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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1980

The effects of regional insolation differences upon advanced solar thermal electric power plant performance and energy costs

The performance and cost of four 10 MWe advanced solar thermal electric power plants sited in various regions of the continental United States was studied. Each region has different insolation characteristics which result in varying collector field areas, plant performance, capital costs and energy costs. The regional variation in solar plant performance was assessed in relation to the expected rise in the future cost of residential and commercial electricity supplied by conventional utility power systems in the same regions. A discussion of the regional insolation data base is presented along with a description of the solar systems performance and costs. A range for the forecast cost of conventional electricity by region and nationally over the next several decades is given.

Latta, A. F.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Commercial Building Operator Certificate Program [Final Report]

The overall objective of this project is for the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, Baruch College, City University of New York (NREI) to create and deliver a web-based certificate program specifically designed for Commercial Building Operators, defined as Property Managers and Portfolio Asset Managers. The certificate program will consist of three 15-hour courses and will instruct students on how planning a path to Net Zero Energy (NZE) can be an effective element in creating asset value. NREI will develop curriculum with the help of dedicated staff working with consultants in the energy management and web-based education fields.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide: Practical Ways to Improve Energy Performance, K-12 Schools (Book)

The U.S. Department of Energy developed the Advanced Energy Retrofit Guides (AERGs) to provide specific methodologies, information, and guidance to help energy managers and other stakeholders plan and execute energy efficiency improvements. Detailed technical discussion is fairly limited. Instead, we emphasize actionable information, practical methodologies, diverse case studies, and unbiased evaluations of the most promising retrofit energy efficiency measures for each building type. A series of AERGs is under development, addressing key segments of the commercial building stock. K-12 schools were selected as one of the highest priority building sectors, because schools affect the lives of most Americans. They also represent approximately 8% of the energy use and 10% of the floor area in commercial buildings nationwide. U.S. K-12 school districts spend more than $8 billion each year on energy - more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined. Most occupy older buildings that often have poor operational performance - more than 30% of schools were built before 1960. The average age of a school is about 42 years - which is nearly the expected serviceable lifespan of the building. K-12 schools offer unique opportunities for deep, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, and this guide provides convenient and practical guidance for exploiting these opportunities in the context of public, private, and parochial schools.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Energy Resources Management System via Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation: Preprint

This paper presents an advanced hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) platform to evaluate the performance of voltage regulation coordinated across advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), distributed energy management system (DERMS), and DERs. The HIL platform provides realistic laboratory testing, including accurate modeling of the real-world distribution system from a utility partner, real controller (ADMS and DERMs) and power (DERs) hardware, and standard communications protocols. The test results show proper functionalities of the integrated platform and performance of the peak load management of coordinated control systems. Based on the laboratory testing, the utility can set up the same grid automation system to manage DERs to achieve system-level control and operation objectives (e.g., peak load management), thus derisking potential issues (e.g., instability) for field deployment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Equivalent Test Bed in PSCAD and PSLF for Studying Advanced Power Systems Controller Performance

With increasing popularity of sustainable energy resources, research on power electronic-based renewable generation modeling is gaining impetus to enhance reliability of electric grids with high penetrations of renewable energy. A set of generic and public models for renewable energy are available in commercial positive sequence power system simulation software. However, advanced controller models applicable for renewable resources are typically not included in these tools. To ensure the integrity of the newly developed controller models for renewables in positive sequence simulators for large power systems, it is necessary to validate the dynamic performance of the proposed model with detailed electromagnetic models. This paper creates an equivalent test bed in PSCAD and PSLF for validating the performance of advanced controllers associated with renewable energy sources. To demonstrate the usefulness of the test-bed, a user-defined synthetic inertia (SI) controller model was developed in PSLF and validated through the proposed test bed.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Improving energy performance metrics to maximize the benefits of disruptive technologies

Advances in appliance and equipment systems' technologies also cause changes in their technical characteristics that can affect energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Energy performance evaluation methods that use testing and metrics can evolve to account for energy consumption contributed from new technological characteristics. However, there is no systematic effort to enable the advancement of test procedures and performance metrics to maximize the energy, climate, and financial benefits of disruptive technologies. Therefore, it is important for countries to regularly update their energy-efficiency policy programs, such as standards and labels, by improving test procedures and metrics to reflect the innovation in emerging technologies as well as to mitigate the risk of deploying obsolete technology. This paper shows how energy performance metrics have been improving in selected appliances and equipment and provides insights to design a systematic effort to improve metrics and test procedures at the speed of ongoing changes in technologies and markets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advances in the Co-Simulation of Detailed Electrical and Whole-Building Energy Performance

