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DOE OSTI2020

Performance study of a novel dew point evaporative cooler in the climate of central Europe using building simulation tools

This paper presents the performance research of a hybrid air conditioning system (System II) equipped with novel dew point evaporative cooler (DPIEC) for a retail building located in temperate climatic conditions. The new cooler has a dedicated, adaptable structure that maximizes its performance in the climate conditions of central Europe. The unit can operate as a typical regenerative air cooler when outdoor air is drier than indoor air, it can operate as a counter-flow heat recovery unit when indoor conditions are more dry than outdoor and it can operate as a combination of both arrangements. The year-round, hourly-stepped building energy simulations were carried-out using a prognostic tool of energy consumption. The novel dew point evaporative cooler application potential was established using the black-box model based on regression equations was established based on experimental tests on a prototype of novel DPIEC. The hybrid system operation was compared to the typical air handling unit equipped with a standard energy wheel for heat recovery (System I). Presented research shows that DPIEC can cover about 95% of total cooling loads while the energy wheel covers only 9% of total cooling load. System II allows us to save 65% of seasonal electricity consumption comparing to System I. It comes from the fact that during most of the cooling season DPIEC is in operation and it covers most of the cooling loads without the need to switch the chilled water system.

Air conditioning↗

DOE OSTI2016

A Multi-agent Simulation Tool for Micro-scale Contagion Spread Studies

Within the disaster preparedness and emergency response community, there is interest in how contagions spread person-to-person at large gatherings and if mitigation strategies can be employed to reduce new infections. A contagion spread simulation module was developed for the Incident Management Preparedness and Coordination Toolkit that allows a user to see how a geographically accurate layout of the gathering space helps or hinders the spread of a contagion. The results can inform mitigation strategies based on changing the physical layout of an event space. A case study was conducted for a particular event to calibrate the underlying simulation model. This paper presents implementation details of the simulation code that incorporates agent movement and disease propagation. Elements of the case study are presented to show how the tool can be used.

Koch, Daniel B↗

DOE OSTI2021

Planning Near-Term Tasks for the Development of Advanced Reactor Mechanistic Source Term Modeling and Simulation Tools

To assist both the advanced reactor industry and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the pursuit of reactor design and licensing, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program has established a mechanistic source term (MST) research project under the auspices of the Application Drivers technical area. The MST research project is a collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with a high-level objective to coordinate the development of comprehensive advanced reactor MST mod/sim capabilities to support risk-informed design and licensing decisions. As part of this effort, an MST mod/sim development pathway was developed in FY21, which outlines the high-level objectives and near-term tasks necessary to achieve the project objectives. Since publication of the development pathway, Argonne and SNL have been addressing the “near-term tasks” outlined in the report. The current provides a status update of the progress achieved in the fourth quarter of FY21. The report structure follows that of ref and is divided by advanced reactor type: High temperature gas reactor (HTGR), molten salt reactor (MSR) including fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor (FHR), and sodium fast reactor (SFR). Each section reviews the near-term tasks associated with the reactor type, current progress, and future plans. The near-term tasks associated with consequence modeling are reviewed in an upcoming work by SNL.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Progress on Near-Term Tasks for the Development of Advanced Reactor Mechanistic Source Term Modeling and Simulation Tools

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Progress on Long-Term Objectives for the Development of Advanced Reactor Mechanistic Source Term Modeling and Simulation Tools

To assist both the advanced reactor industry and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the pursuit of reactor design and licensing, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program has established a mechanistic source term (MST) research project under the auspices of the Multiphysics Applications technical area. MST analysis is central to the reactor licensing process and a focus of the NRC regarding their mission to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety and environment. The MST research project is a collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with a high-level objective to coordinate the development of comprehensive advanced reactor MST mod/sim capabilities to support risk-informed design and licensing decisions. As part of this effort, an MST mod/sim development pathway was developed in FY21, which outlines the high-level objectives and near-term tasks necessary to achieve the project objectives. Since publication of the development pathway, Argonne and SNL have focused initial efforts on addressing the “near-term tasks” outlined in the report, and the current work provides a status update of the progress achieved in FY22. This report is a progress update on 6 tasks supporting molten salt reactor (MSR) and sodium fast reactor (SFR) MST analyses which were initiated in FY22 as recommended high priority near-term tasks. These tasks were continued into FY23 as they also support previously recommended long-term development objectives to advance MST analyses for these advanced reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Cybersecurity Event Simulation Tool and Platform

Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems (ICSs) have replaced analog control systems in nuclear power plants raising cybersecurity concerns. To study and understand the cybersecurity risks of nuclear power plants both high fidelity models of the plant physics and controllers must be created, and a framework to test and evaluate cyber security events must be established. A testing and evaluation framework of cybersecurity events consists of a method of interfering with control systems, a simulation of the plant network, and a network packet capture and recording tool. Sandia National Labs (SNL) in collaboration with the University of New Mexico’s Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies (UNM-ISNPS) is developing such a cybersecurity testing framework.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Wind Turbine Radar Interference Mitigation (WTRIM) Modeling & Simulation Tools Catalog

Wind energy development in the United States has been steadily growing over the past decade. This trend has resulted in the expansion of wind energy into areas that have a good wind resource but may have other deployment barriers being looked at more closely. One such barrier is that of the potential impact that wind turbines pose to radar systems. Wind turbines located within the line-of-sight of radar systems can cause clutter and interference and can result in performance degradation. Mitigation of any interference that wind turbines have on radar systems begins with the understanding of the potential those impacts to radar systems through modeling and simulation. The intent of this document is to catalog and provide the reader with a list of the modeling and simulation capabilities along with enabling databases for wind turbine — radar interference and related issues that are currently in use in various government agencies as well as those tools that are available to the public for free or fee. A brief description of the tool is given along with other pertinent characteristics of the tool including the owner, developers, user, classification, status, and the point-of-contact. This document does not provide an exhaustive description of the tools' capabilities nor does it include tools that were developed privately.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Analysis on Evaluations of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s Wave Energy Converter’s Field Data Using WEC-Sim and Gazebo: A Simulation Tool Comparison

Although many studies have validated wave energy converter (WEC) numerical models against scaled prototype experimental data, there remains a notable lack of validation using data from full-scale deployed WECs. This paper compares two numerical models of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s Wave Energy Converter (MBARI-WEC), a two-body point absorber with an electro-hydraulic power take-off system (PTO). The models are implemented in WEC-Sim/Simscape and Gazebo Simulator. A statistical analysis of the models was performed, and field results were obtained to compare the models’ accuracy in predicting the RMS piston velocity, RMS motor speed, and mean electric power compared to field data for 56 observations across varying sea states. The Gazebo model demonstrated a closer agreement across all three parameters for a majority of the observations. When compared to the field data, the Gazebo and WEC-Sim models exhibited average mean electric power overestimations of 13% and 22%, respectively.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2018

Tower Illuminance Model (TIM): Interactive Real-Time Flyover Simulation Tool to Evaluate Glare and Avian-Flux Hazards

Solar glare reflections and avian solar-flux hazards are an important concern for concentrating solar installations. Reflected sunlight from 'standby' heliostats has been noted by pilots as potentially hazardous, and reports of birds being singed by concentrated sunlight has created concern. This paper presents the Tower Illuminance Model ('TIM'), a software application developed to investigate glare and avian-flux hazards at concentrating solar power towers in a convenient and interactive manner. TIM simulates a field of heliostats in standby mode, wherein sunlight is not reflected toward the central receiver but at some location in the airspace around the receiver. The user can select a range of aiming strategies and field configurations and can navigate the simulated airspace above the heliostat field in real-time using an interactive 3D interface. As the user 'flies' through the airspace, TIM calculates the irradiance, glare hazard, and potential avian flux hazard. TIM is currently undergoing validation and industry testing.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

DEVELOPMENT OF PLASMA SIMULATION TOOL FOR THE ACCEL-ERATING CAVITIES

Plasma processing of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities has shown an improvement in accelerating gradient by reducing the radiation due to field emission and multipacting. Plasma processing is a common tech-nique where the free oxygen produced by the plasma breaks down and removes hydrocarbons from surfaces. This increases the work function and reduces the second-ary emission coefficient. The hydrocarbon fragments of H2, CO, CO2, and H2O are removed from the system with the process gas which is flowing through the system. Here, we present COMSOL for the first time to simulate the plasma processing of an SRF cavity. In this work, we use Jefferson Lab's C75 SRF cavities design as our case study. Using simulation, we predict the condition of plasma ignition inside the SRF cavity. The simulation provides information about the optimal rf coupling to the cavity, mode for plasma ignition, choice of gas concen-tration, power, and pressure.

