Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Principal Investigator”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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

At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

G3P3 Phase 3 Project Execution Plan. Issue 1

The National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) at Sandia National Laboratories New Mexico (SNL/NM) developed this Project Execution Plan (PEP) to document its process for executing, monitoring, controlling and closing-out Phase 3 of the Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant G3P3. This plan serves as a resource for stakeholders who wish to be knowledgeable of project objectives and how they will be accomplished. The plan is intended to be used by the development partners, principal investigator, and the federal project director. Project objectives are derived from the mission needs statement, and an integrated project team assists in development of the PEP. This plan is a living document and will be updated throughout the project to describe current and future processes and procedures. The scope of the PEP covers: Cost, schedule, and scope Project reporting Staffing plan Quality assurance plan Environment, safety, security, and health This document is a tailored approach for the Facilities Management and Operations Center (FMOC) to meet the project management principles of DOE Order 413.3B, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets , and DOE G 413.3-15, DOE Guide for Project Execution Plans. This document will elaborate on content as knowledge of the project is gained or refined.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantum Information Science in High Energy Physics at the Large Hadron Collider (Final Report-QuantISED)

We pursue scientific research at the interface of High Energy Physics and Quantum Information Science. This includes studies of thermal radiation and quantum entanglement in high-energy collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with special emphasis on entanglement entropy and the Higgs boson. This project has also been extended to include quantum entanglement and charged current weak interactions using Fermilab results. And most recently, we have begun tests of the temporal entanglement using LHC data. Collider experiments such as proton-proton collisions at the LHC yield hadrons that exhibit an exponential behavior at low transverse momenta. This surprising behavior is seen in data from both the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. We attribute this phenomenon to quantum entanglement between the regions in the nucleon wave function. The exponential component to the transverse momentum distribution is a result of thermal radiation that is akin to Hawking or Unruh radiation that should exist at the event horizon of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars. The Principal Investigator, in collaboration with a theoretical physicist at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and with Yale University students, has shown evidence for this thermal radiation in several production and decay processes in the ATLAS and CMS data, and its connection to entanglement entropy (O.K. Baker and D.E Kharzeev, Phys. Rev. D 98, 054007 (2018)), including even the Higgs boson sector. Interestingly, this thermal behavior is also seen in momentum distributions of charged current weak interactions according to our studies. These findings suggest a deep connection between quantum entanglement (entanglement entropy) and thermalization in both hadron collisions at the energy frontier and neutrino scattering at the intensity frontier. We have confirmed the proposed relation between the effective temperature and the hard-scattering scale at lower energies using the most recent LHC data for the following systems: Higgs bosons, top quarks, and charged hadrons. Additionally, we have results for hadron production in neutrino scattering from nuclei using Fermilab weak interaction data. This study is carried out using data from the MINERvA collaboration. In those cases where entanglement is expected, there is an exponential component to the momentum distribution, while this component is absent in those processes where no entanglement is expected. This research thus tests the hypothesis about a link between quantum entanglement and thermalization in strong and weak interactions. See Phys Lett B 811, 135948 (2020). We also initiated research applying a quantum search algorithm (Grover's Algorithm) to LHC data. This quantum algorithm was used to show how rare events in LHC data can be searched for in large, unsorted databases, with quadratic speedup compared to classical search algorithms on classical computers. See "Application of a Quantum Search Algorithm to High- Energy Physics Data at the Large Hadron Collider", arXiv:2010.00649 [quant-ph].

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Site-Directed Research & Development Annual Report Overview FY 2020

The SDRD program’s annual report for fiscal year 2020 consists of two parts: the program overview, which contains three major sections, Program Description, Program Accomplishments, and Program Value, and individual project report summaries published electronically on the Nevada National Security Site’s website, www.nnss.gov/pages/programs/sdrd.html. Complete technical reports for concluding projects are available from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) or the principal investigator.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Materials Challenges and Opportunities for Energy Generation, Conversion, Delivery, and Storage (Applied Energy Tri-Laboratory Consortium Workshop Report)

