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DOE OSTI2023

Thermopile Energy Harvesting for Subsurface Wellbore Sensors (Final Report)

Robust in situ power harvesting underlies all efforts to enable downhole autonomous sensors for real-time and long-term monitoring of CO 2 plume movement and permeance, wellbore health, and induced seismicity. This project evaluated the potential use of downhole thermopile arrays, known as thermoelectric generators (TEGs), as power sources to charge sensors for in situ real-time, long-term data capture and transmission. Real-time downhole monitoring will enable “Big Data” techniques and machine learning, using massive amounts of continuous data from embedded sensors, to quantify short- and long-term stability and safety of enhanced oil recovery and/or commercial-scale geologic CO 2 storage. This project evaluated possible placement of the TEGs at two different wellbore locations: on the outside of the casing; or on the production tubing. TEGs convert heat flux to electrical power, and in the borehole environment, would convert heat flux into or out of the borehole into power for downhole sensors. Such heat flux would be driven by pumping of cold or hot fluids into the borehole—for instance, injecting supercritical CO 2 —creating a thermal pulse that could power the downhole sensors. Hence, wireless power generation could be accomplished with in situ TEG energy harvesting. This final report summarizes the project’s efforts that accomplished the creation of a fully operational thermopile field unit, including selection of materials, laboratory benchtop experiments and thermal-hydrologic modeling for design and optimization of the field-scale power generation test unit. Finally, the report describes the field unit that has been built and presents results of performance and survivability testing. The performance and survivability testing evaluated the following: 1) downhole power generation in response to a thermal gradient produced by pumping a heated fluid down a borehole and through the field unit; and 2) component survivability and operation at elevated temperature and pressure conditions representative of field conditions. The performance and survivability testing show that TEG arrays are viable for generating ample energy to power downhole sensors, although it is important to note that developing or connecting to sensors was beyond the scope of this project. This project’s accomplishments thus traversed from a low Technical Readiness Level (TRL) on fundamental concepts of the application and modeling to TRL-5 via testing of the fully integrated field unit for power generation in relevant environments. A fully issued United States Patent covers the wellbore power harvesting technology and applications developed by this project.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2020

Microwave Cast Material Examination

Microwave-cast material dating from the latest prototype development period and subsequent TRL 7 advancement testing was sent to LANL for additional characterization. The initial characterization described here is considered a supplement to and verification of that performed by Y-12 during the Technology Readiness Assessment process. The carbon chemistry results from Y-12 and LANL regarding early prototype microwave cast test object (CTO) and cylinder castings match within expectations. Only one fully intact as-cast CTO was available for examination in which carbon chemistry does not appear to vary spatially, at least at relatively low carbon levels (hypoeutectic). The large as-cast grain size leads to relatively poor grain size statistics and similar difficulties were encountered during the TRA. Small, isolated gas pores were observed in four of the five metallographic samples in prototype CTO casting PT-01. Finally, the next phase of characterization work, which focuses on corrosion behavior, has started and is described briefly.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Operation of Argonne's Liquid Salt-Liquid Metal Separation Testbed for U/TRU Product Processing

Argonne National Laboratory has constructed a liquid salt-liquid metal separation testbed for use in the development and advancement of cathode processing of U/TRU co‑deposits generated by pyroprocessing of used nuclear fuel. The U/TRU product recovered from the electrorefiner contains adhered and entrained salt that must be removed prior to consolidation of the U/TRU alloy for use in advanced reactor fuel fabrication. The bottom pour operation utilizes the low melting points of U/TRU co‑deposits and higher densities of molten metals compared to molten salts to separate and consolidate the U/TRU product. Argonne’s testbed is designed to support the development and optimization of bottom-pouring configurations for batch and semi-continuous operations, integration of process monitoring and control technologies, and determination of operational requirements for implementing in an industrial setting. Scoping tests were performed to demonstrate operational aspects of the testbed, including operation using single-pour spout and dual-pour spout configurations, effectiveness of salt containment and extent of salt vaporization, and the use of sensor probes to detect the location of the interface between the metal and salt phases during pouring. Recommendations for process optimization testing for further development of bottom pour processing to separate U/TRU alloys from adhered salt were made based on the results of scoping tests. Completing the recommended activities will increase the technical readiness level (TRL) of the liquid salt-liquid metal separation operation and consolidation of U/TRU alloys to support industrialization of pyroprocessing.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Application of Electrochemical Methods to Molten Salt Reactors: Draft TLR Documenting Assessment of Electrochemical Monitoring

