US – Page 229 – TechConnect Briefs

Renewable Energy Strategies for non-RPS States

Hill B., Fleming S., Georgia Institute of Technology, US

Oral presentation. Renewable energy can succeed in non-RPS states. Second generation renewable fuels offer a viable market beachhead for the introduction and development of renewable energy businesses in non-RPS states, particularly the Southeastern United States. [...]

A review: Comprehensive comparison of corn-based and cellulosic-based ethanol as biofuel sources

Hoover F., Abraham J., University of St. Thomas, US

This study reviewed literature on corn and cellulosic ethanol for their potential to replace petroleum fuels. Metrics include: energy yield, cropland requirements, and pollution reduction. The key findings are that an agreement exists among the [...]

Improvement of Hydrogen Production by Immobilized Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 Using Reverse Micelles as Microreactor

Singh A., Misra K., Rice University, US

Within the process of photobiological hydrogen production, purple non-sulfur (PNS) bacteria are an interesting subject of study because of their high substrate conversion efficiencies and their capability of using a wide variety of substrates either [...]

Reburning of Cattle Biomass with Coals for Emissions Control

Oh H., Annamalai K., Sweeten J.M., Texas A&M University, US

Biomass fuels can subdivided into two classes: agricultural (AgB) and Animal waste (AnB). The AnB includes cattle manure or cattle biomass (CB), Poultry Litter or poultry biomass (PB), Hog biomass (HB) etc. Since the chemical [...]

Hydrocarbon production via biomass pyrolysis and hydrodeoxygenation

Steele P., Gajjela S., Yu F., Gresham G., Mississippi State University, US

Bio-oils produced from pyrolysis of biomass are chemically complex compounds. As fuels they have a number of negative properties such as high acidity, water content, variable viscosity and heating values about half that of diesel [...]

A Value Chain and Life Cycle Assessment Approach to Identify Technological Innovation Opportunities in Algae Biodiesel

Levine R., Oberlin A., Adriaens P., University of Michigan, US

Global warming and the growing demand for energy and water have spurred efforts to identify carbon neutral transportation fuels. Microalgae are the only lipid-rich biomass capable of offsetting a significant portion of fossil fuel use [...]

Properties of a Newly Developed Carbon-Aluminum Nanocomposite

Yang M., Novak J., Fink R., Brookover J., Jiang N., Applied Nanotech, Inc., US

A unique carbon-based metal nanocomposite comprised of 80% carbonaceous matrix and a dispersed metal component of 20% aluminum material, represents a culmination of efforts in material science and manufacturing processes focused on the advancement of [...]

Nano-Engineered Dielectrics for Energy Storage Solutions

Badi N., Bensaoula A., University of Houston, US

We present a novel laser processing technique to produce nanodielectric films, which are based on polymer coated metal nanoparticles. The polymer-coated Au NP composite was spin-coated onto a nickel foil serving as the bottom electrode [...]

Determination of Elastic and Thermal Properties of Nanocomposites by Fiber Embedment in Finite Elements

Spanos P.D., Esteva M., Akin J.E., Rice University, US

In this paper the impact of entangled and non-straight fibers in the determination of the effective elastic and thermal properties of polymer nanocomposite (PNC) is addressed. Most of the models in recent studies assume nanotubes [...]

Extraction of Bulk Material Properties from Phonon Dispersion Spectra

Kumar N., Pochiraju K., Stevens Institute of Technology, US

Experimental characterization of mechanical behavior of nanostructures can be cumbersome and expensive. Design of nano-structured materials with properties tailored to meet macro-scale requirements invariably requires model-based understanding of the structure-to -property relationships. In this effort, [...]