School of Energy Resources (SER) Energy Resources Council (ERC) board member the Honorable Donald E. Burkhart, Jr. was recognized by the American Nuclear Society (ANS) as a Special Award recipient for 2023.
Rep. Burkhart was presented with the award by Chairman of the American Nuclear Society’s Honors and Awards Committee H.M. “Hash” Hashemian during the Opening Plenary of the ANS 2023 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was joined by Miss America 2023, Grace Stanke who is a recent nuclear engineering graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Established in 1962, the Special Award recognizes an individual or group for outstanding achievements in a specific area of work. Candidates are nominated and selected based on the criteria for a particular topic each year. The topics for the awards have come from the many varied areas of nuclear science and engineering fostered by the Society.
The 2023 topic focused on the role nuclear power plays in meeting state energy and environmental objectives. The award recognized state policy makers and legislators who have kept nuclear power at the forefront of their state’s energy policy and who understand the contribution that nuclear energy plays in reaching net zero goals.
A representative in the Wyoming Legislature for District 15, Burkhart was recognized for his leadership in encouraging nuclear energy to be a part of Wyoming’s overall portfolio in order to address the unique challenges of reducing emissions, providing reliability, while also satisfying high energy demand.
Marcio Paes-Barreto, director of industrial development at the Wyoming Energy Authority was also a recipient of the award.
“I am greatly honored to have received the American Nuclear Society’s Special National Award, along with Marcio Paes-Barreto of the Wyoming Energy Authority, for work in advancing nuclear energy in Wyoming and sincerely thank the American Nuclear Society for their consideration,” says Rep. Burkhart. “The award is an indication of the level of recognition and national attention Wyoming is receiving for its approach to energy development in general, and specifically in the area of nuclear energy development. Nuclear energy will play a great role in Wyoming’s ‘All-Of-The-Above’ energy strategy. A great many people are contributing to advancing the entire nuclear energy industry in Wyoming. This is not just nuclear power, but includes research, education, engineering, economic growth, supply chain and the entire myriad of opportunities nuclear energy offers Wyoming.”
A video announcing the national award winners can be viewed here.
The Nuclear Energy Research Center (NERC) in the School of Energy Resources is seeking proposals from current University of Wyoming employees to develop a Faculty Scholars Program and to support professional development travel opportunities for nuclear-related research.
NERC has opened the two funding opportunities to expand the accessibility of interested UW staff, faculty and students to networks and collaboration prospects among the nuclear research community. The center is focused on building research capacity related to nuclear energy at UW.
The Faculty Scholars Program is open only to pre-tenured faculty members, and any UW campus community member may apply for professional development travel grants.
“We have been working hard to build up support among our contacts, national partnerships and regional collaborations on the nuclear front, as well as funding to support those efforts,” says Caleb Hill, co-director of NERC. “This is our chance to infuse some of the funding that we have received into the UW research community to further develop that expertise and expand those networks.”
The Faculty Scholars Program is supported by a grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and funds provided by the Wyoming Legislature and Gov. Mark Gordon’s office. It focuses on developing new areas of nuclear-centric research and supporting junior faculty advancement.
Selected faculty for the program will be designated as NERC-affiliated faculty and will be provided with one month’s summer salary to support development of grant proposals related to the research project. Travel funding also will be available to present related work at professional conferences and to engage with external stakeholders.
NERC will support two faculty scholar awards for the 2023-24 academic year.
For professional development travel grants, NERC has allocated $15,000 to support up to 50 percent of travel and course fee and registration costs for nuclear-relevant professional development, including certifications, attendance at conferences or meetings, training courses and similar professional development activities. Funding is to support new professional development, and awards will not be made for travel related to presentations of current research.
Applicants interested in either opportunity should submit proposals by email to NERC co-Directors Tara Righetti at tara.righetti@uwyo.edu or Hill at caleb.hill@uwyo.edu. The subject line indicated in the full request for proposals and additional information can be found here.
Proposals for the Faculty Scholars Program will be accepted through Sept. 1, and proposals for the professional development travel grants will be accepted until all funds are allocated.
