SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “DIGITAL INTEGRATORS”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2026

AI-driven neutrino diagnostics and radiation-hard beam instrumentation for next-generation neutrino experiments

The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) at Fermilab will deliver a high-intensity, multi-megawatt neutrino beam to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), enabling precision tests of the three-neutrino paradigm, CP violation searches, neutrino mass ordering determination, and supernova neutrino studies. To accelerate DUNE’s physics reach and ensure robust beam operations, we propose an integrated AI-driven framework with real-time diagnostics and radiation-hardened instrumentation. At its core is a Real-Time Beam Integrity Monitor using a physics-informed Digital Twin. By reconstructing pion phase space from muon profiles and exploiting magnetic horn optic linearity, it enables spill-by-spill beam correction and flux stabilization. By using this approach, flux-related systematics could be reduced from 5% to 1%, potentially accelerating the discovery of CP violations by four to six years. Complementing this, a US–Japan R&D effort will deploy a LAPPD-based muon monitor in the NuMI beamline. ToF measurements can be acquired with picosecond precision using this radiation-hard system, enhancing sensitivity to horn chromatic effects. Simulations confirm strong response to these effects. ML models predict beam quality and horn current to sub-percent accuracy from muon data, enhancing anomaly detection and stability. This scalable, AI-enabled strategy improves beam fidelity, reduces systematics, and sets a new standard for high-power accelerator operations.

Ganguly, Sudeshna [Fermilab] (ORCID:00000003163482↗

DOE OSTI2023

Scaling Outlooks on Integrated Energy Systems

The report provides research summaries of two developed theories: data projection to enable multi-scale facility digital interactions and introducing the Evaluation Model Development and Assessment Process (EMDAP) approach to Integrated Energy Systems (IES) design. For the data projection, a two-system scaling case including interactions between thermal storage and hydrogen production is provided. The corresponding facilities are the thermal energy distribution system (TEDS) facility and high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) facility at the Dynamic Energy Transport and Integration Laboratory (DETAIL) in Idaho National Laboratory (INL). For the EMDAP adaption to system design, a modified process of the EMDAP was developed and applied to indirect two-tank heat storage system design. System phenomena were identified, ranked, and scaled to discover helpful key relations that would determine the ideal component geometry.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2025

Hardware-Based Demonstration of Temperature Control Functions for Reactor Systems

Establishing autonomy in reactor control systems has become essential for the expansion of nuclear technologies. Thermal regulation in particular remains crucial for maintaining stable operation and ensuring the integrity of fuel. To alleviate public skepticism of the safety of nuclear reactors, demonstrating control over this key factor is pivotal. Utilizing electric heat pads to simulate the heat released in a reactor core, thermocouples for temperature monitoring, and an Arduino micro programmable logic controller (PLC) for control, a hardware-based demonstration of a reactor heating system validates the efficacy of reactor control over this key parameter. To improve precision, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) algorithm was implemented in the heating control loop to ensure meticulous control of reactor functions. In addition, the integration of this physical system with a digital simulator tool such as RELAP5-3D establishes a foundation for a comprehensive testing environment. This allows for a refinement of temperature control under various simulated reactor conditions, bringing another layer of reliability to the operation of the system. By facilitating a physical demonstration of reactor thermal management and control strategies, this project provides a foundation for expanded testing and educational outreach. Ultimately, this system advances the broader goal of demonstrating the safety and viability of autonomous reactor operations, contributing to public trust and future reactor deployment.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

AI-driven neutrino diagnostics and radiation-hard beam instrumentation for next-generation neutrino experiments

Ganguly, Sudeshna [Fermilab] (ORCID:00000003163482↗

DOE OSTI2023

Use of Grid-Forming Medium-Voltage Power Electronics Hub in a Microgrid Setting: Preprint

This paper presents the application of a new design of a multiport, modular, medium-voltage power electronics hub (M3PE-HUB) in a microgrid setting. The M3PE-HUB system was modeled in a digital real-time simulator (DRTS) and integrated into the Banshee microgrid test system. This paper presents the preliminary DRTS simulation-based results of the M3PE- HUB system connected in a test microgrid system. Verification and validation of the M3PE-HUB architecture and controls in the test microgrid setting are the primary contributions of this work. The results of the operation during the islanding and resynchronization process indicate the feasibility of the proposed architecture in a microgrid setting. This paper also presents results for a system reconfiguration use case where the M3PE- HUB was used to reconfigure the system under a fault condition.

grid forming↗

DOE OSTI2022

Hardware-Based Randomized Encoding for Sensor Authentication in Power Grid SCADA Systems

