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Partnership for the Environment: Academia, Industry, Government
Research to Measure Energy Efficiency Gains Hiding in Commercial/Industiral Sectors' Electric Motors
If a high-efficiency automobile costing $22,000 could deliver fuel savings totaling $11,000 per year over 10 years it would revolutionize that industry, according to Sadrul Ula, research professor at UCR's College of Engineering - Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT).
Yet a similar potential revolution in the efficient use of large-scale motors is being ignored by industry and government in this country.
Nearly one-half of the electricity consumed in California is used by large motors (50 horsepower or larger) to move air (HVAC) and water which are operating 24/7. But for a variety of reasons, these heavyweight power users tend to operate 5-10 percent below their optimum efficiency, said Ula, who has been awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission to conduct the first survey to document the efficiency of existing motors in buildings under actual operating conditions.
The study will evaluate a number of potential sources of energy waste:
- To minimize the chance of failure, commercial buildings tend to use larger capacity motors than needed, leading to continuous under-efficiency in operation.
- The relatively low cost differential between different capacity motors and high- versus low-efficiency motors means little thought is given to proper efficiency sizing.
- Software used by architectural and engineering firms inflates safety factors in calculating motor sizes for buildings, leading to oversized motors being installed in many applications.
- Repairing damaged motors usually results in lower efficiency operation.
Though December 2012, CE-CERT will build a baseline data inventory of large HVAC motor energy use in California buildings. The inventory will include motor size, partial loading data, highly resolved temporal data as well as seasonal variations. On-site measurements will begin on CE-CERT's own facilities, university buildings and area government installations. The research will also account for climatic differences in cities across California to provide Energy Commission a complete picture of potential energy savings statewide.
Ula is principle investigator for the research, joined by co-principal investigators, Matthew Barth, director of CE-CERT and an electrical engineering professor, and Alfredo Martinez Morales, managing director of the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy at CE-CERT.
Electric motors account for almost two-thirds of electricity use in this country. The potential impact of reducing energy waste is high in California where 46.7 percent of power generation goes to HVAC systems in commercial buildings alone.
A small increase in motor efficiency could greatly benefit the overall energy footprint of the state, especially when employed in California's large energy users, such as water supply systems, manufacturing systems and industrial conveyor belts, Ula continued.
Consider a 700 horsepower motor which costs $50,000 and is run continuously at 75 percent load for 10 years. In that time the motor will have consumed $5 million in electricity. But with just a five percent increase in motor efficiency, it will yield annual savings of $25,000 in electricity costs and reduce peak demand.
Motor manufacturers now certify the efficiency of their own products. CE-CERT is currently developing a large motor testing facility, the first of its kind in California, for training and testing of both old and new HVAC motors. This independent test facility will also be capable of evaluating Variable Frequency Drives (VDFs) and Adjustable Speed Drives (ASDs) currently used to increase energy efficiency in many HVAC applications.
Student Research Exchange Continues to Explore Environmental Issues
The seventh research symposium between students of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and the University of California, Riverside was a spirited exchange of 10 presentations spanning sustainable energy and emissions research.
The collaboration between the two universities has been supported by William Johnson of Johnson Machinery Company of Riverside. The exchange program has served to deepen students understanding of the research approaches of both nations.
The Chinese students represented SJTU's School of Mechanical and Power Engineering. The five doctoral candidates travelled to UCR in a delegation led by Associate Professor He Lin and Dr. Zhisong Tian.
The Shanghai Jiao Tong University students presenting were:
- Wei Chen, "Photocatalyic activity of layered perovskite catalysis for overall water splitting to form hydrogen and oxygen."
- Chen Gu, "An investigation of precursors of nascent soot particles in premixed ethylene flames based on Laser-induced fluorescence."
- Zhong Zhao Li, "Experimental study on HCCI combustion of a 4-cylinder OKP engine."
- Zheng Yang, "Experimental study on HCCI combustion characteristics using a Rapid Compression Machine."
- Tingting Zhang, "Microalgal biodiesel in China: opportunity and challenge."
They were joined in the symposium by five doctoral students from CE-CERT. The UCR/CE-CERT students participating were:
- Xin Fan, "Co-mingled biosolids and biomass as feedstock for steam hydrogasification using lab-scale batch reactor."
- Maryam Hajbabaei, "Assessment of emissions from the use of biodiesel in California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified diesel fuel: Heavy-duty engine dynamometer study."
- Heather McKenzie, "Solubilization of lignin and hemicellulose during hydrothermal pretreatment."
- Daniel Short, "Will black carbon influence water and butanol-based condensational particle counts? Real-time particle measurements from I-710."
- Zhongqing Zheng, "Particle mass and particle number emissions from a heavy-duty diesel vehicle under real-world driving conditions and a standard testing cycle."
The presentations can be viewed at www.cert.ucr.edu/events/sjtu2011.html
Doctoral Research Points to More Accurate Pollutant Particle Detection
Zhongqing Zheng won the poster competition at a major aerosol research conference by demonstrating a way to make more accurate counts of diesel particles and showing that the standard laboratory testing cycle (the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule) underestimates the particle number emissions from real-world driving.
Zheng's work matters because European vehicle regulations are based on particle mass (like in the U.S.) but also particle number. The next generation standard of European regulations, Euro VI, will be implemented between 2013-15, using the so-called PMP method to count particle number. Recent research at CE-CERT demonstrated that artifact particles can be formed downstream the PMP system by re-nucleation of semi-volatiles.
The work was presented at the American Association for Aerosol Research 30th Annual Conference in Orlando, October 3-7. Zheng, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering at UCR's Bourns College of Engineering, won one of 14 top awards out of more than 400 posters presented.
The accuracy of the measurement methods takes on greater importance because there are ongoing discussions about adopting the PMP method to other transportation sector such as for regulation emissions from air craft engines, according to Heejung Jung, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering and Zheng's academic advisor.
The conclusions were developed by comparing particle counts from a standard laboratory testing cycle with counts from real-world conditions using the Center's Mobile Emissions Laboratory.
Cellulosic Ethanol Lab Honored for Technology Commercialization
A CE-CERT invention that greatly speeds the laboratory analysis of biomass has received the first License Execution Award of the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC).
BESC is a consortium of government, industry and academic partners working to perfect the science which would allow a viable ethanol transportation fuel industry based on non-food sources.
The award recognized the successful licensing of a method of evaluating 96 biomass samples for their sugar yield simultaneously rather than the previous one-at-a-time, labor-intensive practice. Screening for optimal combinations of biomass, heat, acids and other variables is central to developing technology for optimal pre-treatment of cellulose to release simple sugars.
