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Hackett, Gregory

Publications and source records attributed to Hackett, Gregory.

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Water Electrolyzers and Fuel Cells Supply Chain: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report is one of a series that supports the analysis of the energy industrial base called for in Executive Order 14017 on America’s supply chains (Exec. Order No. 14017, 2021). Specifically, it provides a review of the supply chain for water electrolyzers and fuel cells with a focus on polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMEC), polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Water electrolysis and fuel cells are a nascent industry with little prior information related to supply chain needs and constraints. This report provides a preliminary assessment; further industry peer review and revisions are expected.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

Solid Oxide Cell and Stack Manufacturing Cost Tool

This is the user manual for the SOC Manufacturing Cost Tool spreadsheet. The manual details the use and meaning of each tab, color scheme, and spreadsheet operation. Also detailed are specific instructions for end-user modification and inputs to tailor the tool to their specific technology. To access the cost tool, please visit: <a href="https://netl.doe.gov/energy-analysis/details?id=d224ad08-6a38-402a-9cad-907db19e394f" rel="noopener noreferrer">Energy Analysis | netl.doe.gov</a>.

cost modeling↗
DOE OSTI2022

Solid Oxide Cell Manufacturing Cost Tool

NETL has developed a detailed solid oxide cell (SOC) cost modeling tool. The tool provides a fully customizable spreadsheet that aids in cost estimation of large volume manufacturing of SOC (both fuel cell and electrolysis cell). The tool can be used to assist commercial developers and other end users to evaluate the costs of producing cells and stack components as SOC systems increase in scale. The manufacturing materials, labor, component costs, and specific equipment can be tailored to accurately reflect the desired manufacturing process. The tool is paired with a detailed user manual to assist in the understanding of the full functionality. This document is the spreadsheet tool. To access the associated user guide, please visit: <a href="https://netl.doe.gov/energy-analysis/details?id=f5823130-0d20-4a04-9c53-341682e58ac1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Energy Analysis | netl.doe.gov</a>

cost modeling↗
DOE OSTI2021

Materials Challenges and Opportunities for Energy Generation, Conversion, Delivery, and Storage (Applied Energy Tri-Laboratory Consortium Workshop Report)

This report documents the outcomes of the Tri-Laboratory Materials Workshop that was held July 31 and August 1, 2019 to begin addressing the needs, opportunities, and challenges associated with the development, fabrication, and testing of the needed materials and components for integrated hybrid energy systems (i.e., incorporating nuclear, fossil, and renewables for electric and thermal applications). This was accomplished by assembling the research program leads and principal investigators at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who support the research and development of new technology and system integration. The team then identified and prioritized key materials development needs. This effort was intended to enhance communications and synergy among the Tri-Lab partners. Advanced functional and structural materials are central to transformative energy technologies for energy generation, conversion, delivery, and storage. With that in mind, the workshop focused on identifying and assessing the foundational materials research needs at both the basic and applied levels. Materials challenges include the ability to withstand harsh environments, such as high temperatures and pressures, corrosion, oxidation, or irradiation while maintaining flexible mission profiles and long service lifespans. Advanced energy system material challenges and needs range from materials for the capture, upgrading/concentration, storage, and delivery of low-grade heat to materials for high temperature environments that involve liquid metals, molten salt, and very high temperature gas heat delivery and storage systems. Material improvements are needed for hybrid energy systems due to accelerated corrosion and stress-fatigue failure of materials and equipment, which results from increased frequency and amplitude of thermal, mechanical, and electrical cycling of systems components. Multifunctional materials are needed for high temperature solid-oxide fuel cells, advanced electrochemical reactors, and in-process separation. Relative to materials manufacturing, application of advanced additive and subtractive methods need to be understood to develop both thin-layer homogenous materials and materials of graded composition. Materials modeling and machine learning will be critical to accelerate the design and production of power electronics, and nuclear reactor materials and fuel, as well as to gain an understanding of beneficial materials phenomena or deleterious microstructure evolution. There is also a need for standardized models, computational structures, data reporting protocols and modeling tools across the three laboratories. This would allow consistent results, analysis, and data sharing. Combining computational capabilities between the three laboratories (e.g., hardware, software) would greatly increase computational capabilities and throughput. The workshop identified the need for laboratories to anticipate and address problems that will occur during scale-up. Laboratory work must connect with industry to ensure that research focuses on processes that are scalable and marketable. Industry input and perspective are essential to guide laboratory research to meet these requirements and deploy new technology in industrial demonstrations. Another aspect of scale-up is the integration of multiple systems since new challenges often arise at the subsystem interfaces. Establishing a scale-up manufacturing demonstration/pilot plant, potentially as an industrial user facility, would be beneficial to the laboratories and industry. That modular scale-up manufacturing demonstration/pilot plant would allow researchers to find and resolve interface problems that cannot be identified by focusing only on individual parts. Communication exchanges among the organizers, attendees, and workshop survey responses indicate that the workshop was successful in achieving its goal to identify key technology gaps and research needs. Strong positive feedback was received on the sharing of ideas, capabilities, talent, and passion to move forward on the materials-related action items.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Performance of a Natural Gas Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System With and Without Carbon Capture

