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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

All Nuclear Hybrid Superheater Design Method

The 'All Nuclear Hybrid' (ANH) concept combines Light Water (LWR) and Generation IV (Gen IV) reactor technologies to produce superheated steam. LWR technology characteristically produces steam temperatures of ∼300 C. Process steam demands such as refineries and hydrogen production can require steam temperatures that exceed 600 C. Therefore, an additional heat source must be added to provide the heat to increase or 'boost' the temperature of the steam generated from by the LWR. A recent study demonstrated that application of the ANH concept to a refinery optimized the use of nuclear technologies and maximized carbon dioxide emission reductions. The objective of the present work is to size the heat exchangers (Superheaters) required to apply the ANH concept to a Westinghouse AP1000 LWR to produce 675 C superheated steam. Two GenIV reactor concepts are considered to provide the additional heat source and high primary coolant temperatures required to produce the superheated steam: a High temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) using helium as primary coolant, and a Molten Salt reactor. The details of the GenIV reactor designs are not the focus of this study; however, the primary coolant thermal conditions from these concepts are utilized directly in the superheater sizing calculations. Also, a tube and shell superheater design is assumed for the superheater due to its extensive use in the nuclear and other industries. The ANH concept generates superheated steam by first utilizing LWR technology to accomplish the phase change from liquid water to steam within the steam generator. This is a well-established technology with several decades of successful safe operation. Next, the concept utilizes GenIV reactor technology to superheat the steam. Since both the working fluids in the superheater are single phase, the heat transfer and pressure drop calculations required to size the superheater can be performed without complex two-phase computer analyses (i.e., RELAP5). This study presents an approach for the sizing the ANH superheater using an iterative LMTD heat exchanger design method. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Essence2.0 Development and Deployment (Final Report)

The objective of the project was to take two core technologies that have been developed under the Recipient’s solid laboratory products and integrate them into a single CyberPhysical awareness platform and complete development on current field-tested prototypes that will extend the integrated capability of the platform. During the final development phase, the Recipient development team and its selected industry partners tested and hardened the platform to ensure resilient and secure operation of the integrated platform. The team also executed substantial field testing and established the framework for defining the organization and/or commercial infrastructure needed to sustain operations and provide readiness for a national scale deployment. The focus of the project was (1) the improvement, refinement, and deployment of technology for the detection of cyber-attacks on utility operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) networks and assets, including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA) systems; and (2) support for containment and remediation of adversarial threats and actions against those systems and environments.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Adapting the Technology Performance Level Integrated Assessment Framework to Low-TRL Technologies Within the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Industry, Part I

With the urgent need to mitigate climate change and rising global temperatures, technological solutions that reduce atmospheric CO 2 are an increasingly important part of the global solution. As a result, the nascent carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) industry is rapidly growing with a plethora of new technologies in many different sectors. There is a need to holistically evaluate these new technologies in a standardized and consistent manner to determine which technologies will be the most successful and competitive in the global marketplace to achieve decarbonization targets. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) have been employed as rigorous methodologies for quantitatively measuring a technology's environmental impacts and techno-economic performance, respectively. However, these metrics evaluate a technology's performance in only three dimensions and do not directly incorporate stakeholder needs and values. In addition, technology developers frequently encounter trade-offs during design that increase one metric at the expense of the other. The technology performance level (TPL) combined indicator provides a comprehensive and holistic assessment of an emerging technology's potential, which is described by its techno-economic performance, environmental impacts, social impacts, safety considerations, market/deployability opportunities, use integration impacts, and general risks. TPL incorporates TEA and LCA outputs and quantifies the trade-offs between them directly using stakeholder feedback and requirements. In this article, the TPL methodology is being adapted from the marine energy domain to the CCUS domain. Adapted metrics and definitions, a stakeholder analysis, and a detailed foundation-based application of the systems engineering approach to CCUS are presented. The TPL assessment framework is couched within the internationally standardized LCA framework to improve technical rigor and acceptance. It is demonstrated how stakeholder needs and values can be directly incorporated, how LCA and TEA metrics can be balanced, and how other dimensions (listed earlier) can be integrated into a single metric that measures a technology's potential.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Assessing Cost-Optimal Battery Energy and Solar-Plus-Storage Systems for Federal Customers: A Nationwide Assessment: Preprint

