This inexpensive, compact oxygen sensor, developed by Ohio State University and Argonne, monitors combustion processes ranging from internal combustion engines to coal-fired power plants. Argonne researchers provided the unique deformation bonding method for producing the sensor’s gas-tight seal.

July 18, 2005 -- Some of this week's stories:

Argonne researchers win four R&D 100 Awards

By Catherine Foster

Argonne's research accomplishments have won four prestigious R&D 100 Awards, given to the world's top 100 scientific and technological innovations. This is the second year in a row that Argonne has won four R&D 100 Awards.

Advances in technology ranging from help for victims of Parkinson's disease and epilepsy to more efficient combustion in industrial furnaces are likely with the award-winning research by Argonne and its partners.

This year's awards bring Argonne's total to 90 of the awards since R&D magazine began presenting them in 1964.

Argonne director Bob Rosner congratulated the winners, saying, "I am thrilled that Argonne staff members have won four more of these prestigious awards. Winning such awards attests to the high quality of research at Argonne and to the caliber of our staff."

"These awards demonstrate that DOE scientists and researchers are hard at work developing the technologies of the future," said Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. "In the past, breakthroughs like these have played an important role in both our economic and national security."

This year's winners from Argonne are:

A self-contained battery-powered microstimulator, developed jointly with Advanced Bionics Corp., Alfred Mann Foundation, Quallion LLC and the Organosilicon Research Center at the University of Wisconsin. It is designed to treat a wide variety of diseases, including incontinence, chronic headaches, peripheral pain, angina , and epilepsy.

The key to the battery's success is an advanced lithium-ion chemistry that provides a calendar life significantly greater than commercially available lithium batteries.

Argonne's researchers on the project, Khalil Amine, Bookeun Oh, Ilias Belharouak, Qingzheng Wang and Donald Vissers (all CMT), were primarily involved in tackling the problem of developing battery chemistry and materials. Other developers are Jeff Greiner, Curt Hafner, Kelly McClure, Matt Haller, Todd Whitehurt, Carla Mann and Alfred Mann of Advanced Bionics; Joe Schulman, Dan Dell and John Gord of Alfred Mann Foundation; Hisashi Tsukamoto of Quallion LLC; and Robert West of the Organosilicon Research Center at the University of Wisconsin.

MPICH2, software that enables scientists to write parallel programs that run efficiently on all major computer systems, from parallel processors to laptops. The software, developed at Argonne by William Gropp, Ewing Lusk, Robert Ross, Rajeev Thakur and Brian Toonen (all MCS), enables application developers to run the same code on a wide variety of platforms, from laptops and workstations, through clusters of computers that can be assembled from off-the-shelf components, to the largest and fastest parallel computers in the world.

Applications include materials science, combustion simulation, astrophysics, climate modeling and bioinformatics. A new epilepsy modeling program from a neuroscience group at the University of Chicago was one of the first applications to take advantage of the new remote memory access functionality in MPI-2.

In addition to the team listed above, significant contributors to the project include Argonne's David Ashton (MCS), Ralph Butler at Middle Tennessee State University and Anthony Chan at the University of Chicago.

Multilayer lens wafers for X-ray lenses, providing the ability to focus hard X-rays well below 100 nanometers with high efficiency. In use at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), the lens wafers help focus the X-rays at the nanometer scale, more precisely than before.

The technology was developed by Chian Liu, Raymond Conley and Albert Macrander, all part of the APS Experimental Facilities Division optics fabrication and metrology group.

Using the lens, researchers will be able to visualize three-dimensional electronic circuit boards to find circuit errors, or map impurities in biological or environmental samples at the nanometer scale. They can also analyze samples inside high-pressure or high-temperature cells.

High-temperature potentiometric oxygen sensor, developed jointly with Ohio State University. The compact sensor can be used to monitor combustion processes in coal-fired power plants, petrochemical plants, blast furnaces, glass processing equipment , and even inside internal combustion engines.