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is developing the regulatory framework and technical expertise to support regulatory review of advanced non-water reactors, including molten salt reactors (MSRs). In an MSR, it is essential that the salt chemistry be maintained in a desired range in terms of redox potential for reliable operation and mitigation of corrosion to structural materials in the reactor, particularly the reactor vessel and heater exchanger. Measuring the redox potential of the salt in the reactor would also allow for the material lifetimes to be predicted more accurately, and chemical issues to be diagnosed more quickly. In addition to the chemical composition analysis by ICP-MS, electrochemical methods including potentiometry and linear wave scanning (LSC) were also used in molten salt reactor experiment (MSRE) for redox potential monitoring purposes. Electrochemcial methods offers unique advantages such as quick turnaround in results and unique capability of in-line monitoring of redox potential, and are considered popular electroanalytical techniques that can be used to monitor redox potentials and salt chemistry including impurities. The last two decades have seen significant advances in science and engineering of electrochemical methods for potential application to molten salts. The primary goal of this report is to assist NRC in understanding the monitoring of the salt chemistry by electrochemical methods and provide NRC reviewers with necessary information and tools to support regulatory review of MSR designs. This reports consists of two majors parts—Part 1, chemical potential of molten salts and effects by fission process in MSR; Part 2, assessment of electrochemical methods for application to MSRs. The TRLs of the typical relevant electrochemical methods for molten salts were evaluated based on the DOE TRL guidelines and upon a review of the current status of the electrochemical methods for two typical salt systems, fluoride and chloride, for MSRs.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

LAMP Technical Readiness Evaluation Report (Rev. 1)

An internal preliminary evaluation of Critical Technology Elements (CTEs) for the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP) was completed. Corresponding Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) were also determined for all subsystems using the criteria of DOE G 413.3-4A, Technical Readiness Assessment Guide. The scope of the evaluation was limited to the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements as defined for the RFQ Injector and Drift Tube Linac (DTL) systems only. Integration of Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) and Safety Systems was not considered, although specific technologies as related to the RFQ and DTL systems were included. Other elements of the project such as Shielding, System Design, Technical Management, and additional facility integration needed to enable off-line testing and pre-installation commissioning were also not evaluated. Each technical subsystem element was evaluated for technical readiness, however, not all were found to meet the criteria for a CTE. Only two subsystem elements were determined to meet the CTE criteria. Their associated TRLs are summarized in the table below. These subsystem elements of the project have the lowest technical readiness due to either being new, novel or modified, requiring additional R&D before being capable of meeting the project Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and subsystem requirements, or present technology exists but has not yet been demonstrated in a relevant environment. All other subsystems were determined to have a TRL of 8, indicating that actual operating systems exist having similar performance requirements as needed for LAMP. Details of the technical readiness evaluation for each subsystem is given in the following sections of this report.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2026

LAMP Technical Readiness Evaluation Report: LAMP-ENG-RPT-003 (Revision 2)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

