Awards

2000

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellowship
ASME International named NREL's Desikan Bharathan a Fellow in honor of his engineering achievements. His research led to the world's first net-power producing open-cycle Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion System in Kona, Hawaii, and his direct-contact condenser design is now used at the Geyser's Units 5, 6, and 11, geothermal power plants in California.

Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer
The Consortium Award was presented to NREL's Desikan Bharathan, who developed the condenser technology, and the geothermal research team including Vahab Hassani, Yves Parent, Federica Zangrando, and Ed Hoo, for their work with an advanced direct-contact condenser for geothermal power plants.

1999

Technology Transfer from Federal Laboratory to Industry Award
Presented by the Colorado Technology Transfer Society to NREL's Desikan Bharathan, Alstom's Dave Cooley, and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for work on the advanced direct-contact condenser (ADCC).

Advanced Direct Contact Condenser, R&D 100 Award
The advanced direct-contact condenser (ADCC) uses sophisticated geometric shapes to provide optimal surface area for condensing spent steam.The ADCC earned an R&D Magazine 1999 R&D 100 award for NREL's Desikhan Bharathan and his team, including employees of Alstom and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Bharathan also received the Technology Transfer from Federal Laboratory to Industry Award from the Colorado Technology Transfer Society for his work on ADCC technology. The technology has been employed at Unit #11 at The Geysers in northern California, where it has improved production efficiency by 5% and has cut the chemical cost for emission abatement in half. Because the condenser had been the limiting factor for Unit #11, the refurbishment increased total power generation potential by 17%.

Geothermal Today, Award of Excellence, STC, and Award of Merit, IABC
DOE's annual publication, Geothermal Today, is written and produced by NREL's communications staff. The 1999 issue won the Award of Excellence from the Society for Technical Communication, and the Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators. The publication team included Bruce Green, Theresa Waggoner, and Bill Gillies.