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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Robust metal-ceramic coaxial cable sensors for distributed temperature monitoring in fossil energy power systems

The project aims to develop a new type of low cost, robust metal-ceramic coaxial cable (MCCC) Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI) sensor and demonstrate the capability of cascading a series of FPI sensing points in a single MCCC for real-time distributed monitoring of temperature up to 1000°C. The technical accomplishments of this project include: (i) development of metal and ceramic materials for fabricating the MCCC suitable for use in high temperature (up to 1000oC) fossil fuel, (ii) design, construction and test of single point MCCC-FPI sensors for high temperature measurement at deviation within ±2.7%, (iv) demonstration of the MCCC-FPI sensors for real-time distributed temperature measurement with desired sensitivity, spatial resolution, stability, and response speed that are important to practical applications, and (v) development of a novel MCCC-FPI sensor platform for measuring high frequency dielectric constants for solids and liquids as function of temperature. Single point MCCC-FPI sensors are fabricated based on the FPI parameters, including the relationship between reflector width and reflectance as well as the inter-reflector distance for a FPI, estimated by model calculations. MCCC-FPI sensors have been made using insulators of packed ceramic powders, ceramic tubes, and air or inert gases; outer conductors of various metal tubes; inner conductors of wires of the same metal materials as the tubes used; and reflectors of dense ceramic discs, casted ceramic discs and air gaps. The insulator, conductor and reflector materials are investigated for their thermal, chemical, and structural stabilities under temperatures up to 1000°C in simulated coal-derived syngas. Based on the experimental findings, alumina tube and discs, and stainless steel tube and wire are selected for reflector, insulator and outer and inner conductors, respectively. Air or inert gases are found to be useful for reflectors (in the form of narrow groves) or insulators (in the form of empty chamber cavity between ceramic discs) in construction of MCCC-FPI sensors. Single point MCCC-FPI sensors have been fabricated using stainless steel as conductors, dense α-alumina tubes as dielectric insulators, and two air gaps in the insulator as reflectors. The MCCC-FPI sensor with air gap reflectors has been demonstrated for measuring temperature between 200 and 500°C using microwave as sensing signal in a frequency range of 2 – 8 GHz. The temperature measurement is achieved by monitoring the frequency shift (Δƒ) of a selected resonant peak of the microwave interferogram reflected from the pair of air gap reflectors. The MCCC-FPI sensor exhibited excellent linear temperature-dependence for Δƒ, good accuracy (deviation ±2.7%), and reasonable response speed (<180 s for stabilization). Thermal drifting of the sensing signal was also rather minimal for the MCCC-FPI sensors after operating for more than one week at around 500oC. MCCC-FPI sensors with each containing 2 or 3 pairs of reflectors (i.e. 2 or 3 FPIs in a single cable) have been fabricated and demonstrated for distributed temperature measurement between 250 and 550°C in a microwave frequency range of 3-6 GHz. The measurement is achieved by monitoring the frequency shift of a selected resonant peak of the reflected microwave interferogram, which is obtained by the join-time-domain signal processing method. The results demonstrate that the FPI sensing points in both the three-point and two-point MCCC sensors can measure distributed high temperature with good reproducibility and consistency in multiple runs of measurement tests. The sensor signal displays excellent linear dependence between temperature and the corresponding frequency shift. The 2-point and 3-point MCCC-FPI sensors also exhibit fast response to environmental temperature changes. A three-point MCCC-FPI sensor has been further examined for temperature measurement up to 1000°C for multiple heating-cooling cycles and the results prove that the sensor is suitable for distributed temperature measurement up to 1000°C. MCCC-FPI sensors with more than 4 FPIs point in a single line are made in two structures: the first uses alumina tube as insulation and air gaps as reflectors; and the second uses air chamber as insulation and complete circular alumina discs (2 mm-thick) as reflectors. MCCC-FPIs in neither of the two structures are able to exceed four FPIs in a cable because the reflections from the FPIs are too strong for the microwave to transmit through >4 FPIs over a long distance. Specially shaped alumina discs made by removing parts of the circular discs are found to decrease the microwave reflectance because of reduced reflection areas. However, the smallest reflectance (in terms of percentage of the incident signal) obtained in this work is as high as 7.5%, which is still too large to construct more than 10 FPIs in a single MCCC. Nevertheless, the feasibility of the proposed multipoint MCCC-FPI has been demonstrated using air insulation and 2 mm-thick low-ε r Teflon discs as reflectors on a 2 m-long cable containing 10 FPIs (with reflectance <5% on each FPI). These results indicate that the contrast of dielectric constant between the insulation and reflector has a more significant impact on the reflectance. Thus, future research efforts should also be directed to developing ceramic materials (dense or porous) with low dielectric constant values which, when used as insulation or reflector, can realize large numbers of FPIs in a single cable over a long distance. To assist the development of high temperature dielectric materials, a novel MCCC-FPI sensor platform is developed and successfully demonstrated for measuring high frequency dielectric constants for fluids, packed dielectric solids, and ceramic tube materials and determining ε r dependencies on temperature and chemical composition, etc..

