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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Multiphysics analysis system for heat pipe cooled micro-reactors employing PRAGMA-OpenFOAM-ANLHTP

A multiphysics analysis system for neutronics/thermo-mechanical/heat-pipe analysis of heat pipe cooled micro-reactors was developed using the PRAGMA code as the neutronics engine. PRAGMA, which used to be a GPU-based continuous-energy MC code for power reactor applications, now has an extended geometry package to handle geometries with unstructured meshes generated by the ANSYS Design-Modeler and Meshing. The NVIDIA ray tracing engine OptiX was exploited for efficient neutron transport on unstructured geometry. On the multiphysics side, the open-source CFD tool OpenFOAM and one-dimensional heat pipe analysis code ANLHTP were adopted. The manager-worker system based on the MPI dynamic process management (DPM) model enables efficient coupling of codes employing different parallelization schemes. With all the features, the multiphysics analysis of the one-sixth symmetrical MegaPower 2D core was performed and it demonstrated the benefit of the tight integration of the three-way coupling system and one-to-one geometry coupling strategy. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Utah FORGE Project 3-2417: Simulations for Distributed Acoustic Sensing Strain Signatures as an Indicator of Fracture Connectivity

This dataset encompasses simulations of strain signatures from both hydraulically connected and "near-miss" fractures in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). The files and results are presented from the perspective of digital acoustic sensing's (DAS) potential to differentiate the two fracture types. This dataset was acquired by the FOGMORE R&D project (Fiber Optic Geophysical MOnitoring of Reservoir Evolution), under Utah FORGE R&D Project 3-2417. Included are simulation and results via MatLab and COMSOL files, as well as a thesis and paper summarizing the results. Some stimulated fractures may be incomplete, approaching but not intersecting the production well. These "near-miss" fractures can be addressed in future stimulation stages or re-stimulated to complete the connection. We propose the use of fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) as a method by which near-miss stimulated fractures may be identified and distinguished from hydraulically connected fractures. The low-frequency sub-nanostrain signatures of both complete and near-miss fractures in DAS data are simulated in this study using a hydrogeomechanical discrete fracture network model. The spatial distribution of strain was found to be an accurate indicator. However, this indicator must be evaluated in the context of DAS gauge length and spatial sampling. These simulations are a precursor to tests conducted at FORGE in 2023.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Continuous-energy Monte Carlo neutron transport on GPUs in the Shift code

Here, a continuous-energy Monte Carlo neutron transport solver executing on GPUs has been developed within the Shift code. Several algorithmic approaches are considered, including both history-based and event-based implementations. Unlike in previous work involving multigroup Monte Carlo transport, it is demonstrated that event-based algorithms significantly outperform a history-based approach for continuous-energy transport as a result of increased device occupancy and reduced thread divergence. Numerical results are presented for detailed full-core models of a small modular reactor (SMR), including a model containing depleted fuel materials. These results demonstrate the substantial gains in performance that are possible with the latest-generation of GPUs. On the depleted SMR core configuration, an NVIDIA P100 GPU with 56 streaming multiprocessors provides performance equivalent to 90 CPU cores, and the latest V100 GPU with 80 multiprocessors offers the performance of more than 150 CPU cores.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Prototype energy models for data centers

Data centers in the United States consume about two percent of the nation’s electricity. Because heat gains from IT equipment drive cooling demand, data centers offer unique opportunities for energy savings. However, no prototype energy model for data centers is available in the suite of existing U.S. Department of Energy’s Commercial Prototype Building Models. Here we present the development of two new data center prototype models and their implementation in OpenStudio and EnergyPlus. The small-size data center model represents a computer room in a building served by computer room air conditioners (CRACs); while the large-sized model represents stand-alone data centers served by computer room air handlers (CRAHs) with a central chiller plant. For each data center model, two levels of IT equipment (ITE) load density were considered, to cover the wide range of IT power density of data centers: 40 and 100 W/ft 2 (430 and 1076 W/m 2 ) for the computer room, and 100 and 500 W/ft 2 (1076 and 5382 W/m 2 ) for the stand-alone data center. All other assumptions, such as building envelope, lighting, HVAC efficiencies and schedules, were based on the minimal requirements of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 at various vintages. We introduced a novel concept of supply and return air approach temperatures to capture the essential effects of non-uniform airflow and temperature distribution in data centers. The approach temperatures were pre-computed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for various configurations of ITE loads and airflow containment management in data centers. A new feature was developed in EnergyPlus to implement the approach temperature method. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the use of the data center models. The two data center models cover all U.S. climate zones and can be used to evaluate energy saving measures for data centers, as well as to support development of data center energy efficiency codes and standards.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1980

The use of an active coded aperture for improved directional measurements in high energy gamma-ray astronomy

The coded aperture, a refinement of the scatter-hole camera, offers a method for the improved measurement of gamma-ray direction in gamma-ray astronomy. Two prototype coded apertures have been built and tested. The more recent of these has 128 active elements of the heavy scintillator BGO. Results of tests for gamma-rays in the range 50-500 MeV are reported and future application in space discussed.

