Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “efficiency maximization”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Potential energy savings benefits and limitations of radiative cooling coatings for U.S. residential buildings

We report radiative coatings are a promising strategy to implement passive cooling that provides an eco-friendly pathway to achieve energy efficiency in buildings. This study investigates the benefits and limitations of implementing radiative coatings on the building envelope, particularly the roof, of residential buildings in the United States. The analysis compares the performance of an ideal radiative coating with broadband surface properties to a realistic radiative coating with diffuse and semitransparent properties. To enhance the net energy efficiency of buildings, we carried out a comprehensive parametric analysis comprising key radiation surface properties to maximize cooling energy savings while minimizing heating energy penalties. A countrywide assessment for 68 locations across the United States showed that net energy savings are a strong function of the climatic and atmospheric conditions. Broadly, southern locations showed high overall energy savings whereas northern locations exhibited high overall energy penalties. Locations in International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) climate zones 1A, 2A, and 2B showed a net annual energy savings above 5%, whereas locations in IECC climate zones 5B, 6B, and 7 showed a net annual energy penalty greater than 3%. The hot and dry climate of Phoenix, Arizona, showed the highest overall energy savings of 426 kWh (6.2%). Additionally, the mathematical correlation reveals that the net energy savings of a location is positive only when its average cooling degree days is greater than 5.5 or its average heating degree days is less than 10.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

The radiated power limit in impurity seeded JET-ILW plasmas

The total radiated fraction is examined in high density H-mode plasmas (Greenwald fraction of about 85 %) in JET by the variation of the auxiliary heating power of Pheat = 14 MW-29 MW. An achieved radiation fraction of about 75 % at most has been observed in JET-ILW, which is less than the highest achievable (≈90 %) fraction in JET-C during the high radiative power scenarios with N2 seeding. It is shown that the maximal achievable total radiation fraction averaged over ELM cycles has a strong dependence on the radiation efficiency of the ELM energy, $θ_{rad}$: $\gamma^{max}_{rad,total}$ = 1 -$\frac {f_{ELM} x ΔW_{ELM}} {P_heat}$ (1- $θ_{rad}$). About 50 % and 16 % of the ELM induced diamagnetic energy drop (ΔW ELM ) radiates during the ELM in JET-C and JET-ILW, respectively, which corresponds to the maximum total radiated powers of $\gamma^{max}_{rad,JET-C}$ = 0.87 and $\gamma^{max}_{rad,JET-ILW}$ = 0.77. These values of the maximum of the radiative power fractions are in good agreement with $\gamma^{max}_{rad}$ experimentally observed in JET-C (90 %) and JET-ILW (75 %).

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stochastic pre-event preparation for enhancing resilience of distribution systems

Extreme weather events are the common causes for power supply interruptions and power outages in electrical distribution systems. Improving the distribution system and enhancing its resilience is becoming crucial due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events. Preparation and allocation of multiple flexible resources, such as mobile resources, fuel resources, and labor resources before extreme weather events can mitigate the effects of extreme weather events and enhance the resilience of power distribution systems. Here, in this paper, a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer linear programming (SMILP) is proposed to optimize the preparation and resource allocation process for upcoming extreme weather events, which leads to faster and more efficient post-event restoration. The objective of the proposed two-stage SMILP is to maximize the served load and minimize the operating cost of flexible resources. The first stage in the optimization problem selects the amounts and locations of different resources. The second stage considers the operational constraints of the distribution system and repair crew scheduling constraints. The proposed stochastic pre-event preparation model is solved by a scenario decomposition method, Progressive Hedging (PH), to ease the computational complexity introduced by a large number of scenarios. Furthermore, to show the impact of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation on system resilience, three types of PV systems are considered during a power outage and the resilience improvements with different PV penetration levels are compared. Numerical results from simulations on a large-scale (more than 10,000 nodes) distribution feeder have been used to validate the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed method.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Enabling real-time multi-messenger astrophysics discoveries with deep learning