Coal-based asphalt currently being developed in a collaborative project between Western Research Institute (WRI) and the University of Wyoming’s Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion (CCCC) will be a featured product at the Peterson Asphalt Research Conference. The conference is July 18-20 at UW’s Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center.
Jeramie Adams, vice president of WRI’s Renewable Upcycling, Materials and Asphalt Technologies, is the lead scientist developing the coal-based asphalt. He will discuss the current developments of the technology and how it could help the asphalt industry meet lower emissions standards, while providing a new high-volume, alternative, domestic source of flexible asphalt pavement binder.
Dr, Jeramie Adams, Vice President of WRI’s Renewable Upcycling, Materials and Asphalt Technologies (RenuMAT)
“We have taken Wyoming coal, as a large feedstock, and tried to turn it into a viscoelastic material by chemically reacting it with different bio oils,” Adams says. “Coal or carbon ore can be mined and used like any other raw material not being consumed as a fuel, and it allows us to engineer a product and deliver it to a wide range of markets — as well as make different products for different applications — so it is always consistent and performs well.”
The project falls under the carbon engineering initiative in the UW School of Energy Resources’ (SER) CCCC with the mission of finding new alternative uses for Wyoming coal. Using the coal extract produced from the CCCC’s patented solvent extraction technology, the coal-based asphalt binder has shown promising results in performance and superior benchmarks in achieving net-zero emissions goals.
“The benefit here is that we are actually engineering asphalt binders, whereas petroleum asphalt is just a waste product from the oil refining process,” Adams explains. “That product is different depending on the crude oil source or the way that refinery operates. The coal-based binder could be helpful in supplementing petroleum-based asphalt for consistency and lower emissions, or work as a stand-alone product.”
Recently, there has been pressure in the asphalt industry to move toward greener alternatives with bio binders, Adams says. UW and WRI’s project with coal-based asphalt is quickly gaining momentum, with early interest from industry partners to collaborate and provide suitable and sustainable bio oils.
“If we can use coal, which is an ancient bio mass, and react it with another bio mass, thereby created a new binder, we have a low carbon footprint and then make up for things that are lacking with renewable masses,” Adams says. “It is a very green product because there is no need for combustion in any of its outlets, particularly in terms of availability and volumes.”
Because of the accessibility of carbon ore in open-seam Wyoming mines, and the lack of combustion in processing, the coal-based asphalt emits significantly less carbon dioxide than petroleum-based asphalt from cradle-to-gate.
“Using Powder River Basin coal as a feedstock produces a mere third of emissions of conventional petroleum when taking it from the ground and to a refinery for processing,” Adams says. “Furthermore, combining coal with biogenic CO2 allows the new asphalt products to store CO2 from the atmosphere in the pavement. It has the potential to assist petroleum asphalt production meet some of the current challenges posed by the new regulations or to revolutionize the industry as a whole.”
The project is still in early stages but with aims to move out of the lab into field tests. It will be heavily dependent on the ability of the CCCC to scale up the corresponding solvent extraction technology to produce enough feedstock for large-scale batches of asphalt.
“Our lab is working in tandem with WRI on scaling up the solvent extraction processing technology to the field demonstration level in the Powder River Basin,” says Trina Igelsrud Pfeiffer, the CCCC director. “We have a lot of great industry partners in the basin, as well as a potential host site adjacent to the mines for easy access to coal. At this stage, the scale up is entirely dependent on available funding but, with the coal-based asphalt being such a promising product on the downstream side, we hope there will be a lot of interest and investment in driving both projects toward commercialization.”
Advancing both projects will be critical in the team’s ability to perform future tests on the product, in terms of performance and economics. While the team has demonstrated the ability to produce performance-grade asphalt, it also will have to show the accompanying techno-economic analysis to bring production costs down.
“Our ultimate goals are to find a new, valuable use for coal and to help decarbonize the asphalt industry,” Adams says. “We have to meet the same rigorous safety and performance standards, but we also have to compete economically. This may become less of an issue in the future with stricter environmental standards, but, for now, we are trying to balance the economics with the products.”
