Results for “Current SCALE Development Activities” — Page 28

DOE OSTI2021

Advanced Fuels Campaign Execution Plan

The Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) Execution Plan outlines the strategy, mission, scope, near-term and long-term goals, structure, and organization associated with nuclear fuels and materials research, development, and demonstration activities within the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain (NFCSC) program. NFCSC has been given responsibility to identify and mature advanced fuel technologies for the DOE using a science-based approach, focused on developing a fundamental understanding of nuclear fuels and materials to drive development of integrated nuclear fuel and materials technology. This science-based approach combines theory, experiments, and multiscale modeling and simulation to achieve a predictive understanding of relevant behaviors ranging from fuel fabrication processes (and their resulting fuel microstructures) through fuel/cladding performance under irradiation (in contrast to more empirical, observation-based approaches frequently used in fuel performance modeling and fuel qualification). The traditional scope of AFC includes the evaluation and development of multiple fuel forms to support two fuel cycle options: once-through and full recycle. The word “fuel” is used generically to include conventional fuels, transmutation targets, and any associated cladding or duct materials. The once-through fuel cycle addresses advanced light water reactor fuels with enhanced performance, extended burnup, and reduced waste generation. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, AFC’s scope expanded to include research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) for light water reactor (LWR) fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. Fuel fabrication activities include the development of innovative methods to enhance process efficiencies, reduce waste, and improve control over as-fabricated fuel microstructural properties to achieve desired in-reactor performance. Using modern modeling and simulation approaches, the objective is to predict fresh fuel properties given the feedstock characteristics and fabrication process parameters. The performance-related activities include small-scale, in-reactor, and out-of-reactor phenomenological testing (distinct from, but synergistic with, integral prototypic testing) and extensive, quantitative characterization (focusing on characterization of fuel and cladding materials at the scale of microstructure) both before and after testing. Larger-scale, prototypic experiments are conducted in concert with phenomenological testing to drive a Fuel Development and Qualification program, incorporating a fundamental understanding of fuel behavior performance characteristics. Then, using the tools developed under the productive science-based approach, fuels will be optimized to meet specific performance requirements, thereby minimizing the need to repeatedly perform large-scale, integral experiments over a wide parametric range as a means of experimental exploration. Two significant initiatives are underway within AFC. First, a gap analysis completed in early FY 2019 identified critical irradiation testing needs that are lacking within the national light water reactor (LWR) fuels testbed since the shutdown of the Halden Reactor in 2018. The identified gaps are for instrumented, prototypic testing of LWR fuels, especially under boiling water reactor conditions, ramp conditions, and conditions leading to fuel failure; these needs exist for supporting current LWR fuels and their possible extension to higher burnups, but are especially urgent relative to near-term development and qualification of accident-tolerant fuels. Recommendations that resulted from the Halden Gap Analysis focused on enhancements at Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) to fill gaps in testing capabilities relative to these needs. Second, a concerted effort to develop and demonstrate a systematic approach to accelerating the development, testing, and qualification of new fuel systems has been initiated. This is highlighted by a test strategy that combines the considerable advances in multiscale, mechanistic fuel modeling of recent years with a MiniFuel separate effects test program in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and a Fission Accelerated Steady-state Testing (FAST) semi-integral accelerated test program in ATR. This approach is being tested/demonstrated using the metallic fuel system, but if successful it is expected to be extensible to multiple fuel types and diverse applications. This document includes an overview of the NFCSC program, a definition of science-based development of nuclear fuels, near-term goals for Advanced LWR fuels (ALFs), and longer-term goals for Advanced Reactor Fuels (ARFs) RD&D. This includes the activities that will be conducted to achieve success toward the grand challenge, as well as the goals and milestones to be achieved over the next few decades of research and development. Long-term goals are based on the DOE Office of Nuclear Energ

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Advanced Fuels Campaign Execution Plan

The Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC) Execution Plan outlines the strategy, mission, scope, near-term and long-term goals, structure, and organization associated with nuclear fuels and materials research, development, and demonstration activities within the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain (NFCSC) program. NFCSC has been given responsibility to identify and mature advanced fuel technologies for the DOE using a science-based approach, focused on developing a fundamental understanding of nuclear fuels and materials to drive development of integrated nuclear fuel and materials technology. This science-based approach combines theory, experiments, and multiscale modeling and simulation to achieve a predictive understanding of relevant behaviors ranging from fuel fabrication processes (and their resulting fuel microstructures) through fuel/cladding performance under irradiation (in contrast to more empirical, observation-based approaches frequently used in fuel performance modeling and fuel qualification). The traditional scope of AFC includes the evaluation and development of multiple fuel forms to support two fuel cycle options: once-through and full recycle. The word “fuel” is used generically to include conventional fuels, transmutation targets, and any associated cladding or duct materials. The once-through fuel cycle addresses advanced light water reactor fuels with enhanced performance, extended burnup, and reduced waste generation. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, AFC’s scope expanded to include research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) for light water reactor (LWR) fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. Fuel fabrication activities include the development of innovative methods to enhance process efficiencies, reduce waste, and improve control over as-fabricated fuel microstructural properties to achieve desired in-reactor performance. Using modern modeling and simulation approaches, the objective is to predict fresh fuel properties given the feedstock characteristics and fabrication process parameters. The performance-related activities include small-scale, in-reactor, and out-of-reactor phenomenological testing (distinct from, but synergistic with, integral prototypic testing) and extensive, quantitative characterization (focusing on characterization of fuel and cladding materials at the scale of microstructure) both before and after testing. Larger-scale, prototypic experiments are conducted in concert with phenomenological testing to drive a Fuel Development and Qualification program, incorporating a fundamental understanding of fuel behavior performance characteristics. Then, using the tools developed under the productive science-based approach, fuels will be optimized to meet specific performance requirements, thereby minimizing the need to repeatedly perform large-scale, integral experiments over a wide parametric range as a means of experimental exploration. Two significant initiatives are underway within AFC. First, a gap analysis completed in early FY 2019 identified critical irradiation testing needs that are lacking within the national light water reactor (LWR) fuels testbed since the shutdown of the Halden Reactor in 2018. The identified gaps are for instrumented, prototypic testing of LWR fuels, especially under boiling water reactor conditions, ramp conditions, and conditions leading to fuel failure; these needs exist for supporting current LWR fuels and their possible extension to higher burnups, but are especially urgent relative to near-term development and qualification of accident-tolerant fuels. Recommendations that resulted from the Halden Gap Analysis focused on enhancements at Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) to fill gaps in testing capabilities relative to these needs. Second, a concerted effort to develop and demonstrate a systematic approach to accelerating the development, testing, and qualification of new fuel systems has been initiated. This is highlighted by a test strategy that combines the considerable advances in multiscale, mechanistic fuel modeling of recent years with a MiniFuel separate effects test program in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and a Fission Accelerated Steady-state Testing (FAST) semi-integral accelerated test program in ATR. This approach is being tested/demonstrated using the metallic fuel system, but if successful it is expected to be extensible to multiple fuel types and diverse applications. This document includes an overview of the NFCSC program, a definition of science-based development of nuclear fuels, near-term goals for Advanced LWR fuels (ALFs), and longer-term goals for Advanced Reactor Fuels (ARFs) RD&D. This includes the activities that will be conducted to achieve success toward the grand challenge, as well as the goals and milestones to be achieved over the next few decades of research and development. Long-term goals are based on the DOE Office of Nuclear Energ

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Long-Term Demonstration of Hydrogen Production from Coal at Elevated Temperatures: Year 6 - Activity 1.12 - Development of a National Center for Hydrogen Technology

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has continued the work of the National Center for Hydrogen Technology® (NCHT®) Program Year 6 Task 1.12 project to expose hydrogen separation membranes to coal-derived syngas. In this follow-on project, the EERC has exposed two membranes to coal-derived syngas produced in the pilot-scale transport reactor development unit (TRDU). Western Research Institute (WRI), with funding from the State of Wyoming Clean Coal Technology Program and the North Dakota Industrial Commission, contracted with the EERC to conduct testing of WRI’s coal-upgrading/gasification technology for subbituminous and lignite coals in the EERC’s TRDU. This gasifier fires nominally 200–500 lb/hour of fuel and is the pilot-scale version of the full-scale gasifier currently being constructed in Kemper County, Mississippi. A slipstream of the syngas was used to demonstrate warm-gas cleanup and hydrogen separation using membrane technology. Two membranes were exposed to coal-derived syngas, and the impact of coal-derived impurities was evaluated. This report summarizes the performance of WRI’s patent-pending coal-upgrading/ gasification technology in the EERC’s TRDU and presents the results of the warm-gas cleanup and hydrogen separation tests. Overall, the WRI coal-upgrading/gasification technology was shown to produce a syngas significantly lower in CO 2 content and significantly higher in CO content than syngas produced from the raw fuels. Warm-gas cleanup technologies were shown to be capable of reducing sulfur in the syngas to 1 ppm. Each of the membranes tested was able to produce at least 2 lb/day of hydrogen from coal-derived syngas.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2019

