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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 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Effect of 316 stainless steel powder processing conditions on microstructure

One parameter that has both economic and performance effects in the manufacturing of steel parts is the powder feedstock used. 316 L steel powder can be produced through water atomization or gas atomization, where both the powder size and the atomization process determine the cost of powder feedstock. Gas atomized powder is spherical and has a lower oxygen content than water atomized powder, making it the preferred choice for performance, but comes at a higher financial cost. Here, in this study, various 316 L powder batches are characterized to understand physical properties and microstructural variations. Density and flowability were determined using gas pycnometry and Hall flow tests. Powder morphology and porosity were qualitatively analyzed via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, Finally, transmission electron microscopy was used to determine changes in phases present. Spherical gas atomized powder of 30–100 μm contained Mn$-$Si rich oxides both on the surface and within the matrix. Meanwhile, irregular water atomized powder 30 μm in diameter contained silicon oxides without manganese. All powder particles contained a nickel rich cellular structure which was shown to support the formation of additional phases. While literature has observed general microstructural features across 316 L powder particles, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in this study has identified variations in precipitation and cell structures. Information regarding morphology, flowability, density, and phase distributions can be applied to understand variations in part consolidation, which will in turn show which powder aspects are significant for production.

Chemical segregation↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ethylene oxidation on unpromoted silver catalysts: Reaction pathway and selectivity analysis using DFT calculations

Chemical conversions in catalytic partial oxidation processes of light hydrocarbons are responsible for the production of numerous industrial chemicals, plastics, and intermediates. These processes are relatively expensive to perform, and are typically operated at high thermodynamic inefficiency, so the development of novel, highly efficient catalysts would prove to be very cost effective. Herein, our study focused on surface catalytic mechanisms of the ethylene oxide (EO) formation process. Periodic plane-wave Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods were used to analyze related reaction mechanisms on the Ag(111) surface facet with low coverage. Energetic changes of related species and pathways were calculated. Key surface species are identified to suggest the factors for the observed selectivity during EO formation. Our results are consistent with previous kinetic modeling efforts in the literature which did not employ DFT analysis. Lastly, our study demonstrates how fundamental theoretical investigations and multi-scale modeling techniques are currently impacting the advancement of rational catalyst design and microkinetic modeling techniques in the light hydrocarbon processing industry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Trapping-Micro-LC-FAIMS/dCV-MS Strategy for Ultrasensitive and Robust Targeted Quantification of Protein Drugs and Biomarkers

The sensitivity of LC-MS in quantifying target proteins in plasma/tissues is significantly hindered by co-eluted matrix interferences. While antibody-based immuno-enrichment effectively reduces interferences, developing and optimizing antibodies are often time-consuming and costly. Here, in this study, by leveraging the orthogonal separation capability of Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS), we developed a FAIMS/differential-compensation-voltage (FAIMS/dCV) method for antibody-free, robust, and ultra-sensitive quantification of target proteins directly from plasma/tissue digests. By comparing the intensity-CV profiles of the target vs. co-eluted endogenous interferences, the FAIMS/dCV approach identifies the optimal CV for quantification of each target protein, thus maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). Compared to quantification without FAIMS, this technique dramatically reduces endogenous interferences, showing a median improvement of the S/N by 14.8-fold for the quantification of 17 representative protein drugs and biomarkers in plasma or tissues and a 5.2-fold median increase in S/N over conventional FAIMS approach, which uses the peak CV of each target. We also discovered that the established CV parameters remain consistent over months and are matrix-independent, affirming the robustness of the developed FAIMS/dCV method and the transferability of the method across matrices. The developed method was successfully demonstrated in three applications: the quantification of monoclonal antibodies with sub-ng/mL LOQ in plasma, an investigation of the time courses of evolocumab and its target PCSK9 in a preclinical setting, and a clinical investigation of low abundance obesity-related biomarkers. This innovative and easy-to-use method has extensive potential in clinical and pharmaceutical research, particularly where sensitive and high-throughput quantification of protein drugs and biomarkers is required.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Capturing the Coverage Dependence of Aromatics’ Adsorption through Mean-Field Models

To capture the dominant interactions (surface-mediated and through-space steric) in catalytic hydrodeoxygenation systems, coverage-dependent mean-field models of aromatic adsorption are developed on Pt(111) and Ru(0001). We derive three key insights from this work: (1) we can universally apply mean-field models to capture the coverage-dependent behavior of oxygenated aromatics on transition metal surfaces, (2) we can deconvolute surface-mediated and throughspace steric interactions from the mean-field model, and (3) we can develop relatively accurate models that predict the adsorption energy of aromatics on transition metal surfaces for the full coverage range using the work function at lowest modeled coverage. In conclusion, our approach enables the rapid prediction of coverage-dependent behavior of oxygenated aromatics on transition metal surfaces, reducing the computational cost associated with these studies by an order of magnitude.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fluorescence Signatures of Rare Earth Metals during Precipitation in Various Conditions