Multi-messenger astrophysics is a fast-growing, interdisciplinary field that combines data, which vary in volume and speed of data processing, from many different instruments that probe the Universe using different cosmic messengers: electromagnetic waves, cosmic rays, gravitational waves and neutrinos. In this Expert Recommendation, we review the key challenges of real-time observations of gravitational wave sources and their electromagnetic and astroparticle counterparts, and make a number of recommendations to maximize their potential for scientific discovery. These recommendations refer to the design of scalable and computationally efficient machine learning algorithms; the cyber-infrastructure to numerically simulate astrophysical sources, and to process and interpret multi-messenger astrophysics data; the management of gravitational wave detections to trigger real-time alerts for electromagnetic and astroparticle follow-ups; a vision to harness future developments of machine learning and cyber-infrastructure resources to cope with the big-data requirements; and finally, the need to build a community of experts to realize the goals of multi-messenger astrophysics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Identification and characterization of core cellulolytic enzymes from Talaromyces cellulolyticus (formerly Acremonium cellulolyticus) critical for hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass

Background: Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass is an essential process for the production of fermentable sugars for industrial use. A better understanding of fungal cellulase systems will provide clues for maximizing the hydrolysis of target biomass. Talaromyces cellulolyticus is a promising fungus for cellulase production and efficient biomass hydrolysis. Several cellulolytic enzymes purified from T. cellulolyticus were characterized in earlier studies, but the core enzymes critical for hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass remain unknown. Results: Six cellulolytic enzymes critical for the hydrolysis of crystalline cellulose were purified from T. cellulolyticus culture supernatant using an enzyme assay based on synergistic hydrolysis of Avicel. The purified enzymes were identified by their substrate specificities and analyses of trypsin-digested peptide fragments and were classified into the following glycosyl hydrolase (GH) families: GH3 (β-glucosidase, Bgl3A), GH5 (endoglucanase, Cel5A), GH6 (cellobiohydrolase II, Cel6A), GH7 (cellobiohydrolase I and endoglucanase, Cel7A and Cel7B, respectively), and GH10 (xylanase, Xyl10A). Hydrolysis of dilute acid-pretreated corn stover (PCS) with mixtures of the purified enzymes showed that Cel5A, Cel7B, and Xyl10A each had synergistic effects with a mixture of Cel6A and Cel7A. Cel5A seemed to be more effective in the synergistic hydrolysis of the PCS than Cel7B. The ratio of Cel5A, Cel6A, Cel7A, and Xyl10A was statistically optimized for the hydrolysis of PCS glucan in the presence of Bgl3A. The resultant mixture achieved higher PCS glucan hydrolysis at lower enzyme loading than a culture filtrate from T. cellulolyticus or a commercial enzyme preparation, demonstrating that the five enzymes play a role as core enzymes in the hydrolysis of PCS glucan. In Conclusion: Core cellulolytic enzymes in the T. cellulolyticus cellulase system were identified to Cel5A, Cel6A, Cel7A, Xyl10A, and Bgl3A and characterized. The optimized mixture of these five enzymes was highly effective for the hydrolysis of PCS glucan, providing a foundation for future improvement of the T. cellulolyticus cellulase system.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Clostridium autoethanogenum alters cofactor synthesis, redox metabolism, and lysine-acetylation in response to elevated H 2 :CO feedstock ratios for enhancing carbon capture efficiency

Clostridium autoethanogenum is an acetogenic bacterium that autotrophically converts carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gases into bioproducts and fuels via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway (WLP). To facilitate overall carbon capture efficiency, the reaction stoichiometry requires supplementation of hydrogen at an increased ratio of H 2 :CO to maximize CO 2 utilization; however, the molecular details and thus the ability to understand the mechanism of this supplementation are largely unknown. In order to elucidate the microbial physiology and fermentation where at least 75% of the carbon in ethanol comes from CO 2 , we established controlled chemostats that facilitated a novel and high (11:1) H 2 :CO uptake ratio. We compared and contrasted proteomic and metabolomics profiles to replicate continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) at the same growth rate from a lower (5:1) H 2 :CO condition where ~ 50% of the carbon in ethanol is derived from CO 2 . Our hypothesis was that major changes would be observed in the hydrogenases and/or redox-related proteins and the WLP to compensate for the elevated hydrogen feed gas. Our analyses did reveal protein abundance differences between the two conditions largely related to reduction–oxidation (redox) pathways and cofactor biosynthesis, but the changes were more minor than we would have expected. While the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway proteins remained consistent across the conditions, other post-translational regulatory processes, such as lysine-acetylation, were observed and appeared to be more important for fine-tuning this carbon metabolism pathway. Metabolomic analyses showed that the increase in H 2 :CO ratio drives the organism to higher carbon dioxide utilization resulting in lower carbon storages and accumulated fatty acid metabolite levels. This research delves into the intricate dynamics of carbon fixation in C. autoethanogenum, examining the influence of highly elevated H 2 :CO ratios on metabolic processes and product outcomes. The study underscores the significance of optimizing gas feed composition for enhanced industrial efficiency, shedding light on potential mechanisms, such as post-translational modifications (PTMs), to fine-tune enzymatic activities and improve desired product yields.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1979

Nuclear pumped laser modeling

A model for an indirectly nuclear pumped laser experiment was developed. The apparatus consists of the usual cylindrical neutron moderator enclosing a gas filled quartz cell. The quartz cell in this case has two concentric compartments; the larger output compartment is filled with He-3 and fluorescent gases which are coupled radiatively to the inner compartment which is filled with a lasing gas for efficient optical pumping. The fluorescent gas in this study was a mixture of Ar, Kr and F2. Perfluoroalkyliodide was chosen as the lasant material of the inner compartment. The degree of photoabsorption in the lasant gas was calculated. The kinetic efficiencies of various gas combinations in the outer fluorescence tube were then evaluated in order to maximize the fluorescence output in the iodine pump band.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Collision avoidance of a redundant manipulator operating through a window

The problem of collision-free operation of a redundant robot manipulator through a window is addressed. The window is modeled by a polygon with the sides representing the edges of the window. A performance criterion is defined to maximize the shortest distances between the arm link axes and the edges of the window. An efficient gradient projection optimization scheme for the kinematic control of manipulators with multiple degrees of redundancy is developed and used. The effectiveness of this scheme and the validity of the performance criterion are verified through simulations of the seven-degree-of-freedom NASA Laboratory Telerobotic Manipulator (LTM), where controlling only the position of the end-effector provides three degrees of redundancy.

Zghal, H.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Development of a High Output Fluorescent Light Module for the Commercial Plant Biotechnology Facility

To maximize the use of available resources provided onboard the International Space Station, the development of an efficient lighting 1 system is critical to the overall performance of the CPBF. Not only is it important to efficiently generate photon energy, but thermal loads on the CPBF Temperature and Humidity Control System must be minimized. By utilizing optical coatings designed to produce highly diffuse reflectance in the visible wavelengths while minimizing reflectance in the infrared region, the design of the fluorescent light module for the CPBF is optimized for maximum photon flux, spatial uniformity and energy efficiency. Since the Fluorescent Light Module must be fully enclosed to meet (ISS) requirements for containment of particulates and toxic materials, heat removal from the lights presented some unique design challenges. By using the Express Rack moderate C, temperature-cooling loop, heat is rejected by means of a liquid/air coolant manifold. Heat transfer to the manifold is performed by conduction using copper fins, by forced air convection using miniature fans, and by radiation using optically selective coatings that absorb in the infrared wavelengths. Using this combination of heat transfer mechanisms builds in redundancy to prevent thermal build up and premature bulb failure.