Prior research has identified that the financial viability of behind-the-meter battery energy storage systems is heavily dependent on technology cost, utility rate structure, energy consumption patterns, and co-deployment with synergistic technologies like solar photovoltaics (PV), among other factors. This study builds on existing research by comprehensively evaluating the economics of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and solar-plus-storage systems for a reference office building at 755 reference sites under 834 utility rates, and four storage capital cost scenarios. Results indicate that even with dramatic cost reductions, BESS is likely to be cost-effective only under utility rates that include demand charges, and possibly include time-of-use (TOU) pricing as well. Even under these utility rates, BESS systems provide marginal savings, and office building operators are unlikely to deploy the technology for cost savings alone. Solar-plus-storage systems provide more savings than BESS and allow for larger economic storage capacities. Solar-plus-storage provides compelling savings opportunities at baseline prices, and even at capital costs 25% higher than baseline. Solar-plus-storage is most effective where there are demand charges and energy pricing schemes include TOU pricing, or where electricity is expensive (at least $0.30/kWh). Our case studies illustrate that the presence of demand charges, even at similar energy costs, can be the deciding factor in BESS and solar-plus-storage viability. The findings and maps from this assessment may be of use to planners, building owners, and developers looking for potentially economic storage opportunities.

battery energy storage systems↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multi-technology building system retrofits for utility incentive programs: Savings, costs and baseline considerations

Utility incentive programs are an important channel to support the deployment of energy efficiency in buildings. To date, these programs have largely been limited to single-component strategies. However, many utilities are now motivated to identify and develop multi-component system retrofits to achieve deeper energy savings, which are essential to achieving broader energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals in the buildings sector. In this paper we present the energy savings, demand reductions, and cost-effectiveness of 16 systems retrofit packages in six utility regions in the United States. These results are being used by these utilities to inform and develop incentive programs for systems retrofits. Our analysis shows that packages with proven lighting and HVAC measures can provide 5–22% whole building annual energy savings, and 13–22% annual energy costs savings, using utility incentive program baselines (code and existing building). The packages are reasonably cost effective for replace-on-burnout but generally not for a retrofit scenario prior to end of equipment life. Demand response can increase both the energy savings and energy cost savings, further improving the cost effectiveness of these packages. We analyzed the impact of using existing building vs. code baselines for calculating savings, showing that the choice of baseline in developing utility incentive programs has a substantial impact on the attributable energy savings to a program, with significant implications for the overall viability of a program (generally savings against existing building condition are higher and improve project and program cost-effectiveness).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

Combining Simulation and Emulation Systems for Smart Grid Planning and Evaluation

Software-defined networking (SDN) enables efficient network management. As the technology matures, utilities are looking to integrate those benefits to their operations technology (OT) networks. To help the community to better understand and evaluate the effects of such integration, we develop DSSnet, a testing platform that combines a power distribution system simulator and an SDN-based network emulator for smart grid planning and evaluation. DSSnet relies on a container-based virtual time system to achieve efficient synchronization between the simulation and emulation systems. To enhance the system scalability and usability, we extend DSSnet to support a distributed controller environment. To enhance system fidelity, we extend the virtual time system to support kernel-based switches. In conclusion, we also evaluate the system performance of DSSnet and demonstrate the usability of DSSnet with a resilient demand response application case study.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Moving the Mission Forward with Renewable Energy

Presentation gives an overview of proven examples of renewable energy technologies. Learn how to properly utilize renewable energy technologies; research, select, fund, and deploy renewable technologies; best operate and maintain the federal government’s fleet of on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) systems; and learn best practices to detect and address performance issues with a PV system.

distributed energy↗
DOE OSTI2014

Utilization of solar energy in sewage sludge composting: Fertilizer effect and application

Highlights: • Solar energy technologies were utilized in aerobic sewage sludge composting. • Greenhouse and solar reactors were constructed to compare impacts on the composting. • Impatiens balsamina was planted in pot experiments to evaluate fertilizer effect. - Abstract: Three reactors, ordinary, greenhouse, and solar, were constructed and tested to compare their impacts on the composting of municipal sewage sludge. Greenhouse and solar reactors were designed to evaluate the use of solar energy in sludge composting, including their effects on temperature and compost quality. After 40 days of composting, it was found that the solar reactor could provide more stable heat for the composting process. The average temperature of the solar reactor was higher than that of the other two systems, and only the solar reactor could maintain the temperature above 55 °C for more than 3 days. Composting with the solar reactor resulted in 31.3% decrease in the total organic carbon, increased the germination index to 91%, decreased the total nitrogen loss, and produced a good effect on pot experiments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