The fuel cell program at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is focused on the development of low-cost, highly efficient, and reliable fossil-fuel-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power systems that can generate environmentally-friendly electric power with at least 90 percent carbon capture. NETL’s SOFC technology development roadmap is aligned with near-term market opportunities in the distributed generation sector to validate and advance the technology while paving the way for utility-scale natural gas (NG)- and coal-derived synthesis gas-fueled applications via progressively larger system demonstrations. The present study represents a part of a series of system evaluations being carried out at NETL to aid in prioritizing technological advances along research pathways to the realization of utility-scale SOFC systems, a transformational goal of the fuel cell program. In particular, the system performance of utility-scale NG fuel cell (NGFC) systems with and without carbon dioxide (CO2) capture is presented. The NGFC system analyzed features an external auto-thermal reformer (ATR) feeding the fuel to the SOFC system consisting of planar anode-supported SOFC with separated anode and cathode off-gas streams. In systems with CO2 capture, an air separation unit (ASU) is used to provide the oxygen for the ATR and for the combustion of unutilized fuel in the SOFC anode exhaust along with a CO2 purification unit to provide a nearly pure CO2 stream suitable for transport for usage in enhanced oil recovery operations or for storage in underground saline formations. Remaining thermal energy in the exhaust gases is recovered in a bottoming steam Rankine cycle while supplying any process heat requirements. A reduced order model (ROM) developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is used to predict the SOFC performance. The ROM, while being computationally effective for system studies, provides other detailed information about the state of the stack, such as the internal temperature gradient, generally not available from simple performance models often used to represent the SOFC. Such additional information can be important in system optimization studies to preclude operation under off-design conditions that can adversely impact overall system reliability. The NGFC system performance was analyzed by varying salient system parameters, including the percent of internal (to the SOFC module) NG reformation—ranging from 0 to 100 percent—fuel utilization, and current density. The impact of advances in underlying SOFC technology on electrical performance was also explored.

solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), natural gas fuel cel↗
DOE OSTI2020

Phase field simulation of anode microstructure evolution of solid oxide fuel cell through Ni(OH) 2 diffusion

Microstructure evolution in a solid oxide fuel cell anode is strongly affected by operating condition. The detailed mesoscale evolution mechanism under operating condition is still under debate. Here we develop a phase-field model to simulate microstructure evolution through formation and diffusion of gaseous Ni(OH)2. We studied the coarsening kinetics and redistribution of Ni under different steam distributions and compare it to that under pure hydrogen condition. Overall, the results suggest that although the presence of a steady gradient of steam leads to redistribution of Ni, Ni(OH) 2 formation and diffusion do not significantly change the Ni coarsening rate under strictly humid conditions, contrary to commonly reported hypotheses. It is concluded that competing mechanisms other than Ni(OH) 2 diffusion must be responsible for the experimentally observed Ni redistribution and enhanced coarsening under humid conditions.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Theoretical study of the optical and thermodynamic properties of La x Sr 1-x Co 1-y Fe y O 3-δ ( x / y = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75) perovskites

We report that the performance of La x Sr 1- x Co 1- y Fe y O 3- δ perovskite systems in applications such as solid oxide fuel cells and catalysis is related to the proportion of substitution atoms. Using a density functional theory method, we investigate the doping effect on the electronic, optical, and thermodynamic properties of La x Sr 1- x Co 1- y Fe y O 3- δ ( x / y = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75). Our results show that La doping introduces an empty state and pushes the Fermi level upwards. The doping Fe derived states locate away from the Fermi level as compared with Co states. From the results of optical absorption, the peak at 200–300 nm is enhanced and experiences a blue-shift with increasing La concentration. The corresponding peak at 400–700 nm also shows a blue-shift induced by both La and Fe doping, and it could be enhanced by Fe doping while being suppressed by La doping. And the peak above 1500 nm is enhanced by the cooperation of La and Fe doping. From thermodynamic calculations via an Ellingham diagram, it is found that the parent SrCoO 3 is the most favorable composition for releasing O 2 , with both La and Fe doping hampering the reduction reaction. Therefore, the optical and thermodynamic properties of La x Sr 1- x Co 1- y Fe y O 3- δ could be adjusted by special doping values.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Need for and Path to Harmonized Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Assessment for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization

The use of carbon dioxide as a feedstock for a broad range of products can help mitigate the effects of climate change through long-term removal of carbon or as part of a circular carbon economy. Research on capture and conversion technologies has intensified in recent years, and the interest in deploying these technologies is growing fast. However, sound understanding of the environmental and economic impacts of these technologies is required to drive fast deployment and avoid unintended consequences. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) and techno-economic assessments (TEAs) are useful tools to quantify environmental and economic metrics; however, these tools can be very flexible in how they are applied, with the potential to produce significantly different results depending on how the boundaries and assumptions are defined. Built on ISO standards for generic LCAs, several guidance documents have emerged recently from the Global CO 2 Initiative, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that further define assessment specifications for carbon capture and utilization. Overall agreement in the approaches is noted with differences largely based on the intended use cases. As a results, further guidance is needed for assessments of early-stage technologies, reporting details, and reporting for policymakers and nontechnical decision-makers.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