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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 1,567 records · Page 87

LEMD

Deep neural network-based force field enables researchers to study materials systems of large size and/or time scale efficiently with comparable accuracy to DFT-based methods. However, such force fields, if improperly trained or mistakenly selected, could result in ill-conditioned results. This SBIR Phase I project has explored the possibility to characterize and index force fields in Deep potential theme by quantizing local atomic environments of atoms in a simulation system. This project has also demonstrated the feasibility of building a public accessible web infrastructure providing high quality machine learning algorithm-based force field for next generation materials modeling and simulation to accelerate the study and discovery of new energy-related materials.

Su, Ninghai↗

Power control system modification and simulation of CPR1000 - 181

Due to development of electric power system, the proportion of nuclear power and its needs for load follow operation have become large. Then there would be higher requirements to the power control ability of the nuclear power system. The axial power distribution may change a lot in the operation process and be affected by many factors. In particular, as the power change is performed within a load follow maneuver, several modifications occur in the core from a neutronic view point: the fuel and moderator temperature change, the xenon concentration and distribution are modified, the power distribution skewed axially, etc. These changes need to be adequately counterbalanced to keep both the core critical and the power distribution acceptable. The traditional approach in pressurized water reactors (PWRs) is compensating for the reactivity change due to the power variation by adjusting the soluble boron concentration and moving a limited number of control banks. However, dilution/boronation strategy becomes expensive for short time changes and leads to large volume of liquid effluent, so it is eager about a capability to perform load follow operation without changing soluble boron concentration. CPR1000, one of the main reactor types in China national development, is taken an example in this paper. It adopts a control method called Mode G, using G banks, N banks, R bank and soluble boron to perform the load follow control. According to the analysis of the physics and thermal principle, a two-node dynamic function model was built, putting the coupling coefficient and mutual influence into consideration. By the calculation of these transient parameter values which are acquired by the steady-state calculation of single channel, the core system model of CPR1000 is established. In order to carry out the load follow operation without the boron adjustment, named as BTP mode, the control banks were regrouped to control the average temperature by M banks and axial offset by AO bank. After that, the average temperature control system (M banks control system) and the axial offset control system (AO bank control system) are built. When the optimal control system is connected to the core model simulation platform, the BTP mode load follow operation of the modified CPR1000 is simulated in the end of the paper. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Mesoscopic Traffic Flow Model for Agent-Based Simulation

Traffic simulation is a key element of agent based models as the various agents decisions impact and are impacted by the realized travel times and delays in the traffic network. Here we present the mesoscopic traffic flow model implemented in POLARIS transportation systems simulator. The model is mesoscopic in an attempt to obtain enough for applications that requires microscopic data while still inheriting the computational efficiency of macroscopic traffic flow models. The model is macroscopic at the link-level with dynamics based on the Newells Model and microscopic at the node level. We present link-level and network-level results for one mid-sized traffic network. The results show that the model can combine accuracy, level of details and computational efficiency.

Link transmission model↗

The Potential Benefits of Handling Mixture Statistics via a Bi-Gaussian EnKF: Tests With All-Sky Satellite Infrared Radiances

The meteorological characteristics of cloudy atmospheric columns can be very different from their clear counterparts. Thus, when a forecast ensemble is uncertain about the presence/absence of clouds at a specific atmospheric column (i.e., some members are clear while others are cloudy), that column's ensemble statistics will contain a mixture of clear and cloudy statistics. Such mixtures are inconsistent with the ensemble data assimilation algorithms currently used in numerical weather prediction. Hence, ensemble data assimilation algorithms that can handle such mixtures can potentially outperform currently used algorithms. In this study, we demonstrate the potential benefits of addressing such mixtures through a bi-Gaussian extension of the ensemble Kalman filter (BGEnKF). The BGEnKF is compared against the commonly used ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) using perfect model observing system simulated experiments (OSSEs) with a realistic weather model (the Weather Research and Forecast model). Synthetic all-sky infrared radiance observations are assimilated in this study. In these OSSEs, the BGEnKF outperforms the EnKF in terms of the horizontal wind components, temperature, specific humidity, and simulated upper tropospheric water vapor channel infrared brightness temperatures. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the potential of a Gaussian mixture model EnKF with a realistic weather model. Our results thus motivate future research toward improving numerical Earth system predictions though explicitly handling mixture statistics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A real-time digital program for estimating aircraft stability and control parameters from flight test data by using the maximum likelihood method

A computer program (Langley program C1123) has been developed for estimating aircraft stability and control parameters from flight test data. These parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation procedure implemented on a real-time digital simulation system, which uses the Control Data 6600 computer. This system allows the investigator to interact with the program in order to obtain satisfactory results. Part of this system, the control and display capabilities, is described for this program. This report also describes the computer program by presenting the program variables, subroutines, flow charts, listings, and operational features. Program usage is demonstrated with a test case using pseudo or simulated flight data.

