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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

SECARB-USA: Preliminary Regional Commercialization Plan (Task 4.4.a)

The SECARB-USA region refers to the states in the southeastern portion of the United States including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, eastern Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, eastern Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. This region is a hub for economic activity and accordingly emits almost 1 Gtpa of CO 2 which is the motivation for the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This preliminary commercialization plan reviews the status of commercialization of CCS within the region, outlines the infrastructure buildout to achieve CO 2 reduction goals by 2050 described by the Los Alamos National Lab in Task 4.1.b (see the Task 4.1.b “Technoeconomic Analysis of Infrastructure Buildout Scenarios” report), and provides an early estimate of the economic activity and employment creation resulting from the increase in CCS activity. Additionally, this report addresses the challenges associated with commercializing CCS within the region at a large scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

CA Special Studies: Updates to the Groundwater Pathway Radiological Dose

This environmental calculation file (ECF) summarizes the groundwater pathway exposure assumptions and methodologies used to revise radionuclide specific unit dose factors (UDFs) published in CP-64491, Hanford Site Composite Analysis Data Package – Exposure Scenarios and Radionuclide Specific Dose Conversion Factors. Specifically, this ECF describes the updated exposure-related parameters used to calculate radionuclide specific UDFs based on recommendations from the Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility Federal Review Group (LFRG) and updates to Adult External DCFs included in EPA 402-R-93-081, External Exposure to Radionuclides in Air, Water, and Soil hereinafter called Federal Guidance Report [FGR]).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

LA100 Equity Strategies. Chapter 9: Equitable Community Solar Access and Benefits

The LA100 Equity Strategies project integrates community guidance with robust research, modeling, and analysis to identify strategy options that can increase equitable outcomes in Los Angeles' clean energy transition. This chapter focuses on community solar as a means to provide equitable access to local solar and storage benefits in Los Angeles. Specifically, NREL identified potential community solar sites that could host 30 kilowatts (kW)1 of solar or more and evaluated economic and equity metrics under various program design options. Analysis included a Baseline scenario (business-as-usual) and an Equity scenario, which modeled program enhancements to increase access and benefits to low-income customers. Both scenarios modeled the economics of solar and storage under the LADWP Feed-in Tariff (FiT) program (LADWP 2023b) and the LADWP Feed-in-Tariff Plus Pilot program (LADWP 2023d) compared to a community solar financial model. This research was guided by input from the community engagement process, and associated equity strategies are presented in alignment with that guidance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Science & Technology Review (April/May 2023)

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), featured beginning on p.4, has been a testament to Lawrence Livermore’s multidisciplinary expertise. For DART, the Laboratory developed planetary defense strategies, modeled materials and impacts, and utilized advanced machine learning to create and evaluate multitudes of impact scenarios—informing prediction and analysis of the intercept of a small spacecraft with a much larger asteroid of unknown properties. The success of the project heralds a bright future for space science and security work at the Laboratory.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Cybersecurity Center for Offshore Wind Energy (Final Project Report)

This project establishes a Cybersecurity Center for Offshore Wind Energy with the objective of designing and operating a cyber-physical testbed for wind energy farms (WEFs) that enables comprehensive cybersecurity research. The testbed incorporates a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system connected to turbine models via industrial-grade programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and remote terminal units (RTUs). It supports side-channel data acquisition, implementation and analysis of various cyberattack scenarios, and development of attack detection, mitigation, and best-practice guidance tailored to wind energy systems. During the project, the team expanded the number and fidelity of mathematical turbine models (MTMs), integrated these models with SCADA infrastructure, and deployed a scaled physical turbine and associated sensors. High-resolution operational and side-channel data streams were collected and used to refine machine-learning (ML)-based attack detection systems and to extend the WindCRAFT framework to multi-turbine threat scenarios. The project demonstrated a realistic, scalable environment for evaluating cyber threats, validated attack detection approaches using enriched datasets, and identified new multi-turbine and inter-turbine communication attack vectors. The resulting testbed, models, and security mechanisms provide a foundation for ongoing R&D and deployment of cyber-resilient offshore wind energy systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

PR100: Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transition to 100% Renewable Energy

The Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study (PR100) comprehensively analyzes possible pathways for Puerto Rico to achieve its renewable energy goals while incorporating stakeholder perspectives and advancing energy resilience for all Puerto Ricans. PR100 is a wide-ranging and in-depth examination of Puerto Rico's energy system investment options. The findings are the culmination of two years of stakeholder engagement, scenario modeling, and impact analysis. The PR100 report and Implementation Roadmap contain a range of results and actions that reflect Puerto Rico's priorities around energy justice, resilience, and reliability. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Grid Deployment Office with funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the PR100 study leveraged and integrated dozens of best-in-class models and in-depth analyses from researchers across six national laboratories: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (which led the study), along with Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories (which conducted the study). For more information, please see the "PR100 Project Website" resource below.

Array↗

Enhanced Safety of Heavy-Duty Vehicles on Highways through Automatic Speed Enforcement – A Simulation Study

Highway safety remains a significant concern, especially in mixed traffic scenarios involving heavy-duty vehicles (HDV) and smaller passenger cars. The vulnerability of HDVs following closely behind smaller cars is evident in incidents involving the lead vehicle, potentially leading to catastrophic rear-end collisions. Here, this paper explores how automatic speed enforcement systems, using speed cameras, can mitigate risks for HDVs in such critical situations. While historical crash data consistently demonstrates the reduction of accidents near speed cameras, this paper goes beyond the conventional notion of crash occurrence reduction. Instead, it investigates the profound impact of driver behavior changes within desired travel speed distribution, especially around speed cameras, and their contribution to the safety of trailing vehicles, with a specific focus on heavy-duty trucks in accident-prone scenarios. To conduct this analysis, we utilize SUMO, an open-source microscopic traffic simulator, enabling realistic simulations of real-world driving behaviors with and without speed cameras. The simulations also consider empirical distributions of desired headway gaps and reaction times exhibited by human drivers. This study offers a fresh perspective on highway safety by examining how the influence of automatic speed enforcement systems on driver behavior enhances the safety of HDV when faced with challenging situations. By shedding light on these dynamics, we contribute valuable insights to the ongoing research efforts on using technology to create safer roadways, ultimately promoting safer coexistence between heavy-duty and passenger vehicles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Value of Geothermal Energy Storage for Supply-Side and Demand-Side Applications

This report presents the results of a study examining the value potential for geothermal energy storage (GES), a long-duration energy storage resource that stores thermal and/or geomechanical energy in the subsurface. GES could benefit the overall U.S. power system by temporally shifting electricity generation (supply-side) or meeting building heating and cooling load (demand-side). This report analyzes supply-side and demand-side opportunities independently because of differences in applications and models. Currently there is significant uncertainty about the development costs for GES, with only a limited number of demonstration plants for electric energy storage and building heating and cooling storage developments. In this report, we estimate the value of supply-side and demand-side GES to the bulk power system in the contiguous United States. Because of the significant uncertainty about GES development costs, this analysis does not consider GES deployment costs but instead focuses on the value of GES to the U.S. electricity system. The estimated values of GES provide reference points for economically competitive commercial cost targets. Supply-side GES is modeled as part of an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) generation plant in NREL's Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model (Ho et al. 2021). In contrast to conventional geothermal plants, which generate constant power, EGS plants have unique features that may allow for in-reservoir energy storage for flexible generation. Demand-side GES for heating and cooling, including seasonal hot and cold storage and short-duration heat pump storage, is incorporated into a price-taker model using Cambium electricity marginal cost projections. To establish an upper bound for the value of GES, analysis focused on favorable scenarios for storage with high generation from zero marginal cost, variable renewable energy resources. High penetrations of variable renewable energy generation can increase hourly electricity price variability, which increases the value of temporal energy arbitrage for storage technologies like GES.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

The Evolving Nature of Grid Energy

Current trends in the electricity sector, including more variable renewable energy, electrification of transportation and other end-uses, and city and state-level clean electricity goals, impact our expectations for grid costs and emission rates out into the future. This talk provides an overview of where the grid is and where it is heading, and introduces new data sets under development at NREL that are aimed at enabling conversation between grid and built-environment planning and design.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

