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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental, Health and Safety Assessment Application of a Heat Integrated, Post-combustion CO2 Capture System Using Monoethanolamine and Hitachi H3-1 Solvent at the E.W. Brown Coal-fired Power Plant

An Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Assessment was completed for operation of a pilot scale carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system (CCS) at the Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) Energy, LLC (LG&E-KU) E. W. Brown Generating Station in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky. The pilot system was evaluated using two CO2 capture solvents, monoethanolamine (MEA) and Hitachi’s H3-1 solvent. The purpose of the EH&S Assessment was to determine if there were any unacceptable environmental, health or safety concerns that may prevent operation or environmental permitting of a larger scale pilot scale plant. The assessment included review of process flow diagrams, input and output flow rates for primary materials, literature describing similar processes and chemicals used or created during the process, actual air emission and wastewater test data and air emission calculations. The evaluation included identification of risks related to hazardous chemicals, air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid wastes generated and employee hazards. Most potential EH&S issues that were identified are commonly found and successfully managed at large industrial facilities. No risks were identified that could not be successfully managed or would likely prevent implementation or environmental permitting of the pilot or larger scale plant. Potential exposures and resulting health risks from exposure to low concentrations of nitrosamines generated from degradation of the Hitachi H3-1 and possibly MEA solvents may be a health concern for site workers, but additional investigation is needed to accurately assess this risk. Applying the information gained from operating the pilot plant, performing air emission testing and used solvent testing to a large-scale facility at a commercial coal-fired electric generating plant suggests additional air emission control measures may be necessary to reduce potential site worker health risks and possibly community risks. Depending upon the location and regional air quality, considerable effort may be required to obtain the necessary air permit for construction and operation of a similarly configured large-scale PCCCS facility.

gas separation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental, Health and Safety Assessment Application of a Heat Integrated, Post-combustion CO 2 Capture System Using Monoethanolamine and Hitachi H3-1 Solvent at the E.W. Brown Coal-Fired Power Plant

An Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Assessment was completed for operation of a pilot scale carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture system (CCS) at the Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) Energy, LLC (LG&E-KU) E. W. Brown Generating Station in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky. The pilot system was evaluated using two CO 2 capture solvents, monoethanolamine (MEA) and Hitachi’s H3-1 solvent. The purpose of the EH&S Assessment was to determine if there were any unacceptable environmental, health or safety concerns that may prevent operation or environmental permitting of a larger scale pilot scale plant. The assessment included review of process flow diagrams, input and output flow rates for primary materials, literature describing similar processes and chemicals used or created during the process, actual air emission and wastewater test data and air emission calculations. The evaluation included identification of risks related to hazardous chemicals, air emissions, wastewater discharges, solid wastes generated and employee hazards. Most potential EH&S issues that were identified are commonly found and successfully managed at large industrial facilities. No risks were identified that could not be successfully managed or would likely prevent implementation or environmental permitting of the pilot or larger scale plant. Potential exposures and resulting health risks from exposure to low concentrations of nitrosamines generated from degradation of the Hitachi H3-1 and possibly MEA solvents may be a health concern for site workers, but additional investigation is needed to accurately assess this risk. Applying the information gained from operating the pilot plant, performing air emission testing and used solvent testing to a large-scale facility at a commercial coal-fired electric generating plant suggests additional air emission control measures may be necessary to reduce potential site worker health risks and possibly community risks. Depending upon the location and regional air quality, considerable effort may be required to obtain the necessary air permit for construction and operation of a similarly configured large-scale PCCCS facility.

gas separation↗
DOE OSTI2021

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants – Radionuclide Emissions Calendar Year 2020

