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University students from across the nation recently competed for top honors in two events organized by Argonne for theU.S. Department of Energy, and advanced the cutting edge of automotive technology in the process.
Wayne State University defeated 13 other college and university teams to win the 1998 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, a multi-event contest organized by Argonne.
University of Waterloo finished second and the University of Illinois at Chicago was third.
Organized by Argonne and sponsored by General Motors Corporation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Natural Resources Canada, the event challenges students to convert a gasoline-burning family sedan to run solely on E85, a blend of 85 percent denatured ethanol and 15 percent gasoline-like hydrocarbon primer.
Fourteen schools from 10 U.S. states and one Canadian province each received a 1997 Malibu sedan powered by a 3.1-liter V6 engine. Student teams replaced and upgraded major engine and fuel system components for ethanol operation. As they worked on their vehicles, the students solved real-life engineering problems and made complex decisions by applying creative, innovative thinking.
The challenge ran from May 25 through June 1. After five days of testing at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Mich., the Ethanol Vehicle Challenge teams embarked on a two-day, 600-mile caravan that ended with a ceremony at DOE Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Along the way, the cars stopped at events in Ohio and Maryland to promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles and awaken public interest in this developing technology. At journey's end, the teams joined the Clean Cities Conference parade through downtown Washington, participated in the opening reception for the conference, and exhibited their vehicles both at the conference and on Capitol Hill.
Vehicles were tested and scored on exhaust emissions, fuel economy, acceleration, driveability, handling, range, and cold- and hot-starting performance. Teams also received points for a written design report and an oral technical design presentation. Winners received cash awards, and the two best oral reports were presented at the Clean Cities Conference.
FutureCar
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Virginia Tech tied for first place in the FutureCar Challenge that ran June 3-10 at the Chrysler Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Technologies demonstrated included advanced propulsions systems, space-age materials and alternative fuels such as natural gas.
Argonne organizes and manages the FutureCar Challenge for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research -- a research venture of Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.
The underlying goal of this competition and similar ones that Argonne organizes for DOE is to help develop automotive engineers of the future. Through the competitions, students gain first-hand knowledge of what it takes to be an automotive engineer. Several "graduates" of the competitions have been hired by automobile companies or their suppliers. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,500 students have participated in these advanced design competitions.
Frank Y. Fradin, Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Research, will serve as Argonne's interim director, effective July 1.
A search process will begin in early July to identify a permanent director. The search committee will be made up of representatives from Argonne, its board of governors and the University of Chicago.
Argonne's new process for producing a strong yet non-toxic and biodegradable solvent has won a 1998 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
The national honor recognizes the new technology's potential to replace millions of pounds of toxic industrial solvents with an "environmentally friendly" substitute.
The Argonne technology, recently honored with aDiscover magazine "environmental technology of the year" award, can reduce the cost of an environmentally benign solvent, ethyl lactate, far enough that it can compete in the marketplace against toxic solvents. Ethyl lactate is biodegradable and non-toxic.
Each year, the United States uses more than 3.8 million tons of toxic solvents, widely used as cleaners, degreasers and product ingredients in such industries as electronics manufacturing, adhesives, paints and other coatings, printing, de-inking and textile manufacturing.
They include such compounds as chloro-fluorocarbons, which damage the earth's ozone layer, and volatile organic compounds, some of the nation's most common ground-water pollutants.
According to industry estimates, solvents made with ethyl lactate can replace conventional solvents in more than 80 percent of these applications.
Argonne reduced the cost of producing ethyl lactate by improving separation and purification techniques in the fermentation-based process to manufacture it, said Jim Frank (ES). Vital to the process is a new, patented advanced membrane system which avoids the production of wastes and improves reaction efficiency.
Ethyl lactate normally sells for $1.50 to $2 per pound, compared to about 90 cents to about $1.70 per pound for conventional chemical solvents. Argonne's new, corn-based process may cut the market price of ethyl lactate to well below $1 per pound.
The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge was established in 1995 to recognize and promote fundamental and innovative chemical technologies that encourage economic development and benefit industry by finding cost-effective ways to prevent pollution. It is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and judged by experts from the American Chemical Society.
