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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
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DOE OSTI2024

Considerations for Offshore-Wind-to-Hydrogen Systems in the United States

This presentation investigates the complexities involved in designing and siting offshore wind-to-hydrogen plants across the United States. It examines the integration of offshore wind farms with electrolysis facilities to produce green hydrogen, highlighting the technical, region-specific characteristics, and economic factors that influence project feasibility and success. The study presents four representative regions around the United States, two fixed-bottom locations and two floating locations: the New York Bight, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine and off the northern coast of California. Additionally, it assesses two energy transmission configurations - centralized onshore and offshore electrolysis - for the years 2025, 2030, and 2035.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,HYDROGEN,WIND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Biofuels Production and Development in the United States

Addressing transportation emissions will require a combination of policy interventions, technological innovations, and behavioral changes. To decrease transportation-related carbon emissions, we recommend transitioning to cleaner and more efficient transport, expanding public transportation, and promoting sustainable urban planning. Transitioning to biofuels in the U.S. transportation sector presents a host of environmental, economic, and strategic advantages. Environmentally, biofuels offer a promising avenue for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional fossil fuels. Biofuels produce fewer harmful emissions, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, compared to conventional fuels, thereby improving local air quality, and reducing health risks associated with air pollution. The U.S. government issued a "Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge" to promote the development of SAF and address the decarbonization of commercial aviation. The targets are to expand current domestic SAF production to 3 billion gallons per year by 2030, and then to 35 billion gallons by 2050, while achieving life cycle GHG reduction of at least 50% relative to fossil Jet A. The United States' biofuel production capacity rose to 23.8 billion gallons per year in 2023, a growth of more than 1.7 billion gallons since 2022. Ethanol nameplate capacity has reached 17.8 billion gallons per year since 2023, the ethanol production is 15.6 billion gallons in 2023 as capped by EPA regulation. Biodiesel production capacity stands at 2.1 billion gallons, and renewable diesel capacity is now 3.9 billion gallons. This newsletter keeps you informed on the state of biofuels in the United States, policy and regulations, technology advancements, and environmental and social impacts.

biodiesel↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamic Simulation Modeling and Control of a Desiccant Assisted Direct-expansion Air Handling Unit

Desirable built environments demand simultaneous regulation of thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) with energy-efficient operation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HV AC) systems, which involves controls of temperature, humidity and airborne contaminants simultaneously. This paper presents the efforts of dynamic modeling and initial development control strategy for a desiccant-assisted multi-functional air handling unit (AHU) coupled with a direct-expansion rooftop unit (RTU) system, which aims to achieve multiple functions for indoor environment conditioning with energy efficient control. The RTU-AHU system includes a desiccant wheel for dehumidification and a conceptual direct air capture (DAC) filtering device for CO2 regulation. A Modelica-based dynamic model is developed for this conceptual system, and a simple decentralized control strategy is designed, which combines a differential-enthalpy based AHU return-air ratio control, a demand-controlled ventilation, and supply-air temperature humidity control via the RTU and DW controls. The proposed control method is evaluated with the Modelica simulation model for a selected set of scenarios

Pan, Chao↗
DOE OSTI2025

United States Early Career Researchers in Collider Physics input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics Update

This document represents a contribution of the United States early career collider physics community to the 2025--2026 update to the European Strategy for Particle Physics. Preferences with regard to different future collider options and R&D priorities were assessed via a survey. The early career community was defined as anyone who is a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, untenured faculty member, or research scientist under 40 years of age. In total, 105 participants responded to the survey between February and March 10th, 2025. Questions were formulated primarily to gauge the enthusiasm and preferences for different collider options in line with the recommendations of the United States' P5 report, relevant to the European Strategy Update.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Integrate Power Conversion Unit with MAGNET to Enable Integrated Microreactor Heat Transfer System Testing

Idaho National Laboratory obtained a closed, Brayton-cycle, power conversion unit (PCU) from Sandia National Laboratories. This PCU began as a commercially available, 30 kWe, C30, gas turbine from Capstone. The C30 was modified to use heat from an electric heater in a closed-loop system pressurized with nitrogen or dry air. INL has modified the unit further to integrate it with MAGNET and use heat from a microreactor test article.

