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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 631 records · Page 35

Turbulent Processes that Influence Boundary-Layer Cloud Structure (Final Technical Report)

Many models of the atmosphere simulate vertical profiles of observable fields, such as temperature, moisture, and vertical velocity. To assess the realism of such model output, it is important to evaluate the modeled profiles against observations. However, many extant evaluations consist of comparing time averaged profiles from the model and the observations. Such time averages can smooth out unrealistic features that appear in instantaneous profiles. In this way, the time averages may obscure certain model errors from detection. For instance, many models misrepresent turbulent processes, leading to profiles that are too smoothed out or too noisy. E.g., if a model has coarse vertical resolution and overly strong diffusion, then the model may be unable to produce observed sharp peaks. On the other hand, a model may have artificial approximations that produce spurious jumps in the vertical. Much can be learned by browsing through instantaneous snapshots of model output. But the volume of output produced by a global model is far too great to rely purely on visual inspection. In addition, we need a way to statistically characterize the profiles, so that anomalies can be detected more conveniently.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Path Length Matching and Phase control for Coherently Combined Fiber Laser Arrays (1DPATH)

Coherently combined fiber lasers are literally the future of all lasers. Through coherent combining the high efficiency, ruggedness, and low cost of fiber lasers can be synthesized into any laser imaginable. Lasers of any wavelength, pulse characteristics, energy, average power, or beam output shape can be created through the coherent combination of a low cost base fiber laser. We now have the opportunity to move from traditional “Analog” lasers with their bulk optics, big optical benches, strict cleanliness requirements and high cost and fragility towards “Digital Lasers” where the output beams are shaped to provide characteristics like Orbital Angular Momentum to not only specify the traditional laser characteristics but also the output beam patterns as well. This will enable future applications such as Wakefield Accelerators, petawatt lasers, particle beam control, as well as Inertial Confinement Fusion Drivers and a host of other medical, scientific, and industrial uses.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Photovoltaic Mini-Module Soiling Stations: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

Photovoltaic (PV) panels can become soiled due to a variety of environmental factors. This soiling reduces the amount of light reaching the cells and thus their energy output. The ratio of actual output of the soiled device that of a clean device is known as the soiling ratio. The daily change in soiling ratio is known as the soiling rate. To study soiling for different glass coatings. Two soiling stations were fabricated. The stations were designed to monitor the short-circuit current of PV cells encapsulated with glass featuring different coatings and measure the daily soiling ratio with a pair of reference cells, one of which is automatically brushed daily. This work meets the need to understand how the glass coatings perform in additional environments. The stations are designed to quantify both the soiling ratio (the ratio between actual/expected photovoltaic panel power output) as well as differences in anti-soiling performance of different glass coatings. The design of the dirty/clean reference cell system is described by Toth et al. The soiling ratio is calculated by calculating the average irradiance measured within one hour of solar noon by each of the reference cells and then taking the ratio of these daily near-noon averages. The soiling ratio time series for the station deployed in Georgia is shown in Figure 1. This figure shows that the soiling ratio at the site has not yet fallen below 0.99, indicating that peak daily soiling losses have been below 1%. The site was chosen because it is thought to be affected by pollen soiling. With continued monitoring over the course of at least a full year, we expect to be able to observe and quantify pollen soiling events.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Challenges in quantifying unparameterized spatial uncertainties in deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste

Spatially heterogeneous uncertainties are prevalent in geophysical modeling applications, such as probabilistic post-closure performance assessment (PA) of deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste. Such uncertainties are often highly influential to model outputs, so it is desirable to identify the most important mechanisms by which they influence model predictions. However, these uncertainties are often unparameterized in the sense that there is no set of parameters that can be specified to yield a particular realization of the uncertainty. Additionally, the uncertainty is not intrinsically endowed with a parameterization that captures a realization’s mechanistic influence on model outputs. Therefore, in this work we present a novel methodology to develop and assess a set of proxy variables that aim to represent this influence. We show how they can be computed, downselected, and incorporated into the construction of statistical surrogate models mapping model inputs to outputs. We present our methodology in the context of a motivating application problem in deep geologic repository PA and discuss the challenges in capturing the effects of these spatial heterogeneities in uncertainty analyses.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Exploring the Use of Flexible Circuit Boards to the Increase Power Density of a Rotary Triboelectric Nanogenerator

