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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 739 records · Page 41
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Transport and Fate of Natural Gas and Brine Escaping from a Hydrocarbon Reservoir Through a Failed Deepwater Well in the Oceanic Subsurface of the Gulf of Mexico

The possibility of broaching, or the release of fluids at the seafloor due to a damaged or faulty well, is a hazard that must be assessed in the well permitting process. Here, this paper describes a numerical simulation study of a real-life scenario where a complex, permeable sandy formation, connected to the seafloor via known chimneys/seeps, is intersected by a damaged production well that drains another deeper, gas-bearing formation. The objective of the study is to determine the transport and fate of hydrocarbon reservoir fluids (gas and brines) escaping into the sandy formation through the casing shoe of the failed well, and to determine the time it takes for these contaminants to reach the ocean floor. We conducted a detailed simulation study to represent the conditions, properties, and behavior of the system under such failure conditions, and we investigated the migration of gas and brine for a range of reservoir and chimney properties. A key conclusion is that, for such complex systems, modeling the three-dimensional geometry of the system in detail is the key to describing transport and assessing the time and magnitude of potential releases. For the system studied here, transport times range from under 2 years (highest permeabilities) to many decades, ensuring significant time to respond to potential broaching hazards. Lastly, under the conditions investigated in this study, we also determine that gas-dominated releases associated with low rates of water flow into the sandy formation are likely to cause hydrate formation that can reduce permeabilities in the colder, upper regions of the chimneys and possibly mitigate releases.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Atmospheric Solid Analysis Probe Coupled to Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry, a Fast and Simple Method for Polyalphaolefin Characterization

Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) are polymers produced from linear alpha olefins through catalytic oligomerization processes. The PAOs are known as synthetic high-performance base stock fluids used to improve the efficiency of many other synthetic products. In this study, we report the direct characterization of PAOs using atmospheric solid analysis probe (ASAP) coupled with ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS). We studied different PAOs grades exhibiting low- and high-viscosity index. Specific adjustments of the ASAP source parameters permitted the monitoring of ionization processes as three mechanisms could occur for these compounds: hydride abstraction, nitrogen addition, and/or the formation of [M−2H]{sup +•} ions. Several series of fragment ions were obtained, which allowed the identification of the alpha olefin used to synthesize the PAO. The use of the ion mobility separation dimension provides information on isomeric species. In addition, the drift time versus m/z plots permitted rapid comparison between PAO samples and to evidence their complexity. These 2D plots appear as fingerprints of PAO samples. To conclude, the resort to ASAP-IMS-MS provides a rapid characterization of the PAO samples in a direct analysis approach, without any sample preparation. .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

An ERCOT test system for market design studies

An open source test system is developed that permits the dynamic modeling of centrally-managed wholesale power markets operating over highvoltage transmission grids. In default mode, the test system models basic operations in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT): namely, centrally-managed day-ahead and real-time markets operating over successive days, with congestion handled by locational marginal pricing. These basic operational features characterize all seven U.S. energy regions organized as centrally-managed wholesale power markets. Modeled participants include dispatchable generators, load-serving entities, and non-dispatchable generation such as unrmed wind and solar power. Users can congure a broad variety of parameters to study basic market and grid features under alternative system conditions. Users can also easily extend the test system's Java/Python software classes to study modied or newly envisioned market and grid features. Finally, the test system is integrated with a high-level simulation framework that permits it to function as a software component within larger systems, such as multi-country systems or integrated transmission and distribution systems. Finally, detailed test cases with 8-bus and 200-bus transmission grids are reported to illustrate these test system capabilities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Soft costs and EVSE – Knowledge gaps as a barrier to successful projects

There has been a recent push to increase access to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has made significant funding available for major charging infrastructure projects along state thruways, and many state and local incentives exist for EV owners to install chargers in their homes. However, deployment of these chargers has not kept up with demand, primarily due to issues in project planning, permitting processes, and unforeseen delays. This paper serves as a review of the current understanding of these and other non-hardware costs in EV charging infrastructure projects (collectively known as “soft costs”). We found that soft costs in EV charging infrastructure projects are not well understood. Specifically, there is little agreement on how soft costs should be categorized and tracked, and less agreement still on best practices for controlling these costs and lowering barriers to infrastructure deployment. A broader review of EV charging infrastructure cost analyses shows that these costs can have significant impacts on project outcomes. EV charging infrastructure projects may be able to examine the success of the solar industry in lowering soft costs, and a similar effort may lower project costs significantly. Further work on standardizing and collecting data on EV charging infrastructure costs is required to begin addressing and controlling these costs.

32 - ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZA↗
DOE OSTI2021

Oxide layer delamination: An energy dissipation mechanism during high-velocity microparticle impacts

The break-up of microparticle surface oxides is needed to generate a clean metal-metal contact for metallurgical bonding during impact events such as seen in cold-spray. However, the mechanism by which this occurs is not clear. Here, using a laser-induced particle impact tester, we conduct site-specific experiment of single Cu microparticle impacts on a polished Cu substrate and characterize the impact sites. We observe that oxide layers on the particles begin to delaminate at velocities high enough to cause jetting of the substrate around the periphery of the impact site. We show that the energy cost of such delamination is ~30% of the energy needed to slow and stop particle as it bonds to the substrate, with the remainder being associated with the jetting process and bonding itself. At higher velocities, the oxide barrier is broken up to permit metallurgical bonding. Closer to the particle south-pole where hoop strain is low, oxide layers break up with few gaps and thus no metallurgical bonding is observed. Away from the south-pole where larger strains develop, oxide breakup permits intermittent bonding by the extrusion of bare metal into the gaps between oxide islands. These observations provide new insights towards understanding impact-induced metallurgical bonding during cold-spray process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

An Analysis of Biomolecular Force Fields for Simulations of Polyglutamine in Solution

Polyglutamine (polyQ) peptides are a useful model system for biophysical studies of protein folding and aggregation, both for their intriguing aggregation properties and their own relevance to human disease. The genetic expansion of a polyQ tract triggers the formation of amyloid aggregates associated with nine neurodegenerative diseases. Several clearly identifiable and separable factors, notably the length of the polyQ tract, influence the mechanism of aggregation, its associated kinetics, and the ensemble of structures formed. Atomistic simulations are well positioned to answer open questions regarding the thermodynamics and kinetics of polyQ folding and aggregation. The additional, explicit representation of water permits deeper investigation of the role of solvent dynamics, and it permits a direct comparison of simulation results with infrared spectroscopy experiments. The generation of meaningful simulation results hinges on satisfying two essential criteria: achieving sufficient conformational sampling to draw statistically valid conclusions, and accurately reproducing the intermolecular forces that govern system structure and dynamics. In this work, we examine the ability of 12 biomolecular force fields to reproduce the properties of a simple, 30-residue polyQ peptide (Q30) in explicit water. In addition to secondary and tertiary structure, we consider generic structural properties of polymers that provide additional dimensions for analysis of the highly degenerate disordered states of the molecule. We find that the 12 force fields produce a wide range of predictions. We identify AMBER ff99SB, AMBER ff99SB*, and OPLS-AA/L to be most suitable for studies of polyQ folding and aggregation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Regional Control of Hairless versus Hair-Bearing Skin by Dkk2

Haired skin is a defining characteristic of mammals. Yet, some specialized skin regions, such as human palms, soles and ventral wrist, and mouse plantar foot, are entirely hairless. Using mouse plantar skin as a model system, we show that the endogenous secreted Wnt inhibitor DKK2 suppresses plantar hair follicle development and permits the formation of hairless skin. Plantar skin retains all of the mechanistic components needed for hair follicle development, as genetic deletion of Dkk2 permits formation of fully functional plantar hair follicles that give rise to external hair, contain sebaceous glands and a stem cell compartment, and undergo regenerative growth. In the absence of Dkk2 , Wnt/β-catenin signaling activity is initially broadly elevated in embryonic plantar skin and gradually becomes patterned, mimicking follicular development in normally haired areas. These data reflects a paradigm in which regionally restricted expression of a Wnt inhibitor underlies specification of hairless versus hairy skin.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Insight into the BiFeO 3 flash sintering process by in-situ energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (ED-XRD)

The sintering mechanism of BiFeO 3 has been investigated in-situ by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (ED-XRD) using a high-energy white collimated X-ray beam from the Advanced Photon Source (Argonne National Laboratories). Such radiation is very penetrating thereby allowing measurements of the sample even when placed inside the flash sintering set up. Additionally, the fast ED-XRD measurements permit monitoring the flash sintering process by providing information about phase composition and sample temperature in real time. Moreover, profile scans, obtained by moving the stage vertically while recording the ED-XRD spectra, permit investigating the homogeneity of the flash for the entire length of the sample. All experiments have been complemented by ex-situ studies. Here, it has been concluded that flash sintering of BiFeO 3 is a homogeneous process without any directionality effects. Furthermore, flash sintering takes place at quite low temperatures (below the Tc ≈ 830 °C), which may be related to the high quality of the samples, as pure, highly insulating ceramics without evidence of secondary phases with a homogenous nanostructured grain size distribution are obtained by this technique. Moreover, it is also evidenced that the rapid heating of the sample does not seem to justify, at least by itself, the densification process. Therefore, it appears that the electric current should play a role in the enhanced mobility during the sintering process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of Permeability Heterogeneity on Area of Review

