Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “collaborative engineering”

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 1,171 records · Page 65
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Energy Development Opportunities for Wyoming

The Wyoming Business Council, representing the state’s interests, is participating in a collaborative evaluation of energy development opportunities with the NGNP Industry Alliance (an industry consortium), the University of Wyoming, and the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. Three important energy-related goals are being pursued by the State of Wyoming: Ensuring continued reliable and affordable sources of energy for Wyoming’s industries and people Restructuring the coal economy in Wyoming Restructuring the natural gas economy in Wyoming

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2011

Development of external and neutrally buoyant acoustic transmitters for turbine passage evaluation

Recent studies show transmitters surgically implanted into juvenile salmonids, for the purposes of estimating survival of fish passing through turbines, increases the risk of injury and mortality due to the presence of the tag and exposure to rapid turbine pressure changes. Neutrally buoyant external tags may instead be used to eliminate this bias. However, the externally tagged fish could be affected by other factors such as shear and turbulence which may also bias survival estimates. Studies have been conducted to examine the influence of shear and turbulence on non-tagged juvenile salmonids, however, tests have never been conducted in the laboratory or field to determine the influence of shear and turbulence on retention and injury related to attachment of external transmitters. We designed and manufactured two different configurations of neutrally buoyant (nearly zero g weight in water) external transmitters: Type A and Type B. The Type A transmitters weigh approximately 0.60 g in air and are attached to fish using two sutures anterior to the dorsal fin. The Type B transmitters weigh approximately 0.83 g in air and consist of battery part and transducer part with both parts neutrally buoyant. They are attached to both sides of the dorsal fin using two enamel coated 25 gauge magnet wires. This study provides a broad approach using evaluation measures such as holding, swimming performance, shear, turbulence, rapid decompression exposures, and predation to determine the efficacy of using neutrally buoyant external transmitters to estimate survival of juvenile salmonids passing through turbines. Preliminary results show the Type A design is a viable design for turbine passage evaluation and is being planned for field deployment in the near future.

Advanced turbine↗
DOE OSTI2012

Advanced, Integrated Control for Building Operations to Achieve 40% Energy Saving

We developed and demonstrated a software based integrated advanced building control platform called Smart Energy Box (SEB), which can coordinate building subsystem controls, integrate variety of energy optimization algorithms and provide proactive and collaborative energy management and control for building operations using weather and occupancy information. The integrated control system is a low cost solution and also features: Scalable component based architecture allows to build a solution for different building control system configurations with needed components; Open Architecture with a central data repository for data exchange among runtime components; Extendible to accommodate variety of communication protocols. Optimal building control for central loads, distributed loads and onsite energy resource; uses web server as a loosely coupled way to engage both building operators and building occupants in collaboration for energy conservation. Based on the open platform of SEB, we have investigated and evaluated a variety of operation and energy saving control strategies on Carnegie Mellon University Intelligent Work place which is equipped with alternative cooling/heating/ventilation/lighting methods, including radiant mullions, radiant cooling/heating ceiling panels, cool waves, dedicated ventilation unit, motorized window and blinds, and external louvers. Based on the validation results of these control strategies, they were integrated in SEB in a collaborative and dynamic way. This advanced control system was programmed and computer tested with a model of the Intelligent Workplace's northern section (IW n ). The advanced control program was then installed in the IW n control system; the performance was measured and compared with that of the state of the art control system to verify the overall energy savings great than 40%. In addition advanced human machine interfaces (HMI's) were developed to communicate both with building occupants and the building operator. Lifecycle cost analyses of the advanced building control were performed, and a Building Control System Guide was prepared and published to inform owners, architects, and engineers dealing with new construction or renovation of buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Center for Gas Separations (CGS)

The total energy consumption in the U.S. has been rising steadily for decades, and it currently amounts to ~98,000 TBtu/yr, with approximately 30% of this total attributable to the industrial sector. Reasonable estimates indicate that 45–55% of total industry energy consumption derives from chemical separations, and for example, over 120 TBtu/yr alone is used in carrying out olefin/paraffin separations via energy-intensive cryogenic distillation. Therefore, the pursuit of new, even radically different approaches to some of the most energy-intensive industrial separations processes is an imperative scientific pursuit for reducing energy consumption toward a more sustainable future. Adsorbent and membrane-based separations can require a fraction of the energy needed for distillation methods, and as such are considered promising solutions for balancing increasing energy demand in the U.S. with the need for a massive reduction in energy consumption. Although considerable research effort has been devoted to the design of materials capable of carrying out various gas separations, usually operating through size-selective, chemisorptive, or physisorptive mechanisms, it remains a great challenge to design materials that function adequately for real-world applications. Indeed, the chemical and physical differences between molecules in gas mixtures of interest are often small, and therefore it is necessary, through the use of nanoscience and synthetic chemistry, to engineer unprecedented molecular-level control in adsorbate–adsorbent interactions. The overarching mission of the Center for Gas Separations (CGS) was to discover fundamental innovations that have the potential to dramatically reduce the energy associated with critical gas separations. In particular, the CGS developed novel synthetic routes, guided by molecular chemistry principles, as well as advanced characterization and computational methods, that have enabled the discovery of new materials and membranes tailor-made to exhibit exceptional performance for a range of gas separations processes, as required in the clean use of fossil fuels and in reducing CO 2 emissions from industry. A challenge of this magnitude required the collaboration and synergy of a large team of researchers with expertise in materials synthesis, characterization, and computations. During the 11-year project period, the CGS created a range of new materials within the family of highly-tunable, porous solids known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). These new frameworks demonstrate novel mechanisms for key industrial gas separations, including revolutionary new cooperative adsorption processes that enable low-energy CO 2 and CO capture, and are capable of efficiently separating olefins from paraffins, O 2 from air, and the shape-selective separation of alkane isomers. In addition, the CGS developed new strategies for incorporating these materials into composite membranes toward highly efficient and selective membrane-based separations. As a testament to the success of the CGS, two start-up companies, Mosaic Materials,4 Inc. and Flux Technology, Inc., grew out of these research efforts, and these companies are seeking to commercialize MOF and composite membranes materials for key separations in industry, including large-scale CO 2 capture and hydrocarbon separations, respectively. Another company, framergy, Inc., licensed IP resulting from CGS research toward the commercialization of adsorbents for various energy-relevant applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantifying System Level Impact of Connected and Automated Vehicles in an Urban Corridor

Numerous studies have demonstrated significant energy reduction for an ego vehicle by up to 20% leveraging Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies [1-4]. Some studies have also analyzed the impact of such vehicles on the energy consumption of other vehicles in a suburban or a highway corridor [5, 6], but the impact in an urban setting has not been studied yet. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), in collaboration with Continental and Hyundai, is currently working on a Department of Energy funded project that is focused on quantifying the impact of multiple ego vehicles (smart vehicles) on the total energy consumption of the corridor under various traffic conditions, vehicle electrification level, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology penetration, and the number of smart (ego) vehicles in an urban setting. A six-kilometer-long urban corridor from Columbus, Ohio was modeled and calibrated with real-world data in PTV Vissim traffic microsimulation software. Five forward-looking powertrain models, consisting of two battery electric vehicles (BEVs), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and two internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles, were developed to estimate the energy consumption of vehicles on the corridor. A comprehensive full factorial simulation study was performed. The simulation results indicate that for a traffic mix based on projected new vehicles sales in 2025, a 15% corridor-level energy consumption reduction can be achieved. The paper details the development and validation of the simulation framework, design of experiments conducted, a discussion of challenges faced, and results under various test conditions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

