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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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DOE OSTI2026

Development of a High-Efficiency Hybrid Dry Cooler System for sCO 2 Power Cycles in CSP Applications

This project addressed a major gap in supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) power cycle research by focusing on the pre-cooler, a component that had received little attention despite its significant impact on cycle efficiency and plant economics. The team developed a compact dry cooler using brazed/diffusion-bonded microchannel passages paired with formed air-side fins, advancing the technology from TRL-2 toward commercial readiness. Compared to conventional fin-tube coolers, the design cuts installation footprint by roughly half for 10+ MWth systems while achieving better heat transfer and lower approach temperatures, translating into a projected LCOE reduction from 6.04 ¢/kWh to between 5.85 and 5.94 ¢/kWh. While fabrication of an aluminum MW-scale prototype revealed brazing and sealing challenges at larger scales, lessons learned informed a subsequent 1 MWth unit that was successfully built and delivered for integration into Sandia's Gen3 Particle Pilot Plant, advancing the technology to TRL-7 with a path toward TRL-8 pending successful testing.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Misalignment Tolerant Three-phase Wireless Fast Charging System for Electric Vehicles

This project proposes improving the technology level of the three-phase wireless charging technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Successful commercialization of wireless charging systems require that they meet strict safety standards for electromagnetic field emissions and interoperability with other wireless charging technology. ORNL has previously demonstrated a 50kW three-phase wireless power transfer system with 95% efficiency. This prototype system weighed less than 50% of similar high-power wireless charging system while simultaneously exhibiting better safety characteristics. Due to better material utilization, the reduction in mass is expected to translate into similar cost reduction for the magnetic coupler. Additionally, the smaller footprint of the system can ease vehicle integration difficulties that would be encountered using other technology. Furthermore, the three-phase design can be made to operate with existing single-phase coupler design more easily and without intentional physical misalignment which would otherwise pose safety issues.This project developed ORNL’s WPT technology to satisfy the specifications and requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charging. The result of the project will be a prototype and reference design for a high-power wireless charging system—including magnetics, power electronics, and controls—serving as a baseline for product development.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Technology Transfer Excellence Award NTXBio

While a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Dr. Alex Koglin developed two compounds to create a better vaccine for Tuberculosis (TB). In 2015, Dr. Koglin took an entrepreneurial leave of absence from the Laboratory to start NTXBio, LLC. His objective was to develop and commercialize a TB vaccine based on two compounds he created while a scientist at the Los Alamos. In 2018, a total of 1.5 million people died from TB. According to the World Health Organization TB is the leading infectious disease resulting in death worldwide. Approximately one-quarter of the world’s population is infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes TB. Dr. Koglin non-exclusively licensed the two compounds from Los Alamos and began further development of the technology in collaboration with the Government of South Africa and universities to address the need for a vaccine to prevent TB. In their research and development of the compounds there was no evidence of cross resistance between other bacteria and the bacteria that causes TB. The compounds were tested in mouse models and demonstrated they can treat TB. Also, the tests have not shown any of the massive side effects that the current treatments for TB are showing. The company started production of the compounds using current manufacturing processes. Using these processes NTXBio could not produce the compounds at a reasonable price to be available for patients in third world countries. The company shifted to developing a new methodology “invitro synthetic biology” that can increase the production of these compounds and other vaccine molecules in a more affordable way. Dr. Koglin’s startup NTXBio is working to positively influence and secure the world vaccine supply by developing rapid on-demand production of the full spectrum of protein vaccines. Starting with the TB vaccine and advancing to common childhood vaccines, emergency and experimental vaccines such as those needed for COVID-19. NTXBio is capable of accelerated prototyping and manufacturing with increased purity and greater stability while reducing both cost and production time. The newly developed production methodology can be applied to not only the TB compounds licensed from Los Alamos, but also to their compounds that advance vaccine production for other diseases. Their technology produces vaccines fast enough to be fully deployable in areas without the need of specialized storage conditions and response times.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Abstract for CRADA between Capture6 CORP and NETL