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are utilized extensively in critical power grid infrastructures. Modern SCADA systems have been proven to be susceptible to cyber-security attacks and require improved security primitives in order to prevent unwanted influence from an adversarial party. One section of weakness in the SCADA system is the integrity of field level sensors providing essential data for control decisions at a master station. In this paper we propose a lightweight hardware scheme providing inferred authentication for SCADA sensors by combining an analog to digital converter and a permutation generator as a single integrated circuit. Through this method we encode critical sensor data at the time of sensing, so that unencoded data is never stored in memory, increasing the difficulty of software attacks. We show through experimentation how our design stops both software and hardware false data injection attacks occurring at the field level of SCADA systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Emerging Technologies for Privacy Preservation in Energy Systems

This study explores the intersection of digitalization and privacy within the energy sector, focusing on the emerging challenges and opportunities presented by integrating Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and advanced metering infrastructure. The need for robust digital privacy measures has become crucial as the energy industry evolves towards a more decentralized, digitalized, and decarbonized future. This study delves into four cutting-edge privacy-preserving technologies—Homomorphic Encryption (HE), Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC), Differential Privacy (DP), and Federated Learning (FL)—each offering unique solutions to safeguard consumer data by increasing digital connectivity and data exchange. Through a detailed examination of these methods, the study explains how each technology operates, its applications within the energy sector, and the specific privacy challenges it addresses. Homomorphic Encryption allows for secure computations on encrypted data, enabling data analysis without compromising privacy. Secure Multiparty Computation enables collaborative data analysis across different entities while protecting the confidentiality of the inputs. Differential Privacy introduces randomness into the assembled data set, preventing the identification of individual records in statistical databases. Lastly, Federated Learning offers a paradigm shift in data analysis, where machine learning models are trained at the edge, minimizing the centralization of sensitive data. The research underscores the significance of implementing these privacy-enhancing technologies to comply with strict data protection regulations, foster consumer trust, and enhance the security of the energy infrastructure. By providing a comprehensive overview of these methodologies and their practical implications for the energy sector, this study aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on digital privacy, offering insights into how the energy industry can navigate the complexities of data privacy in the digital age.

Cali, Umit↗

DOE OSTI2025

Integrating Cyber-Informed Engineering into Process Automation

As organizations increasingly automate their core missions and essential functions to address business risks and enhance efficiency, process automation becomes pivotal. This shift, involving minimal or no manual intervention, significantly impacts an organization's cyber-risk landscape. While automation drives efficiencies, it also introduces new cyber risks if not properly managed. Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) provides a proactive framework for managing these digital risks, enhancing cyber-resilience in process automation. This document supports organizations in applying CIE principles to mitigate the cyber risks associated with automation. The outlined approach can be independently implemented to improve any organization’s cyber-resilience, ensuring that the advantages of automation do not result in unaddressed or unmanaged digital risks. It serves as a starting point, offering considerations for integrating CIE principles and practices into organizational processes. CIE is presented as an iterative process, fostering continuous improvement and reinforcing the engineering and operational cultures to manage digital risks effectively. The document is structured as follows: Section 1 provides background on CIE and process automation, and their integration. Section 2 explores the twelve CIE principles in the context of process automation, highlighting key questions, engineering considerations, and implications for digital risk management. Section 3 synthesizes the findings and offers recommendations to advance resilience by design.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Full-Scale Soft-Sensor Implementations Enable WRRF Hybrid Digital-Twins

Digital twins (DTs) are on the rise in the wastewater treatment industry and, with ever-increasinguse of online data in more complex applications, it is bringing us towards a digital revolution withinwater resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). An integral data requirement is dynamic real-timeinfluent concentrations. However, few WRRFs have the ability to deploy sensors to generate therequired dynamic influent concentrations. This paper presents an innovative approach to generatedynamic influent profiles with a soft sensor primarily using bioreactor airflow rates and DT models.It has been implemented on three different full-scale facilities and demonstrate it is feasible toretrieve 15-minute interval diurnal influent concentrations. This study overcomes a key bottleneckin DT applications - the lack of realistic high-resolution influent profiles - fostering the developmentof DTs. The fact that the data used in this study are commonly available ensures wide applicabilityfor most WRRFs and prepares them for the advanced controls that digital twins can unlock.

