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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
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of Thin Triple-Pane Windows in the PNNL Lab Homes

In recent years, improvements in glass manufacturing have allowed the production of thin triple-pane windows, which are manufactured with a thickness similar to standard double-pane windows. Because this highly insulating “thin triple” glass product can be incorporated into almost any existing window frame and can be fabricated at a modest added cost, the U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring laboratory and field demonstration testing of thin triple-pane windows to validate thermal performance and installation requirements in real-life field settings. To examine the performance of thin triple-pane windows, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) evaluated the windows at the PNNL Lab Homes, a matched pair of homes located on PNNL’s campus in Richland, Washington. In this study, one Lab Home contained a complete set of nine thin triple-pane windows, while the other Lab Home contained baseline double-pane windows. The Lab Homes experiments demonstrated significant that replacing clear glass double-pane windows with thin triple-pane windows provided year-round energy savings and reduced peak demand both in the heating and cooling seasons. The Lab Homes experiments also validated other performance benefits of the thin triple-pane windows including reduced condensation potential, more even temperatures throughout the home and near the windows, and reduced sound attenuation through the windows, leaving the home quieter and more comfortable for the occupants.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Installation Quality Framework: Investment Return Approach for Energy Savings on Building Product Installation

A case study was conducted on 44 residential homes using both traditional house wrap and ZIP System systems to measure the overall airtightness and compare estimated energy usages. The labor, material, and overhead and profit (O&P) costs were analyzed and used to determine the optimal choice for long-term benefits in terms of cost and performance. The impact of insulation installation is considered a key factor in improving the strategy of reducing energy consumption. Improved installation practices can affect the airtightness of common wall assemblies to reduce the building energy performance gaps and provide insight on how to allocate resources better. A framework was developed to analyze operational costs and building energy performance to address how installation quality is a factor in the return of investment in building construction for heating and cooling systems within the thermal envelope. With this methodology, aggressive energy performance goals will be met while balancing the tradeoff between installation techniques and building systems efficiency based on the introduced probabilistic investment return (PIR) metric.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gleaming new facility delivers expertise now and into the future

On Tuesday, July 27, leadership from the Prototype Fabrication (PF) division welcomed a band of machinists, managers, project managers, members of Lab leadership, and NNSA to celebrate the official opening of a facility like no other at the Laboratory, and unique across the globe. The Mark Quality Manufacturing Center (MQMC) was developed throughout 2020 in support of weapons production capabilities, and is the Lab’s new home for high-precision non-nuclear components manufacturing. Work has been occurring there for several months, but with pandemic restrictions easing, it was finally time to celebrate.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2020

Outdoor Home Gardener Preferences for Environmental Attributes in Gardening Supplies and Use of Ecofriendly Gardening Practices

Home gardeners’ concerns for the environment are expressed both in the ecofriendly gardening practices they use and in environmental attributes they prefer in the gardening products they purchase. This study uses data from a 2018 survey of 601 Tennessee outdoor home gardeners and a multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model to illustrate how outdoor home gardener demographics, expenditures, information use, and attitudes influence use of ecofriendly gardening practices and preferences for environmental attributes in home gardening supplies. Practices considered include planting pollinator plants, using rainwater collectors, composting, recycling gardening supplies packaging, using organic gardening methods, and use of soil testing. Gardening supply product attributes include decreased need for fertilizer, pesticides, and water; native plant species; organically produced products; and recyclable packaging. The most widely used practice is recycling gardening supplies packaging, and the least used is soil testing. Gardeners with a greater propensity to use the six gardening practices include male, college graduates, who spend relatively more of their income on gardening supplies, and consider themselves as being knowledgeable about environmental issues. The gardening supply product attribute most widely considered as important is decreased need for pesticides, and least widely considered as important are native species and organically produced. Gardeners more likely to prefer the six gardening supply product attributes include older gardeners, who seek other gardeners for information, and who perceived themselves as being knowledgeable about the environment. This same group likes to grow their own food and feels responsibility for protecting the environment for future generations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

A systematic exploration of the hydrolysis products of the uranium trioxide polymorphs and their optical vibrational spectra

