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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Air Pollutant Emissions and Regulatory Implications of Co-Processing Raw Bio-Oil in U.S. Petroleum Refineries

Pyrolysis oil, often referred as bio-oil or biocrude, has attracted considerable attention because it has higher energy density and carbon content compared to the raw biomass. Using pyrolysis oil derived from low cost and underutilized biomass to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels provides a viable link between the agriculture/forestry and (petro-) chemical industry. Co-processing bio-oil with vacuum gas oil (VGO) in petroleum refinery is appealing due to the relatively low capital requirement to retrofit refinery and the compatibility of fuel products with existing infrastructure. In order to implement co-processing, a petroleum refinery would need to consider several process modifications and therefore could be subject to varying levels of air permitting requirements based on bio-oil co-processing ratio, co-processing capacity in existing units, the amount of regulated pollutants expected to be emitted, among other factors. This analysis considers co-processing 5% (by weight) of raw bio-oil with VGO in the fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) unit(s) in a petroleum refinery. We estimate the potential increase in emissions of regulated air pollutants resulting from the modifications required to implement bio-oil co-processing and evaluate the regulatory and permitting implications for three FCC size categories in the U.S. refineries, which could co-processes raw bio-oil to produce partially renewable transportation fuels. We also assess technically feasible emission control options petroleum refineries could adopt to avoid being subject to major source permitting requirements if the estimated increase in regulated air pollutant emission exceeds the applicable threshold for major modifications. Insights from our analysis can help overcome challenges and risks associated with timely obtaining air permits required to implement bio-oil co-processing in existing refineries. Our analysis also provides needed information for decision makers (e.g., local air quality agencies) to understand the potential air quality implications for retrofitting refineries to co-process bio-oil, particularly in areas with high concentration of petroleum refineries.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Time Dependent Analysis of Laser Heating of Metal Parts in Contact with HE

We consider the time dependent heat transfer of laser energy impinging on metal parts that are in contact with high explosives (HE). The predecessor to this calculation was TN-J4-17-2109, “Heat Transfer Analysis from Laser Energy on Metal Parts in Contact with HE”, which considered the time independent heat transfer and compared to experimental results. The intent here is to extend those results to the time dependent case. The steady-state results were developed because they were the “worst case” from a safety perspective: the steady state represents the highest possible temperature excursion. However, we found that the temperatures achieved were well above the safety limits established by the DOE High Explosives Safety Manual. Moreover, they were well above the safety limit published by the LANL / Weapons Facilities Operations (WFO) in WFO-OS-ES-48, which establishes an upper temperature limit of 70°C for metal in contact with High Explosive (HE). The J-4 response to the original results was to design, build, and deploy an interlock system for DARHT that would ensure no laser energy on the firing point when both personnel and HE were present. This system was tested and proved effective, refer TP-DARHT-1150, (12/19/2016). It was reviewed and approved by the LANL Explosives Instrumentation Review Committee, refer PRES-J4-16-2140, “DARHT Laser Diagnostics Interlock System: Presentation to the EIRC”, (2016). Although the interlock system prevented personnel from being on the firing point under conditions where the diagnostic lasers would heat metal above the WFO limit, the WFO limit was still exceeded during the Multiplexed Photonic Doppler Velocimetry (MPDV) tuning process. The only practical solution is to limit the amount of time that the MPDV lasers are engaged at full power. The diagnostics interlock system was implemented with laser shutters that can fully interrupt the beams, and these shutters can be used to limit the amount of time that the lasers will impinge on the hydrotest assembly. It is the purpose of this paper to provide quantitative guidance on what length of time can be permitted during this tuning process. Therefore, we will solve the time-dependent heat transfer equation to determine the temperature increase as a function of time. This function can be inverted to determine the maximum allowable time for energizing the lasers based on the maximum allowable temperature at the metal to HE interface.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Reuse Permit I-161-02 Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for Required Environmental and Process Monitoring Idaho National Laboratory Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Complex Cold Waste Ponds

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued Reuse Permit No. I-161-02 (hereafter permit) for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Complex Cold Waste Ponds (CWP) on November 20, 2014, with minor Modification 1 effective March 7, 2017. Permit Section 3 compliance activity (CA), CA-161-02, requires the permittee to prepare and implement a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) within 6 months of permit issuance. This QAPP is prepared in accordance with CA-161-02 using a template provided by DEQ.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Cross-Correlation Analysis of Digital Speckle Photography

This paper describes new algorithms for processing noisy specklograms, which permit quantitative diagnostics of the microstructure of shock-wave flows with a subpicosecond accuracy with the use of statistical analysis of numerically registered speckle fields disturbed by the refraction in the investigated flows. The software developed by us permits reconstructing up to 10,000 vector angles of probe radiation deflection in a two-dimensional region of size 20 × 30 mm{sup 2} in imaging a speckle field with optical magnification M = 1.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Review of Irrigation Modernization and Conduit Hydropower Funding and Support Programs