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and the North Las Vegas Facility (NLVF). From 1951 through 1992, the NNSS was the continental testing location for U.S. nuclear weapons. Radionuclides in air from NNSS activities have been monitored since the initiation of atmospheric testing. After 1962, testing was limited to underground detonations, which greatly reduced radiation exposure to the public. Since the end of nuclear testing in 1992, radiation monitoring has focused on detecting airborne radionuclides from historically contaminated soils because this sources dominates the potential offsite dose. These radionuclides are derived from re-suspension of soil (primarily by wind) and emission of tritium-contaminated soil moisture through evapotranspiration. Low amounts of legacy-related tritium are also emitted to air at the NLVF, an NNSS support complex in North Las Vegas. To protect the public from harmful levels of manmade radiation, the Clean Air Act, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), specifically the National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other Than Radon From Department of Energy Facilities (40 CFR 61, Subpart H, 2020) limits the release of radioactivity from a DOE facility to that which would cause 10 millirem per year (mrem/y) effective dose equivalent (EDE) to any member of the public. This limit does not include radiation unrelated to NNSS activities. Unrelated doses could come from naturally occurring radioactive elements, from sources such as medically or commercially used radionuclides, or from sources outside of the United States, such as Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was damaged in 2011. NNSA/NFO demonstrates compliance with the NESHAP limit by reporting environmental measurements of radionuclide air concentrations at critical receptor locations on the NNSS. This alternative was proposed and formerly submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001 (EPA 2001a) and has been the method used to demonstrate compliance with the 40 CFR 61.92 dose standard since 2005. Six locations on the NNSS have been established to act as critical receptor locations to demonstrate compliance with the NESHAP limit. These locations are closer to radionuclide releases than where the public resides so they act as protective substitutes for public receptor locations. Compliance is demonstrated if the measured annual average concentration is less than the NESHAP Concentration Level (CL) for Environmental Compliance listed in Table 2 of 40 CFR 61, Appendix E. For multiple radionuclides, compliance is demonstrated when the sum of the fractions (determined by dividing each radionuclide’s concentration by its CL and then adding the fractions together) is less than 1.0. The EPAapproved air transport model, called the Clean Air Package 1988 (CAP88-PC) is also used to calculate the effective dose equivalent to the maximally exposed individual from NNSS air emissions. CAP88-PC was also used to calculate the population dose, or the collective EDE (expressed as person-rem [roentgen equivalent man] per year [person-rem/y]) for all individuals combined who reside within 80 kilometers (km) of NNSS emission sources. In 2020, the potential dose from radiological emissions to air from both current and past NNSS activities was well below the 10 mrem/y dose limit. This is demonstrated by both the air sampling data collected at critical receptor air monitoring stations and CAP88-PC modeling. The average concentrations of radioactivity at air critical receptor stations ranged from 0.2% to a maximum of 4.2% of the allowed NESHAP limit. CAP88-PC modeling of all 2020 NNSS radionuclide emissions showed the maximally exposed individual to be in Amargosa Valley and this individual received a potential dose of 0.063 mrem/y. The collective dose was calculated to be 0.29 person-rem/year for the 521,300 people who lived within 80 km of NNSS emission sources.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of the United States GReenhouse Gas and Air Pollutants Emissions System (GRA 2 PES)

In the U.S., emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants are often developed independently. Here, we describe the GReenhouse gas And Air Pollutants Emissions System (GRA 2 PES), which provides gridded emissions of fossil-fuel carbon dioxide (ffCO 2 ) and 93 air quality (AQ) species for 17 combustion and non-combustion sectors at 4 km × 4 km spatial resolution across the contiguous US. We find that the AQ emissions most spatially correlated with ffCO 2 are nitrogen oxides (NO x , ρ = 0.67), followed by sulfur dioxide (SO 2 , ρ = 0.51), carbon monoxide (CO, ρ = 0.44), and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 , ρ = 0.38). We evaluate GRA 2 PES ffCO 2 emissions with an ensemble of publicly available regional and global inventories at national (Normalized Mean Bias (NMB) = +1.4%), state (NMB = +1.5%, R 2 = 0.98), and urban (NMB = +11.5%, R 2 = 0.97) scales. Nationally, the differences of publicly available inventories from the ensemble average range from −10.0% to +5.7%, and consistency diverges at state and urban scales. We simulate GRA 2 PES ffCO 2 in a particle dispersion model and compare to measurements of radiocarbon ( 14 C)-derived ffCO 2 collected in Los Angeles (August 2021), with results suggesting that GRA 2 PES ffCO 2 may be low by 19% for this city, but well within model-observation differences for other publicly available inventories (−43% to +94%). GRA 2 PES AQ/ffCO 2 ratios converted to concentration space generally agree with field observations (NMB = +4%, log R 2 = 0.90). Lastly, we present a method by which to utilize GRA 2 PES to derive AQ emission fluxes from ffCO 2 emissions.

