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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Multiphase Species Transport Modeling for Molten Salt Reactors in the System Analysis Module: Generation, Decay, Deposition, and Extraction of Insoluble Fission Products

With the increase of interests in the design and deployment of advanced reactor systems, a desire for simulation tools supporting system analysis of reactor operation and safety is rising. Molten salt reactors (MSRs), one of the advanced reactor systems, utilize liquid fused salt fuel as both coolant and fuel. During operation, MSR generates insoluble fission products, including noble metals and gases. The buildup of these species in fuel salt presents safety concerns as they may deposit on surfaces of critical components and produce excessive decay heat, causing the failure of system components. Timely removal of these noble metals and gases would ensure the safe operation of the reactor system. The dynamic nature of salt fuel system, involving the generation, decay, deposition, and extraction of noble metals and gases, calls for robust species transport models to facilitate system analysis and monitoring, and design of efficient species removal components. This paper concentrates on the development of a computational framework for species transport, consisting of multiphase transport model formulation, mass transfer between phases, numerical implementation in MOOSE environment, verification through Method of Manufacture Solutions (MMS) and validation against experimental data from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE). Integrating this framework into the System Analysis Module (SAM) code further enhances SAM’s capabilities for advanced reactor analysis in the future.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Process Heating Assessments Using DOE’s Manufacturing Energy Assessment Software for Utility Reduction (MEASUR) Tool Suite

Process heating is the most energy-intensive manufacturing process for most sectors of industry. To quantify energy savings from various energy conservation measures, the Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored the development of the Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool (PHAST) and similar tools for other industrial systems in the early 2000s. It has been used extensively in the Save Energy Now Program’s Energy Savings Assessments and the Better Plants Program’s In-Plant Trainings. Since the initial development of the legacy tools, both computer operating systems and software development have evolved significantly. Thus, DOE has invested in the modernization of PHAST and other legacy software tools to create the Manufacturing Energy Assessment Software for Utility Reduction (MEASUR) tool suite. MEASUR offers a collection of software tools that can aid manufacturing facilities in improving the efficiency of energy systems and equipment (specifically pumps, fans, steam, and process heating) and in conducting “Energy Treasure Hunts”. Eventually, the tool will also add compressed air and process cooling systems. The Process Heating Assessment (PHA) module of MEASUR is an upgrade of the PHAST tool. PHA provides the means to model fuel-fired, steam-based, and electric process heating systems, covering process heating for most industrial plants in manufacturing sector. It also includes several key upgrades, including the ability to consider multi-component charge loads and account for several different areas of energy losses. The new tool includes a comprehensive flue gas calculator to quantify available heat and heat loss for various gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels and new heat loss calculators. It generates a report and a dynamic Sankey diagram to show the energy consumption in various areas of energy use. MEASUR has significantly improved the user experience by adopting a modern software design. This paper details the structure and workflow of PHA and presents a real-world case study to demonstrate energy savings quantification and MEASUR’s outstanding reporting capabilities.

Nimbalkar, Sachin U.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Thermo-structural development of the ITER ICRF strap housing module

Since March 2010 the preliminary design of the ITER ICRF Antennas have been developed by CYCLE, a consortium consisting of IPP (Garching), CCFE (Culham), CEA (Cadarache), Politecnico di Torino (Torino) and LPPERM/KMS (Brussels). This paper describes the steps taken to develop the present geometry of the triplet pair Strap Housing Module from a thermal and structural perspective, and shows the critical areas of the structure. Key issues are the manufacturability, (achieved by HIPing - Hot Isostatic Pressing), the ability to handle the radiating plasma thermal flux of 0.35 MW/m{sup 2}, the RF losses and the neutronic radiation. HIPing is necessary to achieve the complicated system of cooling channels inside the structure, which divides the coolant equally in order to supply each strap in the triplet with 1 l/s of water. The components have also to withstand the strong mechanical forces generated by plasma disruptions affecting all internal structures and the elevated design cooling water pressure of 5MPa. In order to maximise reliability, joints between different materials in the cooling water system have been kept to a minimum. Therefore, in the interests of fabricability and availability, the whole structure is manufactured out of stainless steel (316L(N)IG). The low conductivity of 316L(N)IG demands small wall thicknesses to avoid hot spots; however this reduces the mechanical strength. Consequently an in depth FEM analysis is presented, which was used to find and to improve the critical aspects of this important component and was the best means of finding the optimum between thermal and mechanical performance.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell - Multi-Physics and GUI

