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At least 1,243 records · Page 69

Grid Cost and Total Emissions Reductions Through Mass Deployment of Geothermal Heat Pumps for Building Heating and Cooling Electrification in the United States

This report presents the results of a study on the potential grid impacts of national-scale mass deployment of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) coupled with weatherization in single-family homes (SFHs) from 2022 to 2050. GHPs are a technology readiness level 10, commercially available technology across the United States. This study is an impact analysis only; installed costs and available land areas for installing GHPs are not accounted for in determining their estimated deployment. The three scenarios studied were (1) continuing to operate the grid as it is today (the Base scenario), (2) a scenario to reach 95% grid emissions reductions by 2035 and 100% clean electricity by 2050 (the Grid Decarbonization scenario), and (3) a scenario in which the Grid Decarbonization scenario is expanded to include the electrification of wide portions of the economy, including building heating (the Electrification Futures Study or EFS scenario). The analysis team modeled each of these three scenarios with and without GHP deployment to a large percentage of US building floor space. In all cases, deployment of approximately 5 million GHPs per year demonstrated system cost savings on the grid, consumer fuel cost savings through eliminated fuel combustion for space heating, and CO 2 emission reductions from avoided on-site fuel combustion—and, in the case of the Base scenario, CO 2 emissions reductions from the electric power sector. GHPs have traditionally been viewed as a building energy technology. The most notable result of this study, however, is the demonstration that GHPs coupled with weatherization in SFHs are primarily a grid cost reduction tool and technology that, when deployed at a national scale, also substantially reduces CO 2 emissions, even in the absence of any other decarbonization policy.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Abradable Sealing Materials for Emerging IGCC-Based Turbine Systems (Final Report)

Reducing the gap between rotating and stationary parts in gas turbine engines, and mitigating gas leakage via these paths, can significantly increase the performance and attendant efficiency. One approach to reducing such gaps is to deploy abradable coatings on the stationary shroud components as seals, to reduce the blade-tip clearances under operational conditions. Abradable coatings must be able to withstand high temperature oxidation, thermal cycling, and erosion, while providing optimal controlled abrasion and associated shape retention. Existing abradable seals utilized in power generation turbines have generally been optimized for use with natural gas-fired systems; however, preliminary testing of syngas and high-hydrogen-content (HHC) fired turbines has shown that the stability of hot-section materials (and presumably abradable sealing materials) may be substantially altered due to characteristic changes in the combustion by-products (partial pressures of water vapor, etc.) as well as characteristic impurities and particulate matter entrained in the fuel. The primary focus of this research program has been to develop a mechanistic understanding of how the altered combustion environments modify the thermo-mechanical stability and performance of the sealing materials, including the requisite abradable sealing behavior. A key component of the research program carried out has been an exploration of mechanisms underpinning observed degradation processes, and an assessment of connections to the combustion environments and characteristic non-combustible constituents. The ultimate goal of the project has been to advance the goals of the Advanced Turbine Program by developing materials design protocols leading to turbine hot-section components with improved resistance to service lifetime degradation under advanced fuels exposures. This research program has evaluated the performance and degradation of ceramic abradable seals used in the high-temperature turbine sections of gas turbine engines. The focus has been two-fold: (1) to understand performance of such materials in relation to the turbines operating on coal-derived syngas and high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels, ultimately seeking an improved understanding of factors that control performance and durability of abradable seal materials for these combustion environments (and play into materials design protocols); and (2) to evaluate the potential of alternative materials as abradable seals for the higher temperatures expected with IGCC and HHC fueled turbine systems. In particular, we carried out an initial assessment of multi-layered systems of existing abradable seal materials (YSZ) and other ceramics. The research program also investigated several classes of abradable coatings under simulated exposures to syngas-based combustion environments, evaluating the relevant wear behavior, hardness, stability under cyclic oxidation, and general thermo-mechanical behavior. The research also attempted to develop alternatives to carrying out full-scale combustion-based abradability test rig exposures to evaluate materials system performance. The research has been focused on correlating the measured thermo-mechanical behavior, and controlled abrasive wear, with the intrinsic properties of the multilayer coatings and processing-controlled microstructural features that have shown attractive machinability characteristics based on weak interfacial bonding between the constituent phases at elevate temperatures (while maintaining thermochemical stability). This program has resulted in an improved mechanistic understanding of factors governing performance of high temperature abradable seals, and degradation mechanisms unique to IGCC-based power generation turbine systems and the realization of coal-derived syngas and HHC-based combustion environments – ultimately with the goal of developing a knowledge base upon which the design of coatings that retain optimal sealing characteristics and are more resistant to the observed wear/attack mechanisms, important aspects of advancing the goals of the DOE Advanced Turbine Program.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Robotics

