GOLDEN, Colo., June 10, 2015 – The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced awards totaling more than $60 million for U.S. universities including Colorado School of Mines, national laboratories, and industry, for nuclear energy research and infrastructure enhancement with the potential to create scientific breakthroughs that both help strengthen the nation’s energy security and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Through the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP), the DOE is awarding more than $30 million to 43 universities. Four integrated research projects based at Mines, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oregon State University and the University of Mississippi will receive a total of $13 million.
Mines project:
R&D Award, $375,000: Led by Moises Carreon, associate professor, Mines Chemical and Biological Engineering Department.
The project will explore developing novel types of porous crystalline membranes, capable of effectively separating Kripton from Xenon with high flux and selectivity. These membranes have the potential to advance the conventional high-energy intensive process (fractional distillation at cryogenic temperatures), commonly used to separate radioactive Kripton from gas mixtures.
“If successful, this research may result in the development of novel membranes, as a viable energy saving approach for the effective removal of Kripton during processing of spent nuclear fuel,” said Carreon.
Mines is collaborating with Materials Sciences Scientist Praveen Thallapally at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for expertise on adsorption studies that will help to potentially elucidate separation mechanisms through these membranes.
View more information on the award on the NEUP website.
Contact:
Kathleen Morton, Communications Coordinator / 303-273-3088 / KMorton@mines.edu
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations / 303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu
