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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Corrosion Testing Of Additively Manufactured Stainless Steel 316H In Molten Salt Environments

The development of a new ASTM standard for evaluating the corrosion resistance of additive manufactured (AM) stainless steel (SS) 316H in chloride molten salts is critical for the use of these materials in extreme environments such as molten salt reactors (MSRs). This report pertains to a work package of the Advaned Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) developing a systematic methodology to link changes in AM fabrication parameters, namely surface finishing, porosity, microstructure, and chemical heterogeneity, to corrosion performance in NaCl-MgCl2 salt, a proposed secondary coolant for MSRs. During Fiscal Year 2024, Idaho National Laboratory investigators in the AMMT program, utilized SS316H bars, fabricated with laser bed powder fusion at Los Alamos National Laboratory, to establish and optimize the workflow for evaluating these process-to-performance relationships. Standard practices for specimen preparation were established using these specimens, with particular focus on descaling and sectioning methods that align with ASTM guidelines. A comprehensive experimental design for static corrosion testing was developed, with pre- and post-exposure analysis utilizing optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. So far standard descaling techniques were optimized, one static corrosion test was conducted on the LANL AM SS316H specimens, and pre- and post-corrosion practices were established. In addition, the work package yielded a review paper on corrosion testing gaps for AM materials in nuclear applications and submitted a proposal for a rapid-turnaround experiment to the Nuclear Science User Facilities Program to investigate the combined effects of proton irradiation and corrosion on AM SS316H. This work package establishes a foundation for evaluating processing-to-performance relationships for AM SS316H in harsh conditions, contributing to the safe and efficient design of components for next-generation nuclear reactors. The creation of a standardized methodology and the generation of relevant publications and future research pathways represent significant strides towards integrating AM materials into critical applications where corrosion resistance is paramount.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Guide for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings for Federal Agencies

This guide provides an overview of GEB characteristics and benefits and how to analyze, identify, and implement GEB retrofit opportunities. It is important to understand the building’s systems as well as what utility program offerings are available at the site (e.g., time-of-use, electricity rates, demand charges, demand response programs, etc.). It is also important to understand the key goals for the site (e.g., environmental, cost savings, energy savings) and the current energy usage breakdown by equipment and load profile variability by day, month, and season.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

The ADAQ framework: An integrated toolkit for data acquisition and analysis with real and simulated radiation detectors

Here, the ADAQ framework is a collection of software tools that is designed to streamline the acquisition and analysis of radiation detector data produced in modern digital data acquisition (DAQ) systems and in Monte Carlo detector simulations. The purpose of the framework is to maximize user scientific pro-ductivity by minimizing the effort and expertise required to fully utilize radiation detectors in a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines. By using a single set of tools to span the real and simulation domains, the framework eliminates redundancy and provides an integrated workflow for high-fidelity comparison between experimental and simulated detector performance. Built on the ROOT data analysis framework, the core of the ADAQ framework is a set of Cþþ and Python libraries that enable high-level control of digital DAQ systems and detector simulations with data stored into standardized binary ROOT files for further analysis. Two graphical user interface programs utilize the libraries to create powerful tools: ADAQAcquisition handles control and readout of real-world DAQ systems and ADAQAnalysis provides data analysis and visualization methods for experimental and simulated data. At present, the ADAQ framework supports digital DAQ hardware from CAEN S.p.A. and detector simulations performed in Geant4; however, the modular design will facilitate future extension to other manufacturers and simulation platforms.

detector simulation↗
DOE OSTI2022

End-Use Load Profiles for the U.S. Building Stock: Technical Advisory Group Meeting #11

A technical advisory group guided the End-Use Load Profiles dataset development to ensure that the direction and outcomes of the work were aligned with market needs. The technical advisory group included roughly 100 representatives from organizations that were likely to use the resulting load profiles in their work, including utility companies, utility program implementers, grid operators, consultancies, research centers, state regulatory agencies, and regional energy efficiency organizations. This is the presentation from TAG Meeting #11.

