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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 55 records · Page 3

Charging Infrastructure Technologies: Development of a Multiport, >1 MW Charging System for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles

Development of a Multiport, >1 MW Charging System for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles project will develop research tools for a framework to design, optimize, and demonstrate key components of a multi-port 1+ MW medium-voltage connected charging system. The objectives of this effort are to develop strategies and technologies for multi-port 1+ MW grid-connected stations to recharge MD/HD electric vehicles at fast-charging travel plazas or at fleet depots; through industry engagement, charging station utilization and load analysis, grid impacts and interconnection analysis, detailed power electronics component design and controller demonstration, site and battery charge control design and controller demonstration; and charging connector design.

1+MW charging↗

Accelerating Technology Development through Integrated Computation and Experimentation

This special section of Energy & Fuels comprises a selection of papers presented at the topical conference “Accelerating Technology Development through Integrated Computation and Experimentation”, sponsored and organized by the United States Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) as part of the 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting held in Pittsburgh, PA, Oct 28-Nov 2, 2012. That topical conference focused on the latest research and development efforts in five main areas related to fossil energy, with each area focusing on the utilization of both experimental and computational approaches: (1) gas separations (membranes, sorbents, and solvents for CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, and O{sub 2} production), (2) CO{sub 2} utilization (enhanced oil recovery, chemical production, mineralization, etc.), (3) carbon sequestration (flow in natural systems), (4) advanced power cycles (oxy-combustion, chemical looping, gasification, etc.), and (5) fuel processing (H{sub 2} production for fuel cells).

08 HYDROGEN↗

Regulatory Technology Development Plan - Sodium Fast Reactor. Mechanistic Source Term - Trial Calculation. Work Plan

The overall objective of the SFR Regulatory Technology Development Plan (RTDP) effort is to identify and address potential impediments to the SFR regulatory licensing process. In FY14, an analysis by Argonne identified the development of an SFR-specific MST methodology as an existing licensing gap with high regulatory importance and a potentially long lead-time to closure. This work was followed by an initial examination of the current state-of-knowledge regarding SFR source term development (ANLART-3), which reported several potential gaps. Among these were the potential inadequacies of current computational tools to properly model and assess the transport and retention of radionuclides during a metal fuel pool-type SFR core damage incident. The objective of the current work is to determine the adequacy of existing computational tools, and the associated knowledge database, for the calculation of an SFR MST. To accomplish this task, a trial MST calculation will be performed using available computational tools to establish their limitations with regard to relevant radionuclide release/retention/transport phenomena. The application of existing modeling tools will provide a definitive test to assess their suitability for an SFR MST calculation, while also identifying potential gaps in the current knowledge base and providing insight into open issues regarding regulatory criteria/requirements. The findings of this analysis will assist in determining future research and development needs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

WaveSPARC: TPL Assessment - Guiding Technology Development Trajectories to Successful Outcomes in Less Time, at Less Overall Cost, and With Less Encountered Risk

The advantage of using Technology Performance Level (TPL) in conjunction with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessments in guiding technology development trajectories to successful outcomes in less time, at less overall cost, and with less encountered risk has been well articulated in the literature. This poster will showcase the TPL assessment methodology and tools developed at NREL.

marine renewable energy↗

Technology Development for Aluminum-clad Spent Nuclear Fuel for Extended Dry Storage (Status Report)

A task group under the Spent Nuclear Fuel Working Group of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Offices of Environmental Management (EM) and Nuclear Energy (NE) identified technical challenges (“information gaps"’) to the ability to provide for safe extended (>50 years) dry storage of Aluminum-Clad Spent Nuclear Fuel (ASNF) in a report issued in 2017, An Action Plan was developed, and a task- based program was launched under the sponsorship of DOE-EM, Office of Technology Development (EMTD) in October 2018 to close the gaps and complete the technical information set needed to implement extended dry storage with confidence. This interim status report summarizes the work to date of this EMTD program to complete the technical bases and demonstrate that extended dry storage is safe and viable.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Exploration of Potential Application of Distributed Ledger Technology for Managing Transactions Under Joint Technology Development and Transfer Agreements

This document summarizes the findings from the team’s evaluation of applying DLT to transactions taking place inside and outside of a joint technology development and transfer agreement. As part of this examination, PNNL focused on addressing whether DLT could be used to promote civil nuclear cooperation without raising proliferation concerns.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Impact of Technology Developments on Cost and Embodied Energy of Advanced Polymer Composite Components

