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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,243 records · Page 69
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Renewable Firming EnergyFarm Final Report

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with funds to modernize the electric power grid. One program under this initiative is the Smart Grid Demonstration program (SGDP). The SGDP mandate is to demonstrate how a suite of existing and emerging smart grid technologies can be innovatively applied and integrated to prove technical, operational, and business-model feasibility. Primus Power is a provider of low cost, long life and long duration energy storage systems. The Company’s flow batteries are shipping to US and international microgrid, utility, military, commercial and industrial customers. Primus Power’s EnergyPod® is a modular battery system for grid scale applications available in configurations ranging from 25 kW to more than 25 MW. The EnergyPod provides nameplate power for 5 hours. This long duration unlocks economic benefits on both sides of the electric meter. It allows commercial and industrial customers to shift low cost electricity purchased at night to offset afternoon electrical peaks to reduce utility demand charges. It also allows utilities to economically reduce power peaks and defer costly upgrades to distribution infrastructure. An EnergyPod contains one or more EnergyCells-a highly engineered flow battery core made from low cost, readily available materials. An EnergyCell includes a membrane-free stack of titanium electrodes located above a novel liquid electrolyte management system. This patented design enables reliable, low maintenance operation for decades. It is safe and robust, featuring non-flammable aqueous electrolyte, sophisticated fault detection and built-in secondary containment. Unlike Li Ion batteries, the EnergyCell is not susceptible to thermal runaway. This cooperative agreement project was started in Feb 2010. The objectives of the project are: 1. Trigger rapid adoption of grid storage systems in the US by demonstrating a low cost, robust and flexible EnergyFarm®. 2. Accelerate adoption of renewable energy and enhance grid stability by firming the output of wind & solar farms. 3. Demonstrate improved grid asset utilization by storing energy during off-peak periods for dispatch during local load peaks. 4. Establish an advanced battery manufacturing industry in the U.S. 5. Reduce CO2 emissions from utilities. This report summarizes the key milestones, data, results and lessons learned from the project. The desired goals and benefits of the cooperative agreement with the DOE have all been achieved. The project has contributed to reducing power costs, accelerating adoption of renewable energy resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and establishing advanced battery manufacturing in the U.S. The Recovery Act funds provided thru the DOE have been leveraged multiple times by additional private equity investment. Primus Power continues to ship low cost, long life and long duration EnergyPod® flow battery systems to utilities, commercial/industrial, microgrid and data center customers. After the conclusion of this project, Primus Power has modified the EnergyPod® design to optimize around energy performance. Primus Power has moved to a prefabricated enclosure instead of multiple EnergyCells in a container. This lowers capital and maintenance costs and can optimize site design. Utilities are starting to adopt energy storage for a variety of functions. The market will grow as the technology is proven and profitable applications expand.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Monitoring for Space Farming Institute [Slides]

Through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy to Communities (E2C) program, NREL, other national laboratory experts, and select organizations provide Expert Match - free, short-term technical assistance to address near-term energy challenges and questions. Expert Match is for community stakeholders who have decision-making power or influence in their community but need access to additional energy expertise to inform key upcoming decisions. This Expert Match request supported the Space Farming Institute, a nonprofit organization located in Anchorage, AK, with an indoor air quality analysis. The NREL team analyzed indoor air quality data provided by the Space Farming Institute, which experts at PNNL used to design an indoor bioreactor to grow Ulva algae for indoor air quality mitigation purposes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