Modeling a fast spectrum molten salt reactor in a systems dynamics fuel cycles code

Molten salt reactor (MSR) concepts are being actively developed by several private companies, with some touting the fuel cycle benefits of this technology. Simulating the deployment of MSRs and their effect on fuel cycle transitions is the role of a system dynamics fuel cycles tool. However, many current fuel cycles tools have difficulty modeling MSR isotopic variations because they were designed for modeling existing reactors based on discrete fuel elements with batch fueling schemes (i.e., charge and discharge). This work presents ORION fuel cycle modeling results using a specific high power density fast spectrum MSR design. For code verification, a single-stage MSR fuel cycle was set up in ORION and results were compared with the results from the SCALE-based reactor physics model (ChemTriton). A transition scenario was set up in ORION from the current light water reactor fleet to a future fleet of MSRs to study the characteristics of an MSR that affect its performance during transition. Several transition scenarios were set with holds and delays in place that are representative of a sodium fast reactor as modeled in Evaluation Group 23 for the Fuel Cycle Options Campaign Evaluation and Screening Study. Several MSR characteristics lend to its high performance and ease in transition from the current fuel cycle: fissile material is only loaded at initial startup; all fissile material is available as it is bred due to online fuel processing; and fissile material recirculating through the core is briefly held in tanks for processing and has very minimal out-of-core time (on the order of a minutes to a few days). These characteristics are in contrast to a solid-fueled reactor, which requires discharge, cooling, and fabrication of fuel all of which could take a few months to a few years and repeated loading of fresh fuel assemblies. In conclusion, a solid-fueled reactor only discharges a fraction of a core every year.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS1992

Composite fuselage shell structures research at NASA Langley Research Center

Fuselage structures for transport aircraft represent a significant percentage of both the weight and the cost of these aircraft primary structures. Composite materials offer the potential for reducing both the weight and the cost of transport fuselage structures, but only limited studies of the response and failure of composite fuselage structures have been conducted for transport aircraft. The behavior of these important primary structures must be understood, and the structural mechanics methodology for analyzing and designing these complex stiffened shell structures must be validated in the laboratory. The effects of local gradients and discontinuities on fuselage shell behavior and the effects of local damage on pressure containment must be thoroughly understood before composite fuselage structures can be used for commercial aircraft. This paper describes the research being conducted and planned at NASA LaRC to help understand the critical behavior or composite fuselage structures and to validate the structural mechanics methodology being developed for stiffened composite fuselage shell structure subjected to combined internal pressure and mechanical loads. Stiffened shell and curved stiffened panel designs are currently being developed and analyzed, and these designs will be fabricated and then tested at Langley to study critical fuselage shell behavior and to validate structural analysis and design methodology. The research includes studies of the effects of combined internal pressure and mechanical loads on nonlinear stiffened panel and shell behavior, the effects of cutouts and other gradient-producing discontinuities on composite shell response, and the effects of local damage on pressure containment and residual strength. Scaling laws are being developed that relate full-scale and subscale behavior of composite fuselage shells. Failure mechanisms are being identified and advanced designs will be developed based on what is learned from early results from the LaRC research activities. Results from combined load tests will be used to validate analytical models of critical nonlinear response mechanisms as well as shell scaling laws.

Starnes, James H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2001

A Self-Consistent Model of the Interacting Ring Current Ions and Electromagnetic ICWs. Initial Results: Waves and Precipitation Fluxes

Initial results from the new developed model of the interacting ring current ions and ion cyclotron waves are presented. The model described by the system of two bound kinetic equations: one equation describes the ring current ion dynamics, and another one gives wave evolution. Such system gives a self-consistent description of the ring current ions and ion cyclotron waves in a quasilinear approach. Calculating ion-wave relationships, on a global scale under non steady-state conditions during May 2-5, 1998 storm, we presented the data at three time cuts around initial, main, and late recovery phases of May 4, 1998 storm phase. The structure and dynamics of the ring current proton precipitating flux regions and the wave active ones are discussed in detail.

