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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

A practical method for modeling temporally-averaged ocean wave frequency-directional spectra for characterizing wave energy climates

Wave energy resource characterization investigations have been hindered because frequency-directional wave spectra are not broadly available for many coastal regions due to the insufficient spatial coverage of buoy observation networks and spectral wave model hindcast outputs. We address this problem by developing and validating a practical method for approximating temporally-averaged frequency-directional wave spectra averaged over periods of months or years from bulk wave parameters, which are available at a much greater coverage and resolution than frequency-directional wave spectra. While the temporally averaged frequency-directional wave spectrum over these periods cannot be used for analyzing a single sea state, it aggregates multiple sea states, identifies dominant wave energy systems representing wave climate, and resolves their spectral characteristics. Therefore, modelling temporally averaged frequency-directional wave spectra is of great value for planning and designing wave energy projects, e.g., resource characterization, site assessment, and conceptual design of wave energy converters. Temporally-averaged frequency-directional wave spectra and related important wave energy parameters approximated using this method are found to be more accurate than commonly used parametric wave spectrum models. This method can be applied to a wide range of wave climates given its universality and high accuracy. Also, the availability of bulk wave parameters from multi-decade high-resolution wave model hindcasts is increasing.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Tidal Stream Energy Resource Characterization in the Salish Sea

Tidal stream energy holds great potential as a renewable energy source in regions of the world where tidal currents are strong and predictable. The tidal stream energy resource of a region is strongly controlled by its tidal wave characteristics, the local bathymetry, and coastal geometric features. The Salish Sea, a large estuary on the Pacific Northwest coast, represents a great tidal stream resource because of its strong tidal currents in many tidal channels. However, the tidal resource in the Salish Sea has not been systematically characterized, primarily because of its large area and complex bathymetry and coastlines. This paper presents a modeling study conducted to characterize the tidal energy resource of the Salish Sea based on a high-resolution three-dimensional tidal hydrodynamic model of the Salish Sea, which was extensively validated using data derived from 10 tidal gauge stations and 132 Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler stations. Model validation results indicated the Salish Sea hydrodynamic model is skillful in simulating tidal wave propagation and velocity distributions in the Salish Sea. Based on model results, a total of 16 tidal channels with strong tidal currents, 9 in the San Juan Islands and Rosario Strait regions and 7 in the Puget Sound, were identified as hotspots for potential tidal energy development. Velocity probability distributions and exceedance curves of cross-channel average velocity magnitudes were calculated at all 16 channels based on the recommendations of the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Specifications for tidal energy resource characterization. The tidal energy resource at the 16 hotspots was also characterized using power density distributions and kinetic energy fluxes. The ranking of the kinetic energy fluxes suggested that Admiralty Inlet, Rosario Strait, and Middle Channel are the top three hotspot sites in the Salish Sea for tidal stream energy development. The study demonstrated the need for a high-resolution 3-D modeling framework for accurate simulation of tidal currents in large complex estuarine systems, in the context of tidal energy resource characterization.

tidal stream energy, resource characterization, Sa↗

Probabilistic and maximum entropy modeling of chemical reaction systems: Characteristics and comparisons to mass action kinetic models

We demonstrate and characterize a first-principles approach to modeling the mass action dynamics of metabolism. Starting from a basic definition of entropy expressed as a multinomial probability density using Boltzmann probabilities with standard chemical potentials, we derive and compare the free energy dissipation and the entropy production rates. We express the relation between entropy production and the chemical master equation for modeling metabolism, which unifies chemical kinetics and chemical thermodynamics. Because prediction uncertainty with respect to parameter variability is frequently a concern with mass action models utilizing rate constants, we compare and contrast the maximum entropy model, which has its own set of rate parameters, to a population of standard mass action models in which the rate constants are randomly chosen. We show that a maximum entropy model is characterized by a high probability of free energy dissipation rate and likewise entropy production rate, relative to other models. We then characterize the variability of the maximum entropy model predictions with respect to uncertainties in parameters (standard free energies of formation) and with respect to ionic strengths typically found in a cell.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Hydrokinetic tidal energy resource assessment following international electrotechnical commission guidelines

