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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

Fusion of Experiments and Simulations for Real-Time Identification of Pipeline Defects

In this study, we explored fusion of experiments and simulations for real time identification of pipeline defects across physical and non-physical domains. The challenges associated to data processing were addressed and a combined classification models was presented via CNN models. In addition, regression model based on XGBOOST is built to determine the defect location and defect dimension from data-driven features of guided wave signals captured by SMS fiber optic sensor.

deep learning↗

Integration and Demonstration of Monitoring, Modeling, and Prediction of DV-1 Amendment Performance at the Bench Scale: DV-1 Amendment Demonstration

During fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office commissioned Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to conduct applied research aimed at reducing the cost, time, and uncertainty associated with in situ treatment of vadose zone contaminants at the Hanford Site. This report outlines the integration of three key research efforts into a meso-scale demonstration designed to advance field-scale solutions that aim to (1) optimize the delivery of chemical amendments to contaminated soils, (2) reduce uncertainty in amendment delivery performance assessment using advanced monitoring techniques, and (3) provide real-time insights into when and where amendment-induced precipitation reactions occur in the subsurface. To achieve these objectives, the tank-scale (~ 1 cubic meter) Geophysical Imaging of Flow and Transport (GIFT) system was developed. GIFT enables experimental testing of amendment delivery while incorporating automated multi-modal monitoring approaches, including pressure measurements, direct fluid sampling, and remote time-lapse geophysical imaging. The data generated from these monitoring techniques will serve as inputs for a generative artificial-intelligence-driven digital twin – a numerical simulation model designed to honor observed data while quantifying uncertainty in simulation accuracy. Using this simulator, researchers will refine an amendment injection strategy to maximize delivery efficiency within a low-permeability soil zone. Monitoring data will be interpreted through simulated outputs to enhance understanding of the injection process. The efficacy of this integrated approach will be evaluated through direct sampling at the conclusion of the experiment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Insights Into On-Demand Transit: A Case Study of Houston METRO's curb2curb Service

As modern on-demand transit (ODT) deployments increase, the insights gained from studying real-world systems prove more useful. In this study, a shared ODT system called "METRO curb2curb" in the suburbs of Houston, Texas was studied, with a particular focus on the Missouri City zone, which has the highest ridership out of the four total zones. The Missouri City zone is 18 square miles with an average daily ridership of nearly 400 as of November 2024. In order to gain a passenger perspective, data collection was performed through using the ODT system first-hand, completing 50 rides in March and April of 2023. These rides included a mix of three different types of on-demand travel accommodations - 1.) advance bookings (30 min - 2 hours ahead), 2.) as-soon-as-possible / real-time dispatch bookings, and 3.) no-reservation trips at two designated "anchor points." Wait and travel time were collected for each ride. Anecdotal findings related to ease of locating the driver/vehicle, the process of booking a ride, and popular trip purposes were also documented. This study provides an overview of the METRO curb2curb system, including its history, service provider, service area, ridership, booking options, wait time, and travel time. Intricacies related to different definitions of wait time are included. Finally, relevant considerations for automating the on-demand transit system and discussed.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Describing Point Defect Topology in 2D Energy Materials Through Computer Vision

