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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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Software Quality Assurance for LeachXS/ORCHESTRA as a Tool for Assessment of Waste Management Systems Performance - 17486

Qualified modeling and simulation tools and experimental data are needed to provide a reasonable basis for the incorporation of realistic wasteform retention assumptions (i.e., those without orders-of-magnitude conservatism) into performance assessments and regulatory decisions. Use of highly conservative assumptions in performance assessments has historically led to the overprediction of release and near-field transport by as much as 4- to 6-orders of magnitude thereby limiting the nature and quantities of certain contaminants of concern in near surface disposal facilities. This project provides peer-reviewed models and characterization methods to provide more reasonable assumptions for use in performance assessments and regulatory decisions. Simulations tools have been developed to predict hydraulic and chemical performance of waste-forms and barriers used in nuclear applications under several important aging and degradation scenarios, including sulfate attack, carbonation, oxidation, cracking, and leaching; these tools are complaint with DOE Order 414.1D and ASME NQA-1. Wasteform characterization methods have been developed that are consistent with US EPA's Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) currently part of EPA's Hazardous Waste Test Methods (SW-846); the resulting experimental data are evaluated using LeachXS. ORCHESTRA models, that can be called seamlessly from LeachXS, have been developed representing both laboratory and field conditions; these models have undergone an extensive Software Quality Assurance process where they have been calibrated (where necessary), verified, and validated to be compliant with relevant guidelines. The models used for field predictions have also been incorporated into the Cementitious Barriers Partnership (CBP) Software Toolbox that allows probabilistic evaluation of field scenarios. The foci over the next year will be on providing 1) a mechanistic basis for projecting the retention of Tc-99, I-129, and other important radionuclides in near-surface disposal facilities at the Savannah River and Hanford Sites and 2) a technical basis for assessing the efficacy of macro-encapsulation of mercury-contaminated debris at the Oak Ridge Reservation. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multiphysics Simulations of MSRE with NEAMS Thermal Hydraulics Tools

This report documents the benchmarks being developed and simulations performed using tools and codes developed under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, utilizing MSRE experimental data. In FY23, three main work scopes were investigated under the NEAMS MSR work package at ANL. The first scope investigated the Griffin-SAM coupling model for simulating the pump startup transient experiment of MSRE. The analyses start with a simple model (single-channel, single-lattice), gradually adding more details (multi-channel, full-core) into the model. The results show that the reactivity loss curve is very sensitive to the axial boundary conditions and the radial core discretization. The simple model can predict a similar reactivity trend as that of the more sophisticated model, which is likely due to error cancellation. Accurately modeling the axial boundary condition may further improve the reactivity trend but would require significant efforts to generate the mesh of the MSRE inlet and upper plenum. The core channel radial discretization for the Griffin-SAM coupled model also depends on the flow distribution. Given the complex geometry in the inlet plenum, the flow distribution needed to be calculated from CFD analysis, which was performed using the NekRS code. This analysis employed a MSRE CAD model developed by Copenhagen Atomics. The CAD model was disassembled to keep the inlet plenum region only, which was subsequently cleaned and modified so that the mesh generated is under the memory limit. The results are merged to a few radial regions to show that the flow rate is highest in the central region. This would be useful for future improvement of the Griffin-SAM coupling model of the MSRE core. The last task investigated is tritium transport modeling using the standalone SAM code. This task aimed to initiate the effort to demonstrate and validate the tritium transport model implemented in SAM. The preliminary investigation employed an MSRE model consisting of the primary loop. Three tritium transport pathways were examined including the retention in the graphite, the permeation through the HX tube wall, and the removal from the off-gas system. The results compare well with the MSRE data, but improvements are still needed on the initial conditions (i.e., the present state may not have reached equilibrium), the boundary conditions, the off-gas system modeling, and a better numerical strategy to reach the equilibrium state.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

TCF High Efficiency Anaerobic Electroporation (CRADA Final Report)

The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) researchers were co-inventors of the technology that will be used on this project and have developed a more current version of the chip and controller. JBEI will also assist with the design of the pathways and implementation of pathways on the chip. LanzaTech has developed novel gas fermentation technology that captures and utilizes greenhouse gases for production of fuels and chemicals. In contrast to traditional fermentation that uses sugars as substrate (and releases CO2 as a byproduct), gas fermentation utilizes C1 substrates carbon monoxide (CO) or CO2. This enables a diverse range of feedstock options including waste gases from industrial sources (e.g., steel mills and processing plants) or syngas generated from any biomass resource (e.g., agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, or organic industrial waste). Biomass is then gasified, allowing for maximum yields and complete carbon utilization including the recalcitrant lignocellulosic fraction that cannot be utilized in traditional sugar fermentation. To maximize the value that can be added to the array of gas resources that the LanzaTech process can use as an input, LanzaTech has pioneered genetic modification of acetogens and developed a comprehensive set of genetic tools to perform routine strain modification, including genome editing tools as CRISPR/Cas9 and libraries of validated genetic parts as promoters and terminators. Using this platform, production of over 50 new molecules have been demonstrated directly from gas. For a few selected molecules production rates and yields have been optimized and surpass production of native producers and engineered E. coli or yeast strains, but a higher throughput approach for combinatorial optimization of pathways is required to further advance synthesis of additional products in parallel.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-J-148: Tools for Development of 4D Proton CT

