|
| |
|
June 2007
 | AFR receives a Phase II SBIR Award from the
Department of Education titled “Technology Enhanced Science Education
in Middle School.” This project will work to develop 21st
Century science curricula for middle school students by harnessing modern
computer technology. |
December 2006
| United States patent # 7,151,260 “Analyzer for Measuring Multiple
Gases” issued to AFR. With initial development for Air Force jet engine
exhaust monitoring applications, the invention enables rapid simultaneous
quantitative measurements of key infrared-active gases and
infrared-inactive gases with one instrument. |
September 2006
| The U.S. Air Force signs a contract with AFR to purchase three
“Analyzers for Measuring Multiple Gases,” to be installed in the Arnold
Engineering Development Center (AEDC) large Hypervelocity Ballistic Range
G facility at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn.
|
| Publications show that the Department of Defense Assured Fuels
Initiative gains benefits from Air Force AEDC contracts with AFR that
developed and delivered advanced gas analysis capability: 1) “AEDC Team
Supports Time Critical Alternative Fuels Test,” High Mach, August 25,
2006; and 2) “Tests of Synthetic Fuel will Shift to Fighter Engines,”
Aviation Week & Space Technology, vol. 165, no. 9, pp. 46-47, September
2006. |
June 2006
May 2006
| AFR was a team member selected to receive the 2005 Annual Technical
Achievement Excellence Award from the Air Force at Arnold Air Force Base,
TN. The JETS-APEX2 team consisted of AEDC/DOT, AEDC/ATA, AFR, Aerodyne
Research, CARB, EPA, NASA GRC, NASA LaRC, Oakland Airport, Southwest
Airlines, U. of Cal-Riverside, U. of Missouri-Rolla COE, Boeing, GEAE, and
was selected for using state-of-the-art analytical equipment to measure
particle and gaseous species in the exhaust of jet engines. |
July 2005
| The AFR/NASA Ames paper entitled "A hybrid pyrolysis / oxidation
system for solid waste resource recovery" was selected for publication in
SAE 2004 Transactions Journal of Aerospace as one of the most
outstanding SAE technical papers of 2004. The paper was originally
published at Proc. 34th Int. Conf. on Environmental Systems (ICES),
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 19–22, 2004, SAE technical paper No.
2004-01-2380, SAE International, 2004.
|
February 2005
| Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. celebrated its
25th Anniversary on February 18, 2005. The company was started in 1980 by Dr. Peter
R. Solomon, Dr. David G. Hamblen, and Mrs. Sally Solomon. The original
goal for AFR was to create an instrumentation company to service the
rapidly growing synfuel industry. Over the past 25 years, Advanced Fuel
Research, Inc. has been a leader in research and technology development
and continues to develop new technologies in engine emission measurements,
carbon materials, biomass pyrolysis, thin film materials and auxiliary
components for fuel cells. Among its accomplishments, AFR has spun-off the
MKS
On-Line Products Group, (a designer and manufacturer of leading edge
semiconductor wafer and thin film metrology tools and multi-gas analyzers)
and
Real-Time Analyzers, Inc. (RTA), which is employing Raman spectroscopy
in their line of chemical analyzers. Applications range from process
control in polymer manufacturing to analysis of drugs in saliva. On behalf
of Advanced Fuel Research we would like to extend our thanks and
appreciations to all involved in making the past 25 years a success. |
November 2004
| Successful pilot-scale testing was performed at Metso Minerals
Corporation, Danville Pennsylvania, using AFR’s technology for producing
virgin carbon black from oils derived from waste-tire pyrolysis. This
work was performed under EPA SBIR funding received to develop a
pyrolysis-based concept for waste-tire utilization. |
October 2004
| AFR is notified that it will receive a patent for its invention
“Pyrolysis-Based Fuel Processing Method and Apparatus.” This invention is
concerned with the extraction of hydrogen from diesel fuel and other
liquid fuels, a key enabling technology for the “Hydrogen Economy.” |
August 2004
| AFR receives a DOE Phase I SBIR Award titled “Carbon Dioxide Recovery
from Combustion Flue Gas Using Carbon Supported Amine Sorbents.” This
project will investigate the use of novel sorbent materials to remove CO2
from smoke stacks. |
July 2004
|
Dr. Michael
Serio presented the paper “Kinetics of Methane and Tar Evolution During
Coal Pyrolysis” at the 30th International Symposium on Combustion held at
the University of Illinois, Chicago (July 25-30, 2004). This paper is the
latest in a series of more than 50 papers that AFR has written on the
kinetics of coal pyrolysis over the past 25 years. |
|
Dr. Michael
Serio presented a paper at the 34th International Conference on
Environmental Systems (Colorado Springs, CO, July 19-22, 2004) titled “A
Hybrid Pyrolysis/Oxidation System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery.” This
paper was a joint effort with the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett
Field, CA. |
| Dr. Wójtowicz presented two papers at the Carbon 2004 conference held
at Brown University, Providence, RI, July 11–16, 2004. Dr. Wójtowicz also
served on the Scientific Committee of the above conference. The presented
papers are entitled "Carbon Black Derived from Waste Tire Pyrolysis Oil,"
and "Activated Carbon from Waste Tires For Mercury Emissions Control."