This report documents the outcomes of the Tri-Laboratory Materials Workshop that was held July 31 and August 1, 2019 to begin addressing the needs, opportunities, and challenges associated with the development, fabrication, and testing of the needed materials and components for integrated hybrid energy systems (i.e., incorporating nuclear, fossil, and renewables for electric and thermal applications). This was accomplished by assembling the research program leads and principal investigators at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who support the research and development of new technology and system integration. The team then identified and prioritized key materials development needs. This effort was intended to enhance communications and synergy among the Tri-Lab partners. Advanced functional and structural materials are central to transformative energy technologies for energy generation, conversion, delivery, and storage. With that in mind, the workshop focused on identifying and assessing the foundational materials research needs at both the basic and applied levels. Materials challenges include the ability to withstand harsh environments, such as high temperatures and pressures, corrosion, oxidation, or irradiation while maintaining flexible mission profiles and long service lifespans. Advanced energy system material challenges and needs range from materials for the capture, upgrading/concentration, storage, and delivery of low-grade heat to materials for high temperature environments that involve liquid metals, molten salt, and very high temperature gas heat delivery and storage systems. Material improvements are needed for hybrid energy systems due to accelerated corrosion and stress-fatigue failure of materials and equipment, which results from increased frequency and amplitude of thermal, mechanical, and electrical cycling of systems components. Multifunctional materials are needed for high temperature solid-oxide fuel cells, advanced electrochemical reactors, and in-process separation. Relative to materials manufacturing, application of advanced additive and subtractive methods need to be understood to develop both thin-layer homogenous materials and materials of graded composition. Materials modeling and machine learning will be critical to accelerate the design and production of power electronics, and nuclear reactor materials and fuel, as well as to gain an understanding of beneficial materials phenomena or deleterious microstructure evolution. There is also a need for standardized models, computational structures, data reporting protocols and modeling tools across the three laboratories. This would allow consistent results, analysis, and data sharing. Combining computational capabilities between the three laboratories (e.g., hardware, software) would greatly increase computational capabilities and throughput. The workshop identified the need for laboratories to anticipate and address problems that will occur during scale-up. Laboratory work must connect with industry to ensure that research focuses on processes that are scalable and marketable. Industry input and perspective are essential to guide laboratory research to meet these requirements and deploy new technology in industrial demonstrations. Another aspect of scale-up is the integration of multiple systems since new challenges often arise at the subsystem interfaces. Establishing a scale-up manufacturing demonstration/pilot plant, potentially as an industrial user facility, would be beneficial to the laboratories and industry. That modular scale-up manufacturing demonstration/pilot plant would allow researchers to find and resolve interface problems that cannot be identified by focusing only on individual parts. Communication exchanges among the organizers, attendees, and workshop survey responses indicate that the workshop was successful in achieving its goal to identify key technology gaps and research needs. Strong positive feedback was received on the sharing of ideas, capabilities, talent, and passion to move forward on the materials-related action items.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Assessment of Geologic Carbon Sequestration Options in the Illinois Basin: Phase III

The Illinois Basin – Decatur Project (IBDP) successfully demonstrated the safe geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at the near commercial-scale. Such demonstration projects are essential to gain understanding of the workflows and monitoring equipment needed to be able to geologically sequester CO 2 at a commercial scale, and to gain public confidence in the technology. The IBDP was carried out by the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC), one of seven USDOE NETL RCSPs that were formed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of geological storage of CO 2 as a mitigation tool to address global climate change. The MGSC was formed and led by the Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky geological surveys of the Illinois Basin. The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) at the University of Illinois was the principal investigator for and managed the IBDP, with the Indiana Geological Survey (IGS) (now Indiana Geological and Water Survey) and the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) as key partners.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

