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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Data for The Role of Social Support on Midwestern Farmers’ Willingness to Grow Perennial Bioenergy Crops

The lack of farmers’ willingness to grow perennial bioenergy crops (PBCs) presents a critical barrier to the emergence of cellulosic biofuel production. The willingness relies on a complex network of economic, environmental, and social drivers, among which the influence of social factors (e.g., the influence of neighborhood, community, and communication) is less understood. This study addresses this knowledge gap via a survey analysis of midwestern farmers. The survey data are analyzed through ordinary least square regression and structural equation model, which together investigate the individual and interactive impacts of multiple factors on farmers’ decisions to adopt PBCs. Based on a farm-scale analysis, six statistically significant predictors of farmer willingness to grow PBCs are identified: perception of PBCs’ environment benefits, education level, willingness to take risks, familiarity with PBCs, portion of peers already growing PBCs, and support of biorefineries locating in the local community. Among these, the latter three predictors are social support variables. It is found that familiarity with the crops is the most significant predictor of willingness; familiarity is also an important intermediate variable that mediates the influence of many other predictors. In addition, peer adoption can both directly and indirectly affect willingness via its influence on familiarity. These findings suggest that it is a pressing need to improve farmers’ knowledge of PBCs to promote the adoption of such crops.

Economics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Columbia River Surface Water and Pore Water Unaligned FTICR-MS Data Associated with “Using Community Assembly Metrics from Metacommunity Ecology to Understand Environmental Metabolomes”

Surface water and pore water samples were collected at five sites along a shoreline transect of the Columbia River, southeastern WA, USA in 2017. This dataset is comprised of (1) high resolution characterization of dissolved organic matter via 12 Tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) analyzed through the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL; https://www.pnnl.gov/environmental-molecular-sciences-laboratory) and (2) a metadata csv file. The FTICR-MS files are .xml, and the data package includes instructions for using Formularity (https://omics.pnl.gov/software/formularity) and an R script to process the data based on the user’s specific needs. The data are associated with the publication “Using community assembly metrics from metacommunity ecology to understand environmental metabolomes” that will be published in Nature Communications (Danczak et al.). The study aimed to investigate gaps in understanding the spatiotemporal organization of environmental metabolomes to improve the ability to predict ecosystem function. Associated sequencing data will be published via NCBI. The access information for NCBI and the publication DOI will be added to this abstract when they are available. Please use the data package’s DOI to cite the data package. We ask that you acknowledge the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Subsurface Biogeochemical Research (SBR) program when using the data. All data are free to be used for any purpose, such as for manuscripts, presentations, and grant proposals. There is no obligation to include data package authors as co-authors.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Application of Cyber-Informed Engineering for Protecting BESS

This white paper synthesizes an array of crucial grid services provided by BESS technology, assesses its architecture and communications, and presents a case study for analysis against the principles introduced by Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE). Furthermore, in walking through the analysis, this paper presents a framework to evaluate risks and solutions when considering BESS components. Asset owners and buyers could perform this analysis to assess their BESS product implementations, alternative inverter-based resources (IBR), and energy management systems (EMS). Battery systems fulfill various roles contingent on the unique market demands and the specific challenges presented by regional grid infrastructures. These roles also vary due to the differing utility models for ownership and operation, which are adapted to meet regional and local capabilities and requirements. Concerns have been raised regarding the potential for adversaries to exploit knowledge of battery operational patterns to orchestrate decisive attacks. However, the security of operational data for these systems may not be the primary vulnerability, as much of this information is already well-understood within the community. Applying a modest degree of subject matter expertise can often yield valuable predictions regarding how a battery will respond under certain conditions, such as grid emergencies, high or low-temperature days, Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, and outages. The operational characteristics of batteries are well-documented, and their capabilities, including the risks associated with misoperation and the resulting consequences, are published and understood within the industry. CIE practices represent the next step in gaining functional assurance and providing an acceptable level of risk, regardless of whether a battery vendor can support a trusted and validated supply chain. While this issue has exacerbated supply chain challenges, it is not an isolated condition. This foreign supply route is the primary source of BESS for the U.S. market. Significant efforts are underway through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to change that. Still, strategic short-term operational mitigations are needed to ensure the security of our operational technology (OT) systems, which are enhanced by instilling trust and are separate from vendors implementing CIE principles.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Early Warning Signs of a Mental Health Tsunami: A Coordinated Response to Gather Initial Data Insights From Multiple Digital Services Providers