The Area of Review is one of the most important aspects of a geologic CO 2 storage site permit application and regulatory requirement. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has implemented an Area of Review (AoR) requirement for Class VI CO 2 injection wells for geologic sequestration. Reservoir permeability is one of the most important parameters controlling AoR evolution but is generally highly heterogeneous and difficult to constrain. We have used a numerical model for Rock Springs Uplift in Wyoming as an example site to characterize how the heterogeneity in reservoir permeability affects AoR. We have performed multiple reservoir simulations using multiple, equally-likely realizations of heterogeneous permeability. We considered multiple CO 2 injection scenarios with varying injection rates as well as varying injection and post-site durations. Results of our study demonstrate that uncertainty in permeability heterogeneity can significantly influence AoR for both CO 2 saturation and pressure. In our example, the CO 2 AoR varied by as much as 2-3 times while the pressure AoR varied over 1.5 – 2 times. Lastly, such type of variability can have significant implications in defining AoR for site permit applications.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

The influence of actor capacities on EIA system performance in low and middle income countries —Cases from Georgia and Ghana

In this paper, we aim to better understand the factors that contribute to the substantive performance of EIA systems in low and middle income countries. Substantive performance is defined as the extent to which the EIA process contributes to the EIA objectives for the long term, namely environmental protection or, even more ambitious, sustainable development. We have therefore developed a conceptual model in which we focus on the key actors in the EIA system, the proponent and the EIA authority and their level of ownership as a key capacity to measure their performance, and we distinguish procedural performance and some contextual factors. This conceptual model is then verified and refined for the EIA phase and the EIA follow-up phase (permitting, monitoring and enforcement) by means of 12 case studies from Ghana (four cases) and Georgia (eight cases), both lower–middle income countries. We observe that in most cases the level of substantive performance increases during the EIA phase but drops during the EIA follow-up phase, and as a result only five out of 12 operational cases are in compliance with permit conditions or national environmental standards. We conclude, firstly that ownership of the proponent is the most important factor explaining the level of substantive performance; the higher the proponent's level of ownership the higher the level of substantive performance. The influence of the EIA authority on substantive performance is limited. Secondly, the influence of procedural performance on substantive performance seems less important than expected in the EIA phase but more important during the EIA follow-up phase. In order to improve substantive performance we learned two lessons. Firstly, increasing the proponent's level of ownership seems obvious, but direct change is probably difficult. However, where international finance institutes are involved they can increase ownership. Despite the limited influence of the EIA authority, a proactive strategy of, for example, working together with international finance institutes has a slightly larger influence than a reactive strategy. - Highlights: • Ownership of the proponent is the most important factor explaining the level of substantive performance. • The influence of the EIA authority on substantive performance is limited. • The influence of procedural performance on substantive performance seems less important than expected in the EIA phase but more important during the EIA follow-up phase.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

ARC: A compact, high-field, fusion nuclear science facility and demonstration power plant with demountable magnets

The affordable, robust, compact (ARC) reactor is the product of a conceptual design study focused on reducing the size, cost, and complexity of a combined fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF) and demonstration fusion Pilot power plant. ARC is a ~200–250 MWe tokamak reactor with a major radius of 3.3 m, a minor radius of 1.1 m, and an on-axis magnetic field of 9.2 T. ARC has rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconducting toroidal field coils, which have joints to enable disassembly. This enables the vacuum vessel to be replaced quickly, mitigating first wall survivability concerns, and permits a single device to test many vacuum vessel designs and divertor materials. The design point has a plasma fusion gain of Q p ≈ 13.6, yet is fully non-inductive, with a modest bootstrap fraction of only ~63%. Thus ARC offers a high power gain with relatively large external control of the current profile. This highly attractive combination is enabled by the ~23 T peak field on coil achievable with newly available REBCO superconductor technology. External current drive is provided by two innovative inboard RF launchers using 25 MW of lower hybrid and 13.6 MW of ion cyclotron fast wave power. The concluding efficient current drive provides a robust, steady state core plasma far from disruptive limits. ARC uses an all-liquid blanket, consisting of low pressure, slowly flowing fluorine lithium beryllium (FLiBe) molten salt. The liquid blanket is low-risk technology and provides effective neutron moderation and shielding, excellent heat removal, and a tritium breeding ratio ≥ 1.1. The large temperature range over which FLiBe is liquid permits an output blanket temperature of 900 K, single phase fluid cooling, and a high efficiency helium Brayton cycle, which allows for net electricity generation when operating ARC as a Pilot power plant.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Progress in Monitoring Strategies for Risk Reduction in Geologic CO2 Storage

