Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “LOAD DISTRIBUTION - WINGS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26

A tri-level distribution locational marginal price-based demand response framework

Here, in this paper, we propose a tri-level, nested, two-stage price-based demand response (PBDR) framework that considers distribution locational marginal price (DLMP) as DR enabler between load-serving entities (LSE), demand response providers (DRPs), and customers in the day-ahead distribution market. It enables LSE and customer interactions by using multiple DRPs, positioned in-between, and independently optimizes their objectives. The problem is formulated using linear power flow with approximated power losses and its application in DLMP as DR pricing. The tri-level problem is solved using a nested reformulation & decomposition (R&D) method and tested on the real Indian-108 bus distribution system under various dynamic pricings. Further, the temporal–spatial variations in DLMPs are assessed using fairness criteria. Numerical analyses demonstrate that DLMP applications can effectively improve economic efficiency, and transparency in DR programs valuation with a favorable fairness margin. The results show that DLMP as DR pricing signal induces (0-2) % variation in DLMP for DR participation up to 10 %. Further, it gives over 90 % fairness over temporal–spatial variation for all the customers.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Simulation of crumpled sheets via alternating quasistatic and dynamic representations

In this work, we present a method for simulating the large-scale deformation and crumpling of thin, elastoplastic sheets. Motivated by the physical behavior of thin sheets during crumpling, two different formulations of the governing equations of motion are used: (1) a quasistatic formulation that effectively describes smooth deformations, and (2) a fully dynamic formulation that captures large changes in the sheet's velocity. The former is a differential-algebraic system of equations integrated implicitly in time, while the latter is a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) integrated explicitly. We adopt a hybrid integration scheme to adaptively alternate between the quasistatic and dynamic representations as appropriate. Further, we demonstrate the capacity of this method to effectively simulate a variety of crumpling phenomena. Finally, we show that statistical properties, notably the accumulation of creases under repeated loading, as well as the area distribution of facets, are consistent with experimental observations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Additively manufactured β-Ti5553 with laser powder bed fusion: Microstructures and mechanical properties of bulk and lattice parts

Ti5553 (Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr wt%) is a titanium alloy widely used for its high strength-to-weight ratio and good formability at elevated temperatures. Unlike Ti-6Al-4V, Ti5553 does not undergo martensitic transformation, preventing cracking of brittle martensite upon rapid cooling. This makes it a strong candidate for additive manufacturing (AM), particularly laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF). L-PBF offers the unique opportunity to make fine lattice structures to reduce component weight. Despite the growing field of AM, there have been limited studies on L-PBF Ti5553 lattices and how their properties differ from the bulk. Here the present work addresses this knowledge gap by investigating microstructures and properties of L-PBF bulk and lattice parts and the effect of post L-PBF heat treatments. Electron microscopy and mechanical testing show that the high dislocation density formed during L-PBF increases bulk part’s yield strength by approximately 100 MPa compared to the conventional alloy. Digital image correlation during compression testing of octet truss lattices reveals a layer-by-layer failure mode. Compared to the bulk, the lattice contains copious ω nanoprecipitation, weaker <001> texture, smaller average grain sizes, and larger content of high-angle grain boundaries. These features elicit differences in Taylor factor distributions for the lattice depending on load direction, underlining challenges in predicting lattice mechanical response based on bulk properties. By examining the processing-structure-property relationships in the bulk and lattice, the present results delineate their microstructural and mechanical differences and establish a benchmark for the future design applications of L-PBF Ti5553.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Microbe-Encapsulated Silica Gel Biosorbents for Selective Extraction of Scandium from Coal Byproducts

Establishing an inexpensive and environmentally friendly scandium (Sc) supply is critical for the development of clean energy technologies. However, refining Sc from Sc-bearing sources using current technologies poses economic and environmental challenges due to its low concentration relative to base metals and chemically similar lanthanides. In this work, we developed a biosorption-based flow-through process for extraction of Sc from low-grade feedstocks. A novel biosorbent material was synthesized by encapsulating Arthrobacter nicotianae, a bacterium that selectively adsorbs Sc, within a porous silica matrix. Through the use of several complementary microscopy techniques, we demonstrated a highly porous biosorbent structure with a high cell-loading density and a homogenous cell distribution. Batch adsorption assays revealed selective Sc adsorption over lanthanides and common based metals, with the exception of Fe(III), as evidenced by separation factors greater than 50. The MESG particles were packed into fixed-bed columns to enable adsorption under flow-through conditions, which demonstrated effective Sc extraction at flow rates up to 0.08 cm/s and high stability for reuse; greater than 95% of the adsorption capacity was maintained after 10 consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles. When applied to a lignite coal leachate, whose Fe content was depleted through pH-mediated precipitation, the MESG particles yielded Sc breakthrough at 30 bed volumes, whereas all other metals broke through after only a few bed volumes. Following desorption, an eluate with a 124-fold increase in Sc purity was achieved relative to the lignite leachate with Sc constituting 96.4% of the total REEs. This study established a rapid, facile, and scalable cell immobilization approach that enables the use of microbial biomass for Sc recovery from low-grade sources.

