www.pitapa.org Fall 2014

NEWSLETTERPENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE

A Commonwealth-University-Industry Partnership for Economic Development through Research, Technology, and Education

PITA FUNDS IMPROVING WATER QUALITY

IN THIS ISSUE…———————————————PITA FUNDS BETTER MONITORING

OF CONTAMINANTS IN WATER SUPPLY———————————————NOVEL TECHNIQUE OFFERS NEW

APPROACH TO WATER TREATMENT ———————————————PITA COLLABORATION IMPROVES

SUPPLY CHAIN DECISION MAKING———————————————PITA SUPPORTS RENEWABLE ENERGY

TECHNOLOGY IN PA———————————————IMPROVING X-RAY IMAGING TO

INSPECT CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Message from PITA Co-DirectorsBurak Ozdoganlar and Richard Sause

We are pleased to introduce the latest issue of our Pennsylvania Infrastructure

Technology Alliance (PITA) newsletter. PITA is playing a key role in fostering successful

collaborations between Pennsylvania industry and researchers to develop next-

generation technology. In each issue, we feature recent projects that have created

exciting new technologies, provided R&D to PA industry, and strengthened the state’s

economy and retention of talent.

PITA is a sponsored program designed to provide economic benefit to Pennsylvania

through knowledge transfer, the discovery of new technologies, and the retention

of highly educated students. It is a collaboration between the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania, the Center for Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems

(ATLSS) at Lehigh University, and the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES)

at Carnegie Mellon University.

In this issue, we highlight two projects in which researchers and PA companies are

working to improve water quality monitoring. Lehigh University researchers Kristen

Jellison and Bruce Hargreaves are working with Allentown-based EcoTech Marine to

develop better monitoring devices to test water for contaminants.Meanwhile, across the

state in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University researcher Jeanne

VanBriesen is working with Canonsburg-based Aquatech to develop a new analysis

system for rapidly detecting foulants in industrial waters prior to desalination.

This issue also highlights the collaborative work Lehigh researcher Stephen Pessiki

is doing with Pennsylvania companies—Lafarge, Laboratory Testing, and Fisher

Associates—and international partner—EXTENDE. Together, they are developing

numerical simulation tools that can be used to optimize radiographic inspection methods

and structural detailing practices to improve imaging and damage detection capabilities

for concrete structures.

In another project, Carnegie Mellon researchers Jay Whitacre and Shawn Litster have

been working with Pittsburgh-based start-up company Aquion Energy to develop battery

technology needed to make large-scale energy storage for renewables more efficient and

cost effective.

Finally, PITA has funded a project partnering Lehigh University researchers with Air

Products in Allentown. Together, this team is addressing the problem of developing new

and effective techniques that allow for uncertain parameters to be considered.

If you would like more information about the featured articles in this issue or about

PITA in general, please feel free to contact us or the principal investigator listed on a

specific project. Information is also available on our web site at www.pitapa.org.

Burak Ozdoganlarozdoganlar@cmu.edu

412-268-9890

ICES, Carnegie Mellon

University

Richard Sausersause@lehigh.edu

610-758-3525

ATLSS, Lehigh University

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 NEWSLETTER • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

Radiographic imaging is a powerful tool for evaluating the structural condition of concrete

infrastructure, such as post-tensioned concrete bridges. The ability of radiography to accommodate

complex geometries and to provide full-field subsurface visualization offers significant advantages

over other nondestructive evaluation methods. However, its use in concrete bridge inspection has

historically been limited by the penetrating power of field deployable radiation sources, as well

as safety and logistical concerns associated with the use and transport of radioactive materials.

Recent advancements in radiographic inspection equipment, however, such as the development of

portable high intensity X-ray generators have overcome these limitations, and have improved the

efficiency, practicality, and safety of radiographic inspection for concrete infrastructure.

With Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) funding, Lehigh University

researchers have been working with Pennsylvania-based companies to enhance radiographic

inspection. They are developing numerical simulation tools that will be used to optimize

radiographic inspection methods and structural detailing practices in order to improve imaging and

damage detection capabilities for concrete structures.

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Stephen Pessiki and his team, including

postdoctoral fellow Wesley Keller, have been developing these simulation tools within the

commercial software CIVA RT, a virtual radiography program developed by CEA LIST (the

French Commission for Atomic and Alternative Energy). They are developing and experimentally

validating a modeling approach for simulating X-ray transmission through structural concretes.

