Single Source/Cutoff Grid, Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren System
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Joshua M Weisberger↗
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Single Source/Cutoff Grid, Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren System
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Joshua M Weisberger↗
Modeling Flow and Particle Deposition in a Spent Nuclear Fuel Assembly
CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) simulation of aerosol-laden natural convective flow and particle deposition in a spent fuel storage canister with 37 assemblies is currently computationally prohibitive. PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) assemblies have up to 289 pins or tubes with several spacer grids to align the pins. Spacer grids with mixing vanes induce swirling during operation to increase heat transfer. Each spacer grid contains hundreds of small structures such as retaining clips, channel walls, and openings. The largest canisters store 37 PWR assemblies thus, there are numerous pins, tubes, and spacer grids for which the flow region between and around these structures needs to be determined along with the movement and deposition of aerosol particles. Because of the complicated geometry, modeling the intricate flow even for just one assembly is currently impractical. Nonetheless, we are developing techniques for a practical model to assess the natural aerosol particle deposition process in a canister in the event that a release occurs from one or more fuel pins. In the previous work it was demonstrated that CFD can model the flow through a PWR spacer grid with mixing vanes, including particle deposition, in a reasonable amount of time on a personal computer. In this work, the analysis is extended to include the bypass region between an assembly and the canister basket walls. It is shown that the flow velocity in the bypass region is about three times that of the interstitial region between the pins. The lengths before and after the spacer grid are also extended to determine when the flow becomes fully developed. In addition, the approach of computationally “stitching together” segments of an assembly is demonstrated with the plan to ultimately model a full assembly. The fraction of particles that are deposited in a segment with a spacer grid is determined as a function of particle size and flow velocity.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Development of a Self-Aligned Compact Focusing Schlieren System for NASA Test Facilities
A novel compact, inherently self-aligned focusing schlieren system is presented for use in experiments that require flow visualization. Unlike existing focusing schlieren systems that require a separate, and precisely aligned, source grid and cutoff grid to achieve sensitivity to density gradients, this system projects an image of a physical grid element onto a background and then reimages this projection back onto the physical grid element thereby achieving self-alignment. Further, unlike existing focusing schlieren systems where the image of the source grid is physically translated relative to the cutoff grid to achieve sensitivity to density gradients, a polarization prism in the system acts on the polarization state of the light of the projected grid element to provide sensitivity adjustment. By adjusting the position of the prism along the optical axis of the instrument, changes to the sensitivity can be realized. Since the outgoing and returning light used to project an image of the grid element are orthogonally polarized to one another, reflections from windows that may be present between the lens and background of the system can be eliminated. The system can also be implemented in test facilities where optical access is limited and/or exists on only one side. A discussion on different aspects of the development of this technology is provided, as are sample images from the system at the different stages of development. Images that demonstrate the ability to make on-the-fly adjustments to the instrument's field-of-view and working distance are also presented.
Brett F Bathel↗
Addition of Improved Shock-Capturing Schemes to OVERFLOW 2.1
Existing approximate Riemann solvers do not perform well when the grid is not aligned with strong shocks in the flow field. Three new approximate Riemann algorithms are investigated to improve solution accuracy and stability in the vicinity of strong shocks. The new algorithms are compared to the existing upwind algorithms in OVERFLOW 2.1. The new algorithms use a multidimensional pressure gradient based switch to transition to a more numerically dissipative algorithm in the vicinity of strong shocks. One new algorithm also attempts to artificially thicken captured shocks in order to alleviate the errors in the solution introduced by "stair-stepping" of the shock resulting from the approximate Riemann solver. This algorithm performed well for all the example cases and produced results that were almost insensitive to the alignment of the grid and the shock.
