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Neilson, Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Neilson, Kim.

4 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Guidance on the Technology Performance Level (TPL) Assessment Methodology

This document presents the revised Technology Performance Level (TPL) assessment methodology. There are three parts to this revised methodology 1) the Stakeholder Needs and Assessment Guidance (this document), 2) the Technical Submission form, 3) the TPL scoring spreadsheet. The TPL assessment is designed to give a technology neutral or agnostic assessment of any wave energy converter technology. The focus of the TPL is on the performance of the technology in meeting the customer’s needs. The original TPL is described in [1, 2] and those references also detail the critical differences in the nature of the TPL when compared to the more widely used technology readiness level (TRL). (Wave energy TRL is described in [3]). The revised TPL is particularly intended to be useful to investors and also to assist technology developers to conduct comprehensive assessments in a way that is meaningful and attractive to investors. The revised TPL assessment methodology has been derived through a structured Systems Engineering approach. This was a formal process which involved analyzing customer and stakeholder needs through the discipline of Systems Engineering. The results of the process confirmed the high level of completeness of the original methodology presented in [1] (as used in the Wave Energy Prize judging) and now add a significantly increased level of detail in the assessment and an improved more investment focused structure. The revised TPL also incorporates the feedback of the Wave Energy Prize judges.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Technology Performance Level (TPL) Scoring Tool

Three different ways of combining scores are used in the revised formulation. These are arithmetic mean, geometric mean and multiplication with normalisation. Arithmetic mean is used when combining scores that measure similar attributes, e.g. used for combining costs. The arithmetic mean has the property that it is similar to a logical OR, e.g. when combining costs it does not matter what the individual costs are only what the combined cost is. Geometric mean and Multiplication are used when combining scores that measure disparate attributes. Multiplication is similar to a logical AND, it is used to combine ‘must haves.’ As a result, this method is more punitive than the geometric mean; to get a good score in the combined result it is necessary to have a good score in ALL of the inputs. e.g. the different types of survivability are ‘must haves.’ On balance, the revised TPL is probably less punitive than the previous spreadsheet, multiplication is used sparingly as a method of combining scores. This is in line with the feedback of the Wave Energy Prize judges.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

WEC Farm Functions: Defining the Behaviors of the Farm

Capabilities and functions are hierarchical structures (i.e. taxonomies) that are used in a systems engineering framework to identify complimentary requirements for the system: what the system must do to achieve what it must be. In the case of capabilities, the taxonomy embodies the list of characteristics that are desired, from the perspective of the stakeholders, for the system to be successful. In terms of the functions, the hierarchy represents the solution agnostic (i.e. independent of specific design embodiments) elements that are needed to meet the stakeholder requirements. This paper will focus on the development of the functions. The functions define the fundamental elements of the solution that must be provided in order to achieve the mission and deliver the capabilities. They identify the behaviors the farm must possess, i.e. the farm must be able to generate and deliver electricity from wave power. High-level functions are independent of the technology or design used to implement the function. However, detailed functions may begin to border on specific design choices. Hence a strong effort has been made to maintain functions that are design agnostic.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