The work reported in these papers was performed under EPA SBIR funding
received by AFR to develop a pyrolysis-based concept for waste-tire
utilization. |
June 2004
| AFR receives a contract from the National Academy of Sciences titled
“Detection of Radioactivity in Transit Stations.” This project will be
based on a concept called REDSTAR™ (Radiation Event Detection System:
Track and Recognition) developed by Dr. Eric Rubenstein of AFR. During
this month, the REDSTAR™ concept was also selected for the FastTrack
program by the Connecticut Technology Council. |
May 2004
| AFR receives a USDA Phase I Award titled “Processing of Poultry Manure
for Fuel Gas Production.” This project will continue work on the
utilization of poultry manure as a source of energy for distributed power
generation. |
November 2003
| AFR receives two NASA Phase II SBIR Awards. The first award, titled “A
Hybrid Pyrolysis/Incineration System for Solid Waste Resource Recovery”
continues AFR’s development work on using pyrolysis processing for solid
waste recycling in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS).
The second award, titled “Carbon-Supported Amine Sorbent Monoliths for
Carbon Dioxide Removal” will continue AFR’s work on the development of
novel sorbents for air revitalization in space. |
September 2003
| U.S. Patent No. 6,626,981 entitled “Microporous Carbons for Gas
Storage” was issued to AFR. The subject of this invention is the method
for producing highly microporous sorbents for hydrogen and other gases.
Hydrogen storage is a critical barrier to the large-scale implementation
of fuel-cell systems. |
|
 Dr.
Marek Wójtowicz was elected Chair of the Division of Fuel Chemistry,
American Chemical Society. The ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry provides a
forum for documentation and communication to the international community
of research and development results, in order to promote efficient and
environmentally acceptable fuel production and use. |
AUGUST 2003
|
 Dr. Michael
Serio has been named to the International Editorial Board of Fuel
(The Science and Technology of Fuel and Energy) |
May 2003:
| At the 49th International Instrumentation Symposium in Orlando, FL,
the Aerospace Industries Division of the ISA presented Mr. James Markham
with the Major Charles Bassett III Outstanding Paper Award for "Instrument
for Temperature and Condition Monitoring of Advanced Turbine Blades." The
award carries a named endowment of $1,000 to support an engineering
college scholarship. |
September 2002:
| Chinese Seminar - Dr. Marek Wójtowicz was an invited
speaker on Fuel Cell Gas Storage, Fuel Cell Diesel Fuel Preprocessing, and
Coal Pyrolysis Modeling at Tianjin University, near Beijing, China. |
August 2002:
| At the Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Michael
Serio presented a paper "Pyrolysis Processing of Animal Manure to Produce
Fuel Gases." Erik Kroo also presented a paper on "The Effect of Local
Charge on Coal Reactivity Modeled with Single Large Polymer
Macromolecule." |
| Air Force Research Laboratory Headquarters publishes IMPACT story on
the Portable MultiGas Analyzer
Download SBIR Impact Story |
June 2002:
May 2002:
| AFR Next Generation Energy Group ("Hydrocarbons") received a grant
from the US Department of Energy for "High-Performance Carbon Materials
for Ultracapacitors." |
| AFR's Combustion Monitoring & Control Group ("TurboSense") received a
grant from the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management for
turbine sensor technology intellectual property development. |
February 2002:
|
Connecticut DEP Recognizes AFR for New
Technology - The State of Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection has recognized AFR for implementing
important new environmental technology through the U.S. Department of
Energy NICE3 program.