SCALE 6.3.1 Radiation Source Terms and Shielding Analysis for a Postulated Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Accident Scenario

In support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission non–light-water reactor fuel cycle demonstration project, SCALE 6.3.1 capabilities for radiation source term and shielding calculations are demonstrated for scenarios in the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) fuel cycle. A postulated accident scenario, which consists of a seismic event causing the refueling machine to fall and release a spent fuel assembly inside the containment building (CB), is analyzed in this paper. Radiation source terms were generated for a U/TRU-10Zr metal fuel assembly with a 16.5% initial transuranic waste content and a discharge burnup of approximately 95 GWd/tHM; source terms were also generated for a high-assay low-enriched uranium metal fuel assembly (U-10Zr) with a 16.5% initial enrichment and a discharge burnup of 149.74 GWd/tHM. These radiation source terms were then used to determine the dose rate inside the CB and near the outer surface of the CB for a range of spent fuel assembly cooling times. The dose rate produced by the analyzed SFR assemblies is similar to that produced by a typical pressurized water reactor assembly with a discharge burnup of 50 GWd/MTU. Ultimately, the validation of the source terms predicted for SFRs with SCALE will need to be demonstrated via the use of assay measurements.

Radulescu, Georgeta↗

BayoTech Risk and Modeling Support of NM Gas Site

The BayoTech hydrogen generation system has been evaluated in terms of safety considerations at the NM Gas site. The consequence of a leak in different components in the system was evaluated in terms of plume dispersion and overpressure. Additionally, the likelihood of a leak scenario for different hydrogen components was identified. The worst-case plume dispersion cases, full-bore leaks, resulted in relatively large plumes. However, these cases were noted to be far less likely than the partial break cases that were evaluated. The partial break cases resulted in nearly negligible plume lengths. Similarly, the overpressure analysis of the full-bore break scenarios resulted in much larger overpressures than the partial break cases (which resulted in negligible overpressure at the lot line). There were several cases evaluated in the analysis that represented leak scenarios from both hydrogen and natural gas sources. Generally, the natural gas leak scenarios resulted in a smaller horizontal impact than that of hydrogen leaks. The worst-case consequence from a hydrogen leak resulted from the compressors, storage pods, or dispensing system. To consider the safety features that may isolate the leak, the consequence was evaluated at different times after the leak event to show the reduction of pressure. After 2 seconds, the plume dispersion from this event is contained within the perimeter of the site. The worst-case consequences show that the plume may disperse to adjacent facilities and to the street. When considering both likelihood and consequence, the risk may be considered low because the maximum frequency of a full-bore leak from any component within the hydrogen compound is 8.2 E-5/yr. This means that a full-bore leak is expected to occur less than once every 10,000 years. The risk can be further reduced by implementing mitigative countermeasures, such as CMU walls along the sides of the equipment compound. This would reduce the overall consequence of the worst-case dispersion scenarios (horizontal impact of plume). In terms of siting and safety analysis, the NFPA 2 code was used to provide a high-level evaluation of the current site plan. The most limiting equipment in terms of set-back distance are the compressors/storage units because of the high-pressure hydrogen. The site layout was evaluated for an acceptable location for the compression/storage unit based on NFPA 2 set-back distances. It is important to note that the NFPA 2 set-back distances consider both likelihood and consequence. This is important because the worst-case results evaluated herein also represent the least likely leak scenario. Other site-specific considerations were evaluated, including the parking shade structure with photovoltaic cells and refueling vehicles. These issues were dispositioned and determined to not present a safety risk.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Sensor Placement Optimization Study for the Built Environment: Next Steps Report

Systems of fixed-position radiation sensors can provide information that assists emergency responders following nuclear incidents. First responder organizations that implement systems of fixed-position sensors face numerous decisions regarding sensor selection, quantity, and placement. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have evaluated the performance of several hypothetical sensor systems during a simulated activation of a radiological dispersal device. Due to technical limitations, PNNL’s analysis was limited to a single location and number of scenarios. This document describes additional research and analysis that would result in improved guidance to first responder organizations considering installation of radiation monitoring systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Selection of Global Climate Model Data for Downscaling With Generative Machine Learning and Use in the Power Planning for Alignment of Climate and Energy Systems Project

