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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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66 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Section 3 Reporting: Preserve America

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a multidisciplinary laboratory with seven Nobel Prize-winning discoveries, 37 R&D 100 Awards, and countless advances in science and technology. For over 75 years, the Laboratory has played a leading role in the Department of Energy (DOE) Science and Technology mission and continues to contribute to the DOE’s missions in energy resources, environmental quality, and national security. The Laboratory is operated and managed by Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA), which was founded by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, and Battelle, a non-profit applied science and technology organization. BNL is committed to longstanding partnerships with researchers, academic institutions, industry, students, teachers, and the surrounding community. BNL is located near the center of Suffolk County on Long Island, New York within Brookhaven Township, about 60 miles east of New York City. Most of BNL’s principal facilities are located near the center of the 5,265-acre (8.23 square mile) site (Figure 1). The developed area encompasses approximately 1,820 acres, consisting of: ▪ 500 acres originally developed by the Army (as part of WW II Camp Upton) and still used for offices and other operational buildings. ▪ 200 acres occupied by large, specialized research facilities. ▪ 520 acres occupied by outlying facilities, such as the Sewage Treatment Plant, research agricultural fields, housing facilities, and fire breaks. ▪ 400 acres of roads, parking lots, and connecting areas. ▪ 200 acres developed for the Long Island Solar Farm. The balance of the site, approximately 3,400 acres, is largely wooded and represents a native pine barrens ecosystem. In November 2000, DOE set aside 530 acres of undeveloped land at BNL as the Upton Ecological and Research Reserve. The Upton Reserve preserves this portion of the pine barrens ecosystem and provides an area for ecological research and education activities.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Supporting data for Site-specific Design Case Study for Wet Waste Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading to Hydrocarbon Fuels

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a thermal process that converts wet biomass to renewable hydrocarbon fuel blendstocks (i.e., renewable naphtha, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)). It can utilize a wide range of pure and blended wet feedstocks, including sewage sludge from water resource recovery facilities (WRRF), food and agriculture wastes, algae, fats, oils and greases (FOG) and blends of dry and wet wastes/feedstocks. Historically, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and annual state of technology (SOT) assessments with standard economic assumptions used by the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) were conducted for the wet waste HTL pathway leveraging experimental data collected from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) continuous flow reactor systems. The objective of the SOT assessment has been to guide and track progress of BETO’s HTL research and development (R&D) toward reduced cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the pathway. However, gaps exist between BETO’s traditional SOT updates and the needs of key external stakeholders that – if addressed – will accelerate technology adoption. This Business Case Study aims to bridge this gap by providing an updated design, TEA, and LCA based on PNNL’s FY23 R&D with added analyses and information that provide enhanced relevance for stakeholders of the HTL technology. This includes specific siting, regional wet waste resource inventory and transportation cost analyses, fuel market information, sustainable fuel policy impacts, economic metrics of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions analysis, and statistical analysis of cost and technical uncertainties of the HTL plant design. The study focuses on the “Detroit combined statistical area (CSA)” region for siting of a wet waste HTL plant adjacent to the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) facility with guidance from industry participants. Regional resource and siting analyses were conducted to identify feedstock availability, scale, and cost, as well as a beneficial site location. TEA with detailed rigorous capital cost estimation for the specific site application was conducted to evaluate the key economic metrics of most value to industrial partners. These include total capital investment, operating costs, minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of the biocrude and fuel blendstock, and NPV and internal rate of return IRR with sustainable fuel credits. Life cycle analysis was conducted to evaluate the supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the wet waste HTL process as compared with petroleum derived diesel. This study is also informed by years of R&D and process de-risking learnings and was conducted with a basic engineering HTL plant design and costing that akin to a “first-of-a-kind” plant economics. This differs from our conventional “nth plant ” SOT assessments. Specifically, the HTL process model has been updated with more operationally reliable methods for feed heating and phase separations. Further, we have implemented additional spare equipment for redundancy, a more rigorous installed equipment cost estimation approach, and additional costs associated with feed formatting and delivery, building, piping and site development. An Excel-based cost sheet based on the basic engineering design is also released alongside the report that allows users to conduct customized TEA with their own feed composition and financial assumptions.

