Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Assurance”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19

Granger Causality for prediction in Dynamic Mode Decomposition: Application to power systems

Here, the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) technique extracts the dominant modes characterizing the innate dynamical behavior of the system within the measurement data. For appropriate identification of dominant modes from the measurement data, the DMD algorithm necessitates ensuring the quality of the input measurement data sequences. On that account, for validating the usability of the dataset for the DMD algorithm, the paper proposed two conditions: Persistence of excitation (PE) and the Granger Causality Test (GCT). The virtual data sequences are designed with the hankel matrix representation such that the dimensions of the subspace spanning the essential system modes are increased with the addition of new state variables. The PE condition provides the lower bound for the trajectory length, and the GCT provides the order of the model. Satisfying the PE condition enables estimating an approximate linear model, but the predictability with the identified model is only assured with the temporal causation among data searched with GCT. The proposed methodology is validated with the application for coherency identification (CI) in a multi-machine power system (MMPS), an essential phenomenon in transient stability analysis. The significance of PE condition and GCT is demonstrated through various case studies implemented on 22 bus six generator system.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Who is marginalized in energy justice? Amplifying community leader perspectives of energy transitions in Ghana

There is a divide in energy access studies, between technologically-focused modeling papers in engineering and economics, and energy justice frameworks and principles grounded in social sciences. Quantitative computational models are necessary when analyzing energy, and more specifically electricity, systems, as they are technologically-complex systems that can diverge from intuitive patterns. To assure energy justice, these models must be reflective of, and informative to, a wide range of stakeholders, including households and communities alongside utilities, governments, and others. Yet, moving from a qualitative understanding of preferences to quantitative modeling is challenging. In this perspective piece, we pilot the use of the value-focused thinking framework to inform stakeholder engagement. The result is a strategic objective hierarchy that highlights the tradeoffs and the social, economic and technological factors that need to be measured in models. We apply the process in Ghana, using a survey, stakeholder workshops, and follow-up interviews to uncover key tradeoffs and stakeholder-derived objectives. We discuss three key areas that have been rarely, if ever, well-represented in energy models: (1) the relationship between the dynamics of electricity end-use and the technology and economic structure of the system; (2) explicit tradeoffs between electricity access, cost, and reliability as defined by stakeholders; and (3) the definition of new objectives, such as minimizing hazards related to theft. We conclude that this model of engagement provides an opportunity to tie together rigorous qualitative analysis and stakeholder engagement with crucial quantitative models of the electricity system.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Robust hierarchical three dimensional nickel cobalt tungstate-MXene nanocomposite for high performance symmetric coin cell supercapacitors

Design of rational electrode materials with hierarchically structured pseudocapacitive materials has been identified as a successful strategy for revamping the electrochemical characteristics of supercapacitors. However, the simultaneous assurance of strong electrical conductivity and higher specific capacitance via a simple and cost-effective synthesis protocol is of concern today. In this work, Ni-CoWO 4 incorporated MXene nanocomposite has been successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal process. The structure, morphology, stoichiometry, and chemical characterization of the prepared Ni-CoWO 4 , Ti 3 C 2 T x , and Ni-CoWO4@MXene nanocomposite were explored extensively. MXene demonstrated a layered 2D nanoscale structure whereas pure Ni-CoWO 4 was composed of spherical nanoparticles. The composite Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene revealed the morphology of spherical Ni-CoWO 4 nanoparticles decorated on MXene sheets. Furthermore, a series of electrochemical characterizations illustrated the contribution of the delightful morphology of Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene composite to excellent electrochemistry. The resultant Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene electrode exhibited high specific capacitance of 582 Fg -1 at 1 A g -1 and 93.5 % capacitance retention over the 10,000 cycles., which is higher than that of the individual counterparts Ni-CoWO 4 and MXene. The excellent electrochemical performance of Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene is attributed to the synergistic interaction between Ni-CoWO4 nanoparticles and nanolayered MXene that may create new active sites that enhanced the charge transfer, charge/discharge kinetics and the electrical conductivity. Significantly, the unique Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene supercapacitor prototype delivered a higher energy density of 85.7 Wh kg -1 and power density of 0.85 kW kg -1 establishing its superiority over other Cosingle bondW based supercapacitors. A theoretical study was also performed to correlate the improved charge storage capacity of the prepared Ni-CoWO 4 @MXene composite.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Biomass pyrolysis devolatilization kinetics of herbaceous and woody feedstocks

