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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 OSTI2013

Advanced simulation capability for environmental management - current status and future applications

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), Office of Soil and Groundwater (EM-12), is supporting development of the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is a state-of-the-art scientific tool and approach that is currently aimed at understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. ASCEM is a modular and open source high-performance computing tool. It will be used to facilitate integrated approaches to modeling and site characterization, and provide robust and standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure activities. The ASCEM project continues to make significant progress in development of capabilities, with current emphasis on integration of capabilities in FY12. Capability development is occurring for both the Platform and Integrated Tool-sets and High-Performance Computing (HPC) multi-process simulator. The Platform capabilities provide the user interface and tools for end-to-end model development, starting with definition of the conceptual model, management of data for model input, model calibration and uncertainty analysis, and processing of model output, including visualization. The HPC capabilities target increased functionality of process model representations, tool-sets for interaction with Platform, and verification and model confidence testing. The integration of the Platform and HPC capabilities were tested and evaluated for EM applications in a set of demonstrations as part of Site Applications Thrust Area activities in 2012. The current maturity of the ASCEM computational and analysis capabilities has afforded the opportunity for collaborative efforts to develop decision analysis tools to support and optimize radioactive waste disposal. Recent advances in computerized decision analysis frameworks provide the perfect opportunity to bring this capability into ASCEM. This will allow radioactive waste disposal to be evaluated based on decision needs, such as disposal, closure, and maintenance. Decision models will be used in ASCEM to identify information/data needs, and model refinements that might be necessary to effectively reduce uncertainty in waste disposal decisions. Decision analysis models start with tools for framing the problem, and continue with modeling both the science side of the problem (for example, inventories, source terms, fate and transport, receptors, risk, etc.), and the cost side of the problem, which could include costs of implementation of any action that is chosen (e.g., for disposal or closure), and the values associated with those actions. The cost side of the decision problem covers economic, environmental and societal costs, which correspond to the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). These tools will facilitate stakeholder driven decision analysis to support optimal sustainable solutions in ASCEM. In this paper the current state of ASCEM is first described, followed by a description of the approach that will be taken to augment ASCEM for simulating fate and transport with tools that facilitate a top-down or systems level view of finding optimal, sustainable solutions to difficult environmental (including radioactive waste) problems. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Oxygen stable isotopes in the nuclear fuel cycle: Assessment of the potential for determining the fabrication and provenance history of anhydrous and hydrous uranium oxides

Determining the origin and history of interdicted nuclear materials is a central challenge in nuclear forensics. The oxygen stable isotope composition of uranium oxide compounds has emerged as a promising forensic signature, attracting increasing attention since the early 2000s. This review examines analytical techniques for measuring oxygen isotope compositions in uranium oxides and evaluates how the nuclear fuel production cycle introduces or modifies these isotopic signatures. The potential for forensic geolocation is explored through workflows that calibrate the relationship between environmental water oxygen isotopes and those found in uranium oxides. Key strengths and limitations of this approach are assessed, including gaps in knowledge related to isotope fractionation during specific stages of the fuel cycle, and processing facility water inputs. The importance of proper sample handling and storage under inert atmospheres, as well as a deeper understanding of both intra-sample oxygen isotope heterogeneity, and hydrous uranium oxide phase formation, is highlighted for improving the reliability of forensic interpretations. In conclusion, the development of uranium oxide standards with well-characterized δ 18 O values and international collaboration toward consensus on their use are identified as essential steps for advancing the field.

Attribution↗
DOE OSTI2016

The 2015 Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics Research Institute

The Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics (NOMAD) Research Institute is a six week long collaborative research program for graduate students from across the world. The 2015 NOMAD Research Institute was hosted jointly by Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico, and featured 24 graduate students working on seven different research projects. These projects included: developing experimental strategies for studying the dynamics of nonlinear systems, a numerical round robin for predicting the response of a jointed system, quantification of uncertainty in a lap joint, assessment of experimental substructuring methods, a study of stress waves propagating through jointed interfaces, structural design optimization with joints, and the nonlinear system identification of MEMS devices. This report details both the technical research and the programmatic organization of the 2015 NOMAD Research Institute.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

