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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Overcoming the thermal conductivity versus oxidation resistance barrier in high-temperature steels

Heat-resistant steels with high chromium additions (≥5 weight percent) are critical for many high temperature energy and manufacturing applications, including heat exchangers, pistons for engines, and dies for metal working and casting. However, while high chromium additions increase oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures, they also compromise thermal conductivity, resulting in a metallurgical trade-off between these two important properties. Here we show that a microstructure with both higher thermal conductivity and improved oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures is achieved in a unique steel with only 1 weight percent chromium, thereby overcoming the long-standing metallurgical trade-off. This is accomplished through a tailored thermal treatment that produces a tempered martensitic matrix with low solute content and a fine dispersion of copper precipitates and molybdenum enriched carbides. A further discovery is that the resultant thermally grown oxide includes an iron-copper-manganese-enriched outer layer that provides high-temperature oxidation protection equivalent to heat-resistant steels with five times the chromium content and 25% lower thermal conductivity.

Pierce, Dean T. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OR↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparison of chromium poisoning between lanthanum strontium manganite and lanthanum strontium ferrite composite cathodes in solid oxide fuel cells

Degradation mechanisms of chromium poisoning have been extensively investigated for last two decades on various cathode materials for solid oxide fuel cells. While most researchers used half-cell experiments to investigate the effects of chromium impurities, this paper compares the degradation phenomena of LSM-YSZ and LSF-GDC cathodes in full cells under different operating conditions, namely polarized current density and humidity over the cathode. Under cathodic load, performance degradation of LSF-GDC cathode is significantly less than that of LSM-YSZ cathode. Most interestingly, under humidified air condition, LSF-based cell hardly experiences performance degradation while LSM-based cell shows a catastrophic degradation. Cr deposition in LSM-based cells occurs mainly near the electrolyte under both dry and humidified air conditions. In contrast, Cr deposition in LSF-based cell concentrates at the cathode surface under dry air condition, but concentrates both at cathode surface and near electrolyte under humidified air condition. Microstructure analysis reveals Mn-associated Cr deposits in LSM-based cathode, and Sr- and Fe-associated Cr deposits in LSF-based cathode. With the help of distribution of relaxation time analysis, the different electrochemical behaviors of LSM- and LSF-based cells are carefully interpreted. The effects of electrochemical deposition, Sr surface segregation, and humidity on LSM- and LSF-based cathodes are discussed.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of Chromium and Sulfur Getter for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) System

Under the “real world” SOFC operating conditions, gaseous Cr and S species coexist in air stream. The combined Cr and S effect on the electrochemical poisoning of candidate LSM and LSCF electrodes has been investigated. Electrochemical and structural analysis revealed that the combined Cr and S interactions with the LSCF electrode remains significantly different from those of the individual Cr and S interactions. S reacts with the surface SrO accompanied by morphological changes whereas the hexavalent gaseous Cr species mainly deposit at the LSCF/GDC interface as is the case with Cr-only poisoning. For LSM electrode, the combined interactions of Cr and S remains similar to the sum of individual Cr and S effects as SO 2 reacts with Sr-rich regions of the bulk LSM, while Cr deposits at the electrochemically active sites. The use of getter, consisting of alkaline earth and transition metal oxides, has been proposed as a cost-effective approach to mitigate electrode poisoning. SrMnO 3 (SMO) is suggested as a robust getter material for the co-capture of airborne gaseous S and Cr species entering high-temperature electrochemical systems. The honeycomb getter forms, covered with SMO nanoparticles, were fabricated using dip coating. The SMO getter successfully maintained the electrochemical activity of LSM under the presence of gaseous Cr and S species, validating the efficacy of the getter. Post-test characterization revealed that the absorption of S and Cr contaminants led to the elongation of granular SMO particles, forming SrO nanorods and SrCrO 4 whiskers leaving Mn oxides underneath where inward-migrating Cr reside, indicating the high mutual affinity of Sr and Mn. The growth of reaction products during the long term exposure favors continued absorption of incoming S and Cr contaminants. The Mn 2 O 9 dimers, existing on the surface, are considered to help absorb S and Cr impurities, along with the Sr-terminated surface. The SMO getter also displays robust stability in humid environments at high temperatures without phase transformation or hydrolysis, fulfilling the requirement for operation in high-temperature electrochemical systems.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhanced Oxygen Activation Achieved by Robust Single Chromium Atom-Derived Catalysts in Aerobic Oxidative Desulfurization