buildings↗
DOE OSTI2017

Residential green power demand in the United States

This paper investigates the demand determinants of green power in the U.S. residential sector. The data employed were collected by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and consist of a cross-section of seven utilities observed over 13 years. A series of tests are performed that resulted in estimating a demand equation using the one-way cross-section random effects model. As expected, we find that demand is highly price inelastic. More interestingly though, is that elasticity with respect to number of customers is 0.52 leading to the conclusion that new subscribers tend to purchase less green power on average than the existing customers. Another compelling finding is that obtaining accreditation will have a 28.5% positive impact on consumption. Knowing that gaining green accreditation is important to the success of programs, utilities may want to seek certification and highlight it in their advertising campaigns.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Comfort Model Simplification for Tight Integration with Grid Service Optimizations

Localized generation, storage, and intelligent power electronics are increasingly being integrated into building. The excess storage, thermal, and generation capacity can be used to develop new markets for ancillary services such as peak reduction, voltage and frequency support, or load flattening. Widespread participation in these markets will make the power grid more resilient. However, widespread participation in these markets will require a simple and intuitive control over the excess capacity by the building occupants. Most importantly for adopting these technologies, participation in these markets should not require sacrificing occupant comfort. Many of the proposed control and optimization technologies for supplying the ancillary services do not explicitly incorporate occupant comfort into their models and when they do, generally utilize a rigid constraint on the indoor air temperature set a priori. This reduces flexibility in using excess thermal capacity. It also cannot take into account uncertainties in local factors that affect thermal comfort such as clothing insulation or relative humidity. In this paper we present and justify some assumptions that simplify the standard predictors of thermal comfort. We also develop a regression model of the thermal comfort that is linear with respect to the indoor air temperature. Next we develop the concept of thermal comfort variation that eliminates the dependence of the thermal comfort on uncertain thermal comfort factors. Then, we present a quadratic program utilizing the thermal comfort variation in both the objective function and as a constraint. Finally, we show the results of a time-of-use cost optimization that utilizes the simplified thermal comfort model.

Melin, Alexander↗
DOE OSTI2013

Overheating in Hot Water- and Steam-Heated Multifamily Buildings

Apartment temperature data have been collected from the archives of companies that provide energy management systems (EMS) to multifamily buildings in the Northeast U.S. The data have been analyzed from more than 100 apartments in eighteen buildings where EMS systems were already installed to quantify the degree of overheating. This research attempts to answer the question, 'What is the magnitude of apartment overheating in multifamily buildings with central hot water or steam heat?' This report provides valuable information to researchers, utility program managers and building owners interested in controlling heating energy waste and improving resident comfort. Apartment temperature data were analyzed for deviation from a 70 degrees F desired setpoint and for variation by heating system type, apartment floor level and ambient conditions. The data shows that overheating is significant in these multifamily buildings with both hot water and steam heating systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fiscal Year 2024 Software Quality Assurance Activities for the ARC Software

The continued goal of the ARC SQA project in the Advanced Reactor Technologies program of DOE is to resolve the QA gaps for the ARC software that limit, or prevent, commercialization of the software for industry users. This project started in earnest in fiscal year 2023 which saw the entire code system moved from a SVN repository to a GitLab repository and an associated software quality assurance plan (SQAP) developed and ratified. Most of the QA gaps in the ARC software were identified in collaboration with industry partners and work begin in fiscal year 2023 and continued in 2024. The primary documentation that is missing includes user manuals, user guides, software verification reports, and code coverage assessments. The SUMMAR manual was completed this fiscal year and work was started on creating manuals for SE2ANL, SE2RCT, and DASSH. Software verification work was carried out for DIF3D and REBUS in a previous program and the current fiscal year saw the completion of software verification reports for GAMSOR, GAMSRC, VARPOW, EvaluateFlux, and SUMMAR. The goal for the next fiscal year is to complete the PERSENT software verification work and begin planning the software verification work for DASSH, SE2ANL, and SE2RCT. The code coverage reports for DIF3D and MC2-3 were completed in the previous fiscal year and the goal is to generate code coverage reports for REBUS, GAMSOR, PERSENT, and DASSH in the coming fiscal year. A considerable amount of effort was spent in the current fiscal year working on the continuous integration capability for automated regression testing in GitLab. The first version of the testing was created in the previous fiscal year and applied to DIF3D and its utility programs. That testing was extended this year to cover GAMSOR, REBUS, and PERSENT. To accomplish this, the first version of the new testing methodology had to be updated to make a single output checking methodology viable for all of the ARC software. This will result in a single document to detail the automated regression testing methodology and minor documents to detail the tolerance settings that have been applied to the output for each ARC code. The previous methodology put into place with SVN would have required a separate document for each ARC code to detail the output checking methodology and the tolerance settings for the output from each code. Because some of our industry partners are providing funds to add new capabilities to the ARC software to meet their needs, all of which must be reviewed and approved by the SQA program funded by this project, a summary of that development work is detailed in this report. Overall progress on resolving the QA gaps has been good this year with the most impactful improvement for our industry partners in capability being the creation of a threaded version of DIF3D-VARIANT that allows the DIF3D, REBUS, and GAMSOR run times to be reduced by a factor of 4-6. The most impactful QA gap that was resolved was the software verification of GAMSRC and VARPOW.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Status of 1eNp0π Charged-Current Electron Neutrino Cross Section on Argon in the NuMI Beam at ICARUS

The Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) Program is designed to probe short-baseline neutrino anomalies, including the LSND electron neutrino excess and the MiniBooNE low-energy excess. Essential to interpreting these anomalies and to the success of future experiments like DUNE, is the precise measurement of neutrino-argon interaction cross sections. The program utilizes two liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detectors: the Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) located 110 meters downstream from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) target, and the ICARUS detector positioned 600 meters downstream. Additionally, the ICARUS detector lies off-axis to the NuMI beamline, providing a unique, high-statistics flux of electron neutrinos and sensitivity to energies that overlap with the DUNE spectrum. To analyze the data from these detectors, we have begun employing a machine-learning-based reconstruction algorithm referred to as “Scalable Particle Imaging with Neural Embeddings” (SPINE). SPINE has shown improvement in the ability to reconstruct the properties of final state particles in the detector, like the particle ID and momentum, with the potential to enhance the quality of measurements achievable within the SBN Program e.g., the resolution on kinematics used in differential cross section extraction. This poster presents progress toward measuring the electron neutrino argon interaction cross section in the 1eNp0π topology using the NuMI beam, highlighting the impact of SPINE through the ability to select signal events across a wide kinematic range without sacrificing background rejection power.

Carber, Dan [Colorado State U.] (ORCID:00090006451↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-468: Efficient Scanning Data Analysis for TomoTherapy

Purpose: The standard TomoTherapy 2D scanning system requires manual analysis using spreadsheets or similar software. Manual analysis is time consuming and does not allow efficient use of the medical physicist or timely results that may indicate issues during the acquisition of data. The purpose of this study is to determine if an in-house solution can provide timely analysis of TomoTherapy scan data. Methods: A custom MATLAB program utilizing a streamlined graphical interface was developed to interpret the native scanning data acquired by the TomoTherapy Electrometer Measurement System (TEMS). The gold beam data provided by the manufacturer was used as a baseline for the acquired data. Two separate sets of scan data were used including longitudinal, transverse, and percent depth dose (PDD). The scan data were compared visually in an overlay and analytically for each beam width using the full width half max (FWHM) for longitudinal profiles and difference inside the field core for the transverse profiles as recommended by TG-148. A plot of the PDD percent error at each point along the curve was generated to show agreement. The time to analysis was measured on a laptop running an Intel i5 processor with 8GB of RAM. Results: The software program required on average less than 5 seconds to load and analyze the results. No conversion or reformatting of the data was required. This allowed real-time visualization of the comparison to the gold beam data as well as the parameters recommended by TG-148. The average percent difference was 0.3% for the longitudinal profiles and 0.1% for the transverse profiles. All PDD data was less than 1% different beyond dmax. Conclusion: We have developed a tool to analyze TomoTherapy scan data in real-time. This allows an efficient method to perform beam commissioning, annual QA, and adjust the beam parameters if necessary.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scalability and Effectiveness of Smart Charge Management

The rise in electric vehicle (EV) adoption presents growing challenges for power grids, particularly from simultaneous residential charging, which can cause voltage fluctuations and increase feeder peak loads. Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, initiated a pilot program to evaluate managed residential EV charging through Smart Charge Management (SCM). This study analyzes real-world charging behavior data from the pilot and feeder-level base loads from BGE to simulate residential charging scenarios through 2035 across the Washington, DC–Baltimore region. Grid impacts under unmanaged charging are compared to three SCM strategies: TOU-immediate, TOU-distributed, and Load Balancing. Results show that the magnitude of peak reduction is highly feeder-dependent. Some feeders achieve reductions of more than 40% at high enrollment levels, while others show improvements closer to 10–15%. This heterogeneity reflects differences in baseline feeder load shapes, EV penetration, and plug-in behavior across customers. Results also highlight trade-offs between shifting load away from peak periods and minimizing secondary demand peaks, offering practical insights for future utility program design.

