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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

BuildingSync® v.2.7.0 (released 9.11.2025) [SWR-18-28]

BuildingSync® is a building data exchange schema to better enable integration between software tools and building data workflows. The schema's original use case was focused on commercial building energy audits; however, several additional use cases have been realized including building energy modeling and more high-level generic building data exchange. Version 2.7.0 adds new elements for file attachment feature and FederalBuilding, and generalizes usage of Optional Elements (e.g. EquipmentCondition, EquipmentID) to all assets/systems. BuildingSync helps streamline the data exchange process, improving the value of the data, minimizing duplication of effort for subsequent building data collection efforts (including audits), and facilitating the achievement of greater energy efficiency. This in done in part by standardizing on (a) reporting audits in an electronic format, (b) tracking proposed, implemented, and discarded energy conservation measures, and (c) storing building characteristics (at multiple levels) for audits, benchmarking, and building energy analysis. BuildingSync has several documents and tools available to help users understand how to best leverage BuildingSync. The list below are only a subset of the resources available. If new resources are discovered, then feel free to create a new pull request with the additions. Generic BuildingSync information is available on the DOE website and the project website. BuildingSync Examples - These examples are kept up to date and show a wide range of implementations. Any new update to BuildingSync is required to pass validation on these example files. BuildingSync Use Case Validator allows for users to determine if their instance complies with a specific use case for BuildingSync by checking if the required elements are implemented in an uploaded instance. An API is also provided for automated integration into other tools. Also, the website contains an easy way to view the entirety of the schema and how elements relate to the Building Exchange Data Exchange Specification. The Validator is open sourced here Use Case TestSuite provides a Python package for easier generation of BuildingSync use cases. BuildingSync use cases depend on the generation of schematron documents, which is time-consuming and difficult to implement well. The TestSuite allows users to define a use case using a more palatable CSV template, which it then turns into a Schematron document. The source code is available here. BuildingSync to OpenStudio/EnergyPlus. The translator is open sourced here. This project will translate a Level 1 (and partial Level 2) ASHRAE Energy Audit to a fully defined OpenStudio and EnergyPlus model. This project is in early Beta testing and any feedback is welcome!

Long, Nicholas [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NR↗
DOE OSTI2026

Charging Hub Scenario Sheet Screenshot

The Excel-based CHECT tool estimates the LCOC ($/kWh) by charger type (Level 1, Level 2, and DC fast charging) for a given charging hub scenario. CHECT requires users to input certain charging hub scenario parameters, including the number of chargers, daily utilization, and charger replacement frequency by charger type. Additional inputs such as the charging schedule, local utility rates, capital/operational costs, and financial inputs can be customized by the user, or the tool can generate results using appropriate default values from literature for the charging hub scenario and service location(s). Using the above inputs, CHECT performs a robust techno-economic analysis to generate the LCOC by charger type, broken down by cost category (e.g., capital, operational, utility, taxes) for various combinations of charging hub types (multiunit dwelling or public) and ownership models (residential, utility, or private company). It also outputs the annual discounted cash flows and determines the most sensitive input variables. In addition, the tool allows users to easily compare the LCOC across various ownership models or across different states.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Integrating an Industrial Source and Commercial Algae Farm with Innovative CO 2 Transfer Membrane and Improved Strain Technologies

This report describes the overall findings of the research project “Integrating an Industrial Source and Commercial Algae Farm with Innovative CO 2 Transfer Membrane and Improved Strain Technologies”. The motivation and goal for this project were to increase the carbon utilization efficiency (CUE) and areal productivity for algal cultivations, thereby reducing CO 2 costs to cultivation operations and improving economics. This was achieved through a combination of enhanced delivery of inorganic carbon and improved strains of Nannochloropsis oceanica capable of higher rates of bicarbonate uptake and metabolism. The project succeeded in these goals. First, a bubble-free, membrane-based technology was developed for delivering CO 2 to cultivations, which increased the CUE from the 15-20% that is standard in the industry to more than 65%. In addition, N. oceanica was modified to express a bicarbonate transporter protein, BicA, which enabled the cells to grow more quickly. In addition, advances were made in the protein engineering of carbonic anhydrase (CA) for enhanced stability and catalytic performance, the computational fluid dynamics modeling of algal cultivation systems, and in the life-cycle assessment and technoeconomic analysis of algal production. Together, these outcomes contribute to advancing algal cultivation as an economically viable platform for production of fuels, materials, and other chemical products. The project results aid in addressing the dual challenges of reducing atmospheric CO 2 levels and achieving green energy solutions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing Developer Productivity - L2 Milestone (Final Report)

