U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Industrial Technologies Program – BestPractices

Commercial and Emerging Technologies

BestPractices is ready to help your company research and develop innovative technologies that increase efficiency, curb waste and emissions, and improve product quality. Over the past 27 years, ITP has supported approximately 600 separate research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects that have produced more than 170 technologies.

In 2004, successfully commercialized technologies resulted in energy cost savings to industry of 366 trillion Btu, approximately equivalent to $2.06 billion. By supporting research, development, and demonstrations of promising energy efficient technology, BestPractices reduces the risk for companies engaged in innovative R&D. Find out more about new commercialized and emerging technologies.

For the details on ITP's commercialized and emerging technologies, see the following: 

Impacts: Industrial Technologies Program Summary of Program Results for CY2005 (PDF 3.9 MB) describes the impact, in energy savings and environmental pollution reduction, of ITP's commercialized and emerging technologies through 2005. Download Adobe Reader.

Energy Technology Solutions: Public-Private Partnerships Transforming Industry (PDF 3.7 MB) provides details on each ITP co-funded energy-efficient technology available in the marketplace today. It also presents details on emerging technologies and other resources to help industry save energy.

BestPractices helps companies engaged in R&D by:

  • Working with industry to identify research priorities
  • Supporting collaborative RD&D with the eight Energy Intensive Industries: aluminum, chemicals, glass, forest products, metal casting, mining, petroleum, and steel
  • Providing technical assistance, system analysis tool training, and information on current and future R&D trends
  • Financial assistance for technology demonstrations

In addition to the 170 emerging technologies BestPractices has helped bring to the marketplace, another 142 technologies are expected to be ready for commercialization in the next year or two. Check for new information about emerging technologies solicitations. 

Commercialized Technologies

Agriculture

  • Utilization of Corn-Based Polymers

Chemicals

  • Pressure Swing Adsorption for Product Recovery Forest Products
  • Continuous Digester Control Technology

Metal Casting

  • Die Casting Copper Motor Rotors

Steel

  • Electrochemical De-Zincing of Steel Scrap
  • Transfer Rolls for Steel Production

Crosscutting Technology

  • Advanced Turbine System
  • Forced Internal Recirculation Burner
  • In-Situ, Real-Time Measurement of Melt Constituents
  • Solid-State Sensors for Monitoring Hydrogen

Mining

  • Fibrous Monolithic Composites as Wear-Resistant Components

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Emerging Technologies

Chemicals

  • Affinity Ceramic Membranes with CO2 Transport Channels
  • Improved Methods for the Production of Polyurethane Foam
  • Process Heater Ultra-Low Excess Air Control
  • P-Xylene Production with Waste Heat Powered Ammonia Absorption Refrigeration

Forest Products

  • Black Liquor Steam Reforming/Pulsed Combustion
  • Borate Autocausticizing
  • Directed Green Liquor Utilization (D-Glu) Pulping
  • Screenable Pressure Sensitive Adhesives
  • Surfactant Spray to Improve Flotation Deinking Performance
  • Use of Residual Solids from Pulp and Paper Mills for Ready-Mixed Concrete

Glass

  • Advanced Oxy-Fuel-Fired Front-End System
  • Optimization of On-Line Coating of Float Glass

Metal Casting

  • Lost Foam Casting Quantifier Program
  • ZSP Tooling and Rapid Prototyping in Die Casting

Mining

  • High-Temperature Superconductors in Underground Communications
  • Improving Taconite Processing Plant Efficiency

Steel

  • High-Quality Iron Nuggets Using a Rotary Hearth Furnace
  • Life Improvement of Pot Hardware in Continuous Hot-Dipping Processes
  • Optimization of Post-Combustion in Steelmaking
  • Steel Foam Materials and Structures
  • Submerged Entry Nozzles that Resist Clogging

Crosscutting

  • Carbon Films for Next Generation Rotating Equipment Applications
  • Diagnostics and Control of Natural Gas Fired Furnaces via Flame Image Analysis
  • Diode Laser Sensor for Combustion Control
  • Fiber-Optic Sensor for Industrial Process Measurement and Control
  • Hybrid Integrated Model for Gas Metal Arc Welding
  • Portable Parallel Beam X-Ray Difraction System
  • Process Heater System
  • Super Boiler
  • Tube Metal Temperature Sensor
  • Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond Coatings (UNDC)

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