Carter to lead Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at ORNL in collaboration with the Caterpillar Technical Center have developed a new modified cast austenitic stainless steel with significantly more high-temperature performance, durability and reliability than the common commercial grade of that stainless steel - and at t...
Getting single molecules of semiconducting polymers to orient themselves vertically on a glass surface is more than just a novelty, says Mike Barnes of the lab's Chemical Sciences Division. It turns out that the discovery could have applications in a number of areas, including for nanoscale electron...
Reliability and efficiency are hot issues for manufacturers of microturbines, and companies like United Technologies, Ingersoll-Rand and General Electric look to ORNL for answers to some of their problems. Microturbines, which typically burn natural gas and can supply from 30 kilowatts to 500 kilowa...
ORNL researchers and partners around the nation hope to determine which poplar genes are responsible for below-ground carbon sequestration. Soil accounts for the greatest proportion of carbon stored in terrestrial systems, totaling more than plant sources and annual average atmospheric inputs combin...
Utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, ORNL researchers have developed several sophisticated airborne sensor systems that can detect, characterize and digitally map unexploded material - including items buried as deeply as 30 feet into the ground. These systems have applications for the military as e...
Loss of energy and efficiency due to friction costs the economy billions of dollars annually. Controlling friction in large-scale systems has traditionally been done with lubricants. However, lubricant behavior changes drastically and for the worse when the size of the lubricant film is of the order...
An experimental natural-gas-powered fuel cell about to be tested by ORNL researchers at an 83,000-square-foot federal user center near Knoxville may serve as a model for more efficient production of electricity to supply large office buildings. Project managers believe the fuel cell will meet at lea...
Carbon nanotubes hold great promise for applications ranging from miniaturized drug delivery systems to lightweight structural material for aircraft, spacecraft and suspension bridges. The hollow, spaghetti-like tubes promise to replace steel with structural materials that are 100 times stronger and...
A new machine at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's National Transportation Center user facility could help the auto industry make cars that are safer and sustain less damage in collisions. The one-of-a-kind Intermediate Strain Rate Machine enables engineers working with the automotive industry to ...
Ecological models and other tools available to decision makers can vastly reduce the environmental impacts of new roads, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Virginia Dale, one of the authors of two recently released books. In the past, environmental impacts of new roads were often considere...