Lyu, Congmeng [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad↗
DOE OSTI2023

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants – Radionuclide Emissions Calendar Year 2022

This compliance report is required under 40 CFR 61, Subpart H. It will be submitted by NFO to regulators under NFO Manager signature. STIP needs to be coordinated with NFO review. Previous reports had Kathryn Gladden as the POC for this. While Kathryn should still be on the list of NFO reviewers, Cesar Alfaro (cesar.alfaro@nnsa.doe.gov, 5-4082) is now the NFO POC.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Emissions in short-gated ns/ps/fs-LIBS for fuel-to-air ratio measurements in methane-air flames

A study of short-gated 10 nanosecond (ns), 100 picosecond (ps), and 100 femtosecond (fs) laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was conducted for fuel-to-air ratio (FAR) measurements in an atmospheric Hencken flame. The intent of the work is to understand which emission lines are available near the optical range in each pulse width regime and which emission ratios may be favorable for generating equivalence ratio calibration curves. The emission spectra in the range of 550–800 nm for ns-LIBS and ps-LIBS are mostly similar with slightly elevated atomic oxygen lines by ps-LIBS. Spectra from fs-LIBS show the lowest continuum background and prominent individual atomic lines, though have significantly weaker ionic emission from nitrogen. A qualitative explanation based on assumed local thermodynamic equilibrium and electron temperatures calculated by the N I I ( 565 n m ) and N I I ( 594 n m ) emissions is presented. In studying line emission ratios for FAR calculation, it is found that H α <#comment/> ( 656 n m ) / N I I ( 568 n m ) is best for FAR measurements with ns-LIBS and remains viable for ps-LIBS, while H α <#comment/> ( 656 n m ) / O I ( 777 n m ) is optimal for the ps-LIBS and fs-LIBS cases. Due to low continuum background and short time delay for spectra collection, fs-LIBS is very promising for high-speed FAR measurements using short-gated LIBS.

Gragston, Mark (ORCID:0000000324698995)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Health and air pollutant emission impacts of net zero CO2 by 2050 scenarios from the energy modeling forum 37 study

Carbon dioxide and non-greenhouse gas air pollutants are emitted from many of the same sources. Decarbonization actions thus typically yield air pollutant emission reductions, resulting in significant air quality benefits. Although several studies have highlighted this connection, including in the context of net zero carbon emission targets, substantial uncertainty remains regarding how alternative technological pathways to this goal will affect the spatial distribution and magnitude of air pollutants. Comprehensive multi-model and multi-scenario analyzes are needed to explore the relative impacts of alternative pathways. Here, our study begins to address this gap by leveraging the results from the recent Energy Modeling Forum 37 inter-model comparison exercise on U.S. decarbonization pathways. Comparing the results of the six teams who submitted air pollutant emissions suggests that strategies that target net zero U.S. carbon emissions would yield significant reductions in many air pollutants, and that this finding is generally robust across pathways. However, some energy sources, such as biomass and fossil fuels with carbon capture, will emit air pollutants and can potentially influence the magnitude, spatial distribution, and even sign of localized air pollutant emission changes. In the second part of this analysis, a simplified air quality and health impacts screening model is used to evaluate the air quality impacts in 2035 of sectoral emission changes from the three models that provided sectoral detail. Relative to a reference scenario, a net zero pathway is estimated to reduce fine particulate matter concentrations across the contiguous U.S., with health benefits from reduced mortality ranging from $\$$65 billion to $\$$250 billion in 2035 alone (2023$\$$s). These benefits would be expected to grow over time as the net zero trajectory becomes more stringent. Both the magnitude of potential benefits and the substantial variation of the projections across models underscore the need for an EMF-like inter-model comparison exercise focused on air quality.

