Energy Department Invests $30 Million in New Energy-Efficient Industrial Research and Development
January 12, 2001
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806
christina.kielich@hq.doe.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2001
Energy Department Invests $30 Million in New Energy-Efficient Industrial Research and Development
75 Projects Enhance Competitiveness, Improve Environment
Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson today announced plans to invest $30 million over the next three years in 75 new energy-saving industrial research, development and demonstration partnerships.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will share the cost of most of these projects with universities, research institutions, over 150 private companies and Energy Department national laboratories.
"These technologies will improve productivity, save energy and reduce environmental impacts in many energy-intensive industries in the U.S. today," said Secretary Richardson. "Reducing energy demand is crucial to reducing the high price of energy today."
Some examples of the research, development and demonstration cost-shared projects announced today are:
- the first commercial demonstration of a dual pressure Euler steam turbine for industrial and building applications. The turbine new technology can double the percentage of electricity generated by a single stage steam turbine by making use of energy available in pressure letdown valves. The potential energy savings for industry is estimated to be 467 trillion British Thermal Units (BTU) per year - - enough energy to heat, light and power all the homes in Virginia for about a year.
- an aluminum "isothermal melting process" that will save half the energy and emissions associated with conventional aluminum scrap melting. Most aluminum scrap is melted in natural gas- or fuel oil-fired reverberatory furnaces that are less than 30 percent efficient. Emissions from the furnaces create environmental concerns and their combustion gases are detrimental to metal quality. Immersion heaters being developed in this project will boost aluminum scrap melting thermal efficiency to as high as 97 percent and avoid detrimental combustion gas contact with aluminum.
- a novel process for recovering and reusing in-plant waste polymer raw materials that could result in an energy reduction of 1.6 trillion BTU per year for an olefins manufacturing plant -- a potential annual savings of nearly $4.5 million per plant. Olefin plants produce an array of polymer raw materials that are key feedstocks for plastics found in many common consumer items; and
- development of improved materials for continuous hot-dipping processes that will improve molten metal bath hardware and bearings. The goal is to extend component life by an order of magnitude with annual energy savings of over two trillion BTU and cost savings of approximately $46 million dollars.
The Energy Department's National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment and Economics (NICE3) program encourages industry to reduce energy use and waste at its source by providing grants through state agencies. The grants help U.S. companies overcome regulatory, economic and other barriers by demonstrating and commercializing innovative, energy-saving technologies. DOE's Invention & Innovation program encourages inventors and entrepreneurs to bring their energy-saving ideas and technologies to the marketplace by locating technical partners, commercial sponsors and additional funding sources. The program provides technical guidance for project development planning and management; regional, state, and local level support for economic development as well as regional training and learning centers for business planning.
For a complete list of award recipients please visit the DOE website at http://www.energy.gov/press/sub/pressreleases.html.
For more information on DOE's energy efficiency programs please visit http://www.oit.doe.gov/news.shtml.
Inventions & Innovation Projects
| Project Title | Recipients | Recipients' Location | DOE Cost Share ($) | Industry Cost Share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viable Inert Cathode for Smelting Primary Aluminum | PRACSOL, LLC | Columbus, Ohio | $40,000 over two years | $5,000 |
| Development of Inert Anode for the Primary Aluminum Industry | Energy Research Company | Staten Island, N.Y. | $40,000 over two years | $0 |
| Catalytic Processors for CO2 Reforming of CH4 and Gaseous Hydrocarbons | ZIVATECH | North Hills, Calif. | $40,000 over two years | $75,000 |
| Chlorine Recycling Using a Supported Iron Oxide Catalyst | PRACSOL, LLC | Columbus, Ohio | $40,000 over two years | $10,000 |
| Testing a Highly Efficient Technology for Converting Woody Biomass to Electricity | Gazogen, Inc. | East Calais, Vt. | $40,000 over two years | $20,000 |
| Automatic Evaluation of Wood Properties | Quantum Magnetics, Inc. | San Diego, Calif. | $39,896 over two years | $0 |
| Improved Process Control of Wood Waste Fired Boilers | Process Control Solutions, Inc. | Tallahassee, Fla. | $40,000 over two years | $0 |
| Energy-Efficient Production and Utilization of Light-weight Structural Panels | Genesis Laboratories, Inc. | Batavia, Ill. | $40,000 over two years | $10,000 |