EExpansion on previous triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) research that investigated a freestanding rotary TENG. The previous prototype used a single printed circuit board (PCB) stator with exposed copper electrodes and an arcylic rotor with vinyl-cut fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) wedges. The second generation prototype again used a PCB stator but used a flexible PCB rotor consisting of alternating polyamide and copper wedges. This prototype was assembled in a stacked configuration, with the intent of increasing current output. Results indicated that the internal resistance of the prototype was decreased, allowing for higher current output. However, degradation of the power output was observed, which led to decay testing of the prototypes. To overcome charge decay, a self-exciting design is suggested as further work.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Hybridization Assessment of Trybrid Pumped Storage Hydropower System—Part 1: A Case Study of Corral Summit

This report is a part of the deliverables for technical assistance provided to Cat Creek Energy for the Coral Summit Trybrid (Triple Hybrid-Pumped Storage Hydropower, Battery Energy Storage System, and photovoltaic solar energy) energy project. This report explores the operational benefits and challenges of hybridizing an open loop PSH (200MW) located at Mackay, Custer County, Idaho with solar PV (Ground mount 300MW and floating 40MW) and battery (720MWhr). This document reports two activities performed as a part of the hybridization assessment task 1) optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy, and 2) power quality and reliability assessment. From optimal resource allocation and energy management strategy (activity 1), the following key findings can be observed: • Conventional PSH (CPSH) with two reversible pump turbines and separate penstocks can provide required flexibility equivalent to that from two ternary PSH with separate penstock. With single unit CPSH, upper reservoir head cannot be maintained accurately, the variation of water level is rapid and pump mode flexibility is not available. These disadvantages can be overcome by single unit TPSH. However, using two CPSH units with separate penstocks also overcome these disadvantages with the formation of the hydraulic short circuit between two conventional units. • Flooding of the lower reservoir is a severe concern when considering continuous operation for black start. This limits the duration of continuous operation from PSH alone to around 50 hours. Due to the complementary PV and battery action, the duration of continuous operation and smooth power output can be extended. • An optimization problem is framed that maximizes the power output on an hourly basis while minimizing constraint violations and respecting seasonal variations of solar PV and load profiles . Two value streams, arbitrage and baseload generation are served by this profile. It was uncovered that for smooth power output during regular operation, PV curtailment will be required, or the battery capacity needs to be increased above 90MW to accommodate additional PV. From power quality and reliability assessment (activity 2) the following takeaway points can be observed: • The Trybrid, when integrated at the Lost River bus, and limited to 250MW in generation mode and -150MW in the pump mode, causes no violation of voltage or flow.

13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗

Filament Extension Atomization for High Solids Loading in Energy Efficient Spray Drying Systems

We demonstrate that we could scale FEA to reach outputs needed by industrial production, while increasing solids loading of the sprayed product by at least 30% and maintaining equal or better spray powder. After testing a wide range of products, in collaboration with industry partners we decided on our primary spray products of dry whey and WPC-80, two common materials processed and sold by US manufacturers with different parameters. We sprayed these with FEA at solids loadings of 70% for dry whey and 45% for WPC-80 with a spray output with particle sizes similar to industrial particles sizes and reduced variation in particle size. We simultaneously scaled up FEA first with a multi-nip with 6 nips surrounding a central roller with parallel axis of rotation and eventually with a tapered design that solved problems we encountered with our initial design. We were able to achieve output from a single array from our first design of up to 4.7 liters per minute (L/min) and from an array of our second multi-nip of 8 L/min exceeding expectations. This demonstrates that FEA technology can indeed be scaled up to meet the needs of industrial production. More arrays can be added as necessary to meet a wide range of spray dryer designs. We also tested FEA to create dried powders from a small scale (10 L/hour of water removal) spray dryer. Though we were not able to produce large quantities of powder from FEA due to challenges in integration, the powder we produced was higher quality and produced from higher solids loading materials. From our technoeconomic analysis we for a typically sized spray dryer, we estimate a 27% cost reduction and 41% energy and carbon reduction for WPC-80 and a 39-57% cost reduction and 52-76% energy reduction for sweet dry whey (depending on the exact product).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Core Model Proposal #373: Add Exogenous Shutdown Decider