Devolatilization kinetics were determined using a modified micropyrolyzer reactor for several biomass feedstocks: switchgrass, corn stover, red oak, and pine. Here, the micropyrolyzer was directly coupled to a flame ionization detector (FID) to track the release of volatiles from the biomass. Time series data from these experiments was analyzed to determine apparent devolatilization rates. Care was taken to assure the experiments were isothermal and kinetically limited calculating a Biot number less than 0.1 and pyrolysis numbers greater than 10, which simplifies the derivation of devolatilization rates. A single, first order reaction was able to model devolatilization rates at temperatures up to 500 °C. No correlation was found between the inorganic content of the biomass and its rate of devolatilization. Apparent activation energies were in the range of 54.9–88.4 kJ mol –1 . The rate coefficient at 500 °C was calculated as 1.90–5.14 s –1 for the four feedstocks.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Feasibility of critical infrastructure protection using network functions for programmable and decoupled ICS policy enforcement over WAN

Industrial control systems (ICS) represent a major component of our critical infrastructure. With the increasing need for more control and monitoring of such systems, ICS have seen an increase in connectivity to wide area networks (WAN) exposing aging equipment to rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats. Furthermore, the ICS data requires a reliability measure from the networks for critical functions for infrastructure monitoring and control. Especially when remote plant sites are involved such as pipelines, energy distribution networks, and transportation, WAN transport impairments most often provide a best effort delivery with no strict reliability guarantees. Network functions can provide a vendor agnostic, programmable critical infrastructure protection with a single maintenance, policy determination, and reliability assurance surface. A network function (NF) can be utilized for policy enforcement over the communication between remote entities and the main control office. This paper presents the research on transparent integration with existing ICS without disrupting communications, resulting in minimal downtime while decoupling the fast paced evolution of defensive security measures from the upgrade cycle of expensive long term hardware. We report our measurements on the resource requirements and overhead in the network for successful NF insertion under a wide variety of network impairments (network packet delay, reordering, and loss). Our paired NF implementation provides a policy enforcement platform extensible to cover myriad cybersecurity-related communication goals, including packet signing for verification, encryption for data privacy, packet filtering and data diode operation (i.e. protecting against eavesdropping, packet injection, and denial-of-service). Furthermore, bundling communication specifications into packet flows allows for tunability in applying policies as coarse- or fine-grained as the needs of the operator. We report on network function resource requirements in the form of required queue depth and network utilization overhead to inform the decision making against hardware cost constraints.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Demonstrating the data center as a flexible grid asset using a C-HIL setup

Increasing data center demand is outpacing grid infrastructure development. Artificial intelligence workloads and hyperscale cloud growth are creating unprecedented demand for power, while traditional grid expansion faces multiyear development timelines. Verrus is developing an innovative datacenter solution for this challenge, data centers that act as active grid-supportive assets rather than passive loads. Our approach integrates a novel grid-aware power flow management system with battery energy storage systems(BESS) into a microgrid-controlled, medium-voltage power distribution architecture that delivers critical capabilities, such as: * Fast response to grid disturbances such over/ under voltage or over/ under frequency * Demand flexibility that can service requests from the utility within 10 s * Uninterrupted transition to islanded operation during grid outages * Continuous uptime assurance for compute loads while maintaining all customer service level agreements. Through Verrus' strategic partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), these capabilities were validated using NREL's Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) virtual emulation environment to model a 70-MW grid-interactive data center. This paper outlines the design, methodology, and results of this emulated deployment, demonstrating that data centers can provide both critical load resilience and ancillary grid support without compromising uptime requirements. Specifically, we present a digital real time simulation of a 70 MW data center integrated with a physical microgrid controller, and demonstrate the data center response in the event of a grid voltage and frequency event, utility demand response request and utility outage.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

A risk-based approach to evaluating the Area of Review and leakage risks at CO 2 storage sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Class VI regulations for underground carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) injection require owners and operators of storage projects to identify (1) an Area of Review (AoR) that represents the region that may be affected by the injection of CO 2 , and (2) leakage risks that might impact the quality of underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). This article describes how such risks can be determined by accounting for the physical and chemical properties of all components of a CO 2 storage site using elements of the National Risk Assessment Partnership Integrated Assessment Model for Carbon Storage (NRAP-IAM-CS). For this work we used practical data from three sites that are part of two CarbonSAFE (Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise) projects to demonstrate application of the NRAP-IAM-CS toolset to determine project risk areas. NRAP-IAM-CS was used to estimate the project risk area that could represent the AoR and the impact of leakage through legacy wells to overlying drinking waters at these candidate CO 2 storage sites. Our study shows that risk to USDWs is minimal despite (1) the presence of multiple legacy wells at these sites where the AoR approximates the maximum extent of injected CO 2 or (2) the presence of a much larger AoR approximating the pressure front caused by the injection of CO 2 .

