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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 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Integration of Pumped Heat Energy Storage with Fossil-Fired Power Plant (Final Report)

The project team of Southwest Research Institute ® (SwRI ® ), Malta Inc. (Malta), and Luminant Generation Company LLC (Luminant) completed a feasibility study for the integration of a 100-MW, 10-hour (1000-MWh) Malta Pumped Heat Energy Storage (MPHES) system with multiple full-sized fossil-fired electricity generation units (EGU) in Luminant portfolio. MPHES is a long-duration, molten-salt-energy storage technology that uses turbomachinery and heat exchangers to transfer energy to a thermal storage media when charging, and removes the heat in a similar fashion when discharging. With high round trip efficiency (60-65%) and long lifespan (30+ years), MPHES provides economic benefits to the fossil-asset owners that can be scaled to integrate with assets across their portfolio. This technology uses hardware components, workforce personnel, and skillsets similar to those used by fossil EGUs, allowing for synergy when co-locating the two technologies. Luminant has approximately 39,000 megawatts of generation across 12 states, operating in six of the seven competitive markets in the U.S. and powered by a diverse portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, and solar facilities. The DeCordova plant in Granbury, Texas, a simple cycle natural gas peaker power plant, was used as the fossil-fired asset in this project. The local market in Granbury, Texas has many influences, including several nearby power plants, a Luminant-owned nuclear plant (Comanche Peak), and substantial wind energy, which causes both negative pricing at night and high market volatility. Reducing false starts of the DeCordova plant and better responding to market volatility would be an economic advantage. Luminant is currently integrating battery storage plant on site to begin addressing these challenges. Integrating long-duration storage, like MPHES, would expand this capability beyond one hour of storage and have the potential to greatly reduce the total number of gas turbine starts. The MPHES charging requirement could help offset the overnight operating costs of Comanche Peak, which cannot load follow, and the nearby Luminant-owned Wise County combined cycle plant that cycles too often. Following the assessment of Luminant’s ERCOT-based portfolio for integration compatibility with Malta’s PHES system and the project tasks of conceptual study, technoeconomic analysis, technology gap assessment, and commercialization plan, the project team effort has resulted in several key outcomes: (1) Identification of market trends in a high-wind penetration market outside a major metropolitan area; (2) Creation of a dispatching model for the MPHES system and the pairing of Li-ion battery with a gas turbine in a real time market; (3) Revenue and cost estimations for operating MPHES alongside a gas peaker plant with real dispatching considerations and comparison with variations in the Malta implementation, including doubling the storage capacity and using two discharge drivetrains; (4) Potential carbon emission reductions possible by replacing gas turbine operation with Malta PHES operation; and (5) Summary of literature-based future market predictions for Texas.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Battery Life Cycle Management

There is no question that electric vehicles (EVs), which are key for addressing climate change impacts from the transportation sector, are quickly gaining popularity and availability. With limits and other challenges related to the supply of critical battery minerals, maximizing the use of EV batteries and ensuring recovery of battery minerals is imperative. Therefore, proper end-of-life-cycle management (reuse and recycling) of these batteries must be part of the EV ecosystem from the perspective of both the supply chain and environmental footprint. Second use of batteries for energy storage systems extends the initial life of these resources and provides a buffer until economical material recovery facilities are in place. Although there are multiple pathways to recycling and recovery of materials, new recovery technologies are moving toward commercially available hydrometallurgy and promising direct recycling, which analysis has shown has the lowest overall carbon footprint. Strategically locating these plants close to battery collection further reduces transportation and thus recycling and recovering costs. Proper life cycle management could alleviate future lithium-ion battery materials supply chains for EVs. Governments and other stakeholders around the world have started initiatives and proposed regulations to address the challenges associated with life cycle management of EV lithium batteries. Finally, as manufacturers are increasingly faced with the likelihood of such extensive regulatory requirements, attention should be given to new designs, sales, and service models that can reduce life cycle management costs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

SPBMI Microgrid

The SPBMI Microgrid Project aims to achieve four primary objectives that support. the tribe’s strategic goals, plans, and mission: 1) Ensure the availability of resilient energy for five essential tribal facilities as identified in the San Pasqual Hazard Mitigation Plan and described in the San Pasqual Energy & Resiliency Plan; 2) Provide solar generation sufficient to achieve net-zero energy consumption at the five essential facilities; 3) Reduce the tribe’s lifetime levelized costs of energy (LCOE); and 4) Support tribal energy objectives including reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Secondary objectives include supporting local workforce development and employment, in part by utilizing commercially available and warranted technologies that can be operated and maintained by tribal staff. Expected outcomes from the project include substantially eliminating long-duration disruptions to essential tribal services due to utility outages (which totaled 34 hours in 2017); reducing lifetime energy costs by approximately $1.75 million; and producing approximately 6.5 GWh of renewable electricity over the system’s lifetime.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Inaugural Symposium of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment, Virginia Commonwealth University