The range of results from climate models and scenarios is important to the understanding of uncertainty in power planning analysis. A U.S. Department of Energy-funded analytic project called Power Planning for Alignment of Climate and Energy Systems is developing data and analytic methods to reflect the effects of climate change on key variables for power system planning, as part of the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium. This project will select and prepare global climate model results for use in power system planning models. A related report (Evaluation of Global Climate Models for Use in Energy Analysis) assesses the performance of various global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 data archive for their historical skill with respect to energy system performance and for their future projections under multiple climate change scenarios. Building from that report, we describe the selection of a climate scenario (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway [SSP] 2-4.5) and five climate models: TaiESM1, EC-Earth3-CC, GFDL-CM4, EC-Earth3-Veg, and MPI-ESM1-2-HR. We describe the model selection criteria, which were based on the quality of the match between model results under historical conditions and on the representation of the range of future values for several variables. These results will be downscaled via an open-source generative machine learning method called Super-Resolution for Renewable Energy Resource Data with Climate Change Impacts.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Evaluating alternative steam generation pathways in the food industry

Steam generation in the food sector requires substantial energy and cost expenditures, requiring nearly half of its energy intake. Here, we used life cycle assessment and life cycle cost assessment to investigate the cost and energy impacts of steam generating alternatives: NG, biomass and hydrogen boilers and grid-supplied and self-generated electric steam generation systems (electric boilers, renewable thermal energy storage and industrial heat pumps). The analysis starts with a set of average U.S. conditions, where biomass boilers are the most cost-competitive alternative to NG. In a series of scenarios beyond average conditions, the analysis shows energy procurement costs dominate the total life cycle cost for all technologies and, unfortunately, are highly variable geographically and temporally, significantly affecting the viability of the alternatives. Results show that site-energy consumption ranges from 0.3 MMBtu/klb for industrial heat pumps to 1.6 MMBtu/klb for biomass boilers, with heat pumps achieving up to 78% lower energy use compared to natural gas systems. For the steam costs, the results show a range between $\$$8 and $\$$50/klb for NG, with biomass following closely ($\$$11 – $\$$44/klb) and grey hydrogen and IHP next ($\$$13 – $\$$33/klb and $\$$6 - $\$$78/klb), with cost reductions if IHP's cooling is utilized. Factors like operating hours, the need for cooling, and the ability to negotiate utility rates complicate the decision, making site-specific analyses critical. Therefore, we present a decision-making matrix to help manufacturers identify which steam generating technology is the best business decision for their situation. Overall, these results highlight the importance of steam generation for the facility's organizational goals, as well as the criticality of conducting individual site analyses.

Biomass boilers↗

National Modeling of Geothermal District Energy Systems with Ambient-Temperature Loops Using dGeo

Geothermal district energy systems (DES) with ambient-temperature loops, also known as thermal energy networks, are one option for decarbonizing space heating and cooling loads. Geothermal fifth-generation DES include an "ambient" temperature thermal loop that connects heat pumps at each building with thermal balancing sources such as geothermal borehole fields. Heating and cooling are provided via a water-source heat pump at each end-user. This project seeks to analyze the nationwide potential for ambient-temperature loop districts by creating a new module within the Distributed Geothermal Market Demand Model (dGeo). dGeo is an agent-based modeling tool for distributed geothermal resources; it can investigate potential on a nationwide or statewide scale using geospatial data for all 50 states and thermal demands for existing buildings. This process allows for high-level estimates of technical and economic potential for ambient-temperature loop districts across the United States. A lookup table was created using GHEDesigner to size borehole fields for different thermal loads and ground conditions experienced across the country. A cost and financing structure, along with incentives, were applied. Cost estimates include costs for the distribution network, borehole field installation and operation, and circulation pump operation, while savings are calculated based on energy bills for building owners (agents). This newly developed module can be used for assessing which areas of the country have the highest potential for agent benefits from ambient-temperature loop installation and assess the impact of future cost and price scenarios. Initial results for statewide analysis (for Vermont) and nationwide (for United States) are provided. Future work includes expanding the module to consider mixed residential and commercial districts as well as evaluating multiple cost scenarios.