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Common risk segment mapping: Streamlining exploration for carbon storage sites, with application to coastal Texas and Louisiana

Large-scale deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will require a commensurately large number of sites. Efficient screening methods are needed to create investment assurance and focus efforts on the most promising sites. The problem is similar to petroleum exploration, for which there are well-developed (though seldom published) workflows, including Common Risk Segment (CRS) mapping. In brief, the process requires 1) defining the key play elements; 2) identifying candidate geologic intervals for each; 3) creating fact-based maps for those intervals; 4) determining minimum criteria for the success of each element; 5) reinterpreting the fact-based maps in terms of chance of success; and 6) combining the individual maps to form a composite, basin-scale view of prospectivity. We adapt the CRS process to screening for CO 2 storage sites. Critically, we redefine the process in terms of cost of characterization and development, rather than chance of success. For illustration, we apply the process to the example of the Lower Miocene on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. We show that the predictions are consistent with historic hydrocarbon production volumes and rates. The power of the CRS method is that it creates a systematic approach to geologic evaluation and translates complex, multidimensional analysis into clear, graphical and easily comprehended business inputs. The results highlight sweet spots and identifies critical risks, suggesting a focus for further data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the method developed here can be applied to both surface and subsurface factors anywhere that there is interest in geologic storage of CO 2 .

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

An experimental investigation on the CO 2 storage capacity of the composite confining system

Assuring secure containment of stored CO 2 is of paramount importance—for climate change mitigation, for permitting, and for reassuring the public. Regional seals, such as those sealing petroleum accumulations, have proven to be effective for securing CO 2 . However, the goal of permanent sequestration can also be satisfied with “composite confining systems” consisting of multiple, possibly discontinuous flow barriers that, in aggregate, create a system with very high permeability anisotropy and effectively retard the vertical migration of CO 2 . This study focuses on investigating the barrier characteristics necessary for effective containment of CO 2 , using both physical flow experiments and modified invasion percolation simulations. The simulations are calibrated to the physical experiments and are used to further extend the analysis. Results show that for a composite confining system, a) even barriers with low capillary entry pressure contrast to the underlying flow unit can divert rising CO 2 ; b) curved or anticlinal barrier topography can enhance CO 2 trapping; c) fining-upward gradations make little difference to barrier effectiveness or CO 2 retention; d) longer barriers retain more CO 2 regardless of barrier topography. Finally, field-scale simulations have demonstrated the importance of barrier length for increasing CO 2 storage capacity. Furthermore, the results presented can be used to inform the development of new screening criteria for characterization and effectiveness of composite confining systems.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Heuristic algorithms for design of integrated monitoring of geologic carbon storage sites

Designs for Risk Evaluation and Management (DREAM) is a tool developed under the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) to enhance geologic carbon storage safety and efficiency. Using potential leakage scenarios generated externally by the users preferred history-matching approach, DREAM constructs ideal combinations of sensor locations in the right place at the right time to detect as many leaks as possible, detect them as early as possible, and minimize cost. This user-friendly tool, developed in Java, features a window-based GUI for input and a 3D visualization tool for viewing the domain space and optimized monitoring plans. DREAM's latest version accommodates real-world usage by allowing for joint optimization of wellbore point sensor placements and surface geophysics survey geometries, and by using more efficient multi-objective optimization algorithms. We show an example where, these two improvements combined allow us to support containment assurance and go from detecting 80–90 % of the potential CO 2 leakage to +99.7 %, a step-change improvement that can make the deciding difference in whether a site is suitable for geologic carbon storage. Though developed for geologic carbon storage, this tool would be equally applicable in many surface or offshore environmental monitoring projects.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Current Status of Radiopharmaceutical Therapy

In radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT), a radionuclide is systemically or locally delivered with the goal of targeting and delivering radiation to cancer cells while minimizing radiation exposure to untargeted cells. Examples of current RPTs include thyroid ablation with the administration of {sup 131}I, treatment of liver cancer with {sup 90}Y microspheres, the treatment of bony metastases with {sup 223}Ra, and the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors with {sup 177}Lu-DOTATATE. New RPTs are being developed where radionuclides are incorporated into systemic targeted therapies. To assure that RPT is appropriately implemented, advances in targeting need to be matched with advances in quantitative imaging and dosimetry methods. Currently, radiopharmaceutical therapy is administered by intravenous or locoregional injection, and the treatment planning has typically been implemented like chemotherapy, where the activity administered is either fixed or based on a patient’s body weight or body surface area. RPT pharmacokinetics are measurable by quantitative imaging and are known to vary across patients, both in tumors and normal tissues. Therefore, fixed or weight-based activity prescriptions are not currently optimized to deliver a cytotoxic dose to targets while remaining within the tolerance dose of organs at risk. Methods that provide dose estimates to individual patients rather than to reference geometries are needed to assess and adjust the injected RPT dose. Accurate doses to targets and organs at risk will benefit the individual patients and decrease uncertainties in clinical trials. Imaging can be used to measure activity distribution in vivo, and this information can be used to determine patient-specific treatment plans where the dose to the targets and organs at risk can be calculated. The development and adoption of imaging-based dosimetry methods is particularly beneficial in early clinical trials. In this work we discuss dosimetric accuracy needs in modern radiation oncology, uncertainties in the dosimetry in RPT, and best approaches for imaging and dosimetry of internal radionuclide therapy.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Structural insights into protection against a SARS-CoV-2 spike variant by T cell receptor diversity

