March 7, 2015
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded the NTFL with a three-year, $3 million grant to support the the development of a miniature mass spectrometer to measure methane leaks. This next-generation detector combines cutting edge nanomaterials with coded apertures and spectral reconstruction to produce an instrument that is less than 20 pounds, has higher sensitivity, and maintains no loss in accuracy.
The project supports ARPA-E's Methane Observation Networks with Innovative Technology to Obtain Reductions (MONITOR) program, but this technology has the potential to venture into other fields besides environmental detection, such as personalized medicine and threat detection. The NTFL is very excited to support ARPA-E in their mission of reducing methane emissions to build a more sustainable energy future.
More information is available on the official Pratt School of Engineering press release here.