SOFC-MP is a simulation tool developed at PNNL to evaluate the tightly coupled multi-physical phenomena in SOFCs. The purpose of the tool is to allow SOFC manufacturers to numerically test changes in planar stack design to meet DOE technical targets. The SOFC-MP 2D module is designed for computational efficiency to enable rapid engineering evaluations for operation of tall symmetric stacks. It can quickly compute distributions for the current density, voltage, temperature, and species composition in tall stacks with co-flow or counter-flow orientations. The 3D module computes distributions in entire 3D domain and handles all planner configurations: co-flow, counter-flow, and cross-flow. The detailed data from 3D simulation can be used as input for structural analysis. SOFC-MP GUI integrates both 2D and 3D modules, and it provides user friendly pre-processing and post-processing capabilities.

Lai, Kevin↗
DOE OSTI2017

Road to Grid Parity through Deployment of Low-Cost 21.5% N-Type Si Solar Cells

This project seeks to develop and deploy differentiated 21.5% efficient n-type Si solar cells while reaching the SunShot module cost goal of ≤ $0.50/W. This objective hinges on development of enabling low cost technologies that simplify the manufacturing process and reduce overall processing costs. These comprise of (1) Boron emitter formation and passivation; (2) Simplified processing process for emitter and BSF layers; and (3) Advanced metallization for the front and back contacts.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Testing of Prototype PV Modules (CRADA Final Report)

The American-Made Solar Prize is a prize competition from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that is designed to revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing. The competition aims to support the growth of U.S. solar manufacturing and reenergize American energy innovation by tapping into Americans’ competitive spirit and the nation's unparalleled innovation ecosystem, leveraging national labs, incubators, facilities, and more. Finalists have been chosen based on the work they intend to do with a manufacturing partner to advance their innovation to market. NLR will provide technical advisement to assist participants in demonstrating the full potential of their product.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Closed-loop control of meltpool temperature in directed energy deposition

The objective of this work is to mitigate flaw formation in powder and laser-based directed energy deposition (DED) additive manufacturing process through close-loop control of the meltpool temperature. In this work, the meltpool temperature was controlled by modulating the laser power based on feedback signals from a coaxial two-wavelength imaging pyrometer. The utility of closed-loop control in DED is demonstrated in the context of practically inspired trapezoid-shaped stainlesssteel parts (SS 316L). We demonstrate that parts built under closed-loop control have reduced variation in porosity and uniform microstructure compared to parts built under open-loop conditions. For example, post-process characterization showed that closed-loop processed parts had a volume percent porosity ranging from 0.036% to 0.043%. In comparison, open-loop processed parts had a larger variation in volume percent porosity ranging from 0.032% to 0.068%. Further, parts built with closed-loop processing depicted consistent dendritic microstructure. By contrast, parts built with open-loop processing showed microstructure heterogeneity with the presence of both dendritic and planar grains, which in turn translated to large variation in microhardness

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Nanosolar: Delivering Grid-Parity Solar Electricity