Air pollutants↗
DOE OSTI2020

Catalina Repower Feasibility Study: NREL Phases I & II Summary Report

Engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) supported Southern California Edison (SCE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by conducting technical and economic analyses for energy systems at Santa Catalina (Catalina) Island, which is located 22 miles off the coast of Long Beach, California. This effort was part of a broader Repower Catalina Feasibility Study that was also supported by NV5, an engineering consulting firm and project partner to NREL for this analysis. This document describes NREL’s techno-economic modeling and optimization analysis for the first two phases of this project which focus on supply-side generation and energy storage options for Catalina. SCE’s goal for this analysis is to determine a strategy for electricity generation on Catalina Island that results in lower energy costs, improved energy resiliency, and reduced air emissions. EPA goals for this effort are to reduce emissions of air pollution and encourage renewable energy development on contaminated and formerly contaminated lands when such development is aligned with the community’s vision for the site. Currently, an on-island SCE power plant serves the Catalina Island electrical load with 6 reciprocating diesel generators totaling 9.4 MW; 23 propane-fueled microturbines totaling 1.5 MW; and a 1-MW, 7.2-MWh sodium sulfur battery energy storage system (BESS). In 2017, the electricity consumption on the island was 29.1 GWh, with an average load of 3.3 MW and peak load of approximately 5.5 MW. Considering new environmental standards on diesel generator emissions from California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District, a 60% renewable energy target for 2030 laid out in California’s Senate Bill 100, SCE’s Clean Power Electrification Pathway, and the characteristics of the island’s existing diesel generators, SCE is seeking to evaluate the technical and economic implications of different energy technology options to determine a path forward. Phases I and II of the Repower Catalina Feasibility Study, summarized in this document, evaluated the following: Interconnection with the mainland via an undersea cable; On-island fossil fuel generation, including diesel, propane, and/or liquified natural gas (LNG); On-island renewable energy (RE) technologies, including solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, and wave energy devices; BESS to support the above generation technologies; Initial analysis of the potential impacts of implementing energy efficiency measures. Results indicate strong techno-economic potential for a mix of on-island diesel and/or propane generators, solar PV, BESS, and energy efficiency measures to help SCE and Catalina achieve their goals compliant with California’s emissions and clean energy standards while minimizing electricity life cycle costs (LCC) over the 30-year analysis period. This document summarizes the considerations and findings of Phases I and II, focusing on high-level takeaways from Phase I and more detailed results from Phase II, and discusses a potential path forward for Phase III.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Humidity’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions from air conditioning

We report that the increasing need to cool the air in our built environment is both a cause and an effect of climate change. Air conditioning accounts for a large portion of global greenhouse gas emissions today, which we estimate at 3.9%; however, the role that humidity plays in these emissions is often overlooked. Here, we show that the emissions associated with reducing air humidity (i.e., removing water vapor from air) are larger than emissions associated with reducing air temperature (i.e., cooling air). We calculate these emissions for today and 2050 and show how dramatically humidity-related emissions will increase with rising cooling demand around the world. We also calculate the minimum separation energy for removing water vapor from air and find that this is at least an order of magnitude less than the processes used today.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Life Cycle Analysis of Thermoelectric Power Generation in the United States

In this article, the basics of performing a life cycle analysis of thermoelectric power generation are discussed, with three examples of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) balances for thermoelectric power generation forms: coal, natural gas, and nuclear. The final section compares multiple electricity generation methods in the United States. Results are presented on the basis of 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity delivered to the end user. Environmental life cycle results for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are presented as carbon dioxide equivalents, based on 100-year global warming potentials (GWPs) established by the 6th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2021, commonly referred to as AR6 GWP values (IPCC, 2021). Additional details on other environmental life cycle impacts from non-GHG emissions to air, emissions to water, solid waste generation, and land use are available on the Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Life Cycle Analysis website: www.netl.doe.gov/LCA.

Cutshaw, Ashley↗
DOE OSTI2022

Volatile organic compound emissions from 4D printing: Effects of material composition and external stimulus

