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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 289 records · Page 16

Techno-Economic and Deployment Analysis of Fossil Fuel-Based Power Generation with Integrated Energy Storage

Most existing coal-fired power plants were designed for sustained operation at full load to maximize efficiency, reliability, and revenues. Depending on plant type and design, these plants can adjust output within a fixed range in response to plant or market conditions. The need for flexibility driven by increased penetration of variable and non-dispatchable power generation such as wind and solar is shifting traditional mission profile of thermoelectric power plants in three ways: more frequent shutdowns when market or grid conditions warrant, more aggressive load ramp rates (rate of output change), and lower minimum sustainable load, which provides a wider operating range and helps avoid costly plant shutdowns. The recent studies have shown that flexibility of a coal-fired power plant can be improved by the energy storage. The objective of this project was to analyze a set of energy storage options (technologies) and determine their impact on flexibility and economics of a representative coal-fired power plant. The effect of five Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) integrated with a coal power plant on plant flexibility and economics was investigated in this study. The results obtained in this project and presented in this report showed that ESS integrated with a thermal power plant improves plant flexibility and participation in the Energy and Ancillary Services markets and also improves plant financial performance.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Development of a Pipe Crawler Inspection Tool for Fossil Energy Power Plants

This document presents the final report of the research activity completed during the four years of the project and includes the major challenges and accomplishments. The report presents specific details of the engineering processes and methodologies used to develop the robotic crawler and complete the project milestones. In particular, the report includes sections that address the problem statement, background, development of crawler modules, bench scale testing, simulation development and full scale testing. The report concludes with a discussion on potential paths forward and concluding remarks.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Ultra-Low Disorder Graphene Quantum Dot-Based Spin Qubits for Cyber Secure Fossil Energy Infrastructure (Final Technical Report)

The overarching goal of the proposed project is to demonstrate the feasibility of creating ultralow local disorder graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-based high-speed, high-fidelity spin quantum bits (qubits) for extremely cyber-secure coal energy plants of the future. Despite their inherent benefits, the coherence times in the state-of-the-art GQD qubits are still low primarily due to the local disorder in GQD devices generated during lithographic fabrication of GQDs. Hence, the focus of this research is to prepare ultralow disorder GQDs (e.g., edge roughness ~0.5nm) and evaluate the low temperature (~mK) charge/spin transport characteristics of the engineered GQD qubit platform. To achieve minimal disorder in GQD qubits, we employ a novel approach that combines nanotomy (novel GQD fabrication technique developed by the PI) and scanning probe microscopy-atomic oxidation lithography (SPM-AOL).

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Searching for fossil evidence of AGN feedback in WISE-selected stripe-82 galaxies by measuring the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with the atacama cosmology telescope

We directly measure the thermal energy of the gas surrounding galaxies through the thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (tSZ) effect. We perform a stacking analysis of microwave background images from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, around 1179 massive quiescent elliptical galaxies at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 1.0 (“low-z”) and 3274 galaxies at 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 1.5 (“high-z”), selected using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer All-Sky Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) within the SDSS Stripe-82 field. The gas surrounding these galaxies is expected to contain energy from past episodes of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, and after using modeling to subtract undetected contaminants, we detect a tSZ signal at a significance of 0.9σ for our low-z galaxies and 1.8σ for our high-z galaxies. We then include data from the high-frequency Planck bands for a subset of 227 low-z galaxies and 529 high-z galaxies and find low-z and high-z tSZ detections of 1.0σ and 1.5σ, respectively. These results indicate an average thermal heating around these galaxies of (5.6{sub −5.6}{sup +5.9})×10{sup 60} erg for our low-z galaxies and (7.0{sub −4.4}{sup +4.7})×10{sup 60} erg for our high-z galaxies. Based on simple heating models, these results are consistent with gravitational heating without additional heating due to AGN feedback.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Stratigraphic and structural controls on groundwater flow in an outcropping fossil fan delta: the case of Sant Llorenç del Munt range (NE Spain)

Hydrogeological models of mountain regions present the opportunity to understand the role of geological factors on groundwater resources. The effects of sedimentary facies and fracture distribution on groundwater flow and resource exploitation studied in the ancient fan delta of Sant Llorenç de Munt (central Catalonia, Spain) by integrating geological field observations (using sequence stratigraphy methods) and hydrogeological data (pumping tests, hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes). A comprehensive analysis of data portrays the massif as a single unit, constituted by different compartments determined by specific layers and sets of fractures. Two distinct flow systems—local and regional—are identified based on pumping test analysis as well as hydrochemical and isotopic data. Drawdown curves derived from pumping tests indicate that the behavior of the saturated layers, whose main porosity is given by the fracture network, corresponds to a confined aquifer. Pumping tests also reflect a double porosity within the system and the occurrence of impervious boundaries that support a compartmentalized model for the whole aquifer system. Hydrochemical data and associated spatial evolution show the result of water–rock interaction along the flow lines. Concentration of magnesium, derived from dolomite dissolution, is a tracer of the flow-path along distinct stratigraphic units. Water stable isotopes indicate that evaporation (near a 5% loss) occurs in a thick unsaturated zone within the massif before infiltration reaches the water table. The hydrogeological analysis of this outcropping system provides a methodology for the conceptualization of groundwater flow in similar buried systems where logging and hydrogeological information are scarce.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