Charles Wyman, Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering, Michael Arciero, of UCR's Office of Technology Commercialization, and Michael Studer, BESC researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, were recognized for the commercialization of the device at the Fifth Annual BESC Science Retreat, July 18-21, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Wyman, Studer, and CE-CERT doctoral students Jaclyn D. DeMartini and Heather L. McKenzie along with colleagues at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, developed the "multi-chamber biomass pretreatment reactor for high throughput screening of biomass."
PHOTO: The multi-chamber reactor is pictured being prepared by CE-CERT's robotic pretreatment screening system.
Arciero and Eric Payne, Senior Licensing Executive at NREL, successfully licensed the technology to Aspen Machining, a precision machining company located in Lafayette, CO. Several companies have already placed orders with Aspen Machining for the pretreatment reactors, according to a BESC spokesman.
The invention saves analysis time and money by incorporating pretreatment and enzymatic co-hydrolysis as well as sugar analysis in the same step. This device also allows the screening thousands of biomass types, pretreatment conditions or enzyme formulations in a much shorter time, and with much less manpower, than by other state-of-the-art procedures.
UCR Faculty Hosts Western Section Meeting of the Combustion Institute
Heejung Jung, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, hosted the fall meeting of the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute (WSSCI) October 17-18 at the University of California, Riverside.
The theme of the conference, "New Frontiers in Fuels, Emission Control and Combustion Science" included advancements in chemical kinetics; soot and PAH; heterogeneous combustion; alternative fuels and engine combustion; combustion diagnostics; supersonic combustion; and innovative and emerging concepts in combustion.
Invited speakers included: Harvey Blanch, Merck Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UC Berkeley, "Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels: A Historical, Economic, and Technical Perspective;" Forman Williams, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego, "Short Chemical Mechanisms in Combustion;" and, Alberto Ayala, Chief of Climate Change Mitigation and Emissions Research for the California Air Resources Board, "Prospects for Ultralow Particle Emissions and the Enabling Control Technologies for Engines and Vehicles."
PHOTO: Pictured at the Combustion Institute Conference were (left to right) Reza Abbaschian, dean of the Bourns College of Engineering, conference chair Heejung Jung, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UCR, and WSS/Ci Chair Chris Shaddix, of Sandia National Laboratories.
The Combustion Institute is an international, non-profit, educational and scientific society to promote and disseminate research in all areas of combustion science. The Institute supports the activities of 34 sections worldwide, including Eastern, Central, and Western States Sections in the U.S.
Sponsors for the Fall WSSCI Meeting included CARB, Solar Turbines-A Caterpillar Company, and the UC Riverside Graduate Division.
For more information about the event, visit its website at www.engr.ucr.edu/WSSCIConference/index.htm.
STAR Faculty Grant to Explore Role of Black Carbon in Nucleation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a STAR Research Grant, to Akua Asa-Awuku, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, to study the impact of black carbon (BC) particles on health, air quality and climate.
The goal of the three-year project is to better understand how man-made pollutants affect the mechanism of wet droplet formation, both in our lungs and in the atmosphere, according to Prof. Asa-Awuku.
When carbonaceous fuels are burned, tiny black carbon particles are emitted, as well as lighter in color organic compounds (OC). These particles can be as small as a few nanometers, and are known to serve as seeds (or nuclei) for droplet formation. The mechanism of how the two types of carbon species interact in droplet formation is little understood and may have broad implications – for issues from climate change to human health.
PHOTOS: (right) Akua Asa-Awuku, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, is pictured at the vacuum array which feeds the test reactor of the Center's Atmospheric Processes Chamber. (below) Graduate students perform maintenance on the control reactor in the chamber.
There are few places in the world where the physical and chemical interaction of such minute particles can be realistically observed. As a researcher at CERT, Asa-Awuku has access to the world's largest indoor atmospheric processes chamber, housing dual 90-cubic-meter reactors where atmospheric particles can be studied in great detail and in real-time.
Black carbon particles are insoluble, she said, but OC compounds react readily with water vapor. When the two types of carbon interact, what are the ramifications for droplet formation?
In addition, while PM pollution has already been tied to health problems, the mechanisms that lead to adverse health effects is not well understood, she explained.
STAR grants (Science to Achieve Results) are "awarded to the nation's leading scientists and engineers that will improve the scientific basis for national environmental decisions," according to EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) which administers the program. Asa-Awuku's successful proposal in the highly competitive EPA program is titled "Understanding the Hygroscopic Properties of Black Carbon/Organic Carbon Mixing States: Connecting Climate and Health Impacts of Anthropogenic Aerosol."
To study the tiny particles, Asa-Awuku makes optical measurements based on the reflective properties (color) of carbonaceous aerosol. Various organic compounds appear lighter in color than black carbon. Depending on how light or dark they are, the particles can have either a cooling (scattering) or a warming (absorbing) effectsin the atmosphere. In addition the chemical composition of the various colored particles can be extremely different.
"Particles in the atmosphere that affect your health also affect the climate," Asa-Awuku said. The same nucleation principles for wet droplet growth apply to cloud formation. Water vapor condenses on particles to promote droplet formation. In this way, Prof. Asa-Awuku hopes that her research will contribute to our understanding of both health and climate change.
In addition to the advanced Atmospheric Processes Laboratory at CERT, Asa-Awuku will also draw on the expertise of the Center's Emissions and Fuels Group as well as its Alternative Transportation Fuels Research Center of Excellence to measure the in-situ cloud droplet formation ability of black carbon emissions from engines burning various diesel and biodiesel fuel blends.
Engineers Offer Mythbusters Expertise to Compare Auto, Motorcycle Emissions
Is an automobile or a motorcycle the more environmentally responsible vehicle? With the assistance of CERT Research Engineer Kent Johnson, MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will test the "myth" that a motorcycle is a greener and cleaner machine than a car September 28 on the Discovery Channel.
The MythBusters episode premieres at 9 p.m. PT next Wednesday on the Discovery Channel, when Johnson lends his 20 years of emissions and fuels research to compare the emissions from six different vehicles.
PHOTOS: (above) Assistant Research Engineer Kent Johnson struck a familiar Mythbusters pose in preparation for the comparison of car versus motorcycle pollution testing to air on Mythbusters next Wednesday. (below) Johnson on the MythBusters set.
Since vehicle engineering has changed so much over the past 30 years, the MythBusters proposed to test one car and one motorcycle built over each of the past three decades. Johnson looked at the pollutant emissions (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitric oxides) resulting from the operation of all six vehicles.
