Phase SBIR
Project Summary An estimated 2.5 billion people, or about one-third of the world?s population, rely on biomass fuel for cooking. Emissions from biomass cookstoves contribute to global climate change, indoor/local air quality issues, and related health effects. In particular, indoor air quality issues related to biomass cookstoves contribute sign...
Phase 2 SBIR
Thermochemical processing via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is capable of processing a broad range of feedstocks, has a favorable net energy ratio, and produces an energy-dense liquid bio-oil product. However, there is an obstacle with current HTL processes that has hampered adoption of this technology—the HTL process produces a considerable ...
Phase 2 STTR
Institution: Temple University
High selectivity in chemical reactions is the key to reducing costs, energy consumption and emissions in chemical processing. More selective and active catalysts will reduce the need for recovering unreacted chemicals for recycle and removing byproducts. Reducing the burden on separation processes will greatly reduce the energy required for chem...
Phase 1 SBIR
Geothermal heat pumps have the potential to significantly reduce residential and commercial energy usage for space heating, air conditioning, and hot water. The largest barrier to wider adoption of this technology is the high installation cost relative to conventional air conditioners, gas furnaces, and heat pumps. The high cost of geothermal he...
Phase 1 SBIR
It is expected that advanced and additive manufacturing will substantially reduce deployment times of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Some estimates predict that deployment schedules could be accelerated by up to 6 months while reducing component fabrication costs by 20% or more through the adoption of advanced and additive manufacturing innova...
Phase 2 SBIR
Mainstream is developing highly selective membrane structures and composites for the separation of industrially significant gasses such as oxygen. Our scalable and modular approach will be applicable to lowering the size, weight and power requirements of to a wide range of device from small portable oxygen generators to large industrial gas sepa...
Phase 1 STTR
Institution: Temple University
Separations often account for a majority of process costs. This is because all traditional separation processes have inherent weaknesses that prevent the system from achieving perfect (or even near perfect in many instances) selectivity. These weaknesses result in large recycle streams and require multiple separation units in concert in order to...
Phase 1 SBIR
Dependence on fossil fuels for energy has led to a far reaching secondary problem of increasing carbon dioxide concentrations. This rise in CO2, as well as the other so called “greenhouse gasses” has in turn led to global climate change, and increasing temperatures. There is a need to go beyond the basic capture and storage approaches to mitigat...
Phase 1 SBIR
As legislation continues to tighten regulations on emissions for coal-fired power plants, new technologies and control strategies are required. Mercury and other coal contaminants are of interest due to the cost associated with capture and disposal of toxic mercury species. More recently, the Fossil Energy program at DOE has identified spouted b...
Phase 1 SBIR
There is an urgent need to improve protection of our soldiers without losing mobility and maneuverability. As personal protection equipment becomes more sophisticated and multifunctional for protection against ballistics, shrapnel, and stabbing, it has also become heavier and more cumbersome. This additional mass can inhibit troop movement and p...