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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 OSTI2024

Hydrogen-Steam Separation Using Mechanical Vapor Recompression Cycle

Solar thermochemical hydrogen and fuel production is a promising pathways for producing sustainable fuels and chemicals. One of the main challenges in the development of these systems is their low steam conversion extent, dictated by its restrictive thermodynamics requiring extremely high temperatures and low oxygen partial pressure to obtain conversions over 10 \%. While condensing the unreacted steam is technically simple, the latent heat is thus lost, which can be larger than the producd hydrogen higher heating value. We propose to use a modified mechanical vapor recompression cycle, allowing to recover the latent heat by compressing the steam-hydrogen mixture prior to the condensation process, thus creating a temperature different between the hot exhaust and cold inlet streams. We show that this method can recover over 90 % of the latent heat, thus increasing the viability of solar thermochemical hydrogen production cycles even under limited conversion conditions.

hydrogen technology↗
DOE OSTI2023

Bat Smart Curtailment: Efficacy and Operational Testing

Curtailment, or blanket curtailment, is a leading method to mitigate the impacts to bats from operating wind turbines. Although this strategy results in considerable decreases in bat fatalities, it also results in decreased energy production. In 2019, Natural Power was awarded funding by the Department of Energy to assess the readiness of the informed smart curtailment technology, EchoSense (formerly referred to as Detection and Active Response Curtailment, [DARC]). The research undertaken by this project expands the understanding of alternative methods, known as smart curtailment, to maintain a reduction in bat fatalities while simultaneously recovering lost energy associated with blanket curtailment. The overall project was composed of three major tasks; Task 1 was focused on cybersecurity compliance of the EchoSense system in accordance with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (“NERC CIP”) standards, Task 2 assessed the mechanical loads exerted on turbines when operating under a smart curtailment regime, and Task 3 assessed the efficacy of the EchoSense system at an operational wind farm. Regarding Task 1, an external review by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory determined that the EchoSense system did not create any new cybersecurity weaknesses and was compliant with the NERC CIP standards. As a result of this process, Natural Power developed some best practices (10.1) for wind- wildlife technology developers. In conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the results (10.2) of the loads testing demonstrated that the periodic curtailment and release of turbines by the EchoSense system did not have any detrimental impact on the mechanical components of a wind turbine (Task 2). During the late summer to fall of 2020 and 2021, Natural Power demonstrated that the use of the EchoSense smart curtailment system resulted in no significant difference in bat fatalities compared to blanket curtailment with cut-in speeds at 6.9 m/s (2020) and 5.0 m/s (2021) while resulting in a significant difference in decreased lost energy (Task 3). This translates to an average of 41% (2020) and 56% (2021) reduction in per turbine energy loss compared to blanket curtailment. The reduction in energy loss that would have been achieved by EchoSense curtailment compared to blanket curtailment, if applied across all 69 turbines, is roughly equivalent to having an additional turbine on site. These results are notable for finding a balance between the environmental impact of wind energy and the economic feasibility in energy production associated with mitigating that impact. https://www.naturalpower.com/us/expertise/service/engineering-operations/echosense

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Public Reference Data for Megawatt-Scale Hydrogen Electrolysis - NLR Historical Solar PV