Grove, R. D.↗

Simulating a Mesoscale Convective System Using WRF with a New Spectral Bin Microphysics: Part 1: Hail vs Graupel

A modified Fast Spectral Bin Microphysics scheme (FSBM-2) embedded into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) is used to simulate a mesoscale deep convective system observed during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E). FSBM-2 uses modified source codes as compared to the current FSBM (FSBM-1). In contrast to FSBM-1, FSBM-2 can simulate hail of several cm in diameter and includes additional processes such as spontaneous breakup of raindrops and aerosol regeneration by drop evaporation. It is shown that allowing large hail particles of diameters exceeding about 1 cm substantially increases the agreement between the simulated and observed squall-line structures both in the convective and stratiform regions. In contrast, if graupel particles are used to represent high-density hydrometeors in convective areas, the ratio of convective-to-stratiform areas diverges from the ratio seen in observations and maximum radar reflectivities are substantially underestimated. Analysis of snow size distributions in the stratiform area shows an important link between the ice crystals formed by homogeneous freezing in the convective area to ice particle number concentration in the stratiform region. Simulated raindrop size distributions in the stratiform area below the melting level from FSBM-2 show a good agreement with observations. The regeneration of CCN by droplet evaporation and detrainment of these CCN to the stratiform region increases the concentration of CCN there up to 8-9 km altitude; the additional CCN penetrate clouds and produce new droplets, leading to some convection intensification. Key words: Mesoscale convective systems (MCS), squall lines, spectral bin microphysics, large hail, in-cloud nucleation, size distributions of hydrometeors in MCS.

Shpund, Kobby↗

Web-based Visual Analytics for Extreme Scale Climate Science

In this paper, we introduce a Web-based visual analytics framework for democratizing advanced visualization and analysis capabilities pertinent to large-scale earth system simulations. We address significant limitations of present climate data analysis tools such as tightly coupled dependencies, ineffi- cient data movements, complex user interfaces, and static visualizations. Our Web-based visual analytics framework removes critical barriers to the widespread accessibility and adoption of advanced scientific techniques. Using distributed connections to back-end diagnostics, we minimize data movements and leverage HPC platforms. We also mitigate system dependency issues by employing a RESTful interface. Our framework embraces the visual analytics paradigm via new visual navigation techniques for hierarchical parameter spaces, multi-scale representations, and interactive spatio-temporal data mining methods that retain details. Although generalizable to other science domains, the current work focuses on improving exploratory analysis of large-scale Community Land Model (CLM) and Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) simulations.

climate science↗

The symmetric quasi-classical model using on-the-fly time-dependent density functional theory within the Tamm–Dancoff approximation

The primary computational challenge when simulating nonadiabatic ab initio molecular dynamics is the unfavourable compute costs of electronic structure calculations with molecular size. Simple electronic structure theories, like time-dependent density functional theory within the Tamm–Dancoff approximation (TDDFT/TDA), alleviate this cost for moderately sized molecular systems simulated on realistic time scales. Although TDDFT/TDA does have some limitations in accuracy, an appealing feature is that, in addition to including electron correlation through the use of a density functional, the cost of calculating analytic nuclear gradients and nonadiabatic coupling vectors is often computationally feasible even for moderately sized basis sets. Here in this work, some of the benefits and limitations of TDDFT/TDA are discussed and analysed with regard to its applicability as a ‘back-end’ electronic structure method for the symmetric quasi-classical Meyer–Miller model (SQC/MM). In order to investigate the benefits and limitations of TDDFT/TDA, SQC/MM is employed to predict and analyse a prototypical example of excited-state hydrogen transfer in gas-phase malonaldehyde. Then, the ring-opening dynamics of selenophene are simulated, which highlight some of the deficiencies of TDDFT/TDA. Additionally, some new algorithms are proposed that speed up the calculation of analytic nuclear gradients and nonadiabatic coupling vectors for a set of excited electronic states.

molecular dynamics↗

Low Cost, High Capacity Regenerable Sorbent for Carbon Dioxide Capture from Existing Coal-fired Power Plants