Johnson and his colleagues at CERT have been among the leaders in advancing the science of vehicle emissions testing from laboratory testing, to in-use evaluation, to portable emissions measurement systems. Colleagues David Cocker, associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering, and Tom Durbin, director of the Alternative Transportation Fuels Research Center of Excellence, assisted with the data crunching.
CERT has measured the pollution profiles of hundreds of models of cars using dozens of fuel formulations, as well as testing of many off-road vehicles, stationary pollution sources, locomotives, port vehicles, harbor craft, and ocean-going vessels.
More information about the MythBusters episode is available at http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/mythbusters/. Read More
BCOE Team Named Winner of Connected Vehicle Technology Challenge
A team from the Bourns College of Engineering and its Center for Environmental Research and Technology was named one of six winners of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Connected Vehicle Technology Challenge last month.
Rapidly improving wireless technology today offers the ability for vehicles of all types to connect with each other and with traffic signals and mobile devices. The Connected Vehicle Challenge is gathering ideas to utilize an advanced wireless technology standard, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC). The convergence promises a new era of safer and more efficient transportation. Read More
Vehicle Fleet Research to Quantify Benefits of Eco-Driving Technologies
The Department of Energy has selected a group of public and private eco-driving researchers based at UCR's College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) to scale up technologies which cut pollution and reduce fuel use by generating real-time driver feedback.
PHOTO: CERT Director Matt Barth explains the research capabilities of the Center's ECO-ITS Testbed Vehicle.
The $1.2 million grant builds on CERT expertise in eco-driving, eco-navigation, and vehicle networking. This research will work to take current advances in these areas and combine them in a fully integrated feedback system that includes better trip planning, improved efficiency while driving, and comprehensive reporting on a periodic basis.
The grant will allow the partners to progress beyond small anecdotal studies to more carefully evaluate the benefits of eco-driving technology – benefits expected to fall between 10-20 percent. The project will also be one of the first studies to integrate improvements in fleet planning and fleet operations in real-time. Read More
CERT Pairs with Food Recycling Firm to Explore New Gasification Feedstock
A 2011 Discovery Grant will explore the union of two promising technologies to turn food waste into clean liquid fuels.
The patented Steam Hydro-gasification Reaction (SHR) developed at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), has so far proven to be a comparatively inexpensive and efficient way to turn garbage, green wastes -- any carbonaceous material -- into hydrocarbon precursors for fuel.
Food Recycle Science (FRS) of Irvine, California has developed a proprietary process (eCorect™) for the hydrothermolytic decomposition of food wastes at large scale food-serving and food-handling facilities. The concentrated biomass produced by FRS will be evaluated as a feedstock for CE-CERT's SHR reactors.
"It could be a very happy marriage of clean technologies," according to Chan Seung Park, associate research engineer at CERT. "A number of clean fuels could be produced which are carbon neutral and turn landfill waste into renewable energy."
Both processes are environmentally "closed," producing no greenhouse gas which can promote global warming. eCorect™ is a closed system technology, producing no methane or carbon emission because it does not burn nor use any enzymes or bacteria in the treatment process.
The FRS process is already in use at more than 130 restaurants and food handling facilities. Up until now, the Highly Concentrated Organic (HCO) biomass it produces has been discarded.
The partners will work to integrate the two technologies over one year. Their first goal is to evaluate the optimum makeup (moisture content and particle size) of the feedstock. They will then measure the carbon conversion efficiency of the process in CE-CERT laboratories.
Using lab experiments and computer simulations, the final step will be to calculate the economic return of the production of different energy types (synthetic diesel, natural gas, or electricity) which can be produced by the process.
"Our hope is that these two technologies together can turn a messy, unsafe and wasteful food disposal process into a clean, streamlined source of sustainable energy," Park concluded.
The UC Discovery Program, which pairs industry and university research to boost the California economy, will end during fiscal year 2011-12 due to budget cuts. The FRS/CERT project was one of the final awards of the UC Discovery Program in an extremely competitive process.
Natural Gas Production Stokes New Interest in Phase II of Gasification Reactor
CE-CERT's goal of converting Riverside's landfill waste into clean transportation fuels has been funded into its final phase by the California Energy Commission's (CEC) through its Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. Engineers are also now projecting that UCR’s patented technology could be a major source of cleaner, renewable natural gas.
The new $650,000 grant extends CEC's commitment to the $2 million effort to build a process demonstration unit (PDU) at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT). The PDU scale unit will provide critical engineering data prior to a five ton-per-day pilot plant proposed to be located at the City of Riverside’s waste water treatment facility.
From results developed at CE-CERT, engineers now project that substantial substitute natural gas could be gasified out of the 9.82 million tons of wet wastes produced annually in California. They estimate that more than 132 trillion cubic feet of substituted natural gas could be produced. That could replace 5.5 percent of fossil fuel natural gas with a cleaner, renewable resource. If successful, the process could also cut greenhouse gases now released by the burning of natural gas by an estimated 10.5 million tons each year.
Just as importantly, estimates show that substituted natural gas can be produced for nearly half the current price of natural gas. The difference could reduce the annual price tag for natural gas by $606 million.
The Steam Hydrogasification Reaction (SHR) developed at CE-CERT was recently evaluated by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Compared to all other mainstream gasification technologies, the CE-CERT Process was found to be 12 percent more efficient, with 18 percent lower capital costs.
PHOTO: Chemical and Environmental Engineering graduate student Norm Hart (left) and senior Electrical Engineering student Rajesh Reddy inspect the sensor connections on the top of the new steam hydrogasification reactor being completed at CERT.
Among the advantages of the CE-CERT's SHR is that it can use mixed fuel stocks, including yard wastes, agricultural by products, waste wood, municipal wastes and sewage sludge, most of which currently end up in landfills. The theoretical optimal plant size can be smaller because of the lower capital investment needed. This means smaller fuel plants can be located near the sources of the feedstocks, reducing the cost and carbon emissions released by transportation of fuel stocks. Also, SHR does not require the construction of an expensive oxygen plant, greatly reducing the cost of the plant.
The PDU will also allow CE-CERT engineers to evaluate new feedstock sources, including algae (which can be readily grown at waste water treatment plants) and food waste processing technology developed by Food Recycle Science Inc.
Another goal is of the work is to produce synthetic natural gas from co-mingled biomass, food waste, and biosolids as a renewable replacement for fossil fuel based natural gas. Both Riverside Public Utilities and Southern California Gas Company have expressed support for the project. Californians used more than 12 trillion therms of natural gas in 2009, so any source of non-fossil fuel natural gas could help the state meet its goals.
