September 2012 Story Tips
(Story Tips Archive)
Story ideas from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. To arrange for an interview with a researcher, please contact the
Communications staff member identified at the end of each tip.
For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our Media Contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov.
Energy—Revolutionary heat pump . . .
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Oklahoma's
ClimateMaster Inc. have collaborated to develop a
ground source heat pump that can reduce a
homeowner's electric bill by up to 60 percent. The
Trilogy 40 is the first geothermal heat pump
certified by the Air Conditioning, Heating and
Refrigeration Institute to achieve a space cooling
efficiency rating in excess of 40 EER (energy
efficiency ratio). An EER rating of 13.5 is
typical of conventional heat pumps. For a family
living in a 2,600-square-foot well-insulated home,
that translates into average annual savings of
$300 to $500 vs. today's state-of-the-art and
minimum efficiency heat pumps, respectively.
Savings could be much greater for individual
cases. The Trilogy 40 is the culmination of a
five-year cooperative research and development
agreement and advances the integrated heat pump
concept developed by ORNL. The U.S. Department of
Energy and ORNL have a long tradition of
researching, testing and verifying heat pump
technology. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226;
wallira@ornl.gov]
[Contact: Ron Walli;
865.576.0226;
wallira@ornl.gov]
Supercomputing—The real oxygen-23 . . .
To really understand the mundane world we live in
we must also understand matter at the edge of the
nuclear landscape. Computational researchers have
contributed to this understanding with an
intensive simulation of the short-lived oxygen-23
isotope. Working with colleagues at the University
of Tennessee and the University of Oslo in Norway,
the team helped overturn a decade-old
misconception about how this isotope is put
together. Their work is discussed in a recent
edition of the journal Physical Review C.
[Contact: Leo Williams, (865) 574-8891;
williamsjl2@ornl.gov]
[Contact: Leo Williams;
865.574.8891;
williamsjl2@ornl.gov]
Vehicles—Charging on the move . . .
Owners of electric cars could kiss that cumbersome
cord goodbye without losing efficiency because of
a proprietary technology developed at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. Not only would this mean
never having to plug your car in while it's parked
in your garage, it could mean not having to plug
in at all. ORNL's charging system magnetically
couples an electric source to your car's battery
with an industry-leading 90 percent efficiency,
making it as efficient as plugging in -- without
the hassle. A team led by John Miller of ORNL's
Power Electronics Group is first focusing on
refining static systems for charging stationary
vehicles, but the ultimate goal is to charge
vehicles as they are in motion. [Contact: Ron
Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]
[Contact: Ron Walli;
865.576.0226;
wallira@ornl.gov]
Combustion—Hitting on all cylinders . . .
With the first demonstration of a dual-fuel
advanced combustion cycle in a modified multi-
cylinder engine, researchers have moved closer to
delivering on the promise of increased fuel
efficiency and reduced emissions. Oak Ridge
National Laboratory researchers started with a
2007 General Motors 1.9-liter four-cylinder diesel
engine, which they modified for reactivity
controlled compression ignition operation. The
engine was configured to have two separate fuel
systems -- the original direct-injection diesel
fuel system plus a port fuel injection system for
gasoline-like fuels. In addition to improved
efficiency and lower nitrogen oxide and soot
emissions, this combustion mode features greater
fuel flexibility when compared to other advanced
combustion. This ORNL milestone, made possible
with the help of the University of Wisconsin,
bridges the gap between fundamental and applied
research, said Scott Curran of ORNL's Fuels
Engines and Emissions group. [Contact: Ron Walli,
(865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]
[Contact: Ron Walli;
865.576.0226;
wallira@ornl.gov]