4D printing of stimuli-responsive materials extends 3D printing by enabling the fabricated structures to transform their shapes and properties over time in response to external stimuli. Numerous research efforts have been dedicated to developing new smart materials, enhancing material printability, and ensuring time-evolving properties. Meanwhile, the use of smart materials and external stimuli in 4D printing has introduced the possibility of air emissions that can potentially deteriorate the indoor air quality at the workplace and pose continuous health hazards to users during the production and use phases. These potential air emissions caused by 4D printing have not yet been assessed in current literature, leading to unknown occupational hazards and human health effects. This study focuses on stereolithography-based 4D printing with constrained thermo-mechanics and builds an emission model to quantify the volatile organic compound emissions from printing, shape programming, and shape recovery stages. The established model mathematically links the emission characteristics with material compositional design and stimuli-response mechanisms. Additionally, shape fixity and recovery abilities are considered to analyze the trade-off between the air emissions and stimuli-response performance of 4D printed parts. Case study results suggest that the methacrylate-based thermo-responsive material with higher glass transition temperature leads to higher air emissions, surpassing the permissible exposure level in the indoor environment. By altering the thermo-temporal conditions, a 61.29% reduction in emission yield can be achieved while ensuring a satisfactory shape memory performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants – Radionuclide Emissions (CY 2019)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) operates the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and the North Las Vegas Facility (NLVF). From 1951 through 1992, the NNSS was the continental testing location for U.S. nuclear weapons. The release of radionuclides from NNSS activities has been monitored since the initiation of atmospheric testing. After 1962, testing was limited to underground detonations, which greatly reduced radiation exposure to the public. Since the end of nuclear testing in 1992, radiation monitoring has focused on detecting airborne radionuclides from historically contaminated soils because this source dominates the potential offsite dose. These radionuclides are derived from re-suspension of soil (primarily by wind) and emission of tritium-contaminated soil moisture through evapotranspiration. Low amounts of legacy-related tritium are also emitted to air at the NLVF, an NNSS support complex in North Las Vegas.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Well-to-wheels greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from battery electric vehicles in China

Electric vehicles (EVs) play a crucial role in addressing climate change and urban air quality concerns. China has emerged as the global largest EV market with 1.2 million EVs sold in 2018. This study established a novel life cycle energy use and emission inventory collecting up-to-date data including the electricity generation mix, emission controls in the power and industrial sectors, and the energy use in the fuel transport to estimate the well-to-wheels (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG), and air pollutant emissions for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and gasoline passenger vehicles in China. The results show that an average BEV has 35% lower WTW GHG emissions than an average gasoline car. BEVs reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions by 98% and 34%, respectively, but have comparable or slightly higher primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Compact and small-size vehicles generally have lower GHG and air pollutant emissions than mid- and large-size vehicles. Class A vehicles contribute the most in the absolute amount of GHG and air pollutant emissions and therefore have the biggest potential for emission reduction. Our results suggest that global policymakers should continue to promote the transition to clean power sources, emission control, and fuel economy regulations, which are critical to enhancing emission mitigation benefits of BEVs. We also suggest EV development strategies should be formulated targeting vehicle class with the biggest emission mitigation potentials.

Air pollutant emissions↗
DOE OSTI2022

Biorefinery upgrading of herbaceous biomass to renewable hydrocarbon fuels, Part 1: Process modeling and mass balance analysis

Process simulation has long been a well-established tool to track key operational, design, and mass and energy balance metrics for pre-commercial technologies such as advanced lignocellulosic biofuels. While tools such as this are well-documented in the public literature around 2nd-generation cellulosic ethanol technologies (which have been scaled up to commercial deployment to some degree over the past decade), such models and analysis information remain more sparse for more complex biorefinery pathways focused on producing drop-in hydrocarbon fuels and blend-stocks, particularly regarding information required to support air emissions or other environmental analysis. In this work, we summarize key details for an established "design case" modeling the conversion of herbaceous lignocellulosic biomass into a renewable diesel hydrocarbon blend-stock based on a representative lipid pathway from oleaginous yeast. The process is based on a biochemical deconstruction and upgrading approach utilizing deacetylation and dilute acid pretreatment, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and catalytic upgrading of hydrolysate sugars to fuels. We provide key mass and energy balance outputs from the process models, with accompanying stream tables and component-level flowrates. A total of 12 model scenarios are presented spanning two feedstocks, three biorefinery scales, and two processing approaches for the lignin/residual solids waste streams. This "Part 1" manuscript presents the resulting impacts across the 12 cases on fuel yields and key output streams, focused here on direct biorefinery air emissions for selected components including CO 2 as well as sulfur (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). In the context of cleaner production, the latter focus on selected biorefinery air emission outputs establishes an initial baseline estimate and accompanying framework of the model cases, upon which an accompanying "Part 2" study will build to refine the values for these and other air pollutants across these scenarios, also considering mitigation options to comply with applicable regulatory standards. We also highlight further optimization opportunities based on potential tradeoffs identified here between air emissions versus life-cycle greenhouse gas profiles attributed to the disposition of lignin/residual solids.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