Li, Shuyun↗
DOE OSTI2021

Morphological and Genomic Features of the New Klosneuvirinae Isolate Fadolivirus IHUMI-VV54

Since the discovery of Mimivirus, viruses with large genomes encoding components of the translation machinery and other cellular processes have been described as belonging to the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses. Recently, genome-resolved metagenomics led to the discovery of more than 40 viruses that have been grouped together in a proposed viral subfamily named Klosneuvirinae. Members of this group had genomes of up to 2.4Mb in size and featured an expanded array of translation system genes. Yet, despite the large diversity of the Klosneuvirinae in metagenomic data, there are currently only two isolates available. Here, we report the isolation of a novel giant virus known as Fadolivirus from an Algerian sewage site and provide morphological data throughout its replication cycle in amoeba and a detailed genomic characterization. The Fadolivirus genome, which is more than 1.5Mb in size, encodes 1,452 predicted proteins and phylogenetic analyses place this viral isolate as a near relative of the metagenome assembled Klosneuvirus and Indivirus. The genome encodes for 66 tRNAs, 23 aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and a wide range of transcription factors, surpassing Klosneuvirus and other giant viruses. The Fadolivirus genome also encodes putative vacuolar-type proton pumps with the domains D and A, potentially constituting a virus-derived system for energy generation. The successful isolation of Fadolivirus will enable future hypothesis-driven experimental studies providing deeper insights into the biology of the Klosneuvirinae.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling Green Roof Potential to Mitigate Urban Flooding in a Chinese City

The Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR) region, which has humid subtropical climate conditions and unique plum rain season, is characterized by a simultaneous high-frequency urban flooding and reduction in groundwater levels. Retrofitting the existing buildings into green roofs is a promising approach to combat urban flooding, especially for a densely developed city. Here, the application potential of the Green Roof System (GRS) and the Improved Green Roof System (IGRS) designed to divert overflowing water from green roofs to recharge groundwater were analyzed in a densely developed city, Nanchang, China. For the first time, the influence of GRS on the hydraulic condition of Combined Sewage System/Storm Water System (CSS/SWS) is analyzed, which is a direct reflection of the effect of GRS on alleviating urban flooding. The simulation results show that GRS can retain about 41–75% of precipitation in a 2-hour timescale and the flooding volumes in the GRS/IGRS region are 82% and 28% less than those of the Traditional Roof System (TRS) in 10- and 100-yr precipitation events, respectively. In the continuous simulations, GRS also enhances Evapotranspiration (ET), which accounts for 39% of annual precipitation, so that reduces the cumulative surface runoff. Considering the IGRS can provide more hydrological benefits than the GRS under the same climate conditions, we may conclude that the widespread implementation of both the GRS and the IGRS in Nanchang and other densely developed cities in the MLRYR region could significantly reduce surface and peak runoff rates.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Remote monitoring system

A remote monitoring system for monitoring parameters of an underground asset, such as an electric cable system, a pipeline serving as a conduit for water, gas, oil, sewage, or the like. Parameter detectors, such as sensors that measure temperature, voltage, current, moisture, etc., are distributed along the asset to provide electrical signals that represent respective monitored parameters of the asset. An underground hub disposed in an underground vault, or manhole, through which the asset passes is coupled to the parameter detectors to acquire the signals provided by the parameter detectors. The hub includes a controller to provide data derived from the acquired signals, the data being transmitted to a remote central location by a transceiver, or modem, via LP-WAN communication. Signals from the transceiver are transmitted directly from underground.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Renewable Thermal Energy Systems Designed for Industrial Process Solutions in Multiple Industries

Industrial decarbonization is a key area that must be accelerated, to foster the removal of fossil fuels from the provision of heat, especially at low temperatures less than 300 degrees C. This paper looks at the results of two case studies for understanding the economics and potential for renewable thermal energy systems (RTES), particularly in hybrid configurations to provide industrial process heat (IPH). The first case study looks at heat pumps for district heating, and the second, the use of linear Fresnel collectors (LFCs) coupled with phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage (TES) for direct steam generation (DSG). Using district heat as an input for the heat pump, three cases were run harvesting energy from ambient water (5 degrees C), sewage water (20 degrees C), and a solar collector (35 degrees C). Accounting for elevated costs of infrastructure for each heat source, the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) of the first case study ranged from $4-$15 per million British Thermal Units (MMBTU). For the second case study modeling LFCs with PCM and TES, the results show that a LCOH of $9-$15 per MMBTU is possible, depending on the direct normal irradiance.

concentrated solar thermal↗
DOE OSTI2022

Renewable Thermal Energy Systems Designed for Industrial Process Solutions in Multiple Industries: Preprint

Industrial decarbonization is a key area that must be accelerated, to foster the removal of fossil fuels from the provision of heat, especially at low temperatures less than 300 degrees C. This paper looks at the results of two case studies for understanding the economics and potential for renewable thermal energy systems (RTES), particularly in hybrid configurations to provide industrial process heat (IPH). The first case study looks at heat pumps for district heating, and the second, the use of linear Fresnel collectors (LFCs) coupled with phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage (TES) for direct steam generation (DSG). Using district heat as an input for the heat pump, three cases were run harvesting energy from ambient water (5 degrees C), sewage water (20 degrees C), and a solar collector (35 degrees C). Accounting for elevated costs of infrastructure for each heat source, the levelized cost of heat (LCOH) of the first case study ranged from $4-$10 per million British Thermal Units (MMBTU). For the second case study modeling LFCs with PCM and TES, the results show that a LCOH of $9-$15 per MMBTU is possible, depending on the direct normal irradiance.