Nanosolar has developed proprietary technology based on Copper-Indium-Gallium-diSelenide (CIGS) absorber technology that allows the printing of this semiconductor material using a high-speed, high-throughput roll-to-roll manufacturing process. A central challenge in cost-effectively constructing a large-area CIGS-based solar cell or module is that the elements of the CIGS layer must be within a narrow stoichiometric ratio on nano-, meso-, and macroscopic length scale in all three dimensions in order for the resulting cell or module to be highly efficient. Achieving precise stoichiometric composition over relatively large substrate areas is however difficult using traditional vacuum-based deposition processes. For example, it is difficult to uniformly deposit compounds and/or alloys containing more than one element by sputtering or evaporation. Both techniques rely on deposition approaches that are limited to line-of-sight and limited-area sources, tending to result in poor surface coverage. Line-of-sight trajectories and limited-area sources can result in non-uniform three-dimensional distribution of the elements in all three dimensions and/or poor film-thickness uniformity over large areas. These non-uniformities can occur over the nano-, meso-, and/or macroscopic scales. Such non-uniformity also alters the local stoichiometric ratios of the absorber layer, decreasing the potential power conversion efficiency of the complete cell or module. Nanosolar has overcome these challenges by printing nanoparticulate CIGS precursor materials onto low-cost metal foil substrates, and performing a rapid thermal processing to convert the nanoparticulate coating into a CIGS absorber layer By locking in the appropriate stochiometry into the nanoparticulate precursor material, spatial uniformity is ensured in the coated layers, while printing at high speed and throughput minimizes solar cell cost.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Next Gen High Efficiency Boosted Engine Development

This work represents an advanced engineering research project partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Ford Motor Company, FEV North America, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory collaborated to develop a next generation boosted spark ignited engine concept. The project goals, specified by the DOE, were 23% improved fuel economy and 15% reduced weight relative to a 2015 or newer light-duty vehicle. The fuel economy goal was achieved by designing an engine incorporating high geometric compression ratio, high dilution tolerance, low pumping work, and low friction. The increased tendency for knock with high compression ratio was addressed using early intake valve closing (EIVC), cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), an active pre-chamber ignition system, and careful management of the fresh charge temperature. Engine weight reduction measures were implemented throughout the engine system making use of composite materials, advanced manufacturing techniques, and architectural choices. This report outlines the analytical, design, fabrication, and test work conducted for the duration of the project. The combustion system stability, EGR tolerance, and knock resistance were validated on a single cylinder engine. An inline six-cylinder engine was then designed targeting application in the Ford F150. Multi-cylinder engines were produced and tested achieving the target vehicle fuel economy improvement of 23% assessed using measured engine fuel consumption combined with a vehicle drive cycle simulation. Actions were identified and designs were demonstrated to achieve the 15% weight reduction target. This project included items covering a range of technology readiness levels. Some of the technologies explored are production ready, while others were investigated to understand the limitations for what can be achieved in a stoichiometric, gasoline-fueled, spark-ignited internal combustion engine.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2012

Quantifying Cell-to-Cell Variations in Lithium Ion Batteries

Lithium ion batteries have conventionally been manufactured in small capacities but large volumes for consumer electronics applications. More recently, the industry has seen a surge in the individual cell capacities, as well as the number of cells used to build modules and packs. Reducing cell-to-cell and lot-to-lot variations has been identified as one of the major means to reduce the rejection rate when building the packs as well as to improve pack durability. The tight quality control measures have been passed on from the pack manufactures to the companies building the individual cells and in turn to the components. This paper identifies a quantitative procedure utilizing impedance spectroscopy, a commonly used tool, to determine the effects of material variability on the cell performance, to compare the relative importance of uncertainties in the component properties, and to suggest a rational procedure to set quality control specifications for the various components of a cell, that will reduce cell-to-cell variability, while preventing undue requirements on uniformity that often result in excessive cost of manufacturing but have a limited impact on the cells performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ultra Barrier Topsheet Film for Flexible Photovoltaics with 3M Company