This memo reviews and evaluates existing funding mechanisms that support off-farm irrigation modernization and conduit hydropower projects. Irrigation modernization projects, both on and off-farm, can be challenging to move through planning, permitting, development and installation processes and some evidence indicates that funding mechanisms can be a barrier to successful deployments. This memo is important because access to equitably and efficiently deployed project planning and development funding may be a key pre-requisite to increasing the pace and scale of irrigation modernization project deployments that incorporate hydropower. We evaluated an array of federal and state funding programs and took a close look at Energy Trust of Oregon’s funding mechanisms due to the organization’s apparent success in increasing the pace and scale of modernization in its state.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project Overcomes Challenges to Complete Treatment of Debris Waste - 20616

The Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP), operated by Fluor Idaho for the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, completed the last of its debris waste treatment in the fall of 2019. Concluding that work-scope was certainly not without its challenges. Fluor Idaho and its employees had to adapt to treating extremely challenging waste types, such as high-fissile gram materials and potentially pyrophoric and reactive wastes coming down the stretch. It also had to complete the sizing of large waste boxes from Mound Laboratories in inner-contamination enclosures designed to capture the extremely fine, 'flighty' plutonium-238 in its high-efficiency particulate air filters. Very few waste treatment facilities in the DOE Complex have completed their missions. In fact, most large-scale waste treatment facilities are still under construction with many months or years remaining before 'hot operations' begin. AMWTP is unique because it functioned as a 'one-stop shop.' Transuranic and low-level waste characterization, treatment, certification, and shipping all occurred there. AMWTP concluded the most challenging part of its mission and will continue to ship material out of the state of Idaho for the next decade. This paper will provide a background of the AMWTP mission, and the adaptations to its operating permit, equipment, or treatment processes to address challenging waste types. AMWTP will leave behind a legacy of being one of the most successful waste treatment facilities in the history of the DOE Complex. The facility was well-conceived, well-constructed, and well-executed; it was done right from start to finish. During the course of its waste treatment mission, the facility was required to adapt to changing conditions by treating extremely challenging waste types. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Distributed PV permitting survey responses

In 2019, NREL, in partnership with the Solar Energy Industries Association, developed a survey for PV installers on their experiences with delays and cancelations in the adoption process, including the impacts of permitting and interconnection. This dataset includes the anonymized responses from 147 representatives from 136 solar install companies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Insight into the BiFeO 3 flash sintering process by in-situ energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (ED-XRD)

The sintering mechanism of BiFeO 3 has been investigated in-situ by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (ED-XRD) using a high-energy white collimated X-ray beam from the Advanced Photon Source (Argonne National Laboratories). Such radiation is very penetrating thereby allowing measurements of the sample even when placed inside the flash sintering set up. Additionally, the fast ED-XRD measurements permit monitoring the flash sintering process by providing information about phase composition and sample temperature in real time. Moreover, profile scans, obtained by moving the stage vertically while recording the ED-XRD spectra, permit investigating the homogeneity of the flash for the entire length of the sample. All experiments have been complemented by ex-situ studies. Here, it has been concluded that flash sintering of BiFeO 3 is a homogeneous process without any directionality effects. Furthermore, flash sintering takes place at quite low temperatures (below the Tc ≈ 830 °C), which may be related to the high quality of the samples, as pure, highly insulating ceramics without evidence of secondary phases with a homogenous nanostructured grain size distribution are obtained by this technique. Moreover, it is also evidenced that the rapid heating of the sample does not seem to justify, at least by itself, the densification process. Therefore, it appears that the electric current should play a role in the enhanced mobility during the sintering process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Reuse Permit I-160-02Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for Required Environmental and Process MonitoringIdaho National Laboratory Materials and Fuels Complex Industrial Waste Ditch and Pond

The purpose of this quality assurance project plan (QAPP) is to describe the technical requirements and quality assurance (QA) activities of the environmental data collection/analyses operations to be performed under Reuse Permit I-160-02, Modification 1 (hereafter ‘permit’). It describes the scope of monitoring, the organization and persons involved, the data quality objectives, the monitoring procedures, and the specific quality control (QC) measures to be employed. All QAPP activities are implemented to determine whether the results of the sampling and monitoring performed are the right type, quantity, and quality to satisfy the requirements of the permit, Section 5.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Atmospheric Solid Analysis Probe Coupled to Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry, a Fast and Simple Method for Polyalphaolefin Characterization

Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) are polymers produced from linear alpha olefins through catalytic oligomerization processes. The PAOs are known as synthetic high-performance base stock fluids used to improve the efficiency of many other synthetic products. In this study, we report the direct characterization of PAOs using atmospheric solid analysis probe (ASAP) coupled with ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS). We studied different PAOs grades exhibiting low- and high-viscosity index. Specific adjustments of the ASAP source parameters permitted the monitoring of ionization processes as three mechanisms could occur for these compounds: hydride abstraction, nitrogen addition, and/or the formation of [M−2H]{sup +•} ions. Several series of fragment ions were obtained, which allowed the identification of the alpha olefin used to synthesize the PAO. The use of the ion mobility separation dimension provides information on isomeric species. In addition, the drift time versus m/z plots permitted rapid comparison between PAO samples and to evidence their complexity. These 2D plots appear as fingerprints of PAO samples. To conclude, the resort to ASAP-IMS-MS provides a rapid characterization of the PAO samples in a direct analysis approach, without any sample preparation. .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Data Analytics for Residential PV from Permit to Interconnect (Final Technical Report)

The main objective of this research is to provide novel insights into the effects of permitting, inspection, and interconnection (PII) processes on PV system installations—and in particular, into the relationship between PII processes and adoption timelines. This research can then be used to clarify the potential effect of various process changes on reducing PII timelines, customer cancellation rates, and related costs nationwide. NREL completed this research by assembling a data set of distributed, largely residential rooftop solar systems less than 50 kilowatts in size from participating solar installers. NREL produced five publications describing the effects that PII processes can have on adoption timelines nationwide, in addition to publishing an interactive data viewer with five years of PII cycle time data. This tool can be used by stakeholders to identify potential adoption timelines by local government.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Solar and Battery Storage Permitting and Siting Requirements - Solar Prize Round 7 (CRADA Final Report)

The purpose of this project is to identify local zoning ordinances, state permitting requirements, federal regulatory bottlenecks throughout the development process, and the potential to use Large Language Models (LLM) and aggregate permitting and interconnection data for commercial and industrial (C&I), community, and utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Assessment of Precipitating Marine Stratocumulus Clouds in the E3SMv1 Atmosphere Model: A Case Study from the ARM MAGIC Field Campaign

This paper presents a process-oriented evaluation of precipitating stratocumulus and its transition to cumulus in version 1 of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1) using comprehensive case-study observations from a field campaign of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program (ARM). The E3SMv1 single-column model (SCM) of the marine boundary layer and its low clouds and precipitation are compared to observations including subcloud drizzle retrievals from a combination of Doppler radar and lidar backscatter measurements. Additionally, the SCM is also compared to a large-eddy simulation (LES) of the same case. The combination of advanced remote sensing observations and LES is a powerful framework to evaluate the physical parameterizations of large-scale models. Given the observed large-scale environment, the E3SMv1 SCM realistically represents the evolution of clouds and boundary layer structure during the stratocumulus-to-cumulus transition. The model well simulates the liquid water path and its diurnal cycle in the stratocumulus period as well as the two-layer vertical thermodynamic structure and lower cloud fraction in the transition period. E3SMv1’s success in simulating the cloud in the stratocumulus period permitted examination of its precipitation processes. Here problems were identified with E3SMv1 producing an unrealistically small subcloud precipitation fraction, an unrealistic double peak in the vertical profiles of precipitation mass, and drizzle that evaporates too close to the surface. Further model diagnostics determined that these unrealistic characteristics resulted from an overly long microphysics time step and an unrealistic parameterization of the precipitation fraction. These results imply that careful consideration of these issues is needed in order to better simulate precipitation processes in marine stratocumulus.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Life-Cycle Approaches in Computerized Vehicle Design and Additive Technology

Computer engineering permits the creation of models closely matching actual processes and vehicle designs. Production costs may be significantly reduced, while additive technologies permit customized production, with minimal expenditure of time and materials in development and prototyping. Such technologies may expediently be used in digital design of vehicles, taking account of the complete product life cycle.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Community Guide to Regulatory Barriers Affecting Microgrids (Reports 1-3)

In response to growing risks of power outages from extreme weather and aging infrastructure, communities are increasingly exploring the potential of microgrids to provide reliable energy access. Microgrids offer promising solutions to meet this challenge but face a complex landscape of non-technical barriers, particularly regulations concerning the provision and distribution of energy. Most existing legal and regulatory frameworks were designed for a centralized, one-way power system, and are often poorly suited to handle systems that independently balance distributed energy resources with local load. This three-part report series provides a strategic analysis of existing regulatory and legal factors affecting microgrid deployments to help non-technical community leaders and decision-makers better understand the feasibility of a microgrid in their community. -Report No. 1: Foundational Issues Facing Microgrids details the universal policy barriers all microgrids face, including utility interconnection processes, rate structures, and local permitting. -Report No. 2: Single Property Microgrids outlines how direct asset ownership and operating behind-the-meter can bypass some regulatory oversight, using the Blue Lake Rancheria microgrid as a case study. -Report No. 3: Multi-Property Microgrids tackles the complex challenges of crossing public rights-of-way and navigating utility franchise rights, highlighting the Coventry microgrid project. The series equips decision-makers with phased frameworks to navigate financial and regulatory complexities, engage effectively with local utilities and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs), and structure successful microgrid projects.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