They are also developing an efficient simulation-based framework for optimizing radiographic

inspection of concrete bridges.

“While the primary objective of the study is to enhance radiographic inspection methods for

concrete bridges, the simulation tools developed by the project will be readily adaptable to concrete

structures in the building, environmental, and energy sectors,” explained Dr. Pessiki.

The development and testing of this technology is enhanced by the successful collaboration

of the research team and four companies. Lafarge—a French industrial company with a materials

plant in Whitehall, PA—has donated materials for the study and also performed chemical analyses

to characterize the elemental composition of two structural concrete mix designs. Laboratory

Testing, Inc. (LTI)—located in Hatfield, PA and offering a wide range of laboratory testing services,

including industrial radiography—is proving its large-scale x-ray vault to test the research team’s

experimental radioactive imaging. Fisher Associates—an engineering firm with offices in Erie, PA

and Pittsburgh, PA that specializes in nondestructive evaluation of civil infrastructure—is ensuring

that the developed technologies are readily transferrable to practice. Lastly, EXTENDE—a French

software company that handles the development and distribution of CIVA RT—is providing access

to CIVA RT free of charge and ensuring that the developed technologies are integrated into the

code for future implementation.

The seed grant from PITA has already led to a larger research award from the Federal Highway

Administration to optimize structural details and radiographic testing practices for post-tensioned

concrete bridge girders in order to enhance defect/damage detection capabilities.

Improving X-ray Imaging to Inspect Concrete Structures

For more information, contact Stephen Pessiki at spp1@lehigh.edu

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

Spherical Cryptosporidium

parvum oocyst attached to

a stream biofilm, imaged by

scanning electron microscopy.

Detecting contaminants in our water supply is of key importance to human health and to overall

environmental quality. That said, current methods for detecting waterborne contaminants are

often costly, and it is not economically viable for water utilities to test as often—and in as many

locations—as they should.

With Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) funding, however, Lehigh University

researchers are partnering with Pennsylvania company EcoTech Marine to overcome these challenges

and develop effective, inexpensive devices to monitor water quality in a more timely and routine fashion.

In this pursuit, Kristen Jellison—associate professor of civil and environmental engineering—

and Bruce Hargreaves—associate professor of earth and environmental sciences— have focused

recent efforts on improving the methods by which Cryptosporidium is analyzed by water utilities.

Cryptosporidium is a waterborne parasite responsible for a gastrointestinal disease that can be

fatal for immuno-compromised individuals.

Previous work by the team showed that Cryptosporidium oocysts attach to environmental

biofilms. “Because biofilms provide an integrated look at stream conditions over time,” explained

Jellison, “we think that analyzing environmental biofilms for Cryptosporidium oocysts may provide

a more accurate assessment of recent oocyst contamination in a water supply than can be

determined with the current methods.”

However, a critical barrier to the adoption of surface-based (biofilm) sampling for

Cryptosporidium monitoring is the inherent variability in biofilm growth. Therefore, developing a

biomimetic biofilm that selectively allows Cryptosporidium attachment is their focus. The Lehigh

team—in collaboration with EcoTech Marine, an Allentown-based company that creates products

for aquariums—have been working on analyzing biofilm chemistry, with the goal of developing

surfaces that mimic or resist biofilm growth.

Using a variety of surface analysis tools at Lehigh University, they are working to characterize a

variety of biofilms. They are specifically focusing on the surface roughness and chemically reactive

surface groups of the biofilms to identify key parameters for the manufacture of biomimetic biofilms

optimized for Cryptosporidium attachment.

Described Jellison: “Creating these surfaces will not only enable more routine and accurate

testing for waterborne contaminants such as Cryptosporidium,but may also enable the

development of devices and materials that can be deployed in an aqueous environment for an

indefinite period of time.”

The long-term goal is to develop a device which could be integrated into long-term, in situ water

quality monitoring devices. In addition, the data collected in this initial project will be further used to

advance EcoTech Marine’s future technology developments in other areas of water quality and analysis.

“The research being performed on biofilm chemistry is useful to meet EcoTech Marine’s goals

of engineering a low maintenance aquarium system,” states Patrick Clasen, director of finance for

EcoTech Marine. “In the future, we hope to use these findings to choose and/or engineer better

surfaces that limit growth of biological organisms on submerged materials in the marine aquarium,

specifically materials used in some of the devices we are planning for the future.”

