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DOE OSTI2021

Resilient Operation of Power Distribution Systems Using MPC-Based Critical Service Restoration

Power distribution systems are more prone to disruptions and cause most power system outages. We propose a service restoration technique to recover the system service (electricity delivery) following an extreme event-triggered substation outage. The proposed technique considers the problem of controlling distributed energy resources (DERs) of a distribution system with the objective of achieving maximum load pick up while satisfying network flow and voltage constraints. The problem is formulated as a model predictive control (MPC), where a linearized optimal power flow (OPF) model is employed to describe the network. The formulation is augmented with a ramping (up) reserve product for the DERs to ensure an upward monotonic load restoration as time evolves. We perform simulations considering the IEEE 13-bus test feeder integrated with wind, solar, microturbine, and energy storage devices. We demonstrate the efficacy of the devised technique in restoring the system loads monotonically, without shedding previously restored loads. We also show the benefit of co-optimization of power and reserve products for DERs on service restoration. In addition, the capability of the technique in regulating nodal voltages and reducing renewable power curtailment is demonstrated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Resilient Operation of Power Distribution Systems Using MPC-Based Critical Service Restoration: Preprint

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Resilient Operation of Power Distribution Systems Using MPC-Based Critical Service Restoration

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2024

RAFT: Reconfigurable Array of High-Efficiency Ducted Turbines for Hydrokinetic Energy Harvesting

Diversifying the energy harvesting portfolio is crucial to achieving the ambitious goal of transitioning to clean energy by 2030. Marine hydrokinetic energy has garnered renewed interest due to its high harvesting potential in the U.S., and the resource's reliability and predictability—remaining relatively constant on a daily basis and available 24/7. However, there are currently few commercial devices capable of harnessing the energy from flowing water. This project aims to bridge that gap by designing and evaluating a novel hydrokinetic turbine concept that can efficiently harvest energy from both rivers and tidal streams. The RAFT (Reconfigurable Array of High-Efficiency Ducted Turbines) concept introduces a duct surrounding the turbine rotor and creates an array of small 5-kW units. The duct serves two primary purposes: (1) it enhances hydrodynamic efficiency by accelerating flow to the rotor, and (2) it functions as a structural component, facilitating the formation of modular arrays that lower costs. This project focuses on demonstrating this concept and validating these benefits through simulations and scaled prototype testing. The project team includes 8 faculty members and over 20 students from 3 universities, organized into three core areas: hydrodynamics, electrical systems, and structural analysis, with additional teams dedicated to system integration, environmental assessment and risk management, and tech-to-market strategy. The team successfully demonstrated the increased hydrodynamic efficiency of a ducted turbine compared to an unducted version using high-fidelity simulations and prototype tests. Moreover, design optimization efforts led to surpassing the SHARKS program's goal of 60% reduction of the levelized cost of energy with a significant margin.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

ARIES Annual Report FY25

Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) is the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) test bed for energy system demonstration and de-risking. ARIES comprises the largest collection of physical and digital assets in the DOE laboratory complex, supporting flexible configuration across a broad range of energy scenarios. In Fiscal Year 2025, ARIES provided a platform for system-level research to anticipate and address future energy needs in energy security, system reliability, and technology deployment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2020

Prediction of condition-specific regulatory genes using machine learning

Recent advances in genomic technologies have generated data on large-scale protein–DNA interactions and open chromatin regions for many eukaryotic species. How to identify condition-specific functions of transcription factors using these data has become a major challenge in genomic research. To solve this problem, we have developed a method called ConSReg, which provides a novel approach to integrate regulatory genomic data into predictive machine learning models of key regulatory genes. Using Arabidopsis as a model system, we tested our approach to identify regulatory genes in data sets from single cell gene expression and from abiotic stress treatments. Our results showed that ConSReg accurately predicted transcription factors that regulate differentially expressed genes with an average auROC of 0.84, which is 23.5–25% better than enrichment-based approaches. To further validate the performance of ConSReg, we analyzed an independent data set related to plant nitrogen responses. ConSReg provided better rankings of the correct transcription factors in 61.7% of cases, which is three times better than other plant tools. We applied ConSReg to Arabidopsis single cell RNA-seq data, successfully identifying candidate regulatory genes that control cell wall formation. Our methods provide a new approach to define candidate regulatory genes using integrated genomic data in plants.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2019