US Muon Workshop 2021: A road map for a future Muon Facility

The workshop title “US Muon Workshop 2021: A road map for a future Muon Facility” was held virtually on February 1-2, 2021. The workshop aimed to bring together world experts in muon spectroscopy (µSR) and other techniques along with interested stakeholders to evaluate the scientific need to construct a new µSR facility in the United States (US). The more than 200 participants highlighted several key scientific areas for µSR research, including quantum materials, hydrogen chemistry, and battery materials, and how each area could benefit from a new, high flux pulsed muon source. Experts also discussed aspects of the µSR technique, such as low-energy µSR, novel software developments, alongside beam and detector technologies, that could enable revolutionary advances in µSR at a next-generation facility. The workshop concluded with discussion of a concept being developed for a new µSR facility at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). That novel design concept was first envisioned by many of the same µSR experts at a workshop held previously at ORNL in 2016. The participants expressed that the current design had the potential to be a world-leading µSR facility, and strongly encouraged the principal investigators to continue their work in order to refine the concept and determine instrument parameters that would enable new scientific opportunities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cloud Droplet Measurement System for the ARM Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Field Campaign Report

The Mesa Photonics' cloud droplet measurement system (CDMS) performs in situ measurement of droplet size distribution and droplet number density in clouds. These characteristics are important cloud microphysical properties that are critical input parameters for atmospheric models and are also useful for proper calibration and validation of performance of other atmospheric measurement instrumentation. This small campaign was the first project (out of two) that involved integration of the CDMS into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s tethered balloon system (TBS) and its initial testing at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory. The follow-up campaign (AFC07016) involved testing of the CDMS under relevant conditions at the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) at Oliktok Point, Alaska and making in situ measurements in clouds. The goal of this small field campaign was to deploy the CDMS on the ARM TBS, demonstrate its integrity and compatibility with the TBS, and test the wireless telecommunication system in preparation for subsequent in-cloud measurements at ARM’s North Slope of Alaska (NSA) observatory at Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). The specific technical objectives included: (1) Integration of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS into the ARM TBS, (2) testing of the wireless telecommunication system of the CDMS, (3) evaluating the data acquisition software and image processing algorithms especially under high-background-illumination conditions, and (4) testing the ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment and other performance characteristics. All objectives have been successfully met. The mounting hardware was designed and built mostly at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), which allowed reliable mounting of the CDMS on the TBS and co-locating the CDMS with other instruments. The field tests were performed by the principal investigator (PI) in collaboration with the TBS operational crew led by D. Dexheimer. The field testing demonstrated good compatibility of the CDMS with the TBS. During the TBS flights, the crew did not experience any operational issues with the CDMS. The instrument demonstrated reliable operational characteristics, including sufficient battery life and good thermal management. The wireless telecommunication system has been successfully tested at TBS flight altitudes of up to 1000 m. During all flights, the CDMS raw data were wirelessly transmitted to the ground station and processed in real time. The ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment was evaluated by performing calibration of the CDMS (using Mesa Photonics' fixed-size monodisperse droplet generator) before and after the campaign. The calibration was stable within the instrument's measurement precision. In summary, the campaign demonstrated good compatibility of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS with the ARM TBS. The flight tests confirmed the mechanical integrity of the CDMS and stability of its optical layout, as well as reliability of the wireless telecommunication system. Successful completion of this campaign provided a solid basis for the next campaign (AFC07016, November 2020), that involved testing of the CDMS during in-cloud TBS flights at AMF3 at Oliktok Point.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Examining the Ice Nucleating Particles from Southern Great Plains Part II (ExINP-SGP). Field Campaign Report

Knowledge of airborne particulate matter (PM), especially the particles that have supermicron diameters, is key for understanding ice-nucleating particles (INPs). Supported by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, recent INP measurements at the Southern Great Plains observatory (SGP; 36'' 36' 18→ N, 97° 29' 6'' W) during multiple campaigns, such as SINCE-2014 (DeMott et al. 2015), Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from SGP (ExINP-2019; Hiranuma and Vepuri 2020), and Aerosol-Ice Formation Closure Pilot Study (AEROICESTUDY; Knopf et al. 2021a), strongly suggested the contribution of supermicron aerosol particles to observed INP abundance at SGP. However, verification of this hypothesis was hampered since additional offline laboratory analyses require sufficient amounts of collected airborne PM, which was lacking. Therefore, the principal investigators (PIs) conducted a field campaign, named ExINP-SGP II, to collect airborne PM at SGP for complementary laboratory characterization of the particles’ physicochemical properties (including ice nucleation properties). We used a passive particle sampler, which is a 4’ x 4’ x 2” (L x W x D) aluminum pan inside the 12”-high wooden windshield wall at the rooftop deck of the ARM Aerosol Observing System (AOS) trailer to collect dry PM deposits from January to April 2021. Figure 1 shows images of our experimental setup at the site. Additionally, we also collected surface soil near the ARM AOS trailer on 20 November 2020 (Figure 1b) to examine the ground soil dust particles (< 63 µm sieved) for their propensities to initiate immersion freezing compared to collected ambient PM. Surface soil and airborne samples were stored in the chemically inert container separately and kept in a dry, cool place until analyzed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantifying the Role of APB Tubes on the Work-hardening of Ordered Phases