Khazanov, G. V.↗

DOE OSTI2024

An Open-Source Framework for Characterizing Urban Energy Models: Integrating Top-Down and Bottom-Up Methods to Predict Residential Buildings Characteristics: Preprint

Bottom-up urban energy models are crucial for understanding current energy use patterns and informing design strategies. However, accurately characterizing these models to represent different communities remains a challenge due to the extensive data needed for simulating existing energy use behavior. This data includes information related to human activities and building characteristics, all of which correlate with socioeconomic factors. To overcome this challenge, we developed an automated framework that utilizes both top-down and bottom-up data, to predict unknown building and occupant characteristics that are needed for more accurate and equitable modeling and analytics. Our framework, integrated into the URBANopt district energy modeling platform, uses statistical data models from ResStock. URBANopt models co-located buildings and neighborhoods. At this scale there are data gaps in building characteristic data, such as materials, insulation, occupancy, income, and energy usage of the buildings. To address this data gap, we use ResStock data, representative at the census tract scale, and develop machine-learning and deeplearning techniques to disaggregate it to individual buildings. By mapping unique occupant, building and economic properties to URBANopt energy models, we gain detailed insights into the variability of building energy use across different neighborhoods. This insight helps deploy technologies for co-located buildings and supports targeted upgrades for communities with unique economic and demographic characteristics, ensuring energy equity. Accurate characterization of energy models allows us to develop equitable strategies tailored to diverse neighborhoods, whether underserved or affluent. Our automated framework streamlines energy modeling and provides a reliable tool for building energy characterization.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Critical Infrastructure for Ocean Research and Societal Needs in 2030

The United States has jurisdiction over 3.4 million square miles of ocean expanse greater than the land area of all fifty states combined. This vast marine area offers researchers opportunities to investigate the ocean's role in an integrated Earth system, but also presents challenges to society, including damaging tsunamis and hurricanes, industrial accidents, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill and 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami are vivid reminders that a broad range of infrastructure is needed to advance our still-incomplete understanding of the ocean. The National Research Council (NRC)'s Ocean Studies Board was asked by the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, comprised of 25 U.S. government agencies, to examine infrastructure needs for ocean research in the year 2030. This request reflects concern, among a myriad of marine issues, over the present state of aging and obsolete infrastructure, insufficient capacity, growing technological gaps, and declining national leadership in marine technological development; issues brought to the nation's attention in 2004 by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. A 15-member committee of experts identified four themes that encompass 32 future ocean research questions enabling stewardship of the environment, protecting life and property, promoting economic vitality, and increasing fundamental scientific understanding. Many of the questions in the report (e.g., sea level rise, sustainable fisheries, the global water cycle) reflect challenging, multidisciplinary science questions that are clearly relevant today, and are likely to take decades of effort to solve. As such, U.S. ocean research will require a growing suite of ocean infrastructure for a range of activities, such as high quality, sustained time series observations or autonomous monitoring at a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, a coordinated national plan for making future strategic investments becomes an imperative to address societal needs. Such a plan should be based upon known priorities and should be reviewed every 5-10 years to optimize the federal investment. The committee examined the past 20 years of technological advances and ocean infrastructure investments (such as the rise in use of self-propelled, uncrewed, underwater autonomous vehicles), assessed infrastructure that would be required to address future ocean research questions, and characterized ocean infrastructure trends for 2030. One conclusion was that ships will continue to be essential, especially because they provide a platform for enabling other infrastructure autonomous and remotely operated vehicles; samplers and sensors; moorings and cabled systems; and perhaps most importantly, the human assets of scientists, technical staff, and students. A comprehensive, long-term research fleet plan should be implemented in order to retain access to the sea. The current report also calls for continuing U.S. capability to access fully and partially ice-covered seas; supporting innovation, particularly the development of biogeochemical sensors; enhancing computing and modeling capacity and capability; establishing broadly accessible data management facilities; and increasing interdisciplinary education and promoting a technically-skilled workforce. The committee also provided a framework for prioritizing future investment in ocean infrastructure. They recommend that development, maintenance, or replacement of ocean research infrastructure assets should be prioritized in terms of societal benefit, with particular consideration given to usefulness for addressing important science questions; affordability, efficiency, and longevity; and ability to contribute to other missions or applications. These criteria are the foundation for prioritizing ocean research infrastructure investments by estimating the economic costs and benefits of each potential infrastructure investment, and funding those investments that collectively produce the largest expected net benefit over time. While this type of process is clearly subject to budget constraints, it could quantify the often informal evaluation of linkages between infrastructure, ocean research, the value of information produced, societal objectives, and economic benefits. Addressing the numerous complex science questions facing the entire ocean research enterprise in 2030 from government to academia, industry to nonprofits, local to global scale represents a major challenge, requiring collaboration across the breadth of the ocean sciences community and nearly seamless coordination between ocean-related federal agencies.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Information Systems Technology for NASA Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT)

