Terrestrial Aquatics
With research focused on the critical interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, PNNL brings integrative science, modeling, analytical tools, and expertise to investigate, prevent, and reverse ecosystem decline.
Environmental Performance of Hydropower
PNNL researchers are advancing hydropower through research and innovation to improve fish passage, turbine design and evaluation, and the regulatory process.
Atmospheric Science
If Earth were the size of an apple, its atmosphere would be no thicker than the apple’s skin. What happens within that thin atmospheric layer is essential to life on the planet, from the quality of the air we breathe to the rainfall that supports agriculture and ecosystems.
Hydropower
PNNL is working to advance hydropower capabilities for the nation’s grid while supporting the environmentally sound deployment and operation of hydropower around the world.
Appliance and Equipment Standards
PNNL works with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop standards and test procedures to reduce energy used by residential and commercial appliances.
The Blue Economy
PNNL researchers at PNNL-Sequim are researching how to advance the blue economy and mitigate environmental impacts.
Human Health
PNNL scientists specialize in the use of omics technologies, such as metabolomics, lipidomics, and genomics, to gain a closer look at activity at the molecular level.
Friction Stir
Friction stir techniques involve the use of a spinning tool to generate intense levels of deformation and heat, transforming or joining the target material(s). For instance, the tool could be traversed across metal sheets along a joint line, causing the metals to physically mix together to be precisely joined without the use of rivets and fasteners (friction stir welding). Alternatively, the tool could be translated across the surface of a material, creating a modified region with superior properties (friction stir processing). Friction stir techniques can join dissimilar materials that cannot be joined by other methods, enabling the production of next-generation products—and they also require less energy than conventional methods, reducing costs.
ShAPE
Typically, metal extrusion involves the use of external heat to soften or homogenize the feedstock before it is pressed through the die. By contrast, the patented, R&D 100 award–winning ShAPE technique involves the use of a shearing action at the face of the billet to locally heat and plasticize the feedstock material before it is pressed through a shaping die. ShAPE—which is capable of both direct and indirect extrusion—imparts significantly more deformation into the material than does conventional extrusion, offering a number of unique advantages.
Cold Spray
The Smart Advanced Manufacturing (SAM) program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is using its cold spray capabilities to research alternative approaches for repairing hydropower turbines and nuclear waste tanks. With cold spray, neither melting nor material degradation occurs, and in the case of hydroelectric turbines, the blades remain in their original shape. The technology facilitates in-field repairs to large, high-value structures.