Oxidative desulfurization (ODS) plays critical roles in the production of high-quality sulfur impurity-free fuels, especially procedures using molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant. However, the state-of-the-art systems still rely on noble metal nanocatalysts, with deactivation issues caused by coking and sintering still present. In this work, leveraging the merits of single-atom catalysts (SACs) with earth-abundant metal cores and robust nanoporous supports, a series of catalysts composed of homogeneously distributed single chromium atoms anchored on multiwalled carbon nanotubes were fabricated and deployed to catalyze the aerobic ODS transformation. Adopting aromatic sulfur compound (ASC)-containing alkanes as a model system with molecular oxygen as the oxidant, efficient oxygen-to-active O 2 •– transformation and subsequent ASCs-to-sulfone conversion have been achieved, with the former benefiting from the chromium-active sites and the latter arising from the robust, nanoporous, and π-conjugated architecture of the supports. The attractive catalytic performance and cycling stability of the chromium-based SACs make them promising candidates in practical sulfur species removal from liquid fuels, supplying an alternative guidance on the catalyst design toward cost-effective and energy-efficient ODS procedures.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dark mirror optical stack and related systems

A dark mirror optical stack, particularly a low emittance, high absorbance dark mirror optical stack is provided. The dark mirror optical stack includes a polyimide substrate containing carbon filler, an aluminum layer on the polyimide substrate, a first silicon oxide layer on the aluminum layer, a chromium layer on the first silicon oxide layer, and a second silicon oxide layer on the chromium layer. In a particularly exemplary embodiment, the aluminum layer has an average thickness of 600 to 2000 Angstroms, the first and second silicon oxide layers have average thicknesses of 500 to 1000 Angstroms, and the chromium layer has an average thickness of 40 to 100 Angstroms.

Hasegawa, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2023

Four‐Electron Oxidative Addition of an N=N Double Bond at a Chromium Metallocyclopropene**

Abstract This report describes the synthesis of a pseudo‐tetrahedral chromium alkyne complex supported by a bidentate phosphinimide ligand and its reactivity with an azobenzene derivative. Characterization of the former by structural and computational methods reveals an unprecedented extent of alkyne activation by a formal chromium(II) center, suggesting that this complex is best described as a chromium(IV)‐metallocyclopropene. Exposure of this compound to 4,4′‐difluoroazobenzene results in the formation of a chromium(VI) diimido complex, which constitutes a rare 4‐electron oxidative addition of an N=N double bond. The isolation of a chromium(IV)‐hydrazido intermediate enabled mechanistic investigations of this challenging bond cleavage process. This work substantiates the notion that terminal phosphinimide ligands can engender first‐row transition metal ions with exceptional reactivity.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of temperature on abrasion erosion in particle based concentrating solar powerplants

The use of solid particles as a heat transfer medium is being explored for concentrated solar power plants (CSP) to increase their efficiency by achieving operating temperature >700 °C. During operation, these hot particles are expected to move along the various components within the collector system, resulting in material degradation from a combination of high-temperature oxidation and erosion. In the present study, the performance of candidate materials was evaluated through a series of abrasion erosion experiments at room temperature as well as at 800 °C. Wear in metallic and refractory type materials was investigated using CarboBead® HSP 40/70 particles inside a resistance heated kiln. Furthermore, cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis on the specimens tested at 800 °C determined that the specific wear rate in Inconel 740H and stainless steel 316 metallic specimens was influenced by the thermally grown oxide morphology. High chromium Inconel 740H specimens exhibited greater resistance to wear with a steady state specific wear rate of 1.92E-4 mm 3 N -1 m –1 compared to 5.7E-3 mm 3 N -1 m –1 for Stainless Steel 316.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

FY 23 Filtration of Hanford Tank 241-SY-101 Supernatant at 16 °C

Approximately 9 liters of supernatant from Hanford waste tank 241-SY-101 was delivered by Washington River Protection Solutions to the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The thirty-six SY-101 sample bottles were comprised of six sets of six samples, with each set pulled from a unique tank sampling level. Prior to testing, samples from each level were composited to provide nominally level-independent feed for dead end filtration and ion exchange testing. The composited 241-SY-101 supernatant was chilled to 16 °C for 1 week prior to testing. Filtration testing was then conducted using a backpulse dead-end filter (BDEF) system equipped with a feed vessel and a Mott inline filter Model 6610 (Media Grade 5) in the hot cells of the RPL. This was done to provide waste processing benchmarks for 200 West Area wastes in the West Area Risk Management project. The feed was filtered through the BDEF system at a targeted flux of 0.065 gpm/ft 2 . During filtration of the differential pressure required to effect filtration at 0.065 gpm/ft 2 increased little over the filtration campaign and never reached 2 psid (the Tank Side Cesium Removal system action limit). This indicates that the Media Grade 5 filter should perform well when processing SY-101 supernatant. After completing filtration of the SY-101 feed, the filter was cleaned. Solids concentrated from the backpulse solutions displayed calcium phosphate, aluminum oxides, aluminum-chromium nanoparticle agglomerates. Electron diffraction was used to determine the types of phases that were present in the solids. Most of the phases found were only weakly crystalline, possibly owing to their rapid precipitation during the process water treatment. The identifications of the phases therefore are tentative.