High-Speed Layup and Forming of Automotive Composite Components

This Project is focused on the design and manufacture of automotive components that meet functional and environmental requirements of an existing automotive application at a cost of ≤ $\$$11.00 per kilogram weight reduction. This project fosters the development of composite material technologies suitable for high volume automotive processes and run rates as well as industry workforce development with these technologies. Current automotive manufacturing involves utilizing steel or aluminum in sheet form which is rapidly stamped into components at rates up to 3600 per hour. The metallic sheets are available in many different thicknesses, strength levels, and manufacturing rates are reasonable independent of part size. While composite materials are available for use in automotive applications, the material cost, labor to manufacture and the processing of the waste far exceed the cost compared to metallic designs. Typical composite layer by layer layup procedures don’t meet the desired 60 second layup time that current automotive processes require and are also restricted by part size. Due to these factors, composites have not yet made advances into today’s high volume automotive applications. Industry partners DURA, BASF, Ford, and IACMI core innovation partner MSU collaborated to develop a manufacturing process technology that is capable of manufacturing composite blanks at high volume and independent of part size. IACMI core innovation partner Purdue provided FEA analysis and cost modelling. The objective of this project was to demonstrate a composite sheet layup and consolidation process that can be commercialized for high volume requirements, identify potential layup equipment suppliers, and develop a process of 60 second layup, forming, and trimming of a continuous fiber automotive component for the mainstream market.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Drivetrain Reliability Collaborative Update

Pitch bearings, main bearings, and gearboxes in conventional wind turbine drivetrains often do not meet their 20-year minimum specified lifetime, resulting in turbine downtime as well as expensive, time-consuming repairs or replacements. The dominant failure modes of the drivetrain components and the conditions that lead to their failure are not fully accounted for during product design or routinely modeled for life management. Drivetrain reliability improvements and O&M cost reductions remain top priorities for both land-based and offshore wind turbines, especially as wind turbines continue to be deployed in increasingly remote and offshore locations, continue to increase in size, and are becoming expected to be in service beyond their original design life, all of which correspond to an increase in the impact of any reliability issues on O&M costs. This presentation summarizes the most recent activities by NREL and ANL on drivetrain reliability.

bearing↗
DOE OSTI2012

Hyundai Avante LPi hybrid level 1 testing report

In collaboration with the Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), the Korean market only Hyundai Avante LPi Hybrid was purchased and imported to ANL's Advanced Powertrain Research Facility for vehicle-level testing. Data was acquired during testing using non-intrusive sensors, vehicle network information, and facilities equipment (emissions and dynamometer). Standard drive cycles, performance cycles, steady-state cycles, and A/C usage cycles were conducted. The major results are shown in this report. Given the benchmark nature of this assessment, the majority of the testing was done over standard regulatory cycles and sought to obtain a general overview of how the vehicle performs. These cycles include the US FTP cycle (Urban) and Highway Fuel Economy Test cycle as well as the US06, a more aggressive supplemental regulatory cycle. To assess the impacts of more aggressive driving, the LA92 cycle and a UDDS scaled by a factor 1.2x cycles were also included in the testing plan. Data collection for this testing was kept at a fairly high level and includes emissions and fuel measurements from an exhaust emissions bench, high-voltage and accessory current/voltage from a DC power analyzer, and CAN bus data such as engine speed. The following sections will seek to explain some of the basic operating characteristics of the Avante LPi Hybrid and provide insight into unique features of its operation and design. Figure 1 shows the test vehicle in Argonne's soak room.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Considerations for Distributed Energy Resource Integration in Puerto Rico: DOE Multi-Lab Grid Modeling Support for Puerto Rico; Analytical Support for Interconnection and IEEE Std 1547-2018 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Task 3.0)

To ensure the sustainable long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes María and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. A resilient electric grid is vital to Puerto Rico's security, economy, and way of life, and it will provide the foundation for essential services that people and businesses on the island rely on every day. This report shows progress for a grid modeling task under the DOE-sponsored project that is a collaboration among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and other national laboratories. In Phase 1 of the multilab effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, NREL provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliably, safety, or security. This Phase 2 report focuses on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provides considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 interconnection standard.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Short term collaborations of the NEAMS Center of Excellence: third wave