Electric vehicle↗
DOE OSTI2016

A High-Granularity Approach to Modeling Energy Consumption and Savings Potential in the U.S. Residential Building Stock

Building simulations are increasingly used in various applications related to energy efficient buildings. For individual buildings, applications include: design of new buildings, prediction of retrofit savings, ratings, performance path code compliance and qualification for incentives. Beyond individual building applications, larger scale applications (across the stock of buildings at various scales: national, regional and state) include: codes and standards development, utility program design, regional/state planning, and technology assessments. For these sorts of applications, a set of representative buildings are typically simulated to predict performance of the entire population of buildings. Focusing on the U.S. single-family residential building stock, this paper will describe how multiple data sources for building characteristics are combined into a highly-granular database that preserves the important interdependencies of the characteristics. We will present the sampling technique used to generate a representative set of thousands (up to hundreds of thousands) of building models. We will also present results of detailed calibrations against building stock consumption data.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

A High-Granularity Approach to Modeling Energy Consumption and Savings Potential in the U.S. Residential Building Stock: Preprint

Building simulations are increasingly used in various applications related to energy efficient buildings. For individual buildings, applications include: design of new buildings, prediction of retrofit savings, ratings, performance path code compliance and qualification for incentives. Beyond individual building applications, larger scale applications (across the stock of buildings at various scales: national, regional and state) include: codes and standards development, utility program design, regional/state planning, and technology assessments. For these sorts of applications, a set of representative buildings are typically simulated to predict performance of the entire population of buildings. Focusing on the U.S. single-family residential building stock, this paper will describe how multiple data sources for building characteristics are combined into a highly-granular database that preserves the important interdependencies of the characteristics. We will present the sampling technique used to generate a representative set of thousands (up to hundreds of thousands) of building models. We will also present results of detailed calibrations against building stock consumption data.

building stock↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-182: Clinical Implementation of TG71-Based Electron MU Calculation and Comparison with a Commercial Secondary Calculation

Purpose: The TG-71 report was published in 2014 to present standardized methodologies for MU calculations and determination of dosimetric quantities. This work explores the clinical implementation of a TG71-based electron MU calculation algorithm and compares it with a recently released commercial secondary calculation program–Mobius3D (Mobius Medical System, LP). Methods: TG-71 electron dosimetry data were acquired, and MU calculations were performed based on the recently published TG-71 report. The formalism in the report for extended SSD using air-gap corrections was used. The dosimetric quantities, such PDD, output factor, and f-air factors were incorporated into an organized databook that facilitates data access and subsequent computation. The Mobius3D program utilizes a pencil beam redefinition algorithm. To verify the accuracy of calculations, five customized rectangular cutouts of different sizes–6×12, 4×12, 6×8, 4×8, 3×6 cm{sup 2}–were made. Calculations were compared to each other and to point dose measurements for electron beams of energy 6, 9, 12, 16, 20 MeV. Each calculation / measurement point was at the depth of maximum dose for each cutout in a 10×10 cm{sup 2} or 15×15cm{sup 2} applicator with SSDs 100cm and 110cm. Validation measurements were made with a CC04 ion chamber in a solid water phantom for electron beams of energy 9 and 16 MeV. Results: Differences between the TG-71 and the commercial system relative to measurements were within 3% for most combinations of electron energy, cutout size, and SSD. A 5.6% difference between the two calculation methods was found only for the 6MeV electron beam with 3×6 cm{sup 2}cutout in the 10×10{sup 2}cm applicator at 110cm SSD. Both the TG-71 and the commercial calculations show good consistency with chamber measurements: for 5 cutouts, <1% difference for 100cm SSD, and 0.5–2.7% for 110cm SSD. Conclusions: Based on comparisons with measurements, a TG71-based computation method and a Mobius3D program produce reasonably accurate MU calculations for electron-beam therapy.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Energy Efficiency Program Financing