PITA Funds Better Monitoring of Contaminants in Water Supply

For more information, contact Kristen Jellison at krj3@lehigh.edu

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

In producing and delivering products to their consumers, energy companies like Air Products

and Chemical, Inc. (Air Products) use capital intensive assets and highly complex processes,

which operate in a dynamic environment and a highly competitive and rapidly changing market. For

this purpose, Real-Time Optimization (RTO) techniques have been developed to help companies

efficiently adapt assets and processes to fluctuating inputs and market conditions in a real-time

fashion. RTO allows the company to evaluate and adapt to different asset conditions continuously

in order to maximize system profit while maintaining safety and consumer satisfaction.

In currently implemented RTO systems, however, uncertainty in the model is considered, at

best, to a very limited extent. This is due to the common misconception that RTO techniques have

taken into account the problem parameters. However, it is unrealistic to assume that all the problem

parameters are known for certain, particularly because they may have different causes, like

measurement and statistical errors. These uncertainties are a constant source of difficulty in the

successful implementation of RTO tools.

Thanks to Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) seed funding, Lehigh

University’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Air Products researchers

with the Air & Separation Technology R&D group based in Allentown, PA have been collaborating

to address the problem of developing new and effective techniques that allow for uncertain

parameters to be considered in RTO applications.

The main questions driving this partnership include: “what are the best ways to estimate the

uncertain parameters that drive a RTO decision-making process” and “what are the most efficient

ways to solve RTO problems arising in practice.”

The research team—including Professor Bob Storer, Assistant Professor Luis Zuluaga, and

Ph.D. student Pelin Cay from Lehigh, and Camilo Mancilla and Ali Esmaili from AirProducts—

have been working with a particular RTO problem arising in the chemical industry; namely,

the optimization of a gas supply network. They have determined that partial knowledge of the

production cost functions is, actually, sufficient in order to approximately perform optimization of

the gas supply network. As a result, the computational effort needed to accurately estimate such

uncertain costs can be substantially decreased.

The research team has also identified novel ways to tackle the physical law constraints governing

the gas flow, which make the solution of large-scale gas supply network problems challenging.

The result of this PITA-funded project is that Air Products is able to solve, in a faster and more

accurate way, one of its keystone decision-making problems and apply similar techniques to other

challenging problems in its supply chain. These improvements have a substantial impact not only

on cost reductions for the company and its customers, but result in further improvements of the

supply reliability and its environmental impact.

PITA Collaboration Improves Supply Chain Decision Making

For more information, contact Luis Zuluaga at luz212@lehigh.edu

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

With advances in renewable energy, new technologies are required to address the specific needs for

storing this energy. Grid-tied and distributed renewable energy sources—like solar power installations

and wind farms, for example—rely on energy that can be stored as power, which is then drawn from

and used intermittently. For this reason, large-scale energy storage is needed for this technology to

work. The performance of renewable energy sources and the cost to run them are major considerations

for Pennsylvania policymakers and companies that are transitioning the Commonwealth to a cleaner

form of energy consumption.

The successful Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) funded partnership

between Carnegie Mellon University researchers and Pittsburgh-based company Aquion Energy

has been furthering the technology needed in large-scale energy storage for renewables. They

have been working to develop the battery technology needed to make this process more efficient

and cost effective.

Jay Whitacre—founder of start-up company Aquion Energy and Carnegie Mellon University

professor of materials science and engineering and public policy—and Shawn Litster—associate

professor of mechanical engineering—have dedicated their work to finding low-cost electrochemical

approaches to bulk energy storage and implementing them into real-world renewable energy systems.

PITA funding has allowed them to fund the research and development needed to implement this

needed battery technology.

“This research is so important because it is a new and emerging battery chemistry that has

never been mass produced before,” explained Whitacre. “As such, there is an incredible amount of

R&D necessary to increase our understanding and remain competitive. PITA funding was critical in

catalyzing and growing the R&D connection between Carnegie Mellon and Aquion.”

