Status: ALUMNI
State: OR
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 08/30/2017
Program: GRIDS

Energy Storage Systems (ESS)

Energy Storage Systems (ESS) is developing a cost-effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly all-iron hybrid flow battery. A flow battery is an easily rechargeable system that stores its electrolyte—the material that provides energy—as liquid in external tanks. Currently, flow batteries account for less than 1% of the grid-scale energy storage market because of their high system costs. The ESS flow battery technology is distinguished by its cost-effective electrolytes, based on earth-abundant iron, and its innovative battery hardware design that dramatically increases power density and…

Status: ACTIVE
State: PA
Project Term: 10/01/2020 - 09/30/2023
Program: PERFORM

Energy Trading Analytics

The Energy Trading Analytics team will redesign a novel, state-of-the-art stochastic market tool to restructure wholesale real-time energy and reserve markets for improved information aggregation, reliability and security, and consumer choice. The design will be coupled with intelligent energy-portfolio risk management tools that enable consumers to prioritize flexible demand assets (e.g., air conditioners, water heaters, energy storage) to offer flexibility into markets as reliable resources. This project will evaluate the risk and performance of the proposed market trading system and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: TX
Project Term: 05/01/2013 - 02/17/2014
Program: OPEN 2012

eNova

eNova is developing a gas compressor powered by waste heat from the exhaust of a gas turbine. A conventional gas turbine facility releases the exhaust heat produced during operation into the air—this heat is a waste by-product that can be used to improve power generation system efficiency. eNova’s gas compressor converts the exhaust waste heat from the simple cycle gas turbine to compressed air for injection into the turbine, thereby lessening the burden on the turbine’s air compressor. This new compressor design is ideal for use with a remote gas turbine—such as that typically used in the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 01/01/2010 - 12/31/2011
Program: OPEN 2009

Envia Systems

In a battery, metal ions move between the electrodes through the electrolyte in order to store energy. Envia Systems is developing new silicon-based negative electrode materials for Li-Ion batteries. Using this technology, Envia will be able to produce commercial EV batteries that outperform today's technology by 2-3 times. Many other programs have attempted to make anode materials based on silicon, but have not been able to produce materials that can withstand charge/discharge cycles multiple times. Envia has been able to make this material which can successfully cycle hundreds of times, on…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 02/19/2014 - 03/27/2015
Program: RANGE

EnZinc

EnZinc is developing a low-cost battery using 3D zinc microstructured sponge technology that could dramatically improve the rechargeability of zinc-based EV batteries. As a battery material, zinc is inexpensive and readily available, but presently unsuitable for long-term use in EVs. Current zinc based batteries offer limited cycle life due to the formation of tree-like internal structures (dendrites) that can short out the battery. To address this, EnZinc, in collaboration with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, will replace conventional zinc powder-bed anodes with a porous zinc sponge that…

Status: ALUMNI
State: KY
Project Term: 04/11/2013 - 09/30/2016
Program: OPEN 2012

Evolva

Evolva is producing terpenes—energy dense molecules that can be used as high-performance aviation fuels—from simple sugars using engineered microbes. These terpenes will provide better performance than existing petroleum-based aviation fuels. Evolva will draw upon their industrial-scale terpene manufacturing experience to produce aviation sesquiterpenes at a low cost and large scale. Going forward, Evolva will validate the performance of its aviation fuels in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and further engineer its process to utilize biomass feedstocks.

Status: ALUMNI
State: NJ
Project Term: 12/01/2009 - 05/31/2012
Program: OPEN 2009

Exelus

Exelus is developing a method to convert olefins from oil refinery exhaust gas into alkylate, a clean-burning, high-octane component of gasoline. Traditionally, olefins must be separated from exhaust before they can be converted into another source of useful fuel. Exelus' process uses catalysts that convert the olefin to alkylate without first separating it from the exhaust. The ability to turn up to 50% of exhaust directly into gasoline blends could result in an additional 46 million gallons of gasoline in the U.S. each year.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 03/05/2014 - 06/22/2015
Program: SWITCHES

Fairfield Crystal Technology

Fairfield Crystal Technology will develop a new technique to accelerate the growth of gallium nitride (GaN) single-crystal boules. A boule is a large crystal that is cut into wafers and polished to provide a surface, or substrate, suitable for fabricating a semiconductor device. Fairfield Crystal Technology’s unique boule-growth technique will rapidly produce superior-quality GaN crystal boules—overcoming the quality and growth-rate barriers typically associated with conventional growth techniques, including the current state-of-the-art hydride vapor phase epitaxy technique, and helping to…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 04/01/2010 - 12/31/2013
Program: OPEN 2009