This core model proposal adds an exogenous shutdown decider that can scale the output of a vintaged technology in years after its initial operating period. The output can be scaled above or below the technology vintage's original output. This proposal also includes code changes to disable the behavior of the s-curve shutdown decider and profit shutdown decider in calibration periods. The proposal does not include any changes to data to utilize the new exogenous shutdown decider (it only introduces the capability). It should be noted that the exogenous shutdown decider and s-curve shutdown decider serve similar functions and generally should not be used together; however, the exogenous shutdown decider and profit shutdown decider reflect different dynamics and can be used in combination.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Knowledge Graph for End-to-End Traceability of an Integrated Human-Earth System Model

Integrated human-Earth system models inform energy-water-land system dynamics and policies, yet their results are difficult to trace through input-data, model structure, scenario configurations, and solved outputs. Because this information is siloed across disconnected artifacts, process-based IAMs have historically lacked a unified, queryable representation. Such lack of traceability prevents researchers from systematically isolating the multi-sector drivers of complex outcomes (such as tracing water-scarcity results back to distant energy-system dynamics) or conducting holistic uncertainty attribution across hundreds of interacting parameters. To address this concern, our work documents the software engineering process of a knowledge graph that unifies these four layers for the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM-USA_Reference scenario, GCAM v9.1). The graph was built as a relational property graph in DuckDB from the run’s own artifacts: the input-preparation dependency map (gcamdata chunk map), the model’s XML input files, the run configuration, and the results database (BaseX), successfully mapping the model’s declared structure. The resulting graph comprises 204,321 nodes and 1,687,814 edges across 16 node types and 15 edge types, with approximately 16.3 million time-series values stored separately to maintain structural efficiency. To ensure representation fidelity, every edge carries an epistemic-status annotation recording the warrant for the relationship (structural, provenance, dependency, or model-derived), and a machine-readable provenance ledger classifying the origin of every schema element. Evaluation against a fixed five-benchmark suite with locked baselines reports zero structural orphans, zero dangling edge endpoints, and 100% of output-producing technologies traceable to raw input files. Two interactive interfaces present the graph, including a serverless browser application built on DuckDB-Wasm. By establishing the first end-to-end provenance framework for an IAM, this work enables researchers and scientists to systematically audit complex policy scenarios, debug model structures, and trace policy-relevant outputs to their data origins in real time.

Artifical Intelligence↗

The Cognitive Effects of Machine Learning Aid in Domain-Specific and Domain-General Tasks.

With machine learning (ML) technologies rapidly expanding to new applications and domains, users are collaborating with artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic tools to a larger and larger extent. But what impact does ML aid have on cognitive performance, especially when the ML output is not always accurate? Here, we examined the cognitive effects of the presence of simulated ML assistance—including both accurate and inaccurate output—on two tasks (a domain-specific nuclear safeguards task and domain-general visual search task). Patterns of performance varied across the two tasks for both the presence of ML aid as well as the category of ML feedback (e.g., false alarm). These results indicate that differences such as domain could influence users’ performance with ML aid, and suggest the need to test the effects of ML output (and associated errors) in the specific context of use, especially when the stimuli of interest are vague or ill-defined