“The collaborative nature of this PITA project makes it an incredibly valuable and productive research activity because we are able to leverage each other’s strengths on an industry-relevant research topic that could have significant positive impacts on society.” — Shawn Litster, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Specifically, Whitacre and Litster are developing a better and novel design of the electrode binder

materials within batteries that are used in energy storage systems. They are using new electronically

conductive polymers that allow for the creation of more energetically dense electrodes, which have a

higher mass fraction of active materials with superior electronic interconnection.

This increased electronic connection—provided in the battery technology—means that the energy

storage process works more efficiently and reliably, is environmentally friendly, versatile, cost effective,

and dynamically-matched and yet stable.

PITA Supports Renewable Energy Technology in PA

For more information, contact Jay Whitacre at whitacre@andrew.cmu.edu

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

Membrane processes play an important role in industrial wastewater treatment. A major

challenge to this technique is the formation of a fouling layer on the membrane surface that

encourages bacterial growth and decreases treatment performance.

One way of reducing membrane fouling is to use pre-treatment steps to remove organic matter

that encourages fouling in the wastewater. Pre-treatment steps are costly, but when necessary,

they significantly improve the performance of membrane systems. When they are not necessary,

however, they are costly without adding value. The challenge is that it is difficult to determine ahead

of time if pre-treatment is necessary.

Carnegie Mellon University Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Jeanne

VanBriesen—with the help of civil and environmental engineering graduate student Lauren

Strahs—has been working on a process to better anticipate which treatments will be needed to

reduce fouling. With Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA) funding, they partnered

with Aquatech to develop a new analysis system for rapidly detecting foulants in industrial waters

prior to desalination.

Aquatech is a Canonsburg, PA based company that develops and manufactures water

technology for industrial and infrastructure markets, focusing on desalination, wastewater reuse,

and zero liquid discharge.

The research team has been conducting a field study at an Aquatech facility to

evaluate the potential for a spectroscopy-based analysis method to predict fouling and

pre-treatment requirements.

“The company wanted a very practical process that wouldn’t require a full chemical analysis to make a decision on pre-treatment.” — Jeanne VanBriesen, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

This new approach will allow treatment plants to make informed decisions about how to pre-

treat water as much as necessary but as little as possible. Engineering optimal pre-treatment will

ultimately save energy and reduce cost in the final treatment stage.

Novel Technique Offers New Approachto Water Treatment Process

For more information, contact Jeanne VanBriesen at jeanne@cmu.edu

PITA • PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE • FALL 2014 • WWW.PITAPA.ORG

PITA’S MISSIONThe Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance

(PITA) is a Pennsylvania Department of Community and

Economic Development (DCED) funded program which

provides economic benefits to Pennsylvania through the

creation of new infrastructure technologies, knowledge

transfer, and the retention of highly educated students. By

linking Pennsylvania’s industries and agencies with faculty

and students from the Commonwealth’s leading research

universities, PITA encourages highly educated students to

remain in Pennsylvania and helps to attract highly qualified

professionals and faculty to the Commonwealth in an effort to

create and maintain high paying jobs within the state.

PITA unites the physical and informational infrastructure

expertise at Carnegie Mellon and Lehigh Universities with

the capabilities and needs of Pennsylvania companies and

agencies to develop solutions to some of the Commonwealth’s

most serious infrastructure problems which impact economic

growth and quality of life, including:

ENERGY: Clean, affordable, and sustainable energy sources;

reliable delivery of energy through electrical grids and natural

gas pipelines; and efficient transmission and use of energy.

HAZARD MITIGATION AND DISASTER RECOVERY:

Mitigation of impacts from natural hazards (floods, hurricanes,

tornados, earthquakes) as well as other hazards, such as

explosions and fires; and infrastructure systems that permit

continued operation after a hazardous event.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICINE: Healthcare technologies

to save lives, to improve patient quality of life, and to reduce

healthcare costs.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Secure information technology

systems that can withstand both intentional attacks and

accidental errors.

TRANSPORTATION: Safe and efficient highways, bridges,

tunnels, mass transit systems, railways, and airports.

WATER MANAGEMENT: Protection and restoration of water

resources to provide an adequate drinking water supply;

treatment and control tools to improve water quality; and

innovative technology for monitoring, managing, and operating

critical waterway infrastructure (dams, locks, and bridges).

ICES, 1201 Hamburg HallCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

PENNSYLVANIA INFRASTRUCTURE

TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE

www.pitapa.org