Study of the uranium trioxide (UO 3 )-water system is complex with inconclusive results and limited details in the literature. The UO 3 system is home to at least seven structural polymorphs and an amorphous phase. The proposed hydrolysis products of UO 3 are just as numerous, yet investigations of these alteration products are sporadic and generally antiquated, thus requiring systematic investigations. Recent developments in the understanding of UO 3 phase space, aided by improvements in analytical and computational techniques, necessitate more modern investigations into the uranyl hydroxide family and their naturally occurring mineral counterparts. We present findings from a systematic investigation of the products formed via hydrothermal reactions of common UO 3 polymorphs and discuss how the equatorial coordination of the uranyl/uranyl-like ions within the UO 3 precursors leads to differences in the optical vibrational spectra of the resulting hydrolysis products. The hypo-stochiometric nature of α-UO 2 (OH) 2 allows for the formation of multiple unique uranyl sites and a distortion of the unit cell to a lower symmetry. This study provides, for the first time, an analysis of β-UO 2 (OH) 2 using modern techniques and instrumentation (Raman/infrared spectroscopy and powder x-ray diffraction) and lays a foundation for future time-dependent investigations into the structural dependence of the hydrolysis kinetics of the UO 3 phases. In conclusion, given the prevalence of UO 3 at both ends of the nuclear fuel cycle, an understanding of its behavior with water has applications ranging from nuclear forensics to waste management and environmental transport.

Uranium trioxide↗
DOE OSTI2023

Critical Minerals from Waste Streams in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, USA

Background/Objectives. Critical minerals (CM) are essential for numerous industrial and defense applications, including green technologies that will help to meet carbon emission reduction goals. Many CM are currently mined and processed in countries that lack stringent environmental and labor regulations. Unconventional sources such as existing industrial waste streams could play a part in building an ethical CM supply chain. Additionally, waste streams created in the extraction and processing of CM could be used for other industrial or commercial purposes, thereby reducing waste and advancing a circular economy. Approach/Activities. The Department of Energy funded Powder River Basin (PRB) CORE-CM project is exploring all aspects of the carbon ore, rare earth element (REE), and CM value chain, including the potential for extraction of CM from industrial waste streams in the basin. Waste streams that have potential as CM feedstocks are being inventoried to assess the concentration of CM in each waste stream and to estimate volume and accessibility. Although basin-specific technologies for extraction of CM are still in development, waste streams that may be produced during these processes are being cataloged and mapped to potential secondary uses. Results/Lessons Learned. Initial studies of the CM potential of PRB coal ash show that this waste stream contains concentrations of greater than 300 ppm total REE (Bagdonas et al., 2022, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews). Moreover, calcium-rich PRB coal ash is amenable to REE extraction (Taggart et al., 2016, Environmental Science and Technology). Wyoming coal is shipped to 28 states, meaning that coal ash produced at power stations across the US represents a potential widespread resource for the extraction of REE. In addition to coal mining and coal fired electricity generation, the PRB is home to other energy industries including oil and gas production, in-situ uranium mining, and bentonite mining. Historically, precious and base metal mining has taken place on the perimeter of the PRB. Waste streams from these industries are currently being evaluated for their CM potential. Assessing the CM resource potential of waste streams could contribute to the development of an ethical CM supply chain. Results from these studies can be replicated for other waste streams, increasing the likelihood of successful creation of circular economies.

Phillips, Erin↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wildfires increasingly threaten oil and gas wells in the western United States with disproportionate impacts on marginalized populations

The western United States is home to most of the nation’s oil and gas production and, increasingly, wildfires. Here, we examined historical threats of wildfires for oil and gas wells, the extent to which wildfires are projected to threaten wells as climate change progresses, and exposure of human populations to these wells. From 1984 to 2019, we found that, cumulatively, 102,882 wells were located in wildfire burn areas, and 348,853 people were exposed (resided within ≤ 1 km). During this period, we observed a 5-fold increase in the number of wells in wildfire burn areas and a doubling of the population within 1 km of these wells. These trends are projected to increase by late century, likely threatening human health. Approximately 2.9 million people reside within 1 km of wells in areas with high wildfire risk, and Black, Hispanic, and Native American people have disproportionately high exposure to wildfire-threatened wells.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2025

National Energy Education Development Project (NEED Project) (CRADA Final Report)