In this project TDA Research, Inc (TDA) has developed a new post combustion carbon capture technology based on a vacuum swing adsorption system that uses a steam purge and demonstrated its technical feasibility and economic viability in laboratory-scale tests and tests in actual coal derived flue gas. TDA uses an advanced physical adsorbent to selectively remove CO 2 from the flue gas. The sorbent exhibits a much higher affinity for CO 2 than N 2 , H 2 O or O 2 , enabling effective CO 2 separation from the flue gas. We also carried out a detailed process design and analysis of the new system as part of both sub-critical and super-critical pulverized coal fired power plants. The new technology uses a low cost, high capacity adsorbent that selectively removes CO 2 in the presence of moisture at the flue gas temperature without a need for significant cooling of the flue gas or moisture removal. The sorbent is based on a TDA proprietary mesoporous carbon that consists of surface functionalized groups that remove CO 2 via physical adsorption. The high surface area and favorable porosity of the sorbent also provides a unique platform to introduce additional functionality, such as active groups to remove trace metals (e.g., Hg, As). In collaboration with the Advanced Power and Energy Program of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), TDA developed system simulation models using Aspen PlusTM simulation software to assess the economic viability of TDA’s VSA-based post-combustion carbon capture technology. The levelized cost of electricity including the TS&M costs for CO 2 is calculated as $116.71/MWh and $113.76/MWh for TDA system integrated with sub-critical and super-critical pulverized coal fired power plants; much lower than the $153.03/MWhand $147.44/MWh calculated for the corresponding amine based systems. The cost of CO 2 captured for TDA’s VSA based system is $38.90 and $39.71 per tonne compared to $65.46 and $66.56 per tonne for amine based system on 2011 $ basis, providing 40% lower cost of CO 2 captured. In this analysis we have used a sorbent life of 4 years. If a longer sorbent life can be maintained (which is not unreasonable for fixed bed commercial PSA systems), this would lower the cost of CO 2 captured by $0.05 per tonne (e.g., to $38.85 and $39.66 per tonne at 5 years sorbent replacement). These system analysis results suggest that TDA’s VSA-based post-combustion capture technology can substantially improve the power plant’s thermal performance while achieving near zero emissions, including greater than 90% carbon capture. The higher net plant efficiency and lower capital and operating costs results in a substantial reduction in the cost of carbon capture and cost of electricity for the power plant equipped with TDA’s technology.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

A mesoscale numerical forecast of an intense convective snowburst along the East Coast

Mesoscale numerical forecasts utilizing the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS) are documented for a convective snowburst in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, Maryland, region on March 8, 1984 that was associated with secondary cyclogenesis along the East Coast. The forecasts are presented to demonstrate the ability of a mesoscale model to simulate dynamical interactions and diabatic process for a wintertime convective event that was inadequately predicted by local forecasters and to note some of the possible benefits of using mesoscale models for day-to-day forecasting. The results from this and other recent mesoscale modeling studies indicate that three-hourly output of key model fields, when combined with other data sources, can be a valuable aid to forecasters concerned with predicting weather events that are mesoscale in character.

Kocin, P. J.↗

Validation of the Five-Phase Method for Simulating Complex Fenestration Systems with Radiance against Field Measurements

The Five-Phase Method (5-pm) for simulating complex fenestration systems with Radiance is validated against field measurements. The capability of the method to predict workplane illuminances, vertical sensor illuminances, and glare indices derived from captured and rendered high dynamic range (HDR) images is investigated. To be able to accurately represent the direct sun part of the daylight not only in sensor point simulations, but also in renderings of interior scenes, the 5-pm calculation procedure was extended. The validation shows that the 5-pm is superior to the Three-Phase Method for predicting horizontal and vertical illuminance sensor values as well as glare indices derived from rendered images. Even with input data from global and diffuse horizontal irradiance measurements only, daylight glare probability (DGP) values can be predicted within 10% error of measured values for most situations.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

LAWS simulation: Sampling strategies and wind computation algorithms

In general, work has continued on developing and evaluating algorithms designed to manage the Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS) lidar pulses and to compute the horizontal wind vectors from the line-of-sight (LOS) measurements. These efforts fall into three categories: Improvements to the shot management and multi-pair algorithms (SMA/MPA); observing system simulation experiments; and ground-based simulations of LAWS.

Emmitt, G. D. A.↗

ddcMD: A fully GPU-accelerated molecular dynamics program for the Martini force field

We have implemented the Martini force field within Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s molecular dynamics program, ddcMD. The program is extended to a heterogeneous programming model so that it can exploit graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators. In addition to the Martini force field being ported to the GPU, the entire integration step, including thermostat, barostat, and constraint solver, is ported as well, which speeds up the simulations to 278-fold using one GPU vs one central processing unit (CPU) core. A benchmark study is performed with several test cases, comparing ddcMD and GROMACS Martini simulations. The average performance of ddcMD for a protein–lipid simulation system of 136k particles achieves 1.04 µs/day on one NVIDIA V100 GPU and aggregates 6.19 µs/day on one Summit node with six GPUs. The GPU implementation in ddcMD offloads all computations to the GPU and only requires one CPU core per simulation to manage the inputs and outputs, freeing up remaining CPU resources on the compute node for alternative tasks often required in complex simulation campaigns.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The Habitat Demonstration Unit System Integration

The Lunar Surface System Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) will require the project team to integrate a variety of contributions from NASA centers and potential outside collaborators and poses a challenge in integrating these disparate efforts into a cohesive architecture. To accomplish the development of the HDU from conception in June 2009 to rollout for operations in July 2010, the HDU team is using several strategies to mitigate risks and bring the separate efforts together. First, a set of design standards is being developed to define the interfaces between the various systems of HