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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 OSTI2021

Modeling and Evaluation of Cyber-Attacks on Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings

Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) are not only exposed to passive threats (e.g., physical faults) but also active threats such as cyber-attacks launched on the network-based control systems. The impact of cyber-attacks on GEB operation are not yet fully understood, especially as regards the performance of grid services. To quantify the consequences of cyber-attacks on GEBs, this paper proposes a modeling and simulation framework that includes different cyber-attack models and key performance indexes to quantify the performance of GEB operation under cyber-attacks. The framework is numerically demonstrated to model and evaluate cyber-attacks such as data intrusion attacks and Denial-of-Service attacks on a typical medium-sized office building that uses the BACnet/IP protocol for communication networks. Simulation results show that, while different types of attacks could compromise the building systems to different extents, attacks via the remote control of a chiller yield the most significant consequences on a building system’s operation, including both the building service and the grid service. It is also noted that a cyber-attack impacts the building systems during the attack period as well as the post-attack period, which suggests that both periods should be considered to fully evaluate the consequences of a cyber-attack.

Fu, Yanyang↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Flexible and Generic Functional Mock-up Unit Based Threat Injection Framework for Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings: A Case Study in Modelica

Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) have been considered as an important asset to support the power grid reliability by utilizing the demand flexibility offered by GEBs. GEBs are enabled by advances in sensors and controls, and the communication between building equipment, whole buildings, and the grid. The integration of different building technologies and network-based communication system makes GEBs vulnerable to passive threats such as equipment failure and active threats such as cyber-attacks. Modeling and simulation is an effective way to evaluate the impact of threats on the system performance. This paper proposes a generic and flexible threat injection framework for commonly-used building energy simulators such as EnergyPlus and Modelica to support threat modeling and evaluation. This framework leverages functional mock-up unit (FMU) to develop a general modeling interface for threat injection and simulation. A numerical case study using Modelica as a building energy simulator is conducted to demonstrate the capability of the framework for supporting single/multiple-order threat modeling and simulation of a GEB. Four threats and their combinations are injected on a Modelica-based threat-free building energy and control system, including operating supply fan at its full speed, remotely cycling the chiller on and off, blocking the chiller from receiving the chilled water supply temperature setpoints, and hijacking the global zone air temperature setpoint. Simulation results show that the cyber-attack that leads to short-term signal blocking has small effects on the system operation due to the "self-healing" feature of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) interactive control system. The threat that takes control of resetting the global zone air temperature setpoints has the most adverse impact on the system energy use, peak power demand, thermal comfort and the provision of demand flexibility. The combination of four threats have aggregative effects on the system but the effects are less than the additive effects of the individual threat.

Fu, Yanyang↗
DOE OSTI2019

Host-Free Yellow-Green Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with External Quantum Efficiency over 20% Based on a Compound Exhibiting Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

Thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials are advantageous as emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) due to their ability to utilize all excited states formed by charge recombination for light emission, potentially leading to 100% internal quantum efficiency. As in conventional fluorescent or phosphorescent OLEDs, TADF emitters are commonly doped at a relatively low concentration in a host matrix. However, increasing evidence suggest that balanced ambipolar transport properties and small aggregation-induced fluorescence quenching allows TADF emitters to be used alone in so-called host-free OLEDs. Here, we report on host-free OLEDs in which the EMLs consist solely of a yellow-green-emitting TADF compound, 5,5'-(2,3,5,6-tetra(carbazol-9-yl)-1,4-phenylene)bis(2-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole), TCZPBOX. Devices with this host-free EML yield a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 21%, current efficacy (CE) of 73 cd/A, and power efficacy (PE) of 79 lm/W at a luminance of 10 cd/m 2 . At a high luminance of 10,000 cd/m 2 , a high EQE of 13% is maintained. A maximum luminance of 120,000 cd/m2 is reached at an applied voltage of 9.8 V. When TCZPBOX was doped in the host of 2,6-di(carbazol-9-yl)-pyridine (PYD2) at 40 wt. %, the device yielded a maximum EQE of 28%, CE of 94 cd/A, and PE of 100 lm/W at 10 cd/m 2 .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparison of Load Models for Estimating Electrical Efficiency in DC Microgrids: Preprint

This paper compares several electrical load models for estimating the efficiency of DC vs. AC distribution in microgrids. Candidate models include energy balance, harmonic power flow, and time-domain modeling. Model results are compared with numerical studies and validated with experimental measurements. Based on quantitative and qualitative considerations, the most appropriate load modeling approach for larger-scale DC distribution efficiency studies is proposed.