The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office (BTO) funds student competitions that introduce students to careers in the building sciences and increase public awareness around high-performance buildings to support the goal of developing, demonstrating, and accelerating the adoption of cost-effective technologies, techniques, tools, and services that enable high-performing, energy-efficient and demand-flexible residential and commercial buildings in both the new and existing buildings markets. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® (DOE/SD) is a flagship, high-visibility international competition started in 2002 that advances the goals of BTO by introducing students to building science careers; educating students and the public about the latest technologies and materials in high-performance buildings; encouraging student-led projects and research centered around building science; and demonstrating to the public the comfort and savings of homes that combine energy-efficient construction, home systems, appliances and innovative design with onsite renewable energy production. SD is a collegiate competition, comprising 10 contests, that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy. The winners will be those teams that best blend architectural and engineering excellence with innovation, market potential, building efficiency, and smart energy production. Solar Decathlon is comprised of two Challenges – Design Challenge (annual) and Build Challenge (biennial). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides competition management for Solar Decathlon. NREL and Participant establish this CRADA to enable the success of the overall Solar Decathlon program by managing sponsorship funds and creating a K12 education program. Participant is to act as an Education Partner to Solar Decathlon, which includes: 1) accepting and dispersing sponsorship funds for DOE/SD; and 2) providing K12 education program to support Solar Decathlon Competition Events in April each year.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Potting Mix with Biochar

Biochar is a co-product of advanced biofuels production from feedstocks including food, agricultural, wood wastes, or dedicated energy crops. Markets for soil amendments using biochar are emerging, but little is known about consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for these products or the depth of the products’ market potential for this product. This research provides WTP estimates for potting mix amended with 25% biochar, conditioned on consumer demographics and attitudes about product information labeling. Data were collected with an online survey of 577 Tennessee home gardeners. WTP was elicited through a referendum contingent valuation. Consumer WTP for an 8.81 L bag of 25% biochar potting mix is $8.52; a premium of $3.53 over conventional potting mix. Demographics and attitudes toward biofuels and the environment influence WTP. Biochar amounts demanded are projected for the study area’s potential market. Optimal prices, profits, and market shares are estimated across different marginal costs of producing biochar potting mix.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Getting things done onsite: Heat Source production never ramps down

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many norms in the world and at LANL. During the rapid transition of sending many to work from home in March, some programs were deemed mission critical, with the expectation to continue driving their missions forward. One of those essential programs is Heat Source Technologies, a group within the Actinide Material Power & Processing (AMPP) Division at TA-55. Within the Associate Laboratory Directorate of Weapons Production (ALDWP), the group responsible for the Pu-238 heat sources continued their work nearly uninterrupted as many others made the mandatory transition to work remotely. This group, known as AMPP-1, Heat Source Technologies, works on the production line producing heat sources from Plutonium (Pu)-238, which is an essential mission for National Security. This group is comprised of nearly 90 employees and operates out of the TA-55 Plutonium Facility (PF-4 and PF-5) producing heat sources. Heat source production includes the operations that purify, process, and weld Pu-238 oxide into encapsulated heat sources that are essential for space and defense missions.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2021

Impacts of Climate Change on Groundwater Availability and Spring Flows: Observations from the Highly Productive Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System

Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System, located in northeastern California, is home to some of the largest first-order springs in the United States. This work assesses the likely effects of projected climate change on spring flow. Four anticipated climate futures (GFDL A2, GFDL B1, CCSM4 rcp 8.5, CNRM rcp 8.5) for California, which predict a range of conditions (generally warming and transitioning from snow to rain with variable amounts of total precipitation), are postulated to affect groundwater recharge primarily by changing evapotranspiration. The linkages between climate variables and spring flow are evaluated using a water balance model that represents the physics of evapotranspiration and recharge, the Basin Characterization Model. Three of the four climate scenarios (GFDL A2, GFDL B1, CCSM4 rcp 8.5) project that by the year 2100, groundwater recharge (and consequently decreased spring flow) will decrease by 27%, 21%, and 9%, respectively. The fourth scenario (CNRM rcp 8.5) showed an increase in recharge of 32% due to a significant increase in precipitation (27%). Evapotranspiration increases due to a shift in the type of precipitation and a longer growing season. While the likelihood of each scenario is outside the scope of this work, unless total precipitation increases dramatically in the future, increased temperatures and decreasing precipitation will likely result in reduced spring flows, along with warmer water temperatures in downstream habitats.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploring the Potential of Factory Installed Solar + Storage for Homebuilding