ambient-temperature loop↗

Modeled Results of Four Residential Energy Efficiency Measure Packages for Deriving Advanced Building Construction Research Targets

The Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office is working to accelerate industrialized construction innovations for decarbonizing buildings. To inform performance and cost targets for research under the ABC Initiative, this analysis used the ResStock™ tool to evaluate the energy savings, utility bill impacts, and carbon emissions impacts of four simulated upgrade packages with specific target performance levels on a large sample of residential dwelling units (approximately 550,000) representative of the U.S. housing stock.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Sensitivity analysis of small modular reactor mPower with ATHLET

Small modular reactor (SMR) possesses the characteristics of less radioactive source term, simpler structure, modular design and features like passive safety as well as low risk of proliferation. Developed and designed by Babcock and Wilcox, the mPower reactor is one of pronouncing small modular reactors that adopts the integrated design of the pressurized water reactor, steam generator and a built-in internal control rod drive mechanism. In this paper, the code ATHLET (Analysis of fossil-hydraulics of Leaks and Transients) is used to model the mPower reactor. At the same time, the sensitivity analysis of the core structure and geometric parameters of the pipeline loop, as well as the steady-state simulation and post-exothermic simulation are carried out depending on the given scenarios. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of pressure, temperature and mass flow in the secondary loop is performed. The results of this study will mitigate some of the frequent misunderstanding in the field and will help to better understand the design of SMR and provide basic research data for further research. However, there are limitations in the current research. Considering that the mPower is still in the conceptual design, the established model is only based on the limited public data while detailed parameters are still in myth, which leads to certain level of uncertainties in the calculation. Besides, the research is mainly on the influence of sensitivity analysis under steady state conditions. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Modeling the Functional Forms of Grid Disturbances

This report introduces a functional form that may be used to quantitatively predict the impacts of new grid tools and changing system qualities on the likelihoods, durations, and depths of various grid disturbances. Each disturbance scenario is modeled to have three component stages—avoidance, reactance and recovery, which together parametrically estimate one disturbance’s impacts. The modeled scenario is then placed and replicated within an analysis period to represent the likelihood or frequency of the scenario and its consequent impacts. Whereas analysts have struggled to define and apply metrics for grid resilience, the functional form introduced by this report shares units of measurement with accepted grid-status measures (e.g., numbers of customers currently experiencing a service outage). Furthermore, the integrated and averaged functional form over an analysis period provides a meaningful normalized performance metric (e.g., customer outage minutes per year) that is ultimately independent of the duration of the period of. The approach may be applied similarly regardless of the severity or frequency of the disturbances that are being analyzed. Because metrics can be chosen to be identical in both the hypothetical future and the actual historical past, the historical past eventually becomes the test of the future predictions, at least in a statistical sense. The authors originally developed this approach to facilitate analysis of the effects of transactive energy (TE) systems effects on electric power grid resilience. TE systems invite energy suppliers and consumers to actively collaborate toward the discovery of, and their responses to, the locational value of energy. The findings from this process are often embodied as energy prices, the dynamics of which indicate the locational value of energy and can further represent important grid service needs. While some academic papers claim to quantify the value of a specific TE system design toward grid resilience, the answer, in general, has been elusive. Not only do multiple and conflicting definitions of resilience and reliability exist, but countless TE systems are being invented. We conclude the following: (1) The ideal analysis should harmonize rather than differentiate resilience and reliability. Therefore, this report uses the more general term disturbance whenever the overloaded terms resilience and reliability can be avoided. (2) The effectiveness of TE systems must be mapped to underlying qualities of a TE system, thereby avoiding presumptions that every TE design offers similar advantages. The authors seek to evaluate the parametric effects of TE system qualities (e.g., spatial granularity, granularity of time steps, length of future prediction horizon) on avoiding, reacting to, and recovering from grid disturbances. Furthermore, any advantages (or disadvantages) must be fairly compared with the many alternative tools, systems, and strategies that might offer comparable benefits.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