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Capture6 CORP (Participant) will collaborate to refine Capture6’s transformative air contactor design for optimal direct air capture (DAC) under an awarded project from the Department of Energy’s Direct Air Capture Pre-Commercialization Technology Prize. Current cooling tower designs require exponentially more resources as the concentration of CO 2 in the gas phase decreases, resulting in a low conversion rate of carbonates, a large physical footprint, and high evaporation of water, which consequently limits the energy and water benefits that a DAC process can create. Capture6’s innovative tower design AURA (Absorption Unit Reactor for Ambient air) seeks to improve the mass transfer characteristics of legacy cooling towers and reduces total energy demand by: (1) introducing laminar and turbulent flow to increase mass transfer, (2) generating a solvent gradient to improve CO 2 absorption, (3) leveraging venturi and packed towers to increase the surface for the mass-transfer process, (4) adding charged/cool plates to reduce overall water loss in the system, and (5) utilizing surfactant additives to increase mass transfer. The collaboration will facilitate the deployment of technologies that reduce the total energy required and carbon footprint of solvent-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. The anticipated results support NETL’s goal of fostering rapid development and commercialization pathways for technologies that remove CO 2 from the atmosphere.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Ultrasonic Measurements of Temperature Profile and Heat Fluxes in Coal-Fired Power Plants (Final Report)

Many industrial processes are inaccessible or inhospitable to characterization by traditional temperature measurement methods, such as thermocouples, especially over prolonged exposure to harsh environments. Ultrasound is an established characterization technology with diverse applications ranging from medical imaging to therapies to flaw detection to nondestructive evaluation. Ultrasound may characterize solid materials and components noninvasively as a nondestructive evaluation modality and obtain internal measurements of material properties. For example, the speed of ultrasound propagation changes with Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, which can be found from its measurements. Traditional ultrasonic characterization assumes all material properties remain constant with the position. When this assumption holds, a property of interest may be measured by relating it to the speed of ultrasound propagation (or a speed of sound, SOS) and measuring the SOS by timing the ultrasound propagation through a known distance. However, when a property of interest is spatially distributed, the propagation time depends on the SOS changing with the position along the ultrasound propagation path. The multiple temperature distributions may lead to an identical time of flight (TOF). Temperature is one property that impacts the speed of ultrasound and often cannot be assumed to remain constant with the position. Previously, in the context of temperature, we addressed the challenge of ultrasonic characterization of spatially distributed properties by developing a method for measuring segmental temperature distributions (MSTD). This method divides the ultrasonic propagation into segments bound by echogenic features. These features provide ultrasonic interfaces where some energy is reflected toward the receiving transducer, and the rest continues through the medium. The time-of-flight between the echoes reflected from echogenic features characterizes the spatial distribution in the properties of interest in the corresponding segment of the ultrasonic propagation path. This project demonstrated the application of the MSTD method in industrial conditions of the coal-fired power plant. We implemented the MSTD using metals and alloys waveguides, which may be the existing structure for which the temperature distribution is characterized or purposefully designed waveguides added to the structure by welding or other means specifically to quantify thermal properties using the MSTD method. Previous iterations of the MSTD method used ceramic and cementitious waveguides, which significantly attenuate ultrasound. On the other hand, low attenuation in metallic waveguides creates interactions between echogenic features which compilates the signal analysis in the segmental TOF measurements. We have established the WG design principles that minimize the interferences between trailing and primary echoes and, in some cases, eliminate them. The waveguides in which echoes do not interfere improve the timing accuracy and the robustness of ultrasonic measurements of the spatial distributions in material properties. Our emphasis remained on the estimation of the temperature distributions. We have developed general recommendations for designing ultrasonically segmented waveguides with the reduced influence of trailing echoes. Two of our waveguide designs were tested in the industry. The first waveguide was designed for insertion into a combustion zone of the utility-scale coal-fired power plant boiler. The second design allows the characterization of temperature distribution in the direction normal to the boiler’s water wall, a large heat exchanger converting the chemical energy released during combustion to the steam driving the electrical power generation turbines. These waveguides were designed to operate within a restrictive space of thermally insulated water wall and incorporate densely located echogenic features while combatting the influence of trailing echoes. The project has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using the developed method for accurate, continuous, and robust temperature measurements in extreme environments of power generation and other industrial processes. It, therefore, has achieved its overarching goal of advancing the technology readiness level of the novel Ultrasound Measurements of Segmental Temperature Distribution (US-MSTD) method for real-time measurements of the temperature distribution and heat fluxes closer to commercial availability, developing a prototype multipoint measurement system, and validating its performance on coal-fired utility boilers. The success of this project was achieved in collaboration with the power generator, Rocky Mountain Power, and set the stage for the transfer of this technology from the laboratory to the industry.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2021

Catalytic materials for lithium-sulfur batteries: mechanisms, design strategies and future perspective

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are attractive candidates for post-lithium-ion battery technologies because of their ultrahigh theoretical energy density and low cost of active cathode materials. However, the commercialization of LSBs remains extremely challenging primarily due to poor cycling performance and safety concerns, which are inherently caused by low conductivity of S 8 and Li 2 S, severe polysulfide shuttling, and high polarization by solid Li 2 S 2 /Li 2 S deposition. Catalytic materials could facilitate the large-scale practical application of LSBs by overcoming all these challenges. In this review, we investigate the sulfur species evolution in LSBs and explore the roles of catalytic materials in charge/discharge processes, highlighting the catalysis of solid S 8 to liquid polysulfides and solid Li 2 S 2 to Li 2 S. Furthermore, we offer systematic strategies from atomic to macro levels, including defect engineering, morphology engineering and catalyst compositing, to enhance catalysis efficiency in terms of sulfur supercooling, fast charge transfer, thiosulfate generation, disulfide bond cleavage, tuneable Li 2 S growth and Li 2 S decomposition enhancement. Finally, the design and availability of the proposed catalytic materials will further advance LSB technology from coin cells and pouch cells to the subsequent commercialization scale.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Online Calculator to Evaluate the Impact of Airtightness on Residential Building Energy Consumption and Moisture Transfer

Energy consumption in residential buildings is primarily driven by space conditioning applications. Space heating and cooling, on average, consume approximately 50% of the energy in the residential buildings in the U.S. The primary energy use due to infiltration is more than 2.8 Quads, which is 29% of primary energy consumption attributable to fenestration and building envelope components in residential buildings in US in 2010. There are advanced air barrier technologies and construction practices to reduce air leakage in buildings, which are currently available in the market. However, the lack of adequate information on their impact on energy consumption and the durability of buildings has caused the slow adoption of these technologies and methods. In the past, the authors developed an online calculator that estimates the potential energy and cost savings in major U.S., Canadian and Chinese cities from improvement in airtightness in commercial buildings. In 2018–2019, the calculator was expanded to add moisture transfer calculations, given that air leakage through the building envelope can have a significant impact on moisture transfer. The calculator is again being expanded by adding residential and additional commercial building data. In this paper, we present the impact of airtightness in residential buildings on energy consumption and moisture transfer. The study includes the analysis of airtightness in 52 major cities in the U.S. and five cities in Canada on a residential building that includes a crawlspace and has a gas furnace.

Kunwar, Niraj↗
DOE OSTI2025

Modular System for Direct Conversion of Methane into Methanol via Photocatalysis

In this project, the Recipient’s objective is to develop a liquid phase photocatalytic process for direct conversion of methane into methanol. The specific objectives are to: Develop a bifunctional catalyst using a semiconductor photocatalyst architecture to facilitate methane activation to directly convert methane into methanol. Develop a scalable reactor design to maximize mass transfer and methanol selectivity using an optimized photocatalyst. Develop a conceptual process design for a modular system for flare gas utilization. Conduct comprehensive techno-economic and commercial market assessments to position the technology for commercialization.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Misalignment Tolerant Three-phase Wireless Fast Charging System for Electric Vehicles

