(CLOSED) DE-FOA-0002252 FY20 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA

Sponsor Name: 
DOE-EERE Advanced Manufacturing Office
Amount: 
$67,000,000
Description of the Award: 

Penn State may submit one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each topic area.

Description

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). The United States (U.S.) manufacturing sector uses 25% of the nation’s energy and has an annual energy bill of more than $200 billion. Efficiency improvements in manufacturing not only benefit the Industrial sector, but can also impact the energy efficiency of products used throughout the economy.

AMO supports the development of technologies that improve energy efficiency in manufacturing as well as foundational, cross-cutting manufacturing processes, information, and materials technologies critical to efficient and competitive domestic manufacturing. AMO’s goals are to stimulate technology innovation, improve the energy productivity of U.S. manufacturing, and enable the manufacture of cutting-edge products in the United States.

AMO’s vision and mission, as well as the strategic goals, targets, and metrics for key technology focus areas, are described in the Draft AMO Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP). AMO’s strategic goals supported by this FOA are to:

  • Improve the productivity and energy efficiency of U.S. manufacturing
  • Reduce lifecycle energy and resource impacts of manufactured goods
  • Leverage diverse domestic energy resources in U.S. manufacturing, while strengthening environmental stewardship
  • Transition DOE supported innovative technologies and practices into U.S. manufacturing capabilities
  • Strengthen and advance the U.S. manufacturing workforce

Topic 1: Efficiency Improvements in Advanced Manufacturing Processes

Research to improve manufacturing processing represents a major opportunity space with wide-ranging energy efficiency and economic benefits. Advances in technologies currently used in manufacturing processes, as well as entirely new methods of processing materials to lower energy consumption, which will lower manufacturing energy use, and associated costs, and also enable the manufacture of improved materials, technologies, and products.

  • Subtopic 1.1: Innovative Iron and Steelmaking Processes
  • Subtopic 1.2: Enhanced Efficiency of Drying Processes
  • Subtopic 1.3: Machine Learning to Increase Efficiencies in the Manufacturing of Large-Scale, High-Rate Aerostructures
  • Subtopic 1.4: Integrated Additive Manufacturing Processes for Advanced Wind Blade Production
  • Subtopic 1.5: Reducing Cost of Production of Ceramic Matrix Composites Used in High Temperature Applications

Topic 2: Efficiency Improvements in Chemical Manufacturing

The U.S. is the second-largest chemical producing nation and the largest exporter delivering over 12% of the world's total chemical production. Chemical manufacturing is the largest energy user in the U.S. manufacturing sector consuming more than 7 quads in 2018 and accounting for 30% of industrial energy consumption. Chemical manufacturing could account for almost 10% of all U.S. energy consumption by 2030.

Innovative technologies through hybrid approaches and process intensification can reduce energy use in chemical manufacturing. The increased amounts of domestic shale gas is making additional technological advancements possible, for example, converting methane to higher value chemicals at the wellhead through modular chemical approaches. Furthermore, there are also opportunities for developing innovative technologies that take advantage of intermittent renewable energy sources for chemical production.

Since 80% - 90% of all chemical manufacturing rely on catalysts, any improvements to catalyst selectivity and reaction conversion could potentially have great impact on energy use. For the chemicals that require the most energy to manufacture, it is estimated that new catalysts and related process improvements could reduce the energy intensity of these products by 20% to 40% by 2050. The need for improved catalyst performance is requiring interdisciplinary approaches for catalyst design through computational technologies, enabling more directed experimentation and validation.

  • Subtopic 2.1: Advanced Chemical Manufacturing R&D
  • Subtopic 2.2: Dynamic Catalyst Science with Data Analytics

Topic 3: Connected, Flexible, and Efficient Manufacturing Facilities, Products, and Energy Systems

The manufacturing sector is becoming more engaged in supporting the energy framework of the nation and making a significant impact. Manufacturing is moving from its traditional role as the main economic engine for the country to one where, in addition, it actively supports important national energy initiatives such as enhancing the electricity grid’s resilience.

Subtopics in this area focus on the potential for integrating carbon capture from dilute sources into industrial processes and the active role that district energy systems can play in stabilizing the national electricity grid by connecting with flexible combined heat and power (CHP) systems and renewable generation capabilities (geothermal, wind, and photovoltaic).

  • Subtopic 3.1: Integrating Carbon Capture and Utilization into Industrial Processes
  • Subtopic 3.2: Flexible CHP Demonstration in a District Energy System Integrated with a Renewably-Fueled Municipal Generating Station
Limit (Number of applicants permitted per institution): 
9
Sponsor LOI Deadline: 
Jun 25, 2020
Sponsor Final Deadline: 
Aug 26, 2020
OSVPR Application or NOI Instructions: 

Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF (Last Name_DE-FOA-0002252_2020) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:

Cover Page (1 page, pdf):

  • Project Title
  • Specific FOA Topic/Subtopic Area being addressed
  • Area of Interest (if applicable) being addressed
  • Technical and business points of contact, names of all team member organizations

Project Summary (no more than 2-pages)

  • The summary should have the technology description and impacts

Formatting Guidelines:

  • Font/size: Times New Roman (12 pt.)
  • Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
  • Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)

Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.

To be considered as a Penn State institutional nominee, please submit a notice of intent by the date provided directly below.
This limited submission is in downselect: 
Penn State may only submit a specific number of proposals to this funding opportunity. The number of NOIs received require that an internal competition take place, thus, a downselect process has commenced. No Penn State researchers may apply to this opportunity outside of this downselect process. To apply for this limited submission, please use this link:
OSVPR Downselect Deadline: 
Tuesday, June 9, 2020 - 4:00pm
Notes: 
Michael Hickner (E&MS; Subtopics 1.5 & 2.1)