|
Pictured here at the
recent media event are from left to right: The Honorable Lieutenant
Governor of the State of Connecticut Jodi Rell, AFR Chief Executive
Officer Jim Markham, DOE Office of Industrial Technologies Director Scott
Richlen, and the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection Commissioner Arthur Rocque, Jr.
The NICE3
Program (National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment,
and Economics) has provided AFR the opportunity to place three new
multigas combustion process monitors in industry for 12 month field
demonstrations.
December 2001
|
The Air
Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio, featured AFR’s emission analysis technology as a
Technology Horizons Spinoff. AFRL is responsible for the Air Force's
annual $1.2 billion science and technology program
http://www.afrlhorizons.com/0001/spinoffs.html
|
November 2001
|
U.S. Patent 6,322,613 issued to Dr.
Marek Wójtowicz and Dr. Michael Serio for “Process for the recovery of
mercury from a gaseous mixture”: Adsorption of mercury on activated
carbons derived from scrap tires enables the removal and recovery of
mercury from combustion/incineration flue gas, with concurrent control
of SOx and NOx |
September 2001
| AFR spin-offs Real-Time Analyzers, Inc., a firm specializing in advanced
process Raman and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy |
August 2001
| AFR wins its fourth R&D 100 Award, for Surface-Enhanced Raman
Spectroscopy. |
July 2001
| In collaboration with Brown University, a joint paper presentation
at the 31st International Conference on Environmental Systems, Orlando, FL, "A
Prototype Pyrolyzer for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in Space." |
June 2001
| In collaboration with Siemens Power Generation, a joint paper
presentation at the ASME Turbo Expo 2001, New Orleans, LA, “Simultaneous
Short and Long Wavelength Infrared Pyrometer Measurements in a Heavy
Duty Gas Turbine.” |
April 2001
| AFR announced that its commercial spin-off company, On-Line
Technologies Inc., was acquired by MKS Instruments in an agreement worth
more than $20 million. For more details, see
MKS
Products Group |
| American Recycler reported on AFR’s waste-to-energy technology
development, “New Technologies for the Recycling of Waste Tires,”
|
March 2001
February 2001
| Department of Energy, Office of Industrial Technologies, Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, published a Project Fact Sheet on AFR’s
collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) for Continuous Emission Monitoring (CEM), “Combustion
Project Fact Sheet: Energy-Conserving Tool for Combustion-Dependent
Industries”,
http://www.eere.energy.gov/wip/program/nice3.html |
January 2001
| The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) featured AFR in
its "BMDO Update" newsletter, in an article entitled
"Make Way for Smaller, Cheaper Multigas Analyzers".
http://www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/update/wint00/updhor4.htm
Download pdf file BMDO.pfd (257 kb) |
| AFR's commercialization success was featured in the corporate
newsletter of Dawnbreaker (Rochester, NY), a professional services
firm providing commercialization assistance to advanced technology
firms and their investors. |
December 2000
| SAE's "Aerospace Engineering Online" reported on AFR's collaborative effort
with DOE; Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI); Wright Patterson AFB; Arnold AFB;
NASA Glenn; Pratt & Whitney; General Electric; and Rolls-Royce - to develop
a jet engine pyrometer.