T cells play a crucial role in combatting SARS-CoV-2 and forming long-term memory responses to this coronavirus. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that can evade T cell immunity has raised concerns about vaccine efficacy and the risk of reinfection. Some SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes elicit clonally restricted CD8 + T cell responses characterized by T cell receptors (TCRs) that lack structural diversity. Mutations in such epitopes can lead to loss of recognition by most T cells specific for that epitope, facilitating viral escape. Here, we studied an HLA-A2–restricted spike protein epitope (RLQ) that elicits CD8 + T cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent patients characterized by highly diverse TCRs. We previously reported the structure of an RLQ-specific TCR (RLQ3) with greatly reduced recognition of the most common natural variant of the RLQ epitope (T1006I). Opposite to RLQ3, TCR RLQ7 recognizes T1006I with even higher functional avidity than the WT epitope. To explain the ability of RLQ7, but not RLQ3, to tolerate the T1006I mutation, we determined structures of RLQ7 bound to RLQ–HLA-A2 and T1006I–HLA-A2. These complexes show that there are multiple structural solutions to recognizing RLQ and thereby generating a clonally diverse T cell response to this epitope that assures protection against viral escape and T cell clonal loss.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Consequences of product inhibition in the quantification of kinetic parameters

While the potential for product inhibition in catalytic reactions is well known, the impact of neglected inhibition on measured kinetic parameters is often overlooked. The presence of product inhibition, most often caused by the competitive adsorption of products with reactants on catalytic active sites, is difficult to determine a priori for an arbitrary catalytic system. The significance of product inhibition relies on the concentration of the products, their adsorption thermodynamics on catalytically relevant sites, and process parameters such as temperature and pressure. When inhibition is significant, however, apparent activation energies and reaction orders vary from the differential-reactor apparent activation energy by a factor of 1/(1 - δ), where δ is the total inhibition order (e.g., the factor (1 - δ) = 1.6 for a system with product inhibition of -0.6 order). This is illustrated here with the kinetics of NO oxidation over Cu ion clusters (Cu x O y ) in Cu-SSZ-13, for which the product NO 2 inhibits the forward reaction. Furthermore, in the presence of inhibition, when only reactants are fed to a flow reactor or placed in a batch reactor, there is often no practical conversion that is low enough to guarantee differential behavior. Inclusion of products in the feed solves this problem, allowing accurate determination of kinetic parameters such as apparent reaction orders and activation energies. We also demonstrate that evaluation of the necessity of co-feeding products to assure measurement of differential-reactor data in a given catalytic system is straightforward from a plot of the log of the rate (or conversion) versus the log of the space time in a flow reactor or elapsed time in a batch reactor. We encourage inclusion of this test in all kinetic analyses that are reasonably approximated by power law rate expressions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Green hydrogen from microalgal liquefaction byproducts with ammonia recovery and effluent recycle for developing circular processes

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising technology for microalgae-based biofuel production. However, hydrothermal liquefaction’s aqueous wastes have little established reuse, and contain significant fractions of toxic ammoniacal nitrogen. Careful reuse of this waste can assure microalgae-based biofuels are produced with less environmental impact and larger energy efficiency. Microbial electrolysis cells were investigated to valorize this waste product by converting the leftover organics into hydrogen and remove ammonia. Waste hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase from two microalgal strains, Tetraselmis sp. and Chlorella sp. were used as feedstocks for hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells. Chlorella and Tetraselmis aqueous phase-fed microbial electrolysis cells reach an average current density of 5.1 ± 0.19 A/m 2 and 3.8 ± 0.08 A/m 2 . Compound removal rates and mass removal percentages were also investigated for each feedstock. Additionally, acetic acid, propionic acid, ethanol, and glycerol were effectively removed from the aqueous byproduct. Further, microbial electrolysis cells separated up to 34.3% of ammoniacal nitrogen present in the aqueous phase. Charge transfer analysis indicated that proton transfer, not ammonium transfer, contributed to the majority of the hydrogen production in the cathode. Finally, the microbial electrolysis cell effluent was reused to grow the same microalgal strains, leading to the development of a circular biofuel production system. Microalgae regrowth studies using microbial electrolysis cell effluent showed nearly complete removal of total organic carbon, but significantly less removal of total nitrogen. Tetraselmis sp. growth occurred with the Tetraselmis-derived MEC effluent, however, the control medium without effluent produced the most growth. These findings support the possibility of a circular biofuel framework using MECs, but additional constraints, including the removal of inorganic contaminants, are necessary to realize the circular processes.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Time-explicit Darwin PIC algorithm

