Innovative technologies to enable the U.S. chemical industry to reduce carbon emissions and help the nation achieve a 100% clean electricity sector by 2035 are moving forward in two side-by-side projects supported with NETL expertise near Houston, Texas.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) announced up to $45.5 million in funding available to advance carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies and help establish the foundation for a successful carbon transport and storage industry in the United States.

NETL researchers are growing versatile biocatalysts using microbes from a coalbed methane (CBM) well to convert industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) wastes and other single-carbon compounds into useful chemicals to manufacture biofuel, food additives and other high-value products while reducing emissions of greenhouse gas.

A team of experienced NETL metallurgical researchers were presenters at the 10th International Symposium on Superalloy 718 and Derivatives 2023 May 14-17 in Pittsburgh. The conference was designed to explore all aspects of metallurgical processing, materials behavior, and microstructural performance for a distinct class of 718-type superalloy and derivatives, which have demonstrated excellent fabricability and heat resistant properties for products like turbine engine disks.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has released a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks input on the regional assessment and production of rare earth elements, critical minerals, and novel high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products from unconventional and secondary feedstocks such as coal and coal by-products and effluent waters from oil and natural gas development and production.

Washington — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $251 million to support 12 selected projects across seven states that will bolster the nation’s carbon management capabilities.

NETL is using a state-of-the-art tool it developed to help a new research team evaluate the economic costs and benefits of capturing and purifying minerals that can be reused to create valuable products as part of desalination — the process of removing salt from brackish wastewater.

NETL’s Lingxiang Zhu, a researcher who specializes in the development of membranes to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial sources, will receive the 2023 Young Membrane Scientist Award at the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) annual meeting May 13-17 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

When NETL researchers teamed up with colleagues at West Virginia University (WVU) and Malachite Technologies, their mission was to improve on a process that has dominated ammonia production for more than 100 years by producing the valuable chemical at low temperatures and near-ambient pressures. The team found success by combining cutting-edge microwave reaction science research at NETL with specialized catalyst development from WVU and reactor manufacturing experience from Malachite to create the award-winning Microwave Ammonia Synthesis (MAS) process. 

NETL researchers are investigating the use of microwaves to convert a combination of waste plastics and the stalks, leaves and cobs that remain in fields after corn is harvested, called corn stover, into hydrogen, which can then be used in various industrial and energy-related applications.