http://ww.sae.org/aeromag/techupdate_12-00/techupdate5.htm |
September 2000
| The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded AFR the Tibbetts
Award. Named after Roland Tibbetts, acknowledged as the father of the
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, this prestigious
national award recognizes AFR as exemplifying the best in SBIR
achievement (economic impact of technological innovation, business
achievement, effective collaboration, and state and regional impact) https://secure.brtrc.com/tibbetts/ |
| National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) publishes SBIR/STTR
Success story on AFR’s surface-enhanced Raman technology,
http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/successes/ss/9-028text.html |
July 2000
| AFR presents a paper at the 30th International Conference on
Environmental Systems in Toulouse, France titled, "Pyrolysis
Processing for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in Space." |
June 2000
| AFR presents two invited papers on combustion monitoring at the 21st
AIAA Advanced Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference in
Denver, CO. Paper AIAA 2000-2211 is a joint publication with Sverdrup
Technology, Inc./AEDC of Arnold Air Force Base. Paper AIAA 2000-2212
is a joint publication with ABB Alstom Power Generation. |
| AFR is invited and presents results of a DOE sponsored SBIR Phase I
project on combustion monitoring titled "New Optical Coupling of
Infrared Analyzers to Industrial Processes," to the DOE OIT
Sensors & Controls Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. |
| AFR completes a NASA Phase II SBIR project titled "Gas Storage
Using Microporous Carbons." The objective of this project was to
develop a method of manufacturing microporous carbon adsorbents for
lightweight, high-energy density storage of gases. A prototype gas
storage system was delivered to NASA under this project. |
| AFR joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
as a cooperative research partner to work on the Solid State Imaging
Infrared Polarimeter. |
May 2000
| AFR presents the Real-Time Analyzers (RTA) business plan to
potential venture investors at a Department of Energy Dawnbreaker
conference in Tysons Corner, Virginia. RTA will be a new independent
spin-off of AFR sometime in 2001. The mission of RTA is to provide
analyzers that perform continuous, real-time trace chemical detection
with the ability to operate in harsh industrial environments. The
initial products will employ Raman spectroscopy to measure chemical
composition and will be targeted to serve the drug discovery and
development markets. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive an NSF SBIR Phase II award for
the project "Whole Wafer Thermal Imaging for Real-Time Process
Monitoring and Control." This is a collaborative project with
FLIR and On-Line Technologies. |
| AFR begins the DOD/AF SBIR Phase I project "Control Sensor for
Turbine Engine Augmentor Rumble & Screech," which will
involve a novel sensor system developed by AFR to detect incipient
combustion instabilities in jet engine afterburners. A field test will
be performed at an AEDC propulsion test facility at Arnold Air Force
Base, TN. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive a DOC SBIR Phase I award for
the project "A Fast Scanning FT-IR Emission/Transmission
Spectrometer for Spray Combustion Diagnostics." An FT-IR
spectrometer system will be developed based on the On-Line
Technologies, Inc., fast scanning interferometer system which can
operate in the noisy environment of spray combustion systems. A field
test will be performed at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. |
| AFR presents a paper on radiation thermometry at the 46th
International Instrumentation Symposium in Bellevue, Washington. |
| AFR completes a successful two-week field test/demonstration of a
novel instrument for measuring the temperature of high speed turbine
blades in gas turbine engines with Siemens KWU in Berlin, Germany.
This work was done under a DOE SBIR Phase II program. |
| AFR begins a DOE sponsored NICE3 project for combustion monitoring
with the Connecticut DEP as the State Sponsor. Industrial cost-sharing
partners in the project are Pratt & Whitney, Air Pollution
Characterization and Control, Northeast Generation Services, and
On-Line Technologies. |
| AFR delivers an FT-IR multi-gas analyzer prepared for turbine engine
gas analysis to AEDC at Arnold Air Force Base. This prototype product
that utilizes a new fast response long effective path gas cell was
developed during an DOD/AFR sponsored SBIR Phase II project. |
April 2000
| AFR is an invited participant in a NASA workshop held in Houston, TX
on Waste Processing and Resource Recovery for Advanced Life Support. |
| AFR hires Mr. Ken Wexler as Director of Business Development. Mr.
Wexler will focus on the commercialization of AFR's technology. He has
more than 16 years of experience in Senior marketing and sales for
worldwide manufactures of computer hardware, chemicals, plastics, pulp
& paper, and industrial equipment. He holds an M.A. in Chemistry
from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. |
| On-Line Technologies, Inc. (OLT), an AFR spin-off, recently recorded
its second profitable quarter in a row accompanied by increasing
revenue growth. OLT is manufacturing and marketing gas-state sensors,
wafer-state sensors (for the semiconductor industry) process control
software and thin film monitors based on AFR-developed technologies.