Solar Energy Research Center Instrumentation Facility

SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH CENTER INSTRUMENTATION FACILITY The mission of the Solar Energy Research Center (UNC SERC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) is to establish a world leading effort in solar fuels research and to develop the materials and methods needed to fabricate the next generation of solar energy devices. We are addressing the fundamental issues that will drive new strategies for solar energy conversion and the engineering challenges that must be met in order to convert discoveries made in the laboratory into commercially available devices. The development of a photoelectrosynthesis cell (PEC) for solar fuels production faces daunting requirements: (1) Absorb a large fraction of sunlight; (2) Carry out artificial photosynthesis which involves multiple complex reaction steps; (3) Avoid competitive and deleterious side and reverse reactions; (4) Perform 13 million catalytic cycles per year with minimal degradation; (5) Use non-toxic materials; (6) Cost-effectiveness. PEC efficiency is directly determined by the kinetics of each reaction step. The UNC SERC is addressing this challenge by taking a broad interdisciplinary approach in a highly collaborative setting, drawing on expertise across a broad range of disciplines in chemistry, physics and materials science. By taking a systematic approach toward a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of each step, we will be able to gain unique insight and optimize PEC design. Access to cutting-edge spectroscopic tools is critical to this research effort. We have built professionally-staffed facilities equipped with the state-of the-art instrumentation funded by this award. The combination of staff, facilities, and instrumentation specifically tailored for solar fuels research establishes the UNC Solar Energy Research Center Instrumentation Facility as a unique, world-class capability. This congressionally directed project funded the development of two user facilities: TASK 1: SOLAR DEVICE FABRICATION LABORATORY DEVELOPMENT The space allocated for this laboratory was shell space that required an upfit in order to accommodate nano-fabrication equipment in a quasi-clean room environment. This construction project (cost $279,736) met the non-federal cost share requirement of $250,000 for this award. The central element of the fabrication laboratory is a new $400,000+ stand-alone system, funded by other sources, for fabricating and characterizing photovoltaic devices, in a state-of-the-art nanofabrication environment. This congressionally directed project also included the purchase of an energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) detector for a pre-existing transmission electron microscope (TEM). This detector allows elemental analysis and elemental mapping of materials used to fabricate solar energy devices which is a key priority for our research center. TASK 2: SOLAR ENERGY SPECTROSCOPY LABORATORY DEVELOPMENT (INSTRUMENTATION) This laboratory provides access to modern spectroscopy and photolysis instrumentation for characterizing devices, materials and components on time scales ranging from femtoseconds to seconds and for elucidating mechanisms. The goals of this congressionally directed project included the purchase and installation of spectroscopy and photolysis instrumentation that would substantially and meaningfully enhance the capabilities of this laboratory. Some changes were made to the list of equipment proposed in the original budget. These changes did not represent a change in scope, approach or aims of this project. All of the capabilities and experiments represented in the original budget were maintained. The outcome of this Congressionally Directed Project has been the development of world-class fabrication and spectroscopy user facilities for solar fuels research at UNC-CH. This award has provided a significant augmentation of our pre-existing instrumentation capabilities which were funded by earlier UNC SERC projects, including the Energy Frontier Research Center UNC EFRC, funded by the US Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Equipment funded by this congressional award has provided important new capabilities for UNC SERC and has greatly facilitated collaborative research by many multi-institutional teams in the six partner institutions of the UNC EFRC, including Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University. This state-of-the-art instrumentation has allowed us to design cutting-edge experiments that provide insight into the molecular structure and dynamics of materials and components for solar energy conversion under real working conditions. This research has resulted in ten publications already published or in preparation that acknowledge support from DOE EERE for this congressionally directed project.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transformer Health Monitoring Using Dissolved Gas Analysis

As integral components of any power plant, transformers supply the generated electricity to the grid. However, a transformer’s cellulose-based paper insulation and the mineral oil in which it is immersed break down over time under standard operating conditions—or more rapidly due to potential faults within the system. As the transformer’s mineral oil breaks down, gases are released that can be measured and monitored. This technical brief exhibits a collection of diagnostic and prognostic techniques that utilities can adopt in lieu of labor-intensive periodic preventive maintenance routines. Furthermore, prognostic models have been incorporated using the latest version of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard (IEEE, 2019) for dissolved gas analysis (DGA), thus expanding it to include estimation of the time to maintenance. Overall, four different methodologies are explained, each of which aids in determining a transformer’s state of health. These methodologies include the Chendong model, the IEEE thermal life consumption model (IEEE, 2012), a diagnostic model for DGA, and a prognostic model for DGA that uses an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. An additional improvement for estimating missing system parameters by using monitoring data (i.e., a tool for parameter estimation utilizing Powell’s method) is presented, enabling the IEEE thermal life consumption model to benefit not only the collaborating power plant, but also the power industry at large.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2012