AssessCCUS: An Integrated Approach for Aggregating Resources to Enable Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Management Technologies

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) - also sometimes known as carbon management - technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of the portfolio of technologies necessary to mitigate climate change and defossilize industrial production systems (Sick, 2021). These technologies capture carbon dioxide from industrial point sources or from the atmosphere directly and then either sequester it or use it as a carbon source in valuable products. Potential utilization pathways include, but are not limited to, concrete, fuels, and certain commodity chemicals, and sequestration pathways can include permanent geological storage or temporary storage in natural sinks ranging from forests to agricultural soil. Regardless of the pathway, assessment of the economic and environmental performance of the technologies is important for understanding their potential scalability and impact as well as developing plans to minimize life cycle costs and potential environmental trade-offs. A full discussion of potential trade-offs associated with CCUS is outside the scope of this article, but promoting assessment broadly helps to stimulate important conversations about the benefits and drawbacks of any particular technological choice.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Accelerating Innovation that Enhances Resource Recovery in the Wastewater Sector: Advancing a National Testbed Network

This article examines significant challenges and opportunities to spur innovation and accelerate adoption of reliable technologies that enhance integrated resource recovery in the wastewater sector through the creation of a national testbed network. The network is a virtual entity that connects appropriate physical testing facilities, and other components needed for a testbed network, with researchers, investors, technology providers, utilities, regulators, and other stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and processes that are needed for the water resource recovery facility of the future. Here we summarize and extract key issues and developments, to provide a strategy for the wastewater sector to accelerate a path forward that leads to new sustainable water infrastructures.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

CFD Simulation of a 10 kW Chemical Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling System: Effects Of Process And Fuel Parameters

Chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) is a carbon-capture technology that utilizes a metal oxide as an oxygen carrier to separate oxygen from air. The metal oxide is oxidized in an air reactor and releases gaseous oxygen in a fuel reactor where a fuel, such as coal, is fed. CFD simulations will expedite the scale-up of CLOU systems to demonstration and utility size plants by resolving technical concerns and showing the CLOU technology at larger scales. In this study, Barracuda was used as the platform for simulation. The CLOU kinetics were incorporated into the simulation and the coal kinetics were explored for one-step versus two-step combustion kinetics. Two cases were run, one for a pure carbon-char and one with the inclusion of ash. Using the two-step kinetics and inclusion of ash in the simulation yielded reasonable temperatures in both the gas and particle phases. Also studied were the effects of heat input, via increasing the coal feed, and coal particle diameter. These simulations showed that the increasing of the coal heat input had little effect as compared to changing the particle diameter. Increased particle diameter increased the particle temperatures and decreased the carbon capture efficiency.

Hamilton, Matthew A.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Optical Materials, Adhesive and Encapsulant, III-V, and Optical Characterization Evaluation: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

SolFocus is currently developing solar technology for utility scale application using Winston collector based concentrating photovoltaics (CPV). Part of that technology development includes small mirror dishes and front surface reflectors, and bonding the separate parts to the assembly. Mirror panels must meet rigid optical specifications in terms of radius of curvature, slope errors and specularity. The reflective surfaces must demonstrate long term durability and maintain high reflectivity. Some bonded surfaces must maintain adhesion and transparency under high concentrations and high temperatures. Others will experience moderate temperatures and do not require transparency. NREL researchers have developed methods and tools that address these related areas.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Case Study: Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Circuit-Level Electrical Submetering with Wireless Current Transformers

Laboratory and field demonstration of circuit-level electrical submetering technology that utilizes wireless current transformers to monitor circuits within the panel. Report provides a background of the technology and how it works, outlines the testing methodology and presents results on measurement accuracy and ability of the technology to be rapidly integrated into both electrical panels/infrastructure and into an analytics platform. Cost effectiveness results are discussed for the specific field demonstration site.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

CRADA Number NFE-17-06866 with Active Energy Systems, Inc. (CRADA Final Report)

