| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 7, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 29, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 1831166 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anna Brady-Estevez
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | September 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $734,607.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,049,517.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $145,577.00 FY 2021 = $169,333.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
95 BROWN RD M/S 1033 ITHACA NY US 14850-1294 (510)708-3648 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
369 Upson Hall Ithaca NY US 14853-7501 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | STTR Phase II |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this STTR Phase II project will result in significant economic activity through the utilization of waste carbon dioxide. The photo-catalytic reactors funded in the project will lead to novel methods to chemically store energy from the sun. Each year, human activity releases 38 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Dimensional Energy envisions a future in which we can utilize this carbon dioxide as a feedstock for industrial production of hydrocarbon fuels and chemical intermediaries by harnessing the power of the sun.
This STTR Phase II project proposes to develop HI-Light - a photo-thermo-catalytic reactor platform technology that enables the conversion of CO2 and water to synthesis gas at a rate significantly greater than the state of the art. The unique feature of the technology is that it uses embedded optical waveguides to evenly distribute light within the reactor, increasing the efficacy of the catalyst and ultimately the productivity of the system. In Phase I a fully functional integrated prototype reactor was constructed, demonstrating continuous operation, and showing productivity in terms of the grams of hydrocarbon produced per gram of catalyst per hour more than 10x greater than the state of the art. The approach solves the two major roadblocks in photo-conversion of CO2: (1) the semiconductor catalysts can only use photons with energies greater than their bandgap, which is a small fraction of those present in sunlight and (2) a large fraction of the catalyst material in these reactors is under-utilized due to sub-optimal light and reactant delivery. Our unique reactor uses a patented, multi-scale approach to enhance light and reagent transport directly to the reaction site and makes use of traditionally unused photons to provide heat and enhance reaction efficiency.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The primary objective of the project was to develop Dimensional Energy?s light-driven Chemical Reactor system for producing valuable chemicals from carbon dioxide feedstocks. The idea of using carbon dioxide to produce chemicals that normally come from fossil fuels provides a direct route to replacing them. Beyond being carbon neutral or carbon negative, they are also cleaner burning. Society has a need and strong desire to maintain or raise its Standard of Living while also decreasing climate impacts. By replacing fossil fuels as the feedstock for chemicals, fuels, and plastics, there would be increased air quality, cleaner waters, and stopping of other environmental degradation that comes along with the extraction, processing, and usage of fossil fuels. The technology studied in this project would allow for the creating of a cyclic carbon economy where CO2, that would normally be released into the air, can be recycled into new products.
During the project there were also a number of technologies that could directly benefit other fields. Optical waveguides for transporting sunlight into chemical reactors for solar energy conversion of the chemicals were optimized. This work translated into a procedure for developing robust waveguides that could be used in a range of light-driven chemical and biological reactors that are currently being developed by others for various applications. It allows for large amounts of concentrated light to be uniformly distributed inside a chamber, allowing for massive scaling of reactors that often only have illumination from the exterior. The interior is less illuminated due to scattering of light, forcing a limitation on the dimensions.
Also in this project, catalysts for using sunlight on the waveguide surface were tested, yielding the surprising result that light was efficiently converted to heat during the process. The catalysts did not have the mechanism that was proposed by the academics who invented them, so the results provided necessary information to the scientific community for more stringent testing guidelines.
Finally, a new style of reactor was designed and modeled that involved ultra-high temperatures. A version of this reactor was manufactured and utilized for a demonstration project where carbon dioxide was converted to a high value chemical. This was later enhanced with new materials for increased carbon dioxide conversion and scaling.
Last Modified: 10/05/2022
Modified by: Bradley J Brennan
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