The immediate impact of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) on morbidity and mortality has raised the need for accurate and real-time data monitoring and communication. The aim of this study is to document the initial observations from multiple digital services providers during the COVID-19 crisis, especially those related to mental health and well-being. We used email and social media to announce an urgent call for support. Digital mental health services providers (N = 46), financial services providers (N = 4), and other relevant digital data source providers (N = 3) responded with quantitative and/or qualitative data insights. People with lived experience of distress, as service users/consumers, and carers are included as co-authors. This study provides proof-of-concept of the viability for researchers and private companies to work collaboratively toward a common good. Digital services providers reported a diverse range of mental health concerns. A recurring observation is that demand for digital mental health support has risen, and that the nature of this demand has also changed since COVID-19, with an apparent increased presentation of anxiety and loneliness. Following this study, we will continue to work with providers in more in-depth ways to capture follow-up insights at regular time points. We will also onboard new providers to address data representativeness. Looking ahead, we anticipate the need for a rigorous process to interpret insights from an even wider variety of sources in order to monitor and respond to mental health needs.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Special Issue: 10th Anniversary of Atmosphere: Climatology and Meteorology

During the last decade, the number of open access science journals has increased, and these have become an avenue for publishing quality science in a relatively fast and economical way. The Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) journal Atmosphere published its first volume in 2010, and recently celebrated 10 years with the publication of this special commemorative issue. Atmosphere is a peer reviewed, open access journal described as cross disciplinary. Furthermore, the journal attracts authorship from across the globe. During the first few years, the regular issue of Atmosphere was a quarterly publication, but, by 2019, was issued each month. Furthermore, the journal publishes research articles and notes, communications, review articles, and case studies, as well as timely Special Issues.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scalable In Situ Computation of Lagrangian Representations via Local Flow Maps

In situ computation of Lagrangian flow maps to enable post hoc time-varying vector field analysis has recently become an active area of research. However, the current literature is largely limited to theoretical settings and lacks a solution to address scalability of the technique in distributed memory. To improve scalability, we propose and evaluate the benefits and limitations of a simple, yet novel, performance optimization. Our proposed optimization is a communication-free model resulting in local Lagrangian flow maps, requiring no message passing or synchronization between processes, intrinsically improving scalability, and thereby reducing overall execution time and alleviating the encumbrance placed on simulation codes from communication overheads. To evaluate our approach, we computed Lagrangian flow maps for four time-varying simulation vector fields and investigated how execution time and reconstruction accuracy are impacted by the number of GPUs per compute node, the total number of compute nodes, particles per rank, and storage intervals. Our study consisted of experiments computing Lagrangian flow maps with up to 67M particle trajectories over 500 cycles and used as many as 2048 GPUs across 512 compute nodes. In all, our study contributes an evaluation of a communication-free model as well as a scalability study of computing distributed Lagrangian flow maps at scale using in situ infrastructure on a modern supercomputer.

Sane, Sudhanshu↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluating asynchronous Schwarz solvers on GPUs

With the commencement of the exascale computing era, we realize that the majority of the leadership supercomputers are heterogeneous and massively parallel. Even a single node can contain multiple co-processors such as GPUs and multiple CPU cores. For example, ORNL’s Summit accumulates six NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs and 42 IBM Power9 cores on each node. Synchronizing across compute resources of multiple nodes can be prohibitively expensive. Hence, it is necessary to develop and study asynchronous algorithms that circumvent this issue of bulk-synchronous computing. In this study, we examine the asynchronous version of the abstract Restricted Additive Schwarz method as a solver. We do not explicitly synchronize, but allow the communication between the sub-domains to be completely asynchronous, thereby removing the bulk synchronous nature of the algorithm. We accomplish this by using the one-sided Remote Memory Access (RMA) functions of the MPI standard. We study the benefits of using such an asynchronous solver over its synchronous counterpart. We also study the communication patterns governed by the partitioning and the overlap between the sub-domains on the global solver. Finally, we show that this concept can render attractive performance benefits over the synchronous counterparts even for a well-balanced problem.