Johnson, Bruce↗

DOE OSTI2024

A Digital Twin Framework for Liquid-cooled Supercomputers as Demonstrated at Exascale

We present ExaDigiT, an open-source framework for developing comprehensive digital twins of liquid-cooled supercomputers. It integrates three main modules: (1) a resource allocator and power simulator, (2) a transient thermo-fluidic cooling model, and (3) an augmented reality model of the supercomputer and central energy plant. The framework enables the study of "what-if" scenarios, system optimizations, and virtual prototyping of future systems. Using Frontier as a case study, we demonstrate the framework's capabilities by replaying six months of system telemetry for systematic verification and validation. Such a comprehensive analysis of a liquid-cooled exascale supercomputer is the first of its kind. ExaDigiT elucidates complex transient cooling system dynamics, runs synthetic or real workloads, and predicts energy losses due to rectification and voltage conversion. Throughout our paper, we present lessons learned to benefit HPC practitioners developing similar digital twins. We envision the digital twin will be a key enabler for sustainable, energy-efficient supercomputing.

Brewer, Wes↗

DOE OSTI2024

Hydrogen Production, Grid Integration, and Scaling for the Future

The project will explore near and long-term visions towards the commercialization of grid integrated electrolysis systems to inform deployment across the planning, procurement, and operation stages of hydrogen production on the grid. It will leverage NREL's state-of-the-art 1.25 MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system to characterize system performance in relevant scenarios, also creating a digital twin for emulation in the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) virtual environment and performing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of pilot scale, decentralized, and centralized hydrogen systems.

electrolysis systems↗

DOE OSTI2025

An Approach to Automate tools for the Risk Assessment of Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems

Reliable digital instrumentation and control systems (DI&C) are integral for sustaining the continued operation of nuclear power plants. These systems ensure that nuclear reactors operate safely, efficiently, and within regulatory requirements. Yet, the cost of designing and licensing new nuclear DI&C can be prohibitively expensive. Under the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, Idaho National Laboratory has developed a framework for supporting the risk-informed design of DI&C systems by offering methods to support the identification, quantification, and evaluation of risks for various DI&C design architectures. The framework indicates potential software failure modes and provides pathways for quantifying the potential for these software failures, including common cause failures. Using the framework’s systematic approach, challenges for assessing risks within new and existing nuclear DI&C systems can be reduced. Nevertheless, the current framework can be further improved using the convenience of automation. This paper introduces the development of Software for the Hazard Identification and Evaluation of Digital Systems (SHIELDS). SHIELDS is an engineering software package that enables the identification, elimination, and mitigation of potential risks and reduces the burden of deploying reliable DI&C systems. This work introduces plans and techniques to digitize and improve the manual risk assessment modules of the framework. These improvements will save time and increase the repeatability and usability of the framework, making it more accessible to a wider range of users. Ultimately, this introduces SHIELDS and how its modules support efficient development of safe and reliable DI&C systems.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗

DOE OSTI2025

CIE Curriculum Guide (V.2.0)

The Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) Curriculum Guide offers a comprehensive framework, guidance, and resources for integrating CIE into university-level engineering programs and related educational activities. The primary goal is to help educators adopt CIE principles into their teaching to produce future engineers and technicians who understand digital risks in modern engineered systems, thereby addressing the nation’s infrastructure resilience needs. This guide outlines practical integration examples, links to resources to accelerate CIE adoption, and shares insights from partner academic institutions on various implementation strategies. CIE is a framework for embedding engineered controls that mitigate the impact of cyber-attacks in any cyber-physical system used in critical energy infrastructure and other sectors. Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), the National Cyber-Informed Engineering Strategy emphasizes embedding CIE into formal education, training, and credentialing. This guide supports this strategic objective by providing examples of integrating CIE concepts into engineering curricula, from class activities to new courses and certificate programs. The importance of educating cyber-informed engineers is underscored by the evolving cybersecurity threats facing engineered systems. As industrial control systems (ICS) increasingly incorporate digital technologies, the responsibility for security extends to both cyber professionals and engineers. CIE addresses critical gaps in designing and protecting physical systems with digital components against cyber risks, ensuring engineers consider digital risk throughout the engineering design lifecycle. Currently, engineering education does not routinely include cyber-informed principles, highlighting a gap in addressing modern engineering system risks. This guide advocates for updating engineering curricula to include digital risk management as a fundamental element. By doing so, future engineers will be equipped to design resilient systems that mitigate digital risks from the outset. Through this guide, engineering faculty can integrate CIE into their curricula, bridging the gap between digital risk and engineering. This approach prepares a cyber-informed workforce capable of safeguarding the cyber-physical systems crucial to national security and public welfare. By embedding CIE into education and training, institutions can produce engineers and technicians who can effectively mitigate cyber impacts throughout the engineering design lifecycle, resulting in more secure critical infrastructures.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Assessment of a Grade 91 Steel Forging and Seamless Pipe Section After 141,000-Hours of Operation in a Superheat Outlet Header

