[George Douglas, 303/275-4096,
george_douglas@nrel.gov]

 

LNG proves to be responsible heavy duty truck fuel

A report by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory offers solid evidence that liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered vehicles can handle the demands of a refuse collection operation. Waste Management's LNG Truck Fleet Start-up Experience describes the success of using the odorless, non-corrosive and non-carcinogenic fuel to run a waste collection operation in Washington, Pa. Seven refuse haulers used LNG fuel from an onsite refueling station, with drivers preferring the LNG over diesel fuel. The trucks, equipped with Mack E7G natural gas engines, proved capable of operating in the same tough duty cycle as the company's 143 diesel trucks.

[George Douglas, 303/275-4096,
george_douglas@nrel.gov]

 

Plasma focusing of a positron beam — first ever

The Plasma Lens Collaboration at the DOE's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) achieved something new. It recently focussed a positron beam (antimatter of electron) by means of a plasma lens. This is the first example of focussing an antimatter beam with matter. In the future, a plasma lens located at the interaction point inside a detector could focus both the electron and positron beam, reducing the beam spot size and increasing the luminosity, perhaps by an order of magnitude. These may be important considerations in the design of the next generation of accelerators.

[P.A. Moore, 650-926-2605
xanadu@slac.stanford.edu]

 

Whendunit can lead us to whodunit

Knowing when a crime victim died can help convict the killer, and researchers at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing a system that could help justice prevail. Working with the University of Tennessee's Anthropological Research Facility, they are examining time-dependent chemical and biological markers in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the cadaver decay process. Analyses of decay rates of different organ tissues would be applied toward computational models. The goal is to develop an instrument that could be waved over a body to determine the time since death.

[Ron Walli, 865/576-0226,
wallira@ornl.gov]

 

Rapid Road Repair Vehicle would fix potholes on the fly

Leo Mara

As Leo Mara inched along a bumpy road past a road-repair crew on his way to work at Sandia National Laboratories' California site a couple of years ago, he dreamed of a bus-sized vehicle that would fix potholes as it drove over them.

That dream became his first patented invention and now has won him a Discover Award for technological innovation, in the Transportation category.

Mara's Greyhound bus-size Rapid Road Repair Vehicle incorporates several aspects of his background: He designs and programs data acquisition and control systems at the DOE lab, and previously worked for a trailer manufacturer in Connecticut, where harsh weather hastens road aging. He merged his industrial and high-tech experiences when conceiving the plan, and also incorporated a co-worker's chemical expertise on adding a rapidly congealing repair mixture to the scheme.

The vehicle would examine the road surface from scanners and clean any anomalies with high-pressure air and vacuum up debris. On-board image processing would determine if an object is a hole, bump, manhole cover, or crack. Then a phalanx of nozzles would pass over and deliver filling material, such as aggregate and fast-drying patch material or sealer. The mixture would be tamped into place, dusted with grit to provide traction, and vacuumed. Finally, another row of scanners would check the quality of the repair.

Under ideal conditions, Mara says, the vehicle could patch roads at up to 35 miles per hour, although he envisions a more sedate pace. But, he says, "Even at 10 miles per hour, can you imagine patching 10 miles of road in an hour? That's absolutely incredible."