Lunar robotic functions include: 1. Transport of crew and payloads on the surface of the moon; 2. Offloading payloads from a lunar lander; 3. Handling the deployment of surface systems; with 4. Human commanding of these functions from inside a lunar vehicle, habitat, or extravehicular (space walk), with Earth-based supervision. The systems that will perform these functions may not look like robots from science fiction. In fact, robotic functions may be automated trucks, cranes and winches. Use of this equipment prior to the crew s arrival or in the potentially long periods without crews on the surface, will require that these systems be computer controlled machines. The public release of NASA's Exploration plans at the 2nd Space Exploration Conference (Houston, December 2006) included a lunar outpost with as many as four unique mobility chassis designs. The sequence of lander offloading tasks involved as many as ten payloads, each with a unique set of geometry, mass and interface requirements. This plan was refined during a second phase study concluded in August 2007. Among the many improvements to the exploration plan were a reduction in the number of unique mobility chassis designs and a reduction in unique payload specifications. As the lunar surface system payloads have matured, so have the mobility and offloading functional requirements. While the architecture work continues, the community can expect to see functional requirements in the areas of surface mobility, surface handling, and human-systems interaction as follows: Surface Mobility 1. Transport crew on the lunar surface, accelerating construction tasks, expanding the crew s sphere of influence for scientific exploration, and providing a rapid return to an ascent module in an emergency. The crew transport can be with an un-pressurized rover, a small pressurized rover, or a larger mobile habitat. 2. Transport Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) equipment and construction payloads. 3. Transport habitats and power modules over long distances, pre-positioning them for the arrival of crew on a subsequent lander. Surface Handling 1. Offload surface system payloads from the lander, breaking launch restraints and power/data connections. Payloads may be offloaded to a wheeled vehicle for transport. 2. Deploy payloads from a wheeled vehicle at a field site, placing the payloads in their final use site on the ground or mating them with existing surface systems. 3. Support regolith collection, site preparation, berm construction, or other civil engineering tasks using tools and implements attached to rovers. Human-Systems Interaction 1. Provide a safe command and control interface for suited EVA to ride on and drive the vehicles, making sure that the systems are also safe for working near dismounted crew. 2. Provide an effective control system for IV crew to tele-operate vehicles, cranes and other equipment from inside the surface habitats with evolving independence from Earth. .. Provide a supervisory system that allows machines to be commanded from the ground, working across the Earth-Lunar time delays on the order of 5-10 seconds (round trip) to support operations when crew are not resident on the surface. Technology Development Needs 1. Surface vehicles that can dock, align and mate with outpost equipment such as landers, habitats and fluid/power interfaces. 2. Long life motors, drive trains, seals, motor electronics, sensors, processors, cable harnesses, and dash board displays. 3. Active suspension control, localization, high speed obstacle avoidance, and safety systems for operating near dismounted crew. 4. High specific energy and specific power batteries that are safe, rechargeable, and long lived.

Ambrose, Robert O.↗

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↗

Development of the NASA High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler

The scope of this paper is the development and recent field deployments of the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), which was funded under the NASA Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) [1]. HIWRAP is a dual-frequency (Ka- and Ku-band), dual-beam (300 and 400 incidence angles), conical scanning, Doppler radar system designed for operation on the NASA high-altitude (65,000 ft) Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). It utilizes solid state transmitters along with a novel pulse compression scheme that results in a system with compact size, light weight, less power consumption, and low cost compared to radars currently in use for precipitation and Doppler wind measurements. By combining measurements at Ku- and Ka-band, HIWRAP is able to image winds through measuring volume backscattering from clouds and precipitation. In addition, HIWRAP is also capable of measuring surface winds in an approach similar to SeaWinds on QuikScat. To this end, HIWRAP hardware and software development has been completed. It was installed on the NASA WB57 for instrument test flights in March, 2010 and then deployed on the NASA Global Hawk for supporting the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) field campaign in August-September, 2010. This paper describes the scientific motivations of the development of HIWRAP as well as system hardware, aircraft integration and flight missions. Preliminary data from GRIP science flights is also presented.

Li, Lihua↗

Small-Signal Stability Analysis of Low-Inertia Power Grids with Inverter-Based Resources and Synchronous Condensers: Preprint

With the potential environmental impacts of conventional fossil fuels and the technology advances of grid interactive power electronics, inverter-based resources (IBRs) are playing a crucial role in modern power grids. However, due to the lack of physical inertia, IBRs are vulnerable to system disturbances. Further, conventional grid-following (GFL) inverters cannot actively establish the frequency and voltage, which could not be a appropriate solution for 100% inverter-based power grids. Grid-forming (GFM) control, as an emerging inverter control function, has drawn great attention in recent years, while it is still under development and pre-mature for large-scale field deployment. A potential solution for gradually transitioning into a 100% inverter-based power grid is to combine both IBRs and synchronous machines into a mixed generation portfolio. More importantly, synchronous machines can be operated as synchronous condensers (SCs) until they are retired. It is also worth mentioning that the stability analysis is of great importance to ensure the smooth transition from existing power grids to 100% inverter-based system, which is the main focus of this work with detailed modeling and modal analysis.

100% renewable↗

LuSEE-night power distribution system design

The Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment at Night (LuSEE-Night) is a low-frequency, 0.5 to 50 MHz, radio experiment on the radio-quiet far side of the Moon. The instrument will be launched by NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services in 2026. The LuSEE-Night instrument core is composed of a radio frequency spectrometer (SPT) processing signals from four antennas, the Data Controller Board (DCB), low electromagnetic interference (EMI) Picket Fence Power Supply (PFPS), and Power Distribution Unit (PDU). The battery powers the instrument during the lunar night and stores energy harvested by the solar panel array during the lunar day. The battery charging is controlled by the Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit (PCDU). The unregulated power is supplied either by the SpaceCraft (S/C) or the battery and gets distributed to the PFPS, communication radio, heaters, and deployables through the PDU. The PFPS generates all regulated low-voltage rails using switching regulation synchronized to the LuSEE-Night clock, which ensures self-generated EMI will be confined to well-defined frequency bins. Here, we discussed the unregulated power distribution system architecture and functionality. The PDU engineering and flight modules are developed and characterized to confirm compliance with LuSEE-Night requirements. At the time of writing, all power subsystem components have been integrated into the payload.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Floating photovoltaic power plants: A review of energy yield, reliability, and operation and maintenance

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are essential for the transition to sustainable energy, reducing fossil fuel dependence and mitigating climate change. Although PV requires minimal land area — PV can meet the European Union's energy needs using only 0.26% of its land — space for deployment is often scarce in densely populated regions. Floating photovoltaics (FPV) offer an effective solution to land-use challenges by installing PV systems on floating structures in water bodies. FPV is a growing niche within PV with a cumulative installed capacity reaching 7.7 GW globally by 2023. Almost 90% of the installed FPV capacity is in Asia, with close to 50% of in China alone, while the Netherlands and France are the largest markets outside Asia. FPV shows strong potential to support climate targets, but still faces challenges like regulatory barriers, cost competitiveness compared to ground-based PV (GPV), and uncertainties about environmental impacts and system reliability. FPV systems are currently installed mainly on sheltered inland waters, such as quarry lakes, irrigation ponds and reservoirs. FPV technical standards are still being developed. Guidelines have been published by the World Bank, DNV, and Solar Power Europe, and emerging national standards from South Korea, China, and Singapore address design, components, and safety. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is working on formal standards for floats, mooring systems, and electrical connectors. However, the published best practices lack quantitative guidance for yield modelling and reliability, which this report aims to address. It provides data-driven insights, models, and parameters essential for accurate energy yield, reliability, and maintenance predictions over FPV systems' lifetimes.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Peer-to-Peer Communication Trade-Offs for Smart Grid Applications: Preprint

Peer-to-peer energy management systems for smart grids require developers to consider the trade-offs between the amount of communication traffic generated and the quality and speed of convergence of the control algorithms that are deployed. Employing a fully connected communication causes messages to scale exponentially with the number of nodes, while using a sparse connectivity causes less information dissemination leading to degradation of the algorithm performance. The best communication topology for a particular application lies somewhere in between and often requires empirical evaluation by application designers. Existing methods do not put focus on the needs for smart grid applications, which is information dissemination throughout the network and they do not provide a flexible solution for application developers to prototype and deploy different topologies without modifying the application code. This paper introduces a configurable virtual communication topology framework TopLinkMgr, allowing users to specify any chosen communication topology and deploy peer-to-peer applications using it. It also introduces a self-adaptive, fault-tolerant topology management algorithm, Bounded Path Dissemination that can ensure the dissemination of information to all peers within a specified threshold for a sparsely connected topology. Experiments show that the algorithm improves on convergence speed and accuracy over state-of-the-art methods and is also robust against node failures. The results indicate the possibility of achieving a close-to optimal convergence without overloading the network allowing the realization of peer-to-peer control platforms covering larger and more complex power systems.

Bounded Path Dissemination↗

WHISPER: Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction

Many regions of the world benefit from heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to provide productive, comfortable, and healthy indoor environments, which are enabled by automatic building controls. Due to climate change, population growth, and industrialization, HVAC use is globally on the rise. Unfortunately, these systems often operate in a continuous fashion without regard to actual human presence, leading to unnecessary energy consumption. As a result, the heating, ventilation, and cooling of unoccupied building spaces makes a substantial contribution to the harmful environmental impacts associated with carbon-based electric power generation, which is important to remedy. For our modern electric power system, transitioning to low-carbon renewable energy is facilitated by integration with distributed energy resources. Automatic engagement between the grid and consumers will be necessary to enable a clean yet stable electric grid, when integrating these variable and uncertain renewable energy sources. We present the WHISPER (Wireless Home Identification and Sensing Platform for Energy Reduction) system to address the energy and power demand triggered by human presence in homes. The presented system includes a maintenance-free and privacy-preserving human occupancy detection system wherein a local wireless network of battery-free environmental, acoustic energy, and image sensors are deployed to monitor homes, record empirical data for a range of monitored modalities, and transmit it to a base station. Several machine learning algorithms are implemented at the base station to infer human presence based on the received data, harnessing a hierarchical sensor fusion algorithm. Results from the prototype system demonstrate an accuracy in human presence detection in excess of 95%; ongoing commercialization efforts suggest approximately 99% accuracy. Using machine learning, WHISPER enables various applications based on its binary occupancy prediction, allowing situation-specific controls targeted at both personalized smart home and electric grid modernization opportunities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Distributed Wind Deployment: Triad Recycling and Energy Corporation

This is a case study on a distributed wind project. Located 1,500 feet from the Niagara River, near the decommissioned Huntley coal-fired power plant, Triad Recycling and Energy Corporation uses a distributed wind system to cost-effectively offset the power required by their energy intensive recycling equipment. Their location is ideal for distributed wind development because they are surrounded by brownfields that offer wide, open spaces with unobstructed winds.

case study↗

Mars Science Laboratory: Entry, Descent, and Landing System Performance

In 2010, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission will pioneer the next generation of robotic Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems, by delivering the largest and most capable rover to date to the surface of Mars. To do so, MSL will fly a guided lifting entry at a lift-to-drag ratio in excess of that ever flown at Mars, deploy the largest parachute ever at Mars, and perform a novel Sky Crane maneuver. Through improved altitude capability, increased latitude coverage, and more accurate payload delivery, MSL is allowing the science community to consider the exploration of previously inaccessible regions of the planet. The MSL EDL system is a new EDL architecture based on Viking heritage technologies and designed to meet the challenges of landing increasing massive payloads on Mars. In accordance with level-1 requirements, the MSL EDL system is being designed to land an 850 kg rover to altitudes as high as 1 km above the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter defined areoid within 10 km of the desired landing site. Accordingly, MSL will enter the largest entry mass, fly the largest 70 degree sphere-cone aeroshell, generate the largest hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio, and deploy the largest Disk-Gap-Band supersonic parachute of any previous mission to Mars. Major EDL events include a hypersonic guided entry, supersonic parachute deploy and inflation, subsonic heatshield jettison, terminal descent sensor acquisition, powered descent initiation, sky crane terminal descent, rover touchdown detection, and descent stage flyaway. Key performance metrics, derived from level-1 requirements and tracked by the EDL design team to indicate performance capability and timeline margins, include altitude and range at parachute deploy, time on radar, and propellant use. The MSL EDL system, which will continue to develop over the next three years, will enable a notable extension in the advancement of Mars surface science by delivering more science capability than ever before to the surface of Mars. This paper describes the current MSL EDL system performance as predicted by end-to-end EDL simulations, highlights the sensitivity of this baseline performance to several key environmental assumptions, and discusses some of the challenges faced in delivering such an unprecedented rover payload to the surface of Mars.