U-10Mo Monolithic Fuel Qualification Plan

The Material Management and Minimization (M3) Program’s primary objective within the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration is to achieve permanent threat reduction by minimizing and when possible, eliminating weapon-usable nuclear material around the world. Under M3’s Office of Conversion, the U.S. High Performance Research Reactor (USHPRR) Project, is pursuing a fuel qualification and licensing effort focused on converting high-performance research reactors in the United States from using highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to using low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. The body of this document is focused on defining the activities required for generic qualification of high density, LEU fuel that then allows reactor conversions to proceed for the four high-performance research reactors and the critical assembly that will operate using the U-10Mo monolithic fuel design (see Subsection 1.3): MITR, MURR, NBSR, ATR, and ATRC. Fuel qualification in this report means generic fuel acceptance of the U-10Mo monolithic fuel form by the NRC for use in reactor conversions in the United States, which allows the fuel to be used in subsequent reactor specific licensing requests. The U 10Mo Monolithic Fuel Research, Development, and Qualification Plan utilizes the functions and requirements of the USHPRR Project that was established in the Functions and Requirements Document (F&RD) [1] and expands on these requirements to ensure that planned tests have traceable results that will ensure the requirement has been met. The methods by which data will be collected to show that these requirements have been met are described in this document.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Plazomicin Retains Antibiotic Activity against Most Aminoglycoside Modifying Enzymes

Plazomicin is a next-generation, semisynthetic aminoglycoside antibiotic currently under development for the treatment of infections due to multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The compound was designed by chemical modification of the natural product sisomicin to provide protection from common aminoglycoside modifying enzymes that chemically alter these drugs via N-acetylation, O-adenylylation, or O-phosphorylation. In this study, plazomicin was profiled against a panel of isogenic strains of Escherichia coli individually expressing twenty-one aminoglycoside resistance enzymes. Plazomicin retained antibacterial activity against 15 of the 17 modifying enzyme-expressing strains tested. Expression of only two of the modifying enzymes, aac(2')-Ia and aph(2'')-IVa, decreased plazomicin potency. On the other hand, expression of 16S rRNA ribosomal methyltransferases results in a complete lack of plazomicin potency. In vitro enzymatic assessment confirmed that AAC(2')-Ia and APH(2'')-IVa (aminoglycoside acetyltransferase, AAC; aminoglycoside phosphotransferase, APH) were able to utilize plazomicin as a substrate. AAC(2')-Ia and APH(2'')-IVa are limited in their distribution to Providencia stuartii and Enterococci, respectively. These data demonstrate that plazomicin is not modified by a broad spectrum of common aminoglycoside modifying enzymes including those commonly found in Enterobacteriaceae. However, plazomicin is inactive in the presence of 16S rRNA ribosomal methyltransferases, which should be monitored in future surveillance programs.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIEST RAPIDS TURBINE UPGRADE PROJECT

The Priest Rapids Dam is located on the Columbia River and is operated by Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, WA (GCPUD). In operation since 1959, GCPUD decided that a major upgrade was necessary. As with other hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River, improving fish passage at Priest Rapids Dam is of great importance for salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest. Consequently, GCPUD established the Priest Rapids Turbine Upgrade Project to extend the life of the units, increase efficiency and power production, and improve fish-passage. The Priest Rapids powerhouse is equipped with 10 vertical Kaplan turbines with runner diameters of 7.21 m operating under net heads varying from 18 m to 27 m. The scope of the project included a design competition involving three turbine manufacturers providing up to two designs for evaluation. Selection of the replacement design was determined by the lowest evaluated price based on model test results conducted at an independent laboratory (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Lausanne Switzerland) and a biological performance score determined by a newly developed Biological Performance Assessment (BioPA) performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. In the paper, the hydraulic design challenges are reviewed, in addition to comparisons of designs evaluated during the competitive model test program and biological assessment. The paper also provides a description of the process followed by GCPUD, and how the evaluation criteria influenced the development and the finally selected solution.

