Release Date: August 25, 2003

PITTSBURGH, PA - A portable carbon measurement system, novel mercury control technology, and a more durable cast stainless steel are among the world's 100 most technologically significant products and technologies of 2003, as determined by R&D Magazine. The three products also have ties to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the U.S Department of Energy's (DOE) lead laboratory for fossil energy research and development.

The R&D 100 Awards have been given every year since 1963 by R&D Magazine to products and processes that can change people's lives for the better, improve the standard of living for large numbers of people, save lives, promote good health, clean up the environment, etc. Winners in past years include Polacolor film (1963), the automated teller machine (1973), and the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992). To be eligible for this year's award, the technical product had to be first available for purchase or licensing during 2002. The successful projects were selected from a large pool of entrants from an international range of organizations including universities, corporations, and government labs.

NETL's winning technologies can be considered products that leapfrog current technology, providing simple, elegant solutions to complex or long-standing technical or practical problems in fossil energy technology applications.

NETL's winning technologies include the following:

	NETL's Scott Renninger

• Powdered Activated Carbon Injection (PAC) for Mercury Control - NETL engineer Scott Renninger and a project team headed by ADA Environmental Solutions, Littleton, Colo., developed and applied PAC injection to power plant flue gases. Tests were conducted at four geographically diverse power plants throughout the United States using different types of coal and various combinations of particulate control devices. These devices - electrostatic precipitators and fabric filters - capture the mercury after it adheres to the surface of the activated carbon.

Tests showed that PAC injection cost-effectively removed significant amounts of mercury, with percentages ranging from the low 60s to the low 90s. The technology worked successfully on both bituminous and subbituminous coals, capturing all species of mercury, even elemental mercury which is more difficult to remove.

"Receiving this award is a testament to DOE's commitment to advancing mercury control technology," said Renninger. Funded through NETL's Innovations for Existing Plants Program, this effort directly supports the mercury reductions goals of President Bush's Clear Skies Initiative. NETL contributed $4.5 million of the $6.8 million cost of recent full-scale testing of the technology, while Renninger provided technical guidance, program direction, and scientific input to the technology developers.

• Versatile Carbon Measurement System - Researchers from DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the University of Hawaii, with financial support from NETL, developed a laser-based spectrometer system that measures carbon in soils more rapidly and at lower cost than conventional methods. The CARISS (Compositional Analysis by Raman-Integrated Spark Spectroscopy) system was originally developed for the Martian Rover application, and has been used in the past to verify the composition of bobsled runners at the Olympic Games.

  With financial backing from NETL, the CARISS system has been adapted for carbon detection in terrestrial sequestration projects aimed at reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

  Terrestrial sequestration is a form of indirect sequestration whereby ecosystems (e.g., forest and agricultural lands, and wetlands) are maintained, enhanced, or manipulated to increase their ability to store carbon beyond current conditions. "The idea behind terrestrial sequestration is rather simple, but we need advanced tools like the CARISS system to measure, monitor and verify the carbon stored in vegetation and soils," says John Litynski, NETL's Terrestrial Sequestration Program Coordinator.

  David Cremers, principal investigator for LANL, explained how CARISS works: "A carbon sample is placed in the instrument and laser pulses are fired at it. The sample generates light, which is spectrally analyzed." CARISS is the only field-ready, portable instrument that provides a complete elemental and compositional analysis of a material at close, stand-off, and remote distances. The instrumentation provides a rapid - less than two minutes per sample - "hands off" measurement, greatly reducing time and cost. 

• Cast Stainless Steel for High Temperature Applications - DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with support from NETL, developed a new steel called CF8C-Plus that can withstand temperatures up to 850 degrees Celsius - more than 200 degrees higher than current steels. CF8C-Plus also resists mechanical fatigue and "creep" - a slow process during which materials, such as those used in hot components of an engine or turbine, deform from prolonged exposure to high temperature and stress - while costing no more per pound than regular cast stainless steel.

  Development of the new cast steel was driven by the need for improved performance and reliability in the high-temperature exhaust components of advanced diesel engines in heavy-duty trucks. However, it is also appropriate for a wide range of other uses, including advanced gas and steam turbines for power generation.

  "DOE's Fossil Energy Materials Program, managed by NETL, has contributed about $500,000 toward ORNL's research on inexpensive stainless steels with the aim of generating high-temperature materials for next-generation power systems," said Udaya Rao, a scientist with NETL's Fuels and Energy Efficiency Projects Division.

  CF8C-Plus was developed by Philip Maziasz and Robert Swindeman of ORNL; Caterpillar of Peoria, Ill.; Timothy McGreevy, Bradley University; Paul Browning, Solar Turbines - DeSoto Overhaul Facility of DeSoto, Texas; and Arun Bhattacharya of Solar Turbines - Materials and Processes Engineering of San Diego, Calif.