorous and widely accepted methodologies for evaluating the energy savings and reliability of these systems. To address this need, the Alabama team will develop a testing protocol and simulation suite for these advanced sensors. The protocol and simulation suite will take into account eight levels of diversity: 1) occupant profile, 2) building type and floor plan, 3) sensor type, 4) HVAC…

Status: ACTIVE
State: AL
Project Term: 03/01/2023 - 02/28/2026
Program: CURIE
Award: $1,844,988

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will research a single-step technology to recycle UNF by recovering the bulk of uranium (U) and other transuranics (TRU) from fission products. After dissolution of UNF in nitric acid, U/TRU is simultaneously separated from fission products by co-crystallizing oxidized TRU with uranyl nitrate hexahydrate. The approach is inherently proliferation resistant, as plutonium-only streams cannot be achieved without implementing additional technologies. In addition, the overall reprocessing facility footprint would be significantly smaller, secondary…

Status: ACTIVE
State: AK
Project Term: 04/11/2018 - 06/30/2024
Program: MARINER
Award: $3,287,809

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will lead a MARINER Category 1 project to design and develop replicable model farms capable of cost-effective production of sugar kelp, a type of macroalgae suitable for large-scale cultivation is U.S. ocean waters. Much of the cost of kelp farms is related to expensive anchor components, and the laborious process of installing and planting individual longlines between opposing anchors. Another 20% of the cost is ascribed to the harvest process and transport. The team plans innovations to reduce both equipment and operating costs. First, the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: AK
Project Term: 07/21/2021 - 01/20/2025
Program: SHARKS
Award: $3,575,820

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks' BladeRunner concept is expected to reduce operating expenses by 50% while significantly reducing infrastructure and personnel requirements on site. These improvements result in an LCOE of $0.0755 $/kWh. BladeRunner employs a floating generator housing and tethered turbine to create a HKT system that has low capital and operating costs and is well suited for community co-design. The turbine is coupled to the generator by a flexible torsion-cable that transmits mechanical power while allowing the turbine to deflect around debris. This technology combines…

Status: Selected
State: TBD
Project Term: TBD
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: TBD

University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will investigate the accumulation potential of rare earth elements in hyper-accumulating native seaweed species surveyed around the Bokan Mountain rare earth element deposit in Southeast Alaska. The project will conduct a comprehensive environmental survey to understand how natural erosion transports rare earth elements from ridge to ocean. The team will then collect native seaweed species and conduct biomass tissue chemical composition and polymer analysis to create maps of coastal sites rich in rare earth elements bound to biological materials, along with…

Status: ALUMNI
State: AZ
Project Term: 08/11/2017 - 08/10/2018
Program: FOCUS
Award: $4,182,915

University of Arizona

University of Arizona is developing a hybrid solar converter that splits the light spectrum, sending a band of the solar spectrum to solar cells to generate electricity and the rest to a thermal fluid to be stored as heat. The team's converter builds off the CSP trough concentrator design, integrating a partially transmitting mirror near the focus to reflect visible wavelengths of light onto high-efficiency solar cells while passing ultraviolet and most infrared light to heat a thermal fluid. The visible light is concentrated further before reaching the solar cells to maximize their power…

Status: ALUMNI
State: AZ
Project Term: 04/01/2017 - 09/30/2019
Program: MOSAIC
Award: $2,746,463

University of Arizona

University of Arizona will develop a micro-CPV system that combines a CPV cell with dual-sided FPV panels to capture direct, diffuse, and reflected sunlight. The team's system will feature lenses that focus sunlight onto a horizontal waveguide, which further concentrates the light onto high-performance micro-CPV solar cells. Dual-sided solar panels, attached beneath the CPV cells, enable diffuse light collection on one side and reflected light collection on the other side. The system will be mounted on a two-axis tracker that will allow for optimal collection of sunlight throughout the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: AR
Project Term: 03/15/2018 - 05/31/2022
Program: CIRCUITS
Award: $2,741,449

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas and its project team will develop a power inverter system for use in the electrification of construction equipment. Heavy equipment providers are increasingly investing in electrification capability to perform work in harsh environments. As with all electrified systems, size, weight and power considerations must be met by these systems. The team's approach is to utilize the advantages of wide bandgap semiconductors not only in the converter elements themselves, but also in the converter’s gate driver as well. This innovation of having the low-voltage circuitry…

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

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is developing a heterogeneously integrated power module for applications in the electric power grid and electrified transportation. The module will integrate capacitors, sensors, and integrated circuits, enabling next generation, more reliable power electronics. University of Arkansas’ proposed technology could open the door for up to a 10-fold improvement in switching performance compared with the state of the art.