ESA and NASA have both started programs to design and develop Digital Twins of the Earth and/or Earth systems. Organized around interconnected, multi-domain, high-scale modeling capabilities, the three major components of an Earth System Digital Twin are a continuously updated Digital Replica of the Earth System of interest, dynamic Forecasting models, and Impact Assessment capabilities. Earth System Digital Twins integrate diverse Earth and human activity models, continuous observations, and information system capabilities to provide unified, comprehensive representations and predictions that can be utilized for monitoring the health of the Planet, as well as for developing actionable information to support decision making. More generally, Digital Twins will help researchers better understand the fundamental Earth systems that impact everything from wildfires to climate change. This Townhall will first provide a short description of ESA’s, NASA’s and CNES’s current efforts in Digital Twins: • Destination Earth (DestinE) is the first initiative of the European Union to create a Digital Twin of the Earth, particularly focused on weather and climate, and as a coordinated effort between the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), ESA and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). • Additionally, ESA is developing several Digital Twin Earth Precursor Activities to study some of the key scientific and technical challenges associated with building a “Digital Twin Earth”. These include forests, hydrology, Antarctica, food systems, oceans, and climate hot spots Digital Twin prototypes. • NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO)’s Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program has started an initiative in Earth System Digital Twins (ESDT), with 14 current projects in this area, developing various information systems technologies and prototypes that will help prepare the development of future NASA Digital Twins. • CNES is currently developing the concept of a Digital Twin Factory (DTF), which relies on a data lake, a high computing capability using clouds and/or HPC and has thematic algorithms and methodologies able to generate registered and coherent layers of information in order to enrich a datacube from which physical indicators can be computed spatially. NASA, ESA and CNES are also currently defining science use cases that will be presented during the townhall; those and a few short discussions of current projects will serve as a starting point to engage a dialogue about Digital Twins of the Earth with the IGARSS community.

earth science remote sensing; Information systems↗

DOE OSTI2013

Sensor Network Demonstration for In Situ Decommissioning - 13332

Florida International University's (FIU's) Applied Research Center is currently supporting the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management Office of D and D and Facility Engineering program. FIU is supporting DOE's initiative to improve safety, reduce technical risks, and limit uncertainty within D and D operations by identifying technologies suitable to meet specific facility D and D requirements, assessing the readiness of those technologies for field deployment, and conducting feasibility studies and large scale demonstrations of promising technologies. During FY11, FIU collaborated with Savannah River National Laboratory in the development of an experimental test site for the demonstration of multiple sensor systems for potential use in the in situ decommissioning process. In situ decommissioning is a process in which the above ground portion of a facility is dismantled and removed, and the underground portion is filled with a cementious material such as grout. In such a scenario, the question remains on how to effectively monitor the structural health of the grout (cracking, flexing, and sinking), as well as track possible migration of contaminants within and out of the grouted monolith. The right types of sensors can aid personnel in better understanding the conditions within the entombed structure. Without sensors embedded in and around the monolith, it will be very difficult to estimate structural integrity and contaminant transport. Yet, to fully utilize the appropriate sensors and the provided data, their performance and reliability must be evaluated outside a laboratory setting. To this end, a large scale experimental setup and demonstration was conducted at FIU. In order to evaluate a large suite of sensor systems, FIU personnel designed and purchased a pre-cast concrete open-top cube, which served as a mock-up of an in situ DOE decommissioned facility. The inside of the cube measures 10 ft x 10 ft x 8 ft. In order to ensure that the individual sensors would be immobilized during the grout pouring activities, a set of nine sensor racks were designed. The 270 sensors provided by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Mississippi State University (MSU), University of Houston (UH), and University of South Carolina (USC) were secured to these racks based on predetermined locations. Once sensor racks were installed inside the test cube, connected and debugged, approximately 32 cubic yards of special grout material was used to entomb the sensors. MSU provided and demonstrated four types of fiber loop ring-down (FLR) sensors for detection of water, temperature, cracks, and movement of fluids. INL provided and demonstrated time differenced 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), advanced tensiometers for moisture content, and thermocouples for temperature measurements. University of Houston provided smart aggregate (SA) sensors, which detect crack severity and water presence. An additional UH sensor system demonstrated was a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fiber optic system measuring strain, presence of water, and temperature. USC provided a system which measured acoustic emissions during cracking, as well as temperature and pH sensors. All systems were connected to a Sensor Remote Access System (SRAS) data networking and collection system designed, developed and provided by FIU. The purpose of SRAS was to collect and allow download of the raw sensor data from all the sensor system, as well as allow upload of the processed data and any analysis reports and graphs. All this information was made available to the research teams via the Deactivation and Decommissioning Knowledge Management and Information Tool (D and D KM-IT). As a current research effort, FIU is performing an energy analysis, and transferring several sensor systems to a Photovoltaic (PV) System to continuously monitor energy consumption parameters and overall power demands. Also, One final component of this research is focusing on developing an integrated data network to capture, log and analyze sensor system data in near real time from a single interface. FIU personnel and DOE Fellows monitored the progress and condition of the sensors for a period of six months. During this time, the sensors recorded data pertaining to strain, compression, temperature, crack detection, moisture presence, fluid mobility, shock resistance, monolith movement, and electrical resistivity. In addition, FIU regularly observed the curing process of the grout and documented the cube condition via the nine racks of sensors. The sensors held up throughout the curing process, withstood the natural elements for six months, and monitored the integrity of the grout. The large scale experiment and demonstration conducted at FIU was the first of its kind to demonstrate the feasibility of state of the art sensors for in situ decommissioning applications. These efforts successfully measured the durability, performance, and precision of the sensors in question as well as monitored and recorded the curing process of the selected grout material under natural environmental conditions. The current energy analysis work is resulting in data on the constraints placed by some of the sensor systems on a power network that requires high reliability and low losses. In addition, a sensor system demonstration has determined that it is feasible to develop an integrated data network where data can be accessed in near real-time from all systems, thereby allowing for larger-scale integrated system testing to be performed. Information collected during the execution of this research project will aid decision makers in the identification of sensors to be used in nuclear facilities selected for in situ decommissioning. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2022