The U.S. Department of Energy and National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) demonstrate hydrogen electrolysis from variable sources, hydrogen compression and storage, and hydrogen fuel cell power production using megawatt-scale equipment at NLR’s Flatirons Campus as part of the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform. This dataset represents part of that effort and is intended for academic, national laboratory, industrial, and other stakeholders to plan, design, and validate models of megawatt-scale hydrogen technologies and diverse energy infrastructure nationwide. These data provide a baseline for how existing hydrogen electrolysis technologies perform when coupled with various energy technologies. Future datasets will demonstrate how existing hydrogen fuel cell technologies can provide controllable, dispatchable, and variable power output for artificial intelligence data centers and other variable loads. This dataset entry describes the behavior of a 1.25-MW proton exchange membrane MC250 electrolyzer system, manufactured by Nel Hydrogen , [1] when fed historical data generated by the 430-kW, fixed-axis solar photovoltaic (PV) array located at NLR’s Flatirons Campus. (While the electrolyzer balance of plant supports up to 2.5 MW of electrolysis, NLR only has a single 1.25-MW electrolysis stack.) Solar PV power output data for the 2020 calendar year were categorized on a daily basis by total energy generation and standard deviation. Each day was then ranked by these metrics, and the 25th, 50th, and 100th percentiles were selected. The 75th percentile day did not exhibit sufficient variability to make for a valuable experiment. A similar process was used for the related historical wind dataset . [2] The historical days in 2020 that represented these percentiles are Dec. 19, March 29, and May 4, respectively. The entire solar day’s power profile was then fed through the MC250 electrolyzer. Due to its length, the 100th percentile day experiment was split into two parts, and the final 3 hours of the solar day were not captured. These final 3 hours contained no spikes or dips of interest and simply represented a slow decay of input solar power. Also, a single timestamp (13:13:47 on Jan. 14, 2026) was lost in the hydrogen system supervisory control and data acquisition. Finally, during the 25th percentile experiment (solar day Dec. 19, 2020) data recording was lost from 11:00:13 to 11:14:45. The roughly 15 minutes of the solar profile were rerun at the end of the experiment and spliced into this time slot during post-processing. The electrolysis system controls hydrogen production by varying direct current applied to the stack, from a maximum of 3,000 A to a minimum safe operation of 300 A, or 10%. Because the current–voltage characteristic changes as the stack ages and efficiency degrades, the actual minimum safe operating power changes over time. The historical solar profiles were translated from power (kilowatts) to current (amperes) using a curve fit with calibration data and sent to the electrolyzer power supply at 1-Hz frequency. For more details on the statistical analysis process, see the slide deck “Public Reference Data for Megawatt-Scale Hydrogen Electrolysis: NLR Historical Solar PV Analysis and Profile Generation” accessible with this data entry. These datasets report relevant hydrogen balance-of-plant and system data, all captured at 1 Hz, including hydrogen mass production measured with an Emerson Coriolis flow meter. Each .zip file represents a single solar PV electrolysis experiment and is formatted as: {technology}_{percentile}_{scaling factor} For instance, “solarPV-430kW_25_2x.zip” reports the experiment using the 25th percentile solar data from the historical 2020 solar PV dataset, scaled to 200%. Scaling factors were applied to the generated solar PV power output files to more closely match the 1.25-MW capacity of the electrolyzer. Each .zip folder contains the following files: A .csv file containing raw data. An .xlsx file explaining all the fields in the raw data. A .png plot showing the time series of hydrogen production, electrolysis power consumption, and solar power input. A PDF file detailing the historical solar data statistical analysis used to generate the solar profile. An experiment labeled “characterization_200.zip” demonstrates the MC250 electrolyzer steady-state response with 30-minute load steps for a total duration of 5 hours. Finally, a .csv file is provided with all experiments combined into one dataset labeled "combined_solarPV_experiments.csv". [1] nelhydrogen.com/product/mc-series-electrolyser . [2] data.nlr.gov/submissions/316 .

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

Consolidation and Permeability of the B1 and D1 Gas Hydrate Bearing Sands and Associated Seal Sediments of the Extended-Duration Gas Production Test Site on the Alaska North Slope

Gas hydrate, a solid combination of gas (mostly methane in nature) and water molecules stable at low temperatures and elevated pressures, occurs naturally in marine and permafrost-associated environments. Gas hydrate reservoirs, such as those in the Alaska North Slope, have been considered potential energy resources for gas production. To understand the petrophysical and geo-mechanical characteristics of the reservoir, core samples retrieved from the site of the JOGMEC-DOE-USGS collaborative gas hydrate R&D project have been analyzed in the laboratory for their hydraulic and mechanical properties. This paper focuses on both seal and reservoir samples associated with the B1 and D1 sands, which are evaluated for index properties (including porosity, grain size distribution, liquid and plastic limits, specific surface area, and specific gravity), consolidation, permeability, and water retention. Furthermore, the reservoir core samples were tested with pore-filling, laboratory-grown tetrahydrofuran hydrate, in order to assess reservoir behavior during gas production from hydrates. Under simulated in situ stress conditions, the seal and hydrate-free reservoir cores had a permeability anisotropy ratio of k h /k v = 3.0−5.0, and k h /k v = 2.4−3.0 for the reservoir tetrahydrofuran hydrate-bearing cores. The data suggest that depressurizing the reservoir to induce hydrate dissociation alters the reservoir effective permeability in three ways: permeabilities decrease due to porosity lost (e.g., the initial reservoir thickness can decrease by up to 5% upon 7 MPa depressurization), permeability increases due to the loss of solid hydrate in the pore space, and permeability anisotropy k h /k v decreases in response to the evolving pore-space geometry. We show that given the simulated in situ gas hydrate saturations (i.e., S h = 32% in core 7P-2E and S h = 21% in core 20P-4), gas production from the dissociation of tetrahydrofuran hydrate in the two tested cores results in a net increase in effective permeability and a decrease in k h /k v . This study highlights the importance of investigating seal and reservoir sediments and the impacts of depressurization on the porosity and permeability responses during production.