Abstract: This geophysical monitoring review is intended to lay the ground work for an approach to integrating monitoring strategies with risk assessment and risk reduction and to summarize work conducted by U.S. Department of Energy's National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) participants that addresses key questions related to monitoring strategies. Commercial, demonstration and pilot geologic CO2 storage (GCS) projects have provided a wealth of practical experience in monitoring technologies. In this manuscript we review a few key projects, specific geophysical methods, well-based methods, geophysical workflows and some suggested best practices. These practices are often driven and governed by regulatory requirements (e.g. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [US-EPA] Class VI underground injection regulation) and the need for effective reservoir management of pressures and volumes as well as the site-specific risks to containment, plume migration, and underground sources of drinking water. Reducing uncertainty in monitoring is likely to lead to reducing uncertainty in risk. One of our conclusions is the need for field experiment testing that is risk-driven. It is notable that GCS pilot projects have been designed for safe storage, and to date they have been successful. Technical challenges at all geologic CO2 storage sites include assuring injectivity and capacity predictions are reliable, the fate and subsurface topology of the CO2 plume is acceptable, regulatory permitting and compliance are accomplished in a timely manner, needed business assurances are supported by quantitative technical data, and the storage operation is acceptable to stakeholders. There is risk associated with all of these challenges necessitating a monitoring program utilizing both direct and indirect monitoring methods. Because of the direct association of risk and monitoring in GCS, geophysical monitoring is viewed as a key component in approaching risk assessment. To address monitoring in the context of risk assessment the U.S. Department of Energy's National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) has undertaken a review of work related to monitoring storage sites. In this review we provide a framework for monitoring and then present some specific monitoring tools that may be useful for regulatory compliance, as well as technologies that are applicable to leakage detection.

Harbert, William↗
DOE OSTI2016

A hybrid incremental projection method for thermal-hydraulics applications

In this paper, a new second-order accurate, hybrid, incremental projection method for time-dependent incompressible viscous flow is introduced in this paper. The hybrid finite-element/finite-volume discretization circumvents the well-known Ladyzhenskaya–Babuška–Brezzi conditions for stability, and does not require special treatment to filter pressure modes by either Rhie–Chow interpolation or by using a Petrov–Galerkin finite element formulation. The use of a co-velocity with a high-resolution advection method and a linearly consistent edge-based treatment of viscous/diffusive terms yields a robust algorithm for a broad spectrum of incompressible flows. The high-resolution advection method is shown to deliver second-order spatial convergence on mixed element topology meshes, and the implicit advective treatment significantly increases the stable time-step size. The algorithm is robust and extensible, permitting the incorporation of features such as porous media flow, RANS and LES turbulence models, and semi-/fully-implicit time stepping. A series of verification and validation problems are used to illustrate the convergence properties of the algorithm. The temporal stability properties are demonstrated on a range of problems with 2 ≤ CFL ≤ 100. The new flow solver is built using the Hydra multiphysics toolkit. The Hydra toolkit is written in C++ and provides a rich suite of extensible and fully-parallel components that permit rapid application development, supports multiple discretization techniques, provides I/O interfaces, dynamic run-time load balancing and data migration, and interfaces to scalable popular linear solvers, e.g., in open-source packages such as HYPRE, PETSc, and Trilinos.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microstructural evolution of rapidly solidified hypoeutectic Al 10Cu alloy during non-isothermal annealing transients induced by nano-second laser pulses