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Biological Mechanisms May Contribute to Soil Carbon Saturation Patterns: Modeling Archive

This Modeling Archive is in support of a TES-SFA publication “Biological Mechanisms May Contribute to Soil Carbon Saturation Patterns” (Craig et al., 2021). We ran and evaluated a multi-assumption soil organic carbon (SOC) model to investigate whether alternative assumptions regarding constraints on soil microbial biomass could lead to soil carbon saturation patterns. We developed this model in the Multi-Assumption Architecture and Testbed (MAAT, https://github.com/walkeranthonyp/MAAT, tag: v1.2.1_Craig2021; Walker et al. 2018). Using MAAT, we embedded three alternative hypotheses in a microbially explicit three-pool SOC model: 1) the efficiency of mineral-associated SOC formation decreases as mineral-associated SOC approaches a maximum value (“Mineral saturation”), 2) the microbial biomass turnover rate increases with increasing microbial biomass (“Density-dependent turnover”), and 3) community carbon use efficiency decreases as microbial biomass increases toward an upper limit (“Density-dependent growth”). We ran a factorial combination of these hypotheses resulting in eight models for three different classes of model (linear decay, Michaelis-Menten decay, or reverse Michaelis-Menten decay), resulting in 24 models, 12 of which are presented or discussed in the related publication. Models were parameterized using values from previous studies with similar models (Wang et al. 2013, Wieder et al. 2014, Li et al. 2014, Georgiou et al. 2017, Hassink and Whitmore 1997) and ran to an approximate steady state (200 years) at six (6) different C input rates corresponding to 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 7, and 10 times the default input value. Further model details are available in the related publication. This archive contains output from three MAAT simulations, and scripts to run these simulations and process and plot the data. Simulations are labeled “lin”, “MM_highKm”, and “RMM_highKm” reflecting factorial runs for linear, Michealis-Menten, and reverse Michaelis-Menten models, respectively. This archive contains: • 3 R scripts prepended with “init_MAAT_” to initialize runs (1 for each simulation), • 1 csv file containing years over which to run simulations (“met_year.csv”), • 1 bash script (.bs) to run MAAT, • 6 XML files that are output from MAAT describing a run (2 for each simulation), • 3 model output csv files prepended by “out_” (1 for each simulation), and • 1 analysis R script for reproducing figures 3 and 4 in Craig et al. 2021. See included user guide (Craig_2021_modeling_archive_20210315.pdf) for file organization details.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

2023 National Offshore Wind data set (NOW-23)

The 2023 National Offshore Wind data set (NOW-23) is the latest wind resource data set for offshore regions in the United States, which supersedes, for its offshore component, the Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit, which was published about a decade ago and is currently one of the primary resources for stakeholders conducting wind resource assessments in the continental United States. The NOW-23 data set was produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) version 4.2.1. A regional approach was used: for each offshore region, the WRF setup was selected based on validation against available observations. The WRF model was initialized with the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts 5 Reanalysis (ERA-5) data set, using a 6-hour refresh rate. The model is configured with an initial horizontal grid spacing of 6 km and an internal nested domain that refined the spatial resolution to 2 km. The model is run with 61 vertical levels, with 12 levels in the lower 300m of the atmosphere, stretching from 5 m to 45 m in height. The MYNN planetary boundary layer and surface layer schemes were used the North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hawaii, and North Pacific regions. On the other hand, using the YSU planetary boundary layer and MM5 surface layer schemes resulted in a better skill in the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and South Pacific regions. A more detailed description of the WRF model setup can be found in the WRF namelist files linked at the bottom of this page. For all regions, the NOW-23 data set coverage starts on January 1, 2000. For Hawaii and the North Pacific regions, NOW-23 goes until December 31, 2019. For the South Pacific region, the model goes until 31 December, 2022. For all other regions, the model covers until December 31, 2020. Outputs are available at 5 minute resolution, and for all regions we have also included output files at hourly resolution. The NOW-23 data are provided here as HDF5 files. Examples of how to use the HSDS Service to Access the NOW-23 files are linked below. A list of the variables included in the NOW-23 files is also linked below. No filters have been applied to the raw WRF output.