Geological materials↗
DOE OSTI2024

Co-synthesis of Hydrogen and High-Value Carbon Products from Methane Pyrolysis

The ARPA-E Methane Pyrolysis Project successfully developed a scalable technology for hydrogen production with low-CO x emission through methane pyrolysis, co-producing high-value carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The project focused on optimizing reactor design, enhancing catalyst performance, and assessing techno-economic feasibility to create a commercially viable and environmentally sustainable process. The fluidized bed reactor achieved over 90% methane (CH 4 ) conversion by using a 5% CO 2 co-feed, which stabilizes carbon yields and minimizes catalyst deactivation. This setup allowed for continuous operation across ten cycles, each consisting of a 14-minute pyrolysis phase followed by a 10-minute dislodging phase to remove a fraction of the accumulated carbon, resulting in stable performance and high-quality CNT production. In parallel, monolith reactors coated with Fe demonstrated a sustained methane conversion of 73% while producing CNTs with high crystallinity. Although promising for continuous operation, monolith reactors face challenges in coating durability and scalability, highlighting areas for further optimization in commercial applications. Catalyst formulation played a key role in enhancing process efficiency. The core catalyst used was 5%Fe/Al 2 O 3 (wt%), optimized through wet impregnation, which improved CNT morphology, yielding longer and more uniform CNTs. The catalyst's performance was further enhanced by adding promoters: 2.5 wt% Ni increased methane conversion close to the thermodynamic limit, while 2.5 wt% Mn improved CNT alignment and crystallinity, and 1.5 wt% NaCl boosted CNT morphology but slightly lowered methane conversion. These adjustments allowed the reactor to maintain high methane conversion while producing high-quality CNTs, enabling stable performance over multiple cycles. To address carbon buildup and ensure uninterrupted operation, a pneumatic conveying tube was implemented for effective carbon dislodging in the fluidized bed configuration. CO 2 and H 2 O co-feeds were also introduced to enhance carbon removal, with CO 2 boosting CNT yield by approximately 15%. This setup enabled stable reactor operation across multiple cycles, preventing clogging and minimizing catalyst wear, making the process suitable for industrial scaling. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) projected hydrogen production costs between $\$$1.00 and $\$$1.64 per kilogram, with CNT values assumed at $\$$375/ton and $\$$100/ton. The life cycle assessment showed that CO 2 emissions could be as low as 0.64 kg CO 2 e/kg H 2 at 95% methane conversion assuming an electricity input of 50 kg CO 2 e/MWh. Even at 50% methane conversion, emissions remained below 1 kg CO 2 e/kg H 2 , demonstrating the process's low-emission potential and making it a viable alternative to traditional steam methane reforming. Overall, the results from this project demonstrate the feasibility of a pyrolysis process where carbon is continuously removed from the catalyst surface and hydrogen is continuously produced until a catalyst regeneration step is required to fully clean the catalyst surface and renew catalyst performance. Major open challenges are related to avoiding the loss of catalyst material in the dislodged carbon during fluidized bed conditions, since our best result demonstrated a carbon purity of ~70 wt. % (rest being iron and alumina). A monolith reactor was used to favor dislodgement of carbon compared to fluidized bed conditions but our results do not demonstrate an advantage of the monolith configuration. Catalyst performance was similar to fluidized bed conditions with slower deactivation rates overall, but we could not observe carbon dislodging in any of the tens of experiments that were run at Stanford. Our results show that the most relevant areas of improvement are related to the fundamental understanding of the iron-carbon interface for dislodging, and the development of catalyst that can produce CNTs via a base-growth mechanism such that catalyst is not lost in the dislodgement steps. The final report documents all findings and methodologies in detail, providing a valuable resource for the scientific community. By building on these results, researchers can further advance methane pyrolysis technology, moving toward a more sustainable, scalable pathway for hydrogen production. This work lays the foundation for future research and commercial efforts to reduce emissions in hydrogen production while generating valuable carbon products.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Regal Beloit Final Technical Report

The original project proposal submitted from NovaTorque Inc (NovaTorque) in 2016 was to improve the existing motor with 95% efficiency by reducing the losses by 21% to achieve 96%. A few months after the proposal was submitted, NovaTorque lost funding and went out of business. The assets of NovaTorque were then acquired by Regal Beloit Corporation (“Regal Beloit” or “Regal”). When the NovaTorque proposal was selected, the project was transferred to Regal Beloit. Once we had production samples from the new Regal production line, they were tested at the Regal Beloit test lab in Wausau, WI. The original NovaTorque motor had an efficiency of 95%, but when the technology was transferred to Regal Beloit, there were multiple manufacturing improvements made, even though the basic electromagnetic design did not change. The test results in Wausau showed that the motors made at the Regal Beloit plant had an efficiency of 96%. Since the goal of the project was to reduce the losses by 21%, a new efficiency target of 96.8% became the project objective. In the first budget period, motors were tested to get the baseline performance. We then used FEA modeling with ANSYS Maxwell to model the existing motor to get correlation between the FEA simulations and the actual test results. Once the model was validated, we evaluated some changes that could be made to the stator to reduce the losses and improve efficiency without changing the rotor or stator housing, keeping the modifications easy to implement. The changes were primarily in the area of making the stator axially shorter and adding Soft Magnetic Composite (SMC) tooth tips. In the second budget period, we proceeded to design and build the new stator that was identified above and identified additional improvements in the process that included a stator machining modification and the use of rectangular wire. When we actually built the motor, the choice of rectangular wire turned out to be a problem. The wire was made by squishing round wire to get the rectangular shape, which caused work hardening, making the wire too stiff to make the desired coils. We shifted to annealed square wire which was better, but we still could not maintain the proper coil envelope. The result was that we had reduced cross section area for stator laminations. We also had to have a radial offset resulting in a radial misalignment between the stator and rotor because of the oversized coils. After the motor was completed, it was shipped to Texas A&M University for testing. With the loss of flux from these issues, the measured motor efficiency was only 96.3%. The primary focus of this motor was to make sure our FEA simulation model predicted the measured losses and overall efficiency, this we moved on to the FEA simulation. The FEA simulations of the motor “as built” with misalignments had good correlation with the test results, so the next step was to use that model to optimize the design of the motor for a final build. This time we considered changes to the stator and rotor and also minor changes to the housing diameter. In the third budget period, we did the detailed design and construction of the final prototypes. The final prototypes had a slight increase in the stator diameter to fit in a standard Regal Beloit housing. We shortened the stator and use more layers of wire in the coils. We also increased the cone angle of the rotor and stator from the original 110 degrees to 130 degrees to get some additional efficiency and optimized the stator cross section. The predicted efficiency from the FEA simulations was 96.9%. When completed, the motors were tested. We were a little short of reaching our target efficiency goal of 96.8%. We were only able to get to 96.7% efficiency. While it may be possible with additional iterations in designs and future builds to gain that additional 0.1%, we believe that we are close to the best we can achieve from a practical viewpoint, and additional iterations would be more work than the potential gains would be worth. No other motor in this class can even reach the 96% that we started with.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