Way, David W.↗

Mars Science Laboratory: Entry, Descent, and Landing System Performance

In 2010, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission will pioneer the next generation of robotic Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems, by delivering the largest and most capable rover to date to the surface of Mars. To do so, MSL will fly a guided lifting entry at a lift-to-drag ratio in excess of that ever flown at Mars, deploy the largest parachute ever at Mars, and perform a novel Sky Crane maneuver. Through improved altitude capability, increased latitude coverage, and more accurate payload delivery, MSL is allowing the science community to consider the exploration of previously inaccessible regions of the planet. The MSL EDL system is a new EDL architecture based on Viking heritage technologies and designed to meet the challenges of landing increasing massive payloads on Mars. In accordance with level-1 requirements, the MSL EDL system is being designed to land an 850 kg rover to altitudes as high as 1 km above the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter defined areoid within 10 km of the desired landing site. Accordingly, MSL will enter the largest entry mass, fly the largest 70 degree sphere-cone aeroshell, generate the largest hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio, and deploy the largest Disk-Gap-Band supersonic parachute of any previous mission to Mars. Major EDL events include a hypersonic guided entry, supersonic parachute deploy and inflation, subsonic heatshield jettison, terminal descent sensor acquisition, powered descent initiation, sky crane terminal descent, rover touchdown detection, and descent stage flyaway. Key performance metrics, derived from level-1 requirements and tracked by the EDL design team to indicate performance capability and timeline margins, include altitude and range at parachute deploy, time on radar, and propellant use. The MSL EDL system, which will continue to develop over the next three years, will enable a notable extension in the advancement of Mars surface science by delivering more science capability than ever before to the surface of Mars. This paper describes the current MSL EDL system performance as predicted by end-to-end EDL simulations, highlights the sensitivity of this baseline performance to several key environmental assumptions, and discusses some of the challenges faced in delivering such an unprecedented rover payload to the surface of Mars.

Way, David W.↗

Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing of a Smart Distribution System

This paper presents the results of the third and final phase of the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) INTEGRATE demonstration: Smart Distribution. For this demonstration, high penetrations of solar PV and wind energy systems were simulated in a power hardware-in-the-loop set-up using a smart distribution test feeder. Simulated and real DERs were controlled by a real-time control platform, which manages grid constraints under high clean energy deployment levels. The power HIL testing, conducted at NREL's ESIF smart power lab, demonstrated how dynamically managing DER increases the grid's hosting capacity by leveraging active network management's (ANM) safe and reliable control framework. Results are presented for how ANM's real-time monitoring, automation, and control can be used to manage multiple DERs and multiple constraints associated with high penetrations of DER on a distribution grid. The project also successfully demonstrated the importance of escalating control actions given how ANM enables operation of grid equipment closer to their actual physical limit in the presence of very high levels of intermittent DER.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

​​Hydrogen Transportation and Distributed Energy Systems Seismic Risk Assessment for Cascadia Subduction Zone Airport Facilities​