Johansson, A.↗
DOE OSTI2019

REScheck Technical Support

PNNL has developed REScheck compliance materials for three different editions of the MEC (CABO 1992, 1993, and 1995) and all editions of the IECC (ICC 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018). However, per DOE policy (dated March 18, 2014), only IECC editions 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018 are presently supported in the software with the long-term intent to support only the three most recent code cycle editions. This report explains the methodology used to develop version 4.6.5 of the REScheck software in order to support compliance determination for IECC editions 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Building America Case Study: Lancaster County Career and Technology Center Green Home 3, Mt Joy, Pennsylvania

Transitioning from standard light frame to a thermal mass wall system in a high performance home will require a higher level of design integration with the mechanical systems. The much higher mass in the ICF wall influences heat transfer through the wall and affects how the heating and cooling system responds to changing outdoor conditions. This is even more important for efficient, low-load homes with efficient heat pump systems in colder climates where the heating and cooling peak loads are significantly different from standard construction.This report analyzes a range of design features and component performance estimates in an effort to select practical, cost-effective solutions for high performance homes in a cold climate. Of primary interest is the influence of the ICF walls on developing an effective air sealing strategy and selecting an appropriate heating and cooling equipment type and capacity. The domestic water heating system is analyzed for costs and savings to investigate options for higher efficiency electric water heating. A method to ensure mechanical ventilation air flows is examined. The final solution package includes high-R mass walls, very low infiltration rates, multi-stage heat pump heating, solar thermal domestic hot water system, and energy recovery ventilation. This solution package can be used for homes to exceed 2012 International Energy Conservation Code requirements throughout all climate zones and achieves the DOE Challenge Home certification.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

Calculation of energetic dual-energy detector efficiency using MCNP and GEANT Monte Carlo codes

The use of dual-energy detectors is a powerful tool in homeland security to identify materials atomic number in objects submitted to an X-ray analysis. In this work, the Monte Carlo methodology has been applied to study the response of a dual-energy lineal detector made of two scintillator materials, irradiated with a 160 KV photon spectrum emitted by an X-ray tube. To that, two different Monte Carlo codes have been used in the simulations, the MCNP5 and GEANT codes. The study of the energetic efficiency of a dual-energy detector has been developed by the simulation of several monoenergetic beams (10, 20,..., 160 KeV) oriented towards the detector, and registering the absorbed energy at both scintillators in each energy bin analyzed. Different configurations of scintillators materials and thickness have been simulated and the results show that a dual-energy detector formed GOS-CdWO{sub 4} scintillators materials is a good combination in order to separate the low energy part of the spectrum from the high energy part of it, obtaining as a result, two different images very useful for the identification of the effective atomic number of an irradiated object. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental characterization and potential energy savings of insulated cladding for U.S. residential buildings

This study evaluates a novel insulated cladding composed of foamed cement and vinyl siding that is designed as a retrofit product to enhance thermal performance in U.S. residential buildings. Experimental measurements showed that foamed cement exhibits a thermal conductivity of 0.0334–0.0365 W/m-K (R-value of 4.0–4.3 °F⋅ft 2 ⋅h/BTU), which is significantly higher than that of conventional fiber cement boards. Although mechanical testing confirmed the material’s brittleness and low strength, it also indicated its suitability for nonstructural insulation applications. Water vapor permeability testing demonstrated effective moisture resistance with the polymer coating. To evaluate the insulated cladding’s energy performance, we used the U.S. Department of Energy’s prototype single-family building model and simulated across 50 locations spanning 16 International Energy Conservation Code climate zones. The R-7 (R-value of 7 °F⋅ft 2 ⋅h/BTU per inch) retrofit cladding resulted in heating energy savings up to 275 therms (Fairbanks, AK) and cooling energy savings up to 1,547 kWh (Phoenix, AZ). The energy cost savings varied by region, but the highest annual cost savings ($\$$434/year) were observed in Santa Maria, CA, and the highest annual cost savings percentage (37 %) were noted in Monterey, CA. On a national scale, the insulated retrofit provided an average annual energy cost reduction of 16 %, highlighting the cladding system’s broad applicability and financial viability.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Colorado Better Buildings Project. Final Report

