Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a rich history of scientific research supporting the nation’s exploration, production, and use of domestic fossil energy resources. Current ORNL R&D activities span a range of Fossil Energy subprograms including advanced energy systems, carbon capture, carbon storage and utilization, and oil and gas technologies. ORNL scientists and engineers are using our world- class facilities and expertise to develop and characterize the performance of next generation advanced materials for harsh environment applications including boilers, gas turbines, solid oxide fuel cells and supercritical CO2 power cycles. Key ORNL core competencies in neutron science, high performance computing and our strengths in manufacturing are being used to develop process intensified carbon capture approaches, apply neutron imaging to improve understanding of coal gasification processes, and develop novel heat exchanger designs with improved heat transfer characteristics using additive manufacturing. Subsurface oriented ORNL R&D efforts focus on improving image reconstruction methods that identify subsurface structure and composition, utilizing novel tracers to monitor CO2 plume migration for carbon sequestration applications, and applying neutron imaging and scattering techniques to develop a more fundamental understanding of fluid transport and storage in geological media.
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