The State of California has committed to reduce petroleum use by the equivalent of 2.4 billion gallons per year by 2017. California already uses approximately 1 billion gallons of ethanol and 4 million gallons of biodiesel but more than 95 percent is imported from out of state.
Current estimates are that California produces 83 million dry tons of biomass wastes per year, including agricultural and forestry wastes and wastewater treatment biomass that must be disposed of. Some 32.1 million dry tons of this biowaste is estimated to be practically available for fuel production.
CARB Grant to Evaluate Hybrid Electric Power for Off-Road Uses
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has awarded CE-CERT's Emissions and Fuels Research Group a $2 million grant to evaluate the emission reduction benefits of hybrid technology for heavy-duty off-road construction vehicles.
This is part of a larger effort by CARB to expand the use of hybrid technology to help meet the goals of AB 118 -- to achieve an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas by 2050. The use of hybrid-electric technology in heavy-duty on- and off-road vehicles is at a very early stage of development. Through the recent Hybrid Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) more than 650 hybrid trucks and buses have been deployed.
Hybrid technology can provide fuel efficiency benefits of 5 to 20 percent, and potential emission reductions between 25-70 percent. Little is known about the potential benefits of hybrid technologies for construction equipment because of their unique and diverse duty cycles when used in real world applications. The behavior of hybrid equipment, like excavators and bulldozers, will be characterized on a second by second basis, during in-use operations at construction sites. This includes measurements of vehicles’ emissions using Portable Emissions Measurement Systems, and to measure their “activity.”
Previous work at the Center has shown that activity data and emissions data profiles are quite different for various actions, such as digging, lifting, rotating, pushing, moving and transporting materials.
The project will help establish the methodology for making comparisons under such varied conditions. The project will also consider the differences between emerging hybrid implementations by leading manufacturers.
The project may be useful in establishing future inventories -- data which could contribute to a basis for hybrid incentives under AB 118 programs.
Expansion of State Green Technology Innovation Hub Announced at CERT
CE-CERT Tuesday was the site of an announcement by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to add UCR, Riverside and other communities along the I-215 corridor to a successful effort to support technology innovation and green job creation.
Launched in 2010, California’s Innovation Hub (iHub) Initiative provides a platform for regional innovation clusters to flourish. The iHub initiative allows business, academia, government, and venture capitalists to leverage such assets as research parks, technology incubators, universities, and federal laboratories in an effort to foster innovation as a statewide job creation and community building tool.
Photo: Joel Ayala, Director of the California Office of Economic Development announces the expansion of the San Diego iHub at CERT.
UCR and Riverside join the San Diego iHub which is led by CONNECT, a non-profit organization formed in 1985 with the mission of commercializing technology coming from San Diego’s many federally-funded research institutions and offering on-going education, networking and recognition to start-up companies in emerging technology business clusters.
Bourns College of Engineering Dean Reza Abbaschian, CERT Director Matthew Barth, and Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge welcomed the announcement by Joel Ayala, Director of Economic Development for the Governor’s Office.
View video of the announcement on the Bourns College of Engineering's YouTube Channel.
Four Student Researchers Named for Top Research Honors
Center Director Matt Barth announced the winners of the four top fellowship/scholarship awards for 2011. Each of the awards were established by their donors to support and encourage research on environmental issues. One of each of the four awards are made by the Center's Awards Committee each year -- two for undergraduates and two for graduate students.
The Ford Motor Company Undergraduate Scholarship was awarded to Sarah Bates, a native of England who is a research assistant in the Atmospheric Processes Lab.
Her work includes the physical and chemical characterization or re-aerosolized aerosol using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer. She is a member of the UCR chapter of Engineers Without Borders and one of a top academic students in the College of Engineering.
Joseph Dean, winner of the Jim Guthrie Research Award, is a senior in computer science and engineering from Anaheim. He is currently working in the developing smart phone applications which combine CE-CERT's research on eco-driving and emissions modeling.
"I work on bringing practical, environmentally friendly navigation applications to ubiquitously distributed platforms,” Dean said. "Presently, I have developed device specific applications for both the iOS and Android operating systems."
The Esther Hays Graduate Fellowship went to Shunuke Nakao of Kawasaki, Japan. Nakao is a graduate student in Chemical and Environmental Engineering who has already authored or co-authored 11 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Nakao investigates chemical mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation using the CE-CERT environmental chamber. He utilizes state-of-the-art chemical/physical instrumentation including Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) that provides chemical composition of aerosols in real-time (next to him in the picture).
Chinese native Zhongqing Zheng, a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, received the William R. Pierson/Ford Motor Company Graduate Student Fellowship.
His research focuses on how to better measure particle number (PN) emissions of diesel exhaust nanoparticles, which are harmful to human health. PN regulations for diesel vehicles have been implemented by the European Union to complement the traditional particle mass (PM) regulation method, which suffers from sensitivity problems as regulations become more stringent and emissions are reduced significantly by new technologies.
Zheng investigates some potential drawbacks of the European method and tries to improve it. His research could provide the groundwork for more strict diesel emission regulations in California.
CE-CERT has many more opportunities for students to participate in significant research. During 2010, 53 graduate students and 68 undergraduate students worked as part of CE-CERT research programs. Applications for next year's awards will be solicited in May, 2012.
Bank of America Renews Successful Science Mentoring Program
Support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation will help the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology expand its outreach program – which gives California Science Fair participants the opportunity to work in CERT labs and be mentored by CERT scientists and engineers.
PHOTO: Some of the Riverside Unified School District students participating in the BOA-supported program prepared for the 2010 District Science and Engineering Fair at UCR.
In 2010, the Bank of America-funded program benefited high school science teachers and students of Riverside Unified School District. Three weekly workshops offered students a range of science fair ideas involving technologies to promote more sustainable lifestyles. Those presentations are still available on-line at http://www.cert.ucr.edu/gcworkshop.html. The 17 participating students were awarded a total of 25 awards, including 16 gold medals and five Special Sponsored Awards in District and Regional science competitions.
“As an environmental research and education institution, one of our responsibilities is to promote environmental awareness and a real-world commitment to sustainability,” said CERT Director Matt Barth. “We also hope this program plays a part in producing the next generation of environmental researchers.”
Participation allowed children of wide socio-economic backgrounds and their teachers the opportunity to see first-hand the cutting edge research at CERT.
A similar program will developed for the Fall, 2011.
Workshop Finds Green Driving Toolbox Overflowing With New Approaches
Some motorists quickly adopt simple gas-saving driving techniques to stretch the time between fill-ups. If the techniques were easier, more precise, and more powerful would "eco-driving" become more ubiquitous?