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) NFE-17-06866 between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Active Energy Systems Inc. (AES) focused on studying and modeling a low cost, high efficiency energy storage technology. The successful development of low-cost, high-efficiency energy storage is a significant bottleneck in the implementation of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. AES is a startup company developing a heat exchange technology to utilize a low-temperature phase change material (PCM). The work done under this CRADA explored this technology’s ability to augment a heat pump/heat engine device to convert electricity into thermal energy and vice versa, operating to complement the needs of the electric grid. Modeling, design and development of a prototype to prove the technology was successful, but current production economics and market demand make further exploration undesirable.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Solution-Processable Transparent Conductive Hole Injection Electrode for OLED SSL

An interconnected network of silver nanowires has been used as transparent anode in OLED devices. This layer was deposited by spin-coating and slot-die coating from an aqueous nanowire suspension. The sheet resistance of the film was 10ohms/sq with a transmission (including the glass substrate) of higher than 85%. The first phase of the project focused on the implementation of this nanowire layer with a hole-injection-layer (HIL) which has been developed at Plextronics and has been shown to provide good stability and efficiency in conventional OLED devices. We modified the HIL solution such that it coated reasonably well with suitable surface morphology so that actual devices can be manufactured. During the second phase we investigated the hole-injection and stability of hole-onlydevices. We determined that the use of the nanowire network as anode does not introduce an additional degradation mechanism since the observed device characteristics did not differ from those made with ITO anode. We then proceeded to make actual OLED devices with this nanowire / HIL stack and achieved device characteristics similar state-of-the-art OLED devices with a single junction. In order to gain traction with potential OLED manufacturers, we decided to contract Novaled to prepare large-area demonstrators for us. For these devices, we used an allevaporated stack, i.e. we did use Novaled's HIL material instead of Plextronics. We successfully fabricated demonstrators with an area of 25cm2 with a double or triple junction stack. Minor stack optimizations were necessary to achieve efficacies and lifetime equivalent with ITO devices made with the same devices stack. Due to the reduced microcavity effect, the color of the emitted light is significantly more stable with respect to the viewing angle compared to ITO devices. This fact in conjunction with the promise of lower production cost due to the elimination of the ITO sputtering process and the direct patterning of the anode layer are the obvious advantages of this technology. The project has shown that this nanowire technology is a viable option to achieve OLED devices with good lifetime and efficiency and we are currently working with manufacturers to utilize this technology in a production setting.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Blockchain-Enabled Sustainable Safety Management Framework for Connected Vehicles

The notion of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) aims to boost the performance of transportation networks, which has gained more and more traction in both academic and commercial circles. ITS is a constantly evolving vision that combines cutting-edge transportation approaches with new information, communication, computers, and other technology. ITS should discover consequence routes to enhance the sustainability, safety, and trustworthiness of the entire transportation system utilizing emerging technologies. In this paper, a sustainable safety management framework for connected vehicles is proposed by integrating blockchain. It introduces smart transportation equipment called an AI-enabled vehicle smart device (AVSD) for vehicular communications. AVSD can reduce energy consumption by decreasing the computational costs in vehicular communications. Smart contracts are used to identify vehicles automatically and establish secure communication among vehicles and emergency service stations (ESSs) like hospitals, police stations, and fire stations. The experiment results show that the proposed framework provides a communication environment for sustainable safety and security using the introduced smart transportation device. In conclusion, the proposed blockchain-enabled sustainable safety management framework has the potential to improve safety and sustainability in the transportation industry by creating a secure, decentralized, and transparent platform for managing safety data and promoting safe and sustainable driving behaviors.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Low-enriched uranium high-density target project. Compendium report

At present, most 99 Mo is produced in research, test, or isotope production reactors by irradiation of highly enriched uranium targets. To achieve the denser form of uranium needed for switching from high to low enriched uranium (LEU), targets in the form of a metal foil (~125-150 µm thick) are being developed. The LEU High Density Target Project successfully demonstrated several iterations of an LEU-fission-based Mo-99 technology that has the potential to provide the world’s supply of Mo-99, should major producers choose to utilize the technology. Over 50 annular high density targets have been successfully tested, and the assembly and disassembly of targets have been improved and optimized. Two target front-end processes (acidic and electrochemical) have been scaled up and demonstrated to allow for the high-density target technology to mate up to the existing producer technology for target processing. In the event that a new target processing line is started, the chemical processing of the targets is greatly simplified. Extensive modeling and safety analysis has been conducted, and the target has been qualified to be inserted into the High Flux Isotope Reactor, which is considered above and beyond the requirements for the typical use of this target due to high fluence and irradiation duration.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