The evolution of characteristic nonequilibrium features presenting in morphologically distinct regions of rapid solidification (RS) microstructures in a hypoeutectic Al—10Cu (atomic %) in response to non-isothermal annealing transients has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The capabilities of the Movie-Mode Dynamic TEM (MM-DTEM) instrument were used to expose select regions of the RS microstructure to sequences of rapid heating and cooling transients induced by nanosecond laser pulses while permitting in-situ observation. Partial melting, microstructural scale coarsening, morphological changes of the nonequilibrium features in the multi-phase RS microstructure, and solid-state phase transformation were observed. Heterogeneous nucleation of nanoscale θ-Al 2 Cu phase involved metastable supersaturated α-Al and the θ'-Al 2 Cu phases, establishing different sets of orientation relationships for the stable θ-Al 2 Cu and α-Al phases. Replacement of banded morphology grains that formed under conditions driven farthest from equilibrium by an equiaxed nanocrystalline structure comprised of α-Al phase, the primary solidification product, and an intergranular network of Al 2 Cu crystals has been attributed to local remelting. Here the experimental approach explored, permitted discovery of mechanistic details of location-specific transformation pathways activated in the multi-phase RS microstructure of hypoeutectic Al—Cu during subsequent nonisothermal transients.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Selective functionalization of the mesopores of SBA-15

In this study, a method has been developed that permits the highly selective functionalization of the interior and exterior surfaces of the ubiquitous mesoporous material, SBA-15. The key step is reloading the as-synthesized material with structure-directing agent, Pluronic ® P123, prior to selective functionalization of the external surface with a silylating agent. This new approach represents a significant improvement over literature procedures. Results from physisorption analyses as well as solid-state NMR permit a detailed, quantitative assessment of functionalized SBA-15. This work also provides insight into the stability of the silyl layer during extraction procedures – an issue often neglected in other studies but of significant importance as decomposition of this layer could result in the introduction of new silanols and reduce the effectiveness of any selective grafting procedure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Recommended Nuclear Data for the Production of Selected Therapeutic Radionuclides

Increasing interest in the treatment of human disease by means of targeted radionuclide-based therapies requires an accurate understanding of achievable yields and quantification of realisable degrees of purity. Important studies within a more extensive Coordinated Research Project of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA CRP) have included in-depth assessments and evaluations of all available measured cross-section data for ten nuclear reactions leading to the formation of 131 Cs, 131 Ba, 225 Ac, 225 Ra, 227 Th, 227 Ac, 230 U and 230 Pa for various on-going and proposed therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine. Equivalent studies were also undertaken of possible reactions to produce the 178W /low-spin 178m Ta generator system that has been clinically applied in diagnosis by means of SPECT - these particular cross-section studies and recommendations are included in this paper for completeness. All available measured data have been critically reviewed and assessed to produce statistically consistent datasets. Selected datasets have been fitted by a least-squares method with Padé approximations of variable order to evaluate the production cross sections and corresponding uncertainties. New measurements have been made in some instances, and reported data have been adjusted to accommodate new nuclear decay or monitor reaction data which altered the original reported quantities adversely. Insufficient measured data are available in many cases to permit a reliable evaluation of cross sections, and these instances are discussed. Finally, recommended therapeutic radionuclide production reaction data and their uncertainties are available on the Web page of the IAEA Nuclear Data Section at www-nds.iaea.org/radionuclides/ and also at the IAEA medical portal www-nds.iaea.org/medportal/.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scalable line and plane relaxation in a parallel structured multigrid solver

The efficient solution of sparse, linear systems that arise through the discretization of partial differential equations remains a key challenge for a range of high performance scientific simulations. One approach for reducing data movement and improving performance is by exposing and exploiting structure in a problem through the use of robust structured multilevel solvers. By choosing coarsening that preserves the structure of the problem, these methods maintain efficient structured computation and communication throughout the multigrid hierarchy. However, when coarsening is not permitted to be dependent on the operator, anisotropy must be addressed by the smoother — producing error compatible for coarse-grid correction with structured coarsening. Here, the components required in a scalable parallel structured solver are described with a focus on memory and communication efficiency of robust smoothers. While the implementation of communication and memory reduction techniques in smoothers integrated in a complete 3D solver present a significant engineering challenge, a novel approach is proposed that addresses these challenges systematically through a change to the solver’s execution model. Enabled by user-level threading paired with a set of data and communication abstractions, this approach permits seamless aggregation of communication in plane smoothers — directly reusing code for a 2D distributed multilevel cycle. Results show an effective reduction in communication costs for coarse-grid problems, and result in a speedup of 8.7x in smoothing routines shown in Fig. 12 using this approach. This produces a significant improvement to strong scalability while maintaining favorable weak scaling behavior. Finally, a parallel scaling study using a series of refined meshes is included that demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach in an application of interest.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