LAMP Technical Readiness Evaluation Report

An internal preliminary evaluation of Critical Technology Elements (CTEs) for the LANSCE Modernization Project (LAMP) was completed in 2023. This included determining corresponding Technical Readiness Levels (TRLs) for all subsystems using the criteria of DOE G 413.3-4A, Technical Readiness Assessment Guide. This revised report includes a summary of the recent design modifications required to meet the project Key Performance Requirements (KPPs), some of which may reduce technical risk to the project. These recent design modifications include: • Further optimization of the low-energy and medium-energy beam transport regions (LEBT and MEBT, respectively), including relocation of various functional elements (ie choppers, kickers, and bunchers). • An additional H - ion source to separate ion-source function based on beam delivery requirements. • A high-repetition-rate pulsed kicker magnet to select/merge the two H ion beams into a common low-energy beam transport. • Modification and further optimization to a more conventional RFQ design. Performance of the RFQ has been optimized to deliver the required three types of beams while meeting the project KPPs. • The addition of a second chopper in the medium-energy beam transport (MEBT) line to reduce the required pulser voltages. The scope of the evaluation was limited to the project Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) elements as defined for the RFQ Injector and Drift Tube Linac (DTL) systems only. Integration of Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) and Safety Systems was not considered, although specific technologies as related to the RFQ and DTL systems were included. Other elements of the project such as Shielding, System Design, Technical Management, and additional facility integration needed to enable off-line testing and pre-installation commissioning were also not evaluated. Each technical subsystem element was evaluated for technical readiness, however, not all were found to meet the criteria for a CTE. Three subsystem elements were determined to meet the CTE criteria. Their associated TRLs are summarized in the table below. These subsystem elements of the project have the lowest technical readiness due to either being new, novel or modified, requiring additional R&D before being capable of meeting the project Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and subsystem requirements, or present technology exists but has not yet been demonstrated in a relevant environment. All other subsystems were determined to have a TRL of 8, indicating that actual operating systems exist having similar performance requirements as needed for LAMP. Details of the technical readiness evaluation for each subsystem is given in the following sections of this report.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Technical Performance and Cost Optimization of Unobtrusive Multi-static Serial LiDAR Imager (UMSLI) for Wide-area Surveillance and Identification of Marine Life at Marine Energy Installations

Florida Atlantic University developed an underwater optical monitoring system prototype - Unobtrusive Multi-static Serial LiDAR Imager (UMSLI) - suitable for marine energy full project lifecycle observation (baseline, commissioning, and decommissioning), with an automated real-time classification of marine animals. With precursor 2014 DOE funding (award DE-EE0006787), a prototype UMSLI was demonstrated in a controlled laboratory environment and achieved a TRL 6. This EERE DE-EE0007828 award aimed to both increase the TRL of the UMSLI by improving the technology performance (e.g., increase distance of marine animal target detection capability, add additional species classification capabilities, improve the system performance during the day, etc.) and reduce the cost. The UMSLI presents a novel application of underwater distributed Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), an advanced remote sensing method that uses light in the form of laser pulses for an application, this paired with an algorithm provides 360 degrees underwater detection, imaging, and classification of marine life. This solution for underwater monitoring of biota preserves the advantages of traditional optical and acoustic solutions while overcoming many associated disadvantages for marine energy site environmental monitoring, such as difficulties in species detection and classification in low light or night and turbid environments. This new approach is a purposefully designed, reconfigurable adaptation of an existing class 3B laser technology into one UMSLI instrument that can be easily mounted on or around different classes of marine energy equipment, such as devices to capture ocean current energy or wave energy. The system uses relatively low average power, utilizes far-red (> 635nm) laser illumination to be invisible and eye-safe to marine animals, is compact, and cost-effective. The equipment is designed for long-term, maintenance-free operations (i.e., current design is targeting more than 7 days continuous operation), to inherently generate a sparse primary dataset that only includes detected anomalies, and to allow robust real-time automated animal classification and identification with a low data bandwidth requirement. The technology’s overarching goal for application, is a system that can be deployed to collect pre-installation baseline species observations at a proposed marine energy deployment site with minimal post-processing overhead. The envisioned system will also produce high-resolution imagery of marine animals through a wide range of conditions and support automated tracking and notification of the presence of managed animals within established perimeters of marine energy equipment to satisfy deployed marine energy projects’ endangered and threatened species monitoring requirements. Through the current project, we demonstrated the UMSLI prototype in an operational environment and increased the UMSLI’s Technology Readiness Level from 6 to 7. The project resulted in many novel technologies, including: 1) an eye-safe red laser based, low-cost LiDAR system that can detect targets up to 10 meters distance; 2) the GAN-based machine learning underwater LiDAR image enhancement technique (this is the first known application of GAN technique in underwater LiDAR); 3) LiDAR-based real-time automated detection capabilities; and 4) a template matching based automated classification tool. These technologies build a solid foundation for future efforts to develop an extended range electro-optical monitoring system suitable for marine energy deployments. In addition to technology development, a key lesson learned is that addressing regulatory and safety requirements must be front and center in any marine energy monitoring applications.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2022