Burning, Pieter G.↗
End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock: Market Needs, Use Cases, and Data Gaps
States and utilities are developing increasingly ambitious energy goals. Part of the solution to meeting these goals is improving electric grid flexibility. This includes shifting electric demand to align with grid needs. Thus, identifying and using building energy efficiency and other distributed energy resources to produce the highest grid value requires highly resolved, accurate and accessible electricity end-use load profiles (EULPs). EULPs quantify how and when energy is used. Currently, few accurate and accessible end-use load profiles are available for utilities, public utility commissions, state energy offices and other stakeholders to use to prioritize investment and value energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation and energy storage. High-quality EULPs are also critical for determining the time-sensitive value of efficiency and other distributed energy resources, and the widespread adoption of grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs).For example, EULPs can be used to accurately forecast energy savings in buildings or identify energy activities that can be shifted to different times of the day. This report serves as the first-year deliverable for a multiyear U.S. Department of Energy-funded project, End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock, that intends to produce a set of highly resolved EULPs of the U.S. residential and commercial building stock. The project team, made up of researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Argonne National Laboratory, ultimately will use calibrated physics-based building energy models to create these EULPs.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock: Market Needs, Use Cases, and Data Gaps
States and utilities are developing increasingly ambitious energy goals. Part of the solution to meeting these goals is improving electric grid flexibility. This includes shifting electric demand to align with grid needs. Thus, identifying and using building energy efficiency and other distributed energy resources to produce the highest grid value requires highly resolved, accurate and accessible electricity end-use load profiles (EULPs).
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Anisotropic Mach Cone Aligned Mesh Adaptation for Low Boom Simulations
An automated off-body Mach cone aligned structured curvilinear grid generation procedure is presented for near-field computational fluid dynamics simulations. This procedure combines output-based indicators and mesh redistribution to perform anisotropic mesh adaptation while maintaining Mach cone alignment. Automation is achieved through a novel direction-based adaptation indicator formulation. The adaptation procedure is demonstrated on the JAXA Wing Body geometry and X-59 C608 demonstrator model from the Second and Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshops, respectively. It is demonstrated that anisotropic mesh adaptation may result in a greater than fifty percent reduction in resource usage required to achieve the same level of accuracy as uniform and user constructed Mach cone aligned grids for near-field pressure signatures, ground-level overpressure signatures, and loudness metrics.
CST↗
Anisotropic Mach Cone Aligned Mesh Adaptation for Low Boom Simulations
An automated off-body Mach cone aligned structured curvilinear grid generation procedure is presented for near-field computational fluid dynamics simulations. This procedure combines output-based indicators and mesh redistribution to perform anisotropic mesh adaptation while maintaining Mach cone alignment. Automation is achieved through a novel direction-based adaptation indicator formulation. The adaptation procedure is demonstrated on the JAXA Wing Body geometry and X-59 C608 demonstrator model from the Second and Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshops, respectively. It is demonstrated that anisotropic mesh adaptation may result in a greater than fifty percent reduction in resource usage required to achieve the same level of accuracy as uniform and user constructed Mach cone aligned grids for near-field pressure signatures, ground-level overpressure signatures, and loudness metrics.
CST↗
Output-Adaptive Tetrahedral Cut-Cell Validation for Sonic Boom Prediction
A cut-cell approach to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) that utilizes the median dual of a tetrahedral background grid is described. The discrete adjoint is also calculated, which permits adaptation based on improving the calculation of a specified output (off-body pressure signature) in supersonic inviscid flow. These predicted signatures are compared to wind tunnel measurements on and off the configuration centerline 10 body lengths below the model to validate the method for sonic boom prediction. Accurate mid-field sonic boom pressure signatures are calculated with the Euler equations without the use of hybrid grid or signature propagation methods. Highly-refined, shock-aligned anisotropic grids were produced by this method from coarse isotropic grids created without prior knowledge of shock locations. A heuristic reconstruction limiter provided stable flow and adjoint solution schemes while producing similar signatures to Barth-Jespersen and Venkatakrishnan limiters. The use of cut-cells with an output-based adaptive scheme completely automated this accurate prediction capability after a triangular mesh is generated for the cut surface. This automation drastically reduces the manual intervention required by existing methods.
Park, Michael A.↗
Low Boom Configuration Analysis with FUN3D Adjoint Simulation Framework
Off-body pressure, forces, and moments for the Gulfstream Low Boom Model are computed with a Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes solver coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras (SA) turbulence model. This is the first application of viscous output-based adaptation to reduce estimated discretization errors in off-body pressure for a wing body configuration. The output adaptation approach is compared to an a priori grid adaptation technique designed to resolve the signature on the centerline by stretching and aligning the grid to the freestream Mach angle. The output-based approach produced good predictions of centerline and off-centerline measurements. Eddy viscosity predicted by the SA turbulence model increased significantly with grid adaptation. Computed lift as a function of drag compares well with wind tunnel measurements for positive lift, but predicted lift, drag, and pitching moment as a function of angle of attack has significant differences from the measured data. The sensitivity of longitudinal forces and moment to grid refinement is much smaller than the differences between the computed and measured data.
