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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 OSTI2021

Hybrid Power Plants: Status of Installed and Proposed Projects [Slides]

As battery prices fall and wind and solar generation rises, power plant developers are increasingly combining wind and solar projects with on-site batteries, creating “hybrid” power plants. But hybrid or co-located plants have been part of the U.S. electricity mix for decades, with widely ranging configurations that extend beyond pairing a generator with a battery. This new summary tracks and maps existing hybrid and co-located plants across the United States while also synthesizing data from generation interconnection queues to illustrate developer interest in the next wave of plants. The scope is inclusive of co-located hybrid plants that pair two or more generators and/or that pair generation with storage at a single point of interconnection, and also full hybrids that feature co-location and co-control. The focus is on larger, 1 MW+ systems: smaller (often behind-the-meter) projects are also increasingly common, but are not included in the data synthesis. Based in part on EIA Form 860 data, there were at least 125 co-located hybrid plants (>1 MW) already operating across the United States at the end of 2019, totaling over 14 GW of aggregate capacity. Some of the most common configurations include wind+storage (13 projects, 1,290 MW wind, 184 MW storage), PV+storage (40 projects, 882 MW PV, 169 MW storage), and fossil+storage (10 projects, 2,414 MW fossil, 91 MW storage). Data from interconnection queues demonstrates the considerable commercial interest that exists in hybrid power plants, especially solar co-located with storage. By the end of 2019, there were at least 367 GW of solar plants in the nation’s queues; 102 GW (~28%) of this capacity was proposed as a hybrid, most typically pairing PV with battery storage. For wind, 225 GW of capacity sat in the queues, with 11 GW (~5%) proposed as a hybrid, again most-often pairing wind with storage. The proposed solar+storage plants are located throughout the United States, but with California and the non-ISO West being the most prominent areas of commercial interest. Proposed wind+storage and standalone storage plants also center to a degree on these regions of the country.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

2021 Prototype Manufacture and Installation Awardee: Pecos Wind Power, Inc.

Through the 2021 Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP), Pecos Wind Power will manufacture a prototype of its 85-kilowatt (kW) horizontal-axis distributed wind turbine, the PW85, a new wind turbine that began development in 2017 when the company was founded. The PW85 wind turbine includes an industry-leading rotor diameter (30 meters) and full-span variable pitch blades to target a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of $0.103/kilowatt-hour in low annual wind speeds (6 meters per second). This is 55% lower than the average small wind turbine project installed in 2018. The goal of this project is to spur the development of increasingly lower-cost, high-capacity-factor distributed wind turbines. As a result, Pecos Wind Power will manufacture and install wind turbines that increase the geographic area in which distributed wind power is cost competitive with retail-priced electricity and other distributed energy resources - primarily solar energy.

CIP↗
DOE OSTI2021

Opportunities for installed combined heat and power (CHP) to increase grid flexibility in the U.S.

Increasing use of renewable energy requires sufficient grid flexibility to address uncertainty and variability in electricity generation. Previous studies suggest that combined heat and power (CHP) systems may support grid flexibility but they do not consider operating hours. In this paper, we used CHP operating data and determined annual and monthly availability of the installed CHP capacity from various sectors (e.g., utility, independent power producer, commercial, and industrial) in all seven U.S. independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs). Also, we estimated hourly CHP availability installed in five facility types (i.e., hospitals, universities, hotels, offices, and manufacturing) in the state of New York. The results show that regardless of ISO/RTO, sector, or season, more than 40% of the installed CHP capacity (0.7–8.7 GW) was not fully utilized in 2019; the results are similar for 2018. This available CHP capacity accounted for up to 9% of the ISO/RTO's peak electric demand, which may yield cost savings up to $16 billion by avoiding installation costs of new natural gas combustion or combined-cycle turbines. To exploit the available CHP capacity to enhance grid flexibility, we recommend different policy implications including flexible contract lengths between CHP owners and grid operators, improved market designs, and simplified interconnection standards.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Opportunities for and challenges to further reductions in the “specific power” rating of wind turbines installed in the United States