In recent years, an increasing number of grid disruptions due to intense weather events, natural disasters, and high peak loads resulted in increased interest in energy-resilient homes. Solar + storage (S+S) as an energy resiliency solution can provide continuity, onsite generation, and backup power during critical events. This project explored factory-installed solar plus storage (FISS) to overcome first cost and installation barriers and bring this resiliency solution to scale for single-family affordable and market-rate homebuyers. Guided by the principles of Lean manufacturing, the team explored how factories building high-performance zero energy modular homes can incorporate S+S into their existing construction system while improving quality and productivity and reducing the costs of the resilient energy system.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION,↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data Quality Assessment of Optiwatt Vehicle Telematics Data

In October 2024, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) received data from Optiwatt (Compass Global, Inc.) describing the driving and charging behavior of electric vehicle (EV) drivers. The data shared had been collected from approximately 10,000 vehicles and included vehicle specifications, driving information like odometer readings at the beginning and end of origin-destination pairs (i.e., trips with identification of home for trip start and end for Tesla vehicles), and charging information such as charging energy consumed per charge session and if the charge occurred at home. The vehicle data were provided from 9 EV makes and 18 EV models, with production years ranging from 2012–2024, but more than 9,500 of the vehicles were Tesla EVs. The data includes more than six million trips and more than three million charging events that occurred between June 2023 to Aug 2024 and collected from California and the Eastern United States. The purpose of this report is to review the quality of the data received from Optiwatt and the feedback INL received from Optiwatt after data concerns were shared with them.

33 - ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Performance Windows -- More than just a Pretty Hole in the Wall

As more stringent building energy codes and better insulation products combine to yield better performing walls, window efficiency is coming into sharper focus. The U.S. Department of Energy has supported several projects through its national laboratories to improve the thermal performance of windows. At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, the PNNL Lab Homes, two fully monitored identical side-by-side manufactured homes, have been used to test the performance of several window improvements including triple-pane windows, storm windows with low-emissivity (low-e) coatings, smart automated interior insulated shades, and exterior shading products. Findings will be presented on these studies, along with impacts. For example, PNNL’s Lab Home research on low-e storm windows has helped to support a new ENERGY STAR certification, industry standards, and utility incentives. Preliminary findings will also be presented on current Lab Homes experiments focusing on exterior shades. The session will also present findings from related field studies and a market assessment of emerging high-efficiency windows technologies and discuss some of PNNL’s planned field studies that will focus on validating the benefits and costs of the emerging thin triple-pane high-R window.

windows, high-r windows, insulating windows, windo↗
DOE OSTI2021

WHISPER: Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction

Many regions of the world benefit from heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to provide productive, comfortable, and healthy indoor environments, which are enabled by automatic building controls. Due to climate change, population growth, and industrialization, HVAC use is globally on the rise. Unfortunately, these systems often operate in a continuous fashion without regard to actual human presence, leading to unnecessary energy consumption. As a result, the heating, ventilation, and cooling of unoccupied building spaces makes a substantial contribution to the harmful environmental impacts associated with carbon-based electric power generation, which is important to remedy. For our modern electric power system, transitioning to low-carbon renewable energy is facilitated by integration with distributed energy resources. Automatic engagement between the grid and consumers will be necessary to enable a clean yet stable electric grid, when integrating these variable and uncertain renewable energy sources. We present the WHISPER (Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction) system to address the energy and power demand triggered by human presence in homes. The presented system includes a maintenance-free and privacy-preserving human occupancy detection system wherein a local wireless network of battery-free environmental, acoustic energy, and image sensors are deployed to monitor homes, record empirical data for a range of monitored modalities, and transmit it to a base station. Several machine learning algorithms are implemented at the base station to infer human presence based on the received data, harnessing a hierarchical sensor fusion algorithm. Results from the prototype system demonstrate an accuracy in human presence detection in excess of 95%; ongoing commercialization efforts suggest approximately 99% accuracy. Using machine learning, WHISPER enables various applications based on its binary occupancy prediction, allowing situation-specific controls targeted at both personalized smart home and electric grid modernization opportunities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Next generation experimental data access at NSLS-II