Transportation researchers from several UC campuses met May 18 for an Eco-Driving Workshop, to share their research interests and to involve both the public sector (e.g. Air Pollution Control Districts, environmental and energy agencies, etc.) and the private sector (e.g., vehicle manufacturers, trucking fleets, traffic content providers, etc.) in the dialogue.
The evolving technologies outlined at the workshop are a far cry from common green driving behaviors: accelerating and decelerating slowly, keeping tires properly inflated, and maintaining a steady speed. New strategies include improving fuel economy feedback to drivers, real-time information on greener routes, and vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications to minimize stop-and-go driving.
Eco-driving technologies are one focus of a five-year, $6.5 million UC Multi-Campus Research Program Initiative (MRPI) called "Sustainable Transport: Technology, Mobility, Infrastructure."
"There is more urgency in California to develop green transportation technologies because of the legal mandate to reduce air pollution from all sources," said Matt Barth, Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCR and Director of the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT). Assembly Bill 32 mandates cuts in greenhouse gas emissions starting next year, towards an ultimate goal of 25 percent by 2020.
PHOTO: One of the workshop panels included (left to right) Ken Kurani, ITS Davis, Susan Shaheen, TSRC, Alex Bayen, ITS Berkeley, Matt Barth, CE-CERT, and Wenlong Jin, ITS Irvine.
Work at CE-CERT already suggests that technology assistance can reduce fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 percent on freeways and 12-14 percent off the freeways with no significant impact on travel time. "In a period of budget crisis, we are looking for solutions that do not involve significant infrastructure changes," Barth said.
During the workshop, Barth described CE-CERT's approaches:
- Real-time traffic information: The Dynamic Roadway Network (DynaNet) database combines multiple traffic data sources for the entire state of California to provide a dynamic system of intelligence on traffic flow, speed and density for both freeways and surface streets through an embedded data fusion algorithm.
- Eco-Routing Navigation: Starting with the DynaNet database, this approach adds a data set of the energy and emission factors for the specific vehicle type under various roadway characteristics and traffic conditions. The system also combines a routing engine (containing shortest-path algorithms for optimal route calculation) and a user interface which provides drivers with eco-friendly route choices. The researchers have already produced interfaces for web and smart phone applications.
- Dynamic Eco-Driving: Other approaches involve providing advice to drivers on their driving speed and optimal acceleration and deceleration profiles, and situation alerts. For freeway driving, real-time information includes speed recommendations on each segment of the freeway based on real-time traffic conditions. For non-freeway driving research has focused on roads with traffic signals. Approaches have been developed or proposed that can communicate with traffic signals to optimize speed and timing to maximize the probability of the vehicle going through signalized intersections without having to come to a complete stop.
Driver behavior is a key variable in green driving. UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) has outfitted 20 cars of private individuals with eco-driving feedback devices, to measure in real-world conditions how the feedback improves eco-driving performance. TSRC is also assessing (with the California Air Resources Board) how commercial truck drivers and transportation fleets respond to eco-driving technologies and techniques, said Susan Shaheen, TSRC co-director. They are also using an eco-driving website and brochure to measure the impact of such information on the public (with the Auto Alliance and the Mineta Transportation Institute).
UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies has been studying the role of driver feedback on eco-driving since 1993. Research Engineer Ken Kurani said as public pressure increases for more sustainable lifestyles, he believes drivers will more readily adopt eco-driving to think better of themselves.
UC Irvine's Institute of Transportation Studies is examining the potential advantages of using vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications to smooth traffic flow on freeways. Wenlong Jin, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Irvine, said implementing real-time information technologies in just a few cars can reduce the occurrence of stop and go traffic on a highway more generally.
The UC conference was co-sponsored by Toyota, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the California Air Resources Board, Navteq, Honda, NEC, and Beat the Traffic.
High Performance Computing Provides Boost to Environmental Modeling
CE-CERT has invested in a High Performance Computing (HPC) virtualization server that will provide advanced simulation capabilities for air quality and climate change research.
The latest virtualization server architecture can provide HPC at significantly lower cost, while also generating less heat and consuming less power than past computing clusters and storage array enclosures. CE-CERT’s server combines 12 2.8 Ghz processor cores, 32 GB of RAM and 10 TB of hard disk storage.
The new computing resources provide a significant boost to air quality modeling capability at the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology. For instance, chemical mechanisms models (the SAPRC series) for the development of ozone and particulate matter formation have already been tested in CE-CERT’s atmospheric chamber, but atmospheric simulation is essential for understanding how SAPRC mechanisms behave under ambient conditions. That information will allow researchers to design environmental chamber experiments to test chemical processes relevant to ozone and particulate matter formation. Modeling is also essential for projects like the recent multi-agency analysis of controlled burns to clear land on large military bases and reserves, in order to predict the air quality impacts on surrounding cities and towns. The new HPC tools can also be used for projects linking changes in fuels and control technologies to their effects on emissions and air pollutant concentrations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system is often used at CE-CERT to provide additional confirmation of ambient measurements made at the Center. CMAQ offers state-of-the-science capabilities for modeling multiple air quality issues, including tropospheric ozone, fine particles, toxics, acid deposition, and visibility degradation.
The server will also be used for projects using the Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions (CAMx), an EPA-approved computer modeling system for the integrated assessment of gaseous and particulate air pollution. CAMx has been used on numerous ozone and PM State Implementation Plans.
The Center’s Dynanet research platform will also be developed on the new HPC Virtualization Server, allowing simultaneous integration of historical and real time data on vehicle activity and location, as well as emissions production and fuel usage, to produce optimal eco-routing under dynamic conditions. In addition, the faster server will provide a boost to research on technology to track fuel usage in multiple-fuel vehicles.
CE-CERT Opens Search for Deputy Director
CE-CERT has opened a search for a deputy director, the person who leads daily operations as well as stategic planning and marketing duties at the Center.
About to enter its third decade, the College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology has become a recognized leader in environmental research and education. It's legacy as an "honest broker," in establishing the scientific basis for environmental questions involving industry and government, will continue to grow and adjust to new scientific findings and new technologies.
Overseeing strategic planning and marketing efforts, the deputy director will help ensure that the Center continues as a creative collaborator with government and industry efforts to best understand and protect our environment.
The deputy director will succeed Dennis Fitz, a 40 year veteran of environmental research at UCR, who is retiring after three years as deputy director.
For complete details on the open position, and to apply, please follow this link.
Mower Exchange Event to Help 'Mow Down Air Pollution'
A popular lawn mower exchange program will return to the CE-CERT/Bourns Inc. parking lot on Saturday, June 4, helping cut another swath of old polluting lawn mowers out of the local airshed.
The Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sponsor the event during which gasoline mowers will be exchanged for a significant discount on a new electric, zero-emission lawn mower. Residents living within SCAQMD's four-county jurisdiction are eligible to redeem their old gasoline-powered mower for a clean electric-powered one.
This year, there are five models to choose from, with your cost being $100, $160 or $230 depending on the model you choose. According to SCAQMD, using a typical gas mower for one year can pollute as much as a car driven for 22,000 miles. When the program ends this summer, AQMD will have scrapped more than 44,400 highly polluting gasoline mowers, removing almost 94 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compound emissions from the Southland’s air.
All the gas mowers that are turned in for this program will be scrapped and the metal recycled.
You can register by clicking on their registration page. You will also be able to register by phone during SCAQMD’s working hours (Tuesday through Friday, 8 am -5 pm) by calling their toll-free number (888) 425-6247.
High School Researcher Ponders Making Comforts of Home on Mars
Tulsi Shah wanted to explore the technology needed to turn Mars’ sky blue.
She represented King High School at the 2011 California State Science Fair using instruments in the CE-CERT laboratory of Akua Asa-Awuku, an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. She qualified for the top competition by virtue of her first-place finish in the Inland Region Science and Engineering Fair.
Tulsi’s work in CE-CERT’s atmospheric processes laboratory was supported by a grant from Bank of America, and by Professor Asa-Awuku’s National Science Foundation BRIGE Award.
Shah’s interest is much larger than color. That is only the first step in satisfying her curiosity about whether the red planet can be terraformed to support life transplanted from Earth. Mars’ atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, which might support plant life. Only 0.13 percent is oxygen, she said.
Another dangerous problem is the high concentration of toxic dust particles of limonite (iron oxides) which by reflection and light scattering bathe the Martian surface in red light. The size of these particles is the key to the scattering effect in which carbon dioxide molecules absorb and scatter red light. On Earth, the preponderance of nitrogen, water vapor, and smaller particles result in the scattering of blue light.
Shah’s goal was to find a way to simulate the particulate matter in Martian air and clean it on a laboratory scale. She had access to some of the latest tools of climate scientists -- a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer, a Condensation Particle Counter and other instruments which allowed her to produce particles of limonite suspended in air of the approximate size and concentrations as on Mars.
PHOTO: Professor Akua Asa-Awuku (left) reviews the research poster prepared for the California State Science Fair by King High School Junior Tulsi Shah (right).
Then Shah passed the aerosol through a NIOSH-approved N95 respirator and a commercially available ionic air purifier. She followed the same procedure for Mars’ other major particulate pollutant, magnetite. Her results showed the respirator was 81 percent efficient, and the air purifier was better than 99 percent efficient in cleaning her alien atmosphere. Based on these factors, Shah estimated the respirator technology would produce a greenish-yellow horizon. The better filtration of the air purifier would yield blue skies on the red planet.
Shah cautioned that actual terraforming of Mars would involve many more complex variables and she said she hoped to continue this work for the next science fair during her senior year. The experience opened her eyes to the quality of competition among aspiring scientists and engineers. “Next year I will have to raise the bar to get there again,” Tulsi said. “But more than the research, the competition was really good for building my social skills and confidence.”
Her success also left her with a quandary about how to reconcile her intense interest in astronomy with her aspiration to become a physician.
Study to Measure Health Risks of Breathing During Daily Commute
Particulate emissions from the burning of transportation fuels is increasingly implicated in human illness and death, but the science of how we are exposed to them and the health effects of breathing these tiny particles still has a long way to go.
Heejung Jung, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a UC Transportation Center Faculty Research Grant to 'map' concentrations of particulate matter (PM) along highways.
In 2010, the California Air Resources Board estimated that 9,000 Californians die prematurely each year because of exposure to PM. Often these particles are so small that they can pass directly into the bloodstream.
Jung's research will work to quantify the highest potential exposure, during the daily commute. Previous studies have already shown that exposure to motorists can be up to 10 times higher than ambient PM concentrations.
Following the principles of fluid dynamics and particle formation, according to Jung, local conditions along highways can create hot spots of PM concentration. This phenomenon is effected by particle nucleation, traffic variables, and weather conditions.
Jung will measure the temporal and spatial variations of PM on California highways using mobile instrument platforms installed on two small passenger cars. The results will allow better assessment of the public's exposure risk. In awarding the research grant to Jung, Robert Cervero, UCTC Director noted that Caltrans staff expressed interest in Jung's topic and asked to review his research proposal.
CE-CERT researchers are among the most experienced in particle measurement and characterization. The team will build its own mobile particle measuring systems and will use telematics developed at the Center for simultaneous measurement of engine parameters and GPS data. The team will also make use of CMEM, the Comprehensive Modal Emissions Model developed at CE-CERT which can predict highway emissions on a second-by-second basis.
In addition to enhancing the performance of such models, precise understanding of the mechanisms of PM exposure could affect future designs of highways, vehicles and air handling systems, Jung noted.
Deadline Extended for Top CE-CERT Scholarship, Fellowship Opportunities
The deadline has been extended until noon Friday, May 27, for applications for four CE-CERT student scholarship/fellowship programs to encourage research by UCR students at CE-CERT.
These competitive fellowships are the top awards among the many student research opportunities provided by the Center for graduate and undergraduate students.
These competitive fellowships are the top awards among the many student research opportunities provided by the center. A call for applications is made each May, recipients are selected by the Center's academic committee and winners are announced in June.
Awards are available for the Ford Motor Company Undergraduate Scholarship, the Jim Guthrie Research Award, the Esther Hays Graduate Fellowship, and the William R. Pierson/Ford Motor Company Graduate Student Fellowship.
For more information and application requirements, please visit http://www.cert.ucr.edu/opportunities/scholarship.html.
Thai Research Center Extends Cooperative Research with UCR/CE-CERT
Officials of the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) visited CE-CERT on Monday, May 2 to continue a cooperative research relationship that began several years ago.
TISTR Governor Kasemsri Homchean, Deputy Governor Sutiporn Chewasatn and Foreign Relations Officer Chanchira Sinoulchan met with CE-CERT engineers for discussions on current and future cooperative research opportunities.
TISTR is an R&D organization of integrated technologies for food, health products, renewable energy, as well as the environment.
UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White and Governor Homchean signed the MOU which renews and extends an earlier agreement signed in Thailand. The agreement calls for cooperative research and implementation of UCR's hydro gasification technology for application in Thailand using carbonaceous feed stocks.