This report documents the work done as part of the “Enhancing Developer Productivity” level 2 milestone. The team surveyed developers about impediments and successes; improved our CI pipeline monitoring and reporting; developed tools for line coverage reporting and analysis; improved compiler warning adherence in SIERRA; prototyped static analysis, AI, and mutation testing tooling in SIERRA; and developed a 3-5 year SIERRA plan document to help these initiatives continue past this milestone.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Parametric and Robustness Studies of Qudit Mediated Quantum State Transfer and Entanglement Creation

The large number of available states participating in quantum state evolution in a system of qudits translates into better thermal resilience, for quantum state transfer (QST) and distributed entangled states, than a system of 2-level qubits. In this report we study the dependence of fidelities of the above processes on various system parameters. Sensitivity to modes of dissipation and errors is also studied. An alternative and potentially more efficient scheme to create Bell states is used.

Chao, Yu-Chiu [Fermilab] (ORCID:000900039584159X)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Managing Workplace Charging: Argonne National Laboratory’s Reservation-Based Smart EV Charging Platform

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) partnered with Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) to produce a case study on Argonne’s workplace electric vehicle (EV) charging program, designed to optimize employees’ ability to reserve EV chargers and allow Argonne to implement a workplace managed charging solution. Formally known as EVrez, the program offers Argonne’s employees access to more than 50 Level 2 chargers and 4 DC fast chargers (DCFC). Employees must reserve and manage their EV sessions through the EVrez mobile app platform. This report outlines the EVrez program, from inception to maturity, highlighting key learnings and best practices from the Argonne team. As other workplaces seek to offer their own workplace charging offerings, this report highlights foundational steps and considerations.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Communications Reliability for Vehicle Grid Integration

Electric Vehicles (EVs) adoption rate has been steadily increasing in the US leading to a growing number of charging stations including faster DC (Direct Current) chargers and slower Level 1 and Level 2 AC (Alternating Current) chargers. This increase in demand for electricity is further exacerbated by recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, advanced manufacturing, and digitization. These factors will require electric utilities to upgrade their infrastructure to keep up with the increasing electrical demand (especially during peak hours). An easy way to counteract the need for these upgrades is to shift a major chunk of active charge sessions (durations where there is energy transfer from charger to EV's propulsion battery) to off-peak hours thereby flattening the load curve and making the infrastructure more resilient. This concept is known as Smart Charge Management (SCM). EV owners also benefit from SCM since it lowers their charging costs and consequently their transportation costs by prioritizing charging during off-peak hours. SCM takes advantage of EV's capability to act as a controllable load or DER (Distributed Energy Resource). This report summarizes the reliability analysis performed on the communication required for two of these SCM use-cases. This analysis only focuses on SCM strategies for unidirectional charging (energy transfer from EVSE to EV or V1G) and not bidirectional charging.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Conceptual Design of a Scaled Voloxidation Apparatus for Testing with Used Nuclear Fuel

This report details the conceptual design overview for Department of Energy (DOE) Level 2 milestone M2FT-25IN030101021 titled “Complete conceptual design of a scaled voloxidation apparatus for testing with used nuclear fuel.” Advanced voloxidation uses high temperature nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas to oxidize uranium dioxide (UO2) material to triuanium octoxide (U3O8) and ultimately to uranium trioxide (UO3). After consideration of multiple available options and inputs, a rotating advanced voloxidation design was determined to be the best fit for the needs of a full-scale apparatus. The system, which will be deployed in hot cell 4 of the Analytical Research Laboratory (ARL), has been designed to meet the space constraints of the facility while still accommodating at least 100g of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The apparatus consists of three main unit operations, including the gas panel, the custom furnace with reaction vessel, and the liquid scrubber.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Revitalizing Canton City Schools: A Sustainable and Cost-Effective Energy Efficiency Plan