AVESTAR Center for Operational Excellence of Electricity Generation Plants

To address industry challenges in attaining operational excellence for electricity generation plants, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has launched a world-class facility for Advanced Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research (AVESTARTM). This presentation will highlight the AVESTARTM Center simulators, facilities, and comprehensive training, education, and research programs focused on the operation and control of high-efficiency, near-zero-emission electricity generation plants. The AVESTAR Center brings together state-of-the-art, real-time, high-fidelity dynamic simulators with full-scope operator training systems (OTSs) and 3D virtual immersive training systems (ITSs) into an integrated energy plant and control room environment. AVESTAR’s initial offering combines--for the first time--a “gasification with CO2 capture” process simulator with a “combined-cycle” power simulator together in a single OTS/ITS solution for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture. IGCC systems are an attractive technology option for power generation, especially when capturing and storing CO2 is necessary to satisfy emission targets. The AVESTAR training program offers a variety of courses that merge classroom learning, simulator-based OTS learning in a control-room operations environment, and immersive learning in the interactive 3D virtual plant environment or ITS. All of the courses introduce trainees to base-load plant operation, control, startups, and shutdowns. Advanced courses require participants to become familiar with coordinated control, fuel switching, power-demand load shedding, and load following, as well as to problem solve equipment and process malfunctions. Designed to ensure work force development, training is offered for control room and plant field operators, as well as engineers and managers. Such comprehensive simulator-based instruction allows for realistic training without compromising worker, equipment, and environmental safety. It also better prepares operators and engineers to manage the plant closer to economic constraints while minimizing or avoiding the impact of any potentially harmful, wasteful, or inefficient events. The AVESTAR Center is also used to augment graduate and undergraduate engineering education in the areas of process simulation, dynamics, control, and safety. Students and researchers gain hands-on simulator-based training experience and learn how the commercial-scale power plants respond dynamically to changes in manipulated inputs, such as coal feed flow rate and power demand. Students also analyze how the regulatory control system impacts power plant performance and stability. In addition, students practice start-up, shutdown, and malfunction scenarios. The 3D virtual ITSs are used for plant familiarization, walk-through, equipment animations, and safety scenarios. To further leverage the AVESTAR facilities and simulators, NETL and its university partners are pursuing an innovative and collaborative R&D program. In the area of process control, AVESTAR researchers are developing enhanced strategies for regulatory control and coordinated plant-wide control, including gasifier and gas turbine lead, as well as advanced process control using model predictive control (MPC) techniques. Other AVESTAR R&D focus areas include high-fidelity equipment modeling using partial differential equations, dynamic reduced order modeling, optimal sensor placement, 3D virtual plant simulation, and modern grid. NETL and its partners plan to continue building the AVESTAR portfolio of dynamic simulators, immersive training systems, and advanced research capabilities to satisfy industry’s growing need for training and experience with the operation and control of clean energy plants. Future dynamic simulators under development include natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) and supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) plants with post-combustion CO2 capture. These dynamic simulators are targeted for use in establishing a Virtual Carbon Capture Center (VCCC), similar in concept to the DOE’s National Carbon Capture Center for slipstream testing. The VCCC will enable developers of CO2 capture technologies to integrate, test, and optimize the operation of their dynamic capture models within the context of baseline power plant dynamic models. The objective is to provide hands-on, simulator-based “learn-by-operating” test platforms to accelerate the scale-up and deployment of CO2 capture technologies. Future AVESTAR plans also include pursuing R&D on the dynamics, operation, and control of integrated electricity generation and storage systems for the modern grid era. Special emphasis will be given to combining load-following energy plants with renewable and distributed generating supplies and fast-ramping energy storage systems to provide near constant baseload power.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Computing Legacy Software Behavior to Understand Functionality and Security Properties: An IBM/370 Demonstration

Organizations maintaining mainframe legacy software can benefit from code modernization and incorporation of security capabilities to address the current threat environment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is developing the Hyperion system to compute the behavior of software as a means to gain understanding of software functionality and security properties. Computation of functionality is critical to revealing security attributes, which are in fact specialized functional behaviors of software. Oak Ridge is collaborating with MITRE Corporation to conduct a demonstration project to compute behavior of legacy IBM Assembly Language code for a federal agency. The ultimate goal is to understand functionality and security vulnerabilities as a basis for code modernization. This paper reports on the first phase, to define functional semantics for IBM Assembly instructions and conduct behavior computation experiments.