This project proposes improving the technology level of the three-phase wireless charging technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Successful commercialization of wireless charging systems require that they meet strict safety standards for electromagnetic field emissions and interoperability with other wireless charging technology. ORNL has previously demonstrated a 50kW three-phase wireless power transfer system with 95% efficiency. This prototype system weighed less than 50% of similar high-power wireless charging system while simultaneously exhibiting better safety characteristics. Due to better material utilization, the reduction in mass is expected to translate into similar cost reduction for the magnetic coupler. Additionally, the smaller footprint of the system can ease vehicle integration difficulties that would be encountered using other technology. Furthermore, the three-phase design can be made to operate with existing single-phase coupler design more easily and without intentional physical misalignment which would otherwise pose safety issues. This project developed ORNL’s WPT technology to satisfy the specifications and requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charging. The result of the project will be a prototype and reference design for a high-power wireless charging system—including magnetics, power electronics, and controls—serving as a baseline for product development.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Retrofitting Holcim Ste. Genevieve Cement Plant with CO2 Capture Plant Using Air Liquide Cryocap™ FG Technology

The global cement manufacturing industry is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. The International Energy Agency's "Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario" identifies CCS as a major strategy for meeting that goal. This project is among the first attempts to transfer capture technology developed at coal-fired power plants to the cement industry. The main objective of the project is to execute and complete a front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for commercial-scale, carbon capture projects that separates 95% of the total CO2 emissions at the Holcim (US) Ste. Genevieve cement manufacturing facility using Air Liquide’s Pressure Swing Adsorption system (PSA) assisted Cryocap™ technology. The Holcim Ste. Genevieve cement plant in Missouri, US, boasts one of the largest single cement production lines in the world, with a capacity of approximately 12,000 t/day. The plant currently uses traditional fuels, namely coal and petcoke. The captured CO2 will be pipeline and geological storage grade. The industrial host site emits approximately 3.0 million tonne CO2/yr. Air Liquide’s Cryocap™ technology has been developed over the last 18+ years for CO2 capture applications. It has been shown to be applicable to a variety of industrial applications (e.g., steel, cement, SMR, Fluidized Catalytic Crackers (FCCs)). Cryocap™ FG consists of a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit coupled with a Cryogenic System. The PSA pre-concentrates the CO2 from the flue gas, while the cryogenic unit enables the CO2 purity to be increased to the desired level. The project team is led by the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The tasks include: complete FEED study for retrofitting the industrial facility with a carbon capture system to support developing a detailed cost estimate; business case analysis outlining the anticipated revenue and credits if projects was built and operated; technoeconomic analysis (TEA) outlining how capture system achieves DOE capture goals; and life cycle (LCA) analysis demonstrating zero net carbon emissions. The FEED study was successfully completed. This includes completing the process basis of design; preliminary engineering; outside battery limits (OSBL) detailed engineering including a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) wastewater treatment system; inside battery limits (ISBL) detailed engineering [1]. An overall project capital cost estimate within a -20%/+30% accuracy was developed. The major contributors to the Total Plant Cost (TPC), by system, are the costs associated with the Outside Battery Limit (OSBL) section of the plant which includes a new river water intake structure and a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system. By cost category, the major contributors to the TPC are equipment and subcontractor costs, followed closely by engineering, construction management, home office and contractor fees. The TEA has been created to reflect the findings of the project. It analyzes the economic performance of the Cryocap™ technology by reviewing the estimated capital costs, operating cost, and revenue. The Cost of Capture (COC) associated with the Cryocap™ technology for 95% CO2 capture, when considering NETL 2018 economic assumptions (42/58 debt/equity ratio, 5.15% interest on debt and 1.42% return on equity in real dollars) and 2022 economic assumptions (42/58 debt/equity ratio, 8.82% interest on debt and 4.90% return on equity in real dollars) was found to be much lower than that for the DOE-NETL’s base-line cases. The highest contributors to the COC are annualized capital expenditures (CAPEX) and electricity consumption which can be offset by using lower cost renewable sources. The LCA was conducted using OpenLCA which is an open-source software that is recommended by NETL. The database utilized for this study was a modified version of TRACI 2.1 (developed by the US. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory and modified by NETL). The Cryocap™ FG technology does not consume fuels in significant quantities and does not utilize specialized chemical solvents subject to decomposition, such as those utilized in amine-based carbon capture systems. The Cryocap™ FG technology mainly utilizes electricity as its energy input; hence, its calculated emissions are mainly associated with the generation of electricity offsite and are dependent on the energy matrix of the grid at the time of project implementation. The water consumption impact of the Cryocap™ FG is mostly for makeup of the water lost by evaporation in the cooling tower; however, the carbon capture plant will be equipped with a ZLD system to avoid effluent streams and minimize water consumption. The successful construction and operation of this plant based on this study results will provide a means to demonstrate an economically attractive and transformational capture technology that can be used to retrofit existing plants and be deployed at new plants.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hybrid Solar System (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