Point defects such as vacancies and impurity atoms strongly impact the performance of 2D materials. Traditional efforts often rely on manual detection, a process that is time-intensive, prone to human error, and challenging to scale. Here we leverage machine learning (ML) methods to identify and quantify vacancies within 2D transition metal carbides (Ti3C2, MXenes), aiming to expedite detection while improving accuracy. MXenes exhibit valuable defect-defined electrochemical properties, but we currently lack statistical understanding of defect topology needed to fully harness these materials. Here we employ a convolutional neural network for semantic segmentation of experimental MXene images, opening an opportunity to conduct a rigorous statistical study on defect hierarchy while investigating local relaxation in the lattice. We show how the integration of ML can yield fundamental insight into point defects, providing a powerful tool that will play an increasingly crucial role in the future of materials science. ML is often not just a matter of straightforward application, and pretrained models proved ineffective in this case. Instead, we trained our own neural network (NN) and applied data augmentation techniques and fine-tuning to the training dataset. Since labeled microscopy data is often scarce, we developed training data from a previously published wide-frame MXene image, using customized Gaussian fitting to locate atomic positions. Our trained model was then applied to a large dataset of experimental images, enabling a statistical study of defect configurations across three samples prepared with different HF etchant concentrations (5%, 9.1%, and 12.5%), as shown in Fig. 1. This also allowed us to investigate local strain around vacancies, though we find that we are limited by the precision of measurements using high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) images, as shown in Fig. 2. This study demonstrates how ML enables large-scale, quantitative analysis of atomic defects - an otherwise infeasible task with traditional methods. While our NN was specialized for Ti3C2 MXenes, the pipeline we developed provides a foundation for future ML models tailored to other materials. Ultimately, we envision embedding the NN onto the microscope to give real-time feedback to the user. To make this a reality, continued work is necessary to fully understand the NN's capabilities and limitations. This study gets one step closer to our goals of automated experimentation moving away from traditional methods of manual labeling. As ML capabilities advance, we hope to continue adapting and applying these techniques in microscopy.

2D materials↗

Towards Online Machine Learning in DUNE Data Acquisition

Processing the large volumes of data produced by liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments presents a significant challenge, especially those at the scale of DUNE. This is a particular challenge when aiming to trigger on low-energy neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae, which are typically buried in a high-rate radiological background. To enable real-time event selection suitable for such rare signals, we are developing machine learning based data filtering methods. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, we implemented such pipeline using the ICEBERG detector at Fermilab as a small-scale LArTPC, with a focus on identifying Michel electrons as a proxy for low-energy neutrino interactions. This poster will present the current status of integrating these machine learning models into the data acquisition (DAQ) system of this detector.

Dalager, Olivia [Fermilab]↗

Resilience Through Data-Driven, Intelligent Designed Control: A Formal Methods Approach

The PNNL and GTRI team developed a strategy to integrate temporal logic rule specification for detection of cyber-intrusion in the source code and control algorithms of CPS using advanced cyber-data. The GTRI team utilized its capabilities in rule synthesis and temporal logic specifications for software assurance and verification to detect and predict impact of cyber-intrusions and malware in the computational and control algorithms of cyber-physical systems. The team also developed a testing and verification approach that could be used to validate the suggested approach against a realistic use-case CPS showcasing improvements in system impact prediction performance. Temporal logic offers a compact expression of events in absolute and relative time and has a formalized translation to state machines. As such, temporal logic rules can feasibly be synthesized to any system as a rule engine, with the process being formally verified to be correct. The goal here is to utilize temporal logic rules to detect cyber-attacks and manipulations in the computational algorithms and provide real-time software assurance and verification guarantees.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Study on Application of Distributed Network of Sensors with List Mode for NMAC Literature Review

Nuclear material accounting and control (NMAC) for nuclear security detects, deters, and resolves questions related to unauthorized removal (i.e. theft) or misuse of nuclear material. NMAC also serves as a key insider threat mitigation measure and aids in recovery of nuclear material that is missing. Effective nuclear security depends on NMAC for timely and accurate information about nuclear material types, quantities, and locations. Bulk nuclear material processing facilities, however, present unique challenges for effective NMAC due to the presence of large quantities of material in-process and the accumulation of residual material holdup within process equipment. These holdup accumulations can obscure accurate physical inventory taking and complicate efforts to resolve NMAC irregularities at the facility level. Bulk material monitoring systems often rely on material balance calculations and indirect measurement techniques, which may mask protracted theft of smaller amounts of nuclear material. These monitoring limitations have generated increased interest in continuous monitoring technologies, including distributed non-destructive assay (NDA) sensor networks capable of providing real-time or near-real-time measurement of material movement and accumulation within bulk processing environments. Recent advancements in distributed networks of NDA radiation detectors and sensing technologies provide an opportunity to address these limitations. Although such distributed sensor networks have been implemented in select facilities for IAEA Safeguards applications, their potential for supporting NMAC functions specifically tailored to nuclear security objectives remains largely unexplored. Furthermore, emerging list-mode data acquisition technologies have reached high technology readiness levels, enabling time-correlated detection of nuclear events across multiple temporal scales. These capabilities provide enhanced opportunities for accurate holdup measurement, continuous process monitoring, and improved detection of material theft or misuse over time. The increasing global expansion of civil nuclear power and development of related bulk material processing facilities, including those supporting high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and other advanced reactor fuel fabrication, further increases the need for advanced measurement and monitoring strategies for NMAC.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Overview of IMPACT Data Acquisition System and Data Reduction Process