Liquid Salt Combined-Cycle Pilot Plant Design

The work described in this report is responsive to the Office of Fossil Energy program ‘Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation.’ This Phase I report has been prepared by Pintail Power LLC, with support from Nexant ECA, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Southern Company Services as a deliverable for the U.S. Department of Energy for NETL Award DE-FE-00320016. The Liquid Salt Combined Cycle™ (LSCC™) technology provides large-scale energy storage integrated with Fossil Electric Generating Units (FEGUs) to meet critical needs in the energy transition by providing: • the lowest cost large-scale storage for time-shifting of renewable energy, • superior fuel efficiency to reduce GHGs from dispatchable resources, • flexible capacity and ramping to balance variability of wind and solar resources, • essential grid stability services to assure reliability of a low-carbon grid. The LSCC approach: • employs equipment that has already been proven in utility service, • uses safe, non-toxic, non-degrading, perpetual-life storage medium, • leverages and repurposes existing FEGU assets, • expands the value stack of energy storage to reduce market, financing, and commodity risks. Pintail Power has developed the LSCC technology to meet the need for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) into a low-carbon electric grid by coupling proven thermal energy storage with proven gas turbines, steam turbines, and heat transfer equipment. This novel approach is intended to address the key issues facing the grid and operators of renewable and fossil generating units including: • Overgeneration and curtailment of renewables, • Need for fast ramping dispatchable resources, • Improved efficiency and flexibility of fossil units, • Additional peaking capacity to support electrification of transportation and heating, • Provision of reliability services to support high penetration of VRE, especially synchronous inertia and fast frequency response. A Technology Readiness assessment by EPRI confirmed that LSCC technology consists of commercially proven hardware used in industrial and utility applications. Although the novel LSCC approach has not yet been demonstrated as a complete system, interfaces between major components have been conservatively specified. A Phase III pilot is planned to demonstrate equipment integration and operation. The patented innovation is removal of the evaporator section from the exhaust heat recovery system, with the evaporation performed by stored energy in a separate steam generator. This arrangement couples renewable and fossil power generation via long-duration energy storage to deliver cost, performance, and operational synergies, including superior charging and discharging flexibility, reduced fuel consumption and lower CO 2 emissions compared to conventional Combined Cycle Power Plants, and low-cost, large-scale energy storage. The LSCC technology is composed of proven equipment integrated with gas turbine exhaust heat in a novel system. During charging, electric heaters raise the salt temperature as it flows from the Cold Salt Tank to the Hot Salt Tank. During discharging, hot salt produces steam from feedwater that is heated with gas turbine exhaust, which also superheats steam to drive a steam turbine. LSCC technology can be added to any combustion-turbine to integrate renewable energy, provide needed grid services, and increase the value of fossil electric generating units based on the technology’s following attributes: • Long-duration storage enables time-shifting of VRE to avoid curtailment and impairment of renewable assets. • Long storage duration combined with fast-charging capability increases arbitrage opportunities by storing more energy when the price is low and discharging more hours when the price is high. • Long storage duration allows resource adequacy to be supplied across multiple days to increase reliability and reduce risk. • The stored energy reduces fuel heat rate and GHG emissions, and increases merit, so the LSCC dispatches earlier and longer to increase the plant’s capacity factor and asset value. • The stored energy enables pre-heating and startup of the steam cycle, without operating the gas turbine, to enable fast startup and ramping when dispatched for discharge. • The steam turbine can operate without the gas turbine so it can provide valuable synchronous inertia during charging without consuming fuel. • Fast frequency response and regulation services can be provided during charging using solid-state heater and pump controls to vary the charge power input in response to grid signals. • The LSCC system can be configured for resilience including