VariGrid Explorations wins 470K from DOE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced over $20 million in funding for 64 projects supported by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF).  With additional matching funds from the private sector, these projects will advance promising commercial energy technologies and strengthen partnerships between DOE’s national labs and private sector companies to deploy energy technologies to the marketplace.

“The Department of Energy is one of the largest supporters of technology transfer within the federal government. By connecting innovators at our national labs with entrepreneurs in the private sector, DOE is breaking down barriers and finding the nexus between ingenuity and opportunity,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “The projects announced today will further strengthen those efforts across a broad spectrum of energy technologies and advance DOE’s important mission of technology transfer.”

The TCF was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to promote promising energy technologies. The TCF selections announced today will expand the DOE’s efforts to catalyze the commercial impact of the Department’s portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities.

DOE received over 100 applications for FY 2018 TCF funding. Topic 1 projects identify additional technology maturation activities to attract a private partner; Topic 2 projects identify cooperative development of a lab-developed technology in collaboration with a private partner to bolster its commercial application. TCF funds require a 50 percent match of non-federal funds from private partners.

See below for a full list of the TCF selections—as well as the private sector partners

ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

• SAM Co-Development to Support Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor Design and Licensing, $750,000.

  • Kairos Power LLC, Oakland, Calif.

• Machine Learning workflow tools for rapid optimization of product designs and manufacturing processes, $750,000.

  • Convergent Science Inc., Madison, Wis.

  • Parallel Works Inc., Chicago, Ill.

• Adapter for Smart EV Charging to Improve Vehicle Grid Integration and Interoperability, $590,349 California Energy Commission, Sacramento, Calif.

  • California Energy Commission, Sacramento, Calif.

  • Planet Innovation, Lake Forest, Ill.

  • Qmulus LLC, Chicago Ill.

  • Zen Ecosystems, Newport Beach, Calif.

• Small-Scale Recycling of Irradiated Uranium and Transuranic Elements (Np, Pu) Using 3D-Printed Centrifugal Contractors, $500,000

  • Niowave Inc., Lansing, Mich.

• Integration of Thermal Energy Storage with a Combined Heat and Power System, $380,000

  • Capstone Turbine Co., Van Nuys, Calif.

• Software Defined Submeter System for Building and Electric Vehicle Charging Applications, $375,000

  • Amzur Technologies, Tampa, Fla.

  • Flexible Manufacturing Inc., Santa Ana, Calif.

• Qualification of System-Level Advanced Reactor Safety Analysis Software for Lead Systems, $250,000.

  • Westinghouse Electric Company, Cranberry Township, Pa.

• Stabilization of High Energy Lithium-ion Cathodes using Nanocomposite Coatings, $150,000

• Novel Composite Material Production for Energy Applications, $150,000

• SIS Biofuel Adsorbents, $150,000

• A user-friendly commercial machine learning based software for large scale simulations and real time 3-D analysis and visualization, $150,000

• Enhancing unconventional reservoir ultimate recoveries with in-situ nano-catalysts, $150,000

  • Greyhorse Engineering and Technology, Houston, Texas.

FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY

• Downhole Accelerator-Sourced X-ray Imaging of Multiple Casing Strings, $286,827.

  • PetroMar Technologies Inc., Exton, Pa.

IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY

• Pilot Demonstration of a Wireless Valve Position Indication Sensor System in Nuclear Power Plants, $750,000

  • Exelon Generation Company LLC, Kennett Square, Pa.

• Enable Safe and Reliable Operations of Nuclear Power Plants through a Highly Dynamic and Integrated Work Management System, $750,000

  • LeanPower, Chicago, Ill.

• Prognostic Inspection Analysis at Nuclear Power Plants through an Advanced Imaging Service, $325,000

  • LPI Inc., Amesbury, Mass.

• High Temperature Irradiation Resistant Thermocouple, $300,000

  • Idaho Laboratories Corporation, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

• Direct Electrochemical Valorization of Captured Carbon Dioxide, $150,000

  • Carbon Clean Solutions, Cincinnati, Ohio

• Active Measurement Cancelation, $75,000

• Mobile Efficient Modified Delta Robotic Non-Destructive Examination Platform, $73,404

LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

• Lignin-Derived Ionic Liquids: Synthesis and Application in Biopolymer Processing, $500,000

  • Domtar Corp., Fort Mill, S.C.

  • Illium Technologies LLC, Charlotte, N.C.

  • Natural Fiber Welding, Peoria, Ill.

  • Proionic, GmbH, Grambach, Austria

• Low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing of metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells, $100,000

• Sulfur Electrode Design for Lithium-Sulfur Rechargeable Battery, $100,000

  • General Motors, LLC

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY

• Grid-Scale, Long-Term Energy Storage: Repurposing Hydrocarbon Reservoirs, Resources, and Infrastructure to Store CO2 and Heat, $750,000

  • Echogen Power Systems Inc., Akron, Ohio

  • Enviro Ambient, Newton, Mass.

  • TerraCOH Inc., Minnetonka, Minn.

  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minn.

• Accelerating Qualification of Additively Manufactured Metal Parts, $743,036

  • GE GRC, Niskayuna, N.Y.

• Incorporating Microencapsulated Sorbents into Bioreactor Chips for CO2 Capture, Conversion, and Air Purification, $630,000

  • Artveoli, San Jose, Calif.

• New Amplifier for Increased Capacity in Optical Fiber to Improve Grid Reliability and Resiliency, $150,000

• NanoDeposit: Rapid Manufacturing of Ordered Nanocrystal Devices, $150,000

  • Voxtel Inc., Beaverton, Ore.

NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY

• Co-operative Development of Technologies to Improve Small-Scale Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems, $572,700

  • Watt Fuel Cell, Mount Pleasant, Pa.

• Improving Accuracy Through Uncertainty Quantification and Communication, $470,000

  • Varigrid Explorations Inc., Trinity, Fla.

NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

• Advanced Cellobiohydrolases, $750,000

  • Novozymes Inc., Davis, Calif.

• Demonstration of NREL Modeling Capability to Design the Next Generation of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines, $500,000

  • Stiesdal LLC, Wilmington, Del.

• Air conditioner with integrated phase-change composite material, $500,000

  • Ingersoll-Rand, Davidson, N.C.

  • International Copper Association, Prospect Heights, Ill.

  • NETenergy, Chicago, Ill.

• Ubiquitous Traffic Volume Estimation through Machine Learning Procedures, $500,000

  • Colorado Department of Transportation, Golden, Colo.

  • I-95 Corridor Coalition, College Park, Md.

  • TomTom, Lebanon, N.H.

• Full-Scale Hydrogen Mitigation Installation and Testing at Nevada Solar One, $496,342

  • Acciona Energy USA Global LLC, Chicago, Ill.

• Development of a Cloud-Based Parametric Building Energy Modeling Platform with Advanced HVAC Design Capabilities, $344,368

  • Autodesk, Boston, Mass.

• Distribution Function in Time Series Simulation, $300,000

  • HOMER Energy Inc., Boulder, Colo.

• An Energy Rating Index Software Tool for the Residential Buildings Industry, $266,505

  • Wrightsoft, Lexington, Mass.

• Deployment of the Aerial Distant Observer Tool to Survey Optical Performance of CSP Parabolic Trough Solar Fields, $150,000

  • Solar Dynamics LLC, Broomfield, Colo.

• Model Test of an Innovative Offshore Floating Wind System, $150,000

• Fully Renewable Polyurethane Resins Produced from Algae and other Feedstocks, $149,984

  • Patagonia, Ventura, Calif.

• Sustainable Graphite for Lithium Ion Batteries, $149,935

  • Ensyn Technologies Inc., Ottawa, Canada

• Commercialization sputtered Zn(O,S) buffers in flexible CIGS solar cells, $100,000

  • Ascent Solar Technologies, Thornton, Colo.

• Commercializing Perovskite/CIGS Tandems, $100,000

  • Ascent Solar Technologies Inc., Thornton, Colo.

• Hydrogen Wide Area Monitor (HyWAM), $100,000

  • Compressed Gas Association, Chantilly, Va.

  • KJW Engineering, Newark, Calif.

  • Linde Group, Summitt, N.J.

• Transfer & Validation of Copyrighted NREL Spectroscopy IP for Rapid Biomass Composition to Next-Generation Ultra Low-Cost Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectrometers, $82,583

  • KS Technologies, Colorado Springs, Colo.

  • Texas Instruments, Dallas, Texas

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

• Scale-up of Recycling Process to Develop Domestic Resources of High Purity Rare Earth Elements from E-Waste, $730,000

  • Momentum Technologies, Dallas, Texas

• Enhanced Performance Aluminum Alloys through Energy Efficient Thermomagnetic Processing, $200,000

  • AjaxTOCCO Magnethermic, Gunthersville, Ala.

  • American Magnetics Inc., Oak Ridge, Tenn.

  • Eck Industries Inc., Manitowoc, Wis.

• Novel Catalyst for Low Temperature Emissions Control, $150,000

• Used (spent) nuclear fuel management and analysis tool, $150,000

• A Novel Catalyst for the Synthesis of Electrochemical Fuels, $150,000

  • Reactwell LLC, New Orleans, La.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY

• Integration of PNNL Synchrophasor Analysis Tools into V&R Energy Real-Time Platform, $750,000

  • V&R Energy Systems Research Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.

• Cold Spray Process Development for In Situ Repair and Mitigation of Cavitation Erosion, $300,000

  • Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Ore.

• Lab-on-a-fish for accelerating hydropower deployment, $150,000

• High Efficiency Magnetocaloric Natural Gas Liquefaction, $150,000

• Reactive Distillation: Alcohol-to-Jet Application, $150,000

  • LanzaTech, Skokie, Ill.

• Assembly of Aluminum and steel sub-components using Friction Stir Assisted Scribe technique (FAST), $150,000

  • TWB Company LLC, Monroe, Mich.

• Developing a Path Forward for the Integration of the Coordinated Real-time Sub-Transmission Volt-Var Control Tool (CReST-VCT) into Energy Management Systems (EMS), $150,000

  • ABB US Corporate Research Center, Raleigh, N.C.

  • North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.

• Process Intensification for Nanocomposite Aluminum Extrusions, $105,000

  • SCM Metal Products, Research Triangle Park, N.C.

• Maturation of nontoxic, durable, economical coatings for control of invasive mussels at hydropower facilities, $100,000

• Maturation of nontoxic, durable, economical coatings for control of biofouling and corrosion on MHK Devices, $100,000

• Molecularly optimized neutral electrolyte for rechargeable aqueous-based Zn-MnO2 batteries, $100,000

  • Duracell Inc., Bethel, Conn.

SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

• Testing of a Grid Compatible 1 MWe sCO2 Power Generation System for Commercial Distributed Energy Applications, $750,000

  • Peregrine Turbine Technologies LLC, Wiscasset, Maine

• Ducted Fuel Injection for the Next Generation of High-Efficiency, Fuel-Flexible, Clean, and Cost-Effective Engines, $415,000

  • Caterpillar Inc., Mossville, Ill.

  • Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Mich.