UMaine Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Develop Sensors for Power Plant Operations
The University of Maine’s Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology (LASST) has received a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Energy to develop new high temperature sensor technology for reducing emissions and increasing the efficiency of fossil fuel energy plant operations.
Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, a UMaine professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Robert J. Lad, a UMaine professor of physics, will lead the project to develop novel thin film electrodes, piezoelectric smart microwave acoustic sensor devices, and sensor encapsulation materials that will be engineered to function for long periods of time at up to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit in a power plant environment. The work also includes developing a radio-frequency wireless interrogation electronics unit that will be located outside the high temperature environment.
UMaine will partner with Environetix Technologies Corporation, an Orono-based spinoff company of LASST that employs recent UMaine graduates, to develop the novel sensors and controls.
In its announcement of the funding opportunity, the Department of Energy said it was soliciting projects in the Sensors and Controls area of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Advanced Research (AR) program. Research and development projects within the AR program are directed toward the implementation and operation of the next generation of fossil energy power systems and improvements to existing systems. The goal is highly efficient, near-zero emission power systems that use domestic resources.
The UMaine technology is based on tiny wireless battery-free microwave acoustic sensors that can measure temperature and pressure in harsh environments. A large number of sensors will be tested at strategic locations in power plants, and the sensors will be used to help optimize the coal utilization process and provide information about the maintenance and status of the combustors and steam generator components.
This project stems from more than a decade of research and development, done by LASST faculty, staff and students, on thin film materials and sensor devices that can withstand high temperature operation in harsh environments. The technology has also been supported by funding from the U.S. Air Force, which is interested in placing the sensors into jet turbine engines.
Contact: Robert Lad, (207) 581-2257 or rjlad@maine.edu; Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, (207) 581-2384 or mdacunha@maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu.