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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 325 records · Page 18

Capturing provenance as a diagnostic tool for workflow performance evaluation and optimization

In extreme-scale computing environments such as the DOE Leadership Computing Facilities scientific workflows are routinely used to coordinate software processes for the execution of complex, computational applications that perform in-silico experiments. Monitoring the performance of workflows without also simultaneously tracking provenance is not sufficient to understand variations between runs, configurations, versions of a code, and between changes in an implemented stack, and systems, i.e. the variability of performance metrics data in their historical context. We take a provenance-based approach and demonstrate that provenance is useful as a tool for evaluating and optimizing workflow performance in extreme-scale HPC environments. We present Chimbuko, a framework for the analysis and visualization of the provenance of performance. Chimbuko implements a method for the evaluation of workflow performance from multiple components that enables the exploration of performance metrics data at scale.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Modeling and Rapid Prototyping of Integrated Transmission-Distribution OPF Formulations with PowerModelsITD.jl

Conventional electric power systems are composed of different unidirectional power flow stages of generation, transmission, and distribution, managed independently by transmission system and distribution system operators. However, as distribution systems increase in complexity due to the integration of distributed energy resources, coordination between transmission and distribution networks will be imperative for the optimal operation of the power grid. However, coupling models and formulations between transmission and distribution is non-trivial, in particular due to the common practice of modeling transmission systems as single-phase, and distribution systems as multi-conductor phase-unbalanced. To enable the rapid prototyping of power flow formulations, in particular in the modeling of the boundary conditions between these two seemingly incompatible data models, we introduce PowerModelsITD.jl, a free, open-source toolkit written in Julia for integrated transmission-distribution (ITD) optimization that leverages mature optimization libraries from the InfrastructureModels.jl-ecosystem. The primary objective of the proposed framework is to provide baseline implementations of steady-state ITD optimization problems, while providing a common platform for the evaluation of emerging formulations and optimization problems. In this work, we introduce the nonlinear formulations currently supported in PowerModelsITD.jl, which include AC-polar, AC-rectangular, current-voltage, and a linear network transportation model. Results are validated using combinations of IEEE transmission and distribution networks.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Reverse-Mode Algorithmic Differentiation of an OpenMP-Parallel Compressible Flow Solver

y Reverse-mode algorithmic differentiation (AD) is an established method for obtaining adjoint derivatives of computer simulation applications. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), adjoint derivatives of a cost function output such as drag or lift with respect to design parameters such as surface coordinates or geometry control points are a key ingredient for shape optimization, uncertainty quantification and flow control. The computational cost of CFD applications and their derivatives makes it essential to use high-performance computing hardware efficiently, including multi- and many-core architectures. Nevertheless, OpenMP is not supported in most AD tools, and previously shown methods achieve poor scalability of the derivative code. We present the AD of an OpenMP-parallelized finite volume compressible flow solver for unstructured meshes. Our approach enables us to reuse the parallelization of the original code in the computation of adjoint derivatives. The method works by identifying code segments that can be differentiated in reverse-mode without changing their memory access pattern. The OpenMP parallelization is integrated into the derivative code during the build process in a way that is robust to modifications of the original code and independent of the OpenMP support of the differentiation tool. We show the scalability of our adjoint CFD solver on test cases ranging from thousands to millions of finite volume mesh cells on CPUs with up to 16 threads as well as on an Intel XeonPhi card with 236 threads. We demonstrate that our approach is more practical to implement for production-sized CFD codes and produces more efficient adjoint derivative code than previously shown AD methods.

Huckelheim, Jan↗

Continuous Fiber Composite Electrofusion Couplers (Final Report)

The objective of this three-year project was to develop a pipe coupler for high-pressure (100bar service, 350bar burst) composite hydrogen pipelines, without the use of elastomeric sealing mechanisms (e.g. o-rings), thereby avoiding seal maintenance costs and effort associated with digging up subterranean lines over a pipe’s lifetime of up to 50 years. The project aimed to build on past designs at (TRL 3), to adapt their use to hydrogen delivery and test in a relevant environment (TRL 5). This work is toward the DOE’s objective to reduce the technical barrier of high as-installed cost of pipelines, by utilizing fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) pipe. Further DOE targets include those from the Fuel Cell Technologies Office Multi-Year Research, Development, and Demonstration Plan: Milestone 1.5: Coordinating with the H2 Production and Storage sub-programs, identify optimized delivery pathways that meet a H2 delivery and dispensing cost of <\$ 2/gge for use in consumer vehicles. (4Q, 2020) Milestone 6.3: By 2020, reduce the cost of hydrogen delivery from the point of production to the point of use in consumer vehicles to <\$ 2/gge of hydrogen for the gaseous delivery pathway (4Q, 2020). This project headed by Automated Dynamics (now Trelleborg) with partners Savanah River National Laboratory, and NOV Fiber Glass Systems, emerged due to a similar previous project with the DOE, completed by SNRL and NOV Fiber Glass Systems (formerly Fiberspar) in 2014, that evaluated the mechanical suitability of FRP (composite) lines for these same high pressures. That projected concluded with a favorable outlook on using composite lines and required a suitable pipe coupler. The resulting coupler design from this current project employs electrofusion due to its proven use on low pressure unreinforced lines and for its simplicity in the field. This electrofusion coupler design utilizes established concepts for pipe couplers and combines them in a new and unique method. Existing pipe couplers are employed on thermoset pipes in high pressure, with elastomeric seals as the sealing mechanism, and on thermoplastic low-pressure pipes by way of electrofusion. However, no EF coupler is available for composite pipelines for 350bar hydrogen containment.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Discovery Science and Inertial Fusion Energy Research at the Jupiter Laser Facility (Research Performance Progress Report)

The goal of this project is to provide operational support to run the Jupiter Laser Facility within the LaserNetUS network to achieve the following four objectives: • Develop new science, techniques, and platforms for discovery science and IFE research, in partnership with academia, other LaserNetUS nodes, and the greater community. • Advance the development of secondary sources of photons and particles for applications relevant to discovery science and IFE; • Serve as a testbed for new laser, optical, target, and diagnostic capabilities that will advance IFE; • Attract, train, and retain talent in high-energy-density and laser science that will be essential in furthering development of IFE, and help build new collaborations between national laboratory and academic researchers. We have accomplished our four objectives by: • Providing access to the three JLF platforms (Titan, Janus, and COMET) to LaserNetUS users after their proposals have been independently reviewed and ranked by the LaserNetUS PRP; • Providing expertise and technical capabilities to support focused science research thrusts at the facility; • Promoting and maintaining technical relationships and collaborations with other members of the LaserNetUS community to nurture and grow the discovery science and IFE workforce— especially students and early career scientists—on LaserNetUS facilities. • Augmenting JLF with specific improvements while coordinating efforts with LLNL organizations and collaborators to provide users with optimal laser, target, and diagnostic resources to help them maximize technical impact.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Utilizing AI and Spatial Data to Identify & Rapidly Disseminate Energy Infrastructure Insights

GeoGov Summit Final Presentation entitled "Utilizing AI and Spatial Data to Identify & Rapidly Disseminate Energy Infrastructure Insights". Maintaining the integrity of energy infrastructure plays a critical role in ensuring energy security. Robust foundational AI models using data from federal, state, industry, and other sources can help address integrity risk management & mitigation issues as well as evaluate extended use strategies. Trusted foundational models can help with industry adoption and accelerate innovation by enhancing integrity predictions, reduce costs, and informing infrastructure build-out. Coordination, collaboration & data sharing to develop robust models to aid in: Optimizing operations; Minimizing costs; Ensuring energy security.

Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model (AIIM)↗

A Modular Optimal Power Flow Method for Integrating New Technologies in Distribution Grids

This work proposes a modular concept to build optimal power flow (OPF) models for distribution networks containing various emerging technologies under diverse ownership structures, to efficiently deal with evolving technology capabilities and information sharing or privacy constraints. This concept will support any typical OPF application (e.g., optimal dispatch of a given asset without violating grid constraints) by coordinating between grid module and technology module without the need to recreate various modeling elements as technology capability changes due to innovation. Moreover, the modularity of the proposed concept enables achieving system level objectives without sharing detailed information on module level objectives and constraints among modules. To achieve this, the proposed work develops a gradient-descent algorithm which builds upon the literature on the state-of-the-art power flow approximation. The proposed concept is demonstrated with two case studies of i) controllable loads and ii) battery energy storage system (BESS) on an actual large-scale distribution grid.