GTI Energy (GTI) teamed with the University of California at Merced (UCM) to scaleup the hybrid solar system (HSS) technology for demonstrating its performance at the US Gypsum (USG) plant in Plaster City, California. The technology integrates two-stage concentrating solar collector with matching particle thermal transport and storage (TSS) system to deliver cost-effective, and on-demand distributed high temperature industrial process heat up to 600°C with solar thermal, in this case to a gypsum kettle, to reduce its fuel use and carbon footprint. Current solar technologies, which reach these temperatures, are not distributable (towers) or cost-effective (dish). The research team developed a conceptual system design for host site retrofit, including preliminary heat balance, process flow diagram, particle to process heat exchanger and equipment placements at the site. Subsequently, parallel efforts were carried out at UCM to design, build and test a 12 m long commercial scale prototype concentrating thermal-only collector system and at GTI to design, build and test a matching 650°C capable particle TTS system. The nominal 50 kWth collector consists of a parabolic trough and three 4 m long two-stage receivers in series. Prior to on-sun testing, a 4 m long receiver was fabricated and successfully tested at 650 °C in a laboratory setting for 100 hrs of continuous operation showing less than 15% radiation loss. A 7 m wide x 17 m long parabolic trough was then installed at UCM for on-sun testing of the 12 m long receiver, and concurrently several 4 m long receivers were built. The optics of the parabolic trough were calibrated, and on-sun test were carried out on 12 m long receivers. During tests, the intense solar radiation (53x) caused the absorber tubes in the receivers to bend, reducing the overall optical efficiency. To address the bending issue, a self-consistent algorithm that includes ray tracing, thermal and deformation models was developed to perform thermal stress analysis on absorbers for parabolic solar collectors. Results obtained with this algorithm showed a dramatic rise in deformation as absorber tube length increases. A combined efficiency parameter that includes the occluded area for the mounts was developed to obtain an optimized tube length obtained. Based on the results, a length of 2.7 m for the absorber + 0.2 m for the coupler was chosen to minimize any bending and optimize optical efficiency while maintaining ease of mounting. The associated particle TTS system was designed, built and successfully tested at GTI. It includes storage, receiving and lock hoppers and piping that simulates the transfer of captured solar energy to an actual industrial furnace. Tests over 77 charge-discharge cycles demonstrated <2% particle degradation, with no problematic particle accumulations and no flow interruptions. The piping pressure drop was about 5 psi. The team also worked with Stanley Consultants (Stanley) to prepare conceptual and preliminary engineering packages to facilitate follow-on development and commercialization efforts. These include process and instrumentation diagram’s (P&ID’s), general arrangements, electrical one-line, project definitions document, equipment data sheets, schedule, and construction cost estimate for 2 MWth system. Updated HSS technology commercialization and customer engagement plans and detailed costs and evaluated market trade-offs and manufacturing.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Autonomous Energy Management Software System for Small Commercial Buildings in Support of Decarbonization (Abstract)

The primary goal for the project is to develop and validate an autonomous energy management software (AEMS) system that will continuously optimize small commercial building operations by minimizing energy consumption and cost, providing a solution for maximizing decarbonization benefits from electrification of buildings. The work will leverage vast experience of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) research and development staff who have over two decades of experience in developing and successfully transferring software technologies to the private sector. This solution will be jointly developed with Intellimation LLC who plans to use it to scale their building energy efficiency offering. The project plan will include collaboratively working with Intellimation to package a set of solutions into the AEMS system, validate and demonstrate their capability, and value proposition through field demonstrations. If the deployment of the AEMS system optimizes RTUs’ set points, schedules, setbacks and optimal start and results in energy consumption reduction of 20%, the technical potential savings is approximately 675 trillion Btus of site energy savings and 2,000 trillion Btus of source energy. It will also result in carbon reductions of approximately 2.4 MMTCO2 and contribute to the climate change mitigation plans of many cities and states across the United States. Additional cost savings and emissions reduction are possible from management of peak electricity demand. The primary outcome will be an AEMS system that can be deployed at scale on small commercial buildings to improve operating efficiency.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Reactor Scale-Up Methodology from Lab-Scale to Pilot-Scale Operations: Numerical Modeling of THFA Dehydration to DHP in Packed-Bed Reactors