CFD↗
DOE OSTI2018

Surface Science Studies of Nano-crystalline Metal Oxide and Metal-Metal Oxide Core-Shell Catalysts

In this project we are bridging the materials gap between fundamental surface science studies of metal-oxide, single-crystal model catalysts, and high surface catalysts that are used industrially by measuring structure-activity relationships for thin films of well-defined, metal oxide nanoparticles. We are concentrating on systems that are of interest for use as catalysts for complete-, selective- and photo-oxidation of organic oxygenates and the research program builds upon our group’s extensive experience in using surface-sensitive spectroscopic techniques to elucidate structure-activity relationships for oxide surfaces. The goals of this work are (1) determine the role that highly undercoordinated edge and corner sites play in catalysis on oxides, (2) determine if control of oxide nano-crystalline size and shape can be used to design highly active and selective catalysts for specific reactions, and (3) determine how crystallite size and shape affect the photocatalytic properties of semiconducting oxides such as TiO 2 . In addition to our current studies of nanocrystalline oxides, the research program will also include studies of hierarchal structured core-shell materials in which a metal nanoparticle is encased in a porous nano-crystalline oxide shell. Such materials have interesting catalytic properties and our goal will be to use these unique model systems to study synergistic interactions between a metal and a reducible metal oxide support. The work during the second year of the grant has focused on the catalytic and photocatalytic activity of thin films of well-defined TiO 2 nanocrystals that have a truncated bi-pyramidal shape. An overview of this work is given below.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Plug-in Electric Vehicle Policy Effectiveness: Literature Review

The U.S. federal government first introduced incentives for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) through the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which provided a tax credit of up to $7,500 for a new PEV purchase. Soon after, in December 2010, two mass-market PEVs were introduced, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Chevrolet Volt and the battery electric vehicle (BEV) Nissan LEAF. Since that time, numerous additional types of PEV incentives have been provided by federal and regional (state or city) government agencies and utility companies. These incentives cover vehicle purchases as well as the purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) through purchase rebates, tax credits, or discounted purchase taxes or registration fees. Additional incentives, such as free high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane access and parking benefits, may also be offered to PEV owners. Details about these incentives, such as the extent to which each type is offered by region, can be obtained from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Alternative Fuel Data Center (http://www.afdc.energy.gov/). In addition to these incentives, other policies, such as zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates,1 have also been implemented, and community-scale federal incentives, such as the DOE PEV Readiness Grants, have been awarded throughout the country to improve PEV market penetration. This report reviews 18 studies that analyze the impacts of past or current incentives and policies that were designed to support PEV adoption in the U.S. These studies were selected for review after a comprehensive survey of the literature and discussion with a number of experts in the field. The report summarizes the lessons learned and best practices from the experiences of these incentive programs to date, as well as the challenges they face and barriers that inhibit further market adoption of PEVs. Studies that make projections based on future policy scenarios and those that focus solely on international markets are not included in this report. Studies that only provide an overview of the current market without discussing how incentives influence the market are also not included.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Hood River Passive House

The Hood River Passive Project was developed by Root Design Build of Hood River Oregon using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to meet all of the requirements for certification under the European Passive House standards. The Passive House design approach has been gaining momentum among residential designers for custom homes and BEopt modeling indicates that these designs may actually exceed the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America program to reduce home energy use by 30%-50% (compared to 2009 energy codes for new homes). This report documents the short term test results of the Shift House and compares the results of PHPP and BEopt modeling of the project. The design includes high R-Value assemblies, extremely tight construction, high performance doors and windows, solar thermal DHW, heat recovery ventilation, moveable external shutters and a high performance ductless mini-split heat pump. Cost analysis indicates that many of the measures implemented in this project did not meet the BA standard for cost neutrality. The ductless mini-split heat pump, lighting and advanced air leakage control were the most cost effective measures. The future challenge will be to value engineer the performance levels indicated here in modeling using production based practices at a significantly lower cost.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Hood River Passive House