Senevirathne, I.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Development and Test of Simulation Tools for EIC Beam-Beam Interaction (Final Technical Report)

This final technical report summarizes the work of the Michigan State University (MSU) team supported by grant # DE-SC0018973 awarded by the Office of Nuclear Physics, Department of Energy. The awarded proposal is a joint effort of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL, led by Dr. Yun Luo), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, led by Dr. Ji Qiang), Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF, led by Dr. Yves Roblin) and MSU (led by Dr. Yue Hao). The MSU personnel supported by the grant include Dr. Yue Hao and Dr. Derong Xu, who is hired as a postdoctoral research fellow. MSU team ‘s work in this proposal focused on the beam dynamics study and numerical simulation of crabbed collision with crab cavities. Analytical calculations and numerous simulations have been done to identify beam dynamics effect out of numerical noises, study the synchro-betatron resonance in the crab crossing scheme, evaluate the effects of non-ideal settings for crab cavity and the effects of the crab crossing noises. The results have been published in journals and as conference proceedings. From the results of the proposal, we gained a clear understanding of the beam-beam interaction in the EIC designs and provided robust countermeasures to possible beam-beam interaction related to beam lifetime reduction, beam emittance growth, beam instabilities, and luminosity degradation, which significantly mitigate the technical risks associated with the EIC accelerator designs.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Leveraging Shore-Side, Building Energy Simulation Tools for Use in the Shipboard Environment

Within the confines of the Maritime Prescreening Assessment of Conservation Technologies program, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in collaboration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock and Philadelphia Divisions, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration, and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, recently developed a physics-based modeling engine to evaluate non-propulsive ship energy consumption under different operational scenarios and technology applications, in order to enhance the Navy's ability to optimize ship operational reach and tactical performance. To accomplish this, a mature thermophysical modeling software, EnergyPlus TM , was modified for ship-related applications. This software, originally developed for use in whole-building energy consumption studies, is a free and open-source simulation program that has been used for more than two decades. The team evaluated the accuracy of the modified version of EnergyPlus by comparing results to direct measurements taken over a 6-week underway period onboard the Maritime Administration's Training Ship Kennedy. The team developed an energy model of a prescribed area of the ship and compared its performance to measured results obtained from 235 sensor points. EnergyPlus behaved well with respect to solar loading and convective heat transfer to seawater while the ship was underway. However, results suggest that additional work remains to accurately simulate seawater heat transfer while the ship is stationary.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2021

3D Theoretical and simulation tools for microbunched cooling

The concept of microbunched electron cooling (MBEC, introduced in Ref. [1]) is currently under investigation as a candidate for the strong hadron cooling (SHC) component of EIC. Most of the theoretical treatments of this scheme are based on a simplified model for the longitudinal space charge [2–4]. In this model, the particle beams are treated as collections of thin charged disks, with the interaction function for two such disks being calculated by averaging the forces between constituent point charges. Although the disk model is flexible and captures a large part of the underlying physics, it lacks the fidelity and robustness of an analysis that explicitly treats the beams as collections of point charges. In what follows, we explore such a model, both from a theory-based and a simulation perspective.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Simulation tools, first results and experimental status of the MURAVES experiment

The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project aims at the study of Mt. Vesuvius, an active and hazardous volcano near Naples, Italy, with the use of muons freely and abundantly produced by cosmic rays. In particular, the MURAVES experiment intends to perform muographic imaging of the internal structure of the summit of Mt. Vesuvius. The challenging measurement of the rock density distribution in its summit by muography, in conjunction with data from other geophysical techniques, can help model possible eruption dynamics. The MURAVES apparatus consists of an array of three independent and identical muon trackers, with a total sensitive area of 3 square meters. In each tracker, a sequence of 4 XY tracking planes made of plastic scintillators is complemented by a 60 cm thick lead wall inserted between the two downstream planes to improve rejection of background from low energy muons. The apparatus is currently acquiring data. This paper presents preliminary results from the analysis of the first data samples acquired with trackers pointing towards Mt. Vesuvius, including the first relative measurement of the density projection of two flanks of the volcano at three different altitudes; we also present the workflow of the simulation chain of the MURAVES experiment and its ongoing developments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2023

Development of HPC based phase field simulations tool for modification of alloy morphology to enhance material properties during additive manufacturing (AM) process