Marine renewable energy can be used as a viable energy source to alleviate the impact of the climate crisis and have a carbon-free electricity sector in the future. Especially the energetic tidal streams are an attractive source of clean energy due to the periodic occurrence of high tidal flows daily. However, before any deployment of tidal turbine farms, it is essential to perform a resource assessment depending on the scope and scale of the project. Here, the International Electrotechnical Commission has developed a technical standard for assessing the tidal stream resource "IEC 62600-201 TS" to aid in this effort: determine a particular site's feasibility and perform the project layout design. In this study, we implemented and validated a high-resolution three-dimensional numerical model and provided results following the IEC TS for a project layout design in a highly energetic tidal channel, Tacoma Narrows of Puget Sound, in the State of Washington, USA. Implementation of the guidelines has helped adequately identify the undisturbed theoretical and technical resources with less bias, where the latter included energy extraction from the flow field arranging a hypothetical tidal energy converter (TEC) array. Also, following the standard, we carefully assessed the changes to channel flow properties from TECs, such as the kinetic energy flux and annual energy production (AEP), to provide the detailed information required for a larger project layout design. Ultimately, this work has shown the important role of IEC TS in tidal stream resource assessment, which can simultaneously act as a benchmark for other studies worldwide.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Empirical Validation of UBEM: An Assessment of Bias in Urban Building Energy Modeling for Chicago

Residential and commercial buildings currently account for 30% of total global final energy consumption. Urban-scale building energy modeling (UBEM) can enable scalable investments and unlock building improvements by quantifying energy, demand, emissions, and cost reductions of specific measures or packages for building-specific technologies in large geographic regions. While the sophistication of UBEM data sources and technologies have increased dramatically in the past decade, there remains a knowledge gap for empirical validation and sources of bias between building-specific energy models and measured data at varying geographic scales.As UBEM continues to develop, systemic analysis of accuracy, bias, and limitations of the resulting models is necessary to inform best practices and move toward standardization. These are characterized for the Automatic Building Energy Modeling (AutoBEM) software suite with an initial case study involving metered electricity consumption data from 247,188 buildings in Chicago, Illinois, USA - averaged across years 2019-2021 - compared to the following datasets: (1) the AutoBEM-generated nation-scale Model America version 2 (MAv2) data for 596,064 buildings, (2) tax assessor data for 579,829 buildings, (3) tax assessor data filled with MAv2, and (4) 102 representative dynamic archetypes. The accuracy is reported for every building type and vintage combination, along with multiple sources of bias for unique building descriptors. The AutoBEM simulation workflow produced energy consumption estimates that closely match aggregated metered electricity consumption data for different types of buildings constructed during various time periods at the city scale - with initial normalized mean bias error of 10.9%, and 1.1% after removing outliers. Contribution of statistically significant factors including building type, land use, age, and size to variance in UBEM bias is quantified.

Garg, Ankur↗

DEEPEN Leapfrog Geodata Model Cleaned and Reformatted Exploration Datasets from Newberry Volcano