The Hood River Passive Project was developed by Root Design Build of Hood River Oregon using the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) to meet all of the requirements for certification under the European Passive House standards. The Passive House design approach has been gaining momentum among residential designers for custom homes and BEopt modeling indicates that these designs may actually exceed the goal of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building America program to "reduce home energy use by 30%-50% (compared to 2009 energy codes for new homes). This report documents the short term test results of the Shift House and compares the results of PHPP and BEopt modeling of the project. The design includes high R-Value assemblies, extremely tight construction, high performance doors and windows, solar thermal DHW, heat recovery ventilation, moveable external shutters and a high performance ductless mini-split heat pump. Cost analysis indicates that many of the measures implemented in this project did not meet the BA standard for cost neutrality. The ductless mini-split heat pump, lighting and advanced air leakage control were the most cost effective measures. The future challenge will be to value engineer the performance levels indicated here in modeling using production based practices at a significantly lower cost.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Phased Retrofits in Existing Homes in Florida Phase II: Shallow Plus Retrofits

Originally published in February 2016, this revision contains an added section called 'Evaluation of Complete Central System Replacement with Inverter-Driven Heat Pump,' which presents the designs and energy savings evaluations of two different schemes wherein inverter-driven systems replaced a home's existing central system. Analyses for three additional retrofit measures were bolstered by longer-term data; these are described in the sections on supplemental mini-split heat pumps (MSHPs), smart thermostats, and heat pump clothes dryers. The sections on supplemental MSHPs and smart thermostats were also enhanced with larger sample sizes and projections of weather-normalized annual energy savings. Finally, peak system hour energy demand-reduction predictions are provided for all retrofit measures where meaningful impacts could be drawn.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimal Renewable Resource Allocation and Load Scheduling of Resilient Communities

This paper presents a methodology for enhancing community resilience through optimal renewable resource allocation and load scheduling in order to minimize unserved load and thermal discomfort. The proposed control architecture distributes the computational effort and is easier to be scaled up than traditional centralized control. The decentralized control architecture consists of two layers: The community operator layer (COL) allocates the limited amount of renewable energy resource according to the power flexibility of each building. The building agent layer (BAL) addresses the optimal load scheduling problem for each building with the allowable load determined by the COL. Both layers are formulated as a model predictive control (MPC) based optimization. Simulation scenarios are designed to compare different combinations of building weighting methods and objective functions to provide guidance for real-world deployment by community and microgrid operators. The results indicate that the impact of power flexibility is more prominent than the weighting factor to the resource allocation process. Allocation based purely on occupancy status could lead to an increase of PV curtailment. Further, it is necessary for the building agent to have multi-objective optimization to minimize unserved load ratio and maximize comfort simultaneously.

model predictive control↗
DOE OSTI2013

The enhanced ASDEX Upgrade pellet centrifuge launcher

Pellets played an important role in the program of ASDEX Upgrade serving both for investigations on efficient particle fuelling and high density scenarios but also for pioneering work on Edge Localised Mode (ELM) pacing and mitigation. Initially designed for launching fuelling pellets from the magnetic low field side, the system was converted already some time ago to inject pellets from the magnetic high field side as much higher fuelling efficiency was found using this configuration. In operation for more than 20 years, the pellet launching system had to undergo a major revision and upgrading, in particular of its control system. Furthermore, the control system installed adjacent to the launcher had to be transferred to a more distant location enforcing a complete galvanic separation from torus potential and a fully remote control solution. Changing from a hybrid system consisting of PLC S5/S7 and some hard wired relay control to a state of the art PLC system allowed the introduction of several new operational options enabling more flexibility in the pellet experiments. This article describes the new system architecture of control hardware and software, the operating procedure, and the extended operational window. First successful applications for ELM pacing and triggering studies are presented as well as utilization for the development of high density scenarios.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Digital Full-Scope Simulation of a Conventional Nuclear Power Plant Control Room, Phase 2: Installation of a Reconfigurable Simulator to Support Nuclear Plant Sustainability