The Colorado Better Buildings project intended to bring new and existing energy efficiency model programs to market with regional collaboration and funding partnerships. The goals for Boulder County and its program partners were to advance energy efficiency investments, stimulate economic growth in Colorado and advance the state’s energy independence. Collectively, three counties set out to complete 9,025 energy efficiency upgrades in 2.5 years and they succeeded in doing so. Energy efficiency upgrades have been completed in more than 11,000 homes and businesses in these communities. Boulder County and its partners received a $25 million BetterBuildings grant from the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in the summer of 2010. This was also known as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants program. With this funding, Boulder County, the City and County of Denver, and Garfield County set out to design programs for the residential and commercial sectors to overcome key barriers in the energy upgrade process. Since January 2011, these communities have paired homeowners and business owners with an Energy Advisor – an expert to help move from assessment to upgrade with minimal hassle. Pairing this step-by-step assistance with financing incentives has effectively addressed many key barriers, resulting in energy efficiency improvements and happy customers. An expert energy advisor guides the building owner through every step of the process, coordinating the energy assessment, interpreting results for a customized action plan, providing a list of contractors, and finding and applying for all available rebates and low-interest loans. In addition to the expert advising and financial incentives, the programs also included elements of social marketing, technical assistance, workforce development and contractor trainings, project monitoring and verification, and a cloud-based customer data system to coordinate among field advisors and across local governments and local service vendors. A portion of the BetterBuildings grant went to the Metro Mayors Caucus (MMC) who worked in partnership with the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) to conduct a series of 10 energy efficiency workshops for local government officials and other interested parties. The workshops helped showcase lessons learned on energy efficiency and helped guide other local governments in the establishment of similar programs. The workshops covered a wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy topics such as clean energy finance, social mobilization and communications, specific case studies of Colorado towns, energy efficiency codes, net zero buildings and solar power. Since the programs launched in January 2011, these communities have collectively spurred economic investments in energy efficiency, achieved greater than 5:1 leveraging of grant funds, saved energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, provided trainings for a robust local energy contractor network, and proved out viable and replicable program models that local utilities and other communities are adopting, with long lasting market transformation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

Overcoming Codes and Standards Barriers to Innovations in Building Energy Efficiency

In this journal article, the authors discuss approaches to overcoming building code barriers to energy-efficiency innovations in home construction. Building codes have been a highly motivational force for increasing the energy efficiency of new homes in the United States in recent years. But as quickly as the codes seem to be changing, new products are coming to the market at an even more rapid pace, sometimes offering approaches and construction techniques unthought of when the current code was first proposed, which might have been several years before its adoption by various jurisdictions. Due to this delay, the codes themselves can become barriers to innovations that might otherwise be helping to further increase the efficiency, comfort, health or durability of new homes. . The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America, a program dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of America’s housing stock through research and education, is working with the U.S. housing industry through its research teams to help builders identify and remove code barriers to innovation in the home construction industry. The article addresses several approaches that builders use to achieve approval for innovative building techniques when code barriers appear to exist.

Building America↗
NASA NTRS2003

Boltzmann Transport Code Update: Parallelization and Integrated Design Updates

The on going efforts at developing a web site for radiation analysis is expected to result in an increased usage of the High Charge and Energy Transport Code HZETRN. It would be nice to be able to do the requested calculations quickly and efficiently. Therefore the question arose, "Could the implementation of parallel processing speed up the calculations required?" To answer this question two modifications of the HZETRN computer code were created. The first modification selected the shield material of Al(2219) , then polyethylene and then Al(2219). The modified Fortran code was labeled 1SSTRN.F. The second modification considered the shield material of CO2 and Martian regolith. This modified Fortran code was labeled MARSTRN.F.

Heinbockel, J. H.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction

The 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) has an airtightness requirement of 3 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals test pressure (3 ACH50) for single-family and multifamily construction (in climate zones 3–8). The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification program and ASHRAE Standard 189 have comparable compartmentalization requirements. ASHRAE Standard 62.2 will soon be responsible for all multifamily ventilation requirements (low rise and high rise); it has an exceptionally stringent compartmentalization requirement. These code and program requirements are driving the need for easier and more effective methods of compartmentalization in multifamily buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Modeling and comparative assessment of municipal solid waste gasification for energy production

Highlights: • Study developed a methodology for the evaluation of gasification for MSW treatment. • Study was conducted comparatively for USA, UAE, and Thailand. • Study applies a thermodynamic model (Gibbs free energy minimization) using the Gasify software. • The energy efficiency of the process and the compatibility with different waste streams was studied. - Abstract: Gasification is the thermochemical conversion of organic feedstocks mainly into combustible syngas (CO and H{sub 2}) along with other constituents. It has been widely used to convert coal into gaseous energy carriers but only has been recently looked at as a process for producing energy from biomass. This study explores the potential of gasification for energy production and treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW). It relies on adapting the theory governing the chemistry and kinetics of the gasification process to the use of MSW as a feedstock to the process. It also relies on an equilibrium kinetics and thermodynamics solver tool (Gasify®) in the process of modeling gasification of MSW. The effect of process temperature variation on gasifying MSW was explored and the results were compared to incineration as an alternative to gasification of MSW. Also, the assessment was performed comparatively for gasification of MSW in the United Arab Emirates, USA, and Thailand, presenting a spectrum of socioeconomic settings with varying MSW compositions in order to explore the effect of MSW composition variance on the products of gasification. All in all, this study provides an insight into the potential of gasification for the treatment of MSW and as a waste to energy alternative to incineration.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Identification of RESNET HERS Index Values Corresponding to Minimal Compliance with the IECC Performance Path