This manuscript discusses developing a model-based scale-up methodology for a successful technology transfer of gas-phase catalytic reactors from a lab-scale to a pilot-scale operation. The manuscript demonstrates the methodology for gas-phase dehydration of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) to dihydropyran (DHP) process over commercial Al 2 O 3 catalysts. A two-dimensional reactor model was developed using COMSOL Multiphysics 6.1 software. The model solves heat and mass transport equations in bed-scale and particle scales simultaneously. This powerful feature enables accurate prediction of the heat and mass transfer limitations in pilot-scale reactors, if any exists. Further, the model uses isothermal lab-scale experimental data to derive and validate the reaction chemistry, flow fields and boundary conditions. The model was then scaled-up to project conversion, selectivity, yield and formation rate of DHP in a pilot-scale reactor. The results highlight the complex nature of chemistry, heat, and mass transfer effects in lab-scale and pilot-scale reactors. The model results inform the possible operational limitations of the pilot-scale reactor and design strategies to improve process efficiency. Although the scale-up approach is explained through the THFA dehydration process, the methodology is applicable to any catalytic packed-bed reactor models for a successful process scale-up.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Energy Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship: Insights From the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions 2024 Energy Technology University Prize Faculty Track

The Energy Technology University Prize (EnergyTech UP) was established in 2022 with the goal of challenging student teams to develop impactful business plans for energy technologies of their choosing. EnergyTech UP is part of the The American Made Challenges program portfolio, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. EnergyTech UP is specifically funded by the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) and is administrated by staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Since its inception, the annual prize has attracted applications from approximately 1,948 students across nearly every U.S. state and territory, awarding over $1 million in funds to student teams. In 2024, the prize expanded to include a Faculty Track, which invited faculty members from degree-granting institutions across the U.S. to design entrepreneurship-based curricula or educational activities. This new track aims to foster innovation in energy entrepreneurship education by leveraging the expertise of faculty to create robust, practical, and inclusive learning experiences. This report summarizes the themes, strategies and impacts identified in proposals from EnergyTech UP's inaugural Faculty Track. Our primary data for organizing insights are the Faculty Track applications themselves. This evaluation of 2024 EnergyTech UP Faculty Track applications aims to support future EnergyTech UP Faculty Track applicants as well as others who are interested in promoting, developing, and/or implementing educational activities that focus on energy commercialization and entrepreneurship at their institutions. By presenting insights from 2024 entries to the Faculty Track, we hope to contribute to a growing inventory of open-source curriculum development resources and provide materials to facilitate the growth of similar programs at a variety of collegiate institutions.

adoption readiness level↗
DOE OSTI2022

Towards Energy-Positive Buildings through a Quality-Matched Energy Flow Strategy

Current strategies for net-zero buildings favor envelopes with minimized aperture ratios and limiting of solar gains through reduced glazing transmittance and emissivity. This load-reduction approach precludes strategies that maximize on-site collection of solar energy, which could increase opportunities for net-zero electricity projects. To better leverage solar resources, a whole-building strategy is proposed, referred to as “Quality-Matched Energy Flows” (or Q-MEF): capturing, transforming, buffering, and transferring irradiance on a building’s envelope—and energy derived from it—into distributed end-uses. A mid-scale commercial building was modeled in three climates with a novel Building-Integrated, Transparent, Concentrating Photovoltaic and Thermal fenestration technology (BITCoPT), thermal storage and circulation at three temperature ranges, adsorption chillers, and auxiliary heat pumps. BITCoPT generated electricity and collected thermal energy at high efficiencies while transmitting diffuse light and mitigating excess gains and illuminance. The balance of systems satisfied cooling and heating demands. Relative to baselines with similar glazing ratios, net electricity use decreased 71% in a continental climate and 100% or more in hot-arid and subtropical-moderate climates. Total EUI decreased 35%, 83%, and 52%, and peak purchased electrical demands decreased up to 6%, 32%, and 20%, respectively (with no provisions for on-site electrical storage). Decreases in utility services costs were also noted. These results suggest that with further development of electrification the Q-MEF strategy could contribute to energy-positive behavior for projects with similar typology and climate profiles.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Computational models of direct and indirect X‐ray breast imaging detectors for in silico trials