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

Identifying the speciation of salt-based actinides in the presence of contaminants [Slides]

Molten salt reactors (MSR) present advantages over light water reactors, such as higher safety and energy efficiency, convenient waste processing, and the ability to use more abundant thorium instead of uranium as the fuel source. However, due to the high temperatures associated with these reactors the reactor container corrosion product can have a high influence on the molten salt system, and they are considered as a part of the fuel salt system. It is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of the chemical reactions that are occurring in the molten salt in the presence of contaminants such as nickel, manganese, chromium chlorides and oxides. Because they can change the local structure of these salts and the local structures of these salts govern the thermophysical properties of the molten salts, which would determine the safety and operational parameters of the reactor. This study is focused on identifying f-element materials speciation resulting from reaction with corrosion/degradation products in a molten salt environment to understand the flow of MSR. In this work, f-element chlorides are mixed with alkali and alkali earth metals and corrosion products such as transition metal chlorides are introduced systematically, inside a glovebox. Then these are heated to around 700 ? and slowly cooled to room temperature. Afterwards, these are analyzed using different characterization techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction, UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy and solid-state NMR. The initial work was conducted with lanthanide chlorides as a surrogate for actinides and the acquired data strongly indicates that in the presence of corrosion products new phase formation/ change in coordination environments occurs. This work has been presented at multiple conference presentations. The proposed work would allow to extend this work to actinides (depleted uranium and thorium) and this would assist to identify the speciation of actinide chloride in the presence of corrosion products. Also, this work would open an opportunity to compare the coordination behavior of lanthanides with the actinides.

37 - INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL C↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ab initio Study of the Mechanism for the Initiation of Localized Corrosion on Stainless Steel

Stainless steels are widely used as primary piping material in PWR’s because of their high corrosion resistance largely due to the formation of a passive film of metal oxides, such as chromium (e.g., Cr2O3). However, upon exposure to aggressive ions like chlorides (Cl-), stainless steel becomes susceptible to localized corrosion due to the breakdown of the passive film. It is therefore essential to gain fundamental insights into the mechanism of the passive film breakdown (depassivation) to develop a tailored design to minimize localized corrosion. This project investigates the initial stages of the depassivation of the Cr passive film using density functional theory (DFT), a quantum based computational method.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nanomechanical and tribological properties of nickel–chromium multilayer coating on Inconel 617

Multilayer coatings of Ni and Cr were deposited onto Inconel 617, and multi-scale physical properties were characterized using high temperature tribological experiments, nanoindentation, and microscratch. The effect of high temperature aging (950 °C under helium environment) on two different Ni/Cr multilayer coatings with individual layer thicknesses of 50 and 200 nm denoted by Ni/Cr(50) and Ni/Cr(200) was investigated. Nanoindentation of original coatings showed a hardness of 6 GPa that increases to 14 GPa for both samples once aged. Microscratch results support the macro-tribology results where Ni/Cr(50) (without aging) was the only delaminated coating with significant wear. Additionally, aging in both cases reduced the in situ coefficient of friction and wear. Cross-section energy dispersive spectrometry confirmed that the aged oxide layer was two to three times thicker than the original coating. In conclusion, an abundance of chromium oxide was found in the main body of the coatings, which led to higher hardness and better wear resistance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Chromium Poisoning ERMINE Model Data

This is the data from the paper "Systematic and Predictive Trends to Chromium Poisoning in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathodes" by Hokon Kim et al., appearing in the Journal of Power Sources. The files here are the microstructures, mesh files, and outputs from the ERMINE finite element model of chromium poisoning in SOFC cathodes. Further description can be found in Readme.rtf and in the paper..