Array↗

Challenges and Lessons Learned in Applying Sensitivity Analysis to Building Stock Energy Models

Uncertainty Analysis (UA) and Sensitivity Analysis (SA) offer essential tools to determine the limits of inference of a model and explore the factors which have the most effect on the model outputs. However, despite a well established body of work applying UA and SA to models of individual buildings, a review of the literature relating to energy models for larger groups of buildings undertaken by Fennell et al. (2019) highlighted very limited application at larger scales. This contribution describes the efforts undertaken by a group of research teams in the context of IEA-EBC Annex 70 working with a diverse set of Building Stock Models (BSMs) to apply global sensitivity analysis methods and compare their results. Since BSMs are a class of model defined by their output and coverage rather than their structure and inputs, they represent a diverse set of modelling approaches. Key challenges for the application of SA are identified and explored, including the influence of model form, input data types and model outputs. This study combines results from 7 different modelling teams, each using different models across a range of urban areas to explore these challenges and begin the process of developing standardised workflows for SA of BSMs.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗

How Earth System Models Can Inform Key Dimensions of Marine Food Security in the Alaskan Arctic

The Arctic is home to several groups of Indigenous Peoples, each with distinct ways of interacting with their environment and ways of life. Arctic, Indigenous Peoples’ food sovereignty is tightly linked with food security. Subsistence harvesting activities provide nutritious and culturally vital foods for Alaska Native households and communities. Climate change is causing rapid and more unpredictable shifts in environmental conditions that impact three of the key aspects of food security, availability, stability, and accessibility. While communities monitor the abundance and health of food webs and environments as part of subsistence harvest practices, anticipating major transformations and changes in these systems is challenging. We explored the potential of Earth System Model output in helping anticipate or project physical or ecosystem changes relevant to Alaska Indigenous peoples’ food security needs. Through examples of model products, that provide measures of accessibility and availability of marine resources, we show that modern models, such as the Energy Exascale Earth System Model presented here, can provide estimates of a broad suite of variables relevant to food security. We investigate how Earth System Model output could contribute to exploring questions related to aspects of Arctic food security such as accessibility and availability and highlight present model shortcomings that, if addressed, would move Earth System Models closer to being a useful tool for understanding environmentally driven changes to the availability and accessibility of harvestable food resources. Our example model-derived food security indicators illustrate how Earth System Model output could be combined with relevant, non-model, information sources; These model products are meant only as a starting point and a tool for engaging community members and to present, in an accessible way, the model’s potential utility, or current lack thereof, to rights holders and stakeholders concerned about food security. We are hopeful that with example products in hand, additional model development efforts will have a higher likelihood of success in achieving an iterative discussion with stakeholders regarding feasible and desired products.

Gibson, Georgina A.↗

Impedance Analysis and PHIL Demonstration of Reactive Power Oscillations in a Wind Power Plant Using a 4-MW Wind Turbine

This paper presents impedance-based analysis, mitigation, and power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) demonstration of reactive power oscillations in a wind power plant using a 4-MW Type III wind turbine drivetrain. Because such low-frequency oscillations result from interactions among slower control loops of wind turbines regulating phasor quantities—active and reactive power output of the wind turbine and the magnitude of voltages at the point of interconnection (POI)—a new type of admittance is defined in terms of phasor quantities for their analysis. The so-called power-domain admittance of a wind turbine is defined as the transfer function from the frequency and magnitude of voltages at the POI to the active and reactive power output of the turbine. The power-domain admittance responses of the 4-MW wind turbine are measured using a 7-MVA grid simulator to identify the source of the reactive power oscillations. Power-domain impedance analysis and PHIL experiments are performed to explain how a resonant mode manifests as turbine-to-turbine and plant-to-grid reactive power oscillations. It is discovered that weaker grids exhibiting high inductive impedance mitigate oscillations in the reactive power output of wind power plants; however, a higher grid impedance does not help in damping turbine-to-turbine reactive power oscillations. This paper presents a simple droop-based solution to eliminate both turbine-to-turbine and plant-to-grid reactive power oscillations.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Inverse Modeling of Hydrologic Parameters in CLM4 via Generalized Polynomial Chaos in the Bayesian Framework

In this work, generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) expansion for land surface model parameter estimation is evaluated. We perform inverse modeling and compute the posterior distribution of the critical hydrological parameters that are subject to great uncertainty in the Community Land Model (CLM) for a given value of the output LH. The unknown parameters include those that have been identified as the most influential factors on the simulations of surface and subsurface runoff, latent and sensible heat fluxes, and soil moisture in CLM4.0. We set up the inversion problem in the Bayesian framework in two steps: (i) building a surrogate model expressing the input–output mapping, and (ii) performing inverse modeling and computing the posterior distributions of the input parameters using observation data for a given value of the output LH. The development of the surrogate model is carried out with a Bayesian procedure based on the variable selection methods that use gPC expansions. Our approach accounts for bases selection uncertainty and quantifies the importance of the gPC terms, and, hence, all of the input parameters, via the associated posterior probabilities.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Resource and Load Compatibility Assessment of Wind Energy Offshore of Humboldt County, California

Floating offshore wind is being considered in northern California as indicated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s issuance of a lease consideration in the Humboldt Call Area. Humboldt County offers access to this enormous resource, but local electric load and transmission are limited. The potential impacts of offshore wind generators at three different scales were studied using a regional grid model of Humboldt County. Offshore wind generation was calculated using modeled wind speed data and 12-MW turbine specifications and integrated with projected load and historical generation. Offshore wind farms deployed in the Humboldt Call Area achieve annual capacity factors between 45% and 54% after losses and maintenance. Power output is variable between and within seasons, with full power output 30% of the time and no output approximately 20% of the time. Electricity from a 48-MW wind farm provides 22% of regional load with limited exports. A 144-MW wind farm serves 38% of local load, exporting 40% of its electricity with the extant 70-MW transmission capacity. A full build-out of 1836 MW would result in 88% curtailment with existing transmission. Across scenarios, offshore wind variability necessitates reliance on existing power plants to meet local demand in periods of low wind.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Hydrothermal but Not Mechanical Pretreatment of Wastewater Algae Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion Energy Balance due to Improved Biomass Disintegration and Methane Production Kinetics

This study used pilot-scale high-rate algae ponds to assess algal–bacteria biomass productivity and wastewater nutrient removal as well as the impact of mechanical and hydrothermal pretreatments on biomass disintegration, methane production kinetics, and anaerobic digestion (AD) energy balance. Mechanical pretreatment had a minor effect on biomass disintegration and methane production. By contrast, hydrothermal pretreatment significantly reduced particle size and increased the solubilized organic matter content by 3.5 times. The methane yield and production rate increased by 20–55% and 20–85%, respectively, with the highest values achieved after pretreatment at 121 °C for 60 min. While the 1st-order and pseudo-1st-order reaction equation models fitted methane production from untreated biomass best (R2 > 0.993), the modified Gompertz sigmoidal-type model provided a superior fit for hydrothermally pretreated algae (R2 ≥ 0.99). The AD energy balance revealed that hydrothermal pretreatment improved the total energy output by 25–40%, with the highest values for volume-specific and mass-specific total energy outputs reaching 0.23 kW per digester m3 and 2.3 MW per ton of biomass volatile solids. Additionally, net energy recovery (energy output per biomass HHV) increased from 20% for untreated algae to 32–34% for hydrothermally pretreated algae, resulting in net energy ratio and net energy efficiency of 2.14 and 68%, respectively.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