Two technologies with Office of Science and Technology connections have been selected by R&D Magazine as among the 100 most significant new technologies for 1999: LASAGNA™ and Digestion Material Asbestos®. Technologies submitted to the magazine’s annual competition are judged on their broad-based impact on society, and winners typically demonstrate significant breakthroughs. In the environmental area, over a dozen OST-funded technologies have been recognized over the years. Of the 1999 R&D 100 Awards, 43 went to DOE-funded researchers, including the two sponsored by OST. LASAGNA™, which works by electro osmosis, is named for its layered structure of electrodes and treatment zones. It is an in situ treatment technology in which established geochemical methods are used to install treatment zones and electrodes directly into low-permeability soil. The electrodes generate an electric current, which causes the movement of contaminants dissolved in groundwater through the treatment zones, where the contaminants are either adsorbed or destroyed. Developed by Monsanto, DuPont, and General Electric Research and Development Center, LASAGNA™ was selected by DOE for the cleanup of its Cylinder Drop Test Site at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. For more information about this technology, see the February 1995 and December 1996 issues of Initiatives as well as TMS (OST/TMS ID 4). Digestion Material Asbestos®, developed by W.R. Grace and Co. and Brookhaven National Laboratory, is a breakthrough in asbestos abatement, which will help building owners save money, time, and labor by avoiding the removal and disposal of asbestos-containing material. The new method chemically neutralizes asbestos while it remains in place and retains its fireproofing capability. The product is a foamy solution that is sprayed directly onto asbestos fibers and changes them to harmless minerals that do not require regulation by EPA. For more information about this technology, see the Spring 1998 issue of Initiatives and TMS (OST/TMS ID 73). For the full list of DOE-funded winners, see http://home.doe.gov/news/releases99/seppr |