The information provided by the sensor is important to manufacturers, because it helps them be more energy-efficient and economical in their operations by achieving energy savings by optimizing the air-to-fuel ratio and the fuel oil viscosity.

While various sensors have been available, industry has never before had a truly inexpensive means of accurately monitoring its boiler efficiencies to achieve the highest possible energy savings. The high-temperature potentiometer oxygen sensor can withstand the heat inside the combustion chambers, allowing monitoring at the source in real time.

Developers include Jules Routbort and Dileep Singh (both ET).

Students challenged to design cars of the future

The University of Waterloo won first place in year one of the "Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainability" competition at General Motors University in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Challenge X is a three-year-long competition to minimize energy consumption and reduce emissions of hybrid vehicles while maintaining performance. The Canadian team's winning design integrated a nickel-metal hydride battery with a hydrogen fuel cell.

The competition, sponsored chiefly by General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Department of Energy through Argonne, challenged 17 universities in the United States and Canada to simulate a design for a hybrid vehicle in one year. Each school met GM's requirements and is working to integrate their unique drive systems into a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox.

Designs ranged from reformulated gasoline hybrids to hydrogen fuel-cell hybrids. The University of Akron took second place with a biodiesel hybrid built from a 1.9 liter Volkswagen engine. In third place was Ohio State University with their biodeisel hybrid design using a Fiat engine.

"The impressive applied technologies that I have seen have come from students' creativity and design," said Steve Gurski (ES), lead technical coordinator of the Challenge X program at Argonne.

The competition is meant to simulate the real-world vehicle design process, beginning with computer modeling, then integration of a design into a vehicle before testing and refinement. Argonne's Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT) was integral in the simulations used to determine feasibility of students' drivetrain systems. PSAT is a previous winner of R&D magazine's "100 most technologically significant new products" award.

"General Motors Corp. views this program as a way to cultivate new engineers capable of getting the most energy output from `well to wheels,' the term for the amount of energy required to extract, refine and burn fuel," said Bob Larsen, director of Argonne's Center for Transportation Research.

The collaborative effort that General Motors Corp. is making involves the U.S. and Canadian governments as well as a host of industry sponsors including BP, Michelin, LG subsidiary Ballard Power Systems and 30 other sponsors.

"In past," Gurski said, "students had one year to make significant improvements on the vehicles once the competition was over. What we expect to see in three years of refinement is some fantastic vehicles."

Since 1987, the U.S. Department of Energy has sponsored more than 45 advanced vehicle technology competitions through Argonne.

National security official to speak

Neile L. Miller, program examiner in the National Security Division of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Executive Office of the President, will speak at a special colloquium Tuesday, July 19, at 3 p.m. in the Building 402 Auditorium.

Miller will speak on "Getting Our Interagency Act Together: An OMB Perspective on Management and Funding of Homeland and Nuclear Nonproliferation Activities Across the Government." All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend the talk.

Miller has more than 20 years of experience in nuclear energy and defense policy analysis. She is responsible for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction program. She advises senior OMB and other White House policy officials on planning and programming for these accounts, and performs legislative, economic, management, regulatory and organization analyses. She monitors and evaluates progress made by these programs in implementing and executing the president's policy. She also serves as the point person for OMB on all nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear terrorism issues.

Before joining OMB in August 2004, Miller served in two associate director positions in the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology.

Vehicle search prevents breach of security

An early-morning search of a vehicle by a Protective Force officer turned up a stowaway in a van — and prevented a breach of site security.

Early on Sunday morning June 19, a Protective Force officer believed the driver of a vehicle that was about to be searched was acting suspiciously. The driver said he had nothing in his vehicle, but said he was unable to open the doors to allow the officer access to the rear of the van.

The officer asked the driver to exit the vehicle and entered the van though a front door. During his search, the officer saw a blanket on the floor and found a female hiding under the blanket.

It was verified that the female was not in any danger and was in the van upon her own free will.

The driver explained that he thought it would be "cool" to bring his girlfriend in undetected and show her where he works.