Turner, Mark↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Crew Launch Vehicle Approach Builds on Lessons from Past and Present Missions

The United States Vision for Space Exploration, announced in January 2004, outlines the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) strategic goals and objectives, including retiring the Space Shuttle and replacing it with a new human-rated system suitable for missions to the Moon and Mars. The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that the new Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) lofts into space early next decade will initially ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and be capable of carrying crews back to lunar orbit and of supporting missions to Mars orbit. NASA is using its extensive experience gained from past and ongoing launch vehicle programs to maximize the CLV system design approach, with the objective of reducing total lifecycle costs through operational efficiencies. To provide in-depth data for selecting this follow-on launch vehicle, the Exploration Systems Architecture Study was conducted during the summer of 2005, following the confirmation of the new NASA Administrator. A team of aerospace subject matter experts used technical, budget, and schedule objectives to analyze a number of potential launch systems, with a focus on human rating for exploration missions. The results showed that a variant of the Space Shuttle, utilizing the reusable Solid Rocket Booster as the first stage, along with a new upper stage that uses a derivative of the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine to deliver 25 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, was the best choice to reduce the risks associated with fielding a new system in a timely manner. The CLV Project, managed by the Exploration Launch Office located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, is leading the design, development, testing, and operation of this new human-rated system. The CLV Project works closely with the Space Shuttle Program to transition hardware, infrastructure, and workforce assets to the new launch system . leveraging a wealth of lessons learned from Shuttle operations. The CL V is being designed to reduce costs through a number of methods, ranging from validating requirements to conducting trades studies against the concept design. Innovations such as automated processing will build on lessons learned from the Shuttle, other launch systems, Department of Defense operations experience, and subscale flight tests such as the Delta Clipper-Experimental Advanced (DCXA) vehicle operations that utilized minimal touch labor, automated cryogen ic propellant loading , and an 8-hour turnaround for a cryogenic propulsion system. For the CLV, the results of hazard analyses are contributing to an integrated vehicle health monitoring system that will troubleshoot anomalies and determine which ones can be solved without human intervention. Such advances will help streamline the mission operations process for pilots and ground controllers alike. In fiscal year 2005, NASA invested approximately $4.5 billion of its $16 bill ion budget on the Space Shuttle. The ultimate goal of the CLV Project is to deliver a safe, reliable system designed to minimize lifecycle costs so that NASA's budget can be invested in missions of scientific discovery. Lessons learned from developing the CLV will be applied to the growth path for future systems, including a heavy lift launch vehicle.

Dumbacher, Daniel L.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Thermal Protection Materials: Development, Characterization and Evaluation

Thermal protection materials and systems (TPS) are used to protect space vehicles from the heat experienced during entry into an atmosphere. The application for these materials is very specialized as are the materials. They must have specific properties to withstand conditions during specific entries. There is no one-size-fits-all TPS as the conditions experienced by a material are very dependent upon the atmosphere, the entry speed, the size and shape of the vehicle, and the location on the vehicle. However, all TPS must be reliable and efficient to ensure mission safety, that is to protect the vehicle while ensuring that payload is maximized. Types of TPS will be reviewed in relation to types of missions and applications. Both reusable and ablative materials will be discussed. Approaches to characterizing and evaluating these materials will be presented. The role of heritage versus new materials will be described.

Johnson, Silvia M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Automation of Cassini Support Imaging Uplink Command Development

"Support imaging" is imagery requested by other Cassini science teams to aid in the interpretation of their data. The generation of the spacecraft command sequences for these images is performed by the Cassini Instrument Operations Team. The process initially established for doing this was very labor-intensive, tedious and prone to human error. Team management recognized this process as one that could easily benefit from automation. Team members were tasked to document the existing manual process, develop a plan and strategy to automate the process, implement the plan and strategy, test and validate the new automated process, and deliver the new software tools and documentation to Flight Operations for use during the Cassini extended mission. In addition to the goals of higher efficiency and lower risk in the processing of support imaging requests, an effort was made to maximize adaptability of the process to accommodate uplink procedure changes and the potential addition of new capabilities outside the scope of the initial effort.