Nayak, Pratik↗
DOE OSTI2022

Few-Atom Copper Catalyst for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO to Acetate: Synergetic Catalysis between Neighboring Cu Atoms

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) are gaining increasing recognition because of their superior catalytic properties for various reactions. However, the performance of SACs is often limited by the lack of neighboring metal centers to cooperate in catalysis. Herein, a synergetic interaction between neighboring Cu atoms of a few-atom catalyst (FAC) on graphdiyne is found to greatly enhance the production of acetate in CO electroreduction reaction relative to Cu SACs. In a 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, this Cu FAC exhibits an acetate Faradaic efficiency of 53.8±1.5 % and an ultrahigh relative purity of up to 97 wt% for liquid products, and excellent stability of over 23 h continuous electrolysis at -0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Theoretical studies suggest that the intersite catalytic communication between two neighboring metal atoms confined in each pore of GDY facilitates the formation of acetic acid through either stepwise hydrogenation of CH 2 CO* or the direct reaction of H 2 O with CH 2 CO*. Our study demonstrates the unprecedented synergetic catalysis of Cu FAC in promoting the selective CO electroreduction toward acetate production.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Performance Evaluation of High-Temperature Ultrasonic Communication System

Ultrasonic communication is a technique that allows transmitting information through a solid material such as tubes or bars using high-frequency elastic waves. The communication channels often extend into a high-temperature range in the field of power, oil, or nuclear industry. When the temperature is taken into consideration, the ultrasonic wave propagation through the solid channel is complex and unpredictable. It is necessary to study the influence of temperature on the ultrasonic guided wave to improve ultrasonic communication. In this study, a temperature control system is assembled to adjust the temperature of a steel pipe channel ranging from room temperature to 150 degrees C. The temperature performance evaluation is conducted to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and bit error rate (BER) of transferring the ultrasonic signal. The work aims to develop a reliable ultrasonic communication system in a high-temperature environment. The system temperature can be maintained at 150 degrees C and the LiNbO3 transducers are used as transmitters and receivers. No power amplifier is used in the communication system. The high-temperature ultrasonic communication system (HT-UCS) is feasible at 150 degrees C and can achieve a bit rate of 10 kbps without any error.

HT-UCS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Retrieval of Cloud Liquid Water Using Microwave Signals from LEO Satellites: A Feasibility Study through Simulations

A novel method, using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite microwave communication links for cloud liquid water measurements, is introduced in this paper. The feasibility of this approach is studied through simulations of the retrieval system including a LEO satellite communicating with a group of ground receivers equipped with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimators, a synthetic cloud attenuation field and a tomographic retrieval algorithm. Rectangular and Gaussian basis functions are considered to define the targeted field. Simulation results suggest that the proposed least-squares based retrieval algorithm produces satisfactory outcomes for both types of basis functions. The root-mean-square error of the retrieved field is around 0.2 dB/km, with the range of the reference field as 0 to 2.35 dB/km. It is also confirmed that the partial retrieval of the cloud field is achievable when a limited number of receivers with restricted locations are available. The retrieval outcomes exhibit properties of high resolution and low error, indicating that the proposed approach has great potential for cloud observations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Authentication Vulnerability Assessment of Connected Lighting Systems

Emerging connected lighting systems (CLS) that incorporate distributed intelligence, network interfaces, and sensors can become data-collection platforms that enable a wide range of valuable new capabilities as well as greater energy savings in buildings and cities. However, CLS technology is currently at an early stage of development, and its increased connectivity introduces cybersecurity risks that are new to the lighting industry and that must be addressed for successful integration with other systems. While a number of existing frameworks, guidelines, and tests for evaluating cybersecurity vulnerability may apply to CLS in whole or in part, there is currently no mandatory requirement for cybersecurity testing or certification. The lighting industry, including technology developers and specification organizations, is currently evaluating the suitability of existing frameworks and guidelines for CLS. To support these efforts, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is conducting a series of studies intended to educate lighting industry stakeholders on specific cybersecurity practices and characterize their implementation in commercially available CLS with varying system architectures, network-communication technologies, and degrees of maturity. This study demonstrates that tests for authentication vulnerabilities can be developed with objective pass/fail criteria, therby facilitating comparisons between CLS. Based on the limited results of this study, it appears that the CLS that are being brought to market have varying levels of authentication vulnerability. It is hoped that these evaluations will support and perhaps accelerate industry discussions on the risks of specific security vulnerabilities, what vulnerabilities should be addressed by in-development of future lighting-specific best practices, and whether any such practices should be included in voluntary lighting standards.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Sentiment Analysis with Focus on CCS

