Energy technologies get a boost toward commercial use

PNNL awarded $1.5M to advance, commercialize six lab-developed technologies

News Release

September 13, 2017

• Frances White, PNNL, (509) 375-6904
• Greg Koller, PNNL, (509) 372-4864

RICHLAND, Wash. - 6 energy technologies that do everything from protect fish to monitor the health of flow batteries are getting a boost at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab.

D.O.E. is awarding PNNL nearly $1.5 million to bring 6 technologies closer to commercial use. The plans were announced today by DOE's Office of Technology Transitions, which selected them for backing from its Technology Commercialization Fund. The technologies show great promise, but need further development to enhance their potential use in commercial products or services.

PNNL is among twelve D.O.E. national labs receiving a total of nearly $20 million to advance 54 different lab-developed plans through today's announcement.

PNNL is using its technology licensing income to match D.O.E. backing for most of its new projects, though 2 of the plans involve matching support from industrial partners. As a result, the total value of PNNL's 6 new plans is nearly $3 million.

PNNL's 6 projects, the lead PNNL researchers involved, and their partner organizations are as follows:

• Enhance the long-term operation of flow batteries for large-scale energy storage with a battery health monitoring system.
  • PNNL materials scientist Wei Wang will work with UniEnergy Technologies of Mulkiteo, Wash.
• Evaluate the physical forces fish experience as they swim through hydroelectric dams by improving and commercializing a sensor device.
  • PNNL engineer Daniel Deng will work with Advanced Telemetry Systems of Isanti, Minn., Natel Energy of Alameda, Calif., and Farmers Conservation Alliance of Hood River, Ore.
• Automatically detect fish near marine energy devices such as tidal turbines by improving software that analyzes underwater video.
  • PNNL engineer Shari Matzner is leading this project.
• Enable electric utilities to quickly adopt distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar by speeding up data analysis done on 2 computing resources.
  • PNNL engineer Jason Fuller will work with GridUnity of Boston, Mass., which is providing matching funding.
• Enhance fuel cells and other energy devices by better sealing their ceramic and metallic parts together.
  • PNNL materials scientists John Hardy and Jens Darsell will work with Aegis Technology of Santa Anna, Calif., which is providing matching funding.
• Inspect small nuclear reactors, nuclear storage containers and more with long-term sensors that are sprayed like paint onto the materials they examine.
  • PNNL engineer Bill Glass will work with Innerspec Technologies of Forrest, Va.

A full list of the 2017 Technology Commercialization Fund-supported plans is accessible on DOE's Office of Technology Transitions' website.

For more information about licensing PNNL-developed technologies, visit PNNL's Accessible Technologies website.

Tags: Energy, Environment, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Renewable Energy, Fuel Cells, Batteries, Hydropower, Green Energy, Fish

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed and operated by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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