This report documents the development of the data acquisition system (DAS) and data reduction methodologies for the Irradiated Material Property Accelerated Characterization Test (IMPACT) experiment at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The IMPACT experiment is designed to enable in-pile measurement of thermal conductivity in metallic nuclear fuels, specifically U-10Zr, using an instrumented thermal conductivity probe. The DAS supports both passive temperature monitoring and active thermal interrogation of the probe through controlled AC and DC excitation. Significant modifications to laboratory-scale systems were required to accommodate the higher resistance paths associated with the in-pile application. Custom electronics and relay-controlled measurement sequencing were developed to enable the measurement and sufficient power delivery to the sensing region. A reduced-order, axisymmetric thermal model based on the thermal quadrupoles method is presented to support data interpretation. This model enables efficient evaluation of transient heat transfer behavior and facilitates solution of the inverse problem required to extract thermal properties from measured signals. Multiple boundary condition formulations are discussed to address varying experimental time scales and geometries. Additionally, machine learning techniques are introduced to support data reduction and improve confidence in inverse solutions. Convolutional neural networks are applied to identify the presence of gas gaps and other evolving geometric features that significantly impact thermal response during irradiation. These efforts contribute to the broader integration of digital twin frameworks and real-time modeling capabilities within the Advanced Fuels Campaign.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗

Dynamic Control of Sodium Cold Trap Purification Temperature Using LSTM System Identification

This study investigates the dynamic regulation of the sodium cold trap purification temperature at Argonne National Laboratory’s liquid sodium test facility, employing long short-term memory (LSTM) system identification techniques. The investigation introduces an innovative hybrid approach by integrating model predictive control (MPC) based on first principles dynamic models with a multi-step time–frequency LSTM model in predicting the temperature profiles of a sodium cold trap purification system. The long short-term memory–model predictive controller (LSTM-MPC) model employs a sliding window scheme to gather training samples for multi-step prediction, leveraging historical data to construct predictive models that capture the non-linearities of the complex system dynamics without explicitly modeling the underlying physical processes. The performance of the LSTM-MPC and MPC were evaluated through simulation experiments, where both models were assessed on their capacity to maintain the cold trap temperature within predefined set-points while minimizing deviations and overshoots. Results obtained show how the data-driven LSTM-MPC model demonstrates stability and adaptability. In contrast, the traditional MPC model exhibits irregularities, particularly evident as overshoots around set-point limits, which can potentially compromise its effectiveness over long prediction time intervals. The findings obtained offer valuable insights into integrating data-driven techniques for enhancing real-time monitoring systems.