A wind turbine’s “specific power” rating relates its capacity to the swept area of its rotor in terms of Watt per square meter. For a given generator capacity, specific power declines as rotor size increases. In land-rich but capacity-constrained wind power markets, such as the United States, developers have an economic incentive to maximize megawatt-hours per constrained megawatt, and so have favored turbines with ever-lower specific power. To date, this trend toward lower specific power has pushed capacity factors higher while reducing the levelized cost of energy. We employ geospatial levelized cost of energy analysis across the United States to explore whether this trend is likely to continue. We find that under reasonable cost scenarios (i.e. presuming that logistical challenges from very large blades are surmountable), low-specific-power turbines could continue to be in demand going forward. Beyond levelized cost of energy, the boost in market value that low-specific-power turbines provide could become increasingly important as wind penetration grows.

geospatial modeling↗
NASA NTRS1987

A feasibility assessment of installation, operation and disposal options for nuclear reactor power system concepts for a NASA growth space station

A preliminary feasibility assessment of the integration of reactor power system concepts with a projected growth space station architecture was conducted to address a variety of installation, operational disposition, and safety issues. A previous NASA sponsored study, which showed the advantages of space station - attached concepts, served as the basis for this study. A study methodology was defined and implemented to assess compatible combinations of reactor power installation concepts, disposal destinations, and propulsion methods. Three installation concepts that met a set of integration criteria were characterized from a configuration and operational viewpoint, with end-of-life disposal mass identified. Disposal destinations that met current aerospace nuclear safety criteria were identified and characterized from an operational and energy requirements viewpoint, with delta-V energy requirement as a key parameter. Chemical propulsion methods that met current and near-term application criteria were identified and payload mass and delta-V capabilities were characterized. These capabilities were matched against concept disposal mass and destination delta-V requirements to provide the feasibility of each combination.

Bloomfield, Harvey S.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Zero Liquid Discharge and Water Reuse in Recirculating Cooling Towers at Power Facilities: Review and Case Study Analysis

Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems installed at power facilities with the primary purpose of meeting water discharge regulations have the added benefit of providing high quality effluent that can be reused in the facility. This paper provides a review of water use in power sector recirculating cooling towers and a baseline assessment of on-site water reuse at natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power facilities. Two NGCC facilities with reverse-osmosis (RO) or brine-concentrator processes followed by evaporation ponds were selected as case studies; data from these facilities were used to quantify the water, energy, and cost implications of implementing conventional and emerging ZLD technologies. At one case study facility, model results show that implementation of ZLD would reduce water withdrawals by 18%, which is less than savings associated with implementation of dry cooling but comparable to current efforts to reduce water withdrawals by increasing cycles of concentration. Implementation of ZLD using high-recovery RO resulted in a doubling of the levelized cost of water (LCOW). LCOW increased more when a brine concentrator was used. For both case studies, the ZLD system using high-recovery RO required less than 0.1% of a facilitiy's annual electricity generation and the ZLD system using a brine concentrator process required less than 0.8%. Additionally, increasing the evaporation pond area to minimize required ZLD system recovery rates and reduce system electricity costs does not reduce the LCOW. Instead, the LCOW increases because less water is recovered and more water is lost to evaporation. Furthermore, if water availability decreases or water competition/cost increases, facilities may be incentivized to maximize water recovery from ZLD systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Are coupled renewable-battery power plants more valuable than independently sited installations?

Coupled renewable-battery powerplants differ from the traditional concept of independent siting of electricity resources within transmission networks. Prior research on the value proposition and cost savings from coupling did not consider the geographic constraint of co-location. This paper fills the gap by assessing how pricing volatility differences between nodes within electricity markets impact the system value of coupled renewable-battery projects as compared to independent VRE and battery installations. We use wholesale power market prices from 2012–2019 across the seven main U.S. independent system operators (ISOs) with a linear optimization program to compare the electricity market value of coupled projects to the value of the same underlying sub-components, deployed separately. We find that additional value from adding a 4-hour battery sized to 50% of renewable-plant nameplate capacity is $\$$10/MWh across ISOs on average. The highest boost occurs in California ($\$$15/MWh), where the value of adding storage to solar rises over time in tandem with increased solar penetration in the region. If renewables and batteries are deployed independently, we estimate that $\$$12.5/MWh of additional value could be achieved because of more flexibility on battery siting and operation. The $\$$12.5/MWh coupling penalty is reduced to $\$$1.6/MWh when considering alternative approaches to integrating battery storage. This result implies that renewable-battery power plants will play an increasing role in electricity systems if they can be built for $\$$2–$\$$13/MWh less than independent projects of comparable size. However, the wide regional variation in coupling penalties, along with the importance of conditions captured in our sensitivity cases, suggests the tradeoff between coupling penalties and savings will vary by situation. Therefore, roles exist for independent and coupled projects from a system optimization perspective.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Emergency Diesel Generator Backup Power Systems for Military Bases