FastCAP Systems

FastCAP Systems is improving the performance of an ultracapacitor—a battery-like electronic device that can complement, and possibly even replace, an HEV or EV battery pack. Ultracapacitors have many advantages over conventional batteries, including long lifespans (over 1 million cycles, as compared to 10,000 for conventional batteries) and better durability. Ultracapacitors also charge more quickly than conventional batteries, and they release energy more quickly. However, ultracapacitors have fallen short of batteries in one key metric: energy density—high energy density means more energy…

Status: ACTIVE
State: DC
Project Term: 07/02/2018 - 09/30/2022
Program: MARINER

Fearless Fund

Fearless Fund will lead a MARINER Category 1 project to design and develop a new system to enable large-scale macroalgae “ranching” using remote sensing, imaging, and modeling technologies. The core concept targets monitoring free-floating, low-impact Sargassum seaweed in the Gulf of Mexico for cost-effective biomass harvest. Fearless Fund’s cultivation process is designed to mimic naturally occurring seaweed mats found at the surface of the ocean. The concept leverages the free-floating nature of Sargassum, reducing costs from labor, seeding, and harvesting normally…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 08/23/2017 - 08/22/2020
Program: AMPED

Feasible

Feasible will develop a non-invasive, low-cost, ultrasonic diagnostic system that links the electrochemical reactions taking place inside a battery with changes in how sound waves propagate through the battery. This Electrochemical Acoustic Signal Interrogation (EASI) analysis will bridge the gap in battery diagnostics between structural insights and electrical measurements, offering both speed and scalability. The physical processes of a battery that affect performance are nearly impossible to monitor with standard diagnostic methods. EASI can provide insights into the battery development,…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 11/25/2019 - 11/24/2021
Program: Special Projects

Fervo Energy Company

The proposed fiber-optics based integrated tool will provide an unprecedented level of detail on the most critical aspects of an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) – the hydromechanical properties and geometry of the fracture zones that provide flow connections between the reservoir and the well. It has the potential to play a major role in catalyzing the 100 GW, $300B opportunity for EGS in the United States.

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 02/22/2010 - 03/31/2013
Program: OPEN 2009

FloDesign Wind Turbine

FloDesign's innovative wind turbine, inspired by the design of jet engines, could deliver 300% more power than existing wind turbines of the same rotor diameter by extracting more energy over a larger area. FloDesign's unique shrouded design expands the wind capture area, and the mixing vortex downstream allows more energy to flow through the rotor without stalling the turbine. The unique rotor and shrouded design also provide significant opportunity for mass production and simplified assembly, enabling mid-scale turbines (approximately 100 kW) to produce power at a cost that is comparable to…

Status: ALUMNI
State: AZ
Project Term: 10/01/2010 - 03/31/2013
Program: GRIDS

Fluidic Energy

Fluidic Energy is developing a low-cost, rechargeable, high-power module for Zinc-air batteries that will be used to store renewable energy. Zinc-air batteries are traditionally found in small, non-rechargeable devices like hearing aids because they are well-suited to delivering low levels of power for long periods of time. Historically, Zinc-air batteries have not been as useful for applications which require periodic bursts of power, like on the electrical grid. Fluidic hopes to fill this need by combining the high energy, low cost, and long run-time of a Zinc-air battery with new chemistry…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MI
Project Term: 01/01/2013 - 03/31/2016
Program: AMPED

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is developing a commercially viable battery tester with measurement precision that is significantly better than today's best battery testers. Improvements in the predictive ability of battery testers would enable significant reductions in the time and expense involved in electric vehicle technology validation. Unfortunately, the instrumental precision required to reliably predict performance of batteries after thousands of charge and discharge cycles does not exist in today's commercial systems. Ford's design would dramatically improve the precision of electric…

Status: CANCELLED
State: MI
Project Term: 09/17/2012 - 03/31/2015
Program: MOVE

Ford Motor Company

ARPA-E and Ford Motor Company agreed to mutually conclude this project. Ford is developing an on-board adsorbed natural gas tank system with a high-surface-area framework material that would increase the energy density of compressed natural gas at low pressures. Traditional natural gas tanks attempt to compensate for low-energy-density and limited driving range by storing compressed gas at high pressures, requiring expensive pressure vessels. Ford and their project partners will optimize advanced porous material within a system to reduce the pressure of on-board tanks while delivering the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MA
Project Term: 07/31/2019 - 01/30/2022
Program: DAYS

Form Energy

Form Energy will develop a long-duration energy storage system that takes advantage of the low cost and high abundance of sulfur in a water-based solution. Previous MIT research demonstrated that aqueous sulfur flow batteries represent the lowest chemical cost among rechargeable batteries. However, these systems have relatively low efficiency. Conversely, numerous rechargeable battery chemistries with higher efficiency have high chemical costs. The solution requires low chemical cost, high efficiency, and streamlined architecture. The team will pursue several competing strategies and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 01/15/2010 - 09/30/2013
Program: OPEN 2009

Foro Energy

Foro Energy is developing a unique capability and hardware system to transmit high power lasers over long distances via fiber optic cables. This laser power is integrated with a mechanical drilling bit to enable rapid and sustained penetration of hard rock formations too costly to drill with mechanical drilling bits alone. The laser energy that is directed at the rock basically softens the rock, allowing the mechanical bit to more easily remove it. Foro Energy's laser-assisted drill bits have the potential to be up to 10 times more economical than conventional hard-rock drilling technologies…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 08/01/2019 - 07/31/2022
Program: OPEN 2018

Foro Energy

Foro Energy will develop a high-power laser tool to assist in removing the extremely tough materials constituting aging energy assets in a timely, cost-effective, safe, and environmentally responsible manner. This cutting and melting tool will be capable of transmitting high-power laser light at long distances in a field environment, greatly boosting decommissioning efficiency.

Status: ACTIVE
State: VA
Project Term: 10/01/2020 - 09/30/2022
Program: GEMINA

Framatome

More information on this project is coming soon!

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 08/15/2018 - 11/13/2020
Program: INTEGRATE

FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy will develop an adaptive, pressurized solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) for use in hybrid power systems. Hybridized power generation systems, combining energy efficient SOFCs with a microturbine or internal combustion (IC) engine, offer a path to high efficiency distributed generation from abundant natural gas. Proof-of-concept systems have shown the potential of this hybrid approach, but component optimization is necessary to increase system efficiencies and reduce costs. Existing SOFC stacks are relatively expensive components, and improving their efficiency and robustness would…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 10/01/2014 - 09/30/2017
Program: REBELS

FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy will develop an intermediate-temperature fuel cell that will directly convert methane to methanol and other liquid fuels using advanced metal catalysts. Existing fuel cell technologies typically convert chemical energy from hydrogen into electricity during a chemical reaction with oxygen or some other agent. FuelCell Energy’s cell would create liquid fuel from natural gas. Their advanced catalysts are optimized to improve the yield and selectivity of methane-to-methanol reactions; this efficiency provides the ability to run a fuel cell on methane instead of hydrogen. In…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 05/22/2017 - 09/30/2021
Program: REFUEL

FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy will develop an advanced solid oxide fuel cell system capable of generating ammonia from nitrogen and water, and renewable electricity. The unique design will also allow the system to operate in reverse, by converting ammonia and oxygen from air into electricity. A key innovation in this project is the integration of proton-conducting ceramic membranes with new electride catalyst supports to enable an increase in the rate of ammonia production. Combining their catalyst with a calcium-aluminate electride support increases the rate of ammonia formation by reducing coverage of…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 05/13/2014 - 01/31/2018
Program: FOCUS

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a hybrid solar converter that focuses sunlight onto solar cells with a reflective backside mirror. These solar cells convert most visible wavelengths of sunlight to electricity while reflecting the unused wavelengths to heat a stream of flowing particles. The particles are used to store the heat for use immediately or at a later time to drive a turbine and produce electricity. GTI’s design integrates the parabolic trough mirrors, commonly used in CSP plants, into a dual-mirror system that captures the full solar spectrum while storing heat to…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 09/07/2016 - 09/30/2017
Program: IDEAS

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) will develop a sulfur-based methane oxidation process, known as soft oxidation, to convert methane into liquid fuels and chemicals. Current gas-to-liquid technology for converting methane to liquid hydrocarbons requires massive scale to achieve economic production. The large plant size makes this approach unsuitable to address the challenge of distributed methane emissions. Soft oxidation is a method better suited to address this challenge because of its modular nature. It also addresses a major limitation of conventional gas-to-liquid technology: the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 01/01/2014 - 03/31/2015
Program: METALS