In this DOE sponsored program, 3M achieved the critical UBT features to enable durable flexible high efficiency modules to be produced by a range of customers who have now certified the 3M UBT and are actively developing said flexible modules. The specific objectives and accomplishments of the work under this program were; Scale-up the current Generation-1 UBT from 12” width, as made on 3M’s pilot line, to 1+meter width full-scale manufacturing, while maintaining baseline performance metrics (see table below); This objective was fully met; Validate service life of Generation-1 UBT for the 25+ year lifetime demanded by the photovoltaic market; Aggressive testing revealed potential failure modes in the Gen 1 UBT. Deficiencies were identified and corrective action taken in the Gen 2 UBT; Develop a Generation-2 UBT on the pilot line, targeting improved performance relative to baseline, including higher %T (percent transmission), lower water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) with targets based on what the technology needs for 25 year lifetime, proven lifetime of 25 years in solar module construction in the field, and lower cost; Testing of UBT Gen 2 under a wide range of conditions presented in this report failed to reveal any failure mode. Therefore UBT Gen 2 is known to be highly durable. 3M will continue to test towards statistically validating a 25 year lifetime under 3M funding; Transfer Generation-2 UBT from the pilot line to the full-scale manufacturing line within three years; and This objective was fully met.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Studies on the Module Structure for the NOvA Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector

This thesis contains studies pertinent to the construction of modules for the NOνAexperiment detectors. The tensile strength of acrylic and epoxy adhesives used in construction of the detector was studied over time and with various surface preparations. Sanding and corona discharge surface treatments increased the bond strength of the acrylic by 10-20%; aging in oil did not affect the acrylic bond strength while aging in air at 50°C for 9 months (equivalent to approximately 5 years at room temperature) increased the acrylic bond strength by 25%. For the epoxy, corona discharge treated samples’ strength increased slightly after aging while the strength of sanded samples in air remained consistent and sanded samples in oil decreased by 17% when aged at 50°C for 1.5 years (equivalent to approximately 10 years at room temperature).All materials used in the detector were studied to determine if degrading interaction would occur with the pseudocumene liquid scintillator. Substances such as acrylic adhesive and PTFE paste were found to interact with the scintillator while materials such as a variety of PVCs, epoxy adhesives, and PTFE tape were found to be non-reactive with the scintillator. Following the appearance of cracks on manifold covers in installed modules, studies were carried out to help to determine the cause and mitigation of these cracks. Manifold covers that had been pressure tested at various pressures during the check of the seals during the manufacturing process were examined for the formation of cracks. “Containment units” were used to constrain the swelling of the manifold covers during pressure testing. Internal cracks were visible on the majority of manifold covers tested at 1.4 bar with the original containment units. It was found that reducing the pressure testing of the modules from 1.4 bar to 0.7 bar and increasing the rigidity of the pressure test containment units eliminated the formation of visible cracks in the manifold covers. Stress concentration in small fillet radius injection molded PVC was studied. GeonM3500 PVC has a yield strength 12% greater than Geon M3800 PVC originally used for the manifold covers but increased the stress concentrated failure time by 6600% and was thus chosen to mold new manifold covers after a redesign to eliminate stress concentrating features.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Impact of Heat Dissipation Profiles on Power Electronics Packaging Design

This work focuses on understanding the thermal impacts of using discrete power devices and limitations of applying conventional thermal design methods. Empirically, a thermal system is designed based on selecting a heat sink with the required thermal resistance from the manufacturer datasheet. This method, as an approximate estimation, has been proven effective as a rough design of Si-based power module. However, wide bandgap (WBG) bare dies bring additional thermal design concerns that have been overlooked. The benefits of WBG devices, such as smaller chip sizes and higher power ratings, on the other hand, lead to thermal concentration issues. Detailed analyses and impacts of the thermal concentration are presented in this paper. Finally, a more accurate model involving Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Genetic Algorithm optimization is also proposed for a more accurate thermal design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Economic Impacts of VGI

This dataset includes the outputs of the JOBS EVSE module for VGI. These impacts include state, census division region, and national metrics including gross jobs, wages, and GDP of the manufacturing, installation, and operations of interconnects per geographic unit.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Reliability Evaluation of Concentrator Photovoltaic Modules per IEC Qualification Specifications