TEAMER: Water Tunnel Data from Testing the Pterofin Skimmer Concept

Pterofin's Skimmer concept relies on a flapping and pitching hydrofoil to extract hydrokinetic energy from water flows. The concept aims to utilize unsteady fluid dynamics phenomena (added mass, shed vorticity, and unsteady boundary layer development) to achieve higher lift coefficients, enabling increased power density of the hydrokinetic device and a fundamental shift in the rpm/torque scaling of the power take off compared with turbines. The Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State, in collaboration with Pterofin, designed and built a proof-of-concept flapping/pitching mechanism which was subsequently tested in ARL's 12-inch water tunnel facility. The mechanical power supplied to or extracted from the mechanism was measured for a range of hydrofoils provided by Pterofin over operating conditions including reduced frequency, Reynolds number, and the ratio between pitching and flapping amplitudes. The power lost to friction in the mechanism was removed from the net power measurement by means of a bare hub tare, with the resultant hydrodynamic power being used to calculate a mechanism-independent and non-dimensional power coefficient. The product of this effort is a dataset describing the power coefficient of a hydrofoil having simultaneous pitching and flapping motions, both of which are approximately sinusoidal. Power coefficients were collected for a range of primary design variables including: - Reduced frequency: 0.01 to 0.95 - Pitching/flapping peak angle ratio: 1.5 to 3.0 - Chord-based Reynolds number: 60,000 to 560,000 Secondary design variables relating to the hydrofoil geometry were explored including: - Aspect ratio - Planform shape - Section thickness distribution - Hydrofoil position relative to the pitching axis - Hydrofoil sweep angle relative to the pitching axis Measured data are provided in mean and time series formats. MATLAB scripts are provided which can be used to generate figures of time-averaged and phase-averaged hydrodynamic power coefficients calculated from the measured data. A complete description of the experiment and data reduction can be found in the Post Access Report for the Pterofin Skimmer test effort which will be available on the TEAMER website. This work was supported by the Pacific Energy Ocean Trust via a TEAMER award.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2021

Regioselectivity mechanism of the Thunbergia alata Δ 6 -16:0-acyl carrier protein desaturase

Plant plastidial acyl–acyl carrier protein (ACP) desaturases are a soluble class of diiron-containing enzymes that are distinct from the diiron-containing integral membrane desaturases found in plants and other organisms. The archetype of this class is the stearoyl-ACP desaturase which converts stearoyl-ACP into oleoyl (18:1Δ 9 cis )-ACP. Several variants expressing distinct regioselectivity have been described including a Δ 6 -16:0-ACP desaturase from black-eyed Susan vine ( Thunbergia alata ). We solved a crystal structure of the T. alata desaturase at 2.05 Å resolution. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we identified a low-energy complex between 16:0-ACP and the desaturase that would position C6 and C7 of the acyl chain adjacent to the diiron active site. The model complex was used to identify mutant variants that could convert the T. alata Δ 6 desaturase to Δ 9 regioselectivity. Additional modeling between ACP and the mutant variants confirmed the predicted regioselectivity. Furthermore, to validate the in-silico predictions, we synthesized two variants of the T. alata desaturase and analyzed their reaction products using gas chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry. Assay results confirmed that mutants designed to convert T. alata Δ 6 to Δ 9 selectivity exhibited the predicted changes. In complementary experiments, variants of the castor desaturase designed to convert Δ 9 to Δ 6 selectivity lost some of their Δ9 desaturation ability and gained the ability to desaturate at the Δ 6 position. The computational workflow for revealing the mechanistic understanding of regioselectivity presented herein lays a foundation for designing acyl-ACP desaturases with novel selectivities to increase the diversity of monoenes available for bioproduct applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Broadband, High Efficiency OMT in E-Band

A high-performance, broadband E-Band orthomode transducer (OMT) was designed and fabricated for a dedicated frequency converter. Cross-polarized signals between 71 and 86 GHz, received in a TE 11 mode circular waveguide needed to be split into separate horizontal and vertical polarization channels. The purpose of the OMT is to service the 71–76 and 81–86 GHz licensed communication bands. The main goal of OMT design is maximized transmission across the design bandwidth. Every fraction of a dB lost before the first low noise amplifier is a direct loss in SNR for the overall system. Several different design approaches were simulated, and several OMT’s and ancillary components were built and tested. In the end, practical limitations determined the final path of the completed device. The final product performed several tenths of a dB better than commercially available devices and better than most reported in academic literature. Lessons learned included which construction techniques worked and did not work, as well as what compromises are acceptable.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Air Dehumidification using Ionic Liquid-Based Fiber Bundle Membrane Contactor