Characterizing Vulnerabilities Associated with Connected Lighting: Exploring Authorization Protocols

Cities are upgrading their infrastructure and converting traditional indoor and outdoor luminaires to Connected Lighting Systems equipped with sensors in an aggressive effort to reduce energy consumption, increase sustainability, and improve the quality of life. When you take something seemingly benign like a lighting system and connect it to the internet, if improperly secured a potential attack vector for hackers is created. Hackers could then access sensitive information, pivot into other networks, shut down services, or enslave devices to do their bidding. In attempt to close this attack vector and secure these systems, this paper extends previous work that investigated, compared and contrasted authentication vulnerabilities in Connected Lighting Systems that identified the need for additional testing and improved test method documentation. One additional authentication test and four new authorization tests were developed utilizing the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) as a test development and documentation guide. The new tests were integrated with the previous work to develop an updated test method with a focus on describing test procedures to make them easy to understand and repeat. In addition, a first Connected Lighting System use case was established to begin developing threat profiles that will aid in the identification of vulnerabilities whose focus areas extend beyond authentication and authorization. This use case describes the generation and flow of CLS data which assists in specifying methods to harden CLSs from outside interference and exploitation that can be implemented immediately on existing CLSs and as new products come to market.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2020

Brief Overview of the ASD Integrated Test Stand, Activities and Hazards

The ITS venue provides the first opportunity to fully assemble and test the performance of the injector; integrate, assemble and test four modules; measure the severity of the Beam Break-Up instability and perform the first set of beam measurements. Figure 1 shows a high level configuration of the ITS without the system of overhead cable management trays. The final configuration will integrate the injector, 4 modules (12 accelerator cells), 264 SSPP Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), global controls, data acquisition, and a subset of the downstream transport, Table 1. This was chosen because it provides the minimum accelerator cells required to measure the Beam Break-Up (BBU) instability and perform measurements required to validate the ASD beam transport computer models, which are priority measurements for commissioning.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Keras2c: A library for converting Keras neural networks to real-time compatible C

With the growth of machine learning models and neural networks in measurement and control systems comes the need to deploy these models in a way that is compatible with existing systems. Existing options for deploying neural networks either introduce very high latency, require expensive and time consuming work to integrate into existing code bases, or only support a very limited subset of model types. We have therefore developed a new method called Keras2c, which is a simple library for converting Keras/TensorFlow neural network models into real-time compatible C code. It supports a wide range of Keras layers and model types including multidimensional convolutions, recurrent layers, multi-input/output models, and shared layers. Keras2c re-implements the core components of Keras/TensorFlow required for predictive forward passes through neural networks in pure C, relying only on standard library functions considered safe for real-time use. The core functionality consists of ~ 1500 lines of code, making it lightweight and easy to integrate into existing codebases. Keras2c has been successfully tested in experiments and is currently in use on the plasma control system at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics in San Diego.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Implementation and test of an automated control hunting fault correction algorithm in a fault detection and diagnostics tool

Control hunting due to improper proportional–integral–derivative (PID) parameters in the building automation system (BAS) is one of the most common faults identified in commercial buildings. It can cause suboptimal performance and early failure of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Commercial fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) software represents one of the fastest growing market segments in smart building technologies in the United States. Implementation of PID retuning procedures as an auto-correction algorithm and integration into FDD software has the potential to mitigate control hunting across a heterogeneous portfolio of buildings with different BAS in a scalable way. This paper presents the development, implementation, and field testing of an automated control hunting fault correction algorithm based on lambda tuning open-loop rules. The algorithm was developed in a commercial FDD software and successfully tested among nine variable air volume boxes in an office building in the United States. The paper shows the feasibility of using FDD tools to automatically correct control hunting faults, discusses scalability considerations, and proposes a path forward for the HVAC industry and academia to further improve this technology.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Integration of a new Cryogenic Liquefier into the IB-1 Cryogenic Test Facility