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a continuously operating cell that produces low-cost aluminum powder using less energy than conventional methods. Conventional aluminum production is done by pumping huge electrical currents into a vat of molten aluminum dissolved in mineral salts at nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. GTI’s technology occurs near room temperature using reusable solvents to dissolve the ore. Because GTI’s design relies on chemical dissolution rather than heat, its cells can operate at room temperature, meaning it does not suffer from wasteful thermal energy losses…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 01/01/2013 - 12/31/2014
Program: MOVE

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a natural gas tank for light-duty vehicles that features a thin, tailored shell containing microscopic valves which open and close on demand to manage pressure within the tank. Traditional natural gas storage tanks are thick and heavy, which makes them expensive to manufacture. GTI's tank design uses unique adsorbent pellets with nano-scale pores surrounded by a coating that functions as valves to help manage the pressure of the gas and facilitate more efficient storage and transportation. GTI's low-pressure tanks would have thinner walls…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 03/31/2014
Program: MOVE

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) will partner with Northwestern University, NuMat Technologies, a Northwestern start-up company, and Westport Fuel Systems to identify materials with the best characteristics for low-pressure natural gas storage. The gas-storing materials, known as metal organic framework (MOF) adsorbents, hold natural gas the way a sponge holds liquids. The project team will further develop their computer modeling and screening technique to support the creation of a low-pressure adsorbent material specifically designed for natural gas vehicles. The team will also validate the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 01/01/2013 - 09/30/2015
Program: OPEN 2012

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing a new process to convert natural gas or methane-containing gas into methanol and hydrogen for liquid fuel. Methanol serves as the main feedstock for dimethyl ether, which could be used for vehicular fuel. Unfortunately, current methods to produce liquid fuels from natural gas require large and expensive facilities that use significant amounts of energy. GTI’s process uses metal oxide catalysts that are continuously regenerated in a reactor, similar to a battery, to convert the methane into methanol. These metal oxide catalysts reduce the energy…

Status: ALUMNI
State: IL
Project Term: 03/01/2016 - 02/28/2018
Program: OPEN 2015

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

The team led by Gas Technology Institute (GTI) will develop a conventional automotive engine as a reactor to convert ethane into ethylene by using a new catalyst and reactor design that could enable record-breaking conversion yields. The technology proposed by GTI would use a reciprocating engine as a variable volume oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) reactor. This means a conventional engine would be modified with a new valving mechanism that would take advantage of high flow rates and high pressure and temperature regime that already exists in an internal combustion engine. This process…

Status: ACTIVE
State: IL
Project Term: 06/01/2017 - 11/30/2021
Program: REFUEL

Gas Technology Institute (GTI)

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) will develop a process for producing dimethyl ether (DME) from renewable electricity, air, and water. DME is a clean-burning fuel that is easily transported as a liquid and can be used as a drop-in fuel in internal combustion engines or directly in DME fuel cells. Ultimately carbon dioxide (CO2) would be captured from sustainable sources, such as biogas production, and fed into a reactor with hydrogen generated from high temperature water splitting. The CO2 and hydrogen react on a bifunctional catalyst to form methanol and a subsequently DME. To improve…

Status: CANCELLED
State: TN
Project Term: 10/01/2012 - 12/31/2014
Program: AMPED

Gayle Technologies

Gayle Technologies is developing a laser-guided, ultrasonic electric vehicle battery inspection system that would help gather precise diagnostic data on battery performance. The batteries used in hybrid vehicles are highly complex, requiring advanced management systems to maximize their performance. Gayle's laser-guided, ultrasonic system would allow for diagnosis of various aspects of the battery system, including inspection for defects during manufacturing and assembly, battery state-of-health, and flaws that develop from mechanical or chemical issues with the battery system during use…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 03/13/2019 - 07/12/2021
Program: OPEN 2018

Geegah

Geegah will develop an inexpensive wireless sensor, using ultrasound from MHz to GHz, that can measure water content, soil chemicals, root growth, and nematode pests (a type of small worm), allowing farmers to improve the output of biofuel crops while reducing water and pesticide use. The reusable device will include a sensor suite and radio interface that can communicate to aboveground farm vehicles. This novel integration of sensing and imaging technologies has the potential to provide a low-cost solution to precision sensor-based digital agriculture.