DEEPEN stands for DE-risking Exploration of geothermal Plays in magmatic ENvironments. As part of the DEEPEN 3D play fairway analysis (PFA) conducted at Newberry Volcano for multiple play types (conventional hydrothermal, superhot EGS, and supercritical), existing geoscientific exploration datasets needed to be acquired, cleaned, reformatted, and assembled in Leapfrog Geothermal. This GDR submission includes all of the cleaned and reformatted (X (m), Y (m), elevation (m), processed data values) datasets used to build the Leapfrog Geodata model. Existing datasets were acquired from the GDR, from AltaRock, and from other sources. This yielded the following datasets: - Digital elevation model produced from LiDAR data by Ramsey and Bard, 2016 - MT surveys from 2006, 2011, 2014, and 2017 (including single inversions) - Gravity surveys from 2006, 2007, and 2011 (including single) - Earthquake catalogs from PNSN, LLNL, and the Newberry EGS Demonstration project - Seismic velocity model from Templeton et al., 2014 - The Frone, 2015 temperature model and a new one produced through extrapolating downhole temperature measurements and the SMU temperature at depth maps. Two versions of the new model are provided: 250 m spacing and 500 m spacing - EarthVision geologic model with alteration from Moser et al., 2016 - Well data from EGS well 55-29, deep geothermal wells, coreholes (GEO N-2 through 5) and several thermal gradient holes - "Newberry Well Data:" Location, simple lithology, directional survey data, and temperature data for the 34 wells and coreholes used in the Newberry PFA Although there are additional 2D datasets available in the area, such as aeromagnetic surveys, these were not included in the analysis. While it may be possible to project these datasets into three dimensions by assuming the surface measurements do not vary with depth, this method is associated with high uncertainty. Preexisting inversions of these data were unavailable, and inverting additional geophysical datasets is outside the scope of this project.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Modeling Assessment of Tidal Energy Extraction in the Western Passage

Numerical models have been widely used for the resource characterization and assessment of tidal instream energy. The accurate assessment of tidal stream energy resources at a feasibility or project-design scale requires detailed hydrodynamic model simulations or high-quality field measurements. This study applied a three-dimensional finite-volume community ocean model (FVCOM) to simulate the tidal hydrodynamics in the Passamaquoddy–Cobscook Bay archipelago, with a focus on the Western Passage, to assist tidal energy resource assessment. IEC Technical specifications were considered in the model configurations and simulations. The model was calibrated and validated with field measurements. Energy fluxes and power densities along selected cross sections were calculated to evaluate the feasibility of the tidal energy development at several hotspots that feature strong currents. When taking both the high current speed and water depth into account, the model results showed that the Western Passage has great potential for the deployment of tidal energy farms. The maximum extractable power in the Western Passage was estimated using the Garrett and Cummins method. Different criteria and methods recommended by the IEC for resource characterization were evaluated and discussed using a sensitivity analysis of energy extraction for a hypothetical tidal turbine farm in the Western Passage.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Facility-Level Industry Representation for Decarbonization Modeling [Slides]

The largest facilities of energy-intensive materials processing industries are disproportionate contributors to U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In general, industrial energy system modeling for the United States currently represents industrial demands at a much lower resolution than other end-use sector modeling. Therefore, characterizing even a subset of energy-intensive materials processing facilities will capture a significant portion of industrial GHG emissions. In order to further the development of publicly-available data to support modeling of industrial decarbonization, we summarize a set of approaches and results for characterizing the location, energy intensity and mix, process emissions intensity, and general production technology of existing clinker, ammonia, and iron and steel facilities in the United States. We also characterize facilities that represent options for reducing GHG emissions from each industry.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Characterizing Uncertainty in Synthetic Tropical Cyclone Hazard Models for U.S. Energy Infrastructure Resilience

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are intense storms that pose a persistent and considerable risk to coastal communities and infrastructure in the global tropics and subtropics, including the United States (US). With known limitations associated with observations and high-resolution earth system models, synthetic TC models that capture a wide spectrum of storm possibilities have been developed to robustly quantify TC risk. Here we examine the simulation of various TC features in the North Atlantic relevant for US coastal risk in three synthetic TC models forced with ERA5 reanalysis: MIT, CHAZ and RAFT. While there is a broad agreement among these models in terms of their representation of salient TC characteristics, certain differences do exist. To connect these modeling uncertainties with energy infrastructure resilience, we apply fragility curves that link simulated TC intensities to damage probabilities, demonstrating how uncertainty in storm states may translate into that in coastal impacts. Our study indicates that acknowledging and accounting for inter-model uncertainty leads to more reliable risk assessments, strengthening science-to-action pathways for managing risks associated with TCs.