For sixty years, it has been theorized that antiphase boundary (APB) tubes, which are defects produced by deformation, contribute to the high strength of ordered alloys or intermetallic compounds. The concept of an APB tube was originally proposed by Vidoz and Brown [A.E. Vidoz, L.M. Brown, "On work-hardening in ordered alloys", Philosophical Magazine, 7 (1962) 1167–1175] in 1962 to explain the ~50% increase in strength observed when an alloy, such as Ni 3 Fe, is chemically ordered compared to when it is disordered. The existence of APB tubes was only definitively confirmed by Chou and Hirsch in 1981 [C.T. Chou, P.B. Hirsch Antiphase domain boundary tubes in plastically deformed ordered Fe 30.5 at.% Al alloy, Philosophical Magazine, A. 44 (1981) 1415–1419] using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Prior to the current work, there had been no studies trying to correlate the presence of APB tubes with their effect on the mechanical properties. The main finding of this project was that APB tubes do not contribute to the strength of the strongly-ordered intermetallic compounds FeAl and Ni 3 Al. This was shown by removing the APB tubes by heating the materials and showing that the mechanical properties were unaffected. In addition, in-situ deformation experiments were undertaken in a TEM on both disordered and ordered Ni 3 Fe, in which it was shown that defects (superdislocations) in the ordered alloy underwent many more interaction events than defect (dislocations) in the disordered alloy. This difference can explain the increase in the increase in strength observed when this material is ordered. The project supported a PhD student, Rachel Osmundsen, who successfully defended her thesis in April, 2022. It also supported the principal investigator, Ian Baker, two PhD exchange students and an undergraduate researcher. The work involved collaborations with the following people and use of the following facilities: Dr. Si Chen, Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, for synchrotron X-ray diffraction; and Dr. Katherine Shanks and Dr. Kelly Nygren, Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), for synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The work led to 12 papers published in refereed journals with two papers currently submitted to journals. There were also 16 presentation made at conferences and universities on the work, ten of which were invited.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

SAND Report Guide

This SAND Report Guide offers support to authors, technical writers, principal investigators, and others involved in the process of creating, formatting, or refining a SAND Report. It details what you need to know before you begin compiling a SAND Report, directs you to the SAND Report templates, outlines the order of elements in a SAND Report, and explains what to do when your report is completed and ready for Review and Approval and subsequent distribution. Supporting information is provided in the appendix, such as where to get technical assistance, trademarks, Microsoft Word, and equations.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cryocooler conduction-cooled SRF accelerator design for industrial applications

Principal Investigator Dr. Ram Dhuley has led R&D efforts at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to design a cryocooler conduction-cooled SRF accelerator for e-beam irradiation treatment of wastewater. This is a spotlight on the accelerator design and its enabling core technologies.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development and Demonstration of a Fuel-Efficient, Class 8 Tractor & Trailer Engine System (SuperTruck II)

