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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

STARFIRE – Science and Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation and Reactor Engineering progress report

The STARFIRE hub leverages foundational science and technology (S&T) research and integrated plant modeling tools to advance Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). S&T breakthroughs achieved in each thrust are incorporated into an integrated modeling tool to assess and prioritize remaining gaps to bridge for IFE to become viable. Scientific highlights span high-gain target design, diode-pumped solid-state lasers, and innovative target manufacturing. Key highlights include the investigation of shock propagation through various foam structures among other limiting factors of compression of IFE target, exploration of novel 3D printing techniques such as light-sheet additive manufacturing for 2-photon polymerization foams, and diode-pumped solid-state laser architectures required for several IFE approaches. In addition, the STARFIRE team has established two public-private working groups to address laser diode supply chain issues and test advanced laser diode configurations. Finally, a lite version of the integrated modeling tool has been developed to facilitate outreach and engage with private companies. STARFIRE’s management structure has been designed to ensure agile resource allocation, robust performance assessment, and alignment with the broader fusion energy mission. STARFIRE’s breakthroughs are disseminated to the community via reports, presentations, and publications, while agreements with private companies are set in place to protect proprietary information.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Passive radiative thermal management using phase-change metasurfaces

Abstract Realizing innovative composite materials with passive thermal management capabilities and minimal ecological footprints is a challenging but much sought-after goal that would have a transformative effect on renewable energy sciences. We demonstrate an environmentally friendly metasurface utilizing vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) that offers responsiveness to ambient temperature and potentially long-term stability. The metasurface enables passive thermal management by self-adjusting its absorptivity and emissivity response over a broad bandwidth ranging from visible to mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths. Above the VO 2 phase transition the metasurface exhibits increased mid-IR emissivity and reduced visible/near-IR absorptivity, creating an efficient radiative emission channel in the first atmospheric transparency window with reduced absorption of solar radiation. In contrast, below VO 2 ’s transition temperature, the metasurface increasingly absorbs sun light while minimizing mid-IR radiative heat losses. Moreover, a functional silicon layer eliminates the need for an additional capping layer commonly employed to protect VO 2 from environmental degradation. The additional protective layer often impedes the use and performance of VO 2 based devices in terrestrial as well as spacecraft applications. Therefore, the proposed durable and eco-friendly metasurface will be an excellent candidate for essential passive thermal regulation systems across residential and terrestrial applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

LCLS Big Data Handling – How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Data Deluge

Advanced data and computing systems are vital to Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) operations, data interpretation and overall scientific productivity. The transition to MHz-era operation marks a fundamental change in scale that requires new infrastructure and architectures to link LCLS to the required scale of computing needed for scientific interpretation. The LCLS-II Data System meets big data challenges by implementing configurable data reduction that can adapt to multiple science areas, real-time analysis frameworks to provide visualization and fast feedback, and the ability to transfer data to local and remote computational facilities for near real time analysis at the appropriate scale. Feature extracted information generated in the data analysis pipeline - at the edge, local compute, or remote High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources - can be used to steer experiments and inform user decisions during beam time. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) techniques present new opportunities to rapidly analyse large datasets and direct experiments, but create new challenges in scaling, adaptability, complexity, and trustworthiness. We describe how the LCLS-II Data System architecture addresses its data-driven challenges in the areas of data acquisition, data processing, data management, and workflow orchestration to decrease the overall time-to-science and provide a vision for future developments.

artificial intelligence↗
DOE OSTI2024

Agrivoltaic system design tools for managing trade-offs between energy production, crop productivity and water consumption

Abstract Agrivoltaic systems that locate crop production and photovoltaic energy generation on the same land have the potential to aid the transition to renewable energy by reducing the competition between food, habitat, and energy needs for land while reducing irrigation requirements. Experimental efforts to date have not adequately developed an understanding of the interaction among local climate, array design and crop selection sufficient to manage trade-offs in system design. This study simulates the energy production, crop productivity and water consumption impacts of agrivoltaic array design choices in arid and semi-arid environments in the Southwestern region of the United States. Using the Penman–Monteith evapotranspiration model, we predict agrivoltaics can reduce crop water consumption by 30%–40% of the array coverage level, depending on local climate. A crop model simulating productivity based on both light level and temperature identifies afternoon shading provided by agrivoltaic arrays as potentially beneficial for shade tolerant plants in hot, dry settings. At the locations considered, several designs and crop combinations exceed land equivalence ratio values of 2, indicating a doubling of the output per acre for the land resource. These results highlight key design axes for agrivoltaic systems and point to a decision support tool for their development.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2020