In this technical brief we characterize the programmatic energy efficiency financing market from a quantitative perspective. Financing in this report refers to provision of capital—which is paid back over time—to cover upfront costs of energy efficiency. It does not refer to rebates and other types of incentives. We gather and report data on the volume of capital for energy efficiency financing that originated from five programmatic sources: on-bill programs; other utility financing programs; property assessed clean energy (PACE) programs; state energy office (SEO) revolving loan funds (RLF); and energy savings performance contracting (ESPC) programs. We estimate the amount of investment moving through EE financing programs, the sources of capital they employ, and program availability and activity by geography and market sector (residential and non-residential). We also present information on trends in investment by program type, and on the presence or absence of certain program design features, such as credit enhancements and interest rate buydowns. The result is a much more comprehensive accounting of programmatic energy efficiency financing activity than exists elsewhere.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Codes Don't Always Get Enforced, But Contracts Do: Changing the Procurement Paradigm to Drive Building Energy Performance

New construction could account for more than 25% of the U.S. energy consumption by 2030. Millions of square feet are built every year that will not perform as expected - despite advancing codes, rating systems, super-efficient technologies, and advanced utility programs. With retrofits of these under-performers decades away, savings potential will be lost for years to come. Only the building owner is in the driver's seat to demand - and verify - higher-performing buildings. Yet our current policy and market interventions really target the design team, not the owner. Accelerate Performance, a U.S. Department of Energy funded initiative, is changing the building procurement approach to drive deeper, verified savings in three pilot states: Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut. Performance-based procurement ties energy performance to design and contractor team compensation while freeing them to meet energy targets with strategies most familiar to them. The process teases out the creativity of the design and contracting teams to deliver energy performance - without driving up the construction cost. The paper will share early results and lessons learned from new procurement and contract approaches in government, public, and private sector building projects. The paper provides practical guidance for building owners, facilities managers, design, and contractor teams who wish to incorporate effective performance-based procurement for deeper energy savings in their buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

The TDHF code Sky3D version 1.2

The Sky3D code has been widely used to describe nuclear ground states, collective vibrational excitations, and heavy-ion collisions. The approach is based on Skyrme forces or related energy density functionals. The static and dynamic equations are solved on a three-dimensional grid, and pairing is been implemented in the BCS approximation. This updated version of the code aims to facilitate the calculation of nuclear strength functions in the regime of linear response theory, while retaining all existing functionality and use cases. The strength functions are benchmarked against available RPA codes, and the user has the freedom of choice when selecting the nature of external excitation (from monopole to hexadecapole and more). Some utility programs are also provided that calculate the strength function from the time-dependent output of the dynamic calculations of the Sky3D code.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

FISPACT-II: An Advanced Simulation System for Activation, Transmutation and Material Modelling

Fispact-II is a code system and library database for modelling activation-transmutation processes, depletion-burn-up, time dependent inventory and radiation damage source terms caused by nuclear reactions and decays. The Fispact-II code, written in object-style Fortran, follows the evolution of material irradiated by neutrons, alphas, gammas, protons, or deuterons, and provides a wide range of derived radiological output quantities to satisfy most needs for nuclear applications. It can be used with any ENDF-compliant group library data for nuclear reactions, particle-induced and spontaneous fission yields, and radioactive decay (including but not limited to TENDL-2015, ENDF/B-VII.1, JEFF-3.2, JENDL-4.0u, CENDL-3.1 processed into fine-group-structure files, GEFY-5.2 and UKDD-16), as well as resolved and unresolved resonance range probability tables for self-shielding corrections and updated radiological hazard indices. The code has many novel features including: extension of the energy range up to 1 GeV; additional neutron physics including self-shielding effects, temperature dependence, thin and thick target yields; pathway analysis; and sensitivity and uncertainty quantification and propagation using full covariance data. The latest ENDF libraries such as TENDL encompass thousands of target isotopes. Nuclear data libraries for Fispact-II are prepared from these using processing codes PREPRO, NJOY and CALENDF. These data include resonance parameters, cross sections with covariances, probability tables in the resonance ranges, PKA spectra, kerma, dpa, gas and radionuclide production and energy-dependent fission yields, supplemented with all 27 decay types. All such data for the five most important incident particles are provided in evaluated data tables. The Fispact-II simulation software is described in detail in this paper, together with the nuclear data libraries. The Fispact-II system also includes several utility programs for code-use optimisation, visualisation and production of secondary radiological quantities. Included in the paper are summaries of results from the suite of verification and validation reports available with the code.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