Within Manufacturing USA, The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, IACMI, is a partnership of industry, private and state universities, as well as federal, state, and local governments that are working together to benefit the nation’s energy and economic security. This diverse public/private partnership validates manufacturing technologies that respond to private industry’s need for faster and more cost-, material-, and energy-efficient composites manufacturing, including recycling at the end of product life. IACMI has set specific quantitative goals towards advancing the state-of-the-art in materials and manufacturing technologies for carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix (CFRP) composites. The goals were set with respect to three targeted application areas, namely: automobiles, wind turbine blades and compressed gas storage tanks. The specific goals set for IACMI at the end of the first five years were to: (1) reduce the cost of productionized composite parts by 25%, (2) reduce the embodied energy in the production of these parts by 50%, and (3) increase recyclability of CFRP parts into useful products to 80% of the part being recycled. A baseline set of metrics representing the state-of-the-art at the start of IACMI (June 2015) were required to estimate the potential impact of the various technology development efforts towards these goals. Further, the actual impact on the baseline metrics as each project is completed needs to be quantified, considering the technology advances accomplished. These baseline cost and energy metrics are available on the IACMI website at https://iacmi.org/baseline-cost-energy. A special embodied energy estimator tool, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is available to the public online at http://www.energytoolestimator.com/, and has been used to develop the baselines as well as evaluate impacts from completed IACMI projects. This report describes the impact of two recently completed IACMI sponsored technology projects on the baseline metrics. In the first project, titled “Thermoplastic Composites Parts Manufacturing Enabling High Volumes, Low Cost, Reduced Weight with Design Flexibility”, a highly drapable, easily recyclable thermoplastic coated, near net-shape carbon fiber fabric was developed. The thermoplastic coated tow (CT) fabric was manufactured using a rapid fabric formation (RFF) process developed for textile manufacturing. The DuPont, Fibrtec, and Purdue University team that accomplished the development of this low scrap rate carbon fiber product form selected an automobile control arm to be built in a follow-on phase of the project as a demonstrator of the benefits of this technology.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Idaho-Developed Technologies, Processes Offer Unique Solutions to Waste Management Challenges - 19281

INL Site cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho, LLC (Fluor Idaho) and its predecessors have developed a host of state-of-the-art technologies and specialized processes for nuclear waste handling, treatment, storage, and shipping. The cleanup program has also repurposed and upgraded previously idled Cold War-era buildings to treat and repackage both on- and off-site generated radioactive and hazardous wastes. And lastly, Fluor Idaho is using one-of-a-kind equipment to protect waste management personnel as they undertake their work to meet cleanup commitments that the Department of Energy (DOE) made to the state of Idaho. Such applications, although developed for Idaho's wastes, have the potential to benefit other facilities within the DOE Complex. Engineers and fabricators have teamed up to develop truly unique devices made of specialized metals, like stainless steel alloys, and more readily available materials such as Lexan. All waste types that Fluor Idaho manages daily - spent nuclear fuel, both high- and low-level wastes, and both remote-handled (RH) and CH-TRU - benefit from these innovations. Without question, the greatest number of specialized equipment, processes, and worker-protection technologies developed are for the retrieving, characterizing, repackaging, and shipping of TRU wastes, which makes sense considering the INL Site stores the most TRU waste in the DOE Complex. On the CH-TRU retrieval front, crews are using specially modified Gradall excavators to protect workers while they exhume Rocky Flats Plant wastes that were sent to Idaho in the 1950's and 1960's and buried in a shallow landfill. The excavators are supplied with extra Lexan windows to protect operators from the potential for flying debris during exhumation. On-board supplied air, pumped into the cab, and individual air supplies protect workers from inhalation hazards. Also on-board infrared cameras allow operators to detect heat generating from reactive metals at the dig face. At the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility (AMWTP), Brokk robotic arm operators use a 'super clam' claw, designed and built at the INL Site, on the remotely operated heavy equipment to size-reduce waste boxes, drums, concrete, and metal containing TRU constituents. The super clam is so powerful and dexterous that operators can crush a 55-gallon drum into the size of a basketball, but also delicately turn the pages of a magazine. Boxes too large to be sized at the AMWTP's box-lines are sent to the Accelerated Retrieval Project VII facility to be sized by Waste Management personnel. Such waste boxes, which sometimes contain 'flighty' plutonium-238 material, have forced the project to employ a heavily ventilated and filtered interior tent. Not all technologies developed for the Waste Management program are high-technology; in fact, one piece of equipment is so simple it's literally ingenious. Operators who inspect and repackage RH-TRU inside a hot cell at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) needed a backup plan in case the hot cell port couldn't be closed in the event of a power outage. Engineers and fabricators collaborated to develop a port cover actuator mechanism, which allows operators to open and close the cell's hatch cover with nothing more than a cordless drill. Also at INTEC, Maintenance Shop fabricators developed a Lexan container or 'pig' suitable for shielding neutron-emitting TRU waste sources. Lexan was chosen as the preferred shielded container material for this special type of waste because neutrons are best shielded with materials containing lots of hydrogen, such as plastics, which are composed of carbon and hydrogen molecules. Once approved for shipment, the high-activity waste will be loaded into specialty casks and shipped to WIPP for permanent disposal. Although all these technologies and processes were initially developed for resolving challenges at the INL Site, their applications could be far-reaching. Like the INL Site, many other facilities in the DOE Complex manage, treat, store, and ship TRU, low-and high-level wastes, and spent nuclear fuel. The technologies and processes developed in Idaho protect Waste Management personnel as they undertake their work, but these benefits could be utilized by other facilities and personnel doing similar work. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Policy support and technology development trajectory for renewable natural gas in the U.S.