Ly-Hollins, Lisa↗
NASA NTRS2019

Enabling Real-time Multi-messenger Astrophysics Discoveries with Deep Learning

Multi-messenger astrophysics is a fast-growing, interdisciplinary field that combines data, which vary in volume and speed of data processing, from many different instruments that probe the Universe using different cosmic messengers: electromagnetic waves, cosmic rays, gravitational waves and neutrinos. In this Expert Recommendation, we review the key challenges of real-time observations of gravitational wave sources and their electromagnetic and astroparticle counterparts, and make a number of recommendations to maximize their potential for scientific discovery. These recommendations refer to the design of scalable and computationally efficient machine learning algorithms; the cyber-infrastructure to numerically simulate astrophysical sources, and to process and interpret multi-messenger astrophysics data; the management of gravitational wave detections to trigger real-time alerts for electromagnetic and astroparticle follow-ups; a vision to harness future developments of machine learning and cyber-infrastructure resources to cope with the big-data requirements; and the need to build a community of experts to realize the goals of multi-messenger astrophysics.

E A Huerta↗
DOE OSTI2026

Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines

NLR's advanced power electronics and electric machines (APEEM) research group develops world-class experimental and modeling capabilities to design and evaluate efficient and reliable power electronics and electric machines, as well as innovative thermal management systems to maximize their performance. They also design, fabricate, and characterize advanced power electronics packaging and are developing state-of-health monitoring techniques.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines: FY17 Year in Review

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Co-Optima initiative is accelerating the introduction of efficient, clean, affordable, and scalable high-performance fuels and engines. This effort is simultaneously tackling fuel and engine research and development (R&D) to maximize light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle fuel economy and performance, while mapping lower-cost pathways to reduce emissions, leveraging diverse domestic fuel resources, boosting U.S. economic productivity, and enhancing national energy security. Co-Optima brings together DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), nine national laboratories, 13 universities, and numerous industry and government stakeholders in a collaboration exploring solutions with potential for near-term improvements to the types of fuels and engines found in most vehicles currently on the road, as well as to the development of revolutionary new combustion technologies. This report is an overview of the research activities and accomplishments of the Co-Optima initiative during the 2017 Fiscal Year.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2021

Zero-Valent Palladium Single-Atoms Catalysts Confined in Black Phosphorus for Efficient Semi-Hydrogenation

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) represent a new frontier in heterogeneous catalysis due to their remarkable catalytic properties and maximized atomic utilization. However, single atoms often bond to the support with polarized electron density and thus exhibit a high valence state, limiting their catalytic scopes in many chemical transformations. In this study, it is demonstrated that 2D black phosphorus (BP) acts as giant phosphorus (P) ligand to confine a high density of single atoms (e.g., Pd 1 , Pt 1 ) via atomic layer deposition. Unlike other 2D materials, BP with relatively low electronegativity and buckled structure favors the strong confinement of robust zero-valent palladium SACs in the vacancy site. Metallic Pd 1 /BP SAC shows a highly selective semi-hydrogenation of phenylacetylene toward styrene, distinct from metallic Pd nanoparticles that facilitate the formation of fully hydrogenated products. Density functional theory calculations reveal that Pd atom forms covalent-like bonding with adjacent P atoms, wherein H atoms tend to adsorb, aiding the dissociative adsorption of H 2 . Zero-valent Pd in the confined space favors a larger energy gain for the synthesis of partially hydrogenated product over the fully hydrogenated one. This work provides a new route toward the synthesis of zero-valent SACs on BP for organic transformations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electromagnetic analysis of the plasma chamber of an ECR-based charge breeder

The optimization of the efficiency of an ECR-based charge breeder is a twofold task: efforts must be paid to maximize the capture of the injected 1+ ions by the confined plasma and to produce high charge states to allow post-acceleration at high energies. Both tasks must be faced by studying in detail the electrons heating dynamics, influenced by the microwave-to-plasma coupling mechanism. Numerical simulations are a powerful tools for obtaining quantitative information about the wave-to-plasma interaction process: this paper presents a numerical study of the microwaves propagation and absorption inside the plasma chamber of the PHOENIX charge breeder, which the selective production of exotic species project, under construction at Legnaro National Laboratories, will adopt as charge breeder. Calculations were carried out with a commercial 3D FEM solver: first, all the resonant frequencies were determined by considering a simplified plasma chamber; then, the realistic geometry was taken into account, including a cold plasma model of increasing complexity. The results gave important information about the power absorption and losses and will allow the improvement of the plasma model to be used in a refined step of calculation reproducing the breeding process itself.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Grid-Integrated Production of Fischer-Tropsch Synfuels from Nuclear Power