A primary goal of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program is to develop the next generation of simulations tools to support the design and deployment of commercial nuclear power. The mission of the NEAMS Center of Excellence for Thermal-fluids Applications in Nuclear Energy is to advance this goal by providing leadership, best practices, research, and support and training for computational thermal-fluids applications in nuclear energy. This is accomplished by leveraging expertise in the NEAMS tools to solve challenging problems in fluid flow and heat transfer. The NEAMS tools provide simulation capabilities covering a range of temporal and spatial scales and the Center connects stakeholders in industry with the expertise to use these tools to their fullest. This addresses a pressing need, facilitating advanced reactor development and commercialization.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Concentrating Rare Earth Elements in Coal mine drainage Using Coal Combustion Products through Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation

Rare earth elements (REEs) (including scandium, yttrium and a group of 15 lanthanides) are often considered to be critical components in the productions of renewable energy hardware, electric vehicles, health care and military equipment, and consumer electronic products. The demand of REEs has been projected to be growing at an annual rate of 5-9% in the next 25 years. In 2011, the global demand of total rare earth oxides (REOs) was estimated to be approximately 105,000 tons, which is expected to grow to 210,000 tons by 2025. China overwhelmingly dominates the current worldwide rare earth productions but has strategically restricted its exports, causing significant instability for the global market. In response to the increasing demand for REEs and the supply dominance of China, identifying alternative sources of REEs has become a critical issue for the United States and other countries. Coal, coal ash, and coal mine drainage (CMD) are considered to be the alternative sources of REEs. In the U.S., high REE concentrations have been reported to be closely associated with coal deposits, including the Appalachian Basins. When surface and/or groundwater come in contact with geologic strata containing sulfide minerals exposed by coal mining, the accelerated oxidation of sulfide minerals in the presence of ferric iron and/or oxygen can produce sulfuric acid. The process promotes the weathering of REE-bearing rocks and minerals in the host geologic strata. Compared to average river water and seawater, the concentrations of REEs can be orders of magnitude higher in CMD. In this study, we demonstrated a trap-extract-precipitate (TEP) process that can effectively recover REEs from CMD. The three-stage TEP process uses alkaline industrial by-products to capture REEs from CMD and then applies an extraction/precipitation procedure to produce a feedstock that can be economically processed to produce marketable rare earth oxides. The alkaline industrial by-products tested in this study include the residual from a water softening process (DRWP sludge) and two types of stabilized flue gas desulfurization materials (sFGDs). sFGD material is a mixture of lime (CaO) and two coal combustion by-products, calcium sulfite FGD by-product and fly ash. The objectives of this study are to (1) validate the effectiveness and feasibility; (2) determine mechanisms controlling the rare earth recovery, (3) quantify the associated economic and environmental benefits, and (4) evaluate the full-scale application. To achieve these objectives, tasks to be carried out in this proposed project are organized into three phases. In the first phase, the research team collaborated with Ohio Department of Natural Resources, American Electric Power, The Wilds (a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization), and a private landowner to carry out field investigations aimed to screen and evaluate the seasonal changes of rare earths in the CMD discharges that have high recovery potentials. Next, the recovery of REEs from CMD was tested using a series of lab-scale column and batch tests under, respectively, percolation and completely mixed conditions. Results obtained from these lab-scale studies show that all three tested solids are very effective in retaining REEs. Over 98% of the CMD REEs that contacted the solids were captured before the solids exhausted their neutralization capacities. We also determined an extraction process using a non-acid, organic ligand extraction solution that can effectively remobilize the retained REEs from the spent solids (over 90%). The REE concentrate (>7.5 wt. % of total REEs) is then formed in an aeration process. The TEP process uses environmentally benign industrial by-products and a naturally-occurring organic ligand to mitigate CMD and recover REEs. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out in the third phase. The engineering-economic costs and net energy, net CO2 emissions, and water and other requirements were investigated to understand the economic and environmental implications of this process. This work uses mass and energy balances from laboratory-scale experiments to estimate the economic costs and environmental impacts. The results suggest that passive treatment systems that use DRWP sludge are preferred over those that use sFGD material, because of lower economic costs ($89,300/yr with a unit cost of $86/gT-REE vs. $89,800/yr, or $278/gT-REE) and improved environmental performance across all indicators from two different impact assessment methods. These differences are largely attributable to the larger capacity of DRWP sludge in the passive treatment application. We envision this TEP process can be integrated with abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation to create an approach that can add economic incentives for AML reclamation, remediate CMD discharge, and eliminate public safety hazards and threats to local environment and ecological systems posed by AMLs. It can restore lands and communities that are adversely impacted by legacy mining.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2012

