University of Utah gets coal efficiency grant

University of Utah researchers have secured a $300,000 federal grant to develop sensors that will improve the efficiency of coal-fired electrical plants. Under the Department of Energy’s 30-year-old energy-research program, the U. was among eight universities that won grants to investigate ways to better harness the heat stored in coal, the department announced Tuesday. The grants are intended to figure out how to prevent heat loss in coal-fired power plants and to harvest that lost heat to power instruments and sensors that monitor performance. Salt Lake Tribune