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely used sensor methodology that analyzes light emitted from a compound or element as it decays from an excited state. This technique is very sensitive and selective, which is ideal to characterize analytes at lower limits of detection. Key example targets of significant industry and research interest include rare earth elements (REEs) such as dysprosium (Dy) and europium (Eu). These are widely used in advanced technologies including semiconductors, electric vehicle motors, lasers, and permanent magnets. Identifying new sources and responsible reutilization of REEs is essential, and new approaches to extract and recycle REEs could be notably enhanced through the integration of on-line sensors. The sensors can support faster process design, informed scale-up, and cost-effective deployment. This study covers the initial exploration of applying fluorescence-based on-line monitoring to REEs within a precipitation process. This study demonstrates the successful scale-up of a fluorescence -based sensing approach, from stationary cuvettes and small-volume microfluidic devices to continuous flow systems operating at the bench scale (10-25mL). This work also provides initial insight into the challenges of signal’s effects and utility within a turbid environment. Using a modular design for monitoring flowing solutions in a flow tube, fluorescence can be characterized for a variety of analytical targets. In this study, detection performance parameters between the cuvette and flow tube system were compared. Additionally, the response of Dy during precipitation by sodium bicarbonate in the two measurement designs was explored. This letter represents a starting point to bridge the gap between traditional fluorescence sensor measurements in a cuvette to future developments that explore the ability to integrate fluorescence sensors into extraction and separation processes at industrially relevant scales.

fluorescence↗
DOE OSTI2024

Polymer Layer-Accelerated CO 2 Absorption in Aqueous Amino Acid Solutions

Direct air capture (DAC) of CO 2 via solvent-based absorption is considered a promising negative-emission technology. However, the low concentration of CO 2 in the air and slow transport into the solvent make DAC notoriously challenging to implement without costly investments. In this study, we explore the fundamental role that the bulk and surface properties of CO 2 -permeable polymer membranes play in enhancing the efficiency of the solution sorption process in passive DAC of CO 2 . This work leverages various spectroscopic and computational studies to demonstrate that a hybrid system, comprising a reusable CO 2 -permeable polymer layer placed atop an aqueous amino acid (AA) solution, can outperform a pure aqueous AA system by 2-fold. Here we show how the enhanced solubility of CO 2 in the polymer layer can improve the transport of CO 2 into the aqueous phase, while the chemistry of the polymer can control the interfacial barrier for CO 2 permeation and the interfacial concentration of reactive AAs. The derived knowledge of the material properties achieved here can aid in the design of DAC systems with improved performance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Thermoplastic moulding of regenerated silk

Early insights into the unique structure and properties of native silk suggested that β-sheet nanocrystallites in silk would degrade prior to melting when subjected to thermal processing. Since then, canonical approaches for fabricating silk-based materials typically involve solution-derived processing methods, which have inherent limitations with respect to silk protein solubility and stability in solution, and time and cost efficiency. In this study, we report a thermal processing method for the direct solid-state moulding of regenerated silk into bulk ‘parts’ or devices with tunable mechanical properties. At elevated temperature and pressure, regenerated amorphous silk nanomaterials with ultralow β-sheet content undergo thermal fusion via molecular rearrangement and self-assembly assisted by bound water to form a robust bulk material that retains biocompatibility, degradability and machinability. This technique reverses presumptions about the limitations of direct thermal processing of silk into a wide range of new material formats and composite materials with tailored properties and functionalities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nanoribbons or weakly connected acenes? The influence of pyrene insertion on linearly extended ring systems

Derived from the lateral fusion of benzene rings, acenes are a class of π-conjugated molecules containing a single aromatic sextet, where system size is inversely correlated with chemical stability. In the pursuit of creating graphene nanoribbons/nanowires, several extended-ring structures have been synthesized through linear combinations of azaacenes and pyrene. Importantly, these extended systems demonstrate enhanced chemical stability and allow for the construction of macromolecular-sized structures. In this report we present a combined quantum-chemical and experimental study to reveal the cost of these improved characteristics in fully carbon-based systems. The results clearly show that pyrene moieties inserted among acene units do not result in long acene-like structures, rather the pyrene-inserted acene is, electronically, a series of (nearly) isolated acenes. The origin of pyrene's electronic blocking effect and implications on oxidized and photoexcited states of these extended-ring systems are detailed. The results of this investigation definitively show that coupling pyrene in an orthogonal orientation (through the 4, 5/9, 10 positions or e/l faces) to acenes should be eschewed if nanographene-/nanowire-like structures are desired.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A generative artificial intelligence framework for long-time plasma turbulence simulations