Abstract Background To facilitate in silico studies that investigate digital mammography (DM) and breast tomosynthesis (DBT), models replicating the variety in imaging performance of the DM and DBT systems, observed across manufacturers are needed. Purpose The main purpose of this work is to develop generic physics models for direct and indirect detector technology used in commercially available systems, with the goal of making them available open source to manufacturers to further tweak and develop the exact in silico replicas of their systems. Methods We recently reported on an in silico version of the SIEMENS Mammomat Inspiration DM/DBT system using an open‐source GPU‐accelerated Monte Carlo x‐ray imaging simulation code (MC‐GPU). We build on the previous version of the MC‐GPU codes to mimic the imaging performances of two other Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved DM/DBT systems, such as Hologic Selenia Dimensions (HSD) and the General Electric Senographe Pristina (GSP) systems. In this work, we developed a hybrid technique to model the optical spread and signal crosstalk observed in the GSP and HSD systems. MC simulations are used to track each x‐ray photon till its first interaction within the x‐ray detector. On the other hand, the signal spread in the x‐ray detectors is modeled using previously developed analytical equations. This approach allows us to preserve the modeling accuracy offered by MC methods in the patient body, while speeding up secondary carrier transport (either electron–hole pairs or optical photons) using analytical equations in the detector. The analytical optical spread model for the indirect detector includes the depth‐dependent spread and collection of optical photons and relies on a pre‐computed set of point response functions that describe the optical spread as a function of depth. To understand the capabilities of the computational x‐ray detector models, we compared image quality metrics like modulation transfer function (MTF), normalized noise power spectrum (NNPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE), simulated with our models against measured data. Please note that the purpose of these comparisons with measured data would be to gauge if the model developed as part of this work could replicate commercially used direct and indirect technology in general and not to achieve perfect fits with measured data. Results We found that the simulated image quality metrics such as MTF, NNPS, and DQE were in reasonable agreement with experimental data. To demonstrate the imaging performance of the three DM/DBT systems, we integrated the detector models with the VICTRE pipeline and simulated DM images of a fatty breast model containing a spiculated mass and a calcium oxalate cluster. In general, we found that the images generated using the indirect model appeared more blurred with a different noise texture and contrast as compared to the systems with direct detectors. Conclusions We have presented computational models of three commercially available FDA‐approved DM/DBT systems, which implement both direct and indirect detector technology. The updated versions of the MC‐GPU codes that can be used to replicate three systems are available in open source format through GitHub.

Sengupta, Aunnasha↗
DOE OSTI2026

Leveraging chiral induced spin selectivity to improve the efficiency and selectivity of electrocatalytic reduction

Energy production is a fundamental pillar of modern society, but it remains heavily reliant on fossil fuel combustion, which leads to environmental degradation and resource depletion. Electrocatalytic reduction reactions (ERRs) offer a cleaner alternative by functioning under mild conditions, eliminating the need for high temperatures or pressures. However, their widespread adoption is hindered by challenges such as low efficiency, inadequate selectivity, and sluggish kinetics. Here, the introduction of chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) offers a promising strategy to address these limitations by reducing energy barriers in reactions involving spin-sensitive intermediates or transition states. By leveraging CISS, ERR pathways can be manipulated to favor desired reactions, enhance product yield, and suppress unwanted byproducts, improving selectivity. Beyond reducing the impact of competing side reactions, CISS also enhances the kinetics of ERRs by accelerating reaction rates and lowering the energy barriers associated with multi-electron transfer steps. Thanks to its straightforward and versatile application, CISS shows significant potential in optimizing well-studied ERRs, such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR), facilitating the future transition of these technologies from research laboratories to commercial energy plants worldwide.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