Air dehumidification is essential since excess moisture in the buildings causes discomfort to the occupants, encourages the production of air pathogens such as mold or mildew, and causes corrosion and rotting that degrade building materials. Existing moisture removal processes are mainly focused on condensation and desiccant (liquid or solid) techniques with direct contact between air and desiccant. However, these methods are energy-intensive, or desiccant might be lost or cause corrosion in the process. The main objective of this study is to investigate an ionic liquid-based liquid desiccant absorber based on a membrane fiber bundle. The novel system consists of membrane contactors containing bundles of 10,000 polypropylene fibers. The fiber bundles have 0.3 micron diameter, with ionic liquid flowing inside, and air flowing outside. The fibers provide a high contact area among phases: 1.4 m2 contact surface area in a 0.00015 m3 volume. The ionic liquid as a sorbent stipulates the selectivity for air, prevents the loss of solvent in the operation due to negligible volatility, provides fast diffusion due to low viscosity compared to common ionic liquids, and has high affinity and solubility in water. The dehumidification capacity of the membrane technology was experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that the ionic-liquid based membrane system can effectively remove excess moisture from the air. The novel fiber bundle dehumidification system has a system volume of 0.00798 m3 (7.98 L) and active heat and mass transfer surface area of 8.4 m2. It achieved an average dehumidification of 320 ± 25 W with a volumetric air flowrate of 3.1 m3/min (108 ft3/min).

Turnaoglu, Tugba↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Computationally Efficient Algorithm for Computing Convex Hull Prices

Electricity markets worldwide allow participants to bid non-convex production offers. While non-convex offers can more accurately reflect a resource's capabilities, they create challenges for market clearing processes. For example, system operators may execute side payments when a participant’s cost is not covered through energy sale settlements from locational marginal pricing schemes, or when a participant incurs lost opportunity costs to follow the dispatch signal. Convex hull pricing minimizes these and other types of side payments while providing uniform (i.e., locationally and temporally consistent) prices. However, computing convex hull prices involves solving either a large-scale linear program - which in turn requires explicit descriptions of market participants’ convex hulls -or the Lagrangian dual of the corresponding non-convex scheduling problem. Here, we propose a computationally feasible and industrially scalable Benders decomposition approach to computing convex hull prices at least an order of magnitude faster than the current state-of-the-art while leveraging recent advances in convex hull formulations for thermal generating units.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Chamber Interior Viewing System (CIVS 2.0)

The NIF facility is used to conduct fusion and high-density scientific research. The experiments are conducted inside of a 10-meter diameter vacuum chamber called the “Target Chamber”. The target chamber is covered in ports to permit adding equipment to the exterior. Some of this equipment extends into the target chamber such as the target positioners and diagnostics. Other equipment sits on the surface and looks inward, such as the CIVS system. CIVS stands for Chamber Interior Viewing System. The CIVS system provides simple black and white digital images of the interior of the target chamber in real time. These images are used for positioner alignment, trouble shooting and observing for positioner collision. The views through these cameras need to be clear enough for the operators to safely conduct these tasks. One of the products of the experiments conducted in the target chamber are neutrons. These neutrons expand outward from the center of the target chamber with great energy. If the neutrons hit the sensor chip on a digital camera they will “kill” the sensor pixel where they contact, and the result will be a permanently bright white pixel on the image. Over time these “dead” pixels will build up and make the camera less and less usable providing a “staticky” image. The current solution of replacing the cameras when they become damaged is unsustainable due to both the cameras being out of production and the increased rate of camera failure based upon the increased number and energy of neutrons being generated. Current supplies of the correct camera type are dwindling with no source of replacement and the projected rate of replacement is unsustainable. Without a redesign, the function provided by the current CIVS system will be lost.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Corrosion of 316H stainless steel in flowing FLiNaK salt

In this report type 316H stainless steel samples were exposed to flowing FLiNaK salt for 1000 h in a monometallic thermal convection loop (TCL) with a maximum temperature of 650 °C and a minimum of 540 °C. Samples in the hottest part of the TCL lost mass, with a maximum mass loss of 1.4 mg/cm 2 , while samples in the coldest parts of the TCL gained mass, with a maximum mass gain of 1.0 mg/cm 2 . Analysis of the samples that gained mass showed an Fe-rich layer on the sample surfaces, indicating that Fe, not Cr, was the primary deposition product in the TCL. Cr loss was apparent to a depth of ~5 µm in the hot leg. Post-exposure analysis of the salt showed major increases in the Cr, Fe, and Mn contents. The TCL was modeled using the TRANSFORM code. Modeled values matched the experimental temperature measurements showing that TRANSFORM is capable of accurately simulating the TCL conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

On the Source of Conductivity in Alkaline Zn Anodes: Zn Percolation and ZnO Bridging

