Oak Ridge Today

ORNL receives interest from appliance makers on dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Oak Ridge National Lab’s Ayyoub Momen demonstrates ultrasonic clothes dryer technology for David Danielson, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or EERE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has received significant interest from appliance manufacturers who could enter into an agreement to continue developing the technology to build a dryer that uses vibrations, rather than heat, to dry clothes.

The cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, could develop the technology into a full-scale commercial product.

This month, Oak Ridge Today asked about the current status of the project, which has been highlighted by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. An earlier announcement had said that the project term was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2016.

Omar Abdelaziz of ORNL said DOE has continued to fund this work and will fund the laboratory’s efforts in the upcoming CRADA. [Read more…]

If successful, ORNL process could play role in fighting climate change

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rondinone_Song_hensley_r1

ORNL’s Yang Song (seated), Dale Hensley (standing left), and Adam Rondinone examine a carbon nanospike sample with a scanning electron microscope. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

In October, Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced that scientists had developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol.

This month, Oak Ridge Today asked if the process using the very small catalysts could be used on a large scale to convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into ethanol, and if that might be used to combat climate change.

Here is the response from researcher Adam Rondinone, lead author of a team’s study published in ChemistrySelect:

“If we are successful, then yes, this process will take us a little bit closer to the goal of mitigating climate change.  But many other technologies and changes will also be needed, because of the scale of the problem. Also, this technology is more focused on what to do with CO2 (carbon dioxide) once it has been captured. While it could feasibly be coupled to a capture mechanism for extracting CO2 from the air, it will more likely be used to intercept and recycle emissions from point sources like power plants. Ultimately, it will just be one solution out of many that we will need to implement in order to prevent serious climate changes.” [Read more…]

UT-Battelle fulfills $250,000 pledge to Emory Valley Center campaign

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Emory Valley Center and UT-Battelle Check Jan 2017

On hand for UT-Battelle’s check presentation at the new facility construction site are, from left to right, Shirley Raines, Emory Valley Center board vice president; Dottie Thompson and Gene Caldwell, EVC capital co-chairs; Jennifer Enderson, EVC president; ORNL’s Jeff Smith and Leigha Humphries; Tennessee senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally; and Janet Wood, EVC vice president of community engagement. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

UT-Battelle, the managing contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, made the final installment of a $250,000 pledge by presenting a $50,000 check in late December to the Emory Valley Center, a community facility that serves people with disabilities, a press release said.

UT-Battelle made the pledge in 2011 when the Emory Valley Center, which provides services and support for adults and children with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities, began a building program to replace its aging structure. The center’s new building is now under construction.

ORNL Deputy Director for Operations Jeff Smith and Community Relations Manager Leigha Humphries presented the check to Jennifer Enderson, the center’s president. [Read more…]

ORNL: Crystallization method offers new option for carbon capture from air

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

carbon_dioxide_direct_air_capture2-custelcean

Using X-ray diffraction, ORNL’s Radu Custelcean analyzed the molecular structure of the simple guanidine compound and was surprised to find carbonate, a crystal that forms when carbon dioxide from air reacts with water. (Image credit: ORNL/Genevieve Martin)

 

By Sara Shoemaker, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a simple, reliable process to capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, offering a new option for carbon capture and storage strategies to combat global warming.

Ambient air is air that completely surrounds.

Initially, the ORNL team was studying methods to remove environmental contaminants such as sulfate, chromate, or phosphate from water. To remove those negatively charged ions, the researchers synthesized a simple compound known as guanidine designed to bind strongly to the contaminants and form insoluble crystals that are easily separated from water.

In the process, they discovered a method to capture and release carbon dioxide that requires minimal energy and chemical input. Their results are published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. [Read more…]

Learn about the construction of Oak Ridge through Westcott photos

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ed Westcott and Ray Smith

Ed Westcott, right, was the only official photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project in World War II, a top-secret project to build the world’s first atomic bomb. Westcott is pictured above with D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper history columnist. (Photo courtesy D. Ray Smith)

 

A Tuesday program will focus on the construction of the city that is now Oak Ridge through Ed Westcott photographs.

The program is titled “The Building of the Atomic City—the Ed Wescott Photographs.” It will be presented by Emily Hunnicutt, Ed Westcott’s daughter, and Don Hunnicutt, Westcott’s son-in-law.

Westcott was the official photographer for the federal government in the city, which was once known as Clinton Engineer Works, during World War II. Oak Ridge was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could.

The Tuesday program is at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It includes a lunch, and it’s sponsored by Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or FORNL. This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

UCOR, DOE cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, earns 94 percent of award fee

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ucor-k-27-building-fall-2016

UCOR workers take down the final portion of Building K-27, achieving Vision 2016, a DOE goal to remove all of the former uranium enrichment buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park by the end of 2016. K-27 was the fifth and final gaseous diffusion building to be demolished at the site. Successful demolitions of the four other buildings were completed from 2006 to 2015. (U.S. Department of Energy photo)

 

UCOR, the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, received about $3.4 million for its performance from April through September 2016, or 94 percent of the total award fee available, federal officials said.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, recently issued the six-month fee determination scorecard for UCOR, or URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, after completing its evaluation.

“Contractor award fee evaluations determine what will be paid based on performance against stated objectives in accordance with annual award fee plans,” the DOE Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in the EM Update electronic newsletter on December 29. “EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments to further transparency.”

According to UCOR’s scorecard, the company received an overall rating of “very good” for project management and “high confidence” for cost and schedule based on cost and schedule indexes, the newsletter said. [Read more…]

ORNL researcher to discuss stream ecology research on Tuesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Natalie Griffiths

Natalie Griffiths (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Natalie Griffiths will talk about stream ecology research she’s been involved in and the lessons to be learned from her research at the upcoming Emory River Watershed Association, or ERWA, Annual Meeting on Tuesday, January 3, at the Obed Wild and Scenic River Visitor Center.

The 6 p.m. meeting will also feature a report on the Crooked Fork project by Mike Sale. There is no charge for attending the meeting, and there will be a potluck supper. ERWA will provide sandwiches and beverages, plates, etc., a press release said. There will be a silent dessert auction. [Read more…]

With transfer agreement signed, plans call for developing AMSE site, relocating museum, demolishing building

Posted at
By 5 Comments

american-museum-of-science-and-energy-front-3-jan-2-2017-web

The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3.

With a property transfer agreement signed, new businesses could be built on the 17 acres that now house the American Museum of Science and Energy, the museum will be relocated, and the AMSE building could be demolished, officials and a business executive said Friday.

The changes are allowed under an agreement approved by federal officials, unanimously approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in December, and signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in a Friday morning ceremony at Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the transfer of the museum property, owned by the federal government, will allow the City of Oak Ridge to “explore future innovative development and economic stimulus opportunities.”

“From the Manhattan Project of World War II to the cutting-edge materials research of today, Oak Ridge has long played a vital role in American science and security,” Moniz said. “This agreement will ensure that Oak Ridge’s history is preserved and shared while providing the city a new opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the local economy.”

When the transfer is completed, DOE public outreach and education missions that are now conducted at AMSE and focused on Oak Ridge history, science, and national security will continue in renovated space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The former mall is being redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge.

DOE said the AMSE property transfer will save more than $2 million in deferred maintenance costs at the museum and greatly reduce operating expenses. [Read more…]

Samsung licenses ORNL glass coatings for electronics that can repel water, reduce reflection

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ornl-superhydrophobic-water-droplets

An ORNL-developed thin glass film with superhydrophobic properties repels water that carries away dust and dirt, reduces light reflection, and resists fingerprints and smudges. (Image by Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced this fall that Samsung Electronics has exclusively licensed a technology that can improve the performance of glass displays on smart phones, tablets, and other electronic devices.

ORNL has developed a transparent coating that repels water, carrying away dust and dirt; reduces light reflection; and resists fingerprints and smudges. The optically clear superhydrophobic film technology was the result of about three years of superhydrophobic research on glass-based coatings, ORNL said in a press release.

“The thin nanostructured layer of porous glass film enables these combined properties, making it suitable for commercial applications,” said ORNL’s Tolga Aytug, co-inventor of the technology.

To be superhydrophobic, a surface must achieve a water droplet contact angle exceeding 150 degrees. ORNL’s coating has a contact angle of between 155 and 165 degrees, so water literally bounces off, taking away dust particles, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory responded to Gatlinburg fires

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-national-laboratory-fire-department-in-gatlinburg-incident-command-center-november-2016

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fire Department Chief Officers Daron Long, Larry Lewis, and Danny Parker (in navy polo shirts) are pictured above in the Incident Command Center. (Photo by ORNL)

 

By U.S. Department of Energy

The Great Smoky Mountains, which are normally wet and hazy, had been in a particularly prolonged drought when a fire started near a popular lookout several miles from the resort town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, just before Thanksgiving. Park officials warily watched the slowly spreading blaze, which was in nearly vertical and mostly unreachable terrain.

At the close of the holiday weekend, a weather system moved in, whipping up gale-force winds hours ahead of the rain. The wind supercharged the fire, driving eerie, thick smoke down the basin toward the town. By Monday night, the homes, resorts, and businesses surrounding Gatlinburg were in the middle of a firestorm as flames destroyed structure after structure. Downed power lines sparked separate fires.

On the evening of November 28, park and city officials reached out to firefighters in the region for support as flames engulfed entire neighborhoods. By the time quenching rains arrived, the 17,000-acre forest fire had burned 1,700 structures—many of them homes—and took 14 lives.

Firefighters from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located about 50 miles away, were among those who answered the call. With an immediate go-ahead from the ORNL Site Office, the ORNL Fire Department, or ORNLFD, dispatched resources to assist responders in Gatlinburg and neighboring Pigeon Forge. [Read more…]

CareerLink showcases internships, research opportunities for minorities at ORNL

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

ORISE, ORNL host 43 faculty and undergraduates from minority institutions for networking event

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, or ORISE, recently partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to host a CareerLink Event Day that provided a full day of networking and workshops for faculty and undergraduate students from minority institutions.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists Programs and held at ORNL, this inaugural event benefitted 43 distinguished faculty and undergraduate students from historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, and minority education institutions, or MEIs, who are interested in career opportunities with DOE or its national labs.

“Events like this help excite and educate faculty and students from our nation’s minority education institutions about STEM-related careers,” said Craig Layman, associate director with ORISE. “Students learn more about the critical mission areas of ORNL and, at the same time, network with potential mentors who are among ORNL’s top scientists and engineers.” [Read more…]

DOE secretary to attend AMSE land transfer ceremony on Dec. 30

Posted at
By 6 Comments

Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Note: This story was last updated at 12:10 p.m.

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will attend the land transfer ceremony for the American Museum of Science and Energy property in Oak Ridge next week.

The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, December 30. Also expected to attend are U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and City of Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

It’s a signing ceremony to formally transfer the roughly 17-acre AMSE site from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge.

Under an agreement unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on December 13, the city is then expected to transfer the property in two phases to a company set up by RealtyLink, the South Carolina firm building Main Street Oak Ridge at the site of the former Oak Ridge Mall. [Read more…]