Dong, Ziye↗

Cyberattack Detection and Mitigation on Central Volt‐VAr Using Circuit Law and Machine Learning

ABSTRACT In a distribution grid, voltage is maintained within a nominal range through a Volt‐VAr function that controls capacitor banks, reactive power of distributed energy resources (DER), and on‐load tap changers (OLTC). Availability of communications helps with the implementation of central Volt‐VAr control; however, it also opens the system to cyberattacks, causing voltage disturbances. Previous work has shown the adverse impacts of false data injection (FDI) on the central Volt‐VAr control; however, very few works have studied methods to detect and mitigate FDI on Volt‐VAr control. This paper addresses gaps in the detection and mitigation of FDI on the measurement packets of a central Volt‐VAr control. This work uses a two‐stage algorithm for cyberattack detection since the accuracy of a single‐stage machine learning (ML)–based detection method decreases while dealing with unseen data. The first stage is based on the verification of measurements against circuit laws, and the second stage utilizes a tree search algorithm and an ML method to detect the falsified data. This paper compares long short‐term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM) as the employed ML algorithms. Finally, the mitigation algorithm replaces the falsified data with the estimated output of the ML algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested for several cases using the IEEE 13‐bus test system in PSCAD software.

Beikbabaei, Milad [Bradley Department of Electrica↗

An intelligent energy router for managing behind-the-meter resources and assets

With increase in distributed energy resources (DERs) and smart loads, each energy resource and load need a separate power conversion system leading to complex coordination and interaction, reduced energy conversion efficiency, coordinating compliance to grid standards (IEEE 1547) from multiple sources, reduced security. Also, multiple vendors with legacy system designs and proprietary communications interfaces result in redundancy and increase in cost of power electronics systems. This paper presents an energy router concept for buildings applications which provides autonomous power flow between sources and loads with a novel agent-based software interface.

Chinthavali, Madhu Sudhan↗

Comparison of Power System Current Sensors via Playback of Electrical Disturbances

The need to accurately measure high-frequency content in power system voltage and current phenomena is increasingly becoming more of a priority. As the amount of distributed energy resources (DER) and nonlinear loads penetrating the grid increases, so do challenges associated with traditional measurement and metering applications. In this paper, three commercially-available medium-voltage-level current sensors are characterized in terms of their harmonic amplitude and phase performance against reference signals that are “played back” through the sensors through the use of an arbitrary waveform generator. It is shown that none of the three sensors studied are able to faithfully replicate all of the input signals completely, though there are advantages and disadvantages to each in terms of noise, resonance, and induced phase drift. Additionally, the Goodness-of-Fit metric, typically used for PMU model validation, is used to generate side-by-side comparisons of sensor accuracy over a small window around the events under study.

Wilson, Aaron↗

An Adaptive-Importance-Sampling-Enhanced Bayesian Approach for Topology Estimation in an Unbalanced Power Distribution System

The reliable operation of a power distribution system relies on a good prior knowledge of its topology and its system state. Although crucial, due to the lack of direct monitoring devices on the switch statuses, the topology information is often unavailable or outdated for the distribution system operators for real-time applications. Apart from the limited observability of the power distribution system, other challenges are the nonlinearity of the model, the complicated, unbalanced structure of the distribution system, and the scale of the system. To overcome the above challenges, we, in this paper, propose a Bayesian-inference framework that allows us to simultaneously estimate the topology and the state of a three-phase, unbalanced power distribution system. Specifically, by using the very limited number of measurements available that are associated with the forecast load data, we efficiently recover the full Bayesian posterior distributions of the system topology under both normal and outage operation conditions. This is performed through an adaptive importance sampling procedure that greatly alleviates the computational burden of the traditional Monte-Carlo (MC)-sampling-based approach while maintaining a good estimation accuracy. The simulations conducted on the IEEE 123-bus test system and an unbalanced 1282-bus system reveal the excellent performances of the proposed method.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Adaptive Power Flow Approximations With Second-Order Sensitivity Insights

