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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

Utilization of Renewable Energy to Meet New National Challenges in Energy and Climate Change

The project aims to design a microgrid system to promote utilization of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar to address the national challenges in energy and climate change. Different optimization techniques and simulation software are used to study the performance of the renewable energy system under study. A series of research works performed under the grant Department of Energy (DOE) is presented. This grant opportunity affords Howard faculty, students, graduates, undergraduates, K-12, postdocs and visiting scholars to benefit state of the art research work. The research work has led to improve or advance understanding of new hardware technologies, software development and engineering optimization methods necessary and sufficient for handling probabilistic models and real-time computation and functions necessary for development of microgrid system. Consistent with State of Project Objective Howard University has partitioned the task into the following integrated activities: 1. Stochastic Model for RER and Load • Development of modeling Renewable Energy Resources (RER) and load which is used to perform distribution power flow study which leads to publication in refereed journals and conferences. The work was also published at the IEEE conference. 2. Stochastic optimization for voltage/Var • The development of voltage VAr optimization based on a review of existing knowledge in optimization led to the use of stochastic program and evolution of programming optimization method for V/VAr optimization. Papers were presented at the North America Power Systems Conference and the IEEE PES general meeting. 3. Modeling RER and Storage • Extending the concept of optimization method an RER with storage, such as the development of microgrid V/VAr and storage is performed. Several papers were published at the North America Power Systems Conference and the IEEE PES general meeting. 4. Power Game • Development of power game experiment using Labvolt to allow for hands on understanding of design and development of microgrid functions is performed. Publication were done by students at the end of their summer program. 5. Designing Microgrid Testbed • Example microgrid test bed is developed. In addition, function of the test bed are developed. The papers were presented at the North America Power Systems Conference and the IEEE general meeting. 6. Outreach Program • From the outreach program, topics from the project have been included in the revision of courses at Howard University, new book called Energy Processing and Smartgrid has being developed. • Hosted masters students from University of Denver to complete their projects with us. • Hosted high school students for early exposure for careers in STEM • Representations made in IEEE conferences to share the lessons learned in the use of micro grid to expose students to STEM education and research.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Capacity Investment under Bayesian Information Updates at Reporting Periods: Model and Application

We consider capacity addition decisions by a new product manufacturer faced with uncertain technology alternatives. The manufacturing capacity addition and technology development occurs in parallel, with preliminary results from a technology project's success providing valuable information to the manufacturer in adding capacity. We solve a stochastic dynamic program with Bayesian updates to obtain the manufacturer's expected profit‐maximizing capacity investment decision. Our model and applications are motivated by the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) (funded by the Department of Energy), which manages research projects focused on mitigating critical material constraints, vital to renewable energy technologies such as direct‐drive wind turbines, electric vehicles, and energy‐efficient lighting. We capture three unique aspects of the problem: first, the learning from project progress depends on task‐based stochastic outcomes and a project's percent‐done. Second, the underlying technology's profitability is based on a model of competition. Third, we evaluate the impact of progress across a portfolio of projects based on a manufacturer's capacity addition. We develop a heuristic that produces results that are close to optimal and can thus be used for large problem sizes. The managerial insights from an application of our model to CMI projects include: (i) technology projects that report the percent‐done of a project earlier increase expected manufacturer profit; (ii) careful choice of “safe bets,” that is, technologies with low profitability but a high probability of success, can increase expected manufacturer profit; (iii) a portfolio of projects can increase profits significantly over separate project evaluation; and (iv) dynamic management of project resources can increase overall profit.

Vedantam, Aditya↗

Preliminary Long-term Safety Assessment for the Planned LLW Disposal Facility at Al-Tuwaitha, Iraq - 18142

