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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 73 records · Page 4

Techno-economic analysis of renewable energy generation at the South Pole

Transitioning from fossil-fuel power generation to renewable energy generation and energy storage in remote locations has the potential to reduce both carbon emissions and cost. Here, this study presents a techno-economic analysis for implementation of a hybrid renewable energy system at the South Pole in Antarctica, which currently hosts several high-energy physics experiments with nontrivial power needs. A tailored model of resource availability and economics for solar photovoltaics, wind turbine generators, lithium-ion energy storage, and long-duration energy storage at this site is explored in different combinations with and without existing diesel energy generation. The Renewable Energy Integration and Optimization (REopt) platform is used to determine the optimal system component sizing and the associated system economics and environmental benefit. We find that the least-cost system includes all three energy generation sources and lithium-ion energy storage. For an example steady-state load of 170 kW, this hybrid system includes 180 kW-DC of photovoltaic panels, 570 kW of wind turbines, and a 3.4 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system. This system reduces diesel consumption by 95% compared to an all -diesel configuration, resulting in approximately 1200 metric tons of carbon footprint avoided annually. Over the course of a 15-year analysis period the reduced diesel usage leads to a net savings of 57 million United States dollars, with a time to payback of approximately two years. All the scenarios modeled show that the transition to renewables is highly cost effective under the unique economics and constraints of this extremely remote site.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Letter to the Editor: Use of Publicly Available Image Resources

Here we write with regard to the Academic Radiology article entitled, “Computer-aided Diagnosis for Lung Cancer: Usefulness of Nodule Heterogeneity” by Drs. Nishio and Nagashima (1). The authors also report on a computerized method to classify as benign or malignant lung nodules present in computed tomography (CT) scans.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Coal Fleet Transition: Retirement Impacts in the Eastern Interconnection

This report examines the impact of announced retirements on the mix of available generating capacity, prices, resource availability, and air emissions in the Eastern Interconnection. The report uses a security constrained economic dispatch (SCED) model - Ventyx's PROMOD IV 11.1 - of the bulk electric system (BES) to model the interconnection.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Resource Assessment for Hydrogen Production

This analysis was conducted in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's H2@Scale initiative, and this report examines the resources required to meet demand for an additional 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of hydrogen in 2040. The technical potential of hydrogen production from fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy resources is presented. Updated maps describe the geographical distribution of hydrogen production potential from renewable energy resources. The results conclude that the technical resource availability of domestic energy resources is sufficient to meet an additional 10 MMT of hydrogen demand in 2040, without placing significant pressure on existing resources. While this level of hydrogen demand could result in a significant increase in renewable energy consumption, in particular, the technical potential of each resource is estimated to be sufficient to meet the demand. Future research, to enable the large-scale integration of hydrogen in the U.S. energy and other sectors, will include analyzing the geographic distribution of resources in relation to hydrogen demand for a variety of applications. Additional techno-economic analysis is also needed to understand the economic potential of hydrogen in other industries, beyond transportation; such analysis is currently being undertaken by a multi-lab project initiated by DOE in 2016. Finally, information from techno-economic analyses should be used to continually update and inform R&D targets for energy production, hydrogen production, and hydrogen utilization technologies.