Currently, additive manufacturing (AM) technology is extensively used to manufacture aerospace components because of the unique advantages of the technique in producing custom designs, complex geometries in a near-net fashion that significantly reduces the manufacturing cost, and improved energy efficiency. However, the thermodynamic properties of existing aerospace alloys and the thermal conditions that prevail in most of the powder-bed based additive manufacturing processes lead to undesirable columnar / columnar-dendritic microstructures that promote solidification cracking during the process, and the development of anisotropy in the mechanical properties of the as-built components. Time consuming, energy-intensive post AM treatments are required to recover the mechanical properties of the wrought components for which the existing alloy compositions were designed for. However, novel alloy compositions, that exploit the AM thermal conditions to produce fine, equiaxed grain structures in the as-built condition, with mechanical properties equal to or exceeding those of the wrought work-horse alloy, Ti-6Al-4V has recently been demonstrated in Ti-Cu alloys. Significant energy savings up to 66% can be obtained for a typical aerospace component through digitally designing the AM process, process parameters, and alloy composition. The current project focused on developing a fundamental understanding of the evolution of the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) occurring during solidification under AM thermal conditions in Ti-Cu and Ti-Cu-X alloys using high-fidelity phase field (PF) simulations using the leadership class computing facilities that exist in the national laboratories. The simulations were able to capture the effect of alloy and process conditions on CET, and clearly showed the beneficial effect of a ternary solute addition to Ti-Cu binary alloys on CET. The simulations indicated that bulk nucleation in the liquid ahead of the solidifying epitaxial front was promoted by a large, transient, thermal undercooling promoted by the mismatch between the growth rate of the dendrite tips in the epitaxial front and the imposed solidification rate. AM experiments performed at Raytheon Technologies Research Center using the same thermal conditions used in the PF simulations indicated the formation of equiaxed grains, although the grain size was bigger than the ones reported in the literature. On the other hand, the equiaxed grain size predicted by PF simulations were smaller than the grain size of Ti-Cu alloys reported in the literature. The industry will follow up the existing work in a future program that would involve further optimization of the process for the Ti-Cu-X alloys to demonstrate the application of the process and the alloy to a specific aerospace component.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2019

Development of mathematical model and simulation tool for the high capacity production of carbon fiber

Weight reduction in the transportation is the most effective way for reducing fuel consumption. Carbon fiber composites have been increasingly used by automotive manufacturers in vehicle nonstructural and structural parts. Larger penetration of carbon fiber-based materials requires very large quantities of fiber at a low price, and of consistently high quality. The advancements in carbon fiber technology that are required to achieve this production scale-up and cost reduction, are very challenging. The most expensive production step is the conversion of textile-grade polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor to carbon fiber. The conversion takes place in three main stages: stabilization, low and high temperature carbonization. Most of the research to date has focused on the stabilization of the PAN precursors and oxidized PAN fibers. Comparingly little effort has been dedicated to the investigation of processing conditions during low temperature (LT) carbonization. During this stage of fiber conversion, the largest fiber mass loss occurs, and the fundamental carbon fiber structure and material properties are established. The understanding of the conversion processes in the LT furnace, and the effects of spatial and temporal variations of the LT process parameters on the carbon fiber properties are necessary to identify possible process improvements and cost savings. The objective of this research was to develop computational models for gas flow and energy transport in the gas and fiber phases of the LT furnace, and to couple them with the fiber conversion process models. The model is implemented in the three-dimensional framework that enables analysis of process condition variations in all directions. The formulation is based on modified transport equation to simulate steady state conditions and thus significantly reduce computational effort associated with transient methods. The model is implemented in open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code OpenFOAM. The model has been demonstrated on a prototype carbon fiber LT furnace and can be extended to other geometries and process conditions. Extensions to other physical effects, such as accounting evolution of multiple gas species, and fiber tensioning are straightforward. The model uses High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities of OpenFOAM and can be implemented on multi-processor workstations or mid-size computer clusters common in the industrial setting.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2018

Simulation tools for atom probe tomography: A path for diagnosis and treatment of image degradation

The ideal picture of a near-perfect 3D microscope often presented regarding Atom Probe Tomography faces several issues. These issues degrade the metrological performance of the instrument and find their roots in the phenomena acting at the atomic to the mesoscopic level in the vicinity of the surface of a field emitter. From the field evaporation process at the atomic scale, to the macroscopic scale of the instrument, the path to model the imaging process and to develop more accurate and reliable reconstruction algorithms is not a single lane road. This paper focused on the numerical methods used to understand, treat, and potentially heal imaging issues commonly affecting the data in atom probe experiments. A lot of room for improvement exists in solving accuracy problems observed in complex materials by means of purely electrostatic models describing the image formation in a classical approach. Looking at the sample at the atomic scale, the phenomena perturbing the imaging process are subtle. An examination of atomic scale modifications of the sample surface in the presence of a high surface electric field is therefore mandatory. Atomic scale molecular dynamic models integrating the influence of the high surface electric are being developed with this aim. It is also demonstrated that the complex behavior of atoms and molecules in high fields, and consequences on collected data, can be understood through the use of accurate ab-initio models modified to include the impact of the extreme surface electric field.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

Integrated computational materials engineering: Tools, simulations and new applications

Here, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is a relatively new methodology full of tremendous potential to revolutionize how science, engineering and manufacturing work together. ICME was motivated by the desire to derive greater understanding throughout each portion of the development life cycle of materials, while simultaneously reducing the time between discovery to implementation [1,2].

42 ENGINEERING↗