The power flow equations are fundamental to power system planning, analysis, and control. However, the inherent non-linearity and non-convexity of these equations present formidable obstacles in problem-solving processes. To mitigate these challenges, recent research has proposed adaptive power flow linearizations that aim to achieve accuracy over wide operating ranges. The accuracy of these approximations inherently depends on the curvature of the power flow equations within these ranges, which necessitates considering second-order sensitivities. In this paper, we leverage second-order sensitivities to both analyze and improve power flow approximations. We evaluate the curvature across broad operational ranges and subsequently utilize this information to inform the computation of various sample-based power flow approximation techniques. Additionally, we leverage second-order sensitivities to guide the development of rational approximations that yield linear constraints in optimization problems. In conclusion, this approach is extended to enhance accuracy beyond the limitations of linear functions across varied operational scenarios.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Reduced Order Model of Transactive Bidding Loads

Transactive energy (TE) has been identified to provide better grid efficiency and reliability by market-based transactive exchanges between energy producers and energy consumers. Simulations of TE systems are crucial to evaluate the benefits and impacts of different transactive mechanisms. However, such simulations can be time consuming due to the information exchange between various participants and complex co-simulation environments. In this paper, we develop a reduced order model to speed up the simulation of transactive systems in TE simulation platform (TESP) while achieving very low error between the reduced order and full model results. Specifically, the developed reduced order model consists of an aggregate responsive load agent which utilizes two Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) with Long Short-Term Memory units (LSTMs) to enable transactive elements to collectively participate in the TE system. The proposed aggregate responsive load (ARL) agent is able to produce similar transactive behaviors to the full simulation model while achieving significant simulation time reduction. Finally, we also show that the developed model enables generalization of simulation results across different dates and across different number of loads included in the simulations.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

OPET Hardware (Open PV Electrical Tool Hardware) [SWR-25-42]

OPET (Open-source Photovoltaic Electrical Tool) is used for performance measurements of solar photovoltaic (PV) devices in the field under natural sunlight or in the lab under artificial light. Its primary use is in research and development of solar cells and modules, specifically in reliability and durability research of PV devices. Some features and functions include: -IV curve measurements with linear or cosine distributed measurement points -PV device active loading at open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Isc) and maximum power point (Pmp) -Bias power supply to overcome series resistance in contact wires for Isc measurements and loading -PV voltage input in five ranges from 1V to 100V -PV current input ranges -Low current version, six current ranges from 1.1mA to 340mA -High current version, six current ranges from 50mA to 15A -IO ports for I2C and SPI temperature sensor Arduino extension boards -Integrated fan control This repository contains everything relating to the hardware of the OPET device. If you are looking for the firmware or software repositories, links are below: https://github.com/NREL/opet-firmware https://github.com/NREL/opet-control

McDanold, Byron [National Renewable Energy Laborat↗

Development and testing of residential micro-CHP powered by opposed piston engine (CRADA Final Report)

A micro–combined heat and power (mCHP) prototype powered by innovative opposed piston engine technology was developed to simultaneously provide electricity and heat to residential or light commercial buildings. The mCHP prototype targeted at residential applications includes an opposed-piston four-stroke (OP4S) engine, generator, rectifier, inverter, battery energy storage system, 52 gal water tank, and application accessories for hot water supply and space heating. The OP4S engine can use renewable or regular natural gas, as well as hydrogen, to generate mechanical power and waste heat in form of hot coolant and exhaust gas simultaneously. The waste heat is recovered and stored in the water tank and can be used as a regular hot water supply and/or for space heating application. The tests show that the mCHP prototype enabled power outputs in the range of 3.2 –7.4 kW with up to 26.4% of AC electricity efficiency and up to 93.1% of the overall mCHP efficiency under stoichiometric combustion modes λ=~1.0. The mCHP was also run under lean combustion mode conditions at λ=~1.3. The lean mode operation enables more than 30% improvement in electrical energy efficiency. The maximum AC efficiency of the lean combustion mode attained was 35.2%, with the engine efficiency is approaching 40%. The exceptional electrical efficiency breaks the typical upper boundary of 30% for ICE-based mCHP. The engine exhaust temperatures in the lean modes are substantially less than in the stoichiometric modes. Moreover, the lean cases achieve high overall mCHP efficiencies: the overall mCHP efficiencies are all greater than 93%. Considering the mCHP prototype can achieve low-cost, flexible matching of thermal and electrical loads through reducing the complexity of distribution and installation, and high efficiency the novel technology will promote mCHP acceptance in the US residential and light commercial markets.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Usability and Optimization Improvements in MOOSE

The Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework is a foundational capability used by the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program to create over 15 different simulation tools for advanced nuclear reactors. Due to MOOSE’s broad use, improvements to the framework in support of modeling and simulation goals are critical to the program. Such improvements can take many forms, including optimization, improved user experience, streamlined application programming interfaces (APIs), parallelism, and new capabilities. The work described in this report was conducted in direct support of the simulation tools and has already been deployed. The capabilities were implemented in the same order as they are covered in this report: multiple nonlinear systems in the same input file, implementation of generic field transfers and other transfer system enhancements, support for stateful material property redistribution for adaptivity and distributed meshes, and dynamic linking and loading of individually compiled applications. These four additions are fundamental capabilities that will be leveraged by many NEAMS applications.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Development of a Vibration Technique Based on Geometric Optimization for Fatigue Life Evaluation of Sandwich Composite Structures

A major obstacle to obtaining cost-effective experimental data on the fatigue life of sandwich panels is the prohibitive amount of time and cost required to carry out millions of cycles. On the other hand, vibration techniques applied to sandwich geometries fail to match the stress patterns that are obtained from standard flexural fatigue tests. To overcome such limitations, a vibration-based fatigue technique is proposed, which entails the use of sandwich specimens whose geometries are optimized to reproduce the stress distribution observed during three point bend loading while vibrating at the first resonant frequency. The proposed vibration technique was experimentally validated. The results, compared with the average number of cycles to failure at different stress ratios obtained via the Three-Point Bending test, showed high levels of accuracy. The proposed method is robust and time effective and indicates the possibility of attaining fatigue lifetime prediction of a wide class of composite elements, such as sandwich panels.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

EXERGETIC: De-Risking Next-Generation Resilient Geothermal Hybrids via At-Scale Evaluation Using Virtual Emulation Digital Twin Environment for Efficient Operation

The DOE-GTO-funded project, award number 5.1.2.12, entitled "EXERGETIC - De-risking Next Generation Resilient Geothermal Hybrids via at-Scale Evaluation Using a Virtual Emulation Digital Twin Environment for Efficient Operation," advances the solution to these challenges by developing and validating a geothermal co-emulation environment implemented at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)'s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform. This framework enables the de-risking of next-generation geothermal and geothermal hybrid systems through high-fidelity modeling, real-time digital emulation, advanced control strategies, and techno-economic assessment. The project focused on geothermal hybrid configurations that integrate geothermal power plants with concentrated solar power and underground thermal energy storage, enabling enhanced efficiency, flexibility, and grid support capabilities. The main goal of this project was the development of a geothermal digital co-emulation environment to demonstrate the technical and economic value of geothermal hybrid systems and their contribution to grid stability and flexibility. The EXERGETIC framework combined physics-based models, controls, and real assets at ARIES, including digital real-time simulators (DRTS), a 20-MW-scale controllable grid interface (CGI), and a 2-MW conventional generator. Detailed transient models were developed for the key subsystems of a hybrid geothermal plant, including parabolic trough solar collectors, reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES), and a binary Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plant. The ORC model explicitly captured thermal inertia and off-design operation and integrated control strategies to dynamically respond to electric load profiles. The models were validated against published experimental and numerical studies, demonstrating strong agreement and confirming the accuracy and robustness of the modeling approach. The resulting digital twin represents geothermal-solar-storage systems at multiple scales (1 MW to 100 MW) and enables realistic emulation of grid-connected operation. The control architecture allows the geothermal resource to provide stable baseload generation, while solar and stored thermal energy supply flexible, dispatchable support during periods of high demand or variable grid conditions. A key contribution of the EXERGETIC project is the demonstration that geothermal hybrid systems can be designed to be active grid assets rather than passive baseload generators. Using the ARIES platform, the digital twin was evaluated under multiple grid scenarios, including load following, voltage support at the distribution level, and frequency response at the transmission level. Results show that hybrid geothermal systems can respond effectively to dynamic grid conditions, providing inertia-like behavior, primary frequency support, and voltage regulation through coordinated control. In addition to the performance and grid services capability analysis of geothermal and hybrid geothermal systems, the EXERGETIC project also focused on scalability and techno-economic analysis of geothermal hybrid plants. In particular, for the scalability analysis, machine-learning (ML)-based surrogate models were trained using data generated from the geothermal digital twin under different grid-connected scenarios and plant capacities. These ML models demonstrated strong interpolation and extrapolation capabilities across plant sizes, accurately reproducing both steady-state and transient responses with very low errors. Regarding the techno-economic analysis, plant performance results were integrated with cost models for hybrid geothermal systems, and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) was used as the main economic metric to evaluate system performance across a range of system capacities, solar shares, solar multiples, and storage durations. Results indicate that economies of scale significantly reduce geothermal LCOE as plant capacity increases, with large-scale systems (25-100 MW) achieving substantially lower costs than small plants. Hybridization with solar thermal energy and storage further improves economic performance by increasing capacity utilization and enabling flexible dispatch. In addition, thermal storage plays a critical role in reducing LCOE by maximizing geothermal, solar, and stored energy resources. In summary, the results from this project demonstrate that geothermal hybrid systems represent a promising alternative for increasing the energy conversion efficiency of geothermal technologies, contributing to the preservation of geothermal resources, and supporting the transition of geothermal plants from traditional baseload resources into flexible, resilient, and cost-competitive energy conversion technologies.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Feasibility of lead-bismuth-cooled fast reactor with fuel shuffling strategy