08 HYDROGEN↗

The Application of Hydraulic and Thermal Stimulation Techniques to Create Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Geothermal energy production requires temperature at depth, a working fluid to transport heat to the surface, and a network of fluid pathways connecting injection and production wells. These requirements constrain the availability of geothermal energy resources. Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) development expands geothermal resource availability by artificially generating networks of fluid pathways in the reservoir. This is accomplished through hydraulic and thermal stimulation of the geothermal reservoir. Hydraulic and thermal techniques were applied at the Raft River geothermal field as part of a Department of Energy (DOE) EGS development project. The test well RRG-9 ST1 was hydraulically stimulated three times between February 2012 and April 2014. Since June, 2013 continuous injection of sub-reservoir temperature plant water has been used to thermally stimulate the well. The stimulation program has resulted in a large increase in the injectivity of the well, an increase from less than 20 gpm in June 2013 to nearly 1,000 gpm in April 2016. Wellbore imaging and temperature analysis identified a northeast striking fracture zone intersecting the well between 5,640 and 5,660 ft. measured depth (MD) has nominally accepted all of the injected fluid. Microseismic activity, related to stimulation program and plant activity was used to track possible fluid pathways within the reservoir. The microseismic data indicates that the injected fluid moves primarily to the northeast through the Narrows Zone, a northeast striking fault structure that bisects the field. Tracers injected into RRG-9 ST1 and recovered at the production wells RRG-2 and RRG-4, located to the northeast of RRG-9 ST1, support this theory. It is hypothesized that water injected into RRG-9 ST1 moves through the intersecting fracture zone which connects into the Narrows Zone, and then moves along the Narrows Zone to the northeast. This conceptual model was numerical simulated using FALCON a finite element reservoir simulation code developed by Idaho National Laboratory. The modeling suggests that both thermal and hydraulic fracturing mechanisms played an important role in improving the injectivity at RRG-9 ST1. The stimulation program at Raft River has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of hydraulic and thermal stimulation techniques. RRG-9 ST1 is now in commercial use.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Index of Classified Reports Collection now available Vital resource for Weapons researchers, today’s mission work

The collection is made up of classified technical reports containing weapons data dating back to the start of the nuclear security enterprise. The information is compiled into reports, slides, handbooks and literature. It originated from Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia Labs, as well as from the Department of Defense and likely every other organization involved in nuclear testing, including contractors and those that are now defunct.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Taxonomy for Modeling Demand Response Resources

Demand response resources are an important component of modern grid management strategies. Accurate characterizations of DR resources are needed to develop systems of optimally managed grid operations and to plan future investments in generation, transmission, and distribution. The DOE Demand Response and Energy Storage Integration Study (DRESIS) project researched the degree to which demand response (DR) and energy storage can provide grid flexibility and stability in the Western Interconnection. In this work, DR resources were integrated with traditional generators in grid forecasting tools, specifically a production cost model of the Western Interconnection. As part of this study, LBNL developed a modeling framework for characterizing resource availability and response attributes of DR resources consistent with the governing architecture of the simulation modeling platform. In this report, we identify and describe the following response attributes required to accurately characterize DR resources: allowable response frequency, maximum response duration, minimum time needed to achieve load changes, necessary pre- or re-charging of integrated energy storage, costs of enablement, magnitude of controlled resources, and alignment of availability. We describe a framework for modeling these response attributes, and apply this framework to characterize 13 DR resources including residential, commercial, and industrial end-uses. We group these end-uses into three broad categories based on their response capabilities, and define a taxonomy for classifying DR resources within these categories. The three categories of resources exhibit different capabilities and differ in value to the grid. Results from the production cost model of the Western Interconnection illustrate that minor differences in resource attributes can have significant impact on grid utilization of DR resources. The implications of these findings will be explored in future DR valuation studies.

Olsen, Daniel↗

A multi-criteria land suitability assessment of field allocation decisions for switchgrass

With the goal of evaluating biomass resource availability in certain regions in the United States, the Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, national laboratories, and Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, performed a resource analysis study, 2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy, Volume 1: Economic Availability of Feedstocks, using POLYSYS model to estimate biomass potential. The study provided county- and state-level biomass potential projections, with biomass feedstock production estimates and suitability assessment of lands acreage likely to transition to energy crops. For this analysis, we estimate biomass supply by year 2028, more specifically, lands acreage transition to switchgrass in the Midwest of the United States, across 50 counties in 3 states (Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado). We propose a multi-criteria site suitability framework, to determine the potential acreage and production for switchgrass, at the field level. Site selection criteria span agronomic and ecosystem services such as previous land cover, crop rotation, soil water holding capacity, crop productivity, field efficiency, topography, soil organic matter, soil leaching propensity, distance to surface water bodies, and soil erosivity. Efficient agricultural field selection for dedicated energy crops field allocation is critical to evaluate biomass resource availability, and it is our position that estimation at the field level would provide a more accurate and useful estimation to support an emerging bioeconomy. Using field suitability scores and county-level assessments, we model land allocation decision for energy crop in the future, estimating the spatial distribution of dynamics of energy crop adoption with priority to fields scoring the highest. Additionally, compared with POLYSYS results from the report mentioned above, our method shows good performance overall, with about 2% and 1.2% of difference in switchgrass acreage allocation and crop production, respectively.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Marine Energy in the United States: An Overview of Opportunities