The Inaugural Symposium of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment (ISEE) was held in Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia during April 26 – 28, 2023. The symposium addressed issues and challenges in energy and environment and highlighted the use of clean renewable energy to mitigate the adverse effects of fossil fuels and the greenhouse gases it produces. These issues are complex as the involve educating the public that the climate change is real, it is caused by the use of fossil fuels, it requires scientists and engineers to understand the fundamental science in the production and storage of renewable energy, it requires industries to manufacture and distribute the equipment necessary for commercial application of these technologies, it requires policy makers to put together policies and guidelines to make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies efficient, and it requires social scientists and educators to address environmental justice issues and create a workforce to sustain the transition. The symposium considered all the above issues with a diverse list of speakers from the federal and state government, industrial partners, and experts from science and technology to social sciences and public policy. Speakers from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Department of Energy, universities, and non-governmental agencies discussed the challenges and solutions in Plenary as well as Panel sessions. The talks were recorded with permission from the speakers and the panelists and were put in the ISEE website. The participants included students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors from Virginia Commonwealth University and local area Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) such as Virginia State University and Norfolk State University. The $5000 fund awarded by the Department of Energy were used to support the participation of students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty from the HBCU institutions. The technical program the list of participants is provided later in the document.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Alternative Fuels Review

This report provides information about additional options in electrifying the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) fishing fleet. Currently, the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project is prioritizing electric hybrid and battery electric options for retrofit of select fishing vessels in the fleet. However, there are other options for reducing carbon emissions among the fleet, namely hydrogen, ammonia, and biofuels. The use of these alternative fuels may be an option for the fleet in the future as ALFA addresses its vulnerabilities. A literature review of available resources on these fuels was conducted to provide information on several topics associated with implementation of these technologies, including current applications, commercially available power modules, necessary components, infrastructure, and safety codes and standards. An additional aspect that this report investigates is general sizing and refueling schedule based on operating records of multiple ships in the fleet.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Alternative Fuels Review

This report provides information about additional options in electrifying the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) fishing fleet. Currently, the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project is prioritizing electric hybrid and battery electric options for retrofit of select fishing vessels in the fleet. However, there are other options for reducing carbon emissions among the fleet, namely hydrogen, ammonia, and biofuels. The use of these alternative fuels may be an option for the fleet in the future as ALFA addresses its vulnerabilities. A literature review of available resources on these fuels was conducted to provide information on several topics associated with implementation of these technologies, including current applications, commercially available power modules, necessary components, infrastructure, and safety codes and standards. An additional aspect that this report investigates is general sizing and refueling schedule based on operating records of multiple ships in the fleet.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Membrane-based Ionic Liquid Absorption System for Ultra-Efficient Dehumidification and Heating

The project team – comprising the University of Florida (UF), GTI Energy, and Modine Manufacturing – sought to develop a highly efficient heat-powered absorption cycle with combined dehumidification and heat pumping. This DOE-supported project advanced the technology from a TRL of 3 to 6, culminating in the development of a 1,000 CFM system. Key innovations implemented in the system addressed the low efficiency, size, cost, and reliability challenges of conventional absorption cycles. Specifically, the system was enabled by: (1) a semi-open cycle that allowed simultaneous dehumidification and heat recovery, (2) non-crystallizing ionic liquids (ILs) that enabled “double-effect” operation at elevated temperatures without the need for costly control equipment, (3) a compact membrane-based absorber that confined the IL and directly cooled it to achieve low dew points, and (4) a novel, highly integrated desorber–condenser assembly that reduced size, weight, and cost. The technology was developed with commercial HVAC applications in mind, particularly for separate sensible and latent cooling (SSLC), an innovation aimed at achieving independent and more efficient humidity control.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Initial Characterization of the NREL Large-Amplitude Motion Platform

The Large Amplitude Motion Platform (LAMP) at NREL represents a significant advancement in the controlled testing of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) under laboratory conditions. Originally designed by E2M as a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) Stewart platform for flight simulation, LAMP has been adapted by NREL to facilitate the mounting and evaluation of WECs. This adaptation enables dry testing of WECs using motion profiles similar to the ocean, facilitating the iterative design, testing, and validation of WEC performance prior to ocean deployments. This report presents the initial work completed to characterize LAMP, with particular emphasis on its stability and operational capabilities across various single and multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion profiles. The report includes planned comparisons at three distinct mass payloads, aimed at assessing the platform's positional accuracy, frequency response, and endurance over extended runtime periods. These experimental tests are critical for establishing the platform's limitations and ensuring that the data generated during WEC validation is both accurate and reproducible. The outcomes of this study not only contribute to a deeper understanding of LAMP's capabilities but also lay the groundwork for future advancements in WEC testing methodologies. By providing robust and reliable performance data within a controlled laboratory setting, the findings are expected to significantly enhance the development and commercialization of marine energy technologies. This report presents the initial findings of the LAMP Characterization work and proposed steps to further understand and characterize LAMP. Data collected during this work can be found on MHKDR at: https://mhkdr.openei.org/submissions/602 Note that this report shares the measured/found instantaneous maximum operating range of LAMP. For most applications the maximum operating range cannot be used for system health and longevity. The operating range and capabilities of LAMP will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, single-DOF position, velocity, and acceleration values presented in Table 4a-c, and Table 5 should be taken as instantaneous absolute maximum values. Future use of LAMP will likely be limited to smaller values.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy-Transit Nexus Tools for Bus Fleet Electrification (NEXTBUS)