Baby John, Effy↗

Methodology to assess “no-touch” building audit software using simulated utility data

Building audits are conducted in many commercial buildings to identify opportunities to reduce energy costs and improve building operation. Because audits require significant effort by building engineers, they are usually only affordable for larger commercial buildings. “No-touch” building audit tools have thus been developed to identify potential savings based on a simplified analysis of building energy consumption patterns via high-level energy data such as monthly utility bills. This paper presents a comprehensive and standardized methodology to evaluate the accuracy of no-touch audit tools in detecting and diagnosing building energy problems and quantifying potential energy savings. The test suite is based on output data from a well-characterized set of building energy models, and the methodology is illustrated by applying it to a representative no-touch building audit tool. Results show that the tool estimates building energy end uses with reasonable accuracy but is less accurate in identifying probably causes of high energy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Utah FORGE: Data for 3-D Model Development - Lithology, Temperature, Pressure, and Stress

This submission comprises two downloadable .zip archives. Each archive contains spreadsheets with 3-D data and a .txt document describing the data. The Mesh Files .zip download contains data regarding the lithologic contacts of the granitoid and overlying sedimentary basin fill. The Initial Conditions .zip download contains data regarding temperature, pressure, and stress. These data were generated during Utah FORGE Phase 2 and exported from Seequent Leapfrog Geothermal. They are intended for use in 3-D earth modeling.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

DEEPEN: Newberry Volcano MT and Gravity Data - 2022 and 2023 Acquisition and Processing

As part of DEEPEN (DE-risking Exploration of geothermal Plays in magmatic ENvironments), a 3D play fairway analysis (PFA) was conducted at Newberry Volcano in Central Oregon for multiple play types (conventional hydrothermal, superhot EGS, and supercritical). For use in this PFA, combined full tensor broadband magnetotelluric (MT) and gravity data were acquired, processed, and inverted by Enthalpion Energy LLC (Enthalpion) with support from NREL staff. The data collection efforts took place from June 19th to July 24. Data were collected with the goal of gaining an improved understanding of the South Flank and the extent of the magma chamber. This GDR submission includes the raw data, single inversions, joint inversions, resolution matrices, and a report on these processes. More detailed information about the folder structure of the datasets included in this submission may be found on pages 94-97 of Magnetotelluric and Gravity Survey Report.pdf below.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Survey of Advanced Generation IV Reactor Parameters for Integrated Energy System Modeling Capabilities

This paper is to categorize and characterize advanced Generation IV nuclear reactors that are not water based according to the key parameters for the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) project[1]. A key goal of the IES project is to assess the economic viability of including an advanced nuclear reactor into an IES. The landscape of advanced reactors is heterogeneous: several unique designs with different heat profiles are currently being studied and designed. This report provides a high-level perspective of advanced reactor concepts, including primary loop nuclear output temperatures and operation schemes that could affect secondary side power production or storage. For example, this report addresses the type of thermodynamic system (Brayton, supercritical CO 2 [S-CO 2 ], etc.) and the various pressures and temperatures on the secondary side that are expected to be provided by the various primary side reactor types. Based on these characteristics, it may be possible to determine which type of nuclear power plant could be the most economical for analysis in the IES framework for power production coupled with energy storage and waste heat utilization. The results of this effort will serve as input for model development of various secondary side components, concentrating on off-the-shelf capabilities for current and near future secondary side power generation and heat rejection as simulated in TRANSFORM. Generic models can be created which are agnostic of the nuclear energy supply without violating intellectual property rights of the developer. These models can be used to make informed decisions on the economics of integrating various energy system components with nuclear plant designs. Once complete, conclusions may be drawn regarding (1) the economics, efficiency, and reliability of certain nuclear reactors, (2) certain industry processes and energy storage systems, and (3) prioritization of certain reactor types with the studied industry types.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Status Report on Thermal Delivery Modeling in HYBRID

This report details the modeling efforts consistent with the HYBRID repository of the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program, motivated to develop information data tables characterizing the thermodynamic losses associated with transporting thermal energy over large distances. The described model establishes a methodology to currently characterize the impacts of certain parameters such as distance, piping geometry, and heat transfer fluid among others as well as sets up ability to interconnect the delivery model into Modelica IES simulations in the future. This report describes the modeling efforts completed and describes some of the future studies that will be done using results produced by the modeling efforts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