Few things are as universally important to all Americans as clean drinking water. Regulatory agencies, municipalities, oil and gas exploration companies, and landowners all have a need for water quality assurance. Unfortunately, the most common monitoring solutions are expensive and labor intensive, requiring samples to be collected from the source, prepared, and sent offsite to be analyzed – actions that can dramatically alter the sample. NETL researchers are hoping to overcome these challenges with a more affordable, in situ monitoring tool based on laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). LIBS technology provides rapid elemental analysis without extensive sample collection or preparation. Many of the available LIBS systems are large and complex, employing above-ground, laboratory-scale lasers, but NETL has designed a simple, easy-to-fabricate, handheld LIBS system fully adaptable to field use and capable of measurements even in harsh environments.

NETL co-hosted a special event April 18 to help mitigate participation disparities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by connecting enthusiastic professionals with interested students and their educators. NETL, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and Oregon State University (OSU) College of Science hosted the Mid-Willamette STEM Mentoring Café at OSU’s Memorial Union in Corvallis, Ore. Middle and high school students broke into small groups for speed mentoring sessions, during which they had the opportunity to chat with STEM role models, see samples of their work, and ask questions. Educators received take-home materials to continue STEM engagement with their students. Participating professionals were encouraged to offer ongoing mentoring to students and educators in their community.

Developing improved sensors and controls for power plants offers the potential to cut costs for utility operators and customers by increasing efficiency, limiting outages, and reducing CO2 emissions. The challenge for researchers is devising sensors that can provide real-time measurements of temperature, pressure, gas species and more amid harsh conditions. The laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) system at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) allows researchers to fabricate optical fiber sensors that are ideal for the challenging environments associated with fossil fuel-based power generation systems. Modern sensor applications extend beyond traditional coal-fired power plants to include solid oxide fuel cells, gas turbines, boilers, and oxy-fuel combustion.

The inside of today’s energy systems host some of the harshest environments anywhere on the planet, and the faults, fractures, and carbon dioxide plumes deep underground present an array of challenges for resource recovery. Sophisticated sensors help energy systems to operate more efficiently, and assist in recovering underground oil and gas. However, creating sensors that can withstand these formidable environments is a challenge. NETL is on the task. Sensors are detectors that can measure physical quantities like temperature and pressure. The sensors convert measurements into a signal that communicates with an electronic device that is read by operators who take actions to adjust conditions if necessary.

The Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI), led by the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), released the CCSI Toolset as open source software. The CCSI Toolset is the nation’s only suite of computational tools and models designed to help maximize learning and reduce cost and risk during the scale-up process for carbon capture technologies. The toolset is critically important to perform much of the design and calculations, thus reducing the cost of both pilot projects and commercial facilities. The release makes the toolset code available for researchers in industry, government, and academia to freely use, modify, and customize in support of the development of carbon capture technologies and other related technologies. The toolset is hosted on GitHub. Since the release of CCSI’s first toolset in 2012, the initiative exceeded goals, and earned an R&D 100 Award – an "Oscar of Innovation" – as one of the top 100 technology products of 2016. The major capabilities of the CCSI Toolset include:

Most people care about the environment, but wonder, “What can I do to help?” For this Earth Day, April 22, NETL has created a video showing that everyone can help keep their earth the best place to live in the galaxy. The new video, “Nine Ways Kids Can Help the Environment,” highlights fun activities for young and old, such as recycling, upcycling, and planting a garden. After watching the video, children can complete an Earth Day themed word search, coloring activity, and more on an activities page developed by NETL. All of the activities promote an ongoing, helpful relationship with the Earth. NETL participates in a wide variety of educational outreach activities to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) literacy and to educate the next generation of America’s energy researchers. To explore NETL’s commitment to STEM education visit the education section at the top of this page.

Water is an essential resource for human life. It’s also a key component of energy production. In celebration of World Water Day, we’re sharing some of our innovative water conservation projects. For example, thermoelectric power generation accounts for more than 40 percent of freshwater withdrawals and more than 3 percent of freshwater consumption. That adds up to billions of gallons of water per day. As populations grow and economic development continues to expand, so too will our energy demand and water consumption.

Nine thousand high school students, more than four thousand middle school students, and thousands and thousands of volunteers have come together to put on a competition like no other since 1991. The U.S. Department of Energy manages and sponsors the National Science Bowl, a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics, each year in Washington, D.C. during the month of April. The competition is a culmination of hard work from teachers, coaches, and students from across the country to volunteers, organizers, and sponsors who put together the qualifying rounds that feed winners into the big show. Qualifying rounds for the Jeopardy-style competition are held in all 50 states, in Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, making the National Science Bowl one of the largest science competitions in the nation.

Morgantown High School Team 2 and Suncrest Middle School Team 2, both of Morgantown, claimed victory at the 27th annual West Virginia Regional Science Bowl held Feb. 9-10, 2018, at the West Virginia University (WVU) Mountainlair. Twenty-three teams from high schools and 21 teams from middle schools throughout the Mountain State participated in the competition, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and WVU.  The West Virginia Science Bowl tested students’ knowledge of math and science with round-robin and double-elimination competition rounds. Middle school teams competed Feb. 9, followed by high school students on Feb. 10. This year’s West Virginia competition included welcoming remarks from Congressman David McKinley, as well as representatives from NETL and WVU. Participants also explored hands-on engineering activities and an academic information fair from institutions around the state.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has announced up to $2.75 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects. Future amounts are subject to congressional appropriations. This funding is available under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001854 , Innovative Technology Development to Enhance Fossil Power Systems Operability, Reliability, and Economic Performance. Selected projects will support DOE’s Fossil Energy Crosscutting Research Program, which bridges basic R&D of innovative technologies to the successful development of ultra-clean, reliable, high-efficiency fossil energy power systems. The goal is to seek innovative R&D projects to improve the performance, cost, and reliability of fossil energy technologies.