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New residential water heater concept promises high efficiency, lower cost
A team of scientists from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Florida has developed a novel method that could yield lower-cost, higher-efficiency systems for water heating in residential buildings.The theory behind the newly termed "semi-open" natural gas-fired design, explained in an ORNL-led paper published in Renewable Energy: An International Journal,…
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ORNL-led study analyzes electric grid vulnerabilities in extreme weather areas
Climate and energy scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to pinpoint which electrical service areas will be most vulnerable as populations grow and temperatures rise."For the first time, we were able to apply data at a high enough resolution to be relevant," said ORNL's Melissa Allen,…
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Provisional names announced for super heavy elements 113, 115, 117, and 118
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Inorganic Chemistry Division has published a Provisional Recommendation for the names and symbols of the recently discovered superheavy elements 113, 115, 117, and 118.The provisional names for 115, 117 and 118 — originally proposed by the discovering team from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna,…
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Better combustion for power generation
In the United States, the use of natural gas for electricity generation continues to grow. The driving forces behind this development? A boom in domestic natural gas production, historically low prices, and increased scrutiny over fossil fuels' carbon emissions.