| High Purity Fused Silica Glasses | Rensselaer Polytechnic | Troy, N.Y. | $40,000 | $20,000 |
| Batch Preheat for Glass and Related Furnace Processing Operations | Energy and Environmental Resources | Cedar Grove, Ind. | $40,000 over two years | $10,000 |
| Development of Environmentally Benign Mineral Flotation Collectors | Versitech, Inc. | Tucson, Ariz. | $40,000 over two years | $48,000 |
| A Microbial Genomics Approach to Resource Exploration and Characterization | Mr. Matt Ashby | Mill Valley, Calif. | $40,000 over two years | $74,000 |
| New Membrane Process for Improved Energy Saving Separations in the Petroleum Industry | Dr. John Dorgan | Golden, Colo. | $40,000 over two years | $10,000 |
| Coke Formation Process Model for Petroleum Refining Efficiency Improvement | Western Research Institute | Laramie, Wyo. | $39,519 over two years | $0 |
| Fluted Spiral Membrane Module for Reverse Osmosis of Liquids with Dissolved and Suspended Solids | Scinsep Systems | Davis, Calif. | $40,000 over two years | $48,000 |
| Underground Pipe Locator and Depth Finder | Quantum Magnetics, Inc. | San Diego, Calif. | $39,968 over two years | $0 |
| Reduced Energy Consuming CRT Display | Electron Optics Development Co., LLC | Trumbull, Conn. | $40,000 over two years | $146,000 |
| Electrochromic Window Film | Chameleon Optics, Inc. | Philadelphia, Pa. | $40,000 over two years | $3,000 |
| Low-Cost Inflatable-Support Heliostats to Enable Cost-Effective Large-Scale Solar Thermal Power | RSV Invention Enterprises | Federal Way, Wash. | $40,000 over two year | $0 |
| Regenerator Heat-Exchanger | Mr. James Lin | Beechhurst, N.Y. | $40,000 over two years | $0 |
| Prototype Development of an Industrial Fuel Cell Micro Generator | FuelCell Technologies, Inc. | New Milford, Conn. | $199,671 over three years | $20,160 |
| Process Particle Counter (PPC) Sensor/Controller for Optimizing Power Recovery Expander and Gas Turbine Performance for Various Fuel Sources | Process Metrix LLC. | San Ramon, Calif. | $200,000 over three years | $70,000 |
| An Innovative Approach to Improved Fuel Economy in Heavy Duty Trucks | SuperDrive, Inc. | Piqua, Ohio | $199,806 over three years | $0 |
| Theremophotovoltaic Electric Power Generation Using Exhaust Heat in the Glass, Steel and Metal-casting Industries | JX Chrystals, Inc. | Issaquah, Wash. | $199,806 over three years | $0 |
| Advanced Overfire Air System and Design Methodology for Stoker Type Boilers and Furnaces that Burn Biomass, Coal, and Other Solid Fuels | Mr. Gene Berkau | Brentwood, Tenn. | $199,820 over three years | $510,000 |
| Simple, Low Cost "Closed Loop Intelligent Control" for Single Phase AC Motors in HVAC&R Systems Using Optical Programming | Opto Generic Devices, Inc. | Van Hornesville, N.Y. | $200,000 over three years | $195,000 |
| Novel LED for Illumination Applications | Bost Nitride Technologies | Canton, Mass. | $200,000 over three years | $220,000 |
| Lost Foam Casting Quantifier Program | Industrial Analytics Corporation | Oak Ridge, Tenn. | $110,100 over three years | $0 |
| A Hot Eye TM Based Coordinate Measuring Machine for the Forging Industry | OG Technologies | Ann Arbor, Mich. | $200,000 over three years | $265,059 |
| Cupola Furnace Computer Process Model | S. Katz Associates, Inc. | Oakland, Mich. | $200,000 over three years | $12,700 |
| Development of a High-Frequency Eddy-Current Separator | EMPS Corporation | Salt Lake City, Utah | $199,000 over three years | $85,000 |
| Integrated Acoustic Kiln Monitor to Guide Accelerated Drying of Wood | Perceptron, Inc. | Plymouth Meeting, Pa. | $200,000 over three years | $213,000 |
| Development of an Energy-Saving Grain Drying Invention | Shivvers Inc. | Corydon, Iowa | $200,000 over three years | $70,000 |
| Deposition in Kraft Recovery Boilers and Monitoring Glass Furnaces | Combustion Specialists, Inc. | Maple Valley, Wash. | $197,000 over three years | $49,250 |
| Seed Selection Technology for Genetic Enhancement of Grains Targeted for Specific Processes | MTEC Photoacoustics, Inc. | Ames, Iowa | $200,000 over three years | $154,000 |
| Development and Commercialization of Biopulping | Biopulping International, Inc. | Madison, Wis. | $200,000 over three years | $75,000 |
| Development of a Lower pH Copper Flotation Reagent System | Versitech, Inc. | Tucson, Ariz. | $200,000 over three years | $158,000 |
| Miniature, Inexpensive, Amperometric Oxygen Sensor | Ceram Physics, Inc. | Westerville, Ohio | $199,683 over three years | $0 |
| Extremely Compact and Efficient Chemical Reactor | Mesoscopic Devices, LLC | Broomfield, Colo. | $200,000 over three years | $0 |
| High Throughput Vacuum Processing for Innovative Uses of Glass | AVA Technologies, Inc. | Ft. Collins, Colo. | $200,000 over three years | $0 |
| Dual-Function Absorption Cycle Utilizing Refinery Low-Level Heat | Energy Concepts Company, LLC | Annapolis, Md. | $200,000 over three years | $20,000 |
| Energy Conservation Waste Reduction in the Processing of Soft (Unfired) Ceramic Particles via Dynamic Cyclone Classification | Innova Tech, Inc. | Durham, N.C. | $200,000 over three years | $20,000 |
| A Better H2S Separation and Sulfur Recovery Process | PIPco, Inc. | Southport, Conn. | document.title = "Advanced Manufacturing Office: Energy Department Invests $30 Million in New Energy-Efficient Industrial Research and Development"; |