This report provides a concise and consolidated overview of the Unites States’ marine energy resources . The results reported herein are primarily based on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded marine energy resource assessments in the following technology areas: wave, tidal currents, ocean currents, ocean thermal gradients, and river currents. This report also incorporates recent updates and refinements to the U.S. wave and tidal resource assessments performed by the national labs. Many of these refinements were undertaken to address feedback from the National Research Council’s evaluation of the original resource assessments (National Research Council 2013). Further, this report refines the analysis that has been published to date by identifying the marine energy resources available in each U.S. state or region to the extent practical. In short, this report summarizes the best available data on U.S. marine energy resources at the state, regional, and national scales.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Enabling Extreme Real-Time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE) Project: Multiday and Intraday Energy Availability Product [Slides]

This presentation will provide an overview of the development of a Multi-Day Energy Availability Product under the DOE ENERGISE project, conducted in collaboration with Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the National Laboratory of the Rockies, Polaris, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Existing market clearing processes are limited to day-ahead and real-time horizons, which may result in insufficient pricing signals and compensation for resource availability over multi-day timeframes (e.g., incentives for fuel procurement and energy-limited resource preparedness). This effort aims to develop a new market product and associated clearing process to value and procure resource energy availability over a multi-day horizon. The team will present progress to date and solicit advisory group feedback on proposed methodologies and preliminary findings.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Timing Value of Marine Renewable Energy Resources for Potential Grid Applications

In this paper, the applicability of marine renewable energy for potential grid applications is presented. We show that many of the unique value streams from marine-based electricity generation stem from their inherent temporal characteristics, especially when compared to wind and solar. Specifically, in this work, we evaluate the timing value for three types of marine energy resources - (a) tidal (b) wave and (c) ocean currents. Firstly, through a suite of novel metrics such as resource availability, persistence and versatility, we evaluate the temporal value characteristics of these resources. Secondly, through a more grid-oriented numerical study, we comment on the potential ramifications of those temporal characteristics in context of energy balancing and effective load carrying capability, for one marine-based resource i.e. wave. Subsequently, we further our understanding of the relative advantages which may be leveraged by operating wave-based generation resources in tandem with more established renewable choices, such as solar and wind. Our results indicate that compared to wind and solar, marine energy resources are consistently more available and persistent on an hourly level, throughout an entire year of operation. In addition to this, wave resources are also seen to reduce both the magnitudes and the degree of volatility in balancing requirements within the power system. Our work not only focuses on sites specific to the Unites States (US), but also includes a parallel study for a location in Great Britain (GB). Results are found to be consistent for sites in both the US and GB, implying that the grid benefits discussed in this work could apply to a number of locations globally.

Bhattacharya, Saptarshi↗

BuildingSync® v.2.5.0 2024 [SWR-18-28]