General Synthetic Strategy to Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Catalysts with Single-Atom Metal Sites for E

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Luo, Zhicheng↗

DOE OSTI2026

Enabling microbial electrolysis cell scale-up via electrochemistry-, hydrodynamic-, and microbial ecology-informed framework

Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can produce green hydrogen while removing organic contaminants from liquid waste streams by leveraging the metabolic activity of electroactive microorganisms. Despite their potential in a sustainable, circular economy, large-scale MECs that can treat relevant volumes of wastewater have failed to deliver performance proportional to their lab-scale counterparts. The reason behind this lower performance at scale remains unclear. Here, in this study, we developed a combined electrochemistry-, hydrodynamic-, and microbial ecology-informed framework to analyze and optimize MEC performance during scale-up, enabling accurate quantification of major limitations and the identification of strategies to overcome them, ultimately facilitating equivalent performance at scale. Applying this framework to the scale-up of a zero-gap MEC from 9 cm 2 electrode area to 100 cm 2 electrode area, resulted in similar maximum current densities in a 100 cm 2 MEC (21.7 ± 1.1 A/m 2 ) compared to a 9 cm 2 system (25.1 ± 2.7 A/m 2 ), as well as equivalent hydrogen production rates of 69.3 L/L-d (100 cm 2 ) and 67.7 ± 2.4 L/L-d (9 cm 2 ). COMSOL flow dynamics simulations were used to scale up the reactor configuration without negatively affecting electrolyte velocity and distribution in the cell, minimizing the increase in internal resistances during scale-up (11.7 ± 0.5 mΩm 2 at 9 cm 2 ; 19.7 ± 1.3 mΩm 2 at 100 cm 2 ). Microbial community structures were assessed at both scales using high-throughput sequencing, highlighting the differences of populations across electrode dimensions and operational parameters. The framework presented here accelerates the development of effective strategies toward the scale-up of MECs by furthering the understanding of how electrochemical, hydrodynamic, and microbial ecology parameters change as the reactor dimension is increased. Ultimately, this approach contributes to advancing electrochemical biotechnology toward practical deployment in energy-efficient wastewater treatment systems.

Flow path↗

NASA NTRS1990

Advanced composites research and development for transport aircraft

This paper highlights past experiences, lessons learned, state-of-the-art and current research activities directed at providing an integrated 'affordable' data base for composite structures. Composite secondary and empennage structures are in production on several transport aircraft. The weight reduction potential of composite structures is well documented. However, the cost to develop and produce composite structures remains the major barrier to increased application of this technology to transport aircraft. Specific technology items that are being developed under the NASA Advanced Composites Technology Program are described. Materials, design concepts, structural mechanics methodology and manufacturing processes and equipment are under development or are emerging that are expected to lead to an integrated 'affordable' data base. Technology verification for the next decade is expected to require fabrication and testing of full-scale wing-box and fuselage-section components before certificatiaon can occur and production commitments can be made.

Davis, John G., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Development and Implementation of a Load-Controlled Friction Stir Welder

Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems, under contract to NASA/MSFC, has developed and implemented a friction stir weld tool that uses the magnitude of the spindle axial load to control the weld process. This tool was used during the process development phase and the assembly of a full-scale External Tank barrel section. Both position and load transducers are incorporated into the welder. The control algorithm allows either the position or load transducer to provide the command variable in a closed loop system. Initially, the position transducer was used to actively control the weld process and the axial load on the spindle was monitored and collected via data acquisition hardware. As part of the process development, the axial load was implemented as the command variable in the closed loop. The spindle position is monitored and used to set limits on spindle travel. A zero set point algorithm has also been developed for establishing the spindle position at the start of the weld process. In its current state, the welder operates in a dual mode in which the position control is used to plunge the pin tool to a specified depth at the initiation of the weld. The load control is then used to control the weld process. This control algorithm has been used to assemble a 27.5-ft diameter, 2195-T8 barrel using hardware designed for NASA's Space Transportation System External Tank.

Loftus, Z.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Extreme Weather and Climate: Workshop Report

Extreme events are the aspects of climate to which human society is most sensitive. Due to both their severity and their rarity, extreme events can challenge the capacity of physical, social, economic and political infrastructures, turning natural events into human disasters. Yet, because they are low frequency events, the science of extreme events is very challenging. Among the challenges is the difficulty of connecting extreme events to longer-term, large-scale variability and trends in the climate system, including anthropogenic climate change. How can we best quantify the risks posed by extreme weather events, both in the current climate and in the warmer and different climates to come? How can we better predict them? What can we do to reduce the harm done by such events? In response to these questions, the Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate has been created at Columbia University in New York City (extreme weather.columbia.edu). This Initiative is a University-wide activity focused on understanding the risks to human life, property, infrastructure, communities, institutions, ecosystems, and landscapes from extreme weather events, both in the present and future climates, and on developing solutions to mitigate those risks. In May 2015,the Initiative held its first science workshop, entitled Extreme Weather and Climate: Hazards, Impacts, Actions. The purpose of the workshop was to define the scope of the Initiative and tremendously broad intellectual footprint of the topic indicated by the titles of the presentations (see Table 1). The intent of the workshop was to stimulate thought across disciplinary lines by juxtaposing talks whose subjects differed dramatically. Each session concluded with question and answer panel sessions. Approximately, 150 people were in attendance throughout the day. Below is a brief synopsis of each presentation. The synopses collectively reflect the variety and richness of the emerging extreme event research agenda.

extreme weather events↗

NASA NTRS2015

Development of the Resource Prospector Planetary Rover

The Resource Prospector (RP) is an In-‐Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) lunar rover mission under study by NASA. RP is planned to launch in 2020 to prospect for subsurface volatiles and to extract oxygen from lunar regolith. The mission will address several of NASA's "Strategic Knowledge Gaps" for lunar exploration. The mission will also address the Global Exploration Roadmap's strategic goal of using local resources for human exploration. The distribution of lunar subsurface volatiles drives the mission requirement for mobility. The spatial distribution is hypothesized to be governed by impact cratering with the top 0.5 m being patchy at scales of 100 m. The mixing time scale increases with depth (less frequent larger impacts). Consequently, increased mobility reduces the depth requirement for sampling. The target RP traverse will extend 1 km radially from the landing site to sample craters of varying sizes. Sampling craters with different ages will reveal possible volatile emplacement history. In 1 Ga, approximately 60-70 craters of 10 m diameter form per km2. Thus, the rover will need to sample at least ten of these craters, which may require a total traverse path length of 2-‐3 km. During 2014-2015, we developed an initial prototype rover for RP. The current design is a solar powered, four-wheeled vehicle, with hub motor drive, offset four wheel steering, and active suspension. Active suspension provides capabilities including changing vehicle ride height, traversing comparatively large obstacles, and controlling load on the wheels. All-wheel steering enables the vehicle to point arbitrarily while roving, e.g., to keep the solar array pointed at the sun while in motion. The offset steering combined with active suspension improves driving in soft soil. The rover's on-board software utilizes NASA's Core Flight Software, which is a reusable flight software environment. During 2015, we completed the initial rover software build, which provides low-level hardware interfaces, basic mobility control, waypoint driving, odometry, basic error checking, and camera services. Development of the prototype rover has enabled maturation of many of the subsystems to TRL 5. During the next year, we will conduct integrated testing of concepts of operation, navigation, and remote driving tools. In addition, we will perform environmental tests including radiation (avionics), thermal and thermal/vacuum (mechanisms), and gravity offload (mobility).

robotics↗

DOE OSTI2026

Bench-Scale Development of Promoted High-Capacity Structured Sorbents (Final Technical Report)

The project objective was to develop high-capacity structured sorbent capable of achieving low CO 2 removal from air. The sorbent framework consists of an amine-functionalized onto hydrophobic polymer backbone with an added promoter. The functionalized amine provides high CO 2 capacity and adsorption rates and the polymer backbone to reduce water uptake. For the sorbent development, multiple functionalized amines and promoters were assessed to select a candidate that achieved high CO 2 capacity, high adsorption rate, and high stability. A sorbent-coated filter design was selected as the structured sorbent, which provides high sorbent loading capacity and contains an electrically conductive nonwoven filter substrate that can be Joule-heated to provide efficient utilization of available electricity for sorbent regeneration. A commercial partner operated a pilot filter manufacturing line to produce the filter panels coated with the developed sorbent. A 1 kg CO 2 /day bench unit was designed and fabricated to test the structured filter sorbent. The key achievements from the structured sorbent development activity were demonstrating that existing filter industrial-scale processes can be used for manufacturing Susteon’s structured sorbent and completing a proof-of-concept demonstration of the commercially manufactured structured sorbent filters for CO 2 capture from air with direct, Joule-heated regeneration. A techno-economic assessment with sensitivity analysis was conducted on a 100,000 TPY facility with 85% operating capacity. Through sorbent optimization and process design improvements, it is estimated that the cost of capture was reduced from $\$$349/tCO 2 to $\$$241/tCO 2 . The TEA projects further reductions to $165/tCO 2 through enhancements in CO 2 adsorption rate and sorbent capacity and reducing manufacturing and scale up risks. A life cycle analysis was conducted on the same 100,000 TPY facility and confirmed that the facility’s electricity demand drives its greenhouse gas impact. It was determined that electricity supplied through the current grid mix would result in net-positive CO 2 emissions and that achieving net-negative emissions is only possible by powering the system with renewable electricity or fossil fuel sources equipped with carbon capture and sequestration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS2005

Thermal System Verification and Model Validation for NASA's Cryogenic Passively Cooled James Webb Space Telescope

A thorough and unique thermal verification and model validation plan has been developed for NASA s James Webb Space Telescope. The JWST observatory consists of a large deployed aperture optical telescope passively cooled to below 50 Kelvin along with a suite of several instruments passively and actively cooled to below 37 Kelvin and 7 Kelvin, respectively. Passive cooling to these extremely low temperatures is made feasible by the use of a large deployed high efficiency sunshield and an orbit location at the L2 Lagrange point. Another enabling feature is the scale or size of the observatory that allows for large radiator sizes that are compatible with the expected power dissipation of the instruments and large format Mercury Cadmium Telluride (HgCdTe) detector arrays. This passive cooling concept is simple, reliable, and mission enabling when compared to the alternatives of mechanical coolers and stored cryogens. However, these same large scale observatory features, which make passive cooling viable, also prevent the typical flight configuration fully-deployed thermal balance test that is the keystone to most space missions thermal verification plan. JWST is simply too large in its deployed configuration to be properly thermal balance tested in the facilities that currently exist. This reality, when combined with a mission thermal concept with little to no flight heritage, has necessitated the need for a unique and alternative approach to thermal system verification and model validation. This paper describes the thermal verification and model validation plan that has been developed for JWST. The plan relies on judicious use of cryogenic and thermal design margin, a completely independent thermal modeling cross check utilizing different analysis teams and software packages, and finally, a comprehensive set of thermal tests that occur at different levels of JWST assembly. After a brief description of the JWST mission and thermal architecture, a detailed description of the three aspects of the thermal verification and model validation plan is presented.

Cleveland, Paul E.↗