This paper investigates the feasibility of fuel shuffling of the Advanced Nitride-fueled Simplified 100 MWe (ANTS-100e) Lead-bismuth-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR). The preliminary design has the active core of 235 cm in diameter and 100 cm high. The core is composed of 138 hexagonal fuel assemblies enclosed with a 15-15Ti steel duct. The core adopts the onion zoning with the two zones of low-enriched uranium for a better breeding capability to maximize the first cycle length to 10 effective full-power years (EFPYs). The fuel shuffling study is performed by using the UNIST in-house Monte Carlo code MCS. The neutronic parameters such as the multiplication factor and burnup are being investigated. The fuel shuffling strategy is evaluated through several loading patterns for flattening radial power distribution. It is also found that the core with fuel shuffling could lengthen the core lifetime by more than 5 EFPYs without introducing fresh fuel. Thus, it appears that the ANTS-100e can be principally designed to have the second cycle with another 10 EFPYs if introducing fresh fuel into the core. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

The Impact of Behind-the-Meter Heterogeneous Distributed Energy Resources on Distribution Grids: Preprint

The increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) on the electric grid brings new challenges and opportunities for utility grid operations. With the rapid deployment of DERs, there is emerging interest in integrating these controllable devices with utility operations at all levels for monitoring and management. Different types of DERs such as Photovoltaics (PV), energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), etc. have varying effects on the grid based on how and where they are deployed. Again, the DER deployment and its impact are network-dependent, while the traditional electric grids were not designed to host DERs. To understand the challenges with increasing behind-the-meter (BTM) DERs and to identify the needs in deploying advanced controls, a comprehensive grid impact study is indispensable. This paper investigates the impacts of integrating a mix of DERs in the utility distribution network in Colorado, U.S. Firstly, BTM DERs at the residential scale including distributed PV; battery energy storage systems (BESS); heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) load; electric water heater (EWH) load; and EVs are modeled. The impacts of integrating these resources on the distribution network are evaluated by conducting time-series simulations for different scenarios considering different days to capture the worst-case conditions. Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to generate the realistic EV charging profile. The voltage issues, substation transformer loadings, and critical nodes in the network are identified with the incorporation of uncoordinated EV charging loads and other DER in the network. This analysis helps visualize the DER impact on the grid, identify the challenges, and provides an insight into the new distribution management and control needs to enable reliable and resilient distribution grid operations. Additionally, further analysis is performed to estimate the daily residential electricity cost with the inclusion of DERs under time-of-use tariffs. The result shows the daily residential electricity cost reduced by 20:7% on average with DERs compared to the case without DERs.

27 ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy↗

Synchronization and Rebound Effects in Residential Loads

Increasing fuel prices and capacity investment deferral place an increasing demand for peak reduction from distribution level systems. Residential and commercial devices, such as HVAC systems and water heaters, are increasingly involved in load control programs, and their use may generate synchronization and rebound effects, such as artificial peaks caused by device optimization. While there have been concerns over device synchronization, few studies quantify the extent of this effect with numerical values. In this study, we attempt to investigate whether control efforts result in device synchronization or rebound effects. We focus on three clustering methods – Ward’s clustering, Euclidean K-means, and Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise – to evaluate the extent of synchronization of a fleet of water heaters and HVAC systems in Atlanta, Georgia. Our findings show that synchronization and rebound effects are present in the neighborhood’s water heaters, but none were found in the HVAC systems. Further, high usage water heaters are more susceptible to synchronization and rebound effects.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