This article describes recent co-simulation advances for the simultaneous modeling of detailed building electrical distribution systems and whole-building energy performance. The co-simulation architecture combines the EnergyPlus® engine for whole-building energy modeling with a new Modelica library for building an electrical distribution system model that is based on harmonic power flow. This new library allows for a higher-fidelity modeling of electrical power flows and losses within buildings than is available with current building electrical modeling software. We demonstrate the feasibility of the architecture by modeling a simple, two-zone thermal chamber with internal power electronics converters and resistive loads, and we validate the model using experimental data. The proposed co-simulation capability significantly expands the capabilities of building electrical distribution system models in the context of whole-building energy modeling, thus enabling more complex analyses than would have been possible with individual building performance simulation tools that are used to date.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of low-exergy heating and cooling systems and topology optimization for deep energy savings at the urban district level

District energy systems have the potential to achieve deep energy savings by leveraging the density and diversity of loads in urban districts. However, planning and adoption of district thermal energy systems is hindered by the analytical burden and high infrastructure costs. It is hypothesized that network topology optimization would enable wider adoption of advanced (ambient temperature) district thermal energy systems, resulting in energy savings. In this study, energy modeling is used to compare the energy performance of “conventional” and “advanced” district thermal energy systems at the urban district level, and a partial exhaustive search is used to evaluate a heuristic for the topology optimization problem. For the prototypical district considered, advanced district thermal energy systems mated with low-exergy building heating and cooling systems achieved a source energy use intensity that was 49% lower than that of conventional systems. The minimal spanning tree heuristic was demonstrated to be effective for the network topology optimization problem in the context of a prototypical district, and contributes to mitigating the problem’s computational complexity. The work presented in this paper demonstrates the potential of advanced district thermal energy systems to achieve deep energy savings, and advances to addressing barriers to their adoption through topology optimization.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design and Implementation of Smart Buildings: A Review of Current Research Trend

The building sector is one of the largest contributors to the world’s total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Advancements in building energy technologies have played a critical role in enhancing the energy sustainability of the built environment. Extensive research and new techniques in energy and environmental systems for buildings have recently emerged to address the global challenges. This study reviews existing articles in the literature, mostly since 2000, to explore technological advancement in building energy and environmental systems that can be applied to smart homes and buildings. This review study focuses on an overview of the design and implementation of energy-related smart building technologies, including energy management systems, renewable energy applications, and current advanced smart technologies for optimal function and energy-efficient performance. To review the advancement in building energy-related technologies, a systematic review process is adopted based on available published reviews and research types of articles. Review-type articles are first assessed to explore the current literature on the relevant keywords and to capture major research scopes. Research-type papers are then examined to investigate associated keywords and work scopes, including objectives, focuses, limitations, and future needs. Throughout the comprehensive literature review, this study identifies various techniques of smart home/building applications that have provided detailed solutions or guidelines in different applications to enhance the quality of people’s daily activities and the sustainability of the built environmental system. This paper shows trends in human activities and technology advancements in digital solutions with energy management systems and practical designs. Understanding the overall energy flow between a building and its environmentally connected systems is also important for future buildings and community levels. This paper assists in understanding the pathway toward future smart homes/buildings and their technologies for researchers in related research fields.

renewable system integration↗
DOE OSTI2013

Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide: Practical Ways to Improve Energy Performance, K-12 Schools (Book)

The U.S. Department of Energy developed the K-12 Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide to provide specific methodologies, information, and guidance to help energy managers and other stakeholders plan and execute energy efficiency improvements. We emphasize actionable information, practical methodologies, diverse case studies, and unbiased evaluation of the most promising retrofit measure for each building type. K-12 schools were selected as one of the highest priority building sectors, because schools affect the lives of most Americans. They also represent approximately 8% of the energy use and 10% of the floor area in commercial buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

Targeting 100! Advanced Energy Efficient Building Technologies for High Performance Hospitals: Executive Summary.

This research, Targeting 100!, provides a conceptual framework and decision-making structure at a schematic design level of precision for hospital owners, architects and engineers to radically reduce energy use in hospitals. Following the goals of Architecture 2030 and The 2030 Challenge, it offers access to design strategies and the cost implications of those strategies for new hospitals to utilize 60% less energy. The name, Targeting 100!, comes from the 2030 Challenge energy reduction goal for hospitals; a 60% energy use reduction from typical acute care hospital targets approximately 100 KBtu/SF Year, thus the name “Targeting 100!”. Targeting 100! was developed through funding partnerships with the US Department of Energy and the Northwest Energy Efficiency’s BetterBricks Initiative. The technical team was led by the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab supported by deep collaboration with Solarc Architecture and Engineering, TBD Cost Consultants, and NBBJ Architecture. Through extensive research and design development, Targeting 100! provides a framework for developing high performance healthcare projects today and into the future. An online tool houses a Targeting 100! knowlegebase and roadmap. It can be accessed at: www.idlseattle.com/t100. The webtool is structured from high-level overview materials to detailed library with modeling inputs and outputs, providing a comprehensive report of the background, data, and outcomes from the project.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2014