Park, Michael A.↗
Aligning Electric Vehicle Customer Charging with Grid Needs
This talk to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) focuses on "Aligning Electric Vehicle Customer Charging with Grid Needs" to highlight the opportunities associated with managed electric vehicle charging and its value for consumers and the power system. Electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing a rapid rise in popularity and adoption, and growing EV adoption offers an opportunity to increase electricity demand. With expected widespread EV adoption, supporting charging will require investments in generation, transmission, and distribution systems. Uncoordinated charging of EVs will lead to increased system peak load, possibly exceeding the maximum power that can be supported by distribution systems and generally increasing power system stress. However, vehicles are underutilized assets parked ~96% of the time: managed EV charging can satisfy mobility needs while also supporting the grid. EVs are not a burden for the grid, but a resource: The demand-side flexibility provided by managed EV charging offers significant potential benefits for the grid over multiple timescales and applications., especially for high-renewable systems. Managed charging can support power system planning and operations during normal and extreme conditions, benefitting EV owners and other electricity consumers. Managed charging is shown to consistently provide hundreds of dollars in cost savings per EV each year.
ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
Multigrid with Overlapping Patches
Solving boundary value problems with optimal efficiency requires adaptivity and multilevel techniques. Previously, an implementation of the AFACx algorithm is presented that is based on rectangular Cartesian grids. This implementation does not allow for the over]ap of grids that lie on the same level of refinement. We investigate the case in which these grids overlap. A standard technique for overlapping grids is the Schwarz algorithm. Some ways of using the Schwarz algorithm in a standard multigrid scheme are presented. Also, a problem that arises in some situations with non-aligned, overlapping grids is described. This situation comes up in a natural way when the Schwarz algorithm is used as a relaxation scheme within a multilevel algorithm. We identify the reason for the bad convergence and show that by more sophisticated interpolation the difficulties can be overcome. Then we present a multiplicative Schwarz algorithm for a large number of grids that has a high potential for parallelization. Finally we give some numerical results for the FACx algorithm with overlapping grids on each refinement level. The implementation of the described codes uses C++ and the array class libraries A++ and P++. Using the A++/P++ programming environment, it was possible to move from a serial code to a parallel code within a few days.
Berndt, Markus↗
Optimizing Grid Regulation With Gravity Storage Systems: A Comparative Analysis With Different Motor Inertias
The integration of renewable energy sources into power grids necessitates solutions for grid support and stability during fluctuations in electricity generation and demand. Gravity energy storage systems (GESS) are emerging as a promising technology for managing the balance between energy supply and demand. However, their capacity to optimize energy flow and offer voltage and frequency regulation amid imbalances in generation and demand is less reported. This paper investigates the control of GESS for optimizing energy flow during voltage and frequency regulation. The study evaluates the regulation capabilities of GESS with different motor inertias during a Texas grid event: one with a high-speed, low-inertia motor and another with a low-speed, high-inertia motor. Results indicate that both GESS scenarios provide fast frequency response by converting potential energy into kinetic energy and vice versa, with a response time of 1.5 s from the frequency variation. This aligns with grid requirements for primary frequency response from traditional synchronous generators and motors with large inertia. Furthermore, a GESS based on a high-inertia motor may be able to operate over a broader range of frequency variations, whereas a low-inertia system may be limited by thermal constraints of the motor.
frequency regulation↗
Optimizing Grid Regulation With Gravity Storage Systems: A Comparative Analysis With Different Motor Inertias: Preprint
The integration of renewable energy sources into power grids necessitates solutions for grid support and stability during fluctuations in electricity generation and demand. Gravity energy storage systems (GESS) are emerging as a promising technology for managing the balance between the energy supply and demand. However, their capacity to optimize energy flow and offer voltage and frequency regulation amid generation-demand imbalances is less reported. This paper investigates the control of GESS for optimizing energy flow during voltage and frequency regulation. The study evaluates the regulation capabilities of GESS with different motor inertias during a Texas grid event: one with a high-speed, low-inertia motor and another with a low-speed, high-inertia motor. Results indicate that both GESS systems provide fast frequency response by converting potential energy into kinetic energy and vice versa, with a response time of 1.5 seconds from the frequency variation. This aligns with grid requirements for primary frequency response from traditional synchronous generators and motors with large inertia. Furthermore, a GESS with a high-inertia motor may be able operate over a broader range of frequency variations whereas a low-inertia system may be limited by thermal constraints of the motor.