reverse engineering↗
DOE OSTI2017

MarpoDB: An open registry for Marchantia polymorpha genetic parts

Marchantia polymorpha is an extant relative of the earliest terrestrial plants and has attracted a substantial interest as a model organism for evolutionary and developmental studies. Given its relatively simple genome, compact gene families, simple morphology, ease of propagation and transformation, M. polymorpha is becoming a promising platform for plant synthetic biology. Modular genetic parts have been essential for development of synthetic biology approaches, so we sought to design an engineering oriented database for M. polymorpha genetic parts where each gene is a standalone functional unit. MarpoDB is a database of M. polymorpha genes and genetic parts, which is tailored to become an integral tool for a synthetic biology workflow. Among its features are precompiled cross-database querying to InterPro, Pfam signatures and non-redundant Viridiplantae BLAST annotations; BLAST querying to M. polymorpha genes; sequence export in GenBank format; recoding of sequences to the common syntax for type IIS assembly and exchange of DNA parts; and a minimalistic, intuitive and interactive user interface for gene models and sequence exploration. Furthermore, we have implemented user input to encourage feedback, collaboration and exchange between the MarpoDB community. MarpoDB source-code is released on GitHub to promote development of computational tools for synthetic biology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-D-201-07: A Survey of Radiation Oncology Residents’ Training and Preparedness to Lead Patient Safety Programs in Clinics

Purpose: Safety and quality has garnered increased attention in radiation oncology, and physicians and physicists are ideal leaders of clinical patient safety programs. However, it is not clear whether residency programs incorporate formal patient safety training and adequately equip residents to assume this leadership role. A national survey was conducted to evaluate medical and physics residents’ exposure to safety topics and their confidence with the skills required to lead clinical safety programs. Methods: Radiation oncology residents were identified in collaboration with ARRO and AAPM. The survey was released in February 2016 via email using REDCap. This included questions about exposure to safety topics, confidence leading safety programs, and interest in training opportunities (i.e. workshops). Residents rated their exposure, skills, and confidence on 4 or 5-point scales. Medical and physics residents responses were compared using chi-square tests. Results: Responses were collected from 56 of 248 (22%) physics and 139 of 690 (20%) medical residents. More than two thirds of all residents had no or only informal exposure to incident learning systems (ILS), root cause analysis (RCA), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), and the concept of human factors engineering (HFE). Likewise, 63% of residents had not heard of RO-ILS. Response distributions were similar, however more physics residents had formal exposure to FMEA (p<0.0001) and felt they were adequately trained to lead FMEAs in clinic (p<0.001) than medical residents. Only 36% of residents felt their patient safety training was adequate, and 58% felt more training would benefit their education. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that, despite increasing desire for patient safety training, medical and physics residents’ exposure to relevant concepts is low. Physics residents had more exposure to FMEA than medical residents, and were more confident in leading FMEA. This suggests that increasing resident exposure to specific topics may increase their confidence.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Building a Community Infrastructure for Scalable On-Line Performance Analysis Tools around Open|SpeedShop

In this project we created a community tool infrastructure for program development tools targeting Petascale class machines and beyond. This includes tools for performance analysis, debugging, and correctness tools, as well as tuning and optimization frameworks. The developed infrastructure provides a comprehensive and extensible set of individual tool building components. We started with the basic elements necessary across all tools in such an infrastructure followed by a set of generic core modules that allow a comprehensive performance analysis at scale. Further, we developed a methodology and workflow that allows others to add or replace modules, to integrate parts into their own tools, or to customize existing solutions. In order to form the core modules, we built on the existing Open|SpeedShop infrastructure and decomposed it into individual modules that match the necessary tool components. At the same time, we addressed the challenges found in performance tools for petascale systems in each module. When assembled, this instantiation of community tool infrastructure provides an enhanced version of Open|SpeedShop, which, while completely different in its architecture, provides scalable performance analysis for petascale applications through a familiar interface. This project also built upon and enhances capabilities and reusability of project partner components as specified in the original project proposal. The overall project team’s work over the project funding cycle was focused on several areas of research, which are described in the following sections. The reminder of this report also highlights related work as well as preliminary work that supported the project. In addition to the project partners funded by the Office of Science under this grant, the project team included several collaborators who contribute to the overall design of the envisioned tool infrastructure. In particular, the project team worked closely with the other two DOE NNSA laboratories Los Alamos and Sandia leveraging co-funding for Krell by ASC’s Common Computing Environment (CCE) program as laid out in the original proposal. The ASC CCE co-funding, coordinated through LLNL, was for 50% of the total project funding, with the ASC CCE portion of the funding going entirely to Krell, while the ASCR funding itself was split between Krell and the funded partners. This report covers the entire project from both funding sources. Additionally, the team leveraged the expertise of software engineering researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, who specialize in software framework design, in order to achieve a broadly acceptable component framework. The Component Based Tool Framework (CBTF) software has been released to the community. Information related to the project and the released software can be found on the CBTF wiki page at: http://sourceforge.net/p/cbtf/wiki/Home.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Hydronic Heating Retrofits for Low-Rise Multifamily Buildings: Boiler Control Replacement and Monitoring