The NSLS-II network and computing infrastructure has been significantly updated recently. The re-IP process in 2020-2021 enabled the NSLS-II network to be routable to the rest of the BNL campus. Then, standardization of the operating systems and deployment procedures helped to deliver a consistent environment to workstations and servers used by all NSLS-II beamlines. In particular, the RedHat Enterprise Linux 8 was deployed to 700+ machines using the RedHat Satellite infrastructure management product, and all critical services (IOCs, databases, etc.) were migrated to the new OS. NFS users’ home directories are consistent across all of the machines, which eliminates the need for the individual configuration of the user environment on each host. The standard suite of software packages is available to the beamline staff and users, which includes the system packages (deployed via RPM) as well as the conda environments for data acquisition and analysis. Security measures were implemented to comply with the industry standards, which include multi-factor authentication (using Duo), secure screen lock for the beamline machines, and advanced access control to the experimental data that is stored in shared central storage available on all hosts. These major enhancements facilitated sharing the experimental data (currently for a number of selected beamlines, with a plan to extend it to the whole facility in the nearest future) with the users via an externally facing JupyterHub instance. The beamlines keep using the Bluesky data acquisition framework to orchestrate their experiments, and the new infrastructure enabled them to use a next-generation data access library called tiled.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Is Clean Hydrogen Production a Good Fit for Questa? (Final Economic Impact Results) [Slides]

The Village of Questa, New Mexico is aiming to become a regional clean energy hub with robust and diverse employment opportunities for the local community supported by the energy sector and by other businesses inspired or attracted by abundant clean energy, outdoor recreation, and cultural opportunities. A coalition of stakeholders in the Village of Questa, comprising the Village, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC), Questa Economic Development Fund, and Chevron, is exploring options to develop hydrogen production facilities as an opportunity to create jobs, provide reliable clean energy, and utilize former mine resources. Questa is home to a molybdenum mine owned by Chevron that closed in 2014. Several residents in Questa and surrounding communities lost their jobs when the mine closed and transitioned from active operations into environmental remediation. Although remediation efforts have been ongoing since 2014 and are expected to continue for at least 16 more years, the number of jobs with Chevron is much smaller now than it was before the closure. Between available workforce, brownfield land, and water rights formerly supporting mine operations but now in a transition period, there are considerable local resources that could be directed toward clean energy generation. Questa's electricity supply is already 100% solar during daylight hours thanks to Kit Carson Electric Cooperative's (KCEC's) strategic decision-making and partnering over the last decade. Now, Questa, KCEC, and Chevron are exploring the potential costs and benefits of siting an electrolytic hydrogen production facility and additional solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Questa to further advance the region's clean energy economy. In this report, we estimated the potential economic impacts (i.e., jobs, value added, gross output, tax revenue) of constructing and operating a combined hydrogen (32 MW polymer electrolyte membrane electrolizer + 7.5 MW fuel cell) and solar facility (22.5 MW) in the Village of Questa, as well as the resulting economic spillovers to Taos County and the state of New Mexico. We employ an input-output model that leverages IMPLAN's economic data for the region complemented by construction and operating expenses estimated by NREL and feedback from the local coalition to evaluate the direct, indirect and induced effects of the project construction (transient impacts) and operation (more permanent impacts). Based on the area's average trade profile, feedback from the coalition and current market conditions, these projects are expected to support 487 full-time equivalent jobs during construction, generating $\$24$ million in income for those workers and $\$82$ million in local economic activity in the state. Of those jobs, 106 are expected to be construction sector jobs. These investments are also estimated to add $\$36.5$ million to New Mexico's gross state product (GSP). In the Village of Questa, we estimate 16 jobs will be supported in construction and transportation industries, generating $\$0.9$ million in earnings. In Taos County, the construction phase is expected to support 285 jobs primarily in construction and professional services, while manufacturing jobs dominate the results for the Rest of New Mexico. The Village is also estimated to receive $\$0.9$ million in tax revenue from the construction phase alone. Once in operation, the project continues to impact the state and Questa. Around 20 jobs (full-time equivalent for each year of operation) are supported across New Mexico, with approximately 11 directly employed in Questa by both facilities. The total annual local economic activity supported by ongoing operations is just over $\$1.3$ million/yr, generating $\$1.6$ million/yr in additional income in the state. Annual operations are estimated to add $\$2.1$ million to the state's GSP. The Village is expected to receive around $\$43,000$/yr in tax revenue. Impacts vary significantly depending on which businesses are supplying materials, equipment and services, and where construction workers reside. Choosing local suppliers will most benefit Questa and the New Mexico economy, adding up to 500 jobs during construction and 13 long-term jobs. Local and state governments may consider ways to incentivize local businesses in order to maximize economic benefits.

08 HYDROGEN↗