BERKELEY, CA -- Researchers at Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(Berkeley Lab) have been named as the winners of three of Popular
Science magazine's "Best of What's New" awards for 1996.
Each year, the editors of the magazine review thousands of new
products, technology developments, and scientific achievements. Then,
they select 100 for distinction as the "Best of What's New." This
year, the winners were announced at a November 12 awards event in New
York City. They include:
- Berkeley Lab earth scientists George Moridis and Karsten
Pruess. They developed a technique for creating an underground barrier
that stops the spread of contaminants from hazardous waste sites.
- Berkeley Lab scientist Ashok Gadgil for his development of "UV
Waterworks." This inexpensive device uses ultraviolet light to cheaply
disinfect water from the viruses and bacteria that, every year, kill
millions of people in poor, developing nations.
- Berkeley Lab scientist Mark Modera for a new aerosol-based
technology for sealing air leaks in heating, cooling, and ventilation
(HVAC) ducts. In typical homes, sealing these leaks can reduce heating
and cooling energy costs from 15 to 30 percent.
The editors of Popular Science recognized Moridis and
Pruess for their development of a radically new technique for
containing underground hazardous waste. To immobilize waste,
researchers drill a series of wells outside the perimeter of a
contaminated area, and then inject a fluid into the ground. Once in
the ground, the fluid gels, forming an impermeable barrier that
contains underground waste and prevents its spread. The technique has
been field tested but still is in a developmental stage.
Currently, the state of the art of cleaning up sites with contaminated
soils is the same as it was 30 years ago -- contractors dig the soil
out and truck it to a hazardous waste site. That's because contaminants
are very difficult to strip from the soil. Once toxins get into the
ground, just a few gallons of hazardous fluids can contaminate huge
areas.
Unfortunately, the costs and limitations of the soil removal approach
have severely handicapped the nation's cleanup efforts. Thousands of
contaminated sites have been identified but few have been cleaned up.
Over time, water in the ground can cause the contamination to spread.
Depending on what is nearby, water supplies, rivers, residential areas,
and human health can be further jeopardized by these delays.
"Up until now," says Moridis, "the country has been fighting a losing
battle. We believe the new approach we are developing is a vitally
needed supplement to today's standard cleanup method."
Gadgil's UV Waterworks, which was also a recipient of a Discover
Magazine Award for Technology Innovation this year, has the
potential to save millions of lives.
In developing nations, safe, home-delivered tap water is rare.
Consequently, each year, waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid,
and dysentery that are transmitted mainly through the drinking of
unsanitary water, kill an estimated four million children under the age
of five and make adults sick enough to lose billions of hours of work
productivity and income. The two most common methods of disinfecting
water in developing nations -- chlorination and boiling -- both have
drawbacks and limitations. Chlorine disinfection requires a continual
supply of chlorine bleach and trained personnel to make sure chlorine
is added to water supplies at effective levels. Boiling is usually
done over wood stoves in unvented rooms which poses health risks of its
own and contributes to air pollution and deforestation.
Gadgil, who is from India and has had several cousins die from
these diseases, worked after-hours creating a purification
system that uses an off-the-shelf ultraviolet light to kill bacterial
and viral contaminants. Running on a car battery if necessary, one
unit can provide water for a village of 1,000 people. Each unit should
cost between $250 and $600.
"What we've done," said Gadgil, "is build a device that makes
water purification so inexpensive that it's almost impossible
not to use it."
Modera was honored by Popular Science for his development of an
elegant solution to the ubiquitous problem of how to seal leaky
heating, cooling, and ventilation ducts. According to a 1991 study,
sealing these leaks could save some one quadrillion BTU's per year in
this country. That amounts to an annual energy savings of
approximately $7 billion.
Currently, contractors use a variety of techniques to seal leaks in
existing HVAC systems. Though sealing leaks can save a lot of energy
and money, relatively little of this work is done because of the
difficulty involved in locating the leaks. Also, in many instances, it
is almost impossible to get to the leaky ductwork.
Modera's process resolves these obstacles. First, all grilles are
temporarily sealed. Then, aerosolized adhesive particles are blown into
the duct system and flow to the leakage sites, eventually sealing
them. Compared to conventional duct-sealing methods, aerosol-based
sealing plugs more of the leaks, is less time consuming and costly to
homeowners, and provides better working conditions for the
contractor.
The research to develop aerosol sealing was funded by the California
Institute for Energy Efficiency, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the U.S. Department
of Energy.
Berkeley Lab conducts unclassified scientific research for the U.S.
Department of Energy. It is located in Berkeley, California and is
managed by the University of California.
Popular Science features the winners of its "Best of What's New"
awards on its website at http://www.popsci.com
All press releases from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