ESGF Future Architecture Report (V.1.1)

This document reports the findings of the Earth System Grid Federation Future Architecture Face-to-Face Meeting held in the UK 5-7 November 2019, attended by technical representatives from the ESGF partner organisations. ESGF is an International federated archive that provides access to Earth science data. It is fundamentally a distributed file management system with its main function being data dissemination through the provision of services for efficient replication and search. It has been in operation for over ten years and has undergone continuous improvements and enhancements over this time span. The Future Architecture is a major review of the software system including a fundamental reassessment of its requirements with a view to develop a new overall system architecture. This has been initiated in the light of challenges around the maintenance of the existing software legacy and a changing technology landscape and practices in the communities it serves. The work is being carried out under the oversight of the ESGF Executive Committee1,2 and is coordinated activity between ESGF and the European IS-ENES3 project.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Machine learning enabling high-throughput and remote operations at large-scale user facilities

Imaging, scattering, and spectroscopy are fundamental in understanding and discovering new functional materials. Contemporary innovations in automation and experimental techniques have led to these measurements being performed much faster and with higher resolution, thus producing vast amounts of data for analysis. These innovations are particularly pronounced at user facilities and synchrotron light sources. Machine learning (ML) methods are regularly developed to process and interpret large datasets in real-time with measurements. However, there remain conceptual barriers to entry for the facility general user community, whom often lack expertise in ML, and technical barriers for deploying ML models. Herein, we demonstrate a variety of archetypal ML models for on-the-fly analysis at multiple beamlines at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). We describe these examples instructively, with a focus on integrating the models into existing experimental workflows, such that the reader can easily include their own ML techniques into experiments at NSLS-II or facilities with a common infrastructure. The framework presented here shows how with little effort, diverse ML models operate in conjunction with feedback loops via integration into the existing Bluesky Suite for experimental orchestration and data management.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Resurgence of a Nation’s Radiation Science Driven by Its Nuclear Industry Needs

This article describes the radiation facilities and associated sample preparation, management, and analysis equipment currently in place at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility, a facility which opened in 2011 to support the UK’s nuclear industry. Examples of measurements performed using these facilities are presented to illustrate their versatility and the breadth of research they make possible. Results are presented from research which furthers our understanding of radiation damage to polymeric materials, radiolytic yield of gaseous products in situations relevant to nuclear materials, radiation chemistry in light water reactor cooling systems, material chemistry relevant to immobilization of nuclear waste, and radiation-induced corrosion of fuel cladding elements. Applications of radiation chemistry relevant to health care are also described. Research concerning the mechanisms of radioprotection by dietary carotenoids is reported. An ongoing open-labware project to develop a suite of modular sample handling components suited to radiation research is described, as is the development of a new neutron source able to provide directional beams of neutrons.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Data-Driven Assessment of the Impact of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole: Natural and Armored Dunes in the Aftermath of Hurricanes on Florida’s Central East Coast

Hurricanes Ian and Nicole caused devastating destruction across Florida in September and November 2022, leaving widespread damage in their wakes. This study focuses on the assessment of barrier islands’ shorelines, encompassing natural sand dunes and dune vegetation as well as armored dunes with man-made infrastructure such as seawalls. High-resolution satellite imagery from Planet was used to assess the impacts of these hurricanes on the beach shorelines of Volusia, Flagler, and St. Johns Counties on the Florida Central East Coast. Shorefront vegetation was classified into two classes. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were calculated before the hurricanes, one month after Hurricane Ian, one month after Hurricane Nicole, and one-year post landfall. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) was incorporated to calculate vertical changes in the shorelines before and after the hurricanes. The results suggest that natural sand dunes were more resilient as they experienced less impact to vegetation and elevation and more substantial recovery than armored dunes. Moreover, the close timeframe of the storm events suggests a compound effect on the weakened dune systems. This study highlights the importance of understanding natural dune resilience to facilitate future adaptive management efforts because armored dunes may have long-term detrimental effects on hurricane-prone barrier islands.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Operations and Recent Upgrades to a Tritium Recycling Facility - 20375