The primary objective of this project was to focus on conducting the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Level 2 Energy Audits of all the schools/school facilities in the portfolio, and on developing a comprehensive Strategic Plan for implementing energy improvements. The overall aim of budget period 1 (BP1) was to implement Energy Audits and the Strategic Plan to provide a clear pathway to prioritize energy improvements as well as allow the district to access private sector funding (if needed) and/or tax credits and realize high-impact health and safety benefits for Budget Period 2.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Tribological behavior of nuclear graphite in high-temperature inert environment

This report formally documents the completion of the Advanced Reactor Technologies Level 2 Milestone (M2AT-26OR0605058), “Complete initial wear/abrasion studies,” due June 1, 2026. The work presented in this report expend upon our previously published manuscript titled Sliding friction and wear behavior of nuclear graphite in high temperature inert environment: Influence of contact load, speed and temperature. The sliding friction and wear of self-mated ET-10 nuclear graphite were characterized across a range of elevated temperatures (650°C and 750°C), contact loads (20 N and 40 N), and sliding speeds (1 mm/s and 10 mm/s) within a controlled argon environment. Tribological data combined with advanced morphological characterization were used to provide a detailed mechanistic framework for the frictional and wear behavior of nuclear graphite in high-temperature inert conditions. Furthermore, the report evaluates the inherent limitations of bench-scale characterization and addresses the critical disparities between laboratory findings and the complex, in-service friction and wear behavior of fuel pebbles within a reactor environment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

ELECTRIFICATION OF A HEAVY-DUTY OFF-ROAD MATERIAL HANDLER: ENERGY SAVINGS AND EMISSION REDUCTIONS

Federal regulations are driving the adoption of electrification technologies to reduce carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions, a metric that quantifies the global warming potential of various greenhouse gases in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2). Although no specific CO2 regulations exist for heavy-duty off-road machines, future reductions are likely, given stricter emissions standards for on-road vehicles. The heavy-duty off-road sector offers significant fuel-saving potential, as its focus has traditionally been on reliability and performance rather than fuel efficiency. This dissertation examines fuel and CO2e savings opportunities on a heavy-duty off-road material handler, the Pettibone Cary-Lift 204i, from stock configuration to simple modifications to a complete teardown and reconfiguration of the machine with a plug-in series hybrid architecture using electrified hydraulics. The study begins by modeling the baseline machine’s fuel and energy consumption, calibrating with experimental data from custom operating cycles. An energy analysis identifies key areas for fuel savings. Two simple powertrain modifications result in a combined 16.2% fuel savings. Next, a Pugh-style analysis narrows a list of electrified architectures, leading to high-fidelity models that evaluate total lifetime CO2e and costs. Higher electrification levels reduce CO2e emissions but increase costs, and electricity grid emissions significantly impact CO2e for plug-in architectures. A plug-in series hybrid is chosen for the project. In its base control form, 49% fuel and 29% CO2e savings are expected from the plug-in series hybrid compared to the baseline machine. Further savings are pursued through regenerative braking (6.3%) and load-following hydraulic control (17.8%), totaling 24.1% fuel savings, and leading to a total of 61% fuel and 41% CO2e savings compared to the baseline. Battery chemistries and charging strategies are also analyzed for cost and CO2e impacts, finding LFP batteries as superior due to longevity, and overnight level 2 charging usually at a lower cost but resulting in higher emissions than opportunity DC fast-charging (DCFC). DCFC emissions are highly dependent on grid emissions, and DCFC cost is highly dependent on grid demand charges. Finally, artificial intelligence is applied to operating cycle recognition. Neural network accuracy ranges from 81% to 99%, with applications to worksite efficiency and safety improvements.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Weather radar utility in hazard detection and response

