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DOE OSTI2013

The Home Depot Upgrades its Corporate Building Prototype

The Home Depot partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and implement solutions to build new, low-energy buildings that are at least 50% below Standard 90.1-2007 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) as part of DOE’s Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) Program.

CBP↗

DOE OSTI2026

Pioneer WEC Dashboard

SAND2026-18911O The Pioneer WEC (Wave Energy Converter) Dashboard tool visualizes real-time data from the Pioneer WEC v1 prototype, which supplies power to a mooring in the Coastal Pioneer Array. It offers up-to-date information, performance metrics, and graphical plots that enable users to monitor the prototype's efficiency. Developed using Python and Jekyll, this static website is updated daily and hosted on GitHub. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Michelen Strofer, Carlos [Sandia National Lab. (SN↗

DOE OSTI2021

Open Building Control

Best practice control sequences are often not implemented correctly, or are not implemented at all, in large commercial buildings. This typically leads to 10-30 percent energy waste, along with reduced occupant productivity and unnecessary equipment wear. The current process of designing and implementing such control sequences is a manual process that starts with designers who often don’t have adequate training, then requires controls programmers to interpret and program a verbose written sequence. This process has been shown to fail to deliver high performance control sequences at scale. The Open Building Control project digitizes the current control delivery process. The project is developing tools for system designers to select control sequences, assess their energy performance and load flexibility potential using whole building simulation, specify the sequence for implementation using machine-to-machine translation by a control provider and formally testing the as-installed sequences by a commissioning agent. The project developed tools for each stage of this delivery process. The key innovation of the project is the development of the Control Description Language, a language that allows such a digitized control delivery process with end-to-end verification. Libraries of control sequences have been implemented using the Control Description Language, and their performance has been demonstrated using whole building energy simulation. An automated translation of such sequences to a commercial control product line has been conducted using a prototype translator. Tools for formal verification of as-installed control sequences relative to their specification have been developed and demonstrated. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) started the process of forming a committee to make this language an ASHRAE/ANSI Standard. This new standard will complement existing and emerging ASHRAE standards for building communication and semantic modeling by providing a standard for expressing the control logic - the actual brain of the building. We expect this language and the process it enables to be an important contribution to the deployment of high performance building control sequences at scale because it allows taming the complexity of the control delivery process, which is continually increasing due to the need for higher performance and increased load flexibility to meet goals for net zero energy and increased renewable integration.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2012

Development of strong-sense validation benchmarks for the fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor

The Fluoride salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR) is a class of reactor concepts currently under development for the U. S. Dept. of Energy. The FHR is defined as a Generation IV reactor that features low-pressure liquid fluoride salt cooling, coated-particle fuel, a high-temperature power cycle, and fully passive decay heat rejection. Recent experimental work using simulant fluids have been performed to demonstrate key 'proof of principle' FHR concepts and have helped inform the reactor design process. An important element of developing FHR technology is to sufficiently validate the predictive accuracy of the computer codes used to model system response. This paper presents a set of thermal-hydraulics experiments, defined as Strong-Sense Benchmarks (SSB's), which will help establish the FHR validation domain for simulant fluid suitability. These SSB's are more specifically designed to investigate single-phase natural circulation which is the dominant mode of FHR decay heat removal during off-normal conditions. SSB s should be viewed as engineering reference standards and differ from traditional confirmatory experiments in the sense that they are more focused on fundamental physics as opposed to reproducing high levels of physical similarity with the prototypical design. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Electrical Submersible Pumps: A System Modeling Approach for Power Quality Analysis With Variable Frequency Drives

This article proposes a high-level engineering guide to develop an integrated system model for power quality analysis in electrical submersible pump (ESP) applications with variable frequency drives (VFDs). Such analyses are troublesome in the industry due to the complexity of these systems. In this article, simple steps to perform system integration analyses of such arrangements, including torsional analysis, are developed. A simplified VFD-ESP model suitable for coupled electrical and mechanical analysis in steady state is proposed in all their configurations of practical interest. Such a model can be easily implemented in common simulation software, significantly reducing engineering efforts for implementation and analysis. The focus of the proposed model is the prediction of ESP failures that might result from a poor power quality caused by VFDs. Analytical expressions of different types of harmonics in these systems, as well as their accurate locations in the frequency domain, including their interharmonics and common-mode harmonics, are derived for this purpose. Further, the effectiveness of the proposed model is verified through offline and real-time hybrid simulation results. Finally, a comparison between simulation results obtained using the proposed model and measurements collected on a down-scale laboratory prototype is carried out to demonstrate the accuracy of the suggested modeling approach.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2022