It recently introduced the FilmExpert™ Advanced Film Analyzer and
the first unit was delivered to Lucent Technologies. Orders for two
additional units have been received. A Series 2010 Multi-Gas Analyzer
was recently sold to Intel. |
March 2000
| AFR makes a presentation at the NASA Ames Center on its Phase II
SBIR project titled "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste
Resource Recovery in Space." |
| AFR officially introduces two new products, the "Industrial
Raman Analyzer" and the "Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
(SERS)" sample vials at the 2000 Pittsburgh Conference on
Analytical Instrumentation. The Industrial Raman Analyzer has been
designed specifically for chemical process monitoring and control in
production facilities. Fiber optic probes allow for in-situ, in-line,
or at-line measurements. The SERS vials can be used to significantly
enhance the Raman signals for certain compounds, in some cases by a
factor exceeding 106. These vials are suitable for numerous
applications in the biochemical, biomedical, chemical, drug
enforcement, environmental, forensics, and pharmaceutical fields. |
| AFR supports the EPA Region 1 Accessing Federal Resources Workshop
(Boston) by providing a presentation to less experienced small
businesses. "Collaborations of a Small Business During SBIR
Projects: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" was well received. |
| AFR makes its second technology presentation to the SAE
International Committee E-31. The committee is dedicated to providing
industry with standard practices for emissions measurements from
aircraft engines. |
| AFR attends and makes a project presentation regarding combustion
monitoring at the DOE NICE3 Commercialization Strategy Workshop in
Albuquerque, NM. |
January 2000
| AFR completes a field test/demonstration of a novel performance
monitor for gas turbine engines with Pratt & Whitney in East
Hartford, CT (EPA SBIR Phase I sponsorship). The prototype was
installed in a turbine engine test cell and successfully performed in-situ
gas composition measurements through the exhaust plume of an operating
jet engine. |
December 1999
| AFR completes a field test/demonstration of a novel instrument for
measuring the temperature of gas turbine engine parts under
development with ABB Alstom Power in Windsor, CT (DOE SBIR Phase II
sponsorship). |
November 1999
| AFR receives an NSF Phase I SBIR award titled "High Sensitivity
Raman Spectrometer." This project will design and test a hybrid
Raman spectrometer suitable for "on-demand" or continuous
process monitoring. This will be accomplished by employing an
innovative design which overcomes the limitations traditionally
associated with Raman Spectroscopy. |
October 1999
| AFR received an award under the NASA SBIR program. The title of this
Phase II project is "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste
Resource Recovery in Space." The objective of this project is to
produce a prototype waste disposal unit for long term space travel
based on pyrolysis processing. This work will be done in collaboration
with Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Brown University
and On-Line Technologies, Inc. |
September 1999
| AFR holds a broad range of presentations and discussions in Japan
with Coal Utilization Japan (CCUJ), Kyoto University, and Osaka Gas
Co., Ltd. |
| AFR receives a DOD Navy Phase I SBIR award titled "Development
of a Portable FT-Raman Instrument for Fuel Characterization."
This project will develop a field instrument to assess stored, host
nation or captured fuel supplies. |
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR, presents two papers at the Tenth International Conference on Coal
Science, Taiyuan, China, 12–17 September, 1999. The papers are entitled "Yields of pyrolysis products
for coals originating in different parts of the world," and
"Gasification behavior of coal chars originating in different parts of
the world." The research
reported in the papers was performed at AFR under the Brain-C project funded
by two Japanese agencies: the Center for Coal Utilization Japan (CCUJ) and
the New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
The work was carried out under a subcontract agreement with Idemitsu
Kosan Co., Ltd. |
| AFR is informed that it will receive an award under the NASA SBIR
program. The title of this Phase II
project is "Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource Recovery in
Space." |
August 1999
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR, was
involved in the Organization and Chairmanship for a symposium entitled
"Recent Advances in Fuel Cells" at the 218th ACS National
Meeting, New Orleans, CA, 21-26 August 1999. |
| Organization and Chairmanship, and presentation of a paper for a
symposium entitled "Recent Advances in Fuel Cells" at the 218th
ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, CA, 21-26 August 1999. |
| AFR delivers a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Emission/Transmission (E/T)
spectrometer to Arizona State University. This system will be used by
researchers in the Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering as a
diagnostic tool for research on combustion. |
| AFR signs a research contract with a Fortune 500 company to
develop a robust biomass-pyrolysis model
|
July 1999
| A paper was presented at the 24th Biennial Conference on Carbon,
Charleston, SC, 11-16 July, 1999: Wójtowicz, M. A., Bassilakis, R.