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 01/09/2012 - 07/31/2013
Program: GENI

General Atomics

General Atomics is developing a direct current (DC) circuit breaker that could protect the grid from faults 100 times faster than its alternating current (AC) counterparts. Circuit breakers are critical elements in any electrical system. At the grid level, their main function is to isolate parts of the grid where a fault has occurred—such as a downed power line or a transformer explosion—from the rest of the system. DC circuit breakers must interrupt the system during a fault much faster than AC circuit breakers to prevent possible damage to cables, converters and other grid-level components…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 09/01/2010 - 08/28/2013
Program: GRIDS

General Atomics

General Atomics is developing a flow battery technology based on chemistry similar to that used in the traditional lead-acid battery found in nearly every car on the road today. Flow batteries store energy in chemicals that are held in tanks outside the battery. When the energy is needed, the chemicals are pumped through the battery. Using the same basic chemistry as a traditional battery but storing its energy outside of the cell allows for the use of very low-cost materials. The goal is to develop a system that is far more durable than today's lead-acid batteries, can be scaled to deliver…

Status: ALUMNI
State: MA
Project Term: 09/13/2010 - 04/01/2011
Program: GRIDS

General Compression

General Compression has developed a transformative, near-isothermal compressed air energy storage system (GCAES) that prevents air from heating up during compression and cooling down during expansion. When integrated with renewable generation, such as a wind farm, intermittent energy can be stored in compressed air in salt caverns or pressurized tanks. When electricity is needed, the process is reversed and the compressed air is expanded to produce electricity. Unlike conventional compressed air energy storage (CAES) projects, no gas is burned to convert the stored high-pressure air back into…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 01/01/2011 - 07/17/2012
Program: ADEPT

General Electric (GE) Global Research

Magnetic components are typically the largest components in a power converter. To date, however, researchers haven’t found an effective way to reduce their size without negatively impacting their performance. And, reducing the size of the converter’s other components isn’t usually an option because shrinking them can also diminish the effectiveness of the magnetic components. General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing smaller magnetic components for power converters that maintain high performance levels. The company is building smaller components with magnetic films. These films are…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 01/01/2013 - 12/31/2016
Program: AMPED

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing low-cost, thin-film sensors that enable real-time mapping of temperature and surface pressure for each cell within a battery pack, which could help predict how and when batteries begin to fail. The thermal sensors within today's best battery packs are thick, expensive, and incapable of precisely assessing important factors like temperature and pressure within their cells. In comparison to today's best systems, GE's design would provide temperature and pressure measurements using smaller, more affordable sensors than those used in…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 09/01/2015 - 03/02/2017
Program: ARID

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research will design, manufacture, and test an absorption heat pump that can be used for supplemental dry cooling at thermoelectric power plants. The team’s project features a novel, absorbent-enabled regenerator that doubles the coefficient of performance of conventional absorption heat pumps. The new absorbents demonstrate greater hygroscopic potential, or the ability to prevent evaporation. To remove heat and cool condenser water, these absorbents take in water vapor (refrigerant) and release the water as liquid during desorption without vaporization or boiling…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 04/13/2020 - 04/12/2022
Program: ATLANTIS

General Electric (GE) Global Research

GE Global Research and Glosten will design a new FOWT based on the 12 MW (megawatt) Haliade-X rotor and a lightweight three-legged acutated tension-leg platform. Applying a CCD methodology, the team will use advanced control algorithms to operate the turbine and concurrently design the integrated structure of the FOWT. The proposed turbine designs will have the potential to reduce the mass of the system by more than 35% compared with installed FOWT designs.

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 08/02/2019 - 08/01/2022
Program: BREAKERS

General Electric (GE) Global Research

GE Research will develop a medium voltage direct current (MVDC) circuit breaker using gas discharge tubes (GDTs) with exceptionally fast response time. GDTs switch using no mechanical motion by transitioning the internal gas between its ordinary insulating state and a highly conductive plasma state. The team will develop a new cathode and control grid to reduce power loss during normal operation and meet program performance and efficiency targets. A fast MVDC breaker is an important component in uprating existing AC distribution corridors in congested urban areas to MVDC, and connecting…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 03/24/2020 - 03/23/2022
Program: DIFFERENTIATE

General Electric (GE) Global Research

GE Global Research will develop a probabilistic inverse design machine learning (ML) framework, Pro-ML IDeAS, to take performance and requirements as input and provide engineering designs as output. Pro-ML IDeAS will calculate the design explicitly without iteration and overcome the challenges of ill-posed inverse problems. Pro-ML IDeAS will use GE’s Bayesian hybrid modeling with multi-fidelity intelligent design and analysis of computer experiments and a novel probabilistic invertible neural network (INN). The proposed framework can be applied to general complex design problems. The designs…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 05/15/2020 - 05/14/2022
Program: DIFFERENTIATE