A Prospective Design Method for Nuclear Power: The Evaluation, Requirements, and Goals Outline for Nuclear (ERGON) Method

Human factors researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have worked on projects spanning control room modernization, operator support systems, visualization design, and novel system creation. These projects demonstrated the need for an explicit design method for nuclear power. Human factors teams found a high standard in the Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model (NUREG-0711) and needed a design methodology which could be successful in gaining approval. Previous work has been synthesized as the Evaluation, Requirements, and Goals Outline for Nuclear (ERGON) method here. Design tasks are broken into four phases: Context and Orientation, Human Factors Review, Prototyping and Evaluation, Iteration and Improvement. ERGON is intended as a flexible and direct design method for many applications in nuclear power. ERGON has been vetted through collaborative research and development with nuclear utilities and as such, the ERGON method can assist utilities to achieve approval from a NUREG-0711 summative evaluation for HSI implementations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2018

Review of Shape and Topology Optimization for Design of Air-to-Refrigerant Heat Exchangers

Air-to-refrigerant heat exchangers (HXs) have been the topic of exhaustive research as they are fundamental components of HVAC&R systems. It has been well-established that the large airside thermal resistance dominates the HX thermal resistance, and thus significant research efforts have focused on improving the air-side performance of these heat exchangers. As HXs continue to become more compact, thermal resistance reduction is typically realized through the utilization of extended secondary heat transfer surfaces such as fins. However, past research has shown that the thermal-hydraulic trade-offs provided by fins are often not attractive enough to warrant their use, especially for small diameter tubes. Yet, the inadequate primary surface area provided by compact HXs essentially mandate the necessity of fins to meet thermal resistance requirements. In recent years, advancements in computational tools such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and optimization algorithms, coupled with the advent of additive manufacturing technologies, have allowed engineers to expand conventional HX design ideologies to include such concepts as shape and topology optimization. This lends itself directly to primary heat transfer surface optimization and even the potential removal of finned surfaces altogether. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review investigating air-to-refrigerant HX shape and topology optimization. The fundamentals of both shape and topology optimization, model development, and experimental validations are all separately discussed. Studies featuring manufactured prototypes and/or experimentally validated optimal designs are treated with additional emphasis. This paper concludes by identifying key research gaps and proposing future research directions for HX shape and topology optimization.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2014

Parylene-based active micro space radiator with thermal contact switch

Thermal management is crucial for highly functional spacecrafts exposed to large fluctuations of internal heat dissipation and/or thermal boundary conditions. Since thermal radiation is the only means for heat removal, effective control of radiation is required for advanced space missions. In the present study, a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) active radiator using the contact resistance change has been proposed. Unlike previous bulky thermal louvers/shutters, higher fill factor can be accomplished with an array of electrostatically driven micro diaphragms suspended with polymer tethers. With an early prototype developed with parylene MEMS technologies, radiation heat flux enhancement up to 42% has been achieved.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2022

Scalability Testing Approach for Internet of Things for Manufacturing SQL and NoSQL Database Latency and Throughput

The proliferation of low-cost sensors and industrial data solutions has continued to push the frontier of manufacturing technology. Machine learning and other advanced statistical techniques stand to provide tremendous advantages in production capabilities, optimization, monitoring, and efficiency. The tremendous volume of data gathered continues to grow, and the methods for storing the data are critical underpinnings for advancing manufacturing technology. This work aims to investigate the ramifications and design tradeoffs within a decoupled architecture of two prominent database management systems (DBMS): sql and NoSQL. A representative comparison is carried out with Amazon Web Services (AWS) DynamoDB and AWS Aurora MySQL. The technologies and accompanying design constraints are investigated, and a side-by-side comparison is carried out through high-fidelity industrial data simulated load tests using metrics from a major US manufacturer. The results support the use of simulated client load testing for comparing the latency of database management systems as a system scales up from the prototype stage into production. As a result of complex query support, MySQL is favored for higher-order insights, while NoSQL can reduce system latency for known access patterns at the expense of integrated query flexibility. Here, by reviewing this work, a manufacturer can observe that the use of high-fidelity load testing can reveal tradeoffs in IoTfM write/ingestion performance in terms of latency that are not observable through prototype-scale testing of commercially available cloud DB solutions.

AWS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Final Report: Modifications and Optimization of the Organic Rankine Cycle to Improve the Recovery of Waste Heat

This research and development (R&D) project exemplifies a shared public private commitment to advance the development of energy efficient industrial technologies that will reduce the U.S. dependence upon foreign oil, provide energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this project was to develop and demonstrate a Direct Evaporator for the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for the conversion of waste heat from gas turbine exhaust to electricity. In conventional ORCs, the heat from the exhaust stream is transferred indirectly to a hydrocarbon based working fluid by means of an intermediate thermal oil loop. The Direct Evaporator accomplishes preheating, evaporation and superheating of the working fluid by a heat exchanger placed within the exhaust gas stream. Direct Evaporation is simpler and up to 15% less expensive than conventional ORCs, since the secondary oil loop and associated equipment can be eliminated. However, in the past, Direct Evaporation has been avoided due to technical challenges imposed by decomposition and flammability of the working fluid. The purpose of this project was to retire key risks and overcome the technical barriers to implementing an ORC with Direct Evaporation. R&D was conducted through a partnership between the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and General Electric (GE) Global Research Center (GRC). The project consisted of four research tasks: (1) Detailed Design & Modeling of the ORC Direct Evaporator, (2) Design and Construction of Partial Prototype Direct Evaporator Test Facility, (3) Working Fluid Decomposition Chemical Analyses, and (4) Prototype Evaluation. Issues pertinent to the selection of an ORC working fluid, along with thermodynamic and design considerations of the direct evaporator, were identified. The FMEA (Failure modes and effects analysis) and HAZOP (Hazards and operability analysis) safety studies performed to mitigate risks are described, followed by a discussion of the flammability analysis of the direct evaporator. A testbed was constructed and the prototype demonstrated at the GE GRC Niskayuna facility.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2019

Additively Manufactured Photovoltaic Inverter (AMPVI)

Successful integration of hundreds of gigawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) into the electric power system requires transformative power conversion system design that optimizes various trade-offs among conflicting objectives, such as performance, reliability, functionality, and cost. To address this need, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Purdue University teamed up to develop a unique PV inverter design. The Additively Manufactured Photovoltaic Inverter (AMPVI) combines newer wide bandgap high-voltage silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor devices with revolutionary concepts such as additive manufacturing and multi-objective magnetic design optimization. The AMPVI will not only provide superior technical capabilities in terms of energy conversion but also mitigate market barriers for SiC-based PV inverters. The benefits for this design will include better utilization of PV power due to higher DC voltage, lower operations and maintenance costs, better system efficiency, longer system lifetime, and advanced grid support functionalities for easier grid integration. All these advantages will lead to a significant reduction of the levelized cost of energy for PV systems. Activities in Budget Period 1 (BP1) of this 3-year integrated project were focused on development and component-level validation of the foundational building blocks needed for the AMPVI. Multiple interrelated tasks were completed in parallel during work towards the initial development of the high-voltage SiC-based power block, gate driver, controller board, and control algorithms. Initial development of magnetic design tools and initial inverter thermal and mechanical design was also completed in this period. All these activities ensured that the initial prototype (called “alpha-prototype”) power block and controller would be ready after BP1 for integration into the first inverter prototype (i.e., the alpha-prototype inverter) in BP2.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

AviSense: A Real-time System for Detection, Classification, and Analysis of Aviation Signals

We present AviSense, an SDR-based real-time, versatile system for monitoring aviation bands. AviSense detects and characterizes signal activities to enable practical and effective anomaly detection. We identify and tackle the challenges posed by a diverse set of critical aviation bands and technologies. We evaluate our methodology with real-world aviation signal measurements and demonstrate that we can classify aviation signals as normal with 99% accuracy. We also provide an exhaustive evaluation of our anomalous signal detection capability and show that we can accurately classify anomalous signals with 99% accuracy, with few exceptions. We also demonstrate that AviSense can effectively distinguish between different types of anomalies. We build a prototype implementation of AviSense for distributed monitoring.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Deploying Extended Reality (XR) for Digital Operations and Maintenance (O&M) at the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL)

This report documents the preliminary efforts to digitize operation and maintenance (O&M) activities for the Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop (METL). METL became operational in September 2018 with the mission to provide an ecosystem for Advanced Reactor Development (ARD). METLs flagship facility’s primary purpose is conducting small to intermediate scale tests for Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR). Its resemblance to commercial SFR’s intermediate heat transport system, prototypic operating conditions, and industrial construction practices/materials provides the overarching benefit of establishing a proving ground for emerging operations and maintenance (O&M) activities such as incorporating Extended Reality (XR) applications throughout the program lifecycle.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Ultralight Door Design, Development and Demonstration Project (Final Scientific Report)