frequency regulation↗
Optimizing Grid Regulation with Gravity Energy Storage Systems: A Comparative Analysis with Different Motor Inertias
The integration of renewable energy sources into power grids necessitates solutions for grid support and stability during fluctuations in electricity generation and demand. Gravity energy storage systems (GESS) are emerging as a promising technology for managing the balance between energy supply and demand. However, their capacity to optimize energy flow and offer voltage and frequency regulation amid imbalances in generation and demand is less reported. This paper investigates the control of GESS for optimizing energy flow during voltage and frequency regulation. The study evaluates the regulation capabilities of GESS with different motor inertias during a Texas grid event: one with a high-speed, low-inertia motor and another with a low-speed, high-inertia motor. Results indicate that both GESS scenarios provide fast frequency response by converting potential energy into kinetic energy and vice versa, with a response time of 1.5 s from the frequency variation. This aligns with grid requirements for primary frequency response from traditional synchronous generators and motors with large inertia. Furthermore, a GESS based on a highinertia motor may be able to operate over a broader range of frequency variations, whereas a low-inertia system may be limited by thermal constraints of the motor.
ENERGY STORAGE,POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
Mathematical Investigation of Gamma Ray and Neutron Absorption Grid Patterns for Homeland Defense Related Fourier Imaging Systems
Terrorist suitcase nuclear devices typically using converted Soviet tactical nuclear warheads contain several kilograms of plutonium. This quantity of plutonium emits a significant number of gamma rays and neutrons as it undergoes radioactive decay. These gamma rays and neutrons normally penetrate ordinary matter to a significant distance. Unfortunately this penetrating quality of the radiation makes imaging with classical optics impractical. However, this radiation signature emitted by the nuclear source may be sufficient to be imaged from low-flying aerial platforms carrying Fourier imaging systems. The Fourier imaging system uses a pair of co-aligned absorption grids to measure a selected range of spatial frequencies from an object. These grids typically measure the spatial frequency in only one direction at a time. A grid pair that looks in all directions simultaneously would be an improvement over existing technology. A number of grid pairs governed by various parameters were investigated to solve this problem. By examining numerous configurations, it became apparent that an appropriate spiral pattern could be made to work. A set of equations was found to describe a grid pattern that produces straight fringes. Straight fringes represent a Fourier transform of a point source at infinity. An inverse Fourier transform of this fringe pattern would provide an accurate image (location and intensity) of a point source.
Boccio, Dona↗
Self-Aligned Selective Area Front Contacts on Poly -Si/SiO x Passivating Contact c -Si Solar Cells
We report both polarity poly-Si/SiO x passivating contacts in a front/back device configuration may represent the next solar cell architecture after tunnel oxide passivating contacts (TOPCon) cells, but high parasitic absorption in the front poly -Si layer often limits its performance. This work explores a wet etching technique to remove the front poly -Si in the nonmetallized regions using self-aligned metal grids as an etch mask. We systematically examine various dielectric layers (SiN x ,Al 2 O 3 , and stacks thereof) to study the repassivation of the etched n + surface, and find that an SiN x /Al 2 O 3 passivation stack can effectively repassivate the etched surface, which we attribute to field-effect passivation from the positive fixed charge from the SiN x layer, and excellent chemical passivation property from Al 2 O 3 in the form of atomic H. We demonstrate a front/back poly-Si/SiO x passivating contact device, with an open-circuit voltage (V oc ) of 690 mV, short-circuit current density (J sc ) of 39.8 mA/cm 2 , fill factor of 78%, and power conversion efficiency of 21.4%. Furthermore, simulations using SunSolve and Quokka 3 show good agreement with both the optical and electrical properties of the experimental device. The power loss analysis reveals improvements in the optical loss from the back Ti adhesion and front SiN x layers would lead to a 23.5% device. Lastly, a techno-economic model compares the production cost of this improved cell with the current TOPCon cells. Our results highlight that further cost reductions in single-sided doped poly -Si layers are needed to compete with mainstream passivated emitter and rear cell, and TOPCon technologies.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