Hanif, Sarmad↗

Engineering Active Surface Oxygen Sites of Cubic Perovskite Cobalt Oxides toward Catalytic Oxidation Reactions

Unraveling the role of surface oxygen sites in transition metal oxides during catalytic reactions has always been the focus of environmental and energy chemistry research. For this work, active surface oxygen sites of cubic perovskite cobalt oxide were engineered to comprehend their crucial role and catalytic mechanism at the molecular level. By removing those inert Sr/La–O termination layers, active oxygen sites were exposed on the Co terminated surface of Sr 0.6 La 0.4 CoO 3–δ that furnished the dominant catalytic process of CO oxidation via the Mars–van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism. The fabrication of five-coordinate cobalt ions and the enhanced covalency of Co–O bonds not only optimize the surface electronic structure of Co 3d–O 2p, but also supply active surface oxygen sites, which effectively oxidizes CO to CO 2 with a significantly improved oxidation performance and stability as evidenced by soft/hard XAS, XPS, and O 2 -TPD. Furthermore, online isotopic 18 O 2 mass spectrometry, in situ DRIFTS, and theoretical simulation demonstrate that the activity of surface oxygen sites enhances the kinetics of the MvK reaction, while unsaturated coordination sites from five-coordinate cobalt ions primarily contribute to the activated oxygen molecules and the stable catalytic cycle. The results reported here provide a deep insight into the comprehension of the relationships among active oxygen sites, surface electronic structure, and the reaction mechanism of transition metal oxides necessary for catalytic oxidation reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Determining the Adsorption Energetics of 2,3-Butanediol on RuO 2 (110): Coupling First-Principles Calculations With Global Optimizers

As climate change continues to pose a threat to the Earth due to the disrupted carbon cycles and fossil fuel resources remain finite, new sources of sustainable hydrocarbons must be explored. 2,3-butanediol is a potential source to produce butene because of its sustainability as a biomass-derived sugar. Butene is an attractive product because it can be used as a precursor to jet fuel, categorizing this work in the alcohol-to-jet pathway. While studies have explored the conversion of 2,3-butanediol to butene, little is understood about the fundamental reaction itself. We quantify the energetics for three pathways that were reported in the literature in the absence of a catalyst. One of these pathways forms a 1,3-butadiene intermediate, which is a highly exothermic process and thus is unlikely to occur since 2,3-butanediol likely gets thermodynamically trapped at this intermediate. We further determined the corresponding energetics of 2,3-butanediol adsorption on an ensemble of predetermined binding sites when it interacts with a defect-free stoichiometric RuO 2 (110) surface. Within this ensemble of adsorption sites, the most favorable site has 2,3-butanediol covering a Ru 5–coordinated cation. This approach is compared to that obtained using the global optimization algorithm as implemented in the Northwest Potential Energy Surface Search Engine. When using such a global optimization algorithm, we determined a more favorable ground-state structure that was missed during the manual adsorption site testing, with an adsorption energy of -2.61 eV as compared to -2.34 eV when using the ensemble-based approach. We hypothesize that the dehydration reaction requires a stronger chemical bond, which could necessitate the formation of oxygen vacancies. As such, this study has taken the first step toward the utilization of a global optimization algorithm for the rational design of Ru-based catalysts toward the formation of butene from sustainable resources.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Domain Knowledge Guided Bayesian Optimization For Autonomous Alignment Of Complex Scientific Instruments

Bayesian Optimization (BO) is a powerful tool for optimizing complex non-linear systems. However, its performance degrades in high-dimensional problems with tightly coupled parameters and highly asymmetric objective landscapes, where rewards are sparse. In such needle-in-a-haystack scenarios, even advanced methods like trust-region BO (TurBO) often lead to unsatisfactory results. We propose a domain knowledge guided Bayesian Optimization approach, which leverages physical insight to fundamentally simplify the search problem by transforming coordinates to decouple input features and align the active subspaces with the primary search axes. We demonstrate this approach's efficacy on a challenging 12-dimensional, 6-crystal Split-and-Delay optical system, where conventional approaches, including standard BO, TuRBO and multi-objective BO, consistently led to unsatisfactory results. When combined with an reverse annealing exploration strategy, this approach reliably converges to the global optimum. The coordinate transformation itself is the key to this success, significantly accelerating the search by aligning input co-ordinate axes with the problem's active subspaces. As increasingly complex scientific instruments, from large telescopes to new spectrometers at X-ray Free Electron Lasers are deployed, the demand for robust high-dimensional optimization grows. Our results demonstrate a generalizable paradigm: leveraging physical insight to transform high-dimensional, coupled optimization problems into simpler representations can enable rapid and robust automated tuning for consistent high performance while still retaining current optimization algorithms.