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Promoting Domestic and International Consensus on Fossil Energy Technologies – Program Area 2: International Oil and Natural Gas

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy's (FE) Office of Oil and Natural Gas (FE Oil & Gas) works to achieve a more secure energy future through the diversified supply of oil and natural gas resources while minimizing environmental impacts. FE Oil & Gas strives to ensure responsible development of these resources through research, policy analysis, regulation, and international leadership. The Office of Oil and Natural Gas supports research and policy options to ensure environmentally sustainable supplies of oil and natural gas for American consumers. The program conducts international activities that support environmental protection and safety of global oil and gas production. The program also oversees the import and export of oil and natural gas. USEA will help FE Oil & Gas to promote safe and responsible development of oil and natural gas in the United States and in other countries by sharing best practices and advanced technology. This will benefit the public by ensuring reliable, clean and affordable supplies of oil and natural gas in the United States.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2011

Estimated U.S. Energy Use in 2010: Contributions from Fossil, Nuclear, and Renewable Energy

A diagram of major energy sources for each sector of the U.S. economy depicted as flows in a Sankey diagram. Proportions of fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy provided for electricity generation and ultimately used by the residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation sectors of the economy are shown. This diagram rearranges and segregates information originally published by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based on data from the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Review, 2010.

environmental & water↗
DOE OSTI2022

Step Catalysis to Synthesize Fossil-Free Ammonia at Atmospheric Pressure (Final Technical Report)

Affordable fossil-free ammonia synthesis will enable high-yield sustainable crop production for a growing world population while preserving the planet and making the best use of water and land. Simple technology amenable to intermittent operation using renewable energy will be made available through step catalysis activating dinitrogen at atmospheric pressure by nitride formation. Project objectives: (1) At the single particle level, quantify and analyze N2 activation by doped or alloyed manganese macroscopic- and nano particles at atmospheric pressure, (2) Quantify and analyze ammonia synthesis from doped or alloyed metal nitride particles when contacting them with hydrogen at atmospheric pressure, and (3) Integrate experimental data and atomic-level computational models to predict the behavior of metal alloys in nitrogen activation and subsequent ammonia synthesis.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Can a Nuclear-Assisted Biofuels System Enable Liquid Biofuels as the Economic Low-carbon Replacement for All Liquid Fossil Fuels and Hydrocarbon Feedstocks and Enable Negative Carbon Emissions?

This report integrates the results of a series of studies and workshops to address the question: Can a nuclear-assisted biofuels system enable liquid biofuels as the economic low-carbon replacement for all liquid fossil fuels and hydrocarbon feedstocks and simultaneously enable negative carbon emissions? “Economic” is defined as economically competitive relative to other low-carbon replacement options for crude oil. “All” refers to the capability to replace the 18 million barrels of oil per day used by the United States. “Nuclear-assisted” refers to the provision of massive quantities of low-carbon heat and hydrogen at the refinery to fully utilize the carbon content of the cellulosic biomass feedstocks for liquid hydrocarbon production. A system is proposed that decarbonizes about half of the U.S. economy while improving long-term soil productivity and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. In the U.S. almost half the energy consumed by the final customer is in the form of liquid hydrocarbons produced from crude oil. Liquid hydrocarbons are used as (1) an energy source, (2) a method for daily-to-seasonal energy storage, (3) a chemical feedstock, (4) a chemical reducing agent, (5) a method to enhance high-temperature heat transfer in many furnaces and industrial processes and (6) other purposes. As a consequence, the U.S. consumes ~18 million barrels of crude oil per day to produce liquid hydrocarbons. While there are substitutes for liquid hydrocarbons for some applications, our assessment is that the costs and difficulty will dramatically increase if liquid hydrocarbon use goes much below the equivalent of 10 million barrels per day of crude oil. New uses of liquid hydrocarbons to partly replace coal and natural gas could increase demand beyond the equivalent of 10 million barrels of oil per day. One can produce and burn liquid hydrocarbons from biomass without any net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Plants grow by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; thus, burning biomass does not result in any net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Biomass is typically 40% oxygen. To remove this oxygen to create hydrocarbon liquids, there are two options. The first option is to use biomass as (1) a feedstock, (2) an energy source to operate the process and (3) a supply of carbon to remove the biomass oxygen as carbon dioxide. The second option is to use external heat and hydrogen to remove the oxygen as water and produce liquid hydrocarbons. The use of massive quantities of external heat and hydrogen for hydrocarbon liquid fuels production reduces the biomass feedstock per unit of liquid hydrocarbon product by more than a factor of two reducing land use by more than a factor of two. Many cellulosic feedstocks unsuitable for liquid hydrocarbon production are viable feedstocks with external heat and hydrogen inputs. As a result, there is sufficient cellulosic feedstocks to meet U.S. and global liquid fuels hydrocarbon demand without significant impacts on food and fiber prices. The heat and hydrogen (heat plus electricity) are produced using base-load nuclear power plants—the most economic form of nuclear energy. If low-price natural gas, there is also the option of producing hydrogen from natural gas with sequestration of the carbon dioxide. The biomass is locally processed in depots to produce commodity feedstocks that can be shipped long distances to large biorefineries (250,000 barrels per day, oil equivalent) similar to existing refineries except modifications of front-end processes. The depot system enables local recycle of nutrients back to the soil. The biorefinery can produce variable quantities of liquid hydrocarbon fuels and carbon dioxide for sequestration enabling removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Preliminary estimates are that the liquid hydrocarbon costs are equivalent to crude oil at between $60 and $70 per barrel. The largest cost is for hydrogen with biomass feedstocks and refinery costs a smaller fraction of the total cost.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

