Discover Magazine Awards
1999
Microplasmatron (Onboard Refinery) for Technological Innovation in Transportation (U.S. Department of Energy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Engineers have known for years that adding hydrogen to the fuel mix can make an automobile engine run much cleaner. The problem has been figuring out a way to create the hydrogen onboard as it is needed. The plasmatron solves this problem by using blasts of electricity that convert ordinary gasoline and air into a hydrogen-rich gas. The prototype version — which is the size of a soup can — produces enough hydrogen to cut emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides by 90%.
1998
Near-Frictionless Carbon Coating (Argonne National Laboratory). A coating developed by Argonne offers friction coefficients of 0.001–0.006 — about 50 times lower than that of Teflon. The most promising applications appear to be those that operate in essentially air-free environments, such as bearings for ultrahigh vacuum instruments; certain mechanical seals; and selected cryogenic, space, and aircraft applications. Among the most promising automotive and engine applications are turbocharger rotors, piston rings, gears and bearings, air-conditioning compressors, and fuel injector components.
1997
Enzymatic Conversion of Sugar to Hydrogen (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). ORNL researchers developed a new method to extract hydrogen from certain forms of sugars, such as cellulose and lactose. Enzymes are used to convert complex sugars that make up cellulose into a simple sugar — glucose — and then convert the glucose into hydrogen. Glucose is the most common sugar and occurs by itself or in combination with other sugars. Cellulose, the basic building block of all plant matter, can be found in wood and paper products — even old newspapers. Lactose, a milk sugar, also occurs in cheese and cheese product wastes, such as cheese whey.