Nuclear Sources and Services Inc. (NSSI) is a waste handling treatment company that has been operating since 1971. In 2000, NSSI began building a 1,000 m{sup 2} (∼10,000 sqft) tritium recycling facility on the Houston, Texas premises to address a growing need in the waste disposal market. Over the years, the capability of the facility grew to address many different waste streams with the goal of recycling > 99.9% of all tritium activity back into the fusion community. This is achieved by maintaining an effluent stack release well below the 150 GBq/year (C Ci/year) operating limit and maintaining all liquid and solid waste disposal below the low-level radioactive release limit of 0.C MBq/kg (10 μCi/kg). The unique processing systems in the facility attracts many challenging contracts. Within the past two years, NSSI has engaged with customers to treat; organic mixed wastes that simultaneously contain tritium and carbon-14, safely extract tritium from large quantities of exit sign lights, and remove tritium from uncharacterised legacy depleted uranium beds from a superfund site. This paper will outline the initial testing, the system upgrades to treat these varied streams, and the progress in processing the feedstocks provided by these projects. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Addressing Human and Organizational Factors in Nuclear Industry Modernization: An Operationally Focused Approach to Process and Methodology

Utility owners and operators of commercial nuclear power plants in the United States (U.S.) are and will be modernizing their nuclear power plants by performing a digital transformation involving design of an integrated set of systems that together enable a technology centric operating plant. The Plant Modernization Pathway of the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program has a strategic action plan that lays the groundwork for a digital transformation of the nuclear industry. The model for this transformation is an advanced concept of operations, with an end point vision, “To achieve the maximum aggregate benefit enabled by this digital transformation.” To achieve this, the digital infrastructure for a nuclear plant must be designed as an integrated set of systems that together enable a technology centric operating model. The digital transformation process obviously needs to involve technology considerations and systems engineering, but it also needs to include human and organizational expertise. Thus, human and organizational factors, including sociotechnical systems methods and techniques (e.g., Cognitive Systems Engineering, Systems Theoretic Accident Modeling and Processes, human systems integration, and Macroergonomics) need to be considered for digital transformation projects in order to effectively integrate human and organizational expertise efforts into the new work system that results from nuclear power plant digital modernization. That is, the work system is the basic unit of sociotechnical systems analysis and contains three components: personnel, technical, and organization and management. These components should be jointly optimized with respect to the interdependence of systems performance criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and safety. Joint optimization can be achieved through the application of three human and organization functions: knowledge representation, knowledge elicitation, and cross-functional integration. This report provides a strategic framework for effective integration of human and organizational expertise within nuclear power plant digital modernization efforts.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Impact of UV-light and pH on the Fate of Tc, I, and U in Wetlands at Savannah River Site - 20230

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is one of the major nuclear facilities owned by the U.S Department of Energy. During the Cold War, these facilities produced large amounts of radioactive and hazardous waste. On site, three unlined seepage basins in the F-Area received approximately 1.8 billion gallons of low-level waste containing nitric acid, radionuclides, and dissolved metals due to plutonium and tritium production operations. The acidic nature of the waste created a source of relatively mobile radionuclides below the basins. Radionuclides previously disposed of within the F-Area, including uranium isotopes (U), technetium-99 (Tc-99), and iodine-129 (I-129), are moving with groundwater towards Four Mile Branch Wetland, where they are subsequently upwelling and interacting with natural organic matter (NOM). Many environmental factors including redox conditions, porewater composition, pH, light, and temperature affect the degradation of organic matter as well as interactions with Tc-99, U, and I-129. In particular, the high concentrations of nitrate from the acidic waste may increase the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that impact both degradation of NOM and behavior of contaminants. In the presence of sunlight, I-129, Tc-99, and U speciation and complexation behavior may be affected by ROS and NOM degradation products in addition to the factors generally considered in subsurface systems in the absence of light. This research aims to determine whether the interactions between radionuclides, NOM, and nitrate affect the fate of I-129, Tc-99, and U and which processes are controlling their behavior. Experiments were conducted at variable pH in the presence of NaNO{sub 3} in order to determine the impact of light and pH on NOM degradation and to evaluate the impact on the fate of contaminants of concern. Soil samples high in NOM collected from two sites in the Southeastern United States (Savannah River Site and the Everglades) were studied. Batch experiments were conducted with NOM and the following aqueous contaminants, U, I-129, Tc-99 with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light in an environmental chamber. This study was conducted in a sterile environment in order to exclude the potential for microbial degradation of organic matter. Results indicated photodegradation of NOM and significant interaction of radionuclides with NOM. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