H-2-SALT: Storing Fossil Energy as Hydrogen in Salt Caverns

Hydrogen storage in subsurface caverns is known as perhaps largest and longest-term energy storage system. While few such systems are currently in service (e.g., Texas; Teesside, UK), they are envisioned as being a pillar of the current energy transition that will allow intermittent power production from renewable sources (e.g., wind, solar) to be balanced with demand at grid-scale. In addition, hydrogen energy storage can allow existing fossil power plants to run more economically either by minimizing startups/shutdowns or by allowing them to take advantage of arbitrage. Finally, stored hydrogen can feed a variety of non-power users such as pipeline gas, heating, transportation, and manufacturing. The H-2-SALT paper study assessed the feasibility of a power-to-hydrogen system utilizing salt cavern storage of hydrogen in bedded salt in central Kansas, where over 750 such caverns have been constructed to date, of which approximately 350 are still in service. Legacy well and salt cavern data were collected to develop a regional geological database for two sites in Central Kansas and adjacent areas for use in more detailed geological and geomechanical site characterization efforts. This study found commercial viability and competitiveness of large-scale, electrolytic H 2 production and storage ($1.78 per kg H 2 ) that can be used for both electrical power supply to the grid during high-priced electricity periods (including co-firing with NG and fuel cell power production) and sale of H 2 for various industries, such as petrochemicals or transportation. The commercial potential of the H-2-SALT system is also relatively high because each of its components operate commercially today. It is recommended that a stratigraphic test well be drilled to collect log data and core samples that can reduce uncertainty surrounding geological and geomechanical properties of the salt beds that will be required for further cavern and energy storage system design studies.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Representation of Fossil Power Generation Technologies in NREL’s Annual Technology Baseline

This presentation was delivered at the Energy Economics USAEE/IAEE North American Conference on November 7, 2023. The presentation highlights support provided by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on the development of National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Annual Technology Baseline (ATB). The ATB documents transparent, normalized technology cost and performance assumptions using public sources. NETL's role in the development was to provide NREL with performance and cost data for select fossil-based technology classes. The ATB was released in June 2023.

Hackett, Gregory↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants – Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity: May 2025

This presentation at EPRI's annual Generation Sector Meeting during the Advanced Generation and Carbon Capture and Storage session provides an overview of the recently published Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants – Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity dated May 2025. It further connects viewers with the recently released tool/dashboard, an interactive tool that allows users to manipulate six key study parameters simultaneously for each case and visualize the impact on three metrics: 1) levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), 2) cost of CO2 captured (CCC), and 3) cost of CO2 avoided (CCA).

baseline study↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimizing the combustion synthesis of FeAlxOy catalysts for microwave-assisted thermocatalytic dehydrogenation of fossil fuels

The growing demand for hydrogen requires the development of clean and energy-efficient technologies for its synthesis. Microwave-assisted thermocatalytic dehydrogenation of fossil fuels has demonstrated the potential to produce H2 with high yield and selectivity, and simultaneously generate valuable nanostructured carbon byproducts. In prior work, iron-based alumina (FeAlxOy) catalysts for this process were made via solution combustion synthesis (SCS). However, the effect of SCS parameters on the dehydrogenation performance is not well understood. The present study investigates this by varying the SCS fuel, Fe:Al molar ratio, and heating mode. The results show subtle changes of these parameters can result in significant differences in the phase composition, specific surface area, and microwave absorbing properties of FeAlxOy, which all affect microwave-assisted dehydrogenation. Notably, H2 selectivity can be increased from 30% to 74%. Statistical testing determined that the SCS fuel used was the most significant SCS parameter affecting dehydrogenation performance.

