Two technologies developed by the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have won R&D 100 Awards for 2010.
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
July 8, 2010
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osgBullet enables engineers, designers, managers, or customers to try out numerous design changes in real time. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory
Washington, DC - Two technologies developed by the Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have won R&D 100 Awards for 2010. The winning technologies include a coating that can extend the lifetime of metal components used in high-efficiency energy production and an open-source software toolkit that streamlines the engineering and design process in applications such as advanced power generation.
The annual awards, which are selected by an independent panel of judges and the editors of R&D Magazine, are presented to the 100 most technologically significant products to enter the marketplace in the past year.
"I want to congratulate all of this year's winners on their awards and to thank them for their work," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. "The large number of winners from the Department of Energy's national labs every year is a clear sign that our labs are doing some of the most innovative research in the world. This work benefits us all by enhancing America's competitiveness, ensuring our security, providing new energy solutions, and expanding the frontiers of our knowledge. Our national labs are truly national treasures, and it is wonderful to see their work recognized once again."
Award winners will be recognized at the R&D 100 Awards Banquet on November 11, 2010, in Orlando, Fla.
NETL's 2010 award-winning technologies are as follows:
- Cerium Oxide Coating for Oxidation Rate Reduction in Stainless Steels and Nickel Superalloys--This surface treatment extends the lifetime of metal components exposed to oxidizing environments. Higher efficiency in energy production can save resources, such as coal and petroleum, while protecting our environment. But higher efficiency also generally means more severe operating conditions. To avoid the premature failure of components associated with such extreme conditions, NETL researchers developed a cerium oxide-based coating that can be applied as a slurry to a metal part by brushing, spraying, or dipping. Because these methods of application are simpler and less costly than alternative approaches, the novel surface treatment could help extend our natural resources at a substantial savings.
- osgBullet--This set of computational modeling tools provides an integration interface that links two object visualization tools, OpenSceneGraph (OSG) and Bullet, and significantly enhances engineering design and simulation. With osgBullet, researchers can investigate multiple alternatives and explore the "what if" questions that can lead to breakthroughs in design. Users can create and modify design scenarios collaboratively in real time, experimenting with numerous design changes on the fly and instantly visualizing the impact of those changes upon the overall system. This capability provides engineers, designers, managers, and their customers with a dynamic decision-making environment for immediate product assessment and development. osgBullet was developed jointly by Ames Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Skew Matrix Software, the U.S. Army, and NETL.
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