A multi-scale cognitive interaction model of instrument operations at the Linac Coherent Light Source

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is the world’s first x-ray free electron laser. It is a scientific user facility operated by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, at Stanford, for the U.S. Department of Energy. As beam time at LCLS is extremely valuable and limited, experimental efficiency—getting the most high quality data in the least time—is critical. Our overall project employs cognitive engineering methodologies with the goal of improving experimental efficiency and increasing scientific productivity at LCLS by refining experimental interfaces and workflows, simplifying tasks, reducing errors, and improving operator safety and stress. Here, in this study, we describe a multi-agent, multi-scale computational cognitive interaction model of instrument operations at LCLS. Our model simulates the aspects of human cognition at multiple cognitive and temporal scales, ranging from seconds to hours, and among agents playing multiple roles, including instrument operator, real time data analyst, and experiment manager. The model can roughly predict impacts stemming from proposed changes to operational interfaces and workflows. Example results demonstrate the model’s potential in guiding modifications to improve operational efficiency. We discuss the implications of our effort for cognitive engineering in complex experimental settings and outline future directions for research. The model is open source, and the videos of the supplementary material provide extensive detail.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Bulk versus Nanoscale Hydrogen Storage Paradox Revealed by Material-System Co-Design

Metal hydrides are serious contenders for materials-based hydrogen storage to overcome constraints associated with compressed or liquefied H 2 . Their ultimate performance is usually evaluated using intrinsic material properties without considering a systems design perspective. An illustrative case with startling implications is (LiNH 2 +2LiH). Using models that simulate the storage system and associated fuel cell of a light-duty vehicle (LDV), the performance of the bulk hydrides is compared with a nanoscaled version in porous carbon (PC), (LiNH 2 +2LiH)@(6-nm PC). Using experimental material properties, the simulations show that (LiNH 2 +2LiH)@(6-nm PC) counterintuitively has higher usable gravimetric and volumetric capacities than the bulk counterpart on a system basis despite having lower capacities on a materials-only basis. Nanoscaling increases the thermal conductivity and lowers the desorption enthalpy, which consequently increases heat management efficiency. In a simulated drive cycle for fuel cell-powered LDV, the fuel cell is inoperable using bulk (LiNH 2 +2LiH) as the storage material but completes the drive cycle using the nanoscale material. Further, these results challenge the notion that nanoscaling incurs mass and volume penalties. Instead, the synergistic nanoporous host-hydride interaction can favorably modulate chemical and heat transfer properties. Moreover, a co-design approach considering application-specific tradeoffs is essential to accurately assess a material's potential for real-world hydrogen storage.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Caught in headlights: Captive white-tailed deer responses to variations in vehicle lighting during imminent collision scenarios