SER will host an exhibition booth at the conference to highlight the asphalt and other coal-derived products.
About Western Research Institute
WRI, located in Laramie, is a multimillion-dollar, not-for-profit research organization renowned for work in advanced energy systems, environmental technologies and highway materials research and technologies.
WRI provides a highly diverse suite of specialized scientific and engineering expertise, intellectual property, and research and development equipment and facilities, with emphasis in asphalt, biomass, hydrocarbon and polymer resources for energy and material applications.
About the Center for Carbon Capture and Conversion
The CCCC is a Center of Excellence at UW’s SER, composed of a collaborative group of research scientists, faculty members, students and entrepreneurs focused on supporting the future of Wyoming coal.
The CCCC focuses on bolstering existing markets and finding novel, non-energy uses for Wyoming coal by investigating new high-volume uses for coal, converting coal into valuable engineered and chemical products, and exploring new opportunities in an evolving carbon market.
A collaborative project proposed by the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources’ Center for Economic Geology Research (CEGR), the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will create a data-verified Class VI geologic database providing a unique service to carbon storage developers and regulatory agencies for the state of Wyoming.
To be funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, the award will advance DOE’s regional initiative to accelerate carbon management deployment.
The proposed database will provide geotechnical information that has been compiled and verified from established, public geologic databases and entities. It also will include a record of key social considerations and community benefits that developers should consider when preparing Class VI well permit applications to DEQ.
“Extensive geologic data exist to generate thorough, accurate Class VI well applications, but locating those data can be extremely time consuming,” says Erin Campbell, Wyoming state geologist and WSGS director. “The Wyoming State Geological Survey, Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute, UW School of Energy Resources and other state and national organizations host a wealth of subsurface data and maps. By referencing those resources into a single, comprehensive database specifically relevant to underground carbon storage, we can substantially streamline the geologic portion of the application process for industry developers.”
Once completed, the nearly $2 million project will provide carbon developers and DEQ with a comprehensive database to utilize for decision-making while applying for and issuing Class VI permits for the injection of carbon dioxide for geologic sequestration purposes.
“This tool will be extremely beneficial assisting us in making decisions for permits,” says Groundwater Section Program Manager Lily Barkau in DEQ’s Water Quality Division. “The availability of this data in a single trusted database will facilitate the completeness and technical review of the Class VI permit application and, in turn, reduce uncertainty related to permitting.”
Wyoming is a leader when it comes to carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) with a proven track record of managing natural resource development. Wyoming and North Dakota are the only states in the nation that currently have primacy granted by the Environmental Protection Agency. Primacy allows individual states to regulate CO2 injection wells in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“Wyoming is ahead of the curve in terms of permit regulation,” Barkau says. “With our existing regulatory framework, experience and knowledge in working with Class I deep disposal injection wells, we are uniquely qualified to regulate these wells and to do so in a way that is both environmentally responsible but will also allow for growth opportunities.”
Researchers in CEGR have been working for nearly two decades on carbon storage, positioning the state and industry for success and early deployment of the technology.
“We have already done a substantial amount of work characterizing the subsurface, particularly in the Greater Green River Basin,” says CEGR Director Fred McLaughlin. “As one of the first states with Class VI primacy, Wyoming is experiencing a carbon storage and management industry boom. Multiple industries have begun investigating and developing carbon storage hubs throughout Wyoming, with much attention being given to southeast Wyoming.”
The initial focus of the geologic site characterization database will be on three carbon storage hubs identified in Sweetwater County within the Greater Green River Basin. The methodology developed will allow the database to be expanded to other focus areas of carbon storage hubs in Wyoming, specifically the Powder River and Denver Julesburg basins.
“Perhaps the greatest advantage of all for this project is that we are going to be streamlining information, procedures and practices that will expedite the industry and overcome some of the economic obstacles on the path toward commercialization,” McLaughlin says.
UW School of Energy Resources Energy Review 