Browse Research Projects -- Illinois Sustainable Technology Center by Title

  • Emerging Contaminants Consortium 
    (2017)
    The Emerging Contaminants Consortium (formerly PPCPs Consortium) is hosted by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) and is open to anyone who is currently conducting research on pharmaceuticals, personal care ...

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  • Enabling Technology Maturation in Carbon Capture: The Role of a University Based Power Plant as a Test Facility 
    Attalla, Mohamed; OBrien, Kevin C; Brownstein, Stephanie; Lu, Yongqi; White, Morgan; Roman, Robert Raymond; Larson, Michael; Dexter, Jim (2021-03-26)
    The Abbott Power Plant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) provides a unique facility for testing carbon capture, utilization, and energy storage technologies. This combined heat and power (CHP) facility ...

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  • Energy Efficient Waste Heat Coupled Forward Osmosis for Effluent Water Management at Coal-Fired Power Plants 
    Ragajopalan, Nandakishore (U.S. Department of Energy. National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2021)
    This project sought to evaluate the technical and economic viability of the Aquapod©, a transformational low energy (<200 kJ/kg water) waste heat coupled forward osmosis (FO) technology, to manage effluents, meet cooling ...

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  • Energy-Efficient Forward Osmosis for FGD Wastewater Volume Minimization 
    Rajagopalan, Nandakishore; Zhang, Xuesong; del Cerro, Martina; Chandrasekaran, Sriraam R; Patel, Vinod A (U.S. Department of Energy, 2020-11-09)
    A variant of forward osmosis, the Aquapod© process, was shown to be capable of concentrating FGDWW five-fold without the need for softening. The thermal and electrical energy consumption per unit of water produced was ...

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  • Engineering of Ultrafiltration Equipment in Alkaline Cleaner Applications 
    Rajagopalan, Nandakishore; Lindsey, Tim; Skerlos, Steven J. (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2001)
    The use of ultrafiltration (UF) applications with alkaline cleaners was a common practice as of 2001, but at the time UF was still susceptible to fouling and stripping out active agents from the cleaners. ISTC’s Kishore ...

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  • Evaluation of Biochar Applications in Ten Illinois Soils 
    Holm, Nancy; Meschewski, Elizabeth; Sharma, B.K.; Spokas, Kurt; Kelly, John (2013)
    Researchers Nancy Holm, Elizabeth Meschewski, and B.K. Sharma of ISTC along with Kurt Spokas – U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, St. Paul, MN – and Lacy Walsh, ISTC’s 2013 Summer Intern from ...

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  • An Evaluation of the Colloidal Stability of Metalworking Fluid 
    Rajagopalan, Nandakishore; Menniti, Adrienne; Kramer, Timothy A.; Clark, Mark M. (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2005)
    Metalworking fluids are used for cooling, lubrication, and corrosion control in the metal products industry. As of the mid-2000s, many manufacturers were using filtration or centrifugal systems to remove impurities from ...

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  • Fate and Transport of Steroid Hormones and Veterinary Antibiotics Derived from Cattle Farms 
    Zheng, Wei; Li, Xiaolin; Machesky, Michael; Yates, Scott R.; Katterhenry, Michael; Bradford, Scott A.; Kelly, Walton R.; Zou, Yonghong (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2013)
    Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have been identified as one of the most important sources for the release of animal hormones and veterinary antibiotics into the aquatic environment. Funded by a USDA research ...

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  • Fate of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in Irrigated Wastewater Effluent 
    Loftus, Lucy; Jin, Guang; Armstrong, Shalamar; Bierma, Thomas J.; Walker, Paul; Zheng, Wei; Kelly, Walt (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2015-01)
    The potential human and environmental health risks posed by pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been identified as a research priority at both the federal and state level. It has been well documented ...

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  • The Feline Thyroid Gland: Model for Endocrine Disruption by Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers? 
    Mensching, Donna; Beasley, Val (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2009-04)
    Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are ubiquitous flame retardants and known endocrine disruptors used in many household products since the 1970s. They are lipophilic and bioaccumulate, with tissue residues in humans ...