Both individuals have been barred from entering the site pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation. Although it does not appear that there was malicious intent, the laboratory has taken the incident seriously and is considering it an attempted security breach.

In a separate incident, illegal fireworks were confiscated as a result of a search. The fireworks were turned over to the DuPage County Sheriff's Department for safe disposal. Discovery of prohibited articles during vehicle searches in not uncommon.

Everything from brass knuckles to a samurai sword have been confiscated during vehicle searches. Prohibited articles have been found in visitors' vehicles, as well as vehicles driven by employees.

A number of employees have voiced their concern about being searched numerous times over a span of two to four weeks. The searches are not based on people, car type or color. Vehicles are selected for searches using random numbers that change every day.

Searches are conducted to provide employees and visitors a safe environment to the fullest extent possible. Employees can speed up searches by keeping all prohibited articles out of their vehicles.

For more information about vehicle searches, prohibited articles, or the site access policy, call Ed Mickulas (SCD-OS) at 2-5754.

Items will not be allowed on site

Certain types of items are prohibited by U.S. Department of Energy order from being brought on site except when authorized by appropriate personnel.  Examples of prohibited articles are:

Firearms or other weapons

Explosives or incendiary devices

Radioactive sources

Alcoholic beverages

Illegal drugs

This list is representative, not all-inclusive. The laboratory reserves the right to search incoming and outgoing personnel and vehicles for prohibited articles and government property.

For more information or questions about prohibited articles, contact Dave Metta (SCD-OS) at ext. 2-5738 or Ed Mickulas (SCD-OS) at ext. 2-5754.

New technology could fuel growth of biorefinery

By David A. Barry

Researchers at Argonne and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) are developing a separative bioreactor that efficiently turns sugar from corn into valuable chemicals. The technology could help bio-based chemicals replace large amounts of petrochemicals, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, benefiting rural economies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The two-year joint research effort will evaluate and optimize the production of gluconic acid using the separative bioreactor. Eventually, the technology could extend beyond gluconic acid to the production of a variety of organic acids and polyols, which form the chemical building blocks for plastics, pharmaceuticals and other consumer products.

Gluconic acid is produced by the biochemical oxidation of glucose, a sugar found in corn starch. This reaction, facilitated by enzymes in fermentation broths, has been known for more than 100 years, said YuPo Lin, a chemical engineer in Argonne's Energy Systems Division. He said the challenge is one of engineering — how to process gluconic acid cheaply and cleanly enough to compete economically with petrochemicals.

The separative bioreactor, developed by a multidisciplinary team of ES scientists, could overcome technical and economic barriers to the production of gluconic acid, said Seth Snyder (ES), the principal investigator at Argonne.

Argonne researchers have learned how to immobilize the enzyme that turns glucose into gluconic acid, and they have merged that capability with a separation process called electrodeionization (EDI). EDI uses electricity to remove even low concentrations of ions from a solution; it is commonly used in biochemical labs, chemical and semiconductor factories to produce ultrapure water. ES researchers developed and patented an improved EDI resin wafer stack that won a 2002 R&D 100 Award. The stack efficiently removes salt added during a manufacturing process from high-fructose corn syrup. Funding for the stack research was provided by DOE's Industrial Technology program.

Inside the separative bioreactor, enzymes convert a steady stream of glucose into gluconic acid. The gluconic acid ionizes and is immediately separated from the glucose solution by the EDI process.

The EDI separation eliminates a major problem in large-scale gluconic acid production — the incompatibility of the enzyme and the product acid. As the acid builds up, it deactivates the enzyme and shuts down the fermentation.

Previously, this problem was solved by adding chemicals to neutralize the product acid, much like people use antacids to neutralize stomach acid, but that process generates additional waste. The Argonne separative bioreactor operates continuously using only electricity to separate the product.

In the test-scale systems at Argonne, the process has been demonstrated effectively at speeds of about a gallon of glucose solution a day. A commercial-scale reactor would be several times larger, and hundreds of units would be stacked together to achieve industrial-scale output.

