Coal is an abundant domestic natural resource, and research at BYU is dedicated to making coal use cleaner and more efficient. A study of the radiative and thermal properties of ash deposits formed in coal reactors will help achieve these goals.
The need for increased energy efficiency is imperative. We must be increasingly aware of the energy footprint of the systems we design and the machines we build. Recent advances in the area of nanotechnology have lead to improved performance of thermoelectric generators and other systems designed to convert heat directly into electricity. Systems to convert waste heat into electricity or to harvest energy from naturally occurring temperature gradients are being studied at BYU.
Concentrated solar radiation may be used to form elemental Zinc, which can then be used to split water to form hydrogen or used to produce power in a fuel cell. Thorough understanding of the interaction between the solar radiation and the ZnO is critical to implementing this cycle, and the radiative properties of ZnO are being investigated at BYU.
Clean, efficient, and reliable energy is a global challenge facing the engineering and scientific community. In the past, the emissions of internal combustion engines have been reduced to one percent of 1988 values with improved efficiency and reliability. Today the challenge is to accomplish a similar reduction in CO2 emissions and other pollutants for stationary power generation. Research at BYU includes measurements in combustion systems including coal and biomass-fired reactors and internal combustion engines.