Before 1991, Iraq had a significant nuclear program which encompassed ten nuclear sites spread out across the country. The largest nuclear site was located at the Al-Tuwaitha site near Baghdad where 18 nuclear facilities were concentrated. During the first Gulf War in 1991, all sites suffered significant damage from bombing and subsequent looting. Currently, the Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for the ten heavily damaged nuclear sites and for the management of radioactive waste in Iraq in general. The task of decommissioning the damaged nuclear facilities and managing the resulting waste is being supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Commission (EC), and the United States (US). In the framework of its Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC), the EC has launched a cooperation project to support the planned construction of an engineered repository for short-lived low- and intermediate level waste for the safe disposal of radioactive waste resulting from the decommissioning activities, as well as for waste from the continuing use of radioisotopes in medicine and the oil and gas industry in the country. The main objectives of this project, which was awarded to a Consortium led by NUKEM Technologies Engineering Services GmbH and joined by DBE Technology GmbH of Germany and JAVYS a.s. of Slovakia, are the development of an initial conceptual level basic design and preliminary safety assessment report (PSAR) and the subsequent detailed engineering design and supporting pre-construction safety assessment report (PCSAR). The current paper focuses on the development of the PSAR. Special focus is given to the long-term calculations and difficulties associated with the limited data base in regard to site characterization as well as the expected inventory for the future repository. Because of the ongoing security concerns in Iraq, the Ministry of Science and Technology had already selected the Al-Tuwaitha Site as the best suited location for the planned surface repository at the start of the project. Although some site characterization work had already been carried out prior to the start of the project, certain data for modelling the geology and hydrology of the site are still lacking. Missing data have been compensated by conservative assumptions and the assessment of alternative scenarios. Consequently, for the development of the simplified GoldSim{sup R} computer model used to carry out the long-term calculations supporting the PSAR, existing site information was used and, as appropriate, amended or replaced by conservative assumptions. Due to the nature of the waste, data on the expected inventory are associated with large uncertainties. Although certain estimates related to the future volume of the waste exist, little to no information is available on the expected radionuclide vector and respective activities. Therefore, the long-term calculations were carried out for a generic inventory including a broad range of radionuclides that are to be expected as being important considering the kind of waste to be disposed of in the facility. Based on the results of these calculations, the maximum total capacity of the facility was estimated and converted into activity limits for individual radionuclides that will be integrated into the existing general WAC for the facility. Compliance with these WAC will then guarantee the safety of the repository in regard to potential radionuclide releases via the groundwater pathway. In parallel to the determination of activity limits for the WAC, long-term calculations were carried using different estimates for the expected total activity to determine the general suitability of the proposed technical solution of the repository for receiving the total amount of Iraqi radioactive waste principally acceptable for surface disposal. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Pairwise alignment for very long nucleic acid sequences

Highlights: • The PAAVLS algorithm can be employed for alignment of very long sequences. • The PAAVLS algorithm largely reduces memory demand as the Smith–Waterman algorithm. • The running times of the PAAVLS and Smith–Waterman algorithms are comparable. Sequence alignment is one of the fundamental problems in computational biology and has numerous applications. The Smith–Waterman algorithm generates optimal local alignment for pairwise alignment task and has become a standard algorithm in its field. However, the current version of the Smith–Waterman algorithm demands a significant amount of memory and is not suitable for alignment of very long sequences. On the hand, the recent DNA sequencing technologies have produced vast amounts of biological sequences. Some nucleic acid sequences are very long and cannot employ the Smith–Waterman algorithm. To this end, this study proposes the PAAVLS algorithm that follows the dynamic programming technique employed by the Smith–Waterman algorithm and largely reduces the demand of memory. The proposed PAAVLS algorithm can be employed for alignment of very long sequences, i.e., sequences contain more than 100,000,000 nucleotides, on a personal computer. Additionally, the running time of the proposed PAAVLS algorithm is comparable with the running time of the standard Smith–Waterman algorithm.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Synchronization-Avoiding Graph Algorithms

Because they were developed for optimal sequential complexity, classical graph algorithms as found in textbooks have strictly-defined orders of operations. Enforcing a prescribed order of operations, or even an approximate order, in a distributed memory setting requires significant amounts of synchronization, which in turn can severely limit scalability. As a result, new algorithms are typically required to achieve scalable performance, even for solving well-known graph problems. Yet, even in these cases, parallel graph algorithms are written according to parallel programming models that evolved for, e.g., scientific computing, and that still have inherent, and scalability-limiting, amounts of synchronization. In this paper we present a new approach to parallel graph algorithms: synchronization-avoiding algorithms. To eliminate synchronization and its associated overhead, synchronization-avoiding algorithms perform work in an unordered and fully asynchronous fashion in such a way that the result is constantly refined toward its final state. “Wasted” work is minimized by locally prioritizing tasks using problem-dependent task utility metrics. We classify algorithms for graph applications into two broad categories: algorithms with monotonic updates (which evince global synchronization) and algorithms with nonmonotonic updates (which evince vertex-centric synchronization). We apply our approach to both classes and develop novel, synchronization-avoiding algorithms for solving exemplar problems: SSSP and connected components for the former, graph coloring for the latter. We demonstrate that eliminating synchronization in conjunction with effective scheduling policies and optimizations in the runtime results in improved scalability for both classes of algorithms.

