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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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131 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

Photographic quantification of water quality in mixing zones

The waste effluent mixing zone is defined as the extent of a receiving water body utilized to dilute a waste charge to a concentration characteristic of a totally mixed condition. Color IR photography was used in conjunction with suspended solids water samples to quantitatively delineate the mixing zone resulting from the discharge of a paper mill effluent. Digital scanning microdensitometer data were used to estimate and delineate suspended solids concentrations on the basis of a semiempirical model. Model background, development, and implementation are described. Results indicate that the method is as reliable as conventional surface measuring techniques and is, in fact, more detailed. The method has direct application to the establishment of water quality guidelines, the development of both governmental and private sampling and surveillance programs, and the development of design and location criteria for industrial and municipal waste effluent outfalls.

Lillesand, T. M.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Photographic quantification of water quality in mixing zones

A method was developed to quantitatively delineate waste concentrations throughout waste effluent mixing zones on the basis of densitometric measurements extracted from aerial photography. A mixing zone is the extent of a receiving water body ultilized to dilute a waste discharge to a concentration characteristic of a totally mixed condition. Simultaneously-acquired color infrared photography and suspended solids water samples were used to quantitatively delineate the mixing zone resulting from the discharge of a paper mill effluent. Digital scanning microdensitometer data was used to estimate and delineate suspended solids concentrations on the basis of a semi-empirical model. Photographic photometry, when predicated on a limited amount of ground sampling, can measure and delineate mixing zone waste distributions in more detail then conventional surface measuring techniques. The method has direct application to: (1) the establishment of definite and rational water quality guidelines; (2) the development of sampling and surveillance programs for use by governmental and private agencies; and (3) the development of design and location criteria for industrial and municipal waste effluent outfalls.

Lillesand, T. M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Class-based separations of mixed solid–liquid systems with condensable solvent washing and extraction: The dilemma of pizza box recycling

As primary feedstocks deplete across the world, raw material extraction becomes increasingly expensive. Awareness of the environmental impact of primary extraction has motivated the development of energy- and reagent-efficient methods for material reuse. This work confronts an emblematic challenge of modern recycling: the soiled pizza box. While the fibers constituting corrugated cardboard are generally recyclable, pizza contaminants such as sauces and oils complicate their reuse, resulting in municipal prohibitions on the recycling of used pizza boxes in cardboard recycling streams and a representative of 275 kg/year per US household of food waste that is directed to landfill. This challenge is common to many materials, and engineering strategies must be developed to tackle complex/mixed feedstocks. To address the mixed composition of the pizza box (and similar materials), an environmentally benign, non-toxic organic solvent is applied to remove and fractionate components from mixed materials. The solvent employed in this process, dimethyl ether (DME), is a condensable hygroscopic gas, which facilitates its removal and recovery for reuse. Further, the results of this study indicate that 1) DME is capable of solubilizing and extracting components from soiled cardboard and other materials, (resulting in cardboard drier than new/unused cardboard) facilitating its recycling, and 2) the DME-soluble components of the system phase separate into aqueous and fatty acid/oil fractions (potentially ~27.5 kg/year per US household). Condensable solvent-driven washing and extraction enable the efficient separation of multiple intermediate product streams, suggesting a pathway to enable technology development necessary for achieving clean production in a circular economy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cryogenic Carbon Capture™ (CCC) Status Report