and Serio, M. A., "Char-oxidation reactivity at early and late
stages of burn-off," Proc. Twenty-Fourth Biennial Conference on
Carbon, American Carbon Society, Charleston, South Carolina, July
11-16, 1999, vol. I, pp. 230-231 |
| AFR is informed that it will receive two awards under the EPA SBIR program. One is a
Phase II titled “The Manufacture of Carbon Black from Oils Derived from Scrap
Tires,” and one is a Phase I titled “Gas Turbine Engine Performance Monitor
for Reduced Emissions. |
| Two-month evaluations of AFR/On-Line gas analysis equipment are underway. In mid-July, AFR
delivered an MG-2010 Multi-Gas Analyzer to Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. A
second is scheduled to go to Rolls Royce Allison in Indiana. Both will monitor
turbine engine exhaust gas. |
| AFR wins two Phase I awards under the DOE SBIR program titled “New Optical Coupling of
Infrared Analyzers to Industrial Processes,” and “Improved Carbon Molecular
Sieve Membranes for Oxygen-Nitrogen Separation. |
| AFR completes development of a first generation prototype FT-Raman system with its
affiliate, On-Line Technologies, Inc |
April 1999
| AFR signed a commercialization agreement with United Carbon Corporation to develop a
full-scale process for the manufacture of carbon black from oils derived from
waste-tire pyrolysis. |
| Research on AFR's technology was supported by the Environmental Protection Agency under the
Small Business Innovation (SBIR) program. |
| AFR receives an award for the outstanding paper presented at the American Chemical
Society Division of Environmental Chemistry meeting in Boston, Massachusetts
(August, 1998). The paper was titled “Microwave-Assisted Control of Nitric
Oxide, Nitrous Oxide and Ammonia Emissions. |
| AFR and On-Line are featured in an article in BMDO Update, a quarterly publication of
the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) Technology Applications
Program. The article discusses the evolution of On-Line as a spin-off from AFR
based on technology developed with support from the BMDO, DOE, NSF, Air Force
and other government and private sources. |
| On-Line introduces a new product called the INDUCT™ analyzer which provides
quantitative, simultaneous, rapid, in-situ determination of over 20 gas
concentrations within the feed or exhaust line of process equipment. The system
features a large dynamic range (low ppb to percent), under 1 sec. response time,
temperature and pressure compensation and lifetime calibration. |
January 1999
| AFR receives an award for best poster presentation at the Gordon Research Conference
on Hydrocarbon Resources held in Ventura, CA. The paper was titled “Hydrogen
Storage Carbons Derived from Polyvinylvidene Chloride (PVDC). |
| Ms. Sally Solomon retired from AFR after 18 years as Office Manager and Director of Human
Resources. She is being replaced by Ms. Susan White, who was promoted from being
the Assistant Office Manager and Contracts Administrator. Ms. Solomon was one of
the founders of AFR and will continue in her role as Secretary-Treasurer of the
corporation and a member of the Board of Directors. In addition to her new
duties, Ms. White will continue in her role as Contract Administrator. |
December 1998
| AFR
delivers a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Emission/Transmission (E/T)
spectrometer to the NASA Lewis Research Center. This spectrometer will be used
as a diagnostic instrument for laboratory and microgravity combustion
diagnostics. |
| AFR participates as a finalist in the DOE/Dawnbreaker Commercialization Assistance
Program. A business plan is presented for TurboSense, a company that will
design, develop, manufacture, and market novel turbine engine performance and
health monitors. The market will be manufacturers and end users of advanced gas
turbine engines for electricity generation and propulsion. |
November 1998
| AFR introduces its latest product, sample vials for Surface-Enhanced Raman
Spectroscopy (SERS). A solution containing the sample is injected into vial
which is placed in the sample compartment of a Raman spectrometer. A proprietary
coating on the vial enhances the intensity of the Raman signal, in some cases
more than a factor of 106. |
October 1998
| Dr.Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR, presented an
invited keynote lecture at the Third
International Conference on Materials Engineering for Resources (ICMR '98),
Akita, Japan, 26-28 October, 1998. The
paper was entitled "Microporous carbon adsorbents for hydrogen
storage." |
| AFR receives two NASA SBIR Phase I Awards, “Study of Agent Effectiveness in
Suppression of Aircraft Post-Crash Cabin Fires Using Advanced FT-IR
Diagnostics” and “Pyrolysis Processing for Solid Waste Resource Recovery
in Space. |
| On-Line Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off that is also based in East Hartford,
Connecticut has opened a Silicon Valley office to support both its customer
base as well as development work taking place in the Western United States.