The ARIES Collaborative, a U.S. Department of Energy Building America research team, partnered with NeighborWorks America affiliate Homeowners' Rehab Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to implement and study improvements to the central hydronic heating system in one of the nonprofit's housing developments. The heating control systems in the three-building, 42-unit Columbia Cambridge Alliance for Spanish Tenants housing development were upgraded.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Advanced Measurement and Visualization Techniques for High-Temperature Heat Pipe Experiments

This report conducts a preliminary investigation of the available literature and summarizes some potential advanced measurement and visualization techniques for operating high-temperature heat pipe (HP) that can be implemented to support the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Microreactor Program (MRP). The primary objective for the extensive literature research is to investigate the possibilities and feasibility for the design and construction of an advanced experimental test facility with the aim of producing high-fidelity high-resolution heat pipe data during its operation. Based on the existing HP test facilities at Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—including the Single Primary Heat Extraction and Removal Emulator (SPHERE) and the Microreactor Agile Non-Nuclear Experimental Test Bed (MAGNET)—further efforts will be made to examine the technical feasibility to HP measurements and support the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) process for an HP-cooled microreactor. Continuing collaborations with the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, other research institutes and universities are considered to be extremely important so that the experimental facility and resultant database can satisfy the validation needs of advanced heat pipe modeling codes being developed under DOE NEAMS program.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

CAMAS 2025: Continuing to Advance Arctic Marine Science

The Consortium for the Advancement of Marine Arctic Science (CAMAS) held its second annual Workshop and Early-Career School in Seattle, WA, on April 15-18, 2025. The workshop attracted 74 participants, including a dozen scientists from Europe (8) and Asia (4). The goal of CAMAS is to facilitate and enhance international collaboration on marine Arctic science, in order to advance the understanding and model representation of key marine Arctic processes that contribute to the rapid changes in the Arctic Earth system. These rapid changes have profound impacts on operations in the Arctic, including those associated with the national and energy security of the United States. The Early-Career School started the event on Tuesday April 15. Thirty-three early-career scientists (postdocs and students) gathered for lectures and discussions on topics like high-resolution Arctic Ocean and sea ice modeling; biogeochemistry of the Arctic; Machine Learning for Arctic Earth system modeling; and an Arctic perspective on geo-engineering.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Advanced Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules

The “Advanced perovskite Cells and Modules” research project was the final agreement focused on enhancing perovskite solar cell (PSC) technologies funded by the US Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office. The project was designed to address three crucial areas in PSC development: stability, manufacturability, and efficiency. The project was then structured around three main tasks, each targeting one of these strategic goals. The team of experienced researchers in these materials worked collaboratively to address the targets outlined in the technical work plan. building on existing PSC research while also exploring promising new concepts arising in the field. An overview of each primary task is summarized below: Task 1 Stability: This first task, aims to identify material characteristics and metrics that can help predict the primary degradation mechanisms impacting PSC stability. This involved developing specific device tests based on hypotheses regarding mechanisms impacting stability, including fast failure procedures to speed up PSC development and improvement. Various strategies to enhance stability, like incorporating additives, post-treatments, novel contact materials etc. were developed using this fast feedback approach. The relationships between indoor and outdoor stresses were also validated. Task 2 Manufacturability: This second task, focused on creating a scalable production process for PSCs. Initially the objective is to establish a best-known method for a 182 cm2 minimodule. However, given resource limitations, these metrics were modified to focus on the other goal of outlined in the TWP. Specifically, this task worked to demonstrate the transferability of this best-known method to another research institution. Work scope in this area was expanded to material purity and understanding of reagent/process relationships. Examination of other difficulties in PSC production and potential solutions for large-scale production were also evaluated. Given challenges observed in process transfer, work to develop data infrastructure and recording tools for processing of material and devices was then also prioritized in this task. Task 3 Efficiency: This task was focused on improvements to PCE, while still considering Task 1 and Task 2 goal. The efforts targeted a PCE greater than 22% with a T95 exceeding 1000 hours at 25°C in a nitrogen environment for lab-scale devices (approximately 0.1 cm2 devices) across a range of solar-relevant perovskite compositions, including wide-gap (around 1.7 eV) and low-gap (around 1.3 eV) materials, using standard metal contacts. This work then provides a foundation for MHP-based tandem efforts undertaken in other projects and the All-MHP tandem efforts outlined in this projects TWP. Work in this project emphasized disseminating its findings through peer-reviewed publications (PRP), conference presentations, and industrial collaborations. Significant products were produced in all these areas, over 53 peer reviewed publications, 32 conference presentations and industrial investment based on NLR assistance on precompetitive challenges. The team also developed significant intellectual property and awards for their technical excellence, innovations and leadership. The team also leveraged traditional and social media platforms to engage with stakeholders and the public.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Utility-Scale Electromechanical Battery (EMB) for Modules of 200kWhr or More, CRADA No. TC02151.0

This was a collaborative effort between Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC as manager and operator of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and EMB Energy, Inc. (EMB Energy), to develop a utility-scale electro-mechanical battery (EMB) to facilitate bulk-energy storage. The technical objectives of this CRADA project were to design, fabricate and test an EMB capable of storing between 200-250 kWh of electrical energy without significant losses for up to 96 hours at a projected cost of $420 per kWh (installed), or less. The results of this CRADA would provide the information required to design a final full-scale demonstration unit (200-250 kWh) to support the finalization of engineering and manufacturing plans.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modeling Mesoscale Processes of Scalable Synthesis Final Scientific/Technical Report

This is the final scientific and technical report for this award. Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful tool to study biomolecules at the nanoscale. One of its main limitations however is that such simulations typically require a timestep of 1 femtosecond while reactions and conformational changes typically happen on the time scale of 1 microsecond or more. This discrepancy severely restricts the impact of this method. We have developed a series of algorithms to mitigate this problem and allow predicting long-time scale events using much shorter simulations. The method is based on the concurrent adaptive sampling method. It consists in using probabilistic weights for trajectories and biasing the sampling such that rare but important trajectories, e.g., those that go over energy barriers and lead to relevant conformational changes in the molecule, are observed with much higher frequency that in a standard MD simulation. We will demonstrate below that this approach has been very successful. In collaboration with Jay Grate at PNNL we have applied this novel method to the study the triazine polymers, which can be con gured using different types of side chains in order to adopt different 3-dimensional structures. We have found novel stable con- formations and have analyzed the impact of side chain modifcations on the native folded shape of the polymer. Direct MD simulations would have been untractable for this problem. The method of replica exchange was also used successfully to calculate free energy profiles, in particular for cis-trans torsional angle changes with high energy barriers. Studying molecules at the atomistic scale is essential to design new molecules in chemical engineering, such as the triazine polymers developed by Grate, in material science to study the strength of metals for examples (e.g., dislocation dynamics), or in biochemistry to understand how proteins fold and how they interact with ligands (a key step in designing drugs). Although new hardware makes these simulations increasingly faster (e.g., GPU, Anton from DE Shaw Research), new algorithms are key to making these methods more tractable and increase their impact. At this point, because of limitations in modeling, one of the main techniques for advancing science remains to a large extent numerous and costly experiments. For exam- ple, when designing drug, where multiple variants must be screened, the ability to run tests on a computer rather than experimentally testing with high throughput methods thousands of compounds would represent a signi cant advance with broad benefits for the public at large.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