The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has developed a system for enhancing chemical reactions by electrostatic/microwave and/or/ radio frequency controlled resonant electron interaction. The invention performs at a much lower temperature than conventional processes. The system can reduce the cost of many important industrial processes including nitrogen and hydrogen production. Although the focus of the invention is on producing hydrogen from hydrocarbon sources, many different reactions could be activated using the same physics. This invention is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research.

Challenge

Approximately 50 percent of natural gas is used by industry. The existing chemical reaction-based processes, such as, the Haber process, are very energy intensive and costly. This invention increases the rate and extent of chemical reactions at much lower temperatures resulting in higher product yield and overall production. It also allows for reduced energy requirements and reactor size of dry and partial oxidation reformers.

A patent-pending computer-control algorithm invented by the National Energy Technology Laboratory enables the manufacture of single-crystal optical fibers of potentially infinite length, with improved diameter control and faster growth, using a laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) system. These fibers can be used to fabricate sensors that can withstand the harsh environments of advanced energy systems. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from NETL.

Challenge

Single-crystal optical fibers made of sapphire and other materials are only commercially available in short lengths of less than 2 meters. Using conventional technologies, length is limited by the finite size of the feedstock pedestal and equipment constraints that prevent supplying more feedstock material without compromising crystal quality. A robust technological solution is needed that allows replacement of the feedstock pedestal with minimum crystal defects and more consistent diameter for long single-crystal fibers. Other algorithms have been studied, but none has offered the ability to produce fibers of arbitrary length.

Research is active on a method to convert methane into synthesis gas using a mixture of metal oxides. The resulting syngas could be used to manufacture more valuable chemicals. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Research is active on the design of a cyber-physical system to monitor and exert control over multistage networked plants and processes such as multistage chemical processing plants and power generation facilities. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

The invention consists of the application of metal oxide nanowire-based sensor layers to optical sensing platforms such as optical fiber-based sensor devices. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Challenge

Thin film and thick film metal oxide based materials are typically employed as the active layer in harsh environment chemical sensing. However, these sensing layers do not have sufficient sensitivity and chemical selectivity in many applications because of their microstructure and the lack of a sufficiently large surface area.

Challenge

This invention describes a system and method for detecting corrosion in natural gas pipelines using an optical platform or a wireless platform. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Challenge

The U.S. Energy Information Administration states that natural gas accounts for nearly 30 percent of energy consumption in the United States. More than 300,000 miles of natural gas transmission and gathering lines deliver this valuable energy source to consumers. Like any energy infrastructure, this network of pipelines requires significant maintenance costs. In the case of natural gas pipelines, corrosion accounts for around 25 percent of incidents over the last 30 years, 61 percent of which was caused by internal corrosion.

The corrosion-related annual cost for such incidents amounts to $6 to $10 billion in the United States each year. Therefore, a need exists to monitor corrosion inside of the gas pipelines to implement corrosion mitigation and control before any failure.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) developed designs, manufacturing processes, and corrosion property validations of new high-performance corrosion-resistant high-entropy alloys that are superior to and less expensive than existing alloys and demonstrate improved resistance to corrosion, including pitting corrosion in harsh environments and sea water.

Challenge
Metals and alloys used in sea water or acidic aqueous environments are prone to various forms of corrosion, including pitting and/or crevice corrosion because of the presence of aggressive salt, such sodium chloride (NaCl). Pitting and crevice corrosion can serve as initiation sites for developing cracks that will lead to catastrophic failures of the metallic components. The current solution to this problem is to coat the metals with nickel (Ni)-based superalloys such as Hastelloy® C276. Hastelloy®, which is very expensive.

This novel patent-pending methane conversion technology employees microwave-assisted catalysis for chemical conversion. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Challenge

Natural gas, primarily composed of methane, is a cheap and abundant domestic resource that can be converted to a wide range of products including liquid transportation fuels and a wide range of chemical intermediates. However, traditional methods of converting methane to valuable chemicals first require it to be converted to synthesis gas.

A direct, one-step, method to convert the methane would have significant advantages over current indirect methods, including reduced costs and increased yields, but several technology barriers must first be overcome. Microwave-assisted catalyst reactions can provide a viable direct method for overcoming these barriers.