FOS: Computer and information sciences↗

Toward Automated Sampling of Polymorph Nucleation and Free Energies with the SGOOP and Metadynamics

Understanding the driving forces behind the nucleation of different polymorphs is of great importance for material sciences and the pharmaceutical industry. This includes understanding the reaction coordinate that governs the nucleation process and correctly calculating the relative free energies of different polymorphs. Here, we demonstrate, for the prototypical case of urea nucleation from the melt, how one can learn such a one-dimensional reaction coordinate as a function of prespecified order parameters and use it to perform efficient biased all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. The reaction coordinate is learnt as a function of the generic thermodynamic and structural order parameters using the “spectral gap optimization of order parameters (SGOOP)” approach [Tiwary, P. and Berne, B. J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2016)] and is biased using well-tempered metadynamics simulations. The reaction coordinate gives insights into the role played by different structural and thermodynamics order parameters, and the biased simulations obtain accurate relative free energies for different polymorphs. This includes an accurate prediction of the approximate pressure at which urea undergoes a phase transition and one of the metastable polymorphs becomes the most stable conformation. Here, we believe the ideas demonstrated in this work will facilitate efficient sampling of nucleation in complex, generic systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Cooperative Routing for an Air–Ground Vehicle Team—Exact Algorithm, Transformation Method, and Heuristics

This paper considers a cooperative vehicle routing problem for an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in the presence of communication constraints between the vehicles. The proposed framework uses a ground vehicle and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that travel cooperatively and visit a set of targets while satisfying the communication constraints. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program, and a branch-and-cut algorithm is developed to solve the problem to optimality. Furthermore, a transformation method and a heuristic are also developed for the problem. The effectiveness of all the algorithms is corroborated through extensive computational experiments on several randomly generated instances. Furthermore, this paper is motivated by an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission involving a single unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a ground vehicle, where the vehicles must coordinate their activity in the presence of communication constraints. The combination of a small UAV and a ground vehicle is an ideal platform for such missions, since small UAVs can fly at low altitudes and can avoid obstacles or threats that would be problematic for the ground vehicle alone. This paper addresses the coordinated routing problem involving these two vehicles and presents an algorithm to obtain an optimal solution for this problem, fast heuristics to obtain good feasible solutions, and also a transformation method to transform any instance of this cooperative vehicle routing problem to an instance of the one-in-a-set traveling salesman problem.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Reinforcement Learning to Enhance Optimal Operation of Resilient Community Energy Systems

This paper presents a novel model-free multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (RL) control method to enhance the resilience of community energy systems in island mode, which coordinates multiple objectives without the necessity of identifying system models that require expert knowledge. Specifically, a community-level coordinator agent is designed to allocate renewable energy resources among different buildings, and multiple building-level agents are developed to optimize load schedules based on limited energy resources and requirements of building loads and occupants’ comfort. In a two-day evaluation, our RL approach demonstrated a similar performance against MPC without requiring system models and formulation of optimization problems as required in MPC.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗

Optimizing on-ramp merging for connected and automated vehicles: A hierarchical approach using deep reinforcement learning and optimal control

On-ramp merging for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) presents significant challenges in dynamic traffic environments. Traditional methods and recent learning-based approaches often fail to simultaneously address decision-making complexity and execution precision under fluctuating conditions. This study introduces a novel hierarchical framework that combines: (1) a high-level Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) module that coordinates merging sequences through Virtual Traffic Signals (VTS) with Yield/Green phases and (2) a low-level optimal controller generating collision-free speed trajectories via pseudospectral convex optimization. A convolutional autoencoder compresses high-dimensional traffic states to enhance responsiveness. Extensive simulations demonstrate a 12.5% improvement in mainline throughput a 28% reduction in emergency braking events, and 31.66% lower fuel consumption compared to baseline methods. Furthermore, the framework’s effectiveness in coordinating CAV merges highlights its potential for real-world deployment. Future work will extend validation to multi-lane scenarios with mixed traffic and large-scale multiple merging points.

Connected and automated vehicles↗

Grid Interactive Microgrid Controller for Resilient Communities (Final Report)