Navistar presents the SuperTruck II (ST II) Final Report to the Unites States Department of Energy (US DOE), which covers the five Budget Periods (BPs) from 10-1-2016 through 6-30-2022. For ST II, Navistar built on the achievements of the SuperTruck I (ST I) Program as a catalyst to continue critical research, design and development, testing, and operations to reach the ambitious goals of the ST II project. This approach allowed Navistar to continue contributing to the essential needs of our nation for safe, efficient, and cost-effective delivery of goods and services, as we reduced negative environmental effects and improved operational productivity. This document contains information specified in DOE F 4600.2, Final Scientific/Technical Report DOE F 241.3, B. SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL REPORTS, explaining how we met and exceeded program requirements. Throughout this Final Report, Navistar extracted information from documents prepared during the project that represent our management, design and development, building, and testing efforts to meet and exceed SuperTruck II project goals. Navistar followed Plan requirements to achieve / exceed Project Objectives: a) >100% improvement in vehicle freight efficiency (FE) (on ton-MPG basis) relative to 2009 baseline with stretch goal of 140% improvement [actual: 170%); b) >55% engine brake thermal efficiency (BTE) demonstrated in operational engine at a 65-mph cruise point on a dynamometer – ≥31% increase from 2009 baseline [actual: 55.20% of combined BTE) ; and c) development and implementation of commercially cost effective technologies (in terms of a simple payback). Technology selection / development path focused on developing technologies applicable for production within 3-year approach, while ensuring technology readiness and cost of ownership for end users. The Program was organized into five budget periods: Requirements / Technology Assessment and Initial Hardware Testing; Technology Development and Concept Readiness Demonstration; Technology Finalization and Validation Tractor / Trailer Fabrication, Integration and Commissioning Demonstration; and Fuel Economy (FE) and Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) and Program Completion. Leadership was provided by DOE, with tasks performed by laboratories (Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory); partners at Bosch, TPI, Dana, and J.B. Hunt; , and support from University of Michigan and Clemson University. Navistar lead this team with Principal Investigator / Contracting Officer; Project Manager (PM); Vehicle, Engine, and Aftertreatment Engineers; Finance Manager, Technical Program Leads, and Legal/IP; and other key personnel. Work also included personnel in risk management; funding / budget / finance. Work involved analysis, development, testing, and down selection of individual/system engine, aftertreatment, and vehicle technologies, with integration of selected technologies into a prototype vehicle for demonstration of fuel-efficiency gain. Work also included component/integrated system level development of truck and trailer aerodynamics, base engine efficiency, advanced aftertreatment, combustion efficiency, waste heat recovery, hybrid powertrain, reduced rolling resistance, weight reduction, idle reduction, and driver feedback. As ST II progressed, Navistar performed computer-based modeling / simulations of technologies focused on the primary operational areas: Engine, Aftertreatment, and Vehicle. During the ST II Program, the COVID Virus outbreak unexpectedly challenged by the effects of, which affected staffing, scheduling, design, supplies, availability of materials, production procedures, and testing. The DOE responded by extending the program by three quarters to ensure that project tasks were completed for this vital project. Focus continued on analyzing, developing, testing, and down selecting individual-/system-level engine and vehicle technologies for integration of the final selected technologies into a prototype vehicle that would demonstrate fuel-efficiency gains made possible through these technologies. This included component/integrated system-level development of truck and trailer aerodynamics, base engine efficiency, advanced aftertreatment, combustion efficiency, waste heat recovery, solar power, distributed and intelligent vehicle power, hybrid powertrain, reduced rolling resistance, weight reduction, idle reduction, and driver feedback. Throughout the program, function, reliability, and performance at all levels were ensured through testing. Proof of this approach was demonstrated in multiple, on-road demonstrations: Scenario A (Flatland) Fuel Economy, Scenario B (Hilly) Fuel Economy, and City Cycle Tests. Other benefits derived from ST II included new/improved products, publications, patents, and next-step capabilities related to electric/hydrogen vehicles and autonomous driving.