Firoz, Jesun S.↗

RAMSeS: Rapid Analysis of Mission Software Systems

Over the past few decades, software has become ubiquitous as it has been integrated into nearly every aspect of society, including household appliances, consumer electronics, industrial control systems, public utilities, government operations, and military systems. Consequently, many critical national security questions can no longer be answered convincingly without understanding software, including its purpose, its capabilities, its flaws, its communication, or how it processes and stores data. As software continues to become larger, more complex, and more widespread, our ability to answer important mission questions and reason about software in a timely way is falling behind. Today, to achieve such understanding of third-party software, we rely predominantly on the ability of reverse engineering experts to manually answer each particular mission question for every software system of interest. This approach often requires heroic human effort that nevertheless fails to meet current mission needs and will never scale to meet future needs. The result is an emerging crisis: a massive and expanding gap between the national security need to answer mission questions about software and our ability to do so. Sandia National Laboratories has established the Rapid Analysis of Mission Software Systems (RAMSeS) effort, a collaborative long-term effort aimed at dramatically improving our nation’s ability to answer mission questions about third-party software by growing an ecosystem of tools that augment the human reverse engineer through automation, interoperability, and reuse. Focusing on static analysis of binary programs, we are attempting to identify reusable software analysis components that advance our ability to reason about software, to automate useful aspects of the software analysis process, and to integrate new methodologies and capabilities into a working ecosystem of tools and experts. We aim to integrate existing tools where possible, adapt tools when modest modifications will enable them to interoperate, and implement missing capability when necessary. Although we do hope to automate a growing set of analysis tasks, we will approach this goal incrementally by assisting the human in an ever-widening range of tasks.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Constitutive Model Development for Aging Polymer Encapsulants (ASC P&EM FY2021 L2 Milestone 7836)

This SAND report fulfills the completion requirements for the ASC Physics and Engineering Modeling Level 2 Milestone 7836 during Fiscal Year 2021. The Sandia Simplified potential energy clock (SPEC) non-linear viscoelastic constitutive model was developed to predict a whole host of polymer glass physical behaviors in order to provide a tool to assess the effects of stress on these materials over their lifecycle. Polymer glasses are used extensively in applications such as electronics packaging, where encapsulants and adhesives can be critical to device performance. In this work, the focus is on assessing the performance of the model in predicting material evolution associated with long-term physical aging, an area that the model has not been fully vetted in. These predictions are key to utilizing models to help demonstrate electronics packaging component reliability over decades long service lives, a task that is very costly and time consuming to execute experimentally. The initiating hypothesis for the work was that a model calibration process can be defined that enables confidence in physical aging predictions under ND relevant environments and timescales without sacrificing other predictive capabilities. To test the hypothesis, an extensive suite of calibration and aging data was assembled from a combination of prior work and collaborating projects (Aging and Lifetimes as well as the DoD Joint Munitions Program) for two mission relevant epoxy encapsulants, 828DGEBA/DEA and 828DGEBA/T403. Multiple model calibration processes were developed and evaluated against the entire set of data for each material. A qualitative assessment of each calibration's ability to predict the wide range of aging responses was key to ranking the calibrations against each other. During this evaluation, predictions that were identified as non-physical, i.e., demonstrated something that was qualitatively different than known material behavior, were heavily weighted against the calibration performance. Thus, unphysical predictions for one aspect of aging response could generate a lower overall rating for a calibration process even if that process generated better quantitative predictions for another aspect of aging response. This insurance that all predictions are qualitatively correct is important to the overall aim of utilizing the model to predict residual stress evolution, which will depend on the interplay amongst the different material aging responses. The DSC-focused calibration procedure generated the best all-around aging predictions for both materials, demonstrating material models that can qualitatively predict the whole host of different physical aging responses that have been measured. This step forward in predictive capability comes from an unanticipated source, utilization of calorimetry measurements to specify model parameters. The DSC-focused calibration technique performed better than compression-focused techniques that more heavily weigh measurements more closely related to the structural responses to be predicted. Indeed, the DSC-focused calibration procedure was only possible due to recent incorporation of the enthalpy and heat capacity features into SPEC that was newly verified during this L2 milestone. Fundamentally similar aspects of the two material model calibrations as well as parametric studies to assess sensitives of the aging predictions are discussed within the report. A perspective on the next steps to the overall goal of residual stress evolution predictions under stockpile conditions closes the report.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Sludge Batch 10 (SB10) Acceptance Evaluation: Radionuclide Concentrations in Tank 51 Washed Qualification Sample