Alkaline Zn anodes are fundamental to commercial Zn-MnO 2 batteries as well as emerging rechargeable designs. In these electrodes, Zn particles are both the active material and source of electronic conduction. However, there are known cases in which electronic connectivity between Zn particles or the current collecting pin is lost even though the battery continues to function. Here we use X-ray computed tomography (CT) of AA batteries to demonstrate several examples of Zn particle-to-particle connectivity breakdown, which is observed even in cases at relatively high discharge rate. This indicates maintenance of the electronic network through the less-conductive ZnO discharge product. We introduce a new equation for electronic conductivity maintained through bridges of ZnO formed between percolating Zn particles. This necessitates discarding the Bruggeman correlation and instead redefining effective electronic conductivity using percolation theory. We demonstrate that such a model for conduction enables prediction of an inverted reaction zone, which is an experimentally observed case in which significant Zn dissolution and ZnO formation occurs heavily near the current collecting pin. Current computational Zn-MnO 2 models never predict an inverted reaction zone, and thus the updated conductivity enables models to accurately explain a wider range of experimental conditions.

Guida, Dominick P. [Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Estimating Total Methane Emissions from the Denver-Julesburg Basin Using Bottom-Up Approaches

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a 25 times higher 100-year warming potential than carbon dioxide and is a target for mitigation to achieve climate goals. To control and curb methane emissions, estimates are required from the sources and sectors which are typically generated using bottom-up methods. However, recent studies have shown that national and international bottom-up approaches can significantly underestimate emissions. In this study, we present three bottom-up approaches used to estimate methane emissions from all emission sectors in the Denver-Julesburg basin, CO, USA. Our data show emissions generated from all three methods are lower than historic measurements. A Tier 1/2 approach using IPCC emission factors estimated 2022 methane emissions of 358 Gg (0.8% of produced methane lost by the energy sector), while a Tier 3 EPA-based approach estimated emissions of 269 Gg (0.2%). Using emission factors informed by contemporary and region-specific measurement studies, emissions of 212 Gg (0.2%) were calculated. The largest difference in emissions estimates were a result of using the Mechanistic Air Emissions Simulator (MAES) for the production and transport of oil and gas in the DJ basin. The MAES accounts for changes to regulatory practice in the DJ basin, which include comprehensive requirements for compressors, pneumatics, equipment leaks, and fugitive emissions, which were implemented to reduce emissions starting in 2014. The measurement revealed that normalized gas loss is predicted to have been reduced by a factor of 20 when compared to 10-year-old normalization loss measurements and a factor of 10 less than a nearby oil and production area (Delaware basin, TX); however, we suggest that more measurements should be made to ensure that the long-tail emission distribution has been captured by the modeling. This study suggests that regulations implemented by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment could have reduced emissions by a factor of 20, but contemporary regional measurements should be made to ensure these bottom-up calculations are realistic.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Controlled Reduction of Graphene Oxide Using Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid under different concentrations and with the addition of SO 3 (fuming sulfuric acid) was studied as a reducing agent for the production of reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Three concentrations of sulfuric acid (1.5, 5, and 12 M), as well as 12 M with 30% SO 3 , were used. The reduction of graphene oxide increased with H 2 SO 4 concentration as observed by Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was observed that GO lost primarily epoxide functional groups from 40.4 to 9.7% and obtaining 69.8% carbon when using 12 M H 2 SO 4 , without leaving sulfur doping. Additionally, the appearance of hexagonal domain structures observed in transmission electron microscopy and analyzed by selected area electron diffraction patterns confirmed the improvement in graphitization. Although the addition of SO 3 in H 2 SO 4 improved the GO reduction with 74% carbon, as measured by XPS, the use of SO 3 introduced sulfur doping of 1.3%. RGO produced with sulfuric acid was compared with a sample obtained via ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, a very common reduction route, by observing that the RGO produced with sulfuric acid had a higher C/O ratio than the material reduced by UV irradiation. This work showed that sulfuric acid can be used as a single-step reducing agent for RGO without sulfur contamination.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