NEXTBUS is an open-source software project that integrates NLR's bus energy modeling and simulation tools with multi-objective optimization for fleet operations. NLR is collaborating with a transit technology startup, ReVolt, to commercialize these capabilities by deploying NEXTBUS in ReVolt's software platform. The goal is to manage the added complexities of running a heterogeneous fleet, encompassing battery electric and diesel buses, across a large, multi-depot transit network.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2025

NRIC FY 2025 Collaboration Initiatives Annual Report

The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) is a national program established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2019 and led by Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Its mission is to work with industry and national laboratories to bridge the gap between concept, demonstration, and commercialization of advanced nuclear technology. NRIC works to inspire stakeholders and the public, empower innovators, and deliver successful outcomes through efficient collaboration and coordination with partners. NRIC is partnered with industry to accelerate the demonstration and deployment of advanced nuclear technology using DOE’s national laboratory infrastructure and expertise. NRIC’s vision is to establish four new experimental facilitates and two large reactor test beds for integrated technology demonstrators and experimentation by 2028 and complete two advanced nuclear technology tests by 2030.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Characterization and effects of impurities on carbonate quantification in heterogenous matrices

Mineral carbonation simulates a natural weathering phenomena by breaking down silicates and oxides to form Ca & Mg carbonates. Various mineralization methods have been demonstrated as a potential technique to improve the quality of slags and tailings through neutralization and stabilization of problematic species to yield a product better suited for use in concrete. This study aims to characterize, quantify and analyze carbonates in various carbonated products such as mineralized CaCO 3 , CO 2 mineralized Steel Slags and Mine Tailings. More than 10 samples were analyzed for carbonate measurement and verification from industrial and academic partners that pioneer commercial CO 2 mineralization technologies. The samples were characterized primarily by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analyses (TGA), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to gain insights into CaCO 3 content. A baseline characterization of lab-grade CaCO 3 and MgCO 3 also revealed important considerations for CaCO 3 measurement using TGA alone. The experiments using synthetic lab-grade samples also revealed that the presence of MgCO 3 /MgO can accelerate the decomposition of CaCO 3 and thus can affect measurement parameters. Lab-grade CaCO 3 samples dosed into steel slag and mine tailing also showed significant deviation in their decomposition behavior. These insights are used to inform the development of a standardized protocol for the measurement and verification of carbonate-bearing products.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Sustainable Valorization of CO2 through Nuclear Power-to-X Pathways

Some of the issues concerning energy security and climate change can be addressed by employing nuclear power (NP) to supply the energy required for the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemicals, products, and materials. Nuclear energy represents a neutral carbon source that can be generated sustainably, reliably, and consistently. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) could supply energy in the form of heat, electricity, and ionizing radiation to drive CO2 chemical reactions underpinning NP-to-X type of pathways. CO2 conversion processes are either commercially available or emerging technologies at different developmental maturity stages. This work reviews the published literature (articles and patents) that reports R&D results and the understanding and development of chemical reactions and processes, as well as the efforts in integrating NPPs and chemical processes (CPs). As will be made evident, a new industrial era for the manufacturing of decarbonized chemicals, products, and materials will be possible by developing and implementing new (more energy- and carbon-efficient) processes responding to the NP-to-X pathways. This new decarbonizing platform not only contributes to achieving net zero goals but also broadens the NPP product beyond electricity.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-Jitter Clock Receivers for Fast Timing Applications

Precision timing is a key requirement for emerging 4D particle tracking, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), beam and fusion plasma diagnostics, and other systems. Time-to-Digital Converters (TDCs) are commonly used to provide digital estimates of the relative timing between events, but the jitter performance of a TDC can be no better than the performance of the circuits that acquire the pulses and deliver them to the TDC. Several clock receiver and distribution circuits were evaluated, and a differential amplifier with resistive loads driving a pseudo-differential clock distribution network, developed using design guidelines for radiation tolerance and cryogenic compatibility, was fabricated as part of three prototypes: an analog front-end testbed chip for high-precision timing pixel readout, a dedicated TDC evaluation chip, and a Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) readout circuit. Based on TDC measurements of the prototypes, we infer that the jitter added by the clock receiver and distribution circuits is less than 2.25 ps-rms. This performance meets the requirements of many future precision timing systems. The clock receiver and on-chip pseudo-differential driver were fabricated in commercial 28-nm CMOS technology and occupy 2288 µm 2 .