General Electric (GE) Global Research

GE Research will develop design optimization tools for the laser powder bed fusion based additive manufacturing of turbomachinery components. The team will integrate the latest advances in multi-physics topology optimization with fast machine learning-based producibility evaluations extracted from large training datasets comprising high-fidelity physics-based simulations and experimental validation studies. The integrated methodology will be used to demonstrate simultaneous improvements in the producibility and thermodynamic efficiency of a multi-physics turbomachinery component. Improved…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 08/01/2014 - 12/31/2018
Program: FOCUS

General Electric (GE) Global Research

GE is designing and testing components of a turbine system driven by high-temperature, high-pressure carbon dioxide (CO2) to develop a more durable and efficient energy conversion system. Current solar energy system components break down at high temperatures, shortening the system’s cycle life. GE’s energy storage system stores heat from the sun in molten salt at moderate temperature and uses surplus electricity from the grid to create a phase change heat sink, which helps manage the temperature of the system. Initially, the CO2 remains at a low temperature and low pressure to enable more…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 01/23/2012 - 01/22/2015
Program: GENI

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing electricity transmission hardware that could connect distributed renewable energy sources, like wind farms, directly to the grid—eliminating the need to feed the energy generated through intermediate power conversion stations before they enter the grid. GE is using the advanced semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC) to conduct electricity through its transmission hardware because SiC can operate at higher voltage levels than semiconductors made out of other materials. This high-voltage capability is important because electricity must…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 02/24/2012 - 05/31/2014
Program: GENI

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing new, low-cost insulation for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity transmission cables. The current material used to insulate HVDC transmission cables is very expensive and can account for as much as 1/3 of the total cost of a high-voltage transmission system. GE is embedding nanomaterials into specialty rubber to create its insulation. Not only are these materials less expensive than those used in conventional HVDC insulation, but also they will help suppress excess charge accumulation. The excess charge left behind on a cable…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CT
Project Term: 07/22/2019 - 01/21/2022
Program: HITEMMP

General Electric (GE) Global Research

The GE-led team will develop a metallic-based, ultra-performance heat exchanger enabled by additive manufacturing technology and capable of operation at 900°C (1652°F) and 250 bar (3626 psi). The team will optimize heat transfer versus thermomechanical load using new micro-trifurcating core structures and manifold designs. The team will leverage a novel, high-temperature capable, crack-resistant nickel superalloy, designed specifically for additive manufacturing. When completed, the heat exchanger could enable increased thermal efficiency of indirect heated power cycles such as supercritical…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 10/01/2010 - 09/30/2013
Program: IMPACCT

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research and the University of Pittsburgh are developing a unique CO2 capture process in which a liquid absorbent changes into a solid upon contact with CO2. Once in solid form, the material can be separated and the CO2 can be released for storage by heating. Upon heating, the absorbent returns to its liquid form, where it can be reused to capture more CO2. The approach is more efficient than other solvent-based processes because it avoids the heating of extraneous solvents such as water. This ultimately leads to a lower cost of CO2 capture and will lower the…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CT
Project Term: 05/08/2015 - 08/07/2018
Program: MONITOR

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research will partner with Virginia Tech to design, fabricate, and test a novel, hollow core, microstructured optical fiber for long path-length transmission of infrared radiation at methane absorption wavelengths. GE will drill micrometer-sized side-holes to allow gases to penetrate into the hollow core. The team will use a combination of techniques to quantify and localize the methane in the hollow core. GE’s plans to develop fibers that can be designed to fit any natural gas system, providing flexibility to adapt to the needs of a monitoring program in a wide…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CT
Project Term: 01/01/2013 - 04/20/2014
Program: MOVE

General Electric (GE) Global Research

General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing a low-cost, at-home natural gas refueling system that reduces fueling time and eliminates compression stages. Traditional compressor-based natural gas refueling systems require removal of water from natural gas through complicated desiccant cycles to avoid damage. GE's design uses a chiller to cool the gas to a temperature below -50°C, which would separate water and other contaminants from the natural gas. This design has very few moving parts, will operate quietly, and will be virtually maintenance-free. This simplified, compressor-free…