Backup power systems on military installations must provide reliable power during a grid outage. The risks of blackouts and loss of electric power are not new. Outages of just a few hours are well known, but longer duration outages are becoming more frequent. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force now require backup power from one to two weeks. For multiday outages, the reliability of emergency diesel generators will have a significant impact on the installation’s backup power system’s ability to provide power for critical missions.

backup power↗
DOE OSTI2023

Intra-hour Solar Irradiance Forecast in Multiple Locations using Deep Transfer Learning

In recent years, solar power system installation imposes several challenges on the operations of local and regional power grids due to the inherent variability of ground-level solar irradiance. This work proposes a novel real-time solar forecast methodology for intra-hour solar irradiance based on deep transfer learning from ground-based sky imager for time horizons ranging from 5-15 min. There are three unique aspects of the proposed methodology: (1) a Deep Learning based algorithm development which is modeled as a classification approach rather than a traditional regression approach; (2) the use of the Transfer Learning technique to show generalization capability, robustness, and portability of baseline model in the newly deployed location where availability of enough data for training is typically scarce, and (3) redefinition of point-based irradiation forecast error estimation technique with a window-based one that is more intuitive and user-friendly. The system is developed using multiple years of irradiance and sky image recording in New Jersey and one-year data from Colorado, USA. The method is validated against ground telemetry from these two locations of diverse geographic and climatic conditions. Results show that the forecasting method proposed in this work is robust and highly accurate (8% MAPE error) for multiple locations deployment.

Deep Learning, Convolution Neural Networks, transf↗
DOE OSTI2023

A New Class of SiC Power MOSFETs with Record-Low Resistance

Silicon carbide (SiC) power transistors are used in the main traction inverter of electric vehicles (EVs). Tesla began installing SiC power MOSFETs in 2017, and has now produced 4.8 million EVs containing over 169 million SiC power MOSFETs. Looking ahead, the worldwide EV market is projected to exceed 50 million vehicles per year by 2030 (Reuters, Oct. 25, 2022). This will create a demand for over two billion SiC power MOSFETs per year. Our program aims to double the efficiency of today's commercial power MOSFETs. This will cut the number of MOSFETs per EV in half, reducing cost, simplifying assembly, decreasing weight, and increasing vehicle reliability through reduced parts count. Our approach is to apply innovative design and advanced processing to increase the density of current-controlling channels in SiC power MOSFET. We have developed two new MOSFET devices, each of which increases the channel density by a factor of six over today's best commercial MOSFETs. This required implementing new fabrication processes, creating new device designs, and integrating the processing steps and device designs into a manufacturable technology. In this project we have developed two innovative devices: (i) a novel three-dimensional structure, the "tri-gate MOSFET," and (ii) a deeply-scaled, fully self-aligned trench MOSFET, the "IMOSFET". Both products were experimentally demonstrated during this project and meet the program goals of increased efficiency relative to the current state-of-the art commercial products. In the process we have generated significant IP, with two US patents issued and three applications pending. We have also published three journal articles and given reports on this technology at seven international conferences. The success of this program has led to significant follow-on funding from industry. In May 2023 Purdue University signed a five-year R&D contract with GlobalFoundries to transfer our novel technology to commercial production. With headquarters in Malta, NY, Global Foundries is one of the largest pure-play silicon foundries in the world, with annual revenue of $\$$8.1B. Their SiC foundry will be built around the next-generation 200-mm diameter SiC wafers, which will double the number of die per wafer and reduce per-die production cost.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2015

Rocket Propulsion 21 Steering Committee Meeting (RP21) NASA In-Space Propulsion Update

In-house Support of NEXT-C Contract Status Thruster NEXT Long Duration Test post-test destructive evaluation in progress Findings will be used to verify service life models identify potential design improvements Cathode heater fabrication initiated for cyclic life testing Thruster operating algorithm definition verification initiated to provide operating procedures for mission users High voltage propellant isolator life test voluntarily terminated after successfully operating 51,200 h Power processor unit (PPU) Replaced all problematic stacked multilayer ceramic dual inline pin capacitors within PPU Test bed Rebuilt installed discharge power supply primary power board Completed full functional performance characterization Final test report in progress Transferred PPU Testbed to contractor to support prototype design effort.

