In 2021, NETL’s Materials Engineering & Manufacturing (MEM) researchers advanced multiple discoveries, which included developing cost-effective materials to withstand extreme service environments in tomorrow’s highly efficient power plants, removing contaminants from water, finding new uses for carbon wastes, and helping the nation achieve its decarbonization goals while ensuring robust supplies of affordable energy and creating jobs for American workers.
Notable MEM research achievements in the past year were:
NETL is exploring new avenues by which Appalachian energy communities can realize exciting new economic opportunities through the use of carbon-neutral modular gasification technologies to produce hydrogen and other valuable products.
The November 2021 edition of RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative, details a funding opportunity from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that focuses on increasing and broadening the participation of students in engineering careers.
NETL’s Program Execution and Integration functions are powered by highly trained experts that are developing clean energy technologies, assisting with problem-solving and evaluating and managing project risk, as well as defining, soliciting, negotiating, awarding, managing and delivering federally sponsored research and development benefits to the nation. Applying these assets, NETL has guided a range of successful research, development and demonstration projects.
A sample of NETL’s many collaborative successes in 2021 follow:
NETL strives to realize new technologies for carbon capture and storage (CCS), which have been recognized as having potential to help achieve a net-zero carbon emissions energy sector. However, taking CCS processes from concepts to reality requires reliable data from a multitude of sources in a one-stop digital stop. That’s where NETL’s Energy Data eXchange (EDX) Carbon Storage Data Resources can help.
NETL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), are collaborating with natural gas producer Olympus Energy to optimize produced water management in the Appalachian Basin.
A forward-looking NETL study is underway to determine how to best initiate and grow a hydrogen economy in the Appalachian region by identifying pathways using existing and future infrastructure scenarios.
Learn about the latest developments in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/NETL Carbon Capture Program in this month’s edition of the Carbon Capture Newsletter.
The DOE/NETL Carbon Capture Program is developing the next generation of advanced carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies that can provide step-change reductions in both cost and energy requirements as compared to currently available technologies.
NETL researchers supporting computational science & engineering (CSE) are working to develop science-based simulation models, mathematical methods and algorithms, and software tools required to address technical barriers to the advancement of next-generation technologies. This research helps to generate information and understanding beyond the reach of experiments alone, saving time, money and materials.
The Lab accomplished many CSE successes in 2021. For example:
NETL’s Advanced Alloys Signature Center (AASC) will drive the development of next-generation, high-performance materials needed to generate affordable, clean electricity, support growth in emerging U.S. industries and strengthen America’s position as a world leader in alloy design and production.