The 1998 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards will be presented at a ceremony June 29 in Washington, D.C.
Argonne's improved method for producing ethyl lactate was developed with funding from the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies.
The 47th annualArgonne-West employee picnic will be held at Heise Hot Springs Saturday, July 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes roast beef, roast pork and Horvath dogs, baked potatoes, baked beans, corn on the cob, green salad and a dinner roll. There will be skewered hot dogs for the children. Argonne-West managers will serve ice cream sundaes.
Robbie Flores (RPS) will provide music and other entertainment. For the children, there will be pony rides, an inflatable castle, sack races, three-legged races, fishing, piñatas and a circus tent. For the adults there will be golf (tee times will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.), volleyball and horseshoe tournaments.
Volunteers are needed to help at the picnic. Contact Jeff Shelton (ED), picnic chairman, at ext. 3-7877.
Due to the upcoming laboratory holiday, news items, seminar listings and classified ads for the July 6 issue must be received by noon on Monday, June 29.
Those who normally receiveArgonne News on Friday will receive the next issue on Thursday, July 2.
TheArgonne News World Wide Web site will be updated by mid-afternoon on Thursday, July 2.
An ultrahard, super-click coating developed at Argonne will be the focus of a $2 million research program designed to learn about the structure and properties of the material and how it can be used in automotive applications.
Contributing $1,390,000 to the project are Front Edge Technology, Inc., Baldwin Park, Cal.; Stirling Thermal Motors, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Diesel Technology Company, Wyoming, Mich. DOE will contribute $750,000.
The industry partners hope to develop the near-frictionless carbon coating for products in the transportation, power generation, power transmission equipment, industrial tool and textile industries. The coating could be used on items like gears, bearings, rotating shafts, valves, blades, vanes, injectors, micro-drills and many other parts subjected to high wear. The partnership also aims at scaling up the process to produce commercial quantities.
The coating, discovered last year, has exceptional wear resistance and durability, said Argonne's Ali Erdemir (ET), who developed the material along with George Fenske (ET) and Osmon Eryilmaz, a visiting scientist from The Technical University of Istanbul, Turkey.
Its coefficient of friction is less than .001 when measured in a dry nitrogen atmosphere -- 20 times lower than the previous record holder, molybdenum disulfide.
For comparison, when tested under the same conditions, Teflon's coefficient of friction is around .04; steel has a coefficient of about 1.1.
The material is created in a radio-frequency chamber. Carbon, in the form of methane, is piped into the chamber where the radio waves turn it into plasma -- a gaseous soup of atomic nuclei and electrons. Carbon nuclei drift down from the plasma onto a substrate, where they form the coating.
Compared to previous methods of producing carbon coatings, the new process is quick and can produce large amounts of the coating. The material adheres well to many kinds of substrates and is non-toxic.
Front Edge Technology is a leading manufacturer of hard carbide, nitride, and diamond-like carbon coatings for a wide range of industrial applications.
Stirling Thermal Motors has expertise in development of commercially viable Stirling engines that can offer extremely efficient operation with ultra-low emissions.
Diesel Technology is a major manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines and associated parts and components.
Tickets for the Argonne Combined Appeal's (ACA) annual raffle will be on sale daily from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria Monday, June 29, through Friday, July 10.
Tickets are 25 cents each or five for $1. Tickets will also be available from ACA steering committee members and ACA coordinators at the Argonne-East employee picnic on Saturday, July 11.
This year's grand prize is two round-trip United Airlines tickets to a continental U.S. destination. Other prizes include four box seat tickets for the Chicago White Sox vs. the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, July 18; brunch at Wolf's Head Inn; brunch at Holiday Inn; a gift certificate from Sure Fire Auto Supply in Lemont, and various music CDs.
The drawing will be held at the picnic. Winners do not need to be present.
Other events on the ACA calendar this year are the second annual used book sale on Sept. 10 and 11 and the kickoff clothing drive on Oct. 5 and 6. Collection of books for the used book sale will begin in August. Details will appear in future issues ofArgonne News.