Zukouski, Russ↗
DOE OSTI2022

NO x Control and Measurement Technology for Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines (CRADA Final Report)

The Catalyst CRADA focused on lean-NO x trap (LNT) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) automotive emission control catalyst technology. It particularly had the goal of developing and applying advanced diagnostics capable of elucidating the network and sequence of catalyst reactions, as well as how they are affected by real-world operation and aging. Another overarching goal and action of this CRADA section was to develop methods to quantify and monitor catalyst states and support the development of full and reduced models for design and in-use control applications. William Partridge was the ORNL principal investigator (PI) throughout the Catalyst CRADA; Neal Currier was the Cummins PI through circa 2017, and Saurabh Joshi was the subsequent Cummins PI.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of an Optimized Gasoline Surrogate Formulation for PACE Experiments and Simulations

New powertrain solutions are needed to address societal challenges stemming in part from a transportation sector which relies heavily on combustion of conventional hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline. One way to advance new solutions is through predictive simulations. Predictive simulations can potentially limit the extent of experimental validations, reduce time spent in engineering design cycles, unlock new strategies for high efficiency combustion with power density, and minimize tailpipe emissions. However, the simulation tools currently available are either too computationally expensive, inadequate in their accuracy, or a combination of the two. A DOE-funded consortium of national laboratories called the Partnership to Advance Combustion Engines (PACE) seeks to address this gap by rapidly delivering new knowledge and tools which enable market-competitive powertrain solutions for light-duty vehicles. Approaches to modeling combustion in powertrain systems typically incorporate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with chemical kinetic models. These CFD simulations generally use surrogate fuels featuring a limited number of existing components in a reduced kinetic model to limit computational costs. Such surrogate fuels often sacrifice matching several or more combustion and physical properties of the target gasoline fuel. Validation of surrogate fuels is also often only pursued for a small subset of standard metrics such as research or motor octane number (RON, MON). The purpose of this project is to develop an optimal E10 gasoline surrogate fuel suitable for tasks across PACE to facilitate rapid common analysis and progression toward consortium goals. This project received contributions from tasks led by eight PACE principal investigators. The project funding here reflects all tasks under Pitz, whose tasks also contributed to additional PACE projects. Based on the optimal gasoline surrogate fuel composition, a reduced chemical kinetic model will be shared with PACE researchers, industry, and the broader combustion community.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2023

CalTestBed - OnTo Technology - Characterization of Recycled Cathode and Anode Particles as a Function of Process Step (Final Report)

Onto Technology carries out advanced Li-ion battery recycling for industry and. has the only patented technology to produce manufacturing quality electrode materials from recycled batteries. The technology can resolve ongoing cost problems for the industry in life-cycle and conservation of critical materials. Under the Cal TestBed program, Onto Technology teamed with principal investigators at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who performed tests to evaluate the electrochemical performance of refurbished electrode materials. Other tests to determine structure and morphology of the refurbished materials carried out at LBNL included X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