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability program has developed a control room simulator in support of control room modernization at nuclear power plants in the U.S. This report highlights the recent completion of this reconfigurable, full-scale, full-scope control room simulator buildout at the Idaho National Laboratory. The simulator is fully reconfigurable, meaning it supports multiple plant models developed by different simulator vendors. The simulator is full-scale, using glasstop virtual panels to display the analog control boards found at current plants. The present installation features 15 glasstop panels, uniquely achieving a complete control room representation. The simulator is also full-scope, meaning it uses the same plant models used for training simulators at actual plants. Unlike in the plant training simulators, the deployment on glasstop panels allows a high degree of customization of the panels, allowing the simulator to be used for research on the design of new digital control systems for control room modernization. This report includes separate sections discussing the glasstop panels, their layout to mimic control rooms at actual plants, technical details on creating a multi-plant and multi-vendor reconfigurable simulator, and current efforts to support control room modernization at U.S. utilities. The glasstop simulator provides an ideal testbed for prototyping and validating new control room concepts. Equally importantly, it is helping create a standardized and vetted human factors engineering process that can be used across the nuclear industry to ensure control room upgrades maintain and even improve current reliability and safety.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Summary and Assessment of Metal Fuel Capabilities in Bison

The work described in this report was performed under funding from the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. This report is issued in satisfaction of the level 2 milestone M2MS-18IN0201012 on Release Bison with Initial Metallic Fuel Performance Capability. Metallic fuel development began in Bison a few years after light water reactor development began (~ 2009). The initial development was funded by the Advanced Fuels Campaign. With recent interest from industry, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Versatile Test Reactor program, the Nuclear Energy Modeling Simulation Program has increased funding for metallic fuel development and validation in FY18. The material models with the most mature development are binary uranium-zirconium and ternary uranium-plutonium-zirconium alloys for fuel and HT9 for cladding. The first material models were incorporated from open literature sources, which include mechanical and thermal material properties that are functions of temperature, porosity, and zirconium concentration, swelling, fission gas release, zirconium diffusion, creep, and sodium coolant channel boundary conditions. These material models have been utilized to simulate ERB-II fuel pins and the results compared to measurements. The EBR-II experiment measurements mostly consist of cladding strain and zirconium redistribution. As such, comparisons to EBR-II measurements are currently limited to these two figures of merit. Simulations and comparisons to experiment measurements have also been done for transient testing of EBR- II fuel pins in TREAT, which included temperature measurements. Preliminary comparisons between Bison calculations and experiment measurements are favorable. These comparisons have also highlighted the importance of the fuel swelling and fission gas release models on cladding strain. Also, Bison metallic fuel simulations are currently being run in support of ATR experiments and VTR exploratory design calculations. Further development and evaluation of individual material models and fuel system models are planned for FY19.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Safety Analysis of FeCrAl Accident-Tolerant Fuels with Increased Enrichment and Extended Burnup

The U.S. nuclear industry is facing a strong challenge to maintain regulatory-required levels of safety while ensuring economic competitiveness to stay in business. Safety remains a key parameter for all aspects related to the operation of light water reactor nuclear power plants (NPPs), and it can be achieved more economically by using a risk-informed ecosystem, such as that being developed by the Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway under the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. This program is promoting a wide range of research and development activities to maximize both the safety and economically efficient performance of NPPs through improved scientific understanding, especially given that many plants are considering a second license renewal. The Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway has two main goals: (1) The deployment of methodologies and technologies that enable a better representation of the safety margins and factors that contribute to cost and safety, and (2) The development of advanced applications that enable cost-effective plant operation. As part of this pathway, the Enhanced Resilient Plant project refers to an NPP where safety is improved by implementing various measures, such as accident-tolerant fuels, diverse and flexible coping strategies, enhancements to plant components and systems, incorporation of augmented or new passive cooling systems, and utilization of advanced battery technologies. The objective of the Enhanced Resilient Plant project is to use novel methods and computational tools to enhance existing reactors’ safety while reducing operational costs. This report documents research and development conducted in support of deployment of accident-tolerant fuels. This project performed safety analyses for the steady-state normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, and design-basis accidents of a representative four-loop pressurized water reactor model with Zr and FeCrAl accident-tolerant fuel clad with higher enrichment and burnup supporting plant refueling cycles of 18 and 24 months. The source terms and environmental impacts were studied for a large-break loss of coolant accident, including uncertainty analyses.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Assessment of the Potential to Achieve very Low Energy Use in Public Buildings in China with Advanced Window and Shading Systems