The increase over the last years of the testing activities related to quantum systems, SRF cavities for the PIP-II and the LCLS-II projects, as well as superconducting magnets for the HL-LHC project and Fusion research activities, has required the addition of a new Helium cryogenic plant into the existing IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility. The new cryogenic plant is composed of a cryogenic liquefier (Cold Box) able to provide up to 340 L/h, a 4 kL Dewar and two Mycom ® compressors providing up to 120 g/s. AL-AT (Air Liquide Advanced Technologies) has taken part of this project by designing and manufacturing the cryogenic liquefier. This new cryogenic plant is connected through a cryogenic distribution system to a 10 kL Dewar, which is part of the existing cryogenic test facility, itself composed of another Cold Box and a Sullair ® compressor. The new cryogenic plant has two main operating modes: one allows to transfer liquid helium at 1.7 bar between the two Dewars, the other allows to transfer supercritical Helium at 2 bar or more between the new Cold Box and the 10 kL Dewar. The entire industrial cryogenic facility is handled by a common Inventory Control System, composed of three control valves, and 9 tanks giving a total buffer volume of more than 1000 m3. This paper presents the technical features of the new Helium cryogenic plant, as well as the main results of the liquefier commissioning phase and details of the helium transfer between the two Dewars, making the connection between the cryogenic plants at the IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Environmental Testing of SolarSCADA's SSI Data Acquisition System

In April of 2022, SolarSCADA, Inc., was awarded voucher funding to conduct research and analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) per the American-Made Solar Prize. SolarSCADA produces a fully integrated data acquisition system that is designed specifically for PV fields and includes a data monitoring platform. SolarSCADA is focused providing the SSI unit with all sensors/measurements per requirements in IEC-61724-1 [1] and with utility scale bankability. The objective of the SolarSCADA voucher funding was established as follows: Leverage NREL's existing calibration and environmental testing capabilities to evaluate the stability of the SSI channels and overall systeme in response to extreme environmental conditions associated with fielded PV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Development of a Modular, Crushed-Rock Thermal Energy Storage Pilot Design

The goal of this project, primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is to design a next-step pilot to advance near-term energy storage integrated with a fossil plant to provide a facility capable of being viable and effective in a market with growing penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE). Thermal energy storage (TES) represents an ideal technology for this purpose. The current effort will complete a feasibility study to prepare for the Phase II pre-front end engineering design (pre-FEED) for implementing a crushed-rock TES system integrated with a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plant. The crushed rock storage technology, which is being developed by Brenmiller Energy, is a modular TES system termed bGen™, which can accommodate both thermal and electrical inputs and output steam, hot water, or hot air. For this application, the estimated efficiency is 80% thermal to thermal. The TES technology is being designed to operate on a slipstream from NYPA’s Eugene W. Zeltmann Power Project (Zeltmann) natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plant. The projected size of the system will be up to 4 MWe with at least 4 hours of storage duration, or 16 MWh-e total. Final sizing is being determined during the ongoing feasibility study. The next-step pilot being designed as part of the current project will represent a 5-fold increase in scale for this TES technology, and will be used to validate the technology’s ability to provide effective and economical energy storage. This pilot would represent the next-to-last demonstration scale before the technology could be commercial ready at GWh-e scales in the 2030 timeframe. This project is expected to design the critical next-step pilot, which will be undertaken in real-world operating conditions to better determine the crushed rock TES technology’s ability to be integrated with an NGCC plant and assess degradation over transient cycling at rates befitting various marketplaces. The crushed-rock TES pilot design is a technically feasible next step in the development of the technology and is built upon years of prior testing and demonstration. The proposed TES technology was developed by Brenmiller over the last 8 years and has been tested in 3 generations of demonstration units at various sites, globally. During this field testing, different characteristics and performance of the technology were validated, including the following key features: energy storage capacity, energy storage charge/discharge rate, energy storage loses, energy storage mechanical testing. This presentation will provide an update on the results of the conceptual design study for the modular crushed-rock TES system, integrated with a NGCC power plant.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Hydrogen R&D at NREL

This presentation provides an overview of the hydrogen R&D activities at NREL, including make, store, move, and use hydrogen. At NREL, our research spans the advanced water splitting materials (AWSM) and hydrogen storage R&D, performed within the HydroGEN and HyMARC Energy Materials Networks (EMN), respectively, to the materials integration and scale up work done within the H2NEW consortium, to fuel cell R&D within the M2FCT consortium, to stack and systems testing at the MW-level. These R&D activities are funded by U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2026