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been tasked with the radionuclide characterization of the washed Sludge Batch 10 (SB10) qualification sample. The washed SB10 qualification sample is based on SRR Engineering guidance and the sample slurry is expected to be similar in composition to Tank 51 slurry after final preparations for transfer to Tank 40. Forty-four radionuclides along with total alpha and beta activity have been reported herein. These radionuclide measurements are required for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Radiological Evaluation Program, DWPF Technical Safety Requirements (TSR)/Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) Evaluation, and the DWPF Solid Waste Characterization Program.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

A709 Procurement and ASTM Specification Status

This is a presentation regarding A709 Procurement and ASTM Specification Status for the Joint ART Materials/AMMT Program Review meeting. The A709 team consists of Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Subject matter expert John Grubb and Richard Wright. Discussion topics will discuss incorporation of 709 into ASTM Standard A 240 for plate material in the solution annealed condition with a precipitation treatment as a supplemental requirement is underway, Incorporation of Alloy 709 into ASME, Section II, Specification SA 240 will be made upon the completion of the ASTM task, The required commercial scale heats of Alloy 709 for property characterization to provide the technical basis for Code qualification have been procured, and Laboratory testing of properties from these three heats is underway as will be discussed separately at this review meeting.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Numerical modeling of Joule heated ceramic melter

Computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer models of waste glass melters are being developed to support the vitrification campaign at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) as part of the United States nuclear waste stewardship and environmental protection programs. The WTP mission aims to achieve the stable and durable processing of vitrified waste in the safest, most efficient, and economical manner possible. Hanford’s tank waste is far more complex and varied than the waste treated by other vitrification facilities and both startup and long-term operational challenges are likely to be even greater than prior experience has shown. There are thousands of different waste compositions, which makes processing the waste a complex and challenging task. Models of test melters, pilot-scale, and full-scale melters have been developed to provide understanding and insight into the various physical and chemical phenomena occurring during vitrification. So the results of these modeling activities will be used to support the WTP operations to process legacy nuclear waste into a stable form for disposal.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Refining fast calorimeter simulations with a Schrödinger Bridge

Machine learning-based simulations, especially calorimeter simulations, are promising tools for approximating the precision of classical high energy physics simulations with a fraction of the generation time. Nearly all methods proposed so far learn neural networks that map a random variable with a known probability density, like a Gaussian, to realistic-looking events. In many cases, physics events are not close to Gaussian and so these neural networks have to learn a highly complex function. We study an alternative approach: Schrödinger bridge Quality Improvement via Refinement of Existing Lightweight Simulations (SQuIRELS). SQuIRELS leverages the power of diffusion-based neural networks and Schrödinger bridges to map between samples where the probability density is not known explicitly. We apply SQuIRELS to the task of refining a classical fast simulation to approximate a full classical simulation. On simulated calorimeter events, we find that SQuIRELS is able to reproduce highly non-trivial features of the full simulation with a fraction of the generation time.

Calorimeter methods↗

Toward a Synthetic Model for Distribution System Restoration and Crew Dispatch

Distribution service restoration (DSR) is critical for improving the resilience and reliability of modern distribution systems by strategically and sequentially energizing the system components and customer loads. Restoring electricity service to affected customers also requires multiple crews with different skill sets to perform multiple tasks that are procedurally interdependent with safety guaranteed. However, in existing DSR practices, switch operations and crew dispatch are scheduled separately, and their interdependence is not fully considered. As advanced technologies are enabling remote communication, control, and dispatch, utilities now desire an integrated DSR framework to achieve seamless coordination among multiple DSR tasks such as switch operation, crew dispatch, and component repair. In this paper, we introduce a synthetic model that integrates the service restoration model and the crew dispatch model based on a universal routing model. The proposed model can provide the estimated time of restoration for each load, the switching sequence for safely operating remotely/manually operated switches, and dispatch solutions for crews with different skill sets. The proposed synthetic model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model, and its effectiveness is evaluated via the IEEE 123 bus test feeder and several large-scale test feeders (EPRI Ckt5, Ckt7, Ckt24, and IEEE 8500 node test feeder.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Mid Atlantic CHP Technical Assistance Partnership (Final Technical Report)