The project objectives associated with the Ultralight Door Project were to develop a lightweight driver's side door, 42.5% lighter than a current model year high-volume baseline door, at an incremental cost not to exceed $ \$ $ 5 per pound saved, while maintaining equivalent functionality, safety, corrosion, durability and sound transmission performance of the baseline vehicle. The project approach included the selection of a door architecture, development of a key performance target matrix and incremental cost model. Several unique door structures were developed and evaluated using computer-aided engineering (CAE) and cost modeling tools. The aluminum-intensive door structure was the only design capable of meeting both the performance and cost criteria objectives. The door module, glass, interior trim, latch and electrical subsystems were functionally integrated with the aluminum door structure, enabling additional mass reduction beyond material substitution. The lightweight door design was prototyped, integrated with baseline vehicles and tested to validate equivalent functionality and performance. The project results demonstrate a mass reduction of 15.2 kg (40%) at an incremental cost of $ \$ $2.81 per pound saved, while maintaining functionality and performance of the baseline door. The environmental benefit associated with the Ultralight Door enables a 6g CO 2 eq. per kilometer environmental benefit, for a 4-door vehicle powered by a downsized fuel injected gasoline combustion engine. The project results were presented and published in the 2018 SAE International Conference proceedings and in the Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Intelligent Process Visualization through Nuclear Operation Process Modeling, Reasoning, and Object Detection from Field Videos (Final Report)

This report is a deliverable for the “Final Report” task of DOE NEET Project 19-16790, "Context-Aware Safety Information Display for Nuclear Field Workers." This project's overall goal is to test the hypothesis that integrating computer vision and process reasoning methods will enable proactive visualization of the safe operation and maintenance processes of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) for field workers. Augmented Reality (AR) glasses adopting such proactive safety information visualization techniques can significantly increase personnel safety and reduce the NPP’s operating costs. The current practice of monitoring NPPs requires workers to switch between digital models, data, and physical workspaces in identifying relevant but potentially occluded objects and in assessing the risks of operation and maintenance processes. On the other hand, frequently changed field conditions require field workers to report to supervisors for real-time guidance. Such guidance is essential to ensure that changing conditions will not invalidate or endanger the work order and other ongoing processes that may jeopardize NPP operations. Additionally, incorrect recognition of equipment objects can result in communication errors and safety problems. AR techniques can assist engineers in viewing the physical workspaces with objects labeled with detailed operation procedures and safety reminders during field operations. The project team developed an “Intelligent Context-Aware Safety Information Display” (ICAD) for supporting Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) field workers in achieving safe and efficient execution of a series of operational tasks in uncertain and changing workspaces of an NPP. Before designing the ICAD-AR prototype, the project team synthesized NPP operational knowledge models through literature review studies, surveys, interviews with domain experts, and knowledge modeling. The project team conducted an extensive study of the operational procedures of various NPPs, and digital technologies that can support the safe and efficient execution of those procedures in different NPP operational contexts. This literature review helped the project team conduct surveys and interviews with nuclear engineers and field workers to identify three categories of information. The NPP knowledge modeling efforts reveal that the three categories of information identified have different levels of importance in a typical procedure of carrying out a series of tasks to achieve a specific NPP operation goal (e.g., shutdown, mode changes). These three categories of information include 1) Workspace dynamics – the changing spatial arrangements of workspaces, tools, protection equipment, and supporting materials, 2) Workflow prognostics – the dynamic dependencies between different parts of an NPP that functionally support and influence each other in terms of safety and efficiency, and 3) Hazards – objects and spaces that contain hazardous materials or physical conditions that can pose risks to workers or mechanical systems. The project team has profiled the importance levels of these categories of information into a knowledge model. This knowledge model specifies what types of information are more critical for a given task in a given workspace so that computers can automatically identify critical objects and sensors in a scene for delivering context-ware safety information to field workers through AR devices. Significant research development of this project results in technical research outcomes and a prototyping system that illustrates the technical feasibility of establishing an ICAD-AR system supporting the proactive safety information display for nuclear field workers. This final report summarizes the project team’s technological achievements in the past three years. Overall, the project team completed the development and integration of five techniques into a prototype ICAD Augmented Reality (ICAD-AR) system and demonstrated the developed system’s real-time execution in a mechanical room. The project team completed the analysis of using this prototype in other types of workspaces based on 3D image data and digital design models collected from two additional workspaces (a water treatment plant and a flow loop training facility). The integrated techniques include 1) Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms supporting the generation and updates of nuclear fieldwork process models based on text analysis of work packages and operation manuals; 2) sensor log analysis for predicting control actions in given sensor reading contexts; 3) computer vision algorithms for automatic localization and navigation of workers; 4) object detection algorithms for identifying task-related objects and correlated sensors for safety checking; 5) AR technique as a platform for supporting the integration. The testing results of these five techniques have shown that 1) the sensor log analysis model can predict the next control action with an accuracy of 0.883; 2) the trained natural language processing model can extract more than 80% of the critical information from paper-based procedures (PBPs); 3) the navigation algorithm with the integration of Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) and Non-Recursive Bayesian Filter methods make operator’s trajectory estimation resilient to drift error; 4) the computer vision algorithm can detect task-specific and safety-critical objects with an average accuracy of 95.3%. The project team used work procedures collected from a flow loop training facility and two datasets collected from two mechanical rooms simulating the workspaces of NPPs to demonstrate the technical capabilities of the developed ICAD-AR prototype. The demonstration validated the technical feasibility of establishing the ICAD-AR system for nuclear field workers and identified the challenges in 1) automatic text analysis of work packages; 2) use of limited samples of sensor logs for predicting the proper timings of control actions; 3) reliably tracking workers and their task progress in mechanical rooms with many similar objects.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Building High-Energy Silicon-Containing Batteries Using Off-The-Shelf Materials