The Cryogenic Carbon Capture™ (CCC) process separates CO2 from light gases in essentially any continuous process. CCC cools the gases to the frost or desublimation point of CO2 (-100 to -135 °C), separates and pressurizes the solids, and warms all streams to produce a CO2-depleted stream at ambient pressure and a pure (99+%) pressurized liquid CO2 stream typically to about 150 bar, both at ambient temperature. The process also recovers all gas moisture and most gas impurities less volatile than CO2 (NOx, SOx, Hg, PM, UHC, CCC, etc.) in separable streams. CCC nearly eliminates refrigeration energy for sensible temperature changes through heat integration. CCC does require energy to change the CO2 phase from a mixed vapor to a pressurized fluid, which represents the minimum energy required of any process for this separation. CCC uses additional energy for turbomachinery inefficiencies, heat losses, moisture removal and overall process pressure drop. Aside from these real-world energy demands, CCC operates near the minimum energy required to perform this gas separation by minimizing stream recycling. CCC compresses CO2 as a liquid, which is one of several reasons it costs about about half as much and consumes about half as much energy as an amine process when using flue gases with about 15% CO2. The process also has several major additional advantages, including (a) it is a bolt-on retrofit technology that does not need steam or any modification of existing equipment, (b) it recovers water and nearly all pollutants in addition to CO2 from the flue gas, (c) it enables highly efficient and cost effective energy storage at grid scale and on time scales of minutes, (d) it enables NG storage if the energy storage option is used, and (d) it has a small footprint and is minimally disruptive to existing plants, requiring only electrical power and a gas source to operate. Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) has scaled this technology through several levels, the largest of which captures nominally 1 tonne of CO2/day and is called the skid system. Skid system field tests include utility-scale power plants, cement plants, heating plants, and other utility or industrial sites that burn natural gas, biomass, coal, shredded tires, municipal waste, and combinations of these fuels. These field tests produced 95-99% CO2 capture with CO2 purities of 99+% and initial CO2 contents that range from 4 to 28%. SES currently seeks to scale the system to merchant scale (10-80 tonnes of CO2 per day). In the process of doing so, SES has demonstrated the potential for CCC to contribute to energy storage and direct air capture in innovative and cost-effective ways. This presentation discusses the overall process and highlights results from field and in-house tests. These include (a) measured CO2 capture rates and operating conditions from in-house and field tests, and (b) predicted utility-scale costs and energy demands. This discussion also includes the application of the CCC technology to energy storage and direct air capture.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Circular Economy for Solar Photovoltaic System Materials: Drivers, Barriers, Enablers, and U.S. Policy Considerations

As PV capacity increases, owners are also decommissioning older system assets. Estimates based on a 30-year lifetime assumption found that cumulative U.S. end-of-life (EoL) PV modules could total one million metric tons (Mt) by 2030 and up to 10 million Mt by 2050 (Weckend, Wade, and Heath 2016). Beyond maintenance replacements, early retirements that are due to efficiency upgrades and extreme weather, as well as PV deployment beyond earlier expectations, would increase these projections. PV system owners must evaluate equipment management options for used modules and system components retired during maintenance activities, refurbishment, repowering and system decommissioning. PV manufacturers must also evaluate material management options from customer returns, defects, and scrap. Management options for early retired and EoL PV system material include reuse, repair for reuse, recycling-based resource recovery, storage, and disposal. Disposal of PV system material increases the burden on landfill capacity, while reuse, repair for reuse, and recycling-based resource recovery (reuse/repair/recovery) options salvage valuable materials and provide secondary market opportunities and ancillary benefits (Weckend, Wade, and Heath 2016; EPA 2019c; SWEEP 2019). PV system owners may also decide store used modules and components as spares, or in the interim before a reuse or EoL management decision is made. Despite potential secondary market opportunities and the potential benefits associated with the repair/reuse/recovery of PV system material, anecdotal evidence suggests that in the United States decommissioned PV modules are stored, landfilled or otherwise disposed of (Salim et al. 2019; CPUC 2019b; DTSC 2019b; NREL 2019a). Some modules are being disposed of in municipal nonhazardous landfills and federally regulated hazardous treatment, storage, and disposal facilities, and others are being stored in warehouses until economically viable repair/reuse/recycling becomes available (CPUC 2019b; DTSC 2019b; NREL 2019a; Libby and Shaw 2018). As awareness of current practices grows, and the demand for critical PV module material increases, U.S. industry stakeholders, regulators, and policymakers are starting to (1) consider solutions to drive and enable environmentally sustainable materials management decisions and behaviors and (2) identify barriers to a circular economy for PV system materials. Circular economy principles attempt to transition from a "take-make-consume-dispose" linear economic system to a circular system that allows for the long life, and the reuse/repair/recovery of products and materials (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2020). We begin this report by summarizing the drivers, barriers, and enablers to a circular economy for PV system materials in the United States. We then report on our analysis of federal and state regulatory considerations that may impact the repair/reuse/recovery of PV materials, and potential civil and criminal liabilities associated with noncompliance. We then discuss state policies and initiatives in the United States that expressly address PV system decommissioning and repair/reuse/recovery of PV materials. We conclude by providing case studies of U.S. business models for the repair/reuse/recovery of PV system materials. Our results are based on legal and literature-based research and interviews with solar industry stakeholders, regulators, and policymakers.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