Electric Propulsion↗
DOE OSTI2024

Barriers and variable spacing enhance convective cooling and increase power output in solar PV plants

When the temperature of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules rises, efficiency drops and module degradation accelerates. Thus, it is beneficial to reduce module operating temperatures. Previous studies of solar power plants have illustrated that incoming flow characteristics, turbulent mixing, and array geometry can strongly impact convective cooling, as measured by the convective heat transfer coefficient h. In the fields of heat transfer and plant canopy flow, previous work has shown that system-scale arrangement modifications—e.g., variable spacing, barriers, or windbreaks—can passively alter the flow, enhance turbulent mixing, and influence convection. However, researchers have not yet explored how variable spacing or barriers might enhance convective cooling in solar power plants. Here, high-resolution large-eddy simulations model the air flow and heat transfer through solar power plant arrangements modified with missing modules and barrier walls. We then perform a control volume analysis to evaluate the net heat flux and compute h, which quantifies the influence of these spatial modifications on convective cooling and, thus, module temperature and power output. Installing barrier walls yields the greatest improvements, increasing h by 3.4%, reducing module temperature by an estimated 2.5 °C, and boosting power output by an estimated 1.4% on average. These findings indicate that incorporating variable spacing or barrier-type elements into PV plant designs can reduce module temperature and, thus, improve PV performance and service life.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1980

A study of mass production and installation of small solar thermal electric power systems

Technological constraints, materials availability, production capacity, and manufacturing and installations plans and costs at different production levels are included in a study of concentrating collector industrialization. As cobalt for the engine and receiver is supply limited, alternative lower temperature alloys and higher temperature materials such as ceramics are discussed. Economics and production efficiency favor co-location of cellular and thin glass production for reflectors. Assembly and installation are expensive for small sites and few alternatives exist to apply mass production techniques to lower these costs for the selected design. Stepping motors in the size and quantities required are not commercially available today but could be in the future.

Butterfield, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Innovative Technology Reduces Power Plant Emissions - Commercialization Success

Emission control system development includes: (1) Development of new oxidizer scrubber system to eliminate NOx waste and produce fertilizer (2) Technology licensed and a 1 to 3 MWatt-scale prototype installed on. power plant (3) Development of method to oxidize NO. to N02 (4) Experience gained from licensing NASA technology

Parrish, Clyde↗
NASA NTRS2004

Innovative Technology Reduces Power Plant Emissions-Commercialization Success

Overview of emission control system development: (1) Development of new oxidizer scrubber system to eliminate NOx waste and produce fertilizer (2) Technology licensed and a 1 to 3 MWatt-scale prototype installed on power plant (3) Development of method to oxidize NO to NO2 (4) Experience gained from licensing NASA technology.

Parrish, Clyde↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design Considerations for Distributed Energy Resource Honeypots and Canaries

There are now over 2.5 million Distributed Energy Resource (DER) installations connected to the U.S. power system. These installations represent a major portion of American electricity critical infrastructure and a cyberattack on these assets in aggregate would significantly affect grid operations. Virtualized Operational Technology (OT) equipment has been shown to provide practitioners with situational awareness and better understanding of adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Deploying synthetic DER devices as honeypots and canaries would open new avenues of operational defense, threat intelligence gathering, and empower DER owners and operators with new cyber-defense mechanisms against the growing intensity and sophistication of cyberattacks on OT systems. Well-designed DER canary field deployments would deceive adversaries and provide early-warning notifications of adversary presence and malicious activities on OT networks. In this report, we present progress to design a high-fidelity DER honeypot/canary prototype in a late-start Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