concentrated solar thermal↗
DOE OSTI2020

Remediation of Temporary Storage Sites in Support of the Port Hope Area Initiative - 20295

The Port Hope Area Initiative is a community-based solution for the long-term management of historic low level radioactive waste (LLRW) resulting from 60 years of uranium and radium processing operations in the Town of Port Hope which is located in Ontario, Canada. The Eldorado refinery, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, began refining radium-226 from pitchblende ore, later transitioning to the refining of uranium. Through the history of the operation, LLRW was deposited throughout the town of Port Hope as a result of fugitive emissions from the plant and/or through the re-use of process residues as building material and backfill. Historical clean-up activities conducted in the late 1970's involved the remediation of approximately 400 properties and the relocation of 100,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil to a disposal facility in Chalk River operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). Owing to space limitations at that disposal facility, any LLRW identified through construction monitoring since that time has been stored in the community at three temporary storage sites located throughout the town. These include: the Centre Pier mound that contained approximately of 19,800 m{sup 3} of LLRW-impacted soil that originated from the construction of a new water treatment plant; two mounds located at a licensed storage facility containing LLRW obtained from residential clean-up activities (11,000 m{sup 3}); and a small pad adjacent to the municipal sewage treatment plant containing 2200 m{sup 3} of LLRW-containing sludge. With the construction of a new long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) that has been designed to house all of the LLRW identified within Port Hope, the three sites were early candidates for remediation. The clean-up of the three temporary storage sites was a significant milestone for the Port Hope Area Initiative. After a decade of planning and consultation, this work represents the first sites in the municipality to be remediated with the waste being safety removed and transferred to the newly constructed LTWMF. This paper discusses the challenges associated with the clean-up activities for these three sites and the strategies employed to address those challenges. These included weather-related challenges, owing to the seasons over which the work was conducted as well as those associated with working within a closely-knit community. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), working on behalf of the federal government, has worked diligently to develop a positive and trusting relationship with the community. Consequently, the successful execution of this project needed to be sensitive to, and respectful of the needs of the community. In addition to the usual Health, Safety and Environment training, project staff received community awareness training that spoke to the history of this community-based initiative and the expected behavior when working within the community. Transportation routes were defined based on safety and the need to minimize disruption to local traffic while haul-times where scheduled around school bus hours to enhance public safety. The successful completion of this first of many remediation projects to be completed under the Port Hope Area Initiative reflected years of careful planning. Nevertheless, there were a number of 'lessons learned' that have been applied on other ongoing projects be completed under the Port Hope Area Initiative. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Rheology Investigations with Sludges from Metro Vancouver

Rheological investigation were performed with primary and secondary waste water treatment sludge. Using a rheometer equipped with a high pressure/temperature cell, flow curves were generated over shear rate at 0 to 1000 s-1. Temperature sweeps spanning 25 to 300 C were also performed are are reported here. The original release, PNNL-SA-185826, is being revised. The revision include a revision table, a disclaimer, and the underlying data set is being added.

sludge wastewater treatment plant sludge character↗
DOE OSTI2023

Accumulation of microplastics in soil after long-term application of biosolids and atmospheric deposition

Land-applied biosolids can be a considerable source of microplastics in soils. Previous studies reported microplastics accumulation in soils from biosolid application, however, little is known about the contribution of atmospherically deposited microplastics to agricultural soils. In this study, we quantified and characterized microplastics in soils that have been amended with biosolids over the past 23 years. We also collected atmospheric deposition samples to determine the amount and type of plastics added to soils through atmospheric input over a period of about 2 years. Soil samples were taken from a replicated field trial where biosolids have been applied at rates of 0, 4.8, 6.9, and 9.0 t/ha every second crop. The biosolids were anaerobically digested and dewatered, and were applied by spreading onto the soil surface. Soil and atmospheric samples were extracted for microplastics by Fenton's reaction to remove organic matter followed by flotation in a zinc chloride solution to separate plastic from soil particles. Samples were analyzed for microplastics by optical microscopy and Laser Direct Infrared Imaging Analysis (LDIR). The mean number of microplastics identified from biosolids samples was 12,000 particles/kg dry biosolids. The long-term applications of biosolids to the soil led to mean plastics concentrations of 383, 500, and 361 particles/kg dry soil in the 0–10 cm depth for low, medium, and high biosolids application rates, respectively. These plastic concentrations were not significantly different from each other, but significantly higher than those found in non biosolids-amended soil (117 particles/kg dry soil). The dominant plastic types by number found in biosolids were polyurethane, followed by polyethylene, and polyamide. The most abundant plastics in soil samples were polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and polyethylene. Atmospheric deposition contributed to 15 particles/kg dry soil per year and was mainly composed of polyamide fibers. In conclusion, this study shows that long-term application of biosolids led to an accumulation of microplastics in soil, but that atmospheric deposition also contributes a considerable input of microplastics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