Chanoi, Zachary A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparison of Commercial, State-of-the-Art, Fossil-Based Ammonia Production

This NETL report provides a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of current, state-of-the-art, fossil-based ammonia production processes, explicitly utilizing natural gas as the feedstock. The study thoroughly investigates three distinct configurations: conventional Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) without carbon capture, SMR integrated with carbon capture and storage (CCS), and Autothermal Reforming (ATR) also with CCS. The analysis incorporates detailed equipment cost accounting as part of its methodology. The primary objective is to meticulously evaluate the cost and performance of these established and emerging technological pathways, considering factors such as capital expenditures, operational costs, and energy consumption. While the report acknowledges and quantifies environmental impacts, its central focus remains on the economic and technical feasibility of each process design employing these current technologies. The analysis provides a direct comparison of the Levelized Cost of Ammonia (LCOA) for each pathway, revealing how the integration of CCS within these state-of-the-art systems impacts the overall production cost. The ATR+CCS configuration, representing an advanced approach, emerged with a slightly more favorable LCOA compared to SMR+CCS. This benefit was attributed to its inherent process efficiencies, high carbon capture rates, and economy of scale advantages. The report details the energy consumption profiles for each case, including metrics like net energy consumption and thermal efficiency, which are critical for assessing the performance of these contemporary industrial processes. Sensitivity analyses further explore how variables such as natural gas price, capital costs, and capacity factors influence the LCOA across all scenarios, offering critical insights into the economic robustness and scalability of these current ammonia production technologies.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Core Model Proposal #368: Adding fugitive CO2 emissions from fossil resources

This Core Model Proposal adds fugitive CO2 emissions from coal, crude oil, and natural gas resources to the data system. It also includes an improved method to replace outlier emissions factors for fossil resources. Lastly, it makes some minor changes to the data system and Model Interface headers to fix some inconsistencies in how resource technologies are named in the XMLs.

core model proposal↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fossil Corals With Various Degrees of Preservation Can Retain Information About Biomineralization-Related Organic Material

Scleractinian corals typically form a robust calcium carbonate skeleton beneath their living tissue. This skeleton, through its trace element composition and isotope ratios, may record environmental conditions of water surrounding the coral animal. While bulk unrecrystallized aragonite coral skeletons can be used to reconstruct past ocean conditions, corals that have undergone significant diagenesis have altered geochemical signatures and are typically assumed to retain insufficient meaningful information for bulk or macrostructural analysis. However, partially recrystallized skeletons may retain organic molecular components of the skeletal organic matrix (SOM), which is secreted by the animal and directs aspects of the biomineralization process. Some SOM proteins can be retained in fossil corals and can potentially provide past oceanographic, ecological, and indirect genetic information. Here, we describe a dataset of scleractinian coral skeletons, aged from modern to Cretaceous plus a Carboniferous rugosan, characterized for their crystallography, trace element composition, and amino acid compositions. We show that some specimens that are partially recrystallized to calcite yield potentially useful biochemical information whereas complete recrystalization or silicification leads to significant alteration or loss of the SOM fraction. Our analysis is informative to biochemical-paleoceanographers as it suggests that previously discounted partially recrystallized coral skeletons may indeed still be useful at the microstructural level.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

We Must Stop Fossil Fuel Emissions to Protect Permafrost Ecosystems

Climate change is an existential threat to the vast global permafrost domain. The diverse human cultures, ecological communities, and biogeochemical cycles of this tenth of the planet depend on the persistence of frozen conditions. The complexity, immensity, and remoteness of permafrost ecosystems make it difficult to grasp how quickly things are changing and what can be done about it. Here, we summarize terrestrial and marine changes in the permafrost domain with an eye toward global policy. While many questions remain, we know that continued fossil fuel burning is incompatible with the continued existence of the permafrost domain as we know it. If we fail to protect permafrost ecosystems, the consequences for human rights, biosphere integrity, and global climate will be severe. The policy implications are clear: the faster we reduce human emissions and draw down atmospheric CO 2 , the more of the permafrost domain we can save. Emissions reduction targets must be strengthened and accompanied by support for local peoples to protect intact ecological communities and natural carbon sinks within the permafrost domain. Some proposed geoengineering interventions such as solar shading, surface albedo modification, and vegetation manipulations are unproven and may exacerbate environmental injustice without providing lasting protection. Conversely, astounding advances in renewable energy have reopened viable pathways to halve human greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and effectively stop them well before 2050. We call on leaders, corporations, researchers, and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the global importance of the permafrost domain and work towards climate restoration and empowerment of Indigenous and immigrant communities in these regions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