BuildingSync® is a building data exchange schema to better enable integration between software tools and building data workflows. The schema's original use case was focused on commercial building energy audits; however, several additional use cases have been realized including building energy modeling and more high-level generic building data exchange. BuildingSync helps streamline the data exchange process, improving the value of the data, minimizing duplication of effort for subsequent building data collection efforts (including audits), and facilitating the achievement of greater energy efficiency. This in done in part by standardizing on (a) reporting audits in an electronic format, (b) tracking proposed, implemented, and discarded energy conservation measures, and (c) storing building characteristics (at multiple levels) for audits, benchmarking, and building energy analysis. BuildingSync has several documents and tools available to help users understand how to best leverage BuildingSync. The list below are only a subset of the resources available. If new resources are discovered, then feel free to create a new pull request with the additions. Generic BuildingSync information is available on the DOE website and the project website. BuildingSync Examples - These examples are kept up to date and show a wide range of implementations. Any new update to BuildingSync is required to pass validation on these example files. BuildingSync Use Case Validator allows for users to determine if their instance complies with a specific use case for BuildingSync by checking if the required elements are implemented in an uploaded instance. An API is also provided for automated integration into other tools. Also, the website contains an easy way to view the entirety of the schema and how elements relate to the Building Exchange Data Exchange Specification. The Validator is open sourced here Use Case TestSuite provides a Python package for easier generation of BuildingSync use cases. BuildingSync use cases depend on the generation of schematron documents, which is time-consuming and difficult to implement well. The TestSuite allows users to define a use case using a more palatable CSV template, which it then turns into a Schematron document. The source code is available here. BuildingSync to OpenStudio/EnergyPlus. The translator is open sourced here. This project will translate a Level 1 (and partial Level 2) ASHRAE Energy Audit to a fully defined OpenStudio and EnergyPlus model. This project is in early Beta testing and any feedback is welcome!

Long, Nicholas↗

BuildingSync® v.2.7.0 (released 9.11.2025) [SWR-18-28]

BuildingSync® is a building data exchange schema to better enable integration between software tools and building data workflows. The schema's original use case was focused on commercial building energy audits; however, several additional use cases have been realized including building energy modeling and more high-level generic building data exchange. Version 2.7.0 adds new elements for file attachment feature and FederalBuilding, and generalizes usage of Optional Elements (e.g. EquipmentCondition, EquipmentID) to all assets/systems. BuildingSync helps streamline the data exchange process, improving the value of the data, minimizing duplication of effort for subsequent building data collection efforts (including audits), and facilitating the achievement of greater energy efficiency. This in done in part by standardizing on (a) reporting audits in an electronic format, (b) tracking proposed, implemented, and discarded energy conservation measures, and (c) storing building characteristics (at multiple levels) for audits, benchmarking, and building energy analysis. BuildingSync has several documents and tools available to help users understand how to best leverage BuildingSync. The list below are only a subset of the resources available. If new resources are discovered, then feel free to create a new pull request with the additions. Generic BuildingSync information is available on the DOE website and the project website. BuildingSync Examples - These examples are kept up to date and show a wide range of implementations. Any new update to BuildingSync is required to pass validation on these example files. BuildingSync Use Case Validator allows for users to determine if their instance complies with a specific use case for BuildingSync by checking if the required elements are implemented in an uploaded instance. An API is also provided for automated integration into other tools. Also, the website contains an easy way to view the entirety of the schema and how elements relate to the Building Exchange Data Exchange Specification. The Validator is open sourced here Use Case TestSuite provides a Python package for easier generation of BuildingSync use cases. BuildingSync use cases depend on the generation of schematron documents, which is time-consuming and difficult to implement well. The TestSuite allows users to define a use case using a more palatable CSV template, which it then turns into a Schematron document. The source code is available here. BuildingSync to OpenStudio/EnergyPlus. The translator is open sourced here. This project will translate a Level 1 (and partial Level 2) ASHRAE Energy Audit to a fully defined OpenStudio and EnergyPlus model. This project is in early Beta testing and any feedback is welcome!