Vehicle collisions with deer (Odocoileus spp.) cause billions of dollars in damages and injure thousands of drivers every year in the United States, and few mitigation methods have proven effective. However, recent research suggests that vehicle lighting might influence white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter, deer) responses to oncoming vehicles. Most new vehicles are manufactured with light emitting diode (LED) headlights which differ in total radiance and wavelength of light emitted compared to the previous industry standard of tungstenhalogen (halogen) headlights. Also, frontal vehicle illumination through rear-facing lighting has shown promise in enhancing deer responses to vehicles, but its effectiveness has not been tested under various headlight conditions (headlight type or intensity). As such, it remains unclear how these aspects of vehicle lighting affect deer responses to an approaching vehicle. We used 23 captive, wild-type deer to investigate how variations in vehicle lighting affect deer responses to an approaching vehicle at night, when most collisions occur. We released deer into a 95 m long, 3 m wide chute and approached them from the opposite end with an electric golf cart outfitted with two versions of stock 2017–2020 Ford Fusion headlights (LED and halogen) and a 51 cm rear-facing lightbar to test how vehicle lighting affected deer avoidance behaviors in an imminent, head-on collision scenario. Each deer received eight lighting treatments consisting of unique combinations of headlight type (LED vs. halogen), light intensity (low vs. high beam), and rear-facing lighting (lightbar off vs. on). We measured deer alert and flight behavior using infrared videography. We found that the halogen, high beam, lightbar off treatment had the greatest probability of evoking an alert response. Furthermore, when the lightbar was off, high beams appeared to increase alert probability for halogen headlights. Also, we found evidence that high beam, halogen headlights tend to increase alert probability over high beam, LED headlights, when the lighbar was off. We found no effect of our lighting treatments on deer alert distance, flight probability, or flight initiation distance. Across all behavioral responses, the random effect deer ID explained 0.86–9.19 × more variation than our lighting treatments, reflecting large differences in responses among deer. Overall, we found that vehicle lighting can impact deer behavior during an imminent, head-on collision scenario, although lighting was ineffective at increasing favorable flight behaviors. Future research should investigate how vehicle lighting treatments affect free-ranging, wild deer in a variety of real-world scenarios and at longer approach distances.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Deer be↗
DOE OSTI2024

OpenFacadeControl: enabling integration of automated facades with other building systems

Automated facades are, for the most part, still considered as separate from other building systems throughout the design, installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance cycle. This takes place despite the fact that their energy and comfort performance are deeply interlinked with the operation of lighting and HVAC systems. Over the last two decades, research has shown that there are significant advantages from operating facades as an integrated system with the rest of the building. Nevertheless, significant barriers prevent this type of integration becoming more common. One of them is the lack of a platform that is inexpensive to implement and that easily allows the practical implementation of integrated control algorithms across fenestration and other building systems, using a variety of communications protocols. This is particularly challenging when automated facades are installed in existing buildings, where interaction with legacy building systems that were installed over the past lifetime of the building can require a high degree of interoperability. OpenFacadeControl (OFC) is an open-source controls framework aimed at unified control of facades and other building systems, including the sharing of third-party sensor information. Through leveraging the Volttron controls platform, it allows the integration of systems and sensors that are manufactured by different companies and that use different communications protocols into an ensemble that functions as a single system. OFC is designed to enable integrated control algorithms of varying degrees of complexity, ranging from simple, heuristic controls to more sophisticated approaches like model-predictive control. Use of a research version to test advanced lighting and shading strategies in a full-scale experimental testbed has demonstrated the ease of deploying advanced control solutions using OpenFacadeControl. This paper presents the structure of OpenFacadeControl and a demonstration case showing the use of OFC in laboratory tests of advanced lighting and fenestration controls that coordinated motorized shades communicating via the BACnet building communications standard and lights communicating via internet-protocol-based application programming interface (API), based on the readings of a shared light level sensor communicating via a different API.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Estimating the Drivers of the Cost of Saved Electricity in Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs

Energy efficiency programs funded by utility customers provide an electricity resource in most U.S. states, but their scale and cost of saving electricity varies significantly by state. In this paper, we explore the drivers of the cost of saved electricity in these programs with an econometric model and nearly a decade of data reported by efficiency program administrators. We found strong evidence for economies of scale and weak evidence for diseconomies of scale, which suggests that states with low levels of efficiency savings relative to retail sales can increase the size of their efficiency programs without large increases to the cost of saved electricity. We discuss examples of energy efficiency forecasting and potential modeling in light our econometric analysis and identify methodological improvements relevant to utilities and grid operators. This paper provides insights into the economics of customer-funded efficiency programs that will support regulators, utilities, and policymakers to utilize energy efficiency as a resource.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