Purpose: To develop tools for performing 4D proton computed tomography (CT). Methods: A suitable patient with a tumor in the right lower lobe was selected from a set of 4D CT scans. The volumetric CT images formed the basis for calculating the parameters of a breathing model that allows reconstruction of a static reference CT and CT images in each breathing phase. The images were imported into the TOPAS Monte Carlo simulation platform for simulating an experimental proton CT scan with 45 projections spaced by 4 degree intervals. Each projection acquired data for 2 seconds followed by a gantry rotation for 2 seconds without acquisition. The scan covered 180 degrees with individual protons passing through a 9-cm slab of the patient’s lung covering the moving tumor. An initial proton energy sufficient for penetrating the patient from all directions was determined. Performing the proton CT simulation, TOPAS provided output of the proton energy and coordinates registered in two planes before and after the patient, respectively. The set of projection data was then used with an iterative reconstruction algorithm to generate a volumetric proton CT image set of the static reference image and the image obtained under breathing motion, respectively. Results: An initial proton energy of 230 MeV was found to be sufficient, while for an initial energy of 200 MeV a substantial number of protons did not penetrate the patient. The reconstruction of the static reference image set provided sufficient detail for treatment planning. Conclusion: We have developed tools to perform studies of proton CT in the presence of lung motion based on the TOPAS simulation toolkit. This will allow to optimize 4D reconstruction algorithms by synchronizing the acquired proton CT data with a breathing signal and utilizing a breathing model obtained prior to the proton CT scan. This research has been supported by the National Institute Of Biomedical Imaging And Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01EB013118.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

SIPMaP: A Tool for Modeling Irregular Parallel Computations in the Super Instruction Architecture

Performance modeling is becoming an increasingly important part of the parallel application development process, particularly for expensive computations that will be run on very high-end systems where resources are scarce. We describe a performance modeling tool SIPMaP (Super Instruction Processor Modeling and Prediction) developed for the Super-Instruction Architecture (SIA). The SIA is designed for applications where the dominant data structures are large multi-dimensional arrays and it comprises a DSL, the Super-Instruction Assembly Language (SIAL) that supports expressing algorithms in terms of blocks (tiles), and its runtime system Super Instruction Processor (SIP) that manages distribution and disk storage of the arrays. SIPMaP generates performance models from the SIAL source code. In comparison with many applications where useful performance models have been developed and reported, these programs are irregular and have other difficult to model characteristics such as extensive overlapping of communication and computation.

Computer Science↗
DOE OSTI2023

Design, performance, and cost savings of using GF-PC additively manufactured tooling for stamping of HSS 590 sheet metal

Conventional sheet metal forming tooling in the automotive industry is made up of hardened steel and used for mass-production. Prototype tooling made of metal is durable, but it is only used for a small number of parts despite its high cost, contributing heavily to the vehicle development cost. Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers a low-cost alternative for fabricating tooling suitable for low-volume production. Here, this study investigates the feasibility of using AM polymer composite tooling for the stamping of 1.5mm thickness HSS 590 steel sheets through a two-pronged approach – experimental and numerical analysis. Sheet metal stamping experiments were conducted with glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate (GF-PC) AM polymer tooling and their performance was evaluated based on various metrics such as tool deformation and part accuracy. Finite element simulations of the stamping process were performed, which accurately captured the tool deformations seen in experiments with the use of anisotropic material models. The effective use of simulations in optimizing process parameters to achieve the desired final part geometry is also demonstrated. The GF-PC AM polymer composite tooling was found to be well suited for low volume production applications with potential cost savings.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Summary of BISON Development and Validation Activities - NEAMS FY15 Report

The objective of the NEAMS ToolKit is to develop a “pellet-to-plant” simulation capability useful for predicting performance and safety for a broad range of nuclear reactor power systems. The NEAMS ToolKit has been organized into a Fuels Product Line (FPL) and a Reactor Product Line (RPL) and is modular in design. Within the FPL, a multiscale approach has been adopted in which simulations of fuel performance at the engineering scale are informed by material property and irradiation performance models developed from mesoscale simulations of microstructural evolution. The focus in this report is on development and validation of the engineering-scale fuel performance analysis tool within the FPL, which is BISON. This summary report contains an overview of work performed under the work package enti- tled “FY2015 NEAMS INL-Engineering Scale Fuel Performance & Interface with RPL Tools.” A first chapter identifies the specific FY-15 milestones, providing a basic description of the asso- ciated work and references to related detailed documentation. Where applicable, a representative technical result is provided. A second chapter summarizes major additional accomplishments including 1) a BISON validation paper, 2) a multiphysics coupling paper, 3) application of BI- SON to Reactivity Insertion Accident analysis and 4) use of BISON for uncertainity analysis in fuel modeling. A final chapter outlines FY-16 future work.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
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 OSTI2026

HelioScope Energy Performance Modeling Validation: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-17-00685

HelioScope is a unique solar design and energy performance modeling tool that bridges the worlds of research and industry, bringing the most rigorous methods from the performance modeling community to thousands of solar developers of all backgrounds. However, many financial institutions and municipalities are hesitant to accept the energy production modeling results of HelioScope (including shading losses) in place of costly, time-intensive, and/or redundant methods due to lack of vetting from a respected institution like NREL. We expect that the proposed validation exercises will give municipalities and financial institutions the comfort needed to incorporate HelioScope into their operations, thereby significantly reducing the needs of existing and potential HelioScope users' to otherwise obtain information that HelioScope produces automatically. Folsom Labs was selected for a Small Business Voucher from the U.S. Department of Energy for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to validate the performance of HelioScope’s simulation engine against measured PV system performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Agni: Coupling Model Analysis Tools and High-Performance Subsurface Flow and Transport Simulators for Risk and Performance Assessments

Agni is open source /community /multi platform framework for model-based analyses (SA, UQ, PE, RA, DS). Agni can be applied independently from other Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM) modules. Agni will be available as Mercurial repository (hg clone https://akuna.labworks.org/hg/Platform) including source code, manual, test and verification examples.

COMPUTER CODES↗