42 - ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Scenario-based analysis of electric vehicle adoption in the United States: Technology, infrastructure, and electricity pricing

This work investigates the impact of battery technology advancement, charging infrastructure development, and time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing on vehicle adoption by 6 powertrain types in the United States through 2050. Using the Market Acceptance of Advanced Automotive Technologies (MA3T) model, we simulate 15 scenarios, examining individual cost factors and their combinations. We assess outcomes through market share, consumer surplus, and energy consumption. Results show that battery cost reductions are the strongest driver of EV adoption, increasing 2050 battery electric vehicle (BEV) share by 27 percentage points over baseline, raising annual consumer surplus by $511 per household, and reducing cumulative energy consumption by 16,610 trillion Btu. These gains are two to five times larger than those from other individual factors. Reducing home charging installation costs produces moderate impact, while TOU pricing alone yields only small gains, raising 2050 BEV market share by 1–2 percentage points. However, when cost factor improvements are combined, their effects are amplified beyond simple additivity. Pairing modest battery cost reductions with charging installation cost reductions and TOU pricing results in the largest 2050 BEV sales combined impact. The analysis demonstrates that moderate progress targeting multiple cost barriers may be more impactful than focusing on any single barrier.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Opportunities for iron and steel industrial wastewater treatment and reuse in the United States

Concerns around water security in the United States have heightened the interest in industrial water treatment and reuse to improve water efficiency and operational reliability. Alongside nationwide efforts to expand industrial capacity, primary manufacturing sectors are adopting more resource-efficient technologies. This transition is expected to shift industrial water consumption patterns, driving the need for improved treatment and reuse practices. This study investigates opportunities for water use, treatment, and reuse in the iron and steel sector through a review of academic and industry literature and interviews with industry representatives. It identifies key challenges in water and wastewater management and outlines the conditions under which innovative treatment technologies could be deployed. Based on these insights, the study presents a practical water management action plan. Furthermore, it assesses water quality targets across different process operations, evaluates existing treatment technologies, and highlights challenges and opportunities for improvement relative to future performance expectations. Although water is often perceived as a low-cost commodity, industry feedback suggests that improvements in water use and treatment efficiency are typically prioritized only when they also reduce energy use, carbon emissions, or costs. This study advocates for a direct two-way partnership between industry and research audiences to bring their attention toward sustainable industrial water use, treatment, and reuse.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Datasets of Faults in Variable Air Volume Terminal Units in a Multi-Zone Commercial Building

Faults in HVAC systems can decrease system efficiency and equipment lifespan, leading to 5%–30% of energy consumption being wasted in commercial buildings. We identified two common faults in HVAC variable air volume systems: a stuck damper fault in the variable air volume terminal unit and a discharge airflow sensor fault. We conducted three sets of damper stuck tests and two sets of airflow sensor tests, each including a fault-free scenario and scenarios with varying levels of faults, over one day. The faults were implemented in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s two-story Flexible Research Platform building to generate a high-quality, well-controlled dataset covering fault-induced and fault-free scenarios. The test building, fault test scenarios, and data validation are described here. The open-source dataset includes 1 min intervals of weather and building data on the presence and absence of building faults. This dataset can be used to analyze the effects of HVAC system faults on system operation and indoor building conditions, and to develop or evaluate a fault detection and diagnosis algorithm.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Estimated Hourly Electricity Demand Profiles for Each County in the Contiguous United States

In this data descriptor, we present hourly electricity demand estimates for each county in the contiguous United States from 2016 to 2023. The demand profiles represent the sum of two components for each county. The first is the weighted average of reported hourly demand profiles for North American Electric Reliability Corporation balancing authority (BA) regions and subregions, scaled to match annual estimates of county-level retail sales and direct use of electricity and weighted by the estimated percentage of county load served by each BA region or subregion. The second is the weighted average of modeled hourly, county- and sector-level distributed photovoltaic (DPV) capacity factor profiles, scaled to match annual estimates of on-site consumption of DPV-generated electricity for each county and weighted by the percentage of consumption attributable to each sector.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Rooftop solar and energy storage programs can remediate energy-limiting behaviors of energy insecure households in the United States

Energy insecurity, or the inability to afford energy needs, affects most low-income households in the United States and leads to risky choices and additional insecurities including food and health. Although there are government programs designed to provide relief from energy insecurity, eligibility is usually determined by household income, and those with incomes close to the threshold face uncertainty or may be left out. In many cases, these households turn to energy-limiting behaviors as a strategy to lower their electric utility bills. Here we explore the relationship between energy insecurity and energy-limiting behaviors and investigate alternative solutions such as energy storage and rooftop solar. This analysis demonstrates that solar and energy storage can offset two-thirds of the bill savings that households could attain through severe energy-limiting behavior. These systems could complement existing energy assistance programs to provide long-term bill relief, enabling occupants to live in their homes with comfort and dignity.