This research assesses community sentiment towards Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as depicted in digital media, focusing on themes such as emissions, transport, and storage. Utilizing the VADER sentiment analysis model, the study analyzed titles and descriptions from online news articles to capture immediate impressions and sentiments. Results indicate a predominantly positive sentiment towards CCS, with significant regional variations. States like Alabama and Texas exhibit high positive sentiment, likely due to economic ties to the energy industry, while states like Delaware and Utah show negative sentiment, potentially driven by environmental concerns. The significance of this study lies in its potential to inform policy and communication strategies for CCS implementation. Understanding public sentiment is crucial for the success of CCS projects as it helps to identify and address community concerns. Media influence plays a significant role in shaping public opinion, and this study highlights the need for effective communication strategies to promote the benefits of CCS while addressing any misconceptions. By providing insights into regional differences in sentiment, this research supports the development of tailored interventions that can enhance public acceptance and support for CCS initiatives, ultimately contributing to the success of efforts to mitigate climate change through reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

White, Casey↗
DOE OSTI2024

Toward Wireless Smart Grid Communications: An Evaluation of Protocol Latencies in an Open-Source 5G Testbed

Fifth-generation networks promise wide availability of wireless communication with inherent security features. The 5G standards also outline access for different applications requiring low latency, machine-to-machine communication, or mobile broadband. These networks can be advantageous to numerous applications that require widespread and diverse communications. One such application is found in smart grids. Smart grid networks, and Operational Technology (OT) networks in general, utilize a variety of communication protocols for low-latency control, data monitoring, and reporting at every level. Transitioning these network communications from wired Wide Area Networks (WANs) to wireless communication through 5G can provide additional benefits to their security and network configurability. However, introducing these wireless capabilities may also result in a degradation of network latency. In this paper, we propose utilizing 5G for smart grid communications, and we evaluate the latency impacts of encapsulating GOOSE, Modbus, and DNP3 for transmission over a 5G network. The OpenAirInterface open-source library is utilized to deploy an in-lab 5G Core Network and gNB for testing with off-the-shelf User Equipment (UE). This creates an effective 5G test platform for experimenting with different OT protocols such as GOOSE. The results are validated by measuring two different Intelligent Electronic Devices’ contact closure times for each network configuration. These tests are also conducted for varying packet sizes in order to isolate different sources of network latency. Our study outlines the latency impact of communication over 5G for time-critical and non-critical applications regarding their transition toward private 5G-based OT network implementations. The conducted experiments illustrate that in the case of GOOSE packets, simple encapsulation may exceed the protocol’s time-critical nature, and, therefore, additional measures must be taken to ensure a viable transition of GOOSE to 5G services. However, non-critical applications are shown to be viable for migration to 5G.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Yes, No, Maybe So: Human Factors Considerations for Fostering Calibrated Trust in Foundation Models Under Uncertainty