Argonne Leadership Computing Facility 2011 annual report: Shaping future supercomputing

The ALCF's Early Science Program aims to prepare key applications for the architecture and scale of Mira and to solidify libraries and infrastructure that will pave the way for other future production applications. Two billion core-hours have been allocated to 16 Early Science projects on Mira. The projects, in addition to promising delivery of exciting new science, are all based on state-of-the-art, petascale, parallel applications. The project teams, in collaboration with ALCF staff and IBM, have undertaken intensive efforts to adapt their software to take advantage of Mira's Blue Gene/Q architecture, which, in a number of ways, is a precursor to future high-performance-computing architecture. The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) enables transformative science that solves some of the most difficult challenges in biology, chemistry, energy, climate, materials, physics, and other scientific realms. Users partnering with ALCF staff have reached research milestones previously unattainable, due to the ALCF's world-class supercomputing resources and expertise in computation science. In 2011, the ALCF's commitment to providing outstanding science and leadership-class resources was honored with several prestigious awards. Research on multiscale brain blood flow simulations was named a Gordon Bell Prize finalist. Intrepid, the ALCF's BG/P system, ranked No. 1 on the Graph 500 list for the second consecutive year. The next-generation BG/Q prototype again topped the Green500 list. Skilled experts at the ALCF enable researchers to conduct breakthrough science on the Blue Gene system in key ways. The Catalyst Team matches project PIs with experienced computational scientists to maximize and accelerate research in their specific scientific domains. The Performance Engineering Team facilitates the effective use of applications on the Blue Gene system by assessing and improving the algorithms used by applications and the techniques used to implement those algorithms. The Data Analytics and Visualization Team lends expertise in tools and methods for high-performance, post-processing of large datasets, interactive data exploration, batch visualization, and production visualization. The Operations Team ensures that system hardware and software work reliably and optimally; system tools are matched to the unique system architectures and scale of ALCF resources; the entire system software stack works smoothly together; and I/O performance issues, bug fixes, and requests for system software are addressed. The User Services and Outreach Team offers frontline services and support to existing and potential ALCF users. The team also provides marketing and outreach to users, DOE, and the broader community.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Approximation Algorithm for a Task Allocation, Sequencing and Scheduling Problem Involving a Human-Robot Team

Here we present an approximation algorithm for a Task Allocation, Sequencing and Scheduling Problem (TASSP) involving a team of human operators and robots. The robots have to travel to a given set of targets and collaboratively work on the tasks at the targets with the human operators. The problem aims to find a sequence of targets for each robot to visit and schedule the tasks at the targets with the human operators such that each target is visited exactly once by some robot, the scheduling constraints are satisfied and the maximum mission time of any robot is minimum. This problem is a generalization of the single Traveling Salesman Problem and is NP-Hard. Given k robots and m human operators, an algorithm is developed for solving the TASSP with an approximation ratio equal to 5/2- 1/k when m ≥ k and equal to 7/2 -1/k otherwise. Computational results are also presented to corroborate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improving Technology for Mapping and Imaging Final Report CRADA No. TC02192.0

This CRADA was a collaborative effort between Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC as manager and operator of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Underground Imaging Technologies, LLC to further develop an improved technology for mapping and imaging of the underground infrastructure for the land construction industry. The project consisted of Phase 1, which included three tasks and three deliverables and was originally designated as a three (3) month CRADA. LLNL evaluated UIT-provided data sets using our multistatic processing technology to image and detect buried pipes and conduits in UIT scan data. This effort was then briefed to UIT to help plan efforts for Phase 2. At the end of the incremental early funding, however, UIT was not able to fund Phase 2 work, so none of those activities have taken place.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Predictive coarse-grained (CG) modeling of morphologies in polymer nanocomposites with specific and directional intermolecular interactions (Final Report)