The technology of silicon anodes appears to be reaching maturity, with high-energy Si cells already in pilot-scale production. However, the performance of these systems can be difficult to replicate in academic settings, making it challenging to translate research findings into solutions that can be implemented by the battery industry. Part of this difficulty arises from the lack of access to engineered Si particles and anodes, as electrode formulations and the materials themselves have become valuable intellectual property for emerging companies. Here, we summarize the efforts by Argonne’s Cell Analysis, Modeling, and Prototyping (CAMP) Facility in developing Si-based prototypes made entirely from commercially available materials. We describe the many challenges we encountered when testing high-loading electrodes (>5 mAh cm −2 ) and discuss strategies to mitigate them. With the right electrode and electrolyte design, we show that our pouch cells containing ≥ 70 wt% SiO x can achieve 600–1,000 cycles at C/3 and meet projected energy targets of 700 Wh L −1 and 350 Wh kg −1 . These results provide a practical reference for research teams seeking to advance silicon-anode development using accessible materials.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Sandbox for Outer Loop Analysis (SOLA)

SAND2026-18834O Sandbox for Outer Loop Analysis (SOLA) is an object-oriented Matlab library that prototypes outer loop analysis algorithms. It serves as a platform for rapid idea exploration, algorithm testing, and enhancing pedagogy. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

van Bloemen Waanders, Bart [Sandia National Lab. (↗

DOE OSTI2013

F-18 Labeled Diabody-Luciferase Fusion Proteins for Optical-ImmunoPET

The goal of the proposed work is to develop novel dual-labeled molecular imaging probes for multimodality imaging. Based on small, engineered antibodies called diabodies, these probes will be radioactively tagged with Fluorine-18 for PET imaging, and fused to luciferases for optical (bioluminescence) detection. Performance will be evaluated and validated using a prototype integrated optical-PET imaging system, OPET. Multimodality probes for optical-PET imaging will be based on diabodies that are dually labeled with 18F for PET detection and fused to luciferases for optical imaging. 1) Two sets of fusion proteins will be built, targeting the cell surface markers CEA or HER2. Coelenterazine-based luciferases and variant forms will be evaluated in combination with native substrate and analogs, in order to obtain two distinct probes recognizing different targets with different spectral signatures. 2) Diabody-luciferase fusion proteins will be labeled with 18F using amine reactive [18F]-SFB produced using a novel microwave-assisted, one-pot method. 3) Sitespecific, chemoselective radiolabeling methods will be devised, to reduce the chance that radiolabeling will inactivate either the target-binding properties or the bioluminescence properties of the diabody-luciferase fusion proteins. 4) Combined optical and PET imaging of these dual modality probes will be evaluated and validated in vitro and in vivo using a prototype integrated optical-PET imaging system, OPET. Each imaging modality has its strengths and weaknesses. Development and use of dual modality probes allows optical imaging to benefit from the localization and quantitation offered by the PET mode, and enhances the PET imaging by enabling simultaneous detection of more than one probe.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