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) investigates the relative economic profitability of an integrated energy system (IES) coupling an NPP with a synfuel production process at selected case study locations across the United States. In the synfuel IES, a high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) plant is thermally and electrically coupled with an NPP to produce zero-carbon hydrogen. The synthetic fuel is produced from this H 2 combined with a CO 2 supply using the reverse water gas shift process followed by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction. This analysis considers a system in which the CO 2 is sourced from regional CO 2 emitters via the construction and operation of pipeline-based CO 2 supply networks. Locating the FT plant at the same site as the NPP and HTSE plants enables the NPP to provide zero-carbon heat and power to the HTSE plant and zero-carbon power to the FT plant as well as avoid the requirement for long-distance H 2 product transport from the HTSE plant to the FT plant. Hydrogen storage is used to enable the NPP to dispatch power to the electrical grid (instead of the HTSE plant) when grid demand increases, thus enabling the FT plant to continue to operate in a steady-state production mode. The ability to cease hydrogen production for several hours within each day enables the NPP to provide power to the grid to balance the electricity market during peak periods and maximize revenues for the nuclear synfuel IES. The FT process design considered has a 99% carbon conversion efficiency. The use of nuclear energy and nuclear energy-derived hydrogen enables synfuel production to achieve this high level of carbon utilization. Additionally, the life-cycle carbon emissions of the nuclear-based synfuel production process are very low, with WTW emissions of approximately 25 gCO 2 e/MJ, including steam credits (generated from FT process excess heat), and approximately 7 gCO 2 e/MJ, if steam credits are excluded. This compares favorably with the WTW emissions of 90.5 gCO 2 e/MJ for a compression-ignition, direct injection (CIDI) vehicle with a fuel economy of 31.6 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGGE), using low-sulfur diesel produced using conventional petroleum production and refining processes. Several NPPs in various regions of the U.S. are considered as case study analyses. Supply locations and transportation via pipeline of the CO 2 feedstock to the NPP site are analyzed through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) CO 2 Transport Cost model. The team finds that the amount of CO 2 generated by different sectors is sufficient for the synfuel production process at all locations considered. The CO 2 transportation costs are functions of the distance of the source to the NPP location, the CO 2 capture cost at the source, and the quantity of CO 2 transported. Historical electricity prices for the NPP case study locations are collected and analyzed. Monthly average prices, price range, and duration of negative-price periods vary among these locations. For each location, an auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) model is trained on historical electricity price data. ARMA validation is done to ensure the synthetic price distributions represent one of historical prices with high fidelity. Synthetic time series from these ARMA models are used in a coupled dispatch and system optimization in the Holistic Energy Resource Optimization Network (HERON) to compute the differential net present value (NPV) of the IES. The team finds that this econometric is positive, ranging from $14M–1.3bn (2020) depending on the location. The optimal synfuel IES configuration to obtain this increase in NPV often maximizes the size of the synfuel production process with regards to the size of the NPP. However, the team shows that the NPP still plays a stabilizing role for the grid: In periods of high prices and high loads, more electricity from the NPP is sent to the grid. A high variability of electricity prices and extreme maximum prices tend to drive up electricity production. While it requires significant investment, the synfuel IES could increase the economic profitability for the existing fleet of LWRs across the country while still maintaining the grid stabilizer role of NPPs. During its lifetime, the main costs for the nuclear synfuel IES are the carbon feedstock transportation costs, followed by the capital expenses (CAPEX) and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs while the revenue comes first from the IRA H 2 production tax credit (PTC) and then from the sales of synfuel products. The profitability of the synfuel IES is most sensitive to the value of the hydrogen PTC and the synfuel products as well as the cost of the carbon feedstock, highlighting the importance of governmental incentives regarding hydrogen, carbon emissions, and synfuel in driving the deployment of future nuclear synfuel IESs.

08 HYDROGEN↗