This project is related to the qualification testing of new generation CPV (concentrator photovoltaics) modules at lower testing costs and lower turnaround time. In this project, the first testing program was completed for two CPV manufacturers, the second testing program was completed for two manufacturers at 65% of the actual testing cost and at less than 3 months of testing turnaround time and the third testing program was completed for two manufacturers at 65% of the actual testing cost and at less than 3 months of testing turnaround time. Due to their financial situation and restructuring, Amonix (one of the CPV manufacturers) intermittently terminated the test programs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

The Status of the Construction of MICE Step IV

The International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment will provide the demononstration ionization cooling. The experiment is being built in a series of Steps. Step IV, which consists of a tracking spectrometer upstream and downstream of an absorber/focus-coil module will be completed in early in 2015. In this configuration, the emittance of the muon beam upstream and downstream of the absorbed will be measured precisely allowing the emittance reduction and the factors that determine the ionization-cooling effect to be studied in detail. Each tracking spectrometer consists of a scintillating-fibre tracker placed within a 4 T field provided by the superconducting spectrometer solenoid. The muon beam is transported to the absorber/focus-coil module: a 22 liter volume of liquid hydrogen placed inside a superconducting focusing coil. The properties of lithium hydride, and possibly other absorber materials, will also be studied. All the components of Step IV have been manufactured and integration of the experiment in the MICE Hall at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is underway. The construction and performance of Step IV will be described. A full study of ionization cooling will be carried out with Step V of the experiment which will include a short 201 MHz linac module in which beam transport is achieved with a superconducting “coupling-coil”. The status of the preparation of the components of Step V of the experiment will be described briefly.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermal behaviors of ethylene vinyl acetate encapsulants in fielded silicon photovoltaic modules

Aging of silicon photovoltaic (PV) module packaging is one of the greatest limiters of PV module service lifetimes. Module characterization typically focuses on power degradation metrics, which do not convey the complexities of often simultaneous degradation mechanisms. In this work, PV modules with pristine references and known fielding histories were investigated by non-destructive and destructive methods. Modules from Canadian Solar, Mission Solar, and Hanwha Q-Cells were fielded for up to three years; select modules were removed from fielding each year for coring to allow for characterization of the encapsulant. Modules are commonly encapsulated with two protective layers of partially-crystalline ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer that must undergo a crosslinking reaction to achieve desired properties. The extent of crystallinity of the encapsulants as studied by differential scanning calorimetry showed differences between manufacturers and over time. Some encapsulants showed different magnitudes of crystal sizes which changed after fielding; encapsulants with the monodisperse crystal sizes did not change with fielding. This is due to differences in thermal history. In conclusion, these results have implications for stress development during module aging, since EVA crystal melting and crosslinking reactions can result in encapsulant density changes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advanced Fuel Cycle Cost Basis Report: Module D1-7 Contact-Handled Pelletized Pressurized Heavy Water (PHWR) UOX Fuel Fabrication (Rev.1)

In addition to literature-based pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) fuel price information in the 2017 AFC-CBR, the what-it-takes (WIT) unit cost data in this update is informed by new analysis and escalation of the 1978 PHWR-UOX fuel life cycle cost (LCC) data from ORNL reports prepared for the 1977–1980 Nonproliferation Alternative Systems Assessment Program (NASAP). (These reports are referenced and summarized in detail in Module D1-PR.) The PHWR fuel fabrication LCC data in these reports is scaled from a bottom-up cost estimate for a reference technology pressurized-water reactor (PWR)—uranium oxide (UOX) fuel fabrication plant by using algorithms that consider the manufacturing process complexity, fuel design complexity, plant floor space requirements, and the radiation and health, safety, and environmental (HS&E) regulatory environment of PHWR-UOX fuel production vis-à-vis light-water reactor (LWR)-UOX production (PWR fuel in this case). The module name has been changed from “Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU)” to the more generic PHWR fuel fabrication in recognition that not all power reactors that might use this fuel type are considered. Unfortunately, the detailed algorithms and their design bases were not archived at the end of the NASAP effort of the commercial CANDU concept specifically developed in the middle of the last century by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