DC distribution↗
DOE OSTI2021

Building Energy Codes and Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings: How building energy codes can enable a more dynamic and energy-efficient built environment

This report considers the role of national model codes to promote grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) as part of the modernization of the U.S. electricity grid. It introduces GEBs, describes their ability to support a clean, resilient grid, and considers challenges and approaches for incorporating GEB measures into national model energy codes and standards. Desirable traits of GEB include being low energy, low peaking, and responsive to grid needs, and minimizing the curtailment of renewable energy resources. In addition, the future grid incurs a time and locational value on these types of building services. Accounting for these considerations in future code development requires a continuation and expansion of code-minimum energy efficiency requirements and inclusion of demand responsive and load flexibility measures while ensuring annual use and cost reductions. Also, efforts to include GEB measures in codes will be limited until they are fully developed into an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved standard. Then it would be straightforward to address GEB measures through points or packages and/or scoring requirements. Otherwise, the building code would have to describe each specific grid responsive strategy. This document reviews topics pertinent to considering codes in this context. Specifically, the study presents the status and direction of current building energy codes, the future smart grid, low-energy buildings, and grid-integrated buildings. The report concludes with recommendations for future code development activities to support low-energy, grid-interactive buildings in order to provide added value to building owners, the grid, and society.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Highly Efficient Ternary Solar Cells with Efficient Förster Resonance Energy Transfer for Simultaneously Enhanced Photovoltaic Parameters

Introducing a third component into organic bulk heterojunction solar cells has become an effective strategy to improve photovoltaic performance. Meanwhile, the rapid development of non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) has pushed the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) to a higher standard. In this study, a series of fullerene-free ternary solar cells are fabricated based on a wide bandgap acceptor, IDTT-M, together with a wide bandgap donor polymer PM6 and a narrow bandgap NFA Y6. Insights from the morphological and electronic characterizations reveal that IDTT-M has been incorporated into Y6 domains without disrupting its molecular packing and sacrificing its electron mobility and work synergistically with Y6 to regulate the packing pattern of PM6, leading to enhanced hole mobility and suppressed recombination. IDTT-M further functions as an energy-level mediator that increases open-circuit voltage ( V OC ) in ternary devices. In addition, efficient Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between IDTT-M and Y6 provides a non-radiative pathway for facilitating exciton dissociation and charge collection. As a result, the optimized ternary device features a significantly improved PCE up to 16.63% with simultaneously enhanced short-circuit current ( J SC ), V OC , and fill factor (FF).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Melt-Centrifuged (Bi,Sb) 2 Te 3 : Engineering Microstructure toward High Thermoelectric Efficiency

Microstructure engineering is an effective strategy to reduce lattice thermal conductivity (JG) and enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT). Through a new process based on melt-centrifugation to squeeze out excess eutectic liquid, microstructure modulation is realized to manipulate the formation of dislocations and clean grain boundaries, resulting in a porous network with a platelet structure. In this way, phonon transport is strongly disrupted by a combination of porosity, pore surfaces/junctions, grain boundaries, and lattice dislocations. These collectively result in a ≈60% reduction of JG compared to zone melted ingot, while the charge carriers remain relatively mobile across the liquid-fused grains. This porous mate­rial displays a zT value of 1.2, which is higher than fully dense conventional zone melted ingots and hot pressed (Bi,Sb) 2 Te 3 alloys. A segmented leg of melt-centrifuged Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3 and Bi 0.3 Sb 1.7 Te 3 could produce a high device ZT exceeding 1.0 over the whole temperature range of 323-523 K and an efficiency up to 9%. Here, we demonstrate a method for synthe­sizing high-efficiency porous thermoelectric materials through an uncon­ventional melt-centrifugation technique.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Highly Efficient Blue OLEDs Based on Metal‐Assisted Delayed Fluorescence Pd(II) Complexes

