At PNNL, subsurface science inhabits two separate but interlocking worlds. One looks at basic science, the other at applied science and engineering. Both are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Existing techniques to detect pertechnetate in the environment have drawbacks. PNNL’s redox sensor technology uses a gold probe to accurately and efficiently measure low levels of pertechnetate—and possibly other contaminants—in groundwater
A recent paper published in Water Resources Research found that the spatial variability of subsurface sediments, and seasonal fluctuations in a river’s water level, influences the behavior of a uranium contaminant plume, particularly in ...
DOE researchers investigated the role of microbial genetic diversity in two major subsurface biogeochemical processes: nitrification and denitrification.
A chemical engineer by day at PNNL, Dan Howe is an ardent home brewer by night. The connection resulted in production of biocrude oil from brewery waste.
Researchers have identified two processes responsible for fracturing rock at lower pressures for geothermal energy production using PNNL’s fracturing fluid, StimuFrac™.
PNNL’s Corinne Drennan has been selected to serve a term on the Washington Department of Ecology’s advisory board for the new Recycling Development Center.
Retired PNNL scientist Doug Elliott has received the 2019 Don Klass Award for Excellence in Thermochemical Conversion Science from the Gas Technology Institute.
In the third year of the DISCOVR Consortium project, the consortium team has identified an algal strain that progressed successfully through multiple evaluation phases.
A new Co-Optima report describes an assessment of 400 biofuel-derived samples and identifies the top ten candidates for blending with petroleum fuel to improve boosted spark ignition engine efficiency.
Biogeochemical activity in the hyporheic zone (HZ), sediments where the flowing waters of a river mix with shallow groundwater, supports many of the biological processes that occur within a watershed.
Co-authors of a paper in Hydrological Processes led by PNNL researchers Zhangshuan Hou, Timothy Scheibe, and Christopher Murray, produced a map that identifies different classes of sediments which compose the riverbed along the Hanford ...
A multi-institutional team of scientists developed a new sensitivity analysis framework using Bayesian Networks to quantify which parameters and processes in complex multi-physics models are least understood.
Reactive transport models (RTMs) are used to describe and predict the distribution of chemicals in time and space, in both marine and terrestrial (surface and near-surface) environments where microbially-mediated processes govern...