University Coalition for Fossil Fuel Energy Research

Following a nationwide open competition, the University Coalition for Fossil Energy Research (UCFER) was established in October 2015 through a cooperative agreement between Penn State and the Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Penn State lead UCFER with the objective of advancing basic and applied research for clean and low-carbon energy based on fossil fuels in support of the DOE’s mission. UCFER focused on research that improves the efficiency of production and use of fossil energy resources, while minimizing the environmental impacts and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Penn State lead a team of nine universities (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, Princeton University, Texas A&M University, University of Kentucky, University of Southern California, The University of Tulsa, University of Wyoming, and Virginia Polytechnic and State University) during the competition stage, adding seven more universities in 2017 (Carnegie Mellon University, Louisiana State University, The Ohio State University, University of North Dakota, University of Pittsburgh, University of Utah, and West Virginia University). This Coalition exhibited a wide geographical distribution across the U.S. bringing a wide variety of fossil energy expertise. This national university alliance was a major collaborative effort with NETL to address specific topics of R&D in NETL’s mission area, which involved one or more of NETL’s five core competencies (Geologic and Environmental Systems, Materials Engineering and Manufacturing, Energy Conversion Engineering, Systems Engineering and Analysis, and Computational Science and Engineering). The first five to six months of the project was the definitization stage. During this period, Penn State worked closely with NETL to finalize the Coalition organizational structure and By- Laws, prepare a statement of substantial involvement and a statement of project objectives, and develop operations and membership plans. A major component of this stage included preparing an execution plan to solicit research, evaluate proposals, recommend selected projects to NETL, and award projects. In addition, a plan was prepared to monitor projects, review projects, disseminate knowledge from research projects and develop an online system for Coalition research portfolio management. This included developing a website and several databases. The first of six rounds of solicitations started in mid-2016. Projects from the sixth solicitation started February 1, 2021, and ended January 31, 2023. Projects that were selected represented twelve technology lines. Approximately $16.6 million in funding was available for the six solicitations. Most of the funding was provided by DOE, Office of Fossil Energy (DOEFE) with the DOE Fuel Cells Technologies Office (DOE-FCTO) providing funding for a few projects. Coalition universities submitted 259 proposals in response to the solicitations, requesting approximately $67.0 million in funding, and forty-three projects were selected. However, one project withdrew after the principal investigator left the university. The management of the Coalition projects was a major activity by Penn State. Managing the Coalition projects consisted of monitoring the projects, reviewing the projects through annual technical review meetings, disseminating knowledge from the research projects, and developing an online system for Coalition research portfolio management. Penn State’s OMT monitored projects to ensure that all milestones (technical, schedule, budget) were met, expenditures were allowable, cost share (when applicable) were reported, and all technical reports were submitted. The OMT also posted the technical reports electronically on a secure members-only website for access and review by the Coalition members. Disseminating knowledge from the research projects was done through a website, newsletters, various meetings, conferences, journal articles, publicity/press releases, and project summaries that were prepared after each project was completed. Penn State kept NETL apprised of UCFER progress through quarterly reports (thirtyone were submitted by Penn State), verbal and written communications, yearly updates at the annual technical review meetings, and cost accrual reports. The UCFER project had a significant impacty. The UCFER program established the first national university alliance in fossil energy research with a major collaboration effort with DOE NETL that addressed specific topics in NETL’s research and development mission areas. It generated inter-university collaborations, which was another program interest. Twenty-two out of 259 proposals contained collaborations (≈8.5%) and three of forty-two funded projects involved inter-university collaborations (≈7.0%). The forty-two funded projects provided support at fourteen universities involving 269 personnel. Research was conducted by 106 faculty, 115 graduate and undergraduate students, forty-six research staff and post-doctoral scholars, and two visiting scholars. Students and post-doctoral scholars were also on-site at NETL through CRADAs. In addition, non-Coalition participants included six universities and sixteen companies and national laboratories. The non-Coalition participants were involved as subcontractors, providers of cost share, performed unpaid consultation and sample analysis, served as advisory board members, or were providers of samples and materials for testing. UCFER also produced visibility in that fifty-six refereed journal articles were published, fifty-seven conference papers and twenty-three posters were prepared, 190 presentations were given, eight patent applications were filed, two books/book chapters were written, and ten software codes were developed. Collaboration between NETL and the individual projects was a major requirement for all funded projects. This included NETL staff time to support collaboration, consultation, technical guidance, sample preparation and analysis, internships at NETL, on-site testing and equipment usage by Coalition participants at NETL, co-mentoring students, and coauthoring journal articles and conference papers. Collaboration was impacted by COVID-19 in that not all on-site activities could be performed. NETL personnel were coauthors on eight of the conference papers (fourteen percent of the conference papers that were prepared) and seventeen of the journal articles (thirty percent of the journal articles that were prepared). A website was developed for an online proposal solicitation and review process and to provide exposure to UCFER. A website analysis highlighted the large amount of member and general public interest in UCFER by interpreting access statistics from March 2016 through June 2023. Visitors to the site originated from many different organizations, businesses, and countries. The website provided a means to disseminate information to both the general public and the UCFER members and was successfully used for outreach activities. In addition, NETL required that RFP release, proposal submission, and proposal reviews all be performed online. Penn State successfully developed these capabilities in a secure section of the website, which were used throughout the UCFER project. It is recognized that each project had its technical successes. In addition, highlighted successes were compiled and summarized from the research projects. Information was requested from the PIs of completed projects. In addition, Penn State’s Operations Management Team reviewed subcontract reports to identify project successes. Examples of information requested from PIs included (not all-inclusive): new projects that have been funded as a result of UCFER funding; new commercial products; establishment of a new center; new patent; new software; best paper awards; highly-cited work; and graduate student successes. A total of forty-eight highlighted successes were reported.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