As rapid growth in the construction industry continues to occur in China, the increased demand for a higher standard living is driving significant growth in energy use and demand across the country. Building codes and standards have been implemented to head off this trend, tightening prescriptive requirements for fenestration component measures using methods similar to the U.S. model energy code American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 90.1. The objective of this study is to (a) provide an overview of applicable code requirements and current efforts within China to enable characterization and comparison of window and shading products, and (b) quantify the load reduction and energy savings potential of several key advanced window and shading systems, given the divergent views on how space conditioning requirements will be met in the future. System-level heating and cooling loads and energy use performance were evaluated for a code-compliant large office building using the EnergyPlus building energy simulation program. Commercially-available, highly-insulating, low-emittance windows were found to produce 24%–66% lower perimeter zone HVAC electricity use compared to the mandated energy-efficiency standard in force (GB 50189-2005) in cold climates like Beijing. Low-e windows with operable exterior shading produced up to 30%–80% reductions in perimeter zone HVAC electricity use in Beijing and 18%–38% reductions in Shanghai compared to the standard. The economic context of China is unique since the cost of labor and materials for the building industry is so low. Broad deployment of these commercially available technologies with the proper supporting infrastructure for design, specification, and verification in the field would enable significant reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the near term.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

GRAPHITE–MOLTEN SALT CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMPONENTS IN NUCLEAR APPLICATIONS

The new High Temperature Reactor (HTR) designs being considered for future Gen IV nuclear reactor deployment include designs utilizing molten salt as the primary coolant. These molten-salt cooled, graphite core designs pose new material compatibility challenges that are not considered within the gas-cooled HTR designs that have been previously built and operated. While the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) demonstrated that the molten salt can be considered chemically inert to graphite the novel physical and thermal interactions that the molten salt poses may be just as impactful as the chemical reactivity. Specifically, molten salt intrusion into the open pore structure of nuclear graphite grades can provide additional internal stresses within the microstructure exacerbating the stress buildup from irradiation induced dimensional change. Additionally, designs using a molten salt containing liquid fuel could provide “hot spots” within graphite structural components causing local thermal stresses. Abrasion and erosion concerns are magnified with molten salt due to the extremely high density of the salts (some have higher densities than the structural graphite components). Finally, the graphite-graphite and fuel pebble-graphite tribological behavior are distinctly difference within the molten salt from the inert gas environments and must be investigated. These topics and others are currently under investigation within the DOE Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) graphite program and will be discussed in depth.

Gallego, Nidia↗
DOE OSTI2023

Performance Characterization and Energy Savings Assessment of a Radial Flux Surface Permanent Magnet Motor Technology

This project is part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) "Commercialization Assistance Program" to provide technical expertise to help emerging companies overcome technical barriers to commercialization. In this study, NREL has evaluated the efficiency and energy saving potential of a novel motor technology designed by ZEUS Motor Inc. located in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The motor expands on permanent magnet AC motor (PMAC) design to create a new "radial flux, surface PMAC", or RF-sPMAC motor that is expected to outperform other novel motor technologies on the market. Here, the motor showed considerable energy benefits over typical induction motors. The motor benefits from a tightly-packed magnetic steel and copper stator that allows the motor size to be reduced to a thin disc with an internal cavity 1/30th the size of a traditional induction motor. The housing is also aluminum which is magnetically benign. This eliminates the need for external cooling (up to 25 HP), in addition to reducing power consumption.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