Commissioning of the large-scale lead tungstate scintillating calorimeter

Here, we report on the installation and initial commissioning of a large-scale lead tungstate (PbWO4) scintillating crystal calorimeter developed for high-rate photon detection and precise energy measurement. The calorimeter comprises 1596 high-granularity, high-resolution scintillating crystals optimized for electromagnetic-shower detection over a wide energy range. Scintillation light from each crystal is read out by Hamamatsu R4125 photomultiplier tubes equipped with a custom voltage divider and front-end amplifier to ensure stable gain at high rates. All calorimeter modules were fabricated and characterized using a light-emitting diode–based optical test system prior to installation to verify uniformity and photodetector performance. After installation, the electromagnetic calorimeter was fully integrated into the experiment data acquisition and energy-based trigger systems. The optical response of the modules was equalized using the light-monitoring system, cosmic-ray muons, and photons from Compton-scattering events. Commissioning results demonstrate a reliably calibrated optical response and stable detector performance during the first run. These results validate the calorimeter design and commissioning methodology for large-scale scintillator-based photonic instrumentation.

Analog to digital converters↗

DOE OSTI2021

Fugitive methane detection using open-path stand-off chirped laser dispersion spectroscopy

We report an open-path chirped laser dispersion spectrometer capable of detecting the atmospheric methane concentration above the background using both specular and diffusive reflective surfaces via two distinct operation modes in a stand-off detection configuration. The system is integrated with simultaneous ranging functionality, which enables average concentration measurements for varying optical pathlengths. The system was first tested for accuracy and characterized to achieve sensitivity of 2.9 p p m - m / H z 1 / 2 and pathlength precision of 0.2 m / H z 1 / 2 with a controlled release of methane outside the laboratory. The instrument was subsequently field-deployed in the proximity of a natural gas compressor station for fugitive methane detection. The instrument successfully detected methane plumes and narrowed down the location of the plume through multi-path measurement. The field measurements were verified by a co-located reference mobile methane sensor.

Chen, Yifeng↗

DOE OSTI2022

Electron Cooling Experiment for Proton Beams with Intense Space-Charge in IOTA

Electron cooling as a method of creating intense ion beams has a practical upper limit when it comes to the peak phase space density of ion beams which can be achieved in practice. We describe a new experiment to study electron cooling of 2.5 MeV protons at the intensity limit using the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA), which is a storage ring dedicated to beam physics research at Fermilab. This system will enable the study of magnetized electron cooling of a proton beam with transverse incoherent tune shifts approaching -0.5 due to the presence of intense space-charge forces. We present an overview of the hardware design, simulations and specific experiments planned for this project.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Parametric Testing and Evaluation of a Novel Biphasic Absorption Process for Post-Combustion Carbon Capture

A novel biphasic CO2 absorption process (BiCAP) is being developed at the University of Illinois. BiCAP is enabled by using a new class of biphasic solvents developed based on multi-property criteria for postcombustion carbon capture. The process was previously demonstrated at the lab-scale, including in 10 kWe absorption and desorption column systems. In the current study, the process has been scaled up by building and testing a 40 kWe integrated capture skid at a power plant. Parametric tests for two biphasic solvents were conducted with the synthetic flue gas made of bottle CO2 gas and air to validate the performance and operational flexibility of the unit with respect to varying process or operating conditions. Operation of the phase separator, which is unique equipment to BiCAP, was verified to be stable and efficient. Two liquid phases could be separated via static settlement based on a density difference and >90% of the CO2 absorbed was concentrated in the separated CO2-rich phase. Results of parametric tests showed that the minimum heat duty appeared at the optimal stripping pressure. A higher stripping temperature was more favourable to improve overall energy performance. Introducing a secondary cold solvent feed stream to the top of the stripper via bypassing the cross heat exchanger helped reduce the heat loss carried with water vapour. Test results also revealed that the heat duty requirement was comparable when the CO2 concentration in flue gas decreased from ~11 to 4 vol.% as the phase separation decoupled the absorption and desorption steps in BiCAP. Under typical steady-state conditions, both biphasic solvents lowered the process heat duty by >40% compared with the reference 30 wt.% monoethanolamine solvent.

Absorption↗