In this work, two unique heats of 9Cr creep strength enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels extracted from a retired superheat outlet header after 141,000 hours of service were evaluated. These two CSEF steels were a forging manufactured to SA-182 F91 (F91) reducer and a seamless pipe produced to SA-335 P91 (P91) pipe. Their creep deformation and fracture behavior were assessed using a lever arm creep frame integrated with in-situ high-temperature digital image correlation (DIC) system. Critical metallurgical and microstructure factors, including composition, service damage, grain matrix degradation, precipitates, and inclusions were quantitatively characterized to link the performance of the two service aged F91 and P91 CSEF steels. The creep test results show the F91 and P91 steels exhibit a large variation in creep strength and creep ductility. The F91 steel fractured at 572 hours while P91 steel fractured at 1,901 hours when subjected to a test condition of 650 °C and 100 MPa. The nominal creep strains at fracture were 12.5% (F91) and 14.5% (P91), respectively. The high-resolution DIC strain measurements reveal the local creep strain in F91 was about 50% while the local creep strain in P91 was >80%. The characterization results show that the F91 steel possessed pre-existing creep damage from its time in service, a higher fraction of inclusions, and a faster matrix grain coarsening rate. These features contribute to the observed reduction in performance for the F91 steel. The context for these findings, and the importance of metallurgical risk in an integrated life management approach will be emphasized.

Wang, Yiyu↗

DOE OSTI2026

Power Electronics Module with Integrated Ceramic Heat Exchanger

NREL, in partnership with Synteris and Packet Digital, has developed a 3D-printable ceramic package for power electronic modules to improve their thermal management, power density, performance, and lifetime. Existing power modules contain flat ceramic substrates that serve as both the electrically insulating component and thermal conductor that transfer the large heat outputs of these devices. The team has developed an additive manufacturing process that replaces the traditional insulating metalized substrate, substrate attach, and baseplate/heat exchanger with an additively-manufactured ceramic packaging that acts as both an electrical insulator and heat exchanger for better thermal management. The design, manufacturability, and function of this power module will be discussed.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2025

A Scalable Solution for Grid Optimization and DER Integration (CRADA Final Report)

Utilidata Inc. is an energy software company that provides clean energy and digital solutions for utilities. This work was the result of Utilidata Inc. being awarded a New York State Energy Research and Development Agency award to integrate Utilidata volt-VAR optimization (VVO) software with smart inverters to explore enhanced voltage control. This project was conducted in partnership with Utilidata Inc., National Grid, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). As part of the project NREL conducted modeling and simulation analysis, developed cost-benefit analysis framework, and conducted laboratory testing to understand the potential for smart inverter integration to a centralized VVO control scheme. The remainder of the report provides an executive summary of the work, an introduction to the challenges, sections detailing specific aspects of the work, and the overall findings and conclusions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Digital Twin Development of FASTR

This work package is focused on creating a digital twin (DT) of the Facility to Alleviate Salt Technology Risks (FASTR) experiment. FASTR is a high-profile facility tasked with maturing molten salt applications such as liquid salt energy storage, concentrated solar power facilities, and molten salt cooling systems supporting other advanced reactor technologies, all of which may be incorporated as components within the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program. As part of creating a digital twin (DT), verification and validation (V&V) has been performed for the physics-based model, and gaps have been identified. Additionally, a preliminary integration of the FASTR model has been completed with the existing physics-based model of the Thermal Energy Distribution System (TEDS)/Microreactor AGile Non-nuclear Experimental Testbed (MAGNET) facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). A Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) of the physics-based system model and a reduced-order model (ROM) were both used to test for a preliminary hardware in the loop operation when the physical loop was offline. Future tasks could include improving the physics-based model to better match the available experimental data, improving the hardware in the loop integration, and improving the integration with the TEDS model.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Measuring stellar populations, dust attenuation and ionized gas at kpc scales in 10010 nearby galaxies using the integral field spectroscopy from MaNGA

As one of the three major experiments of the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV), the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apatch Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey has obtained high-quality integral field spectroscopy (IFS) with a resolution of 1–2 kpc for ∼ 10 4 galaxies in the local universe during its six-year operation from July 2014 through August 2020. It is crucial to reliably measure the physical properties of the different components in each spectrum before one can use the data for any scientific study. In the past years we have made lots of efforts to develop a novel technique of full spectral fitting, which estimates a model-independent dust attenuation curve from each spectrum, thus allowing us to break the degeneracy between dust attenuation and stellar population properties when fitting the spectrum with stellar population synthesis models. We have applied our technique to the final data release of MaNGA, and obtained measurements of stellar population properties and emission line parameters, as well as the kinematics and dust attenuation of both stellar and ionized gas components. In this paper we describe our technique and the content and format of our data products. The whole dataset is publicly available in Science Data Bank with the link https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00113.00088 .

Physics↗