High-stakes analytical environments require analysts to evaluate evidence and generate conclusions to inform critical decisions often under conditions of uncertainty. Probabilistic decision-making based on incomplete or inaccurate information can reduce productivity, compromise national interests, and endanger public safety. Researchers are developing expert systems built on foundation models (FMs) to support analysts’ decision-making processes by enabling human-artificial intelligence (AI) teaming, in part through the quantification and expression of uncertainty information. As FMs continue to mature, it is imperative to correspondingly consider analysts’ needs for appropriately interpreting and using uncertainty information. However, prior research indicates that it remains unclear how analysts engage with FM-generated uncertainty information and the extent to which these interactions influence trust in, and reliance on, expert systems. We plan to review the state of the science and conduct an exploratory, qualitative study to (a) understand how properly communicated uncertainty can foster calibrated trust and appropriate reliance and (b) identify approaches for effectively conveying FM-generated uncertainty information during analytical workflows. We will administer semi-structured interviews with analysts from a specific high-stakes analytical environment to collect their current experiences with job-related uncertainty and their impressions when viewing FM-generated uncertainty information. During the interview protocol, participants will be presented with several different FM outputs and invited to discuss their thoughts and beliefs about the uncertainty information displayed. Participants may provide insights into how trust and reliance may be influenced by uncertainty. The results of this study will help us to better understand how analysts currently interpret and use uncertainty information. Our findings may inform human factors recommendations for effectively conveying uncertainty information to foster calibrated trust in, and appropriate reliance on, expert systems. Interaction designers and FM developers can use this knowledge to enhance human-AI teaming and ensure the responsible deployment of FM-based expert systems in analytical workflows.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Large-Scale Analysis to Optimize the Control and V2V Communication Protocols for CDA Agreement-Seeking Cooperation

Cooperative driving automation (CDA) Class C, agreement-seeking cooperation, is an innovative and practical solution that can promote cooperation among general passenger vehicles on the road. However, more comprehensive studies are needed before establishing the standard protocols of agreement-seeking cooperation, such as communication frequency and the duration of cooperation. Here, this article presents an initiative study on the impacts of communication capabilities on agreement-seeking cooperation. Through a large-scale analysis by regulating vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication metrics, this work suggests desirable system parameters that can maximize the benefits of cooperation and ensure reliable operability while avoiding exhaustive communication loads. As the first step, an example agreement-seeking cooperation system is created for a car-following scenario, including decision-making and control algorithms for autonomous vehicles. Then, software-in-the-loop tests explore the performance of the developed system as it encounters various communication risks, such as latency and message packet drops. The system performance metrics are evaluated from various angles, including the time consumed for the agreement-seeking process, cooperation ratio, and the ratio of faulty cooperation. Energy saving from the cooperation is assessed by using simulation software that can run multiple high-fidelity vehicle models simultaneously. Based on the analyses, this article suggests the V2V communication requirements for the reliable operation of CDA agreement-seeking, which can be referred to when developing the standard protocols of agreement-seeking cooperation.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

PLAT domain protein 1 (PLAT1/PLAFP) binds to the Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane and inserts a lipid

Robust agricultural yields depend on the plant's ability to fix carbon amid variable environmental conditions. Over seasonal and diurnal cycles, the plant must constantly adjust its metabolism according to available resources or external stressors. The metabolic changes that a plant undergoes in response to stress are well understood, but the long-distance signaling mechanisms that facilitate communication throughout the plant are less studied. The phloem is considered the predominant conduit for the bidirectional transport of these signals in the form of metabolites, nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Lipid trafficking through the phloem in particular attracted our attention due to its reliance on soluble lipid-binding proteins (LBP) that generate and solubilize otherwise membrane-associated lipids. The Phloem Lipid-Associated Family Protein (PLAFP) from Arabidopsis thaliana is generated in response to abiotic stress as is its lipid-ligand phosphatidic acid (PA). PLAFP is proposed to transport PA through the phloem in response to drought stress. To understand the interactions between PLAFP and PA, nearly 100 independent systems comprised of the protein and one PA, or a plasma membrane containing varying amounts of PA, were simulated using atomistic classical molecular dynamics methods. In these simulations, PLAFP is found to bind to plant plasma membrane models independent of the PA concentration. When bound to the membrane, PLAFP adopts a binding pose where W41 and R82 penetrate the membrane surface and anchor PLAFP. This triggers a separation of the two loop regions containing W41 and R82. Subsequent simulations indicate that PA insert into the β -sandwich of PLAFP, driven by interactions with multiple amino acids besides the W41 and R82 identified during the insertion process. Finally, fine-tuning the protein-membrane and protein-PA interface by mutating a selection of these amino acids may facilitate engineering plant signaling processes by modulating the binding response.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