The Mid Atlantic CHP Technical Assistance Partnership (MACHPTAP), managed by The Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering, served the six states in the Mid-Atlantic region (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) plus the District of Columbia. The objective of the Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnerships (CHP TAPs) was to provide essential support to continue the market development of CHP’s suite of technologies to further the installation of highly efficient and cost effective CHP. The MACHPTAP’s work included education and outreach as well as technical assistance to a variety of stakeholders including end-users (commercial, industrial, institutional and more), state decision makers, electric and gas utilities, trade associations and non-profit organizations. This assistance included evaluating the economic, energy, reliability and environmental value of proposed systems. The CHP TAPs represented multi-state regions and are the CHP experts in the region who provide fact-based, un-biased information on CHP, including technologies, project development, project financing, local electric and natural gas utility interfaces, and related State best practice policies. Specifically, the MACHPTAP objectives were accomplished through taskings in four specific areas: Technical Assistance to end Users which involved engaging potential end-users to identify, evaluate, and technically support prospective CHP projects; Engagement and Education of End Users where the MACHPTAP engaged and educated end users about CHP, its benefits, and DOE resources available, and strategically hosted or participated in webinars, workshops and conferences; Policymaker Education where the MACHPTAP hosted or participated in webinars, one-on-one meetings, workshops, and other forums; and Program Administration, Management and Reporting, which included monthly and quarterly reporting, program meetings and coordination of activities with other regional TAPs. Accomplishments in the four specific project areas included providing direct Technical Assistance to 289 prospective CHP end users, conducting or participating in 82 End User Education events and hosting or participating in 73 Policy Maker Education events. During the contract period, 107 CHP installations were commissioned in the Mid Atlantic region, with a total generation capacity of over 160 megawatts, with an additional 34 sites with a capacity of over 100 megawatts currently in the planning/design/construction phase. Programmatically, all monthly metrics reports and quarterly reports were submitted in a timely manner.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

NCSP Activities at BNL (FY21) [Slides]

All 3 BNL NCSP (ND, AM, TS) tasks are reported as being on time and slightly under budget. Several COVID-19 related impacts are noted. The release of ENDF/B-VIII.1 has been delayed for 1 year to Feb 2024. New ENDF Library Manager appointment announced as Gustavo Nobre.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Workshop on a future muon program at FNAL

The Snowmass report on rare processes and precision measurements recommended Mu2e-II and a next generation muon facility at Fermilab (Advanced Muon Facility) as priorities for the frontier. The Workshop on a future muon program at FNAL was held in March 2023 to discuss design studies for Mu2e-II, organizing efforts for the next generation muon facility, and identify synergies with other efforts (e.g., muon collider). Topics included high-power targetry, status of R&D for Mu2e-II, development of compressor rings, FFA and concepts for muon experiments (conversion, decays, muonium and other opportunities) at AMF. This document summarizes the workshop discussions with a focus on future R&D tasks needed to realize these concepts.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Pressurized-Water Reactor Core Design using Multi-Objective Plant Fuel Reload Optimization Platform

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program Risk-Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway Plant Reload Optimization Project aims to develop an integrated, comprehensive framework offering an all-in-one solution for reload evaluations with a special focus on optimization of core design. The optimization of the fuel loading pattern is one of the most important considerations in reducing the amount of new fuel used in the core. Due to thousands of possible options of core configuration, finding optimal solutions is an unachievable task for a human. The Plant ReLoad Optimization (PRLO) platform which supports artificial-intelligence-based reactor core designing is now fully capable of handling realistic problems. The PRLO Platform development project aims to build a reactor core design tool that includes reactor safety and fuel performance analyses and uses artificial intelligence to support the optimization of core design solutions. The NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II) optimizer was developed and tested within RAVEN (Risk Analysis and Virtual Environment) to handle many constraints by using an augmented objectives methodology. The demonstration was performed with constrained multi-objective optimization of a 17 × 17 pressurized-water reactor core loading patterns to minimize fuel cost and maximize fuel cycle length.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Tomographic Event Reconstruction with MicroBooNE Data

Event reconstruction is one of the most challenging tasks in analyzing the data from current and future massive single-phase liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). The performance of event reconstruction is critical to the potency of the eventual physics result. In this note, we describe a novel event reconstruction method, known as Wire-Cell tomographic imaging, applied to MicroBooNE data. MicroBooNE is an 85 metric ton single-phase LArTPC and the first of a trio of LArTPCs in the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program. MicroBooNE’s principal aims are to understand the MiniBooNE low energy excess, measure neutrino-argon interaction cross sections, and improve the understanding and capability of single-phase LArTPCs through detector R&D.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