“We have put a lot of emphasis on sustainability in our strategic plan," said Chancellor White during the signing ceremony. "A lot of our success depends on our ability to generate and store energy and we have some of the best minds in the world working on it here.”
“This is an important day and we have a lot of important work to do,” the Chancellor added.
Founding Director of CE-CERT, Joseph Norbeck, who has done research in that nation for many years, stimulated Thai interest in the center's patented Steam Hydrogasification Process as a technology well-suited to conditions in Thailand. Since then TISTR has sponsored a number of graduate students to work in CE-CERT labs.
Two of those students offered presentations on their doctoral research at UCR. Amornrat Suemanotham presented her work on “Microalgae as a Potential Biofuel Feedstock,” and Yoothana Thanmongkhon presented his research on “The Production of Synthetic Natural Gas from Biomass.”
TOP PHOTO: Participating in the MOU ceremony were (left to right): CE-CERT Director Matt Barth; Bourns College of Engineering Dean Reza Abbaschian; UCR Chancellor Timothy White, TISTR Governor Kasemsri Homchean; and Deputy Governor Sutiporn Chewasatn. BOTTOM PHOTO: Chewasatn, Sinoulchan and Homchean, tour the Steam Hydrogasification Lab with Assistant Research Engineer Chan Seung Park.
CE-CERT Announces Student Scholarship, Fellowship Opportunities
Applications are now open for four scholarship/fellowship programs to encourage research by UCR students at CE-CERT.
These competitive fellowships are the top awards among the many student research opportunities provided by the Center for graduate and undergraduate students.
These competitive fellowships are the top awards among the many student research opportunities provided by the center. A call for applications is made each May, recipients are selected by the Center's academic committee and winners are announced in June.
Awards are available for the Ford Motor Company Undergraduate Scholarship, the Jim Guthrie Research Award, the Esther Hays Graduate Fellowship, and the William R. Pierson/Ford Motor Company Graduate Student Fellowship.
For more information and application requirements, please visit http://www.cert.ucr.edu/opportunities/scholarship.html.
UC Research Partners Sponsor Eco-Driving Workshop May 18
Researchers at UC Berkeley, Riverside, and Davis are organizing a research workshop in the area of eco-driving. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts in the fields of transportation, energy, policy, and programming from both the public and private sectors to critically evaluate the behavioral, technical, and policy issues associated with eco-driving.
With the growing awareness of climate change and global policies calling for greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, it is essential for a diverse panel of experts to evaluate eco-driving’s role in reducing GHG emissions from the transportation sector.
The event brings together the partners of the University of California Multi-campus Research Program Initiative (MRPI). Announced in 2009, “Sustainable Transport: Technology, Mobility, Infrastructure” is a five-year, $6.5 million research program is organized to address transportation issues in California in three major areas: vehicles and fuels, infrastructure investments and system management and land use and mobility planning. The Transportation Sustainability Program includes researchers from more than 30 disciplines on six UC campuses.
According to CE-CERT Director Matthew Barth, “Transportation accounts for a major part of the urban air pollution generated in California. The movement of people and goods also accounts for the largest portion of greenhouse gasses,” he added. The state has mandated significant rollbacks in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as well as improvements in land-use and transportation practices. “The transportation technologies, policies, and strategies to meet those goals still need to be created.”
Workshop sponsors include Toyota, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, South Coast Air Quality Management District, NAVTEQ, California Air Resources Board, Honda, NEC, and Beat the Traffic.
For more information, and to register, visit www.ecodrivingworkshop.cert.ucr.edu.
Pollution Researchers Highlighted in Flagship Publications
UC Riverside is featured on the current edition of “State of Minds,” UCTV’s news magazine program.
The research highlighted in the show includes some of CE-CERT’s efforts to engineer transportation to be cleaner, safer and more efficient.
Interviewed for “State of Minds” were Akua A. Asa-Awuku, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (pictured right), Kent Johnson, Assistant Research Engineer, Bill Carter, Research Scientist, and Matt Barth, CE-CERT Director and leading intelligent transportation systems researcher.
UCR also featured CE-CERT and it’s scientists and engineers in the Winter 2011 cover story of UCR Magazine in an article by Sean Nealon titled, “Clearing the Air.”
Poplar Noted in PNAS as Increasingly Popular Source of Sustainable Transportation Fuel
CE-CERT's Cellulosic Ethanol Pretreatment Laboratory has identified important factors that appear to control the release, or the binding up, of sugars in a large variety of poplar tree types.
The findings were published March 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The work, led by Ford Motor Company Professor of Environmental Engineering Charles Wyman, and collaborators at the U.S. Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center, as well as graduate student researcher Jaclyn DeMartini (pictured at left demonstrating the pretreatment process).
The researchers have studied wood from poplar trees at great length because it grows readily, and quickly, in a variety of climatic zones. By demonstrating the relationship of sugar yield to the ratio of syringyl and guaiacyl in the structure of the plants' lignin, the work represents tremendous new potential for extracting maximum sugar for distillation into ethanol for transportation fuel.
PNAS “Lignin content in natural Populus variants affects sugar release”
Portable Sensors Taking Center Stage As Diesel Regulations Require ‘In-Use’ Measurement
CE-CERT hosted a gathering March 24 of nearly 150 leading scientists and engineers interested in in-use emissions testing of diesel engines using a new generation of analytical devices.
In a sea change for clean air requirements, state and federal air quality regulators are beginning to require “in-use” compliance testing of particulate matter (PM) for diesel engines. The method, and the devices for evaluating diesel emission are generally referred to as Portable Emissions Measurement Systems.
Until recently, in-use measurement was a unique job for a semi-trailer truck-sized rolling reference laboratory — CE-CERT’s Mobile Emission Laboratory (MEL). For enforcement of more accurate in-use regulations for the plethora of diesel engines operating on-road, off-road, on-water, and elsewhere, portable emission measurement systems are becoming essential.
The full-day workshop was sponsored by industry (the Engine Manufacturers Association), regulators (the California Air Resources Board, the Southern California Air Quality Management District), and various manufacturers of the portable analyzers (AVL, Clean Air Technologies Intl., Horiba, EmiSense, Sensors, and Watlow)
The academics, manufacturers, regulators and users gathered to review the capabilities of the technology and operational issues. The event website can be viewed here.
During 2010, the Emissions and Fuels Research Group evaluated two of the three EPA certified PEMS (Portable Emissions Measurement System) devices that very recently became available to measure PM. CE-CERT previously had evaluated commercial gaseous PEMS systems.
EPA, CARB and the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) engaged CE-CERT to validate the measurement allowance, or a measure of the accuracy of PEMS compared to a reference measurement. The equipment is miniaturized enough that it can be carried in or on the diesel vehicles during normal use.