The overarching goal of the proposed work was to develop predictive models for investigating structure and dynamics in soft materials with chemistries that have specific and directional molecular interactions. The motivation behind studying materials with specific and directional interactions lies in the many desirable features these interactions provide when designing novel soft materials. Soft materials with specific and direction interactions (such as hydrogen bonds or H-bonds) can have a) thermally reversible phase behavior with different functions with varying temperature, b) precisely tuned nanostructure with desirable geometries that afford unique physical properties (e.g., color response, mechanical properties) and c) well-mixed/blended morphologies that are useful for variety of applications in energy field (e.g., materials for batteries require use of blended polymers where one domain gives superior mechanical properties and one domain promotes electrical conduction). Notably, biology makes extensive use of specific and directional interactions, in many cases based on H-bonds, to construct materials with precisely defined architectures and properties. Engineered soft materials with precisely tuned nanostructures and improved processiblity through thermoresponsive phase behavior are useful in numerous applications that are relevant to the Department of Energy (DOE) including high efficiency electronic devices, light-weight high-strength composite materials for batteries and fuel cells, and polymer membranes for separations, etc. While past computational studies have been tremendously useful in understanding molecular phenomena and guiding synthesis of new macromolecular soft materials for a wide variety of applications, the inability to capture small scale specific and directional interactions alongside macromolecular length and time scales represented a key limitation of most studies to date. Our work in this project addressed this grand challenge in computational materials chemistry, i.e., ability to model the anisotropic, directional, and specific interactions that govern the behavior of many macromolecular soft matter systems of interest, thus, has greatly expanded the predictive potential of simulations. Specifically the key outcomes were: successful development of new coarse-grained (CG) polymer models to study generic and specific polymer chemistries in which hydrogen-bonding interactions are dominant. These CG models were then used in molecular simulations to study structure and thermodynamics in polymer nanocomposites and blends; some studies were conducted in collaboration with experimentalists. We also published a perspective and a viewpoint which included some of the work we completed in this DOE project; we believe these perspective and viewpoint articles guide other researchers in the soft materials community on how to extend the computational approaches and models we have developed for the purposes of their studies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Smart, Connected Manufactured Housing Solutions through High-Performance Design. Final CRADA report

This report focuses on HVAC, domestic hot water, and miscellaneous electric loads via voluntary opportunities that may arise from partnerships with utilities, as well as future US Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR and DOE Zero Energy Ready Manufactured Home programs. Phase I of this project has begun the technical dialogue toward developing an implementation plan among DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Clayton Manufactured Homes, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development Code manufactured housing stakeholders. These activities have focused on delivering high-performance design through integration of technology. Project tasks include the following: Identifying baseline energy analysis resources opportunities from a variety of DOE and utility stakeholders; Developing a smart home and business solution by leveraging existing utility programs working with Smart Homes Partners resources such as ACE IoT Solutions, Google Nest, and Ecobee; Developing improved smarter ventilation systems with industry ventilation partners such as the Madison Group; Developing improved building science QA/QC testing equipment with manufacturers such as The Energy Conservatory, and supporting other feasible concepts vetted under DOE’s Advanced Buildings Collaborative with Slipstream, reinventing HVAC in manufactured housing; and, Developing smart home short- and long-term viable technical solutions in coordination with Clayton Manufactured Homes in new and/or revitalized community scales for future Phase II prototype demonstrations, which may include design (and perhaps construction) of single-section homes targeting rental property developers and multi-section homes targeting low- to middle-income affordable housing community developers Given the ongoing US Department of Energy (DOE) rulemaking activities, baseline energy analysis assessments of envelope prescriptive and Uo (i.e., the overall thermal energy efficiency of the home in British thermal units per square foot of exterior heat loss/gain surfaces) measures were removed from the scope of Phase I of this project.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fission Battery Initiative Siting and Transportation Workshop (Summary Report)