Long, Nicholas [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NR↗

Biomass Scenario Model

The Biomass Scenario Model (BSM) is a unique, carefully validated, state-of-the-art dynamic model of the domestic biofuels supply chain which explicitly focuses on policy issues, their feasibility, and potential side effects. It integrates resource availability, physical/technological/economic constraints, behavior, and policy. The model uses a system dynamics simulation (not optimization) to model dynamic interactions across the supply chain.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Language games: Advanced R & R packages: Book Review

Readers who wrangle answers from data by extended refinement of available computational tools have many options and resources available. Inevitably, they will develop their own methods tailored to the problem at hand.Two new books have recently been published, each of which is useful addition to the library for a scientist who programs with data. The two books reviewed are both written by H. Wickham. The titles are ''Advanced R'' and ''R Packages'', both published in 2015.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Advances and Enhancements in the Fabric for Frontier Experiments Project at Fermilab

The FabrIc for Frontier Experiments (FIFE) project within the Fermilab Scientific Computing Division is charged with integrating offline computing components into a common computing stack for the non-LHC Fermilab experiments, supporting experiment offline computing, and consulting on new, novel workflows. We will discuss the general FIFE onboarding strategy, the upgrades and enhancements in the FIFE toolset, and plans for the coming year. These enhancements include: expansion of opportunistic computing resources (including GPU and high-performance computing resources) available to experiments; assistance with commissioning computing resources at European sites for individual experiments; StashCache repositories for experiments; enhanced job monitoring tools; and a custom workflow management service. Additionally we have completed the first phase of a Federated Identity Management system to make it easier for FIFE users to access Fermilab computing resources.

Herner, Kenneth↗

Raccoon densities across four land cover types in the southeastern United States

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the primary reservoir for rabies virus in eastern North America. Management of rabies in raccoons is achieved primarily with the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) and effective ORV bait densities are determined in part by the densities of raccoons. Decisions regarding ORV bait densities, however, are limited by an incomplete understanding of raccoon densities across the spectrum of landscapes they occupy. We carried out a mark-recapture study of raccoons on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, from 2017–2019, to develop sex- and landscape-specific raccoon density estimates across 4 rural land cover types in the southeastern United States: bottomland hardwood, riparian forest, isolated wetland, and upland pine (Pinus spp.). We captured 404 unique raccoons 773 times over the 3-year trapping period. Estimated densities were 5.44 ± 0.37 (SE) animals/km 2 in bottomland hardwood forest, 2.62 ± 0.32 animals/km 2 in riparian forest, 2.19 ± 0.29 animals/km 2 in isolated wetlands, and 2.14 ± 0.23 animals/km 2 in upland pine. Densities were significantly higher in bottomland hardwood than all other land cover types, whereas densities among the remaining cover types were similar. These patterns are likely the result of landscape fragmentation and configuration, with riparian forests typically embedded in a matrix of less suitable cover types, leading to low densities despite presumably high resource availability. There were higher densities of males than females in every cover type except upland pine, where the sex ratio was balanced. Densities on our site were low compared to other rural areas, which likely results from the lack of human influence in terms of agriculture or development. The financial cost of baiting for ORV distribution may be reduced by considering the comparatively low densities of raccoons in these rural landscapes in the southeastern United States.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Measurement of Particulate Retention in Microchannel Flows

The purpose of this study was to explore the flow rates and aerosol retention of an engineered microchannel with characteristic dimensions similar to those of stress corrosion cracks (SCCs) that could form in dry cask storage systems (DCSS) for spent nuclear fuel. Additionally, pressure differentials covering the upper limit of commercially available DCSS were studied. Given the scope and resources available, these data sets should be considered preliminary and are intended to demonstrate a new capability to characterize SCC under well-controlled boundary conditions. The gap of the microchannel tested was 28.9 gm (0.00110 in.), the width was 12.7 mm (0.500 in.), and the length was 8.86 mm (0.349 in.). Over a nine-hour period, the average mass concentration upstream of the microchannel was 0.048 mg/m 3 while the average concentration downstream was 0.030 mg/m 3 . By the end of the test, the mass of aerosols that entered the test section upstream of the microchannel was 0.207 mg and the mass of aerosols that exited the microchannel was 0.117 mg. Therefore, 44% of the aerosols available for transmission was retained upstream of microchannel.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