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  • Flue Gas Aerosol Pretreatment Technologies to Minimize PCC Solvent Losses 
    Bostick, Devin; OBrien, Kevin C; Biswas, Pratim; Larson, Greg; Larson, Mike (U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2018-06)
    Linde, LLC, with partners University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), and Affiliated Construction Services (ACS), will design, construct, and validate enabling technologies ...

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  • Formulation and Testing of a Microfiltration Compatible Synthetic Metalworking Fluid 
    Wentz, John E.; Kapoor, Shiv G.; DeVor, Richard E.; Rajagopalan, Nandakishore; Gilmer, Jessica; Eppert, J.J. (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2007)
    It was initially thought that no metalworking fluid could be developed to meet industry specifications and be compatible with membranes to use microfiltration to remove contaminants. However, Rajagopalan’s team developed ...

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  • From waste to energy: Rice husks and Li-ion batteries 
    Jiang, Junhua (2014)
    A team at ISTC and scientists from Argonne national Laboratory have successfully produced multi-component Si-based materials from rice husk and demonstrated their potential as Li-ion anode materials.

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  • Front-End Engineering Design Study for Hybrid Gas Turbine and Ultra-Supercritical Coal Boiler Concept Plant with Post Combustion Carbon Capture 
    OBrien, Kevin C (U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2021-01)
    The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) is leading a project to complete a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for a Hybrid Gas Turbine and USC Coal Boiler Concept (HGCC) with post combustion carbon capture ...

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  • Full-scale FEED Study for Retrofitting the Prairie State Generating Station with an 816 MWe Capture Plant using Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Technology 
    OBrien, Kevin C; Lu, Yongqi; Dietsch, Jason; Zhang, Jason; Wu, Tiffany; Thomas, Timothy; Iwakura, Keisuke; Thomas, Matthew; Brown, Alison; Guletsky, Paula; Baker, Anthony; Meyer, Rich; Arzola, Javier; Gaston, Don (2021-01-20)
    This front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is for a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system for Unit #2 (816 MW) at the Prairie State Generating Company’s (PSGC) Energy Campus in Marissa, IL. The capture technology ...

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  • Full-Scale Feed Study for Retrofitting the Prairie State Generating Station with an 816 MWe Capture Plant Using Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Technology [DE-FE031841] 
    OBrien, Kevin C (U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2019-11)
    The overall goal of this project is to perform a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the retrofit of Unit 2 (approximately 816 megawatt-electric [MWe]) of Prairie State Generation Company’s (PSGC) coal-fired power ...

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  • Gear Oil 
    Sharma, B.K. (2012)
    Gear oil is an important industrial lubricant. If stable and high-quality bio-based gear oils and additives can be developed, petroleum-based lubricants may be a thing of the past. Researchers, including ISTC’s Dr. B.K. ...

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  • Green Diesel 
    Sharma, B.K.; Vardon, Derek (2014)
    Green diesel, or renewable diesel-grade hydrocarbons, can be produced from microalgae, waste grease, or other lipid-rich feedstocks. Green diesel consumes less fossil fuel and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than ...

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  • Heat-bodied Oils make Good Industrial Lubricants 
    Sharma, B.K.; Scott, John; Kunwar, Bidhya (2014)
    Petroleum-based industrial lubricants present undesirable environmental and health effects, including toxicity to wildlife and humans, as well as poor biodegradability. Therefore, there is a growing interest in developing ...

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  • Impact of Environmental Contaminants on Machining Properties of Metalworking Fluids 
    Rajagopalan, Nandakishore; Greeley, M. (Champaign, IL : Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2003)
    Kishore Rajagopalan and his colleague explored how contaminants like tramp oils and salts impact the productivity of recycled metalworking fluids. They found that metalworking fluids had no losses in cooling and lubricating ...

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