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory analyzed the relationship between the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index and the traditional simulation-based Performance Path used in the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The analysis evaluates, for a single-family residence with various characteristics, the ranges of HERS Index values that would imply compliance with the 2012 IECC Performance Path. Several building characteristics considered likely to result in quantifiable differences in the outcomes of the two approaches, or otherwise believed to be of interest to code developers and policy makers, are considered in the analysis.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (LCCTC) Green Homes

With the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America Program, Home Innovation Research Labs partnered with Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (LCCTC) to build a third new construction test house (NCTH) in Apprentice Green, a community next to the school in Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (International Energy Conservation Code [IECC] climate zone [CZ] 5A). The overall program goals for the NCTH research project: - Develop a design to achieve 40% whole-house energy savings over the Building America B10 benchmark (the B10 benchmark is equivalent to meeting the 2009 IECC). - DOE Challenge Home certification (DOE 2013). - Document and evaluate costs for efficiency measures. - National Green Building Standard gold level green certification (NGBS 2009).

Array↗
DOE OSTI2021

3-D Geologic Controls of Hydrothermal Fluid Flow at Brady Geothermal Field, Nevada using PCA

In many hydrothermal systems, fracture permeability along faults provides pathways for groundwater to transport heat from depth. Faulting generates a range of deformation styles that cross-cut heterogeneous geology, resulting in complex patterns of permeability, porosity, and hydraulic conductivity. Vertical connectivity (a through going network of permeable areas that allows advection of heat from depth to the shallow subsurface) is rare and is confined to relatively small volumes that have highly variable spatial distribution. This local compartmentalization of connectivity represents a significant challenge to understanding hydrothermal circulation and for exploring, developing, and managing hydrothermal resources. Here, we present an evaluation of the geologic characteristics that control this compartmentalization in hydrothermal systems through 3-D analysis of the Brady geothermal field in western Nevada. A published 3-D geologic map of the Brady area is used as a basis to develop structural and geological variables that are hypothesized to control or effect permeability or connectivity. The 3-D distribution of these variables is compared to the distribution of productive and non-productive fluid flow intervals along production wells and non-productive wells via principal component analysis (PCA). This comparison elucidates which geologic and structural variables are most closely associated with productive fluid flow intervals. Results indicate that production intervals at Brady are located: (1) within or near to known and stress-loaded macro-scale faults, and (2) in areas of high fault and fracture density. This submission includes the published journal article detailing this work, the published 3-D geologic map of the Brady Geothermal Area used as a basis to develop structural and geological variables that are hypothesized to control or effect permeability or connectivity, 3-D well data, along which geologic data were sampled for PCA analyses, and associated metadata file. This work was done using existing R programs.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimizing PCM-integrated walls for potential energy savings in U.S. Buildings

Buildings in the United States account for nearly half of total U.S. energy use. The energy used for space conditioning can be reduced by utilizing thermal energy storage, such as phase change materials (PCMs), into building envelopes; however, the energy savings of PCM-integrated building envelopes reported in the literature vary widely. In the absence of established guidelines, thermophysical requirements of an optimal PCM, its method of application into the building envelope, and the corresponding energy savings under various climates remain unknown. Here, we perform an extensive numerical investigation on the integration of PCM into building walls to establish the key conditions required for effective utilization of PCM in reducing heat gains in the cooling season and heat losses in the heating season. We also determine the optimal transition temperature, optimal PCM location in the wall, and the energy-saving potential of the PCM-integrated building walls in five U.S. cities located in different International Energy Conservation Code climate zones. Results show that employing PCMs in building walls does not always lead to an improvement; in fact, incorrect applications of PCMs can substantially increase energy use in the buildings. In the climates we studied, PCMs were found effective in reducing heat gains during the cooling season while mostly ineffective in managing heat losses during heating season. Depending on the climate, optimized PCMs in U.S. building walls can provide reduction in the annual heat gain in the range of 3.5% to 47.2% and the annual heat loss in the range of -2.8% to 8.3%. Future consideration of buildings with substantial solar gains in winter may lead to more reduction in heat losses by PCMs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