Publicly accessible weather radar data have significant capabilities for meteorological measurements and predictions and, further, have the potential to measure nonmeteorological events that include smoke, ash, and debris plumes as well as explosions. The ability to identify and track nonmeteorological events can be of assistance in emergency response, hazard mitigation, and related activities in locations where radar coverage both exists and is recorded and accessible to the user. Here, in this study, events from multiple locations in the United States that are reported in news outlets are assessed using a manual inspection process of Level 2 weather radar data to identify anthropogenic and nonbiological returns. Explosive events are also identified, and a large high-altitude debris cloud from the intentional destruction of the SpaceX Starship is tracked across a wide area. Finally, future efforts using a machine learning model are discussed as a means of automating the process and potentially enabling near-real-time nonmeteorological event identification in the same areas where the data are accessible. Using weather radar data can be a valuable new tool for Department of Defense systems to aid in military awareness, and for interagency emergency response and forensic mission experts to consider national weather service data in their mission profiles. Radar data can be effective in detecting several common types of emergencies and inform and aid response personnel.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Use and Siting of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Juneau, Alaska

This report details a study of electric vehicle (EV) Level 2 charging stations in Juneau, Alaska. Utilization analyses of six public over five years and 250 residential chargers over two years are included, and a composite score is introduced to identify optimal locations for future charging stations that target residents of manufactured and multifamily housing (MMFH) in Juneau. We find that public charging station usage is very location-dependent, with three chargers in use more than 60% of days during the peak hour of the day (which ranges from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), including a charger near residential housing, illuminating potential needs for additional public chargers in those areas. Residential charging utilization typically occurs overnight - opposite to most public charging stations analyzed - and spikes after 10 p.m. This suggests that Alaska Electric Light & Power Company's time-of-use charging program, which lowers electricity rates at 10 p.m. to incentivize overnight charging, is very effective. Residential charging data also show that households tend to charge 15 hours per week, or 9% of the time, meaning that multiple households could likely share one charger if one were provided near MMFH locations. This is supported by residential charging session analysis, which shows that the median household has around two night charging sessions per week. The EV siting analysis identifies areas of high housing density, low access to public chargers, and unconstrained feeders. A cluster of MMFH parcels in Douglas demonstrated the highest composite scores considering all factors, being the only area to have a perfect score of 2.25.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Flaw Tolerance Assessment for DOE Standard SNF Dry Storage Canisters - 26550

The U.S. DOE has designed four spent nuclear fuel (SNF) dry storage canisters for storing DOE standardized SNFs. The DOE standard canisters are cylindrical shells with a diameter of 24 inches (610 m) or 18 inches (457 m), a wall thickness of 0.5 inches (12.7 m) or 0.375 inches (9.53 m), and a length of 15 feet (4.57 m) or 10 feet (3.05 m). These DOE canister geometries are completely different from commercial canisters. The latter may experience chloride-induced stress cracking corrosion (CI-SCC) because they are stored near coastal regions. The former may not experience CI-SCC but face different challenges because they are stored in the SNF storage facilities. Because of large residual stresses, mechanical flaws may occur in the DOE canisters during long-distance transportation or lifting handling. To date, only limited structural integrity analyses were carried out through drop tests on the DOE canisters, but a more general flaw tolerance assessment has not been performed. Therefore, the failure assessment diagram (FAD)-based fracture mechanics method, as codified by the latest API 579-1/ASME FFS-1-2021 Edition, is adopted in this work to assess surface flaw tolerance for DOE canisters under operation loading and welding residual stresses (WRS), where the new code-recommended WRS distributions are used. To more adequately consider the transverse distribution of WRS, an equivalent WRS distribution is proposed to account for the WRS reduction with distance from the weld centerline. Moreover, the closed-form solutions of stress intensity factor K, which serves as the crack driving force during subcritical crack growth, are developed from the tabular data of the K factors provided in API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 and used to determine more accurate flaw sizes at flaw instability. Subsequently, the Level 2 assessment procedures with 12 assessment steps, as codified and detailed in API 579-1 and ASME FFS-1, are followed to assess the flaw tolerance for the surface flaws in the DOE standard canisters with consideration of normal or accident operation loads combined with WRS. The assessment results show that the four designs of DOE standard canisters can tolerate all surface flaws that meet the code permitted maximum sizes of a flaw length of 8 inches (i.e., 200 mm) and a flaw depth of 80% wall thickness. This demonstrates that all designs of DOE standard canisters are robust and reliable.

DOE standard canister↗