LSTM-MPC↗

Spatiotemporal Downscaling Model for Solar Irradiance Forecast Using Nearest-Neighbor Random Forest and Gaussian Process

Accurate solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity estimation requires high-resolution, site-specific solar irradiance data to account for localized variability. However, global datasets, such as the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB), provide regional averages that fail to capture the fine-scale fluctuations critical for large-scale grid integration. This limitation is particularly relevant in the context of increasing distributed energy resources (DERs) penetration, such as rooftop PV. Additionally, it is critical to the implementation of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 2222, which facilitates DER participation in U.S. bulk power markets. To address this challenge, this study evaluates Nearest-Neighbor Random Forest (NNRF) and Nearest-Neighbor Gaussian Process (NNGP) models for spatiotemporal downscaling of global solar irradiance data. By leveraging historical irradiance and meteorological data, these models incorporate spatial, temporal, and feature-based correlations to enhance local irradiance predictions. The NNRF model, a machine-learning approach, prioritizes computational efficiency and predictive accuracy, while the NNGP model offers a level of interpretability and prediction uncertainty by numerically quantifying correlations and dependencies in the data. Model validation was conducted using day-ahead predictions. The results showed that the average Goodness of Fit (GoF) of the NNRF model of 90.61% across all eight sites outperformed the GoF of the NNGP of 85.88%. Additionally, the computational speed of NNRF was 2.5 times faster than the NNGP. Finally, the NNGP displayed polynomial scaling while the NNRF scaled linearly with increasing number of nearest neighbors. Additional validation of the model on five sites in Puerto Rico further confirmed the superiority of the NNRF model over the NNGP model. These findings highlight the robustness and computational efficiency of NNRF for large-scale solar irradiance downscaling, making it a strong candidate for improving PV capacity estimation and real-time electricity market integration for DERs.

Asiedu, Shadrack (ORCID:0009000646004826)↗

Prediction of Silicon Content in a Blast Furnace via Machine Learning: A Comprehensive Processing and Modeling Pipeline

Silicon content plays an important role in determining the operational efficiency of blast furnaces (BFs) and their downstream processes in integrated steelmaking; however, existing sampling methods and first-principles models are somewhat limited in their capability and flexibility. Current data-based prediction models primarily rely on a limited set of manually selected furnace parameters. Additionally, different BFs present a diverse set of operating parameters and state variables that are known to directly influence the hot metal’s silicon content, such as fuel injection, blast temperature, and raw material charge composition, among other process variables that have their own impacts. The expansiveness of the parameter set adds complexity to parameter selection and processing. This highlights the need for a comprehensive methodology to integrate and select from all relevant parameters for accurate silicon content prediction. Providing accurate silicon content predictions would enable operators to adjust furnace conditions dynamically, improving safety and reducing economic risk. To address these issues, a two-stage approach is proposed. First, a generalized data processing scheme is proposed to accommodate diverse furnace parameters. Second, a robust modeling pipeline is used to establish a machine learning (ML) model capable of predicting hot metal silicon content with reasonable accuracy. The method employed herein predicted the average Si content of the upcoming furnace cast with an accuracy of 91% among 200 target predictions for a specific furnace provisioned by the XGBoost model. This prediction is achieved using only the past shift’s operating conditions, which should be available in real time. This performance provides a strong baseline for the modeling approach with potential for further improvement through provision of real-time features.

Chemistry↗

Accurate Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Arbitrary Time-Variant Thermal Profile

Ultrasonic thickness measurement of mechanical structures is one of the most popular and commonly used nondestructive methods for various kinds of process control and corrosion monitoring. With ultrasonic propagation speed being temperature-dependent, the thickness measurement can be performed reliably only when the thermal profile is completely known. Most conventional techniques assume the temperature of the test structure is uniform and at room temperature across its thickness. Such assumptions may lead to large errors in the thickness measurement, especially when there are significant temperature variations across the thickness. State-of-the-art techniques use external temperature measurements or implement iterative methods to compensate for the unknown thermal profiles. However, such techniques produce unsatisfactory results when the heat distribution is complex or varies rapidly with time. In this work, we propose a two-sensors technique, using both compressive and shear excitations, with a non-iterative rapid data processing method for accurate thickness measurement under arbitrary time-variant thermal profile. The independent behavior of shear and compressive waves is used to formulate a real-time thickness estimation technique. The developed technique is experimentally validated on a steel plate with fixed acoustic sensors. Test results show that the error in thickness estimation can be reduced by up to 98% compared to conventional thickness gauging methods.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Synthesis of ARM User Facility Surface Rainfall Datasets to Construct a Best Estimate Value Added Product (PrecipBE)