For now, Argonne researchers are testing and improving the separative bioreactor's efficiency at turning glucose into gluconic acid.

Argonne's research on separative bioreactors is part of a movement to develop biorefineries that turn raw biomass from crops, grasses and trees into electricity, transportation fuels and refined chemicals. This movement is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Biomass Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which is funding Argonne's research along with ADM.

ANL Named Fellowships awarded

2005 Argonne Named Fellowships have been awarded to three doctoral scientists and engineers who are at early points in promising careers.

"The laboratory is confident that these candidates will contribute to Argonne's programs and will go on to become outstanding leaders in the research they pursue," said Argonne Director Robert Rosner.

The fellowships are named after scientific and technical luminaries associated with the laboratory and its predecessors, and The University of Chicago, since the 1940s.

Mark S. Bailey, from Cornell University, was awarded the Glenn Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellowship. Bailey will join the Materials Science Division in July.

Peter Mueller, from the Johannes Gutenberg University, was awarded the Willard Frank Libby Postdoctoral Fellowship. Mueller joined the Physics Division in June.

Yao Lin, from the University of Massachusetts, was awarded the George W. Beadle Postdoctoral Fellowship. Lin will join the Biosciences Division in August.

"It is a fantastic opportunity," said Jake Socha (APS), the 2004 Ugo Fano postdoctoral fellow whose research in biomechanics was published in the journal Nature . "The fellowship gives me the manpower, equipment, resources and freedom to do my work."

The fellows are chosen based on their research plan, credentials and prior work, said Harold Myron, director of the Division of Educational Programs. This year's recipients were selected from a group of more than 100 applicants.

"These are very prestigious fellowships. There is no question that we selected the best of the best," Myron said.

Candidates for the 2006 program are being sought. Announcements have been placed in a number of journals, and Argonne employees are encouraged to participate in recruiting well-qualified applicants. More information is online. The application deadline is Oct. 14.

Prostate results available

Results from the June 29 prostate screening are now available in the Medical Department in Building 201. For more information, contact the Medical Department at ext. 2-2800.

Argonne Combined Appeal raffle raises $3,500

The Argonne Combined Appeal (ACA) raffle raised an impressive $3,500 for ACA activities and charities through its sales of tickets and mugs June 27 - July 8.

Winners were drawn at Argonne's annual employee picnic July 9. Prizes ranged from round-trip airline tickets to a bowling night.

Paul Hovland (MCS) received the top prize: two round-trip United Airlines tickets, donated by Argonne's travel agency. Other big winners included Lynn Miller (LEG), with a $100 gift certificate to The Flame of Countryside; and Cheri Giacomi (ASD), with four rounds of golf and two golf carts from Gleneagles Country Club. Shannon Blasier won a Weber grill donated by the IAM Local 2458 Technicians Union. For the full list of winners, visit to the ACA Web site.

"Once again, Argonne employees displayed great generosity in their support of the ACA campaign," said Kathy Whitney and Katie Carrado-Gregar, 2005 ACA co-chairs. "We also appreciate the wonderful donations from Argonne-affiliated organizations and area businesses, which made the raffle so enticing."

CIS classes

Computing classes offered by the Computing and Information Systems Division are held in Building 201, Room 167C. Unless otherwise noted, classes cost $225 and are limited to eight participants. Complete class descriptions, schedules and enrollment forms are online. For more information about enrollment procedures, contact Diane Cavazos (CIS) at ext. 2-7153 or dkcavazos@anl.gov .

Classes offered in the August will include:

"Intermediate Word 2003" (CIS123) — Monday, Aug. 1, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Prerequisite: "Introduction to Word."

"Intermediate Excel 2003" (CIS126) — Tuesday, Aug. 2, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Prerequisite: "Introduction to Excel."

"Intermediate Access 2003" (CIS129) — Wednesday, Aug. 3, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Prerequisite: "Introduction to Access."

"Introduction to PowerPoint 2003" (CIS131) — Thursday, Aug. 4, 8:30 a.m. _ 4:30 p.m.