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Probabilistic Approach to Load Modeling for Central HVAC Systems in Large Commercial Buildings for Retrofit Decisions Under Uncertainty

Retrofitting central HVAC systems in large commercial buildings with advanced technologies like heat recovery chillers (HRCs) offers a significant opportunity to enhance energy efficiency. However, analyzing these retrofits is challenging with traditional whole-building simulation tools, which require intensive calibration and struggle to model innovative system configurations and controls. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes a load profilebased retrofit analysis framework that provides better decisions under uncertainty. The main focus of this paper is the development of a probabilistic load profile model that can be used in the framework by using exploratory data analysis (EDA) of measured building data to properly quantify its inherent variability. A non-parametric Gaussian Process (GP) model was employed to capture the time- and weather-dependent characteristics of the heating load while explicitly modeling its uncertainty. The model's effectiveness is demonstrated through strong predictive performance on unseen data and physically interpretable insights into load behavior. This data-driven, probabilistic load profile serves as a robust and flexible input for subsequent system simulations, enabling a more confident and statistically sound analysis of retrofit potential.

Ham, S W↗
DOE OSTI2026

Commercialization of Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA) Tool, for Indoor Optical Analysis of Heliostats

Under HelioCon, NLR began developing a new optical measurement system, called Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA). ReTNA has shown promise towards addressing metrology gaps for heliostat used in concentrated solar thermal (CST) plant. This project is focused on advancing this measurement system from the laboratory into industry, where it can provide valuable information for heliostat developers during research, development, and qualification of a heliostat design, and be used for quality assurance during heliostat manufacture. Over the course of this project, ReTNA was deployed at several commercial heliostat facilities. The system developed and deployed with the primary project partner, Solar Dynamics LLC, is described in detail. The report discusses each project Milestone, the ending status, the achieved value, and how these Milestones improve and qualify the ReTNA measurement tool. Finally, the final report covers the market advancements, path forward, commercial successes, and lessons learned. Final Technical report for TCF Base Technology-Specific project TCF-23-20118, Commercialization of Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA) tool, for indoor optical analysis of Heliostats.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

BETO 2021 Peer Review - Overview of the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium

Catalysis plays a central role in converting biomass and carbon-rich waste feedstocks into fuels and chemicals; however, critical catalysis challenges exist that are limiting commercialization of emerging bioenergy technologies. By leveraging unique U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory capabilities and expertise, the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy consortium seeks to overcome these catalysis challenges and accelerate the catalyst and process development cycle. The foundation of the consortium consists of an integrated and collaborative portfolio of catalytic technologies and enabling capabilities, which positions ChemCatBio to address both technology-specific and overarching catalysis challenges across the development cycle from discovery to scale-up. The core catalysis projects target technological advancements for specific conversion processes, such as catalytic upgrading of biochemical process intermediates, catalytic fast pyrolysis, C1 and C2 upgrading, and electrochemical CO2 reduction, while the enabling technologies provide access to world-class capabilities and expertise in computational modeling, materials synthesis, advanced in situ and in operando catalyst characterization, and catalyst design tools.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

A 20 Gbps Data Transmitting ASIC with PAM4 for Particle Physics Experiments

We present the design principle and test results of a data transmitting ASIC, GBS20, for particle physics experiments. The goal of GBS20 will be an ASIC that employs two serializers each from the 10.24 Gbps lpGBT SerDes, sharing the PLL also from lpGBT. A PAM4 encoder plus a VCSEL driver will be implemented in the same die to use the same clock system, eliminating the need of CDRs in the PAM4 encoder. This way the transmitter module, GBT20, developed using the GBS20 ASIC, will have the exact lpGBT data interface and transmission protocol, with an output up to 20.48 Gbps over one fiber. With PAM4 embedded FPGAs at the receiving end, GBT20 will halve the fibers needed in a system and better use the input bandwidth of the FPGA. A prototype, GBS20v0 is fabricated using a commercial 65 nm CMOS technology. This prototype has two serializers and a PAM4 encoder sharing the lpGBT PLL, but no user data input. An internal PRBS generator provides data to the serializers. GBS20v0 is tested barely up to 20.48 Gbps. With lessons learned from this prototype, we are designing the second prototype, GBS20v1, that will have 16 user data input channels each at 1.28 Gbps. We present the design concept of the GBS20 ASIC and the GBT20 module, the preliminary test results, and lessons learned from GBS20v0 and the design of GBS20v1 which will be not only a test chip but also a user chip with 16 input data channels.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