Kerby, Jessica R. [Pacific Northwest National Labo↗
DOE OSTI2026

Inter-ligand cross-links determine secondary building unit formation in oligoMOFs

OligoMOFs are a class of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) that feature ligands covalently cross-linked into oligomers as intrinsic structural components. A recent study has demonstrated that the size and flexibility of the tether moieties can result in the formation of oligoMOFs with different isomeric structures via geometrical distortions in the secondary building unit (SBU). In this work, it is demonstrated that tethered dimeric ligands with slightly different carbon chain lengths can direct the formation of oligoMOFs with SBUs of different structure and nuclearity. Specifically, inter-ligand cross links are used as a sensitive probe of the phase landscape of MOFs with the composition [Zn 2 (R-bdc) 2 (bpy)] (bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, bpy = 4,4′-bipyridine), showing that a hexyl tether results in a framework structure identical to MOF-508, based on dinuclear {Zn 2 } “paddlewheel” SBUs, while heptyl and octyl tethers result in a “honeycomb-like” framework structure based on an infinite rod-like Zn 2+ SBU bridged by carboxylate ligands. Furthermore, these results are the first examples of tether length influencing SBU chemistry in MOFs and help understand the interplay between the MOF lattice and the geometric constraints imposed by inter-ligand cross-links in oligoMOFs.

MOFs↗
DOE OSTI2026

High-rate heavy-ion tracking using MWPCs and PPACs with an Anti-Discharge Unit

This work reports on the development of two robust, heavy-ion beam tracking concepts operating at low pressure (< 15 Torr) for high rate applications (> 200 kHz). The first concept consists of a Multi-Wire Proportional Counter (MWPC) with a central anode consisting of 12 μm Au-plated Tungsten wires spaced 1 mm from each other. The anode grid is sandwiched between two segmented cathodes aligned orthogonally in the two dimensions for (x,y) particle localization. The second detector is a Parallel-Plate Avalanche Counter (PPAC) that uses the same readout geometry as the MWPC, but replaces the wire anode with a 150 nm silver layer deposited on both sides of a thin (< 1 mg/cm 2 ) polypropylene foil. Additionally, the bias circuitry for the PPAC anode central foil is equipped with an Anti-Discharge Unit (ADU) to prevent transitions from proportional operation to streamer formation, thereby avoiding damaging discharges. The localization capability of both detectors was tested with a low-rate alpha-particle source (241-Am). A position resolution of < 1 mm (FWHM) was achieved under stable, high-gas-gain (> 1000) operating conditions. Their performance in terms of detection efficiency as a function of the isotope charge (Z) was determined by irradiating the detectors with a cocktail beam (Z ≤ 15) with energy of ∼ 100 MeV/u. Full detection efficiency is maintained for all available fragments under optimal operational conditions (i.e., voltage bias). Full detection efficiency was achieved at rates above 200 kHz by irradiating the detectors with a 1 cm diameter 238 U beam at an energy of 143 MeV/u.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benchmark Calculation for Turkey Point Unit 3 Cycles 1-3 Using the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–PARCS v3.4.2 Code Package

Benchmark calculations were performed for Turkey Point Unit 3 cycles 1–3 to validate the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–PARCS v3.4.2 code with the ENDF/B–VII.1 56–group library by comparing the simulated results with the measured data. The benchmark results will be used in evaluating the SCALE/Polaris–PARCS code package’s uncertainties for pressurized water reactor physics analysis. That future analysis will include key nuclear parameters such as reactivity, control bank worth, temperature coefficients, and pin and assembly power peaking factors. The present document details plant and fuel design specifications and input data for SCALE/Polaris, GenPMAXS, and PARCS. Additional details are provided with respect to the input and output files produced for the benchmark calculations. The benchmark results are summarized such that they can be used in evaluating uncertainties with other benchmark results for key nuclear parameters.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benchmark Calculation for Surry Unit 1 Cycles 1-3 Using the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–PARCS v3.4.2 Code Package