The objective of this project was to determine microgrid controller requirements using a use-case approach, then develop, configure and validate the performance of an advanced microgrid controller capable of managing from 1 to 10 megawatts (MW) of aggregated generation capacity to meet the performance targets outlined in DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0000997 “Microgrid Research, Development, and System Design” and support the expanding deployment of commercial scale microgrid systems. The project aimed to develop and validate a commercially viable and flexible microgrid controller, easily adapted to different end-user community applications and to a range of electric grid characteristics with the primary outcome of the project being a standard operational model that can be deployed at multiple communities, each with unique resources and resiliency requirements. Spirae’s Wave™ microgrid controller was the advanced microgrid controller utilized in this project. The Spirae Wave™ control platform provides a scalable architecture for integrating and managing high levels of renewable and distributed energy resources (DER) at the edge of the grid. The motivation for the project is a result of the increased interest in microgrids resulting from the confluence of a number of important factors 1) Costs of distributed generation of many different types continues to decrease. This includes gas-based generation that has benefited from the lower cost of natural gas as well as renewable generation (solar, wind, hydro), 2) Storage development for many different industries is lowering its cost for the electric power industry. Storage is a key element of a microgrid to provide the flexibility of operation needed, 3) Applications like combined heat and power further improve the economics of local generation and provide the opportunity for local optimization of resources and loads, 4) There continues to be a need for improved resiliency and coordination of local system strategies (e.g. microgrids) with overall grid investments that can result in more optimum overall investment strategies and reduced times to restore power after major events. The increased interest in microgrids as both a system for local energy optimization and for improved resiliency comes with a need for new controller strategies that can help realize these applications. The new controllers should also reflect industry standards and provide a platform for continued innovation. Additionally, the controllers should be flexible to adapt to a wide variety of end-user community applications and to a wide range of electric grid characteristics. The controller should be equipped with standard functions and interfaces that can expand community opportunities for microgrids.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

WGRID-49 GMLC Project Report: Understanding the Role of Short-Term Energy Storage and Large Motor Loads for Active Power Controls by Wind Power

The GMLC project is built upon the results of pioneering research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute and the University of Colorado—on active power controls (APC) by wind power during 2013–2016. The studies detailed in the first APC by wind power project have shown tremendous promise for the potential for wind power plants to provide APC. The goal of this project was to continue the previous work and develop and validate coordinated controls of APC by wind generation, short-term energy storage, and large industrial motor drives for providing various types of ancillary services to the grid and minimizing loading impacts on wind turbines (e.g., drivetrains), thereby reducing operation-and-maintenance (O&M) costs and subsequently reducing the cost of energy generated by wind power. This work used the $30 million, multiyear DOE investments and the unique characteristics of NREL’s existing National Wind Technology Center test site, including a combination of multimegawatt utility-scale wind turbine generators, a 1-MW/1-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), industrial variable-frequency motor drives, a 1-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) array, and a 7-MVA controllable grid interface. This combination of technologies allows for the optimization, testing, and demonstration of various types of APC by wind power in coordination with other generation sources (including regenerative loads) and energy storage to allow for enhancing or, in some cases, substituting the APC services by wind power and reducing impacts on wind turbine component life and thus increasing the availability and reliability of the power supply from wind

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Optimal scheduling of isolated microgrid with an electric vehicle battery swapping station in multi-stakeholder scenarios: A bi-level programming approach via real-time pricing

In order to coordinate the scheduling problem between an isolated microgrid (IMG) and electric vehicle battery swapping stations (BSSs) in multi-stakeholder scenarios, a new bi-level optimal scheduling model is proposed for promoting the participation of BSSs in regulating the IMG economic operation. In this model, the upper-level sub-problem is formulated to minimize the IMG net costs, while the lower-level aims to maximize the profits of the BSS under real-time pricing environments determined by demand responses in the upper-level decision. To solve the model, a hybrid algorithm, called JAYA-BBA, is put forward by combining a real/integer-coded JAYA algorithm and the branch and bound algorithm (BBA), in which the JAYA and BBA are respectively employed to address the upper- and lower- level sub-problems, and the bi-level model is eventually solved through alternate iterations between the two levels. The simulation results on a microgrid test system verify the effectiveness and superiority of the presented approach.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Optimization-Based Formulations for Short-Circuit Studies with Inverter-Interfaced Generation in PowerModelsProtection.jl

Protecting inverter-interfaced microgrids is challenging as conventional time-overcurrent protection becomes unusable due to the lack of fault current. There is a great need for novel protective relaying methods that enable the application of protection coordination on microgrids, thereby allowing for microgrids with larger areas and numbers of loads while not compromising reliable power delivery. Tools for modeling and analyzing such microgrids under fault conditions are necessary in order to help design such protective relaying and operate microgrids in a configuration that can be protected, though there is currently a lack of tools applicable to inverter-interfaced microgrids. This paper introduces the concept of applying an optimization problem formulation to the topic of inverter-interfaced microgrid fault modeling, and discusses how it can be employed both for simulating short-circuits and as a set of constraints for optimal microgrid operation to ensure protective device coordination.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