HarDWR - Raw Water Rights Records

For a detailed description of the database of which this record is only one part, please see the HarDWR meta-record. In order to hold a water right in the western United States, an entity, (e.g., an individual, corporation, municipality, sovereign government, or non-profit) must register a physical document with the state's water regulatory agency. State water agencies each maintain their own database containing all registered water right documents within the state, along with relevant metadata such as the point of diversion and place of use of the water. All western U.S. states have digitized their individual water rights databases, along with the geospatial data describing the spatial units where water rights are managed. Each state maintains and provides their own water rights data in accordance with individual state regulations and standards. We collected water rights databases from 11 western United States states either by downloading them from publicly accessible web portals, or by contacting state water management representatives; detailed descriptions of where and when the data was collected is provided in the README.txt, as well as Lisk et al.(in review). This collection of data are those raw water rights. Each state formats their data differently, meaning that file types, field availability, and names vary from state to state. Note, the data provided here reflects the state of the water rights databases at the time we collected the data; updates have likely occurred in many states. Some pieces of information are common among all states. These are: priority date, volume or flow of water allowed by the right, stated water use of the right, and some means of identifying the geography and source of the water pertaining to the right - typically the coordinates of the Point of Diversion (PoD) of a waterbody or well. Arizona regulates water in a different way than the other 10 states. Outside of some relatively small critical agricultural areas called Active Management Areas (AMAs), Arizona does not maintain any water rights. However, the state does require registration of surface and groundwater pumping devices, which includes disclosing the mechanical specifics of the devices. We used these records as a proxy for water rights. Each state, and their respective water right authorities, have made their water right records available for non-commercial reference uses. In addition, the states make no guarantees as to the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of their respective databases, let alone the modifications which we, the authors of this paper, have made to the collected records. None of the states should be held liable for using this data outside of its intended use. In addition, the following states have requested specifically worded disclaimers to be included with their data. Colorado: "The data made available here has been modified for use from its original source, which is the State of Colorado. THE STATE OF COLORADO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTY AS TO THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, OR CONTENT OF ANY DATA MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE. THE STATE OF COLORADO EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The data is subject to change as modifications and updates are complete. It is understood that the information contained in the Web feed is being used at one's own risk." Montana: "The Montana State Library provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time." Oregon: "This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for, or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Users of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the usability of the information." The available data is provided as a series of compressed files, which each containing the full data collected from each state. Some of the files have been renamed, to more easily know which state the data belongs to. The file renaming was also required as some files from different states had the same name. In other cases, the data for a state has been placed in a folder indicating which state it belongs to - as the state organized its data by selected subregions. Below is a brief description of the format of the collected data from each state. ArizonaRights_StatementOfClaimants: A folder containing a database of interconnected CSV files. The soc_erd.pdf file contains a visual flowchart of how the various files are connected, beginning with SOC_MAIN.csv in the center of the page. ArizonaRights_SurfaceWaterRightsData: A folder containing a database of a single Shapefile and 10 associated CSVs. SurfaceWater.pdf contains a visual flowchart of how the various files are connected, beginning with ADWR_SW_APPL_REGRY.csv. ArizonaRights_Well55Registry: A folder containing a database of a single Shapefile and 59 associated CSVs. Wells55.pdf contains a visual flowchart of how the various files are connected, beginning with WellRegistry.shp. CaliforniaRights_eWRIMS_directDatabase: A folder containing a collection of four "series" Microsoft Excel files, as either XLS or XLSX. The four "series": byCounty, byEntity (what type of legal entity holds the right), byUse (stated water use), and byWatershed, are various methods by which the California water rights are organized within the state's database. However, it was observed that by only collecting a single series, not all water rights were being provided. So, essentially, the majority of records within each "series" are copies of each other, with each "series" containing some unique records. ColoradoRights_NetAmounts: A folder containing 78 CSV files, with one file per Colorado Water District. IdahoRights_PointOfDiversion: A Shapefile containing the Points of Diversion for the entire state of Idaho. IdahoRights_PlaceOfUse: A Shapefile containing the Place of Use polygons for the entire state of Idaho. MontanaRights_WaterRights: A Geodatabase file containing the Points of Diversion and Places of Use for the entire state of Montana. The name of the Points of Diversion Feature Layer within the Geodatabase is "WRDIV", and the name of the Places of Use Feature Layer is "WRPOU". NevadaRights_POD_Sites: A Shapefile containing the Points of Diversion for the entire state of Nevada. NewMexicoRights_Points_of_Diversion: A Shapefile containing the Points of Diversion for the entire state of New Mexico. OregonRights_state_shp: A folder containing 36 Shapefiles and are split between "pod" (Point of Diversion) and "pou" (Place of Use) for each water management basin within Oregon. In other words, each basin has one "pod" file and one "pou" file. The "pod" files are point shapes, and the "pou" files are polygons. UtahRights_Points_of_Diversion: A Shapefile containing the Points of Diversion for the entire state of Utah. WashingtonRights_WaterDiversions_ECY_NHD: A Geodatabase file containing both the Points of Diversion for the entire state of Washington. The name of the Feature Layer within the Geodatabase is "WaterDiversions_ECY_NHD". WyomingRights: A folder containing four subdirectories, one for each Wyoming Water Division. Each Division directory includes a varying number of subdirectories for each Wyoming Water District. Each District folder contains two copies of the Point of Diversion records for that area, with one copying being in CSV and one copy in Microsoft Excel XLS format.