Surface precipitation measurements are essential for Earth system model (ESM) evaluation and understanding cloud processes. An ever-growing need for robust, temporally evolving, and easy-to-use statistical datasets provides motivation for a baseline ground-based precipitation properties data product. The U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility operates an extensive suite of precipitation instruments with various sensitivities and operating mechanisms, which render the decision of which instrument to use based on one or more fixed thresholds challenging and prone to errors and bias. Using a long-term instrument inter-comparison from a unique per-precipitation event perspective, rather than instantaneous sample comparison, we demonstrate that ARM rainfall-measuring instruments are generally consistent with each other at the statistical level. Inter-instrument deviations at the single event level can be large, especially for specific rainfall event properties such as maximum precipitation rates. A machine-learning (ML) analysis using a random forest regressor indicates that in some cases, depending on instrument, local site climatology, and/or specific deployment configuration, certain atmospheric state variables influence the measured quantities in an unpredictable manner. Thus, a-priori weighting of different instruments does not necessarily lead to more accurate and less biased synthesis of instrument data. These results motivate the design of the ARM precipitation best-estimate (PrecipBE) value-added product, which incorporates all valid precipitation data while considering data quality and other instrument limitations. PrecipBE consists of time series and tabular statistics datasets in an easy-to-use and insightful per-precipitation event format. It provides a large set of precipitation event properties supplemented with ancillary data from ARM datasets that correspond to the detected precipitation events. We describe the PrecipBE algorithm and demonstrate its use via the examination of a single-day output as well as a long-term trend analysis of precipitation events at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) site, covering more than 30 years of data. The trend analysis tentatively suggests a long-term temporal tendency for mainly shorter and less intense precipitation events at the SGP site, but a long-term increase in annual rainfall by more than 36 mm (5 %) per decade. This rainfall trend is catalyzed primarily by more extreme event properties of relatively rare, intense precipitation events, with event total and 1 min maximum precipitation rate at a 1 year timeframe increasing up to 5 mm and 9 mm h −1 (several percent) per decade, respectively. While the currently available PrecipBE datasets (at https://adc.arm.gov/discovery/, last access: 8 December 2025) cover rainfall from multiple ARM deployments up to March 2025, PrecipBE is planned to be expanded to include solid-phase precipitation and will soon become an operational product with a several-day lag from real-time. We invite the ARM user community to leverage this new product and welcome user feedback to further enhance the dataset.

Silber, Israel [Pacific Northwest National Laborat↗

Innovating the next generation of commercial smart building software

Nearly 30% of commercial building energy use is wasted due to equipment faults and HVAC controls problems. The result is increased emissions, compromised comfort and productivity, and less reliable coordination of building power needs with a clean grid. The energy impact alone represents $17 billion in potential savings. Today’s smart building software provides a robust solution to address these operational deficiencies. Energy management and information systems (EMIS) are saving up to 9% on average, with two-year paybacks. They are being incorporated into energy management processes, commissioning services, and utility programs. As effective as they are, two barriers prevent even deeper benefits; limited personnel to fix problems once they are identified, and the expense and time to manually implement changes in control systems. In partnership with the research community, the EMIS industry is developing new capabilities to overcome these barriers. Moving beyond siloed products for either fault detection and diagnostics, or optimal control, these new capabilities empower users to not only automatically identify faults, but also to push corrective action, and control improvements to their buildings. In this paper, several areas for enhancements are documented: ‘one-time’ correction of faults such as setpoints, schedules, and economizer lockouts; short-term active testing for automated proportional integral derivative (PID) loop tuning and functional testing; and continuous supervisory control for demand flexibility and year-round efficiency. Results are presented from a pair of partner implementations out of a dozen providers integrating these enhancements into their products, including field tests from across the country, and insights into operator acceptance and integration into operations and maintenance practices.