Abstract A series of metal‐assisted delayed fluorescence (MADF) palladium(II) complexes, PdN1N, PdN1N‐dm, and PdN6N, are studied. Their 77 K photoluminescence emission spectra show a narrow primary emission peak at 464, 466, and 470 nm, respectively, with small vibronic peaks characteristic of many phosphorescent emitters. At room temperature (300 K), the dominant emission peaks for PdN1N, PdN1N‐dm, and PdN6N are slightly redshifted to 472, 470, and 476 nm, respectively. In the meantime, a broad sideband is also shown between 410 and 450 nm due to the MADF process. A blue device employing PdN1N‐dm demonstrates an electroluminescence emission peak at 476 nm and the maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 25.1%. The high maximum EQE of the blue organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) device indicates that both the phosphorescence and the delayed fluorescence are very efficient. In addition, a stable OLED device of PdN1N‐dm gives a maximum EQE of 9.8% and the estimated operational lifetime LT 70 of 350 h at the practical luminance of 100 cd m −2 .

Zhu, Zhi‐Qiang↗
DOE OSTI2017

Understanding Film Formation Morphology and Orientation in High Member 2D Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskites for High-Efficiency Solar Cells

We report that 2D Ruddlesden–Popper (RP) perovskites have recently emerged as promising candidates for hybrid perovskite photovoltaic cells, realizing power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of over 10% with technologically relevant stability. To achieve solar cell performance comparable to the state-of-the-art 3D perovskite cells, it is highly desirable to increase the conductivity and lower the optical bandgap for enhanced near-IR region absorption by increasing the perovskite slab thickness. Here, the use of the 2D higher member (n = 5) RP perovskite (n-butyl-NH 3 ) 2 (MeNH 3 ) 4 Pb 5 I 16 in depositing highly oriented thin films from dimethylformamide/dimethylsulfoxide mixtures using the hot-casting method is reported. In addition, they exhibit superior environmental stability over thin films of their 3D counterpart. These films are assembled into high-efficiency solar cells with an open-circuit voltage of ≈1 V and PCE of up to 10%. This is achieved by fine-tuning the solvent ratio, crystal growth orientation, and grain size in the thin films. Finally, the enhanced performance of the optimized devices is ascribed to the growth of micrometer-sized grains as opposed to more typically obtained nanometer grain size and highly crystalline, densely packed microstructures with the majority of the inorganic slabs preferentially aligned out of plane to the substrate, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering mapping.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Accurate Determination of Coulombic Efficiency for Lithium Metal Anodes and Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium (Li) metal is an ideal anode material for high energy density batteries. However, its low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and formation of dendrites during the plating and stripping processes has hindered its applications in rechargeable Li metal batteries. The accurate measurement of Li CE is a critical factor to predict the cycle life of Li metal batteries, but the measurement of Li CE is affected by various factors that often leads to conflicting values reported in the literature. Here, we investigate various factors that affect the measurement of Li CE and propose a more accurate method of determining Li CE. It was also found that the capacity used for cycling greatly affects the stabilization cycles and the average CE. A higher cycling capacity leads to a shorter number of stabilization cycles and higher average CE. With a proper high-concentration ether-based electrolyte, Li metal can be cycled with a high average CE of 99.5 % for over 100 cycles at a high capacity of 6 mAh cm-2 suitable for practical applications.

Adams, Brian D.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Low-Defect and Low-Porosity Hard Carbon with High Coulombic Efficiency and High Capacity for Practical Sodium Ion Battery Anode

Hard carbon is regarded as the most promising anode material for commercialization of Na ion batteries because of its high capacity and low cost. At present, the practical utilization of hard carbon anodes is largely limited by the low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE). Na ions have been found to adopt an adsorption–insertion storage mechanism. In this paper a systematic way to control the defect concentration and porosity of hard carbon with similar overall architectures is shown. This study elucidates that the defects in the graphite layers are directly related to the ICE as they would trap Na ions and create a repulsive electric field for other Na ions so as to shorten the low-voltage intercalation capacity. The obtained low defect and porosity hard carbon electrode has achieved the highest ICE of 86.1% (94.5% for pure hard carbon material by subtracting that of the conductive carbon black), reversible capacity of 361 mA h g-1, and excellent cycle stability (93.4% of capacity retention over 100 cycles). This result sheds light on feasible design principles for high performance Na storage hard carbon: suitable carbon layer distance and defect free graphitic layers.

Xiao, Lifen↗