A new approach to Darwin particle-in-cell plasma simulation is described. Using a finite-element approach, the vector potential is assured to be exactly solenoidal. This allows writing the system of multi-species particles as an action-at-a-distance Hamiltonian system. Applying recently-developed explicit symplectic methods to this gives a time-explicit algorithm with all desired properties. Elliptic systems for the electrostatic and magneto-static portions of the problem are inverted efficiently by an algebraic multi-grid algorithm. The algorithm is implemented in a two-dimensional Cartesian-geometry code and tested by application to Weibel instability and to Alfvén wave dynamics. Results show the effectiveness of this approach. Extensions to arbitrary meshes and to a partially time-implicit scheme are briefly discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Optimizing long-term monitoring of radiation air-dose rates after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Radiation air dose rates near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) have been steadily decreasing over the past eight years since the release of radioactive elements in March 2011. Currently, the radiation monitoring program is expected to transition to long-term monitoring after most of the remediation activities are completed. The main long-term monitoring objectives are to (1) confirm the continuing reduction of contaminant and hazard levels, (2) provide assurance for the public, (3) accumulate the basic datasets for scientific knowledge and future preparation, and (4) detect changes or anomalies in contaminant mobility (if they occur), or any unexpected processes or events. In this work, we have developed a methodology for optimizing the monitoring locations of radiation air dose-rate monitoring. Our approach consists of three steps in order to determine monitoring locations in a systematic manner: (1) prioritizing the critical locations, such as schools or regulatory requirement locations, (2) diversifying locations that cover the key environmental controls that are known to influence contaminant mobility and distributions, and (3) capturing the heterogeneity of radiation air-dose rates across the domain. Therefore, for the second step, we use a Gaussian mixture model to identify the representative locations among multiple environmental variables, such as elevation and land-cover types. For the third step, we use a Gaussian process model to capture and estimate the heterogeneity of air-dose rates across the domain. Employing an integrated dose-rate map derived from Bayesian geostatistical methods as a reference map, we distribute the monitoring locations in such a way as to capture the heterogeneity of the reference map. Our results have shown that this approach allows us to select monitoring locations in a systematic manner such that the heterogeneity of air dose rates is captured by the minimal number of monitoring locations.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Electrical monitoring of saline tracers to reveal subsurface flow pathways in a flat ditch-drained field

Time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) combined with salt tracers can enhance our understanding of subsurface flow and transport in ditch-drained agroecosystems. In a nearly level field adjacent to a drainage ditch, we installed 192 electrodes in a 72-m2 plot along with five hydrometric stations to enable time-lapse ERI monitoring during storms. Immediately prior to a wintertime rainstorm, we applied 5 kg of KBr to a shallow trench located roughly 11 m upgradient from the ditch. Antecedent conditions prior to the storm were wet, assuring a hydrologically connected state that favored tracer dissolution and movement in the subsurface. We monitored the evolution of the tracer plume with ERI over a seven-day period. Four-dimensional (4D) delineation of precipitation and tracer transport using time-lapse ERI showed that the tracer plume moved preferentially downward through a discontinuity in the argillic horizon within the first 57 hrs. Over the following 79 hrs, the tracer plume exhibited steady, lateral movement towards the drainage ditch within a more permeable sandy horizon situated just below the argillic. A spatial moment analysis of logarithmic changes in conductivity in the sand layer revealed seepage velocities ranging from 0.0027 to 0.0482 m d-1; these values were positively correlated with hydraulic gradients, suggesting laminar flow processes typical of sandy aquifers. Increasing groundwater velocities with hydraulic gradients suggest that solute transfers from groundwater to ditch are likely to be faster in storms, especially during wet periods. Even so, predominantly slow lateral transport within the sandy horizon, even during storms, indicates that critical source areas of pollutant loss are likely within a few meters of the ditch.

Robinson, Judith L.↗