Casillas, Armando↗

System and method for wave prediction

A method and system for prediction of wave properties include collecting time series data streams from one or more wave measurement devices and processing the data using a wave-prediction algorithm to identify the frequency components of the data and compute wave parameters. The wave-field is propagated in space and time to predict wave height, speed, and velocity at a target location. A sliding window approach is used to continuously update the prediction in real-time.

Previsic, Mirko↗

Fusion of Experiments and Simulations for Real-Time Identification of Pipeline Defects

In this study, we explored fusion of experiments and simulations for real time identification of pipeline defects across physical and non-physical domains. The challenges associated to data processing were addressed and a combined classification models was presented via CNN models. In addition, regression model based on XGBOOST is built to determine the defect location and defect dimension from data-driven features of guided wave signals captured by SMS fiber optic sensor.

deep learning↗

Predicting Initial Trans-Membrane Pressure for Optimized Operations in UF Unit Using Random Forest

With the growing scarcity of freshwater, innovative process design mechanisms like Reverse Osmosis (RO) are increasingly gaining attention among water treatment utilities to address the rising demand. Ensuring reliable water production necessitates efficient resource utilization, minimizing downtime in (ultra-filtration) UF systems. Recent advancements in machine learning (ML) have enabled the development of accurate data-driven models for Model Predictive Control (MPC), often requiring minimal prior knowledge of underlying physical processes. In this study, we present predictive regression models based on Random Forest (RF) and Auto-Regressive (AR) approaches to forecast the initial Trans-Membrane Pressure (TMP) for each filtration cycle in data generated by Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) systems. The proposed RF-based model demonstrates superior performance compared to baseline methods, including historical mean, Last Observation Carried Forward (LOCF), and naïve AR models, across various forecasting horizons in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) metric. To evaluate how different classes of process variables contribute to TMP dynamics over time, we examine the feature importance of independent covariates across multiple forecast horizons. This analysis provides insight into the temporal relevance of operational and sensor-derived features, guiding control and monitoring strategies. Additionally, the impact of hyperparameter tuning on TMP prediction performance is studied for both direct and recursive RF modelling approaches across increasing forecast horizons. Accurate prediction of initial TMP is critical for optimizing RO operations, as it enables the development of robust modelling frameworks by accurately estimating membrane fouling trends, thereby enhancing process efficiency and long-term reliability. The demonstrated efficacy of the RF-based approach highlights its potential as a tool for real-time decision-making in water treatment systems, paving the way for advanced process optimization and sustainable water resource management.

Mukherjee, Subrata [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000309930338)↗

Insights Into On-Demand Transit: A Case Study of Houston METRO's curb2curb Transit Services: Preprint

As modern on-demand transit (ODT) deployments increase, the insights gained from studying real-world systems prove more useful. In this study, a shared ODT system called "METRO curb2curb" in the suburbs of Houston, Texas was studied, with a particular focus on the Missouri City zone, which has the highest ridership out of the four total zones in which the system operates. The Missouri City zone spans 18 square miles with an average daily ridership of nearly 400 as of November 2024. In order to gain a passenger perspective, data collection was performed through using the ODT system first-hand, completing 50 rides in March and April of 2023. These rides included a mix of three different types of on-demand travel accommodations - 1.) advance bookings (30 min - 2 hours ahead), 2.) as-soon-as-possible / real-time dispatch bookings, and 3.) no-reservation trips at two designated "anchor points." Wait and travel time were collected for each ride. Anecdotal findings related to ease of locating the driver/vehicle, the process of booking a ride, and popular trip purposes were also documented. This study provides an overview of the METRO curb2curb system, including its history, service provider, service area, ridership, booking options, wait time, and travel time. Intricacies related to different definitions of wait time are included. Finally, relevant considerations for automating the on-demand transit system and discussed.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