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a clean alternative to fossil natural gas, which can be used as transportation fuel, among other applications. This study projects the development trajectory of RNG and evaluates its impacts on the future U.S. transportation market using a hybrid computable general equilibrium model. This analysis considers various factors and uncertainties affecting RNG production, such as technology development, market conditions, competition with other advanced biofuels, and national and state policies. In 2050, RNG production will grow to 2.7 billion gallons (10 billion liters), mostly from swine manure, under current policy provisions. This will lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 58.56 million metric tonne of CO 2e in 2050. Analysis of different technology cases finds RNG from animal manure to be predominant, while RNG from corn stover and cellulosic ethanol are less competitive. Furthermore, a high mandatory target of 1 billion gallons will drive RNG production higher by 8–18 %, while an extended 2 nd -generation biofuel production tax credit will mostly increase cellulosic ethanol production. The model also finds RNG production being affected by uncertainties in market conditions, such as GDP growth, fossil fuel prices, and oil and gas supply.

Biomethane↗

The Manhattan Project Nuclear Science and Technology Developments at Los Alamos: A Special Issue of Nuclear Technology

The year 2020 marked the 75th anniversary of the Trinity experiment, the world’s first nuclear explosion, on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Trinity was a vital proof step toward the culmination of the Manhattan Project and the end of World War II. The technical accomplishments made by scientists and engineers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada (some originating in Germany, Hungary, Italy, France, and other countries) were recognized by many events in 2020, including a visit to New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) dignitaries; historical documentaries. The importance of Trinity as a foundational accomplishment for the broad nuclear science and engineering community is clear; indeed, New Mexico’s chapter of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) is referred to as the Trinity Section. The events surrounding Trinity have even entered into high culture with recent performances of John Adams’s opera Doctor Atomic in San Francisco, Amsterdam, Chicago, New York, and Santa Fe.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Technology Development for Dry Storage of Aluminum-Clad Spent Nuclear Fuel - 20490

A candidate disposition pathway for the > 13 MTHM of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF), owned and managed by the U.S. Department of Energy, is the drying and placement of the SNF into sealed-canister dry storage, with the ASNF-in- canisters 'road-ready' for transportation to and final direct disposal in a repository waste package. Technical information gaps in fuel drying, and fuel dry storage behavior, have previously challenged the declaration of technology readiness for drying and placement of this fuel into the DOE Standard Canister design for > 50 years of safe dry storage. The principal technical information gaps included: i) characterization and thermal dehydration behavior of aluminum (oxy)hydroxide films attendant on the cladding due to film formation during reactor operation and during post-discharge up to long-term wet storage histories; and ii) G-value data to enable estimation of the radiolytic gas generation from the cladding with its (oxy)hydroxide films. Thus, the oxide films on the ASNF challenged the safety of a sealed storage canister with thermal and radiolytic decomposition of the waters on the films that can lead to corrosion, pressurization, and flammability issues. These gaps in the technical information base have largely been closed. This paper discusses the investigations at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Savannah River National laboratory (SRNL), and outlines the pending technology development work for input to an engineering design to enable a road-ready dry storage system for ASNF. The ASNF inventory considered for road-ready dry storage is stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) at the INL. The ASNF inventory in the SRS L Basin is from foreign and domestic research reactors (FRR and DRR), and is diverse in terms of design, irradiation, and post-reactor-discharge storage conditions; these factors yield a range of characteristics of cladding oxide films on ASNF. Mixed aluminum (oxy)hydroxide (boehmite and bayerite/gibbsite) films, non-uniform in thicknesses up to a maximum local thickness bounded by 25 μm, were observed on ASNF materials removed from wet storage in the L Basin and in non-sealed dry storage at the SRS following reactor service and a long-term (up to 40+ years) interim storage history. The ASNF inventory at INTEC, in both wet and vented dry storage, is predominantly from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), but it also includes DRR and FRR fuel. To address a profound behavior of these films, radiolysis testing of aluminum specimens with mixed type boehmite/bayerite oxide films was performed to develop basic data on G-values for production of radiolytic hydrogen under dry storage conditions with nominal relative humidity, temperature, and cover gas. Modeling and simulation of canister internal environments with postulated inventories of oxide films provides estimation of the evolution of the conditions of the canister loaded with ASNF. Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (TGA/DSC) of hydrated oxide powders, and laboratory-scale aluminum specimens with a bayerite film (∼10 μm) using TGA methods, inform drying time/temperature conditions to be used for the ASNF. A demonstration project is recommended for Verification and Validation of the drying and storage of the ASNF. Remaining major tasks leading up to the hot demonstration include scale-up radiolysis testing and scale-up drying testing. Engineering design with the information from the technology program will establish the safety basis and enable long-term (> 50 years) dry storage compatibility with ASNF in the DOE Standard Canister pending its transportation to and disposal in a repository. This full capability would show the ASNF-in-canister storage system to be road-ready. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Mercury Remediation Technology Development for Lower East Fork Poplar Creek—FY 2017 Progress Report

Mercury (Hg) remediation is a high priority for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, especially at and near the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) where historical Hg use has resulted in contaminated buildings, soils, and downstream surface waters. To address Hg contamination of East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC), DOE has adopted a phased, adaptive management approach to remediation, which includes Hg treatment actions at Y-12 in the short-term and research and technology development (TD) to evaluate longer-term solutions in the downstream environment (US Department of Energy 2014).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Mercury Remediation Technology Development for Lower East Fork Poplar Creek - FY 2016 Progress Report

Mercury remediation is a high priority for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM), especially at and near the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) where historical mercury use has resulted in contaminated buildings, soils, and downstream surface waters. To address mercury contamination of East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC), the DOE has adopted a phased, adaptive management approach to remediation, which includes mercury treatment actions at Y-12 in the short-term and research and technology development (TD) to evaluate longer-term solutions in the downstream environment (US Department of Energy 2014).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Mercury Remediation Technology Development for Lower East Fork Poplar Creek - FY 2015 Progress Report

Mercury remediation is a high priority for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) because of large historical losses of mercury within buildings and to soils and surface waters at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12). Because of the extent of mercury losses and the complexities of mercury transport and fate in the downstream environment, the success of conventional options for mercury remediation in lower East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) is uncertain. A phased, adaptive management approach to remediation of surface water includes mercury treatment actions at Y-12 in the short-term and research and technology development (TD) to evaluate longer-term solutions in the downstream environment (US Department of Energy 2014b).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NDE Technology Development Program for Hanford DST Non-Visual Volumetric Inspection Technology – Phase II; Technical Letter Report on Air-slot NDE Sensor Maturation Testing

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) located in Richland, Washington, hosted and administered Phase II Flaw Detection Performance Tests in August 2018 that allowed the newly matured ultrasonic guided wave phased-array (GWPA) air-slot NDE sensor—“Hanford-Probe A”—developed by Guidedwave to be evaluated for its flaw detection capability and repeatability. A portion of the Phase II Flaw Detection Performance Tests was performed on a subset of test flaws on which the original GWPA sensor was evaluated during Phase I Sensor Effectiveness Testing (SET) to facilitate a comparison in flaw detection performance between Hanford-Probe A and the original GWPA sensor demonstrated in Phase I. The objective of the performance comparison was to determine the extent to which GWPA sensor design changes impacted the flaw detection performance upon which selection of the sensor technology was originally based for the purpose of determining whether the flaw detection performance of the newly matured Hanford-Probe A GWPA air-slot NDE sensor is at least equal to that of the original GWPA sensor evaluated under Phase I SET. This technical letter report presents the results produced by the new Hanford-Probe A on the Phase I test flaws and the results of the flaw detection performance comparison between Hanford-Probe A and the original GWPA sensor demonstrated in Phase I.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