This document is a summary report on the Fission Battery (FB) Initiative Siting and Transportation workshop held on March 15, 2021. The workshop was developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in collaboration with INL’s National University Consortium (NUC). One of goals of this workshop was to initiate a conversation between various stakeholders on FBs, focusing on FB transportation and siting. Other goals were sharing the current understanding of the FB concept among the shareholders, identifying FB research and development (R&D) needs, and fostering community building. This report summaries the presentations and conversations held by the subject matter experts (SMEs) and discusses the key findings and conclusions. Further, it provides intermediate recommendations to support R&D in successful FB transportation and siting. The following priority research directions (PRDs) were identified: (i) investigations in the FB source term, (ii) investigations in the FB design, and (iii) investigations in the design of a FB transportation packaging.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Final report: Insights from ARM observations into aerosol processing and transport by extratropical cyclones and aerosol effects on cyclone clouds

This project advanced understanding of aerosol–cloud interactions in extratropical cyclones using observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) observatory and ACE-ENA field campaigns, along with satellite datasets and numerical modeling. We have quantified the susceptibility of frontal clouds to aerosols, showing that this susceptibility is similar to that in non-frontal clouds despite substantial (factor 2) differences in droplet concentrations between these cloud types, and also significant differences in cloud albedo. A key finding was that Aitken-mode (here, 60-100nm diameter) aerosols play a disproportionately important role in droplet activation in frontal clouds, and concentrations of these particles are frequently strongly biased in climate models. Activation of aerosols depends strongly on updraft speeds, and via collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory we contributed to quantifying these better with the ARM radar wind profiler at the ENA site. Our studies in the North Atlantic have analogs in the Southern Ocean, and to draw these out we examined data from the MARCUS and SOCRATES field campaigns. We identified new particle formation within extratropical cyclones as a potentially important source of cloud condensation nuclei in these pristine marine environments. By combining ARM observations with perturbed parameter ensemble simulations, we demonstrated that surface observations can effectively constrain aerosol–cloud adjustments and reduce uncertainty in simulated cloud liquid water path responses by approximately 15%, yielding stronger constraints on historical aerosol cooling effects. The work further established precipitation processes as a dominant control on aerosol–cloud interactions and Earth system predictability.

Gordon, Hamish [Department of Chemical Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2019

Tethys Knowledge Management System: Working to Advance the Marine Renewable Energy Industry

Purpose: This paper discusses an ongoing process to assist with the advancement of worldwide understanding of the environmental effects of marine renewable energy (MRE) through a public, online knowledge management system known as Tethys (https://tethys.pnnl.gov). Understanding potential environmental impacts can reduce expensive monitoring requirements and promote growth of this emerging industry. Approach: Tethys acts as the central repository for information in a landscape where literature and knowledge are scattered and difficult to find, providing access for an international audience of stakeholders and the public. An intuitive and flexible design has been developed over 8 years of operation, pairing content curation with synthesis and engagement to enhance the impact of knowledge management. Findings: Tethys has become internationally recognized and trusted as an honest broker of information. A community of participants that use Tethys resources and contributes content has grown to almost 50,000 people around the world, annually. Engineering and siting challenges continue to stall the deployment and establishment of the MRE industry, but progress has been made towards retiring environmental risks and facilitating progression in deploying and operating devices. Practical Implications: The need for knowledge management is particularly important when information is scattered, as is often the case with emerging industries. Tethys serves as an example of intentional design and intuitive organization for knowledge management. Value of Paper: This paper discusses focused knowledge management methods with international cooperation and public engagement to advance an emerging technical industry.

Whiting, Jonathan M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and West Virginia University Research Corporation (Abstract)

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and West Virginia University Research Corporation (Participant) will collaborate on the testing of a 3D printed sparger in a temperature and pressure chamber, for the purpose of supporting the “American-Made Geothermal Prize” competition, designed to catalyze manufacturing innovation in the American geothermal industry by harnessing the rapid advances additive manufacturing can provide in improving design, fabrication, and functionality, which is accomplished through a series of prize competitions and the development of a diverse and powerful support network that leverages national laboratories, energy incubators, and other resources from across the United States. The intent is to connect competitor teams with national laboratories that can help accelerate the development of innovative solutions and products. Teams who have won the Set!, Go!, Make! Contests are eligible to utilize vouchers at national laboratories to advance their ideas.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