Dr. Matt Richter has been hired as Applications Manager to oversee the new
operations. On-Line is a manufacturer of optical sensors and Advanced
Process Control systems. On-Line Technologies can be reached at
MKS On-Line Products
or 860-291-0719 in CT or 650-424-8559 in CA. |
| On-Line introduces a new product, Process Sense™, a compact, low cost
quantitative, in-situ sensor for determining gas composition within a
production feed line, process equipment or exhaust gas line. This analyzer
utilizes infrared absorption; changing filters is all that is requested to
measure different gases. |
| AFR receives NSF Phase I SBIR grants titled “Macroscopic and Molecular
Interactive Simulations for Physical Science Education” and “Whole Wafer Thermal Imaging for Real-Time Process
Monitoring and Control |
August 1998
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at AFR, presented a keynote
lecture at the EUROCARBON '98 conference, Strasbourg, France, 5-9 July, 1998.
The paper was entitled "Microporosity development in carbons for
gas-storage applications. |
March 1998
| On-Line Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off will officially open its new
manufacturing facility on April 30, 1998. This new facility will allow for increased
production of On-Line's FT-IR spectrometers which are used for thin film characterization
and gas analysis. For additional information, please visit
MKS On-Line Products.
|
| Agreements were reached with Dynamotive Corporation (Vancouver, BC) to
continue testing their BioLime™ based technologies for SOx, N2O,
and NOx control. The relationship with Dynamotive began in 1995 and has
involved six separate projects.
|
February 1998
| Dr. Michael Serio, President of AFR, gave an invited lecture titled
"Modeling of Coal Pyrolysis Processes" at the International Symposium on
Advanced Energy Technology in Sapporo, Japan (February 2-4, 1998).
|
| Dr. Marek Wójtowicz, Manager of the Hydrocarbons Group at
AFR, gave two
invited lectures at the Coal Research Center (CRC) Coal Chemistry Symposium, Sydney,
Australia (February 16-18, 1998). One lecture concerned "TGA-FTIR Analysis of
Coal," while the second was on the "FG-DVC Model of Coal Pyrolysis."
|
January 1998
| An ACS (American Chemical Society) Symposium Series Volume titled
"Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Materials," was recently published
by ACS Books as No. 681 in this series. The Senior Editor was Dr. Michael
Serio, President
of AFR, and this volume was based on a symposium that he organized for the Materials
Chemistry Secretariat at the 1996 ACS Orlando National Meeting.
|
| Dr. Peter R. Solomon, CEO and President of AFR since its founding in
1980, stepped down to devote full time to being CEO and President of On-Line
Technologies, Inc., an AFR spin-off. He was replaced by
Mr. James R.
Markham as CEO and Dr. Michael A. Serio as President, who were
promoted from Vice-President/Chief Operating Officer and
Vice-President/Chief Technical Officer, respectively. Dr. Solomon will
continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Dr. David G.
Hamblen will continue to serve as Vice-President/Chief Financial
Officer.
|
December 1997
| Efforts directed toward commercialization of AFR's FG-DVC model
continue. Work is under way at the University of Leeds, UK on the integration of AFR's
coal devolatilization model, FG-DVC, with the FLUENT Computational Fluid Dynamics
(CFD)
code, which is the most widely used code of this type in the world.
|
June 1996
|
|