The entire virial radius of the fossil cluster RXJ 1159 + 5531. II. Dark matter and baryon fraction

In this second paper on the entire virial region of the relaxed fossil cluster RXJ 1159+5531, we present a hydrostatic analysis of the azimuthally averaged hot intracluster medium (ICM) using the results of Su et al. For a model consisting of ICM, stellar mass from the central galaxy (BCG), and an NFW dark matter (DM) halo, we obtain a good description of the projected radial profiles of ICM emissivity and temperature that yield precise constraints on the total mass profile. The BCG stellar mass component is clearly detected with a K-band stellar mass-to-light ratio, M{sub ⋆}/L{sub K}=0.61±0.11 M{sub ⊙}/L{sub ⊙}, consistent with stellar population synthesis models for a Milky Way initial mass function. We obtain a halo concentration, c{sub 200}=8.4±1.0, and virial mass, M{sub 200}=(7.9±0.6)×10{sup 13} M{sub ⊙}. For its mass, the inferred concentration is larger than most relaxed halos produced in cosmological simulations with Planck parameters, consistent with RXJ 1159+5531 forming earlier than the general halo population. The baryon fraction at r {sub 200}, f{sub b,200}=0.134±0.007, is slightly below the Planck value (0.155) for the universe. However, when we take into account the additional stellar baryons associated with non-central galaxies and the uncertain intracluster light (ICL), f{sub b,200} increases by ≈0.015, consistent with the cosmic value and therefore no significant baryon loss from the system. The total mass profile is nearly a power law over a large radial range (∼0.2–10 R {sub e}), where the corresponding density slope α obeys the α−R{sub e} scaling relation for massive early-type galaxies. Performing our analysis in the context of MOND still requires a large DM fraction (85.0%±2.5% at r = 100 kpc) similar to that obtained using the standard Newtonian approach. The detection of a plausible stellar BCG mass component distinct from the NFW DM halo in the total gravitational potential suggests that ∼10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙} represents the mass scale above which dissipation is unimportant in the formation of the central regions of galaxy clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Gridded uncertainty in fossil fuel carbon dioxide emission maps, a CDIAC example

Due to a current lack of physical measurements at appropriate spatial and temporal scales, all current global maps and distributions of fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO2) emissions use one or more proxies to distribute those emissions. These proxies and distribution schemes introduce additional uncertainty into these maps. This paper examines the uncertainty associated with the magnitude of gridded FFCO2 emissions. This uncertainty is gridded at the same spatial and temporal scales as the mass magnitude maps. This gridded uncertainty includes uncertainty contributions from the spatial, temporal, proxy, and magnitude components used to create the magnitude map of FFCO2 emissions. Throughout this process, when assumptions had to be made or expert judgment employed, the general tendency in most cases was toward overestimating or increasing the magnitude of uncertainty. The results of the uncertainty analysis reveal a range of 4–190 %, with an average of 120 % (2 σ ) for populated and FFCO2-emitting grid spaces over annual timescales. This paper also describes a methodological change specific to the creation of the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) FFCO2 emission maps: the change from a temporally fixed population proxy to a temporally varying population proxy.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Integrated capture of fossil fuel gas pollutants including CO.sub.2 with energy recovery

A method of reducing pollutants exhausted into the atmosphere from the combustion of fossil fuels. The disclosed process removes nitrogen from air for combustion, separates the solid combustion products from the gases and vapors and can capture the entire vapor/gas stream for sequestration leaving near-zero emissions. The invention produces up to three captured material streams. The first stream is contaminant-laden water containing SO.sub.x, residual NO.sub.x particulates and particulate-bound Hg and other trace contaminants. The second stream can be a low-volume flue gas stream containing N.sub.2 and O.sub.2 if CO2 purification is needed. The final product stream is a mixture comprising predominantly CO.sub.2 with smaller amounts of H.sub.2O, Ar, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, SO.sub.X, NO.sub.X, Hg, and other trace gases.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