Generative deep learning techniques are employed in a novel framework for the construction of surrogate models capturing the spatiotemporal dynamics of 2D plasma turbulence. The proposed Generative Artificial Intelligence Turbulence (GAIT) framework enables the acceleration of turbulence simulations for long-time transport studies. GAIT leverages a convolutional variational auto-encoder and a recurrent neural network to generate new turbulence data from existing simulations, extending the time horizon of transport studies with minimal computational cost. The application of the GAIT framework to plasma turbulence using the Hasegawa–Wakatani (HW) model is presented, evaluating its performance via various analyses. Very good agreement is found between the GAIT and the HW models in the spatiotemporal Fourier and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition spectra, the flow topology characterized by the Okubo–Weiss parameter, and the time autocorrelation function of turbulent fluctuations. Excellent agreement has also been obtained in the probability distribution function of particle displacements and the effective turbulent diffusivity. In-depth analyses of the latent space of turbulent states, choice of hyperparameters and alternative deep learning models for the time prediction are presented. Our results highlight the potential of Artificial Intelligence-based surrogate models to overcome the computational challenges in turbulence simulation, which can be extended to other situations such as geophysical fluid dynamics.

Artificial intelligence↗
DOE OSTI2025

Available land for cellulosic biofuel production: a supply chain centered comparison

The land that is potentially available to produce dedicated cellulosic bioenergy crops, often referred to as 'marginal' land, depends heavily on the underlying assumptions used to classify and identify it. In this study we compare three definitions and types of marginal land to identify the interactions between the bioenergy landscape and the logistics networks needed for the biofuel supply chain. Typical studies of the scale, cost, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of cellulosic biofuel take a land-centered approach which may neglect to account for the trade-offs between establishing bioenergy crops and the supply chain design decisions needed to allow those crops to be converted to liquid fuel. A mathematical programming approach is used to minimize the total annualized cost of a large-scale field-to-product system producing bioethanol in the USA midwest. Results show that a high concentration of marginal land leads to efficient systems and that the bioenergy landscape design becomes increasingly important with a higher emphasis on GHG mitigation. Additionally, targeted landscape design (including fertilization) with a focus on fields with high soil carbon sequestration potential can greatly reduce the system-wide GHG emissions for only a small increase in the unit cost of biofuel.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Energy Paths for the Yurok People

This Yurok Tribe energy strategic planning study examined electricity usage, costs and infrastructure, as well as electricity needs on the Reservation. It also assessed the Tribe’s energy resources. Equipped with this information, the project team conducted an energy options analysis that examined different project opportunities and identified key projects that are both feasible to implement and will help the Tribe reach its stated Energy Vision. A key finding of the energy needs assessment is that there are still numerous households that are without grid electric power, and it is likely that most of them will remain disconnected from the grid because of their remoteness. To provide these community members with reliable, affordable, modern energy services their homes will need to be electrified via a robust off-grid energy services program that installs and maintains off-grid energy systems. This is the key need that is explored and addressed in this plan. The approach taken is to establish a new business entity, a Tribal Energy Authority or Utility, that will operate a Tribal Energy Program. The Energy Strategic Plan identifies a number of potential funding sources that could be used to support both the On-grid and Off-grid Energy Programs. This plan also promotes continued efforts to reduce electricity consumption through the implementation of energy efficiency measures in existing facilities and the enforcement of a strong energy-efficient building code for all new construction on the Reservation. Finally, the plan promotes added resilience at critical Tribal facilities on the Reservation by recommending that battery energy storage systems and microgrid controls be coupled with rooftop solar PV systems to create cutting edge microgrid facilities that can provide critical power services to Tribal facilities when the main electric grid is shutdown.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of High Temperature CO 2 on Haynes 230 Alloy (Updated Jan 2021)

The supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) Brayton cycle is a promising candidate for future nuclear reactors due to its ability to improve power cycle energy conversion efficiency. The sCO 2 Brayton cycle can operate with an efficiency of 45-50% at operating temperatures of 550-700 C. One of the greatest hurdles currently faced by sCO 2 Brayton cycles is the corrosivity of sCO 2 and the lack of long-term alloy corrosion and mechanical performance data, as these will be key to enhancing the longevity of the system, and thus the levelized cost of electricity. Past studies have shown that sCO 2 corrosion occurs through the formation of metal carbonates, oxide layers, and carburization, and alloys with Cr, Mo and Ni generally exhibit less corrosion. While stainless steels may offer sufficient corrosion resistance at the lower range of temperatures seen by the sCO 2 Brayton cycles, more expensive nickel-based alloys are typically needed for the higher temperature regions. This study investigates the effects of corrosion on the Haynes 230 alloy, with a preliminary view on changes in the mechanical properties. High temperature CO 2 is used for this study as the corrosion products are similar to that of supercritical CO 2 , allowing for an estimation of the susceptibility towards corrosion without the need for high pressure experimentation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Milestone Report: Effect of High Temperature CO 2 on Haynes 230 Alloy

The supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) Brayton cycle is a promising candidate for future nuclear reactors due to its ability to improve power cycle energy conversion efficiency. The sCO 2 Brayton cycle can operate with an efficiency of 45-50% at operating temperatures of 550-700 C. One of the greatest hurdles currently faced by sCO 2 Brayton cycles is the extreme corrosivity of sCO 2 . This affects the longevity of the power cycle and thus the levelized cost of electricity. Past studies have shown that sCO 2 corrosion occurs through the formation of metal carbonates, oxide layers, and carburization, and alloys with Cr, Mo and Ni generally exhibit less corrosion. While stainless steels may offer sufficient corrosion resistance at the lower range of temperatures seen by the sCO 2 Brayton cycles, more expensive alloys such as Inconel and Haynes are typically needed for the higher temperature regions. This study investigates the effects of corrosion on the Haynes 230 alloy, focusing on changes in the mechanical properties.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Storage Futures Study: Grid Operational Impacts of Widespread Storage Deployment

This report, the fifth in the Storage Futures Study series, uses cost-driven scenarios from the ReEDS model as a starting point to examine the operational impacts of grid-scale storage deployment and relationships between this deployment and the contribution of variable renewable energy. We use commercial production cost modeling software to evaluate hourly operation of five scenarios that reach between 210 gigawatts (GW) and 930 GW of installed storage by 2050. We find that storage plays an important role in these power systems between now and 2050 - by storing the lowest-marginal cost generation (often, overgeneration from solar or wind plants) and generating energy during the highest net load periods of the day and year. Storage helps with the integration of variable renewable energy and by providing an important resource to provide continued reliable power.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Technology Case Study: Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis for Microalgae Conversion Pathways to Fuels and Products

This technology case study report details the cost and sustainability prospects for an emerging feedstock - microalgae - converted to fuels and products via a fractionation and upgrading approach termed combined algae processing (CAP). Detailed techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) are conducted for the conversion of farmed algae biomass, with two primary scenarios considering the conversion of either high-compositional-quality biomass enriched in lipids (high-lipid [HL]) or lower-quality biomass enriched in protein (high-protein [HP]). Each scenario employs a different biorefinery configuration tailored towards extracting the maximum value from the given biomass composition. The HL scenario produces fuels and non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) as the primary products, while the HP scenario products fuels and a residual solid coproduct which can be used as a co-feed for producing thermoplastics. The results for the HL scenario were particularly promising, with a minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $\$$3.68 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) and fuel GHG emissions translating to 54%-76% reduction compared to petroleum fuels depending on the coproduct handling method used. In contrast, the HP scenario faced more challenges in producing biofuels economically, projecting an MFSP of $\$$7.92/GGE despite significant revenues from the residual algae solids. LCA results for the HP case reflected a 24% reduction potential in biorefinery-level GHG emissions. However, these GHG reductions were primarily associated with the thermoplastic coproduct, which accounted for 93% of all biorefinery outputs by mass. Using a process-level allocation method, carbon intensity results were less promising, indicating a net increase in fuel GHG emissions versus petroleum fuels and highlighting the reliance of this scenario on the thermoplastic coproduct.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Invertible Design Manifolds for Heat Transfer Surfaces (INVERT) (Final Technical Report)

This final report briefly reviews the main technical accomplishments of the INVERT award, summarizes existing or planned publications or transitions from the effort, and lastly reviews T2M strategies resulting from the program. Specifically, under the award, our team studied three main technical areas and performed one preliminary T2M study on the cost-benefit analysis of Inverse Design Methods and one major software release (the Maryland Inverse Design Benchmark Suite).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