Portland International Airport in Oregon is exploring operating a fleet of 28 fuel cell electric buses to support airport operations and possibly provide backup power during outages. In this report, we evaluate the risk of hydrogen deployment at an airport considering the potential for seismic activity. We present a seismic risk assessment for pressurized piping for a generic hydrogen refueling station at the airport. Only pressurized piping was considered in the risk analysis because of its vulnerability and availability of fragility information unlike the other components. Seismic capacity of other components should be included as more information becomes available. To characterize the seismic hazard, we considered the initiating event frequency of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake event based on data from the literature. Seismic stressors that translate to the site from an earthquake event are expressed as peak ground acceleration. Site disturbance is characterized as a function of soil conditions, represented by different shear wave velocity values, which affect how seismic waves propagate and impact structures. Pipe fragility curves as a function of seismic capacity were used to correlate ground acceleration and failure probability. These fragility characteristics were combined with site-specific soil conditions to calculate the probability of pipe rupture during a seismic event. It should be noted that multiple simultaneous failures due to an earthquake event as a common cause are not considered. Some epistemic uncertainties such as self-exciting shocks, aftershocks, and the time variant nature of the ground motion are not considered either.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Testing of Instrumentation and Control Sensors and Cables for Small Modular Reactors

As advanced reactor concepts like small modular reactors (SMRs) progress towards design maturity and commercial deployment, it is important to assess their instrumentation and control (I&C) system sensors and cables to assure their safe, reliable, and efficient operation throughout their service lifetimes. The I&C system of any nuclear power plant (NPP) is the central nervous system of the plant and is made up of field devices such as sensors which are connected via cables to analog and/or digital systems. These systems are responsible for control and/or protection of the plant. The performance of I&C sensors and cables is dependent on several factors, including plant operating conditions. In particular, the plant operation can affect the static (accuracy) and dynamic (response) performance of the sensor, whereas the surrounding ambient environment can impact the remaining useful life of the cables, connectors, and other associated components within I&C sensor circuits.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Advanced Distributed Wind Turbine Controls Series: Part 2-Wind Energy in Isolated Grids – Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL)

In an isolated grid, wind turbines are typically deployed to provide energy to maximize energy production, reduce diesel-fuel consumption, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce costs for energy and fuel transportation. However, in addition to solely providing energy to the power system, wind turbines contain rotating masses and inverter-based controls that can enable various reliability and resilience services through advance controls. As part of the Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL) this paper demonstrates, through desktop simulations, advanced wind turbine controls that can be employed to support higher contributions of wind in isolated grids, and to demonstrate ways that wind can play a role in supporting stability of an isolated grid. This isolated grid used in these desktop simulations is comprised of a wind turbine (600 kW), solar PV (430 kW), battery energy storage system (1 MW/1MWh), a simulated diesel generator (2 MW) and various types of loads (critical, dynamic). We developed a model of the subsystems in MATLAB/Simulink and validated them with available data from real-world components on NREL's Flatirons Campus. These validated models are then configured for various case studies. We compare the output of the desktop simulation with a baseline case with the diesel generator. Active and reactive power control of the wind turbine can help improve frequency and voltage responses in the isolated grid, respectively. By utilizing a small integrated battery energy storage system in the DC-link of the wind turbine, we also demonstrate that wind turbines can help blackstart a critical load comparable to its rated power and support other renewables (e.g. solar PV) come online and pick up an additional load. This report illustrates some of these reliability and resilience services a wind turbine can provide in an isolated grid.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Instrumentation for optical ocean remote sensing

Instruments used in ocean color remote sensing algorithm development, validation, and data acquisition which have the potential for further commercial development and marketing are discussed. The Ocean Data Acquisition System (ODAS) is an aircraft-borne radiometer system suitable for light aircraft, which has applications for rapid measurement of chlorophyll pigment concentrations along the flight line. The instrument package includes a three channel radiometer system for upwelling radiance, an infrared temperature sensor, a three-channel downwelling irradiance sensor, and Loran-C navigation. Data are stored on a PC and processed to transects or interpolated 'images' on the ground. The instrument has been in operational use for two and one half years. The accuracy of pigment concentrations from the instrument is quite good, even in complex Chesapeake Bay waters. To help meet the requirement for validation of future satellite missions, a prototype air-deployable drifting buoy for measurement of near-surface upwelled radiance in multiple channnels is undergoing test deployment. The optical drifter burst samples radiance, stores and processes the data, and uses the Argos system as a data link. Studies are underway to explore the limits to useful lifetime with respect to power and fouling.

Esaias, W. E.↗