LIVERMORE, Calif. — An engine innovation first conceived and tested by Sandia National Laboratories has attracted the attention of big business because of its potential to cost-effectively reduce emissions of soot and nitrogen oxides, encourage the use of renewable fuels, and maintain or improve engine performance. Ducted fuel injection, developed by Charles Mueller at Sandia’s […]
Category Archives: Energy / Environment / Water
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Sandia research focuses on ‘switching on’ iron in clay minerals
October 11, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers have discovered the mechanism to “switch on” iron residing in clay mineral structures, leading to the understanding of how to make iron reactive under oxygen-free conditions. This research will help scientists understand and predict how contaminants, such as arsenic, selenium and chromium, move through the environment and enter […]
Materials’ increased capacity, efficiency could lower the bar for hydrogen technology
October 10, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Hydrogen as a carbon-free energy source could expand into a variety of sectors, including industrial processes, building heat and transportation. Currently, it powers a growing fleet of zero-emission vehicles, including trains in Germany, buses in South Korea, cars in California and forklifts worldwide. These vehicles use a fuel cell to combine hydrogen […]
Containing a nuclear accident with ground-up minerals
September 30, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a promising new way to prevent the spread of radioactive contamination and contain the hot molten mass that develops within a nuclear reactor during a catastrophic accident. During a three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, a team of scientists discovered and patented a process […]
Asian American conference selects Sandia researcher ‘most promising engineer’
September 24, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researcher Stanley Chou was recently selected one of three Most Promising Engineers of the Year at the 2019 Asian American Engineer of the Year Conference in Dallas. The AAEOY Award, first introduced in 2002, honors outstanding Asian American professionals in science and engineering for their technical achievements, leadership and […]
Sandia experiments at temperature of sun offer solutions to solar model problems
September 10, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Experimenting at 4.1 million degrees Fahrenheit, physicists at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine have found that an astronomical model — used for 40 years to predict the sun’s behavior as well as the life and death of stars — underestimates the energy blockage caused by free-floating iron atoms, a major player in […]
Sandia abuses batteries for better energy storage
August 13, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — They crush ‘em. They pierce ‘em. They roast ‘em, soak ‘em in saltwater and short circuit ‘em. They overcharge and even over-discharge ‘em. Heck, they can even shoot them with lasers. Those poor batteries never really stand a chance against Sandia National Laboratories researchers whose job is to test the cells beyond […]
Don’t set it and forget it — scan it and fix it with tech that detects wind blade damage
June 24, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Drones and crawling robots outfitted with special scanning technology could help wind blades stay in service longer, which may help lower the cost of wind energy at a time when blades are getting bigger, pricier and harder to transport, Sandia National Laboratories researchers say. As part of the Department of Energy’s Blade […]
Rooftop solar panels get boost from Sandia tool that previews a year on grid in minutes
June 20, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Homeowners and businesses may now have an easier time getting solar panels on rooftops thanks to software developed at Sandia. The new software can run a detailed, second-by-second simulation, known as quasi-static time series analysis, that shows utility companies how rooftop solar panels at a specific house or business would interact with […]
New look at old data leads to cleaner engines
June 10, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — New insights about how to understand and ultimately control the chemistry of ignition behavior and pollutant formation have been discovered in research led by Sandia National Laboratories. The discovery eventually will lead to cleaner, more efficient internal combustion engines. “Our findings will allow the design of new fuels and improved combustion strategies,” […]
Fields of gold
April 4, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On a drive around Sandia National Laboratories, ecologist Jennifer Payne sees more than wide-open desert, grasslands, cacti and dirt. She notices tiers of soil that have experienced stress, looks closely at the height and spacing of vegetation and recites the Latin names of native New Mexico plants and where they belong. “No […]
Hear ye, hear ye: open call for algae
February 19, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — To make algae biofuels more competitive with petroleum, growers must increase productivity and keep their ponds from crashing. That’s why Sandia National Laboratories and partners are inviting participants to help in the search for the toughest algae strains and most innovative farming techniques. Though algae sometimes bloom uncontrollably in the wild, it […]
Digesting hydrocarbons
February 8, 2019 – 7:58 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Volatile organic compounds can be found in the air — everywhere. A wide range of sources, including from plants, cooking fuels and household cleaners, emit these compounds directly. They also can be formed in the atmosphere through a complex network of photochemical reactions. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and colleagues from other […]
Deconstructing deleterious soot
February 7, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — In most situations, breaking things apart isn’t the best way to solve a problem. However, sometimes the opposite is true if you’re trying to characterize complex chemical compounds. That’s what Sandia National Laboratories scientists Nils Hansen and Scott Skeen did to definitively identify pollution-causing soot precursors in a flame. The researchers discovered […]
CRADA enables resilient microgrid research between Sandia, Emera Technologies
November 15, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Imagine a hurricane similar in magnitude to 2017’s Maria that pummels through islands and small communities, stripping out power lines and wreaking havoc on residents’ lives. Only imagine this time around there is a local power system that is more resilient and can withstand the storm, having the potential to always have […]