black start, islanded/micro-grid operation, and even self-recharging of storage using either gas turbine power or gas turbine exhaust heat. The commercialization plan is to add LSCC technology to existing simple cycle gas turbine power plants with the 50MW GE LM6000 aero-derivative gas turbine as the reference design basis. A Techno-economic assessment of the reference design evaluated the benefits (Levelized Avoided Cost of Energy) and costs (Levelized Cost of Energy). The plant definition included all major systems and budgetary vendor quotes. Pintail Power and NexantECA developed the overall cost estimate for the LSCC plant up to the total plant cost level, following the DOE-NETL cost estimate guidelines at AACE Class 3 (-20%/+30%). This includes the equipment cost, bulk material, direct and indirect labor costs to arrive at the bare erected cost. Engineering costs are factored from the BEC and added to it to arrive at the EPC cost. Process and project contingencies were then factored from the EPC cost and rolled-up to yield the total plant cost of $\$$184 million for 1746 MWh of discharge electricity. • At $\$$105/kWh, the reference plant costs less than any of the Energy Storage Systems evaluated by PNNL in 2020 for the Energy Storage Grand Challenge. Operations and Maintenance cost estimates were scaled from combined cycle practice, assuming that the LSCC unit was co-located with and sharing some labor expense with other units, to arrive at $\$$2.2 million per year. Plant economics were evaluated using prices from the ERCOT Day-Ahead Market for calendar year 2019 (excluding the market disruptions from the COVID pandemic and the February 2020 deep freeze event). Assuming economic dispatch in the ERCOT Day-Ahead market, the reference plant capacity factor would have discharged for 2777 hours at 91.9 MW, a 31.66% capacity factor, with a marginal cost of $\$$25.59/MWh, and a LACE of $\$$82.41/MWh. Fixed charges were calculated according to EIA guidelines to arrive at an LCOE of $\$$83.48. The benefit-to-cost ratio of 0.99 suggests that the reference plant would have been cost-effective and competitive in the market. EPRI interviewed selected utilities to gauge the need for, applicability of and interest in the LSCC system. Several utilities are currently managing increased load growth along with the inclusion of increasing levels of renewable generation, putting pressure on conventional generation by requiring increased turndown requirements and ultimately lower capacity factors. All of the utilities interviewed have CO 2 reduction targets in the 2030-2050 timeframe that will severely limit the participation of fossil generation and require better utilization of carbon free generation. While there is limited opportunity for storage in the current markets, the utilities interviewed stated that there will be a substantial need for long duration energy storage in the future given the expected trends. Utilizing an energy storage system will generally be preferred over new gas capacity in some cases, with the capabilities of the LSCC system being a potential option for retrofit to existing simple cycle gas turbine units, allowing them to deliver greater participation in the market with lower carbon intensity. A technology gap assessment and technology maturation plan identified a pilot-scale demonstration as the final step before commercialization. Key gaps to be addressed during the Phase II FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) are component selection and design, commissioning procedures, and operational procedures and the control system for LSCC charging and discharging. The project team has been expanded to include Wood Group PLC as EPC. The proposed Phase II work leads to a pilot-scale engineering demonstration (TRL 6) to be conducted at Southern Company’s Plant Rowan, where the prototype system will perform “all the functions that will be required of the operational system.” The proposed pilot will facilitate commercialization (TRL-9) by scale-up to utility-scale systems integrated with peaking GTs or directly to facility scale systems using industrial GTs. The conceptual design for the pilot plant focuses on the novel integration aspects of LSCC technology. A slipstream of gas turbine exhaust will feed a waste heat recovery unit coupled to a molten salt steam generator heated by stored energy. The pilot is intended to demonstrate all key operating modes of the LSCC technology during charging, discharging and standby. The pilot equipment will be approximately one-seventh scale of the LM6000 commercial target and is expected to have commercial off-ramp potential for facility-scale applications.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