Research
Highlights...
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Mara's
vehicle smooths potholes.
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Number 59 |
July 10, 2000 |
DOE technologies
on view in national park
Zion
National Park in Utah has a new energy
efficient visitors center that boasts cutting edge renewable
and energy efficiency technologies thanks to DOE's
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
researchers Ron Judkoff and Paul Torcellini who provided energy
consultation services to the National Park Service for the project.
The sustainable, 7600 sq. ft. building was designed to have
low impact on the environment and offset the need for traditional
electrical power. The building's heat comes from a Trombe wall
that captures the sun's warmth; lighting comes primarily from
daylight through clerestory windows; photovoltaics provide much
of the building's electricity; and natural ventilation keeps
the building cool.
[George Douglas,
303/275-4096,
george_douglas@nrel.gov]
Helping
malodorous manufacturer regain compost-ure
When Idaho Asphalt
Supply, Inc. set up shop, its neighbors discovered that some
industries are just smellier than others. To waylay neighborly
complaints and stinky, sulfur-based exhaust gases, the asphalt
producer teamed up with bioremediation expert Larry Cook at
the Idaho National Engineering
and Environmental Laboratory. The result of their collaboration
was a biofiltration unit employing locally grown compost that
reduced the smelly gas emission by 99% and reduced
the local odors as well, according to a neighborhood survey.
They hope to catch more odors by installing a second, improved
version of the biofiltration unit, said Cook at the recent
regional American Chemical Society meeting in Idaho Falls,
Idaho.
[Mary Beckman,
208/526-0061,
beckmt@inel.gov]
LNG
proves to be responsible heavy duty truck fuel
A report
by DOE's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory offers solid evidence that liquefied natural
gas (LNG) powered vehicles can handle the demands of a refuse
collection operation. Waste Management's LNG Truck Fleet Start-up
Experience describes the success of using the odorless, non-corrosive
and non-carcinogenic fuel to run a waste collection operation
in Washington, Pa. Seven refuse haulers used LNG fuel from an
onsite refueling station, with drivers preferring the LNG over
diesel fuel. The trucks, equipped with Mack E7G natural gas
engines, proved capable of operating in the same tough duty
cycle as the company's 143 diesel trucks.
[George Douglas,
303/275-4096,
george_douglas@nrel.gov]
NETL
hosts particulate research
In June 1999 the National
Energy Technology Laboratory established a state-of-the-art
ambient-air fine-particulate monitoring station at its Pittsburgh
site. The station is used to study fine particles with an
aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns and less. Beginning
in July, scientists from Battelle's
Atmospheric Science and Applied Technology Division will
use NETL's sampling station to conduct an EPA funded project
entitled "Verification of Ambient Air Fine Particulate Monitors."
During the test period, advanced air monitoring instrumentation
from various manufacturers will be co-located at NETL. NETL
will benefit from additional advanced scientific data on fine
particles in the Upper Ohio Valley.
[David
J. Anna, 412/386-4646,
anna@netl.doe.gov
Plasma focusing of a positron beam
first ever
The Plasma Lens Collaboration
at the DOE's Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) achieved something new.
It recently focussed a positron beam (antimatter of electron)
by means of a plasma lens. This is the first example of focussing
an antimatter beam with matter. In the future, a plasma lens
located at the interaction point inside a detector could focus
both the electron and positron beam, reducing the beam spot
size and increasing the luminosity, perhaps by an order of magnitude.
These may be important considerations in the design of the next
generation of accelerators.
[P.A. Moore,
650-926-2605
xanadu@slac.stanford.edu]
Whendunit
can lead us to whodunit
Knowing when a crime victim died can help convict the killer,
and researchers at DOE's Oak
Ridge National Laboratory are developing a
system that could help justice prevail. Working with the
University
of Tennessee's Anthropological Research Facility, they are
examining time-dependent chemical and biological markers in
hopes of gaining a better understanding of the cadaver decay
process. Analyses of decay rates of different organ tissues
would be applied toward computational models. The goal is to
develop an instrument that could be waved over a body to determine
the time since death.
[Ron
Walli, 865/576-0226,
wallira@ornl.gov]
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Rapid
Road Repair Vehicle would fix potholes on the fly
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Leo
Mara |
As Leo
Mara inched along a bumpy road past a road-repair crew on his
way to work at Sandia National
Laboratories' California site a couple of years ago, he
dreamed of a bus-sized vehicle that would fix potholes
as it drove over them.
That
dream became his first patented invention and now has won him
a Discover
Award for technological innovation, in the Transportation category.
Mara's
Greyhound bus-size Rapid Road Repair Vehicle incorporates several
aspects of his background: He designs and programs data acquisition
and control systems at the DOE lab, and previously worked for
a trailer manufacturer in Connecticut, where harsh weather hastens
road aging. He merged his industrial and high-tech experiences
when conceiving the plan, and also incorporated a co-worker's
chemical expertise on adding a rapidly congealing repair mixture
to the scheme.
The
vehicle would examine the road surface from scanners and clean
any anomalies with high-pressure air and vacuum up debris. On-board
image processing would determine if an object is a hole, bump,
manhole cover, or crack. Then a phalanx of nozzles would pass
over and deliver filling material, such as aggregate and fast-drying
patch material or sealer. The mixture would be tamped into place,
dusted with grit to provide traction, and vacuumed. Finally,
another row of scanners would check the quality of the repair.
Under
ideal conditions, Mara says, the vehicle could patch roads at
up to 35 miles per hour, although he envisions a more sedate
pace. But, he says, "Even at 10 miles per hour, can you imagine
patching 10 miles of road in an hour? That's absolutely incredible."
Submitted
by DOE's Sandia National Laboratories
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