"Advanced PowerPoint 2003" (CIS132) — Friday, Aug. 5, 8:30 a.m. _ 4:30 p.m. Prerequisite: "Introduction to PowerPoint."

"Beginning Unix" (CIS564) — Tuesday, Aug. 16, 9 a.m. - noon is the first session. Thursday, Aug. 18, 9 a.m. - noon is the second session. There is no cost for this course.

"vi Editor in Unix" (CIS567) — Friday, Aug. 19, 9 a.m. _ noon. There is no cost for this course. Prerequisite: a general knowledge of Unix, especially file management commands.

Staff and non-staff retirement interest rates

Staff and non-staff retirement plan interest rates effective July 1, 2005 are:

TIAA Traditional contributes 4.25% during 07/01/05 _ 07/31/05 that will be earned through 02/28/06.

TIAA Supplemental contributes 3.25% during 07/01/05 _ 07/31/05 that will be earned through 02/28/06.

Prudential Guaranteed (Plans 5017 & 4245) contributes 4.42% during 07/01/05 _ 06/30/06 that will be earned through 06/30/06.

Prudential Guaranteed (Plan 7680) contributes 3.50% during 07/01/05 _ 09/30/05 that will be earned through 12/31/06.

Prudential Guaranteed (Plan 4643) contributes 3.50% during 07/01/05 _ 09/30/05 that will be earned through 12/31/06.

Lincoln National (Old Account)* contributes 3.50% that will be earned through 09/30/05.

Lincoln National (No Load)* contributes 4.00% that will be earned through 09/30/05.

(* No longer accepting contributions)

1 st Friday Forum to meet July 22

The First Friday Forum will meet Friday, July 22, at noon in the Building 362, Conference Room F108. The speaker will be Murray Gibson, Advanced Photon Source director.

The First Friday Forum is an informal gathering of Argonne women usually held on the first Friday of each month. The group explores career and gender issues related to women. Meetings are open to all Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy employees.

HR program saves money

The Human Resource Wellness Program saved money for employees and the laboratory by removing the middle man from a recent wellness screening.

For the first time, the Wellness Program negotiated directly with a doctor they have used in the past instead of going through a service provider. The 115 participants in the screening saved $35, and Argonne saved more than $1,200 in lab fees by negotiating directly with the lab.

"The success of the screening was a real team effort," said Jamie Stalker, Argonne medical director. "The employees who participated in the screening were impressed and pleased with the smoothness of the operation."

Bikers burn up 179,000 calories during week

By Randy Sharp

Argonne's Bike-to-Work Week 2005 saw 46 employees cover more than 3,500 miles by bike instead of in a car.

According to records compiled by this year's coordinator, Mike Dvorak (EA), the effort prevented 96 pounds of toxic emissions from entering the atmosphere. Commuters who switched to recreational transportation got the added bonus of burning a combined 179,000 calories.

Next year Phillip Pfeiffer (NE) will coordinate the event. Pfeiffer is a five-year participant, who frequently rides to work during the warm months.

"What makes it fun for me, other than the biking, is filling up my car once every other week," said Pfeiffer, whose ride from Downers Grove adds only 15 minutes to his commute.

If there were a Tour de France-style yellow jersey to hand out, it would go to Oleg Shpyrko (CNM), who covered the most ground, biking 226 miles and preventing 5.1 pounds of toxic emissions from entering the environment.

To participate in next year's Bike To Work Week, cyclists need only keep track of their non-recreational miles and report them to the event's coordinator. Information for the 2006 Bike to Work Week will appear in Argonne News.

MetLife rep to visit

A representative from MetLife Auto & Home will visit Argonne Tuesday, July 19, to meet with individual employees for insurance comparisons and quotes for the "METPAY" group automobile and homeowner insurance programs.

To schedule an appointment, call Craig Riddick at (630) 810-0346, ext. 143. Employees can also receive a quote by phone by calling 1-800-438-6388.