Lisk, Matthew↗
DOE OSTI2020

HarDWR - Raw Water Rights Records

A dataset within the Harmonized Database of Western U.S. Water Rights (HarDWR). For a detailed description of the database, please see the meta-record v2.0. Changelog v2.0 - Switched source data from collecting records from each state independently to using the WestDAAT dataset v1.0 - Initial public release Description In order to hold a water right in the western United States, an entity, (e.g., an individual, corporation, municipality, sovereign government, or non-profit) must register a physical document with the state's water regulatory agency. State water agencies each maintain their own database containing all registered water right documents within the state, along with relevant metadata such as the point of diversion and place of use of the water. All western U.S. states have digitized their individual water rights databases, as well as geospatial data defining the areas in which water rights are managed. Each state maintains and provides their own water rights data in accordance with individual state regulations and standards. In addition, while all states make their water rights publicly available, each provides their records in unique formats, meaning that file types, field availability, and terms vary from state to state. This leads to additional challenges to managing resources which cross state lines, or conducting consistent multi-state water analyses. For the first version of HarDWR, we collected the water rights databases from 11 Western States of the United States. In order to preform regional analyses with the collected data, the raw records had to be harmonized into one single format. The Water Data Exchange (WaDE) is a program dedicated to the sharing of water-related data for the Western U.S. in a singular consistent format. Created by the Western States Water Council (WSWC) to facilitate the collection and dissemination of water data among WSWC's member states and the public, WaDE provides an important service for those interested in water resource planning and management in their focus region. Of the services which WaDE provides, the one of the most interesting is the WestDAAT dataset, which is a collection of water rights data provided by the 18 WSWC member states that have been standardized into a single format, much like we had done on a more limited scale with HarDWR v1. For this version of HarDWR we decided to use WestDAAT, specifically a snapshot created in Feburary 2024, as our water rights source data. A full explanation of the benefits gained from this switch can be found in the description of the updated Harmonized Water Rights Records v2.0, but in short it has allowed us to focus more of our efforts on answering research questions and gaining a more realistic understanding of how water rights are allocated. For more information on how the data for WestDAAT was collected, please see the WaDE data summary. Terms of Use While WaDE works directly with the state agencies to collect and standardize the water rights records, the ultimate authority for the water rights data remains the individual states. Each state, and their respective water right authorities, have made their water right records available for non-commercial reference uses. In addition, the states make no guarantees as to the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of their respective databases, let alone the modifications which we, the authors of this paper, have made to the collected records. None of the states should be held liable for using this data outside of its intended use. As several of the states update their water rights databases daily, the information provided here is not the latest possible, and should not be used for legal purposes. WestDAAT itself has irregular updates. Additional questions about the data the source states provided should be directed to the respective state agencies (see methods.csv and organization.csv files described below). In addition, although data was presented here was not collected directly from the states, several states requested specifically worked disclaimers when sharing their data. These disclaimers are included here as an acknowledgement from where the water rights data is primarily sourced. Colorado: "The data made available here has been modified for use from its original source, which is the State of Colorado. THE STATE OF COLORADO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTY AS TO THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, OR CONTENT OF ANY DATA MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE. THE STATE OF COLORADO EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The data is subject to change as modifications and updates are complete. It is understood that the information contained in the Web feed is being used at one's own risk." Montana: "The Montana State Library provides this product/service for informational purposes only. The Library did not produce it for, nor is it suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Consumers of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the viability of the information for their purposes. The Library provides these data in good faith but does not represent or warrant its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness. In no event shall the Library be liable for any incorrect results or analysis; any direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages to any party; or any lost profits arising out of or in connection with the use or the inability to use the data or the services provided. The Library makes these data and services available as a convenience to the public, and for no other purpose. The Library reserves the right to change or revise published data and/or services at any time." Oregon: "This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for, or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. Users of this information should review or consult the primary data and information sources to ascertain the usability of the information." File Descriptions The unmodified February, 2024 WestDAAT snapshot is composed of nine files. Below is a brief description of each file, as well as how they were utilized for HarDWR. WaDEDataDictionaryTerms.xlsx: As the file's name implies, this is a data dictionary for all of the below named files. This file describes the column names for each of the following files, with the exception of citation.txt which does not have any columns. The descriptions for each file are divided by tab,with the same name as their associated file, within this document. allocationamount.csv: The "main" file of the group, it contains the water right records for each state. Of particular note, each water right is broken down into one or more water allocations. Allocations may be withdrawn from one or more locations, or even multiple allocations associated with a particular location. This is a more subtle and realistic representation of how water is used than what was available in the first version of HarDWR. For the records from some states, this can mean that multiple allocations listed under a single right will appear as rows within this file. citation.txt: A combination of contact information for WaDE personnel, disclaimer about how the data should be used, and guidelines for citing WestDAAT. methods.csv: A file describing the source and method by which WaDE collected water rights data from each state. organization.csv: A file listing the water rights authoritative agencies for each state. sites.csv: This file provides the geographic, and other descriptors, of the physical location of allocations, called 'sites'. To reiterate, it is possible for one allocation to be associated with multiple sites, as well as one site to be associated with multiple allocations. The two descriptors which we were most interested in where the site's coordinates, as well as whether the site was classified as a Point of Diversion (POD) or a Place of Use (POU). As a general rule, PODs are geographic points, while POUs are areas typically represented as property boundaries or irregularly shaped polygons. sites_pouGeometry.csv: For those allocations with a POU site, this file contains the defining points for the associated polygons. variables.csv: A file describing the units in which an allocation's water amount is reported within WestDAAT. This information is essentially a repeat of the 'AllocationFlow_CFS' and 'AllocationVolume_AF' columns within allocationamount.csv, at least for our purposes. watersources: This file describes the source of water from which each site extracts from. For our purposes, this table was used to determine whether the water came from Surface Water, Groundwater, or Unspecified Water.

Lisk, Matthew↗