The benchmark calculations were performed for Surry Unit 1 cycles 1–3 to validate the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) v3.4.2 with the ENDF/B–VII.1 56–group library by comparing the simulated results with the measured data. The benchmark results will be used to evaluate uncertainties of the SCALE/Polaris–PARCS code package for pressurized water reactor physics analysis for key nuclear parameters such as reactivity, control bank worth, temperature coefficients, and pin and assembly power peaking factors. This report details plant and fuel design specifications and input data for SCALE/Polaris, GenPMAXS, and PARCS. Additional details are provided for the input and output files produced for the benchmark calculations. The benchmark results were summarized such that they can be used in evaluating uncertainties with other benchmark results for key nuclear parameters.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benchmark Calculation for the Peach Bottom Unit 2 Cycles 1-3 Using the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–PARCS v3.4.2 Code Package

In this study, benchmark calculations were performed for Peach Bottom Unit 2 cycles 1–3 to validate the SCALE 6.3/Polaris–PARCS v3.4.2 with the ENDF/B-VII.1 AMPX 56-group library by comparing the simulated results with the measured data. The benchmark results will be used to evaluate uncertainties of the SCALE/Polaris–PARCS code package for boiling water reactor physics analysis for key nuclear parameters such as reactivity and assembly power peaking factors. This report details plant and fuel design specifications and input data for SCALE/Polaris, GenPMAXS and PARCS. Additionally, detailed information is provided for all the input and output files produced for the benchmark calculations. The benchmark results were summarized such that they can be used to evaluate uncertainties with other benchmark results for key nuclear parameters.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

ComStock Measure Scenario Documentation: Standard Performance Heat Pump Rooftop Unit With New Windows

Building on a 3-year effort to calibrate and validate the U.S. Department of Energy's ResStock (TM) and ComStock (TM) models, this work produces national datasets that empower analysts working for federal, state, utility, city, and manufacturer stakeholders to answer a broad range of questions regarding their commercial building stock. ComStock is a highly granular, bottom-up model that uses multiple data sources, statistical sampling methods, and advanced building energy simulations to estimate the annual energy consumption (at subhourly resolution) of the commercial building stock across the United States. The baseline model intends to represent the U.S. commercial building stock as it existed in 2018. The methodology and results of the baseline model are discussed in the final technical report of the End-Use Load Profiles project. The goal of this work is to develop energy efficiency and demand flexibility end-use load shapes that cover high-impact, market-ready (or nearly market-ready) measures. "Measures" refers to various "what-if" scenarios that can be applied to buildings. An end-use savings shape is the difference in energy consumption between a baseline building (or collection of buildings) and a building with an energy efficiency or demand flexibility measure applied. It results in a time-series profile broken down by end use and fuel (electricity or on-site gas, propane, or fuel oil use) at each time step, as well as annual aggregations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) Assessment for the Chemicals, Metals, and Pesticides (CMP) Pits Operable Unit (OU) and the Pen Branch Wetland

In October 2024, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was tasked to conduct an independent review of groundwater data and assess the monitored natural attenuation (MNA) performance related to the Chemicals, Metals, and Pesticides (CMP) Pits Operable Unit (OU) located in the central portion of the Savannah River Site (SRS). The SRNL assessment of MNA entailed an independent analysis of groundwater concentration data, groundwater elevation data, available surface water concentration data, soil concentration data, and relevant historical geological characterization logs for the CMP Pits OU. Historical data tables and records were obtained from both the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions - Area Completion Projects (SRNS&#x2;ACP) team and South Carolina State University (SCSU) and condensed into new data sets by the SRNL project team for more targeted analysis of MNA performance characteristics. All data pertaining to groundwater concentration, surface water concentration, and groundwater elevation were restricted to collection dates after any known active remediation for the CMP OU.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Overview of Fish Passage Facilities at Hydropower Developments across the Conterminous United States

This dataset contains geo-referenced information on the presence and types of fish passage facilities at hydropower developments across the conterminous United States (CONUS) presented in the ORNL Hydropower Fish Passage Database Webmap (https://www.ornl.gov/project/quantifying-national-fish-passage-data/webmap). It was developed through collaborative partnerships with fish passage engineers and biologists at both the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and hydropower experts at the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI). Information contained within this dataset has been provided by many different sources, including State and Federal resource management agencies, non-governmental organizations, hydropower industry members, and published datasets=. This dataset is intended to provide a high-level overview of the distribution of fish passage infrastructure at hydropower developments across CONUS; a more comprehensive database is anticipated to be released later in 2025. This dataset contains one data file in comma-separate (*.csv) format and the information within it was last updated on 24 March 2025.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