High Performance Computing Modeling Advances Accelerator Science for High-Energy Physics

The development and optimization of particle accelerators are essential for advancing our understanding of the properties of matter, energy, space, and time. Particle accelerators are complex devices whose behavior involves many physical effects on multiple scales. Therefore, advanced computational tools utilizing high-performance computing are essential for accurately modeling them. In the past decade, the US Department of Energy's SciDAC program has produced accelerator-modeling tools that have been employed to tackle some of the most difficult accelerator science problems. The authors discuss the Synergia framework and its applications to high-intensity particle accelerator physics. Synergia is an accelerator simulation package capable of handling the entire spectrum of beam dynamics simulations. Our authors present Synergia's design principles and its performance on HPC platforms.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1981

Performance of advanced chromium electrodes for the NASA Redox Energy Storage System

Chromium electrodes were prepared for the NASA Redox Storage System with meet the performance requirements for solar-photovoltaic, wind-turbine and electric utility applications. Gold-lead catalyzed carbon felt electrodes up tp 930 sq cm were fabricated and tested in single cells and multicell stacks for hydrogen evolution, coulombic efficiency, catalyst stability and electrochemical activity. Factors which affect the overall performance of a particular electrode include the carbon felt lot, the cleaning treatment and the gold catalyzation method. Effects of the chromium solution chemistry and impurities on charge/discharge performance are also presented.

Gahn, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Advanced Antireflection Coatings for High-Performance Solar Energy Applications

Phase II objectives: Develop and refine antireflection coatings incorporating lanthanum titanate as an intermediate refractive index material; Investigate wet/dry thermal oxidation of aluminum containing semiconductor compounds as a means of forming a more transparent window layer with equal or better optical properties than its unoxidized form; Develop a fabrication process that allows integration of the oxidized window layer and maintains the necessary electrical properties for contacting the solar cell; Conduct an experimental demonstration of the best candidates for improved antireflection coatings.

Pan, Noren↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hybrid-Electric Aero-Propulsion Controls Testbed Results

NASA is supporting the development of Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technology due to its potential to reduce aircraft fuel burn, emissions, and noise as well as improving safety and performance. One focus of this research is the electrification of conventional turbomachinery propulsion systems, which offers ways to improve the performance and operability of turbine-engine powered aircraft through the addition of electro-mechanical systems. These hybrid-electric turbine engines provide additional actuation and energy management control opportunities for improving stability and transient response behavior. This paper summarizes the results of a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test performed at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) during the summer of 2022. The test demonstrates the feasibility and performance of an advanced energy management control strategy by integrating a simulated turbofan engine with scaled electro-mechanical hardware. A full-scale real-time reference model of a geared turbofan was run alongside a scaled electro-mechanical system representing the electrified turbofan components operating at a megawatt-scale power level. The model was interfaced with the hardware through a novel closed-loop control and scaling algorithm that emulated the dynamic speed and torque response of the turbofan shafts. The control strategy was implemented on the electrical machines connected to the emulated turbomachinery shafts. The results from the testbed are compared against simulations that predict the testbed and geared turbofan model operation. The energy management control strategy successfully changed the operating point of the engine model and improved its stability during throttle transients. These results also demonstrate the success of the novel closed loop control and scaling approach for emulating turbomachinery and elevate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the energy management control strategy.

Aeronautics↗
NASA NTRS2023

Hybrid-Electric Aero-Propulsion Controls Testbed Results

NASA is supporting the development of Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technology due to its potential to reduce aircraft fuel burn, emissions, and noise as well as improving safety and performance. One focus of this research is the electrification of conventional turbomachinery propulsion systems, which offers ways to improve the performance and operability of turbine-engine powered aircraft through the addition of electro-mechanical systems. These hybrid-electric turbine engines provide additional actuation and energy management control opportunities for improving stability and transient response behavior. This paper summarizes the results of a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test performed at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) during the summer of 2022. The test demonstrates the feasibility and performance of an advanced energy management control strategy by integrating a simulated turbofan engine with scaled electro-mechanical hardware. A full-scale real-time reference model of a geared turbofan was run alongside a scaled electro-mechanical system representing the electrified turbofan components operating at a megawatt-scale power level. The model was interfaced with the hardware through a novel closed-loop control and scaling algorithm that emulated the dynamic speed and torque response of the turbofan shafts. The control strategy was implemented on the electrical machines connected to the emulated turbomachinery shafts. The results from the testbed are compared against simulations that predict the testbed and geared turbofan model operation. The energy management control strategy successfully changed the operating point of the engine model and improved its stability during throttle transients. These results also demonstrate the success of the novel closed loop control and scaling approach for emulating turbomachinery and elevate the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the energy management control strategy.

Aeronautics↗