For more information on the combined appeal see the ACA home page.
Argonne-East's 51st annual employee picnic will be held Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Argonne Park.
Argonne, DOE and University of Chicago employees are invited to the annual get-together. Admission is free.
This year's picnic will feature a bungee run, Ferris wheel, big slide, "Red Baron" plane ride, moonwalk, pony ride and a petting zoo. There will be a golf-chipping contest, a pie walk and a coloring contest for children.
Other attractions will include carnival-style games, hay rides, bingo and "Nite Life," a pop-rock band playing a variety of music.
Marriott Corp. will provide food and beverages for purchase.
Volunteers wanted
The Argonne Club is seeking employees to help out at part or all of the picnic. All volunteers will receive a T-shirt.
For more information or to volunteer, call Sara Hahn (XFD) at ext. 2-5736 or send e-mail to hahn@aps.anl.gov.
Argonne's retirement vendors will have representatives at Argonne-East to meet individually with employees to answer questions about the retirement plans or retirement plan assets. To schedule a half-hour appointment, call the numbers below.
| Vendor | Day | For Appointments, call: |
| Fidelity | Thursday, July 23
and Friday, July 24 |
Appointment Desk
(800) 642-7131 |
| TIAA-CREF | Thursday, July 16
and Friday, July 17 |
Appointment Desk
(800)842-2005 |
| Prudential | Wednesday, July 22 | Cheryl
(847) 619-3519 |
Argonne-West's Library has received new videos through the National Resource Safety Center.
There are 300 new video titles in addition to those previously available. Videos include: "Stress in the Workplace," "Pesticide Procedures," "Night Driving Tactics," "Lyme Disease," "Lawn Mower Safety," "Heat Stress" and "Roadside Safety."
To order a video for a safety meeting, call the library at ext. 3-7237, or stop by to browse the catalogues.
Early registration for Joliet Junior College fall classes will be offered at the Argonne-East site on Friday, July 10, from noon to 4 p.m.
College representatives will be available to register students for fall classes at the Human Resources offices in Building 201.
Employees must bring a completed Educational Assistance (ANL89) form to the registration. Call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 for information on class schedules and educational assistance.
TheArgonne Information Center will be closed on Friday, July 3, and Saturday, July 4, due to the laboratory holiday.
The center's regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Retirees for June include:
Robert A. Amber (TD-DES) retired March 20 with 11 years of service.
Lawrence W. Amiot(ECT-CTT) retired March 25 with 35 years of service.
Stella Blickhahn (PFS-BM) retired May 28 with 11 years of service.
Walter Goliszewski (ECT-CS) retired May 29 with 35 years of service.
Jacquelyn R. Habenicht (OPA) retired June 15 with 17 years of service.
Roger L. Habenicht (OCF-SPM) retired June 15 with 33 years of service.
Jim L. Ketcher (TD) retired April 30 with 21 years of service.
Kimball R. Larsen (OD) retired June 5 with 20 years of service.
David Sommers (OD) retired April 30 with 26 years of service.
Susan L. Sommers (RPS) retired April 30 with 25 years of service.
Elise R. Wittkamp(OCF-PRO) retired May 15 with 11 years of service.
Benjamin Zeidman (PHY) retired June 30 with 40 years of service.
Richard Combs (ITD) -- Joliet Kiwanis Club, "Research for Tomorrow," March 23.
Deon Ettinger (DEP) -- Jefferson Junior High School, Naperville, Science Fair Judge, March 4.
Kenny Gross (RA) -- Jefferson Junior High School, Naperville, Science Fair Judge, March 4.
Russ Huebner (APS) -- Jefferson Junior High School, Naperville, Science Fair Judge, March 4; Rotary Club, Crown Point, Indiana, "X--Ray Research at the Advanced Photon Source," May 6; Society of American Military Engineers, Chicago, "The Advanced Photon Source," May 20.
Jill Morgenthaler (ECT) -- Hinsdale Men's Computer Club, "Computing at Argonne," April 17.
Conrad Naleway (CHM) -- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Hoffman Estates, Career Day, March 25.