Chromium,SOFC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Microstructure Optimization and Novel Processing Development of ODS Steels for Fusion Environments (Final ARPA-E Report)

This project aimed to develop scalable, cost-effective fabrication of high-performance, oxide- dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel using advanced manufacturing methods (AMMs) for fusion blanket-breeding applications. Gas atomization reaction synthesis (GARS) enables the synthesis of precursor ODS steel powders without prolonged mechanical alloying. This process creates a chromium (Cr)-enriched surface oxide with yttrium/titanium (Y/Ti)-enriched intermetallics in powder interiors. GARS powders were consolidated to >99% of the theoretical density using a first-of-a-kind shear assisted processing and extrusion (ShAPE) and laser-based powder bed fusion (L-PBF) AM processes. These processes led to ODS steels containing a high-density of nano-oxide dispersoids that enhance high-temperature mechanical properties. Such scalable, cost-effective fabrication of ODS steels can enable efficient power conversion cycles (=40%) at operating temperatures beyond 900 K in future fusion power plants.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

A low-input strategy for chromium removal from industrial stormwater using peat sorbent

Low-cost and low-input water treatment systems are important for industrial stormwater remediation. Here we examine a flow-through reactor treatment installation where water exceeds the allowable maximum concentration for drinking water in multiple metals (e.g., chromium [Cr], cadmium [Cd], zinc [Zn]) prior to treatment. Specifically, we seek to understand why Cr attenuated in the reactors is not leachable by identifying the specific chemical form of Cr and dominant mechanisms promoting sequestration in the reactors. Total solid-phase Cr concentration in the peat media ranged from 50 to 150 mg/kg after 1 yr of exposure to stormwater to 300 to 900 mg/kg after 3.5 yr. X-ray fluorescence mapping images show Cr, iron (Fe), and Zn spatially correlated over a scale of 10 μm to 5 mm. Chromium rinds form on the edges of peat particles as Cr accumulates. Chromium and Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy reveal chromium predominately in the 3+ oxidation state with lesser amounts of elemental Cr. We propose the primary means of chromium attenuation in the reactors is precipitation as Cr-Fe hydroxides combined with trivalent Cr adsorption onto peat surfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Supported Organochromium Ethylene Oligomerization Enabled by Surface Lithiation

Here, in this work, supported organochromium ethylene polymerization catalysts have been tuned to mediate ethylene oligomerization via surface lithiation, which provides a generalizable protocol to control stereoelectronics and redox states of surface organometallic active sites. The homoleptic chromium(IV) alkyl complex Cr(CH 2 SiMe 3 ) 4 was grafted on high-surface-area anatase titania (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles as well as on silica to produce Cr/TiO 2 and Cr/SiO 2 , respectively. Treatment of these materials with excess n-butyllithium led to the reduced chromium complexes Cr/Li x TiO 2 and Cr/Li/SiO 2 , each of which still retains one hydrocarbyl ligand on chromium. A set of heterogeneous complexes were studied by electron paramagnetic resonance and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, which indicate a reduction in the oxidation state of the major chromium species to Cr II upon lithiation. Cr/Li x TiO 2 converts ethylene to hexenes with a high selectivity (>80%), which was persistent over 10 days at 80 °C, achieving >950 turnovers. The exclusive formation of C 4 and C 6 olefins, preferring the trimerization product, without a statistical (Flory–Schulz) distribution is characteristic of the oxidative cyclization oligomerization mechanism rather than the traditional Cossee–Arlman mechanism, whereas Cr/Li/SiO 2 produced a mixture of trimerization and polymerization products, suggesting site heterogeneity in the silica-based material. On the other hand, the unreduced chromium(IV) materials as well as low lithium-containing Cr/Li x TiO 2 (x < 0.16) exclusively produced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, determined by differential scanning calorimetry and gel permeation chromatography analysis, likely formed via a linear-insertion mechanism, with a crossover from the polymerization to oligomerization regime observed at ~16% Li intercalation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fuel Performance Analysis of Chromium-Coated Cladding under Burst Conditions

To reduce the oxidation of zirconium-based alloy cladding at high temperatures, accident tolerant fuel systems have been proposed. Of the concepts identified, chromium-coated cladding has been shown to slow oxidation without greatly impacting the fuel system geometry or neutronic performance. To determine how coated-cladding tubes will perform under high-temperature accident conditions, pressurized-tube burst tests have been performed using the Severe Accident Test Station at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. To begin modeling these tubes to better understand how the coating will impact cladding behavior, these burst tests were simulated with the BISON fuel performance code. Cladding tube surface temperatures for the burst test were developed by fitting thermocouple data into axial and azimuthal profiles, while pressure data were compared until cladding failure. The temperatures at failure and the pressure evolution show relatively good agreement between the simulation and experiment results. This is the first step of a larger effort to simulate the cladding deformation process under high-temperature transient conditions and assess the cladding margin to failure more accurately.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