“We are entering a world where in-use measurement is becoming the standard,” said Research Engineer Kent Johnson, the PI on the project. “To our reference method (laboratory analysis of Teflon filters) we are adding a new reference method (real time measurements using various new techniques).
Are we ready? The two models tested performed well in certain measurements, but require additional development for others. PM represents particles with a range of sizes and compositions which new real-time measurement techniques can greatly overestimate or miss altogether, according to Johnson.
Just as importantly, the comparison found that measurements of the PEMS machines can be altered by conditions in the field, and that they can require hardware reconfiguration for the greatest accuracy in various applications. Regulators may be receiving compliance data from operators with a extremely wide range of knowledge and experience in monitoring.
Environmental and Transportation Research Pioneer Joseph Norbeck Honored by UCR Community
On March 2, the eve of his retirement, a reception honoring the service of Joseph Norbeck, W. Ruel Johnson Professor, director of the UCR Environmental Research Institute and founding director of the College of Engineering – Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), was held at CE-CERT.
Norbeck joined the University of California, Riverside, in January 1992, after working as head of the Chemistry Department, Research Staff, at Ford Motor Co. He earned his Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from the University of Nebraska and has published more than 75 papers in theoretical chemistry, atmospheric modeling, vehicle emissions and advanced vehicle technology.
Norbeck’s recent research includes the relationship between vehicle emissions and air quality, development of renewable fuels, and development of advanced vehicle technology. Norbeck was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1999. He received the South Coast Air Quality Management District Clean Air Award in 1995, the Valley Group Award in 1997 for Excellence in Environment and Research, and was elected as local leader for the City of Riverside and received the Regional Leader of the Year Award in 1998.
He has held a gubernatorial appointment as an Air Quality Expert on the California Inspection/Maintenance Review Committee and is a member of several other committees, including the Cal/EPA Environmental Technology Partnership Task Force, the Executive Research Advisory Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and Scientific Review Committee for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. In December, he was named to the Advisory Committee of the California Energy Commission’s Alternative Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.
UC Transportation Center Names Four UCR Fellows from Diverse Disciplines
Four University of California Transportation Center Fellowships were awarded to UCR students this year. The fellowships can be for up to $20,000 to support research in any discipline doing work impacting transportation.
Scott Boskovich, is a graduate student researcher in the Transportation Systems Research Laboratory at CE-CERT.
Elijah DePalma is currently a Ph.D. student in applied statistics at UCR.
Brandn Gazzolo is a graduate student in mechanical engineering.
Russell Pierce, is pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology.
Inventor Chung Commits to a $10 Million Gift for Clean Technology
Chinese inventor and businessman Winston Chung Monday committed to create a $10 million endowment to support battery technology, solar energy and sustainable transportation research at the Bourns College of Engineering and its Center for Environmental Research and Technology.
A memorandum of understanding was signed for the gift, which would make Chung the largest individual donor to the campus in UC Riverside history.
Photo: Winston Chung (center) tours labs at CE-CERT Jan. 24 flanked by (left) Reza Abbaschian, Dean of the Bourns College of Engineering, and (right) Steve Chen, an executive in Chung's organization, and Qing Qing, a Chinese Ph.D. graduate of UCR in Environmental Engineering and post-doc at CE-CERT.
Chung and a delegation of his colleagues toured the CE-CERT facility Monday afternoon. They inspected laboratories involved in atmospheric chemistry, pollution measurement and characterization, biofuel research, solar power and others. The visitors also discussed potential research directions with Matt Barth, CE-CERT director. Read more
Atmospheric Inversion Research May Improve Clean Air Regulations for Cities
Instruments to improve pollution regulations in California were put through their paces January 6 at CE-CERT.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Marko Princevac and two graduate students field tested their apparatus to measure the height of inversion layers in the atmosphere. Funded through Principal Investigator and fellow Professor Akula Venkatram by the California Energy Commission, the work is aimed at improving modeling simulations now used to approve or deny permits for distributed electricity generation facilities.
The two experts in air pollution dispersion modeling will work to make a California model that is more accurate than the standard model. AERMOD is the federal model now used nationwide to determine the environmental impact of generators which are usually powered by gasoline or natural gas. The problem with the model is that it doesn't work well in urban areas where building material retain heat and man-made structures make the formation of an inversion layer more complex, Princevac said.
An inversion layer is a natural daily phenomenon that traps heat and pollutants in a band of air next to the ground, he explained. At night the inversion layer narrows, concentrating pollutants at potentially more hazardous levels.
During the data gathering phase this year, the researchers will study how inversion layers form at night over urban areas. Using that data the model will be developed and tested for several more years in laboratories at UCR's Bourns College of Engineering.
Using a massive water tank there, the researchers can refine the mathematical models with fluid mechanics principles that work the same in water as in air.
Thermally driven environmental flows, a core research interest of Princevac, have explained critical phenomenon of air quality problems occurring in complex terrain and urban habitats.
Assisting in the research are doctoral students in Mechanical Engineering Si Tan, a native of China, and Sam Pournazeri, a native of Iran.
UCR to Host Western Section Meeting of the Combustion Institute
The University of California, Riverside will host the fall meeting of the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute (WSSCI) October 17-18.
The theme of the conference, "New Frontiers in Fuels, Emission Control and Combustion Science" is expected to include advancements in chemical kinetics; soot and PAH; heterogeneous combustion; alternative fuels and engine combustion; combustion diagnostics; supersonic combustion; and innovative and emerging concepts in combustion.
Invited speakers include: Harvey Blanch, Merck Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UC Berkeley, "Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels: A Historical, Economic, and Technical Perspective;" Forman Williams, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego, "Short Chemical Mechanisms in Combustion;" and, Alberto Ayala, Chief of Climate Change Mitigation and Emissions Research for the California Air Resources Board, "Prospects for Ultralow Particle Emissions and the Enabling Control Technologies for Engines and Vehicles."
The Combustion Institute is an international, non-profit, educational and scientific society to promote and disseminate research in all areas of combustion science. The Institute supports the activities of 34 sections worldwide, including Eastern, Central, and Western States Sections in the U.S.
Sponsors for the Fall WSSCI Meeting include CARB, Solar Turbines-A Caterpillar Company, and the UC Riverside Graduate Division.
Registration is available from the Combustion Institute's website www.combustioninstitute.org, or on site starting Oct. 16. For more information about the event, visit its website at www.engr.ucr.edu/WSSCIConference/index.htm. All WSSCI events will be held in UCR's Highlander Union Building.