UW mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Erica Belmont, left, here working in
the lab with graduate student Emily Beagle, has received funding from NASA to study
low-temperature flames. She also is involved in research regarding a high-moisture
pelleting process for raw biomass material, which could reduce energy and production
costs of pellets for biomass power and biofuel production. (UW Photo)
A University of Wyoming researcher has received funding from NASA to help understand
experiments conducted on the International Space Station.
Assistant Professor Erica Belmont teaches and researches in the UW Department of Mechanical
Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. She received word recently
that her project would be among those funded by NASA, which will award about $8 million
to 11 schools across the country for research and technology development projects
in areas critical to the agency’s mission.
The UW project is titled “Experimental and numerical investigation of terrestrial
stable cool flames for improved understanding of International Space Station droplet
combustion experiments.” Each school will receive as much as $750,000 for work during
a three-year period.
Belmont’s team will study low-temperature, or “cool,” flames using experiments and
numerical flame simulations. The goal of the NASA project is to better understand
the chemistry of these flames at low and high pressures, by comparing the findings
of Belmont’s team to studies of cool flames conducted aboard the International Space
Station.
The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) supports science
and technology research and development at colleges and universities in areas such
as remote sensing, nanotechnology, astrophysics and aeronautics. All of these are
applicable to NASA’s work in earth science, aeronautics, and human and robotic deep
space exploration.
In addition to her other research, Belmont has made waves thanks to her work with
the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
Belmont has been involved with the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), a consortium
that includes INL, the state of Idaho, Idaho State University, Boise State University,
the University of Idaho and UW. INL teams participated in the U.S. Department of Energy’s
(DOE) Lab-Corps program, designed to guide innovation at national laboratories into
the world of commerce and industry.
Belmont’s team was part of a seven-week entrepreneurial boot camp, or “cohort,” facilitated
by the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. It involved in-person
sessions and weekly webinars to help the teams learn how to evaluate the market potential
of their technologies and bring a new level of entrepreneurial awareness back to their
research and colleagues.
Belmont’s CAES contingent received the highest number of customer interviews in the
pilot program. Along with INL research lead Jaya Tumuluru and industry mentor Art
Baker of INL, Belmont served as the entrepreneurial lead. The team worked on a high-moisture
pelleting process for raw biomass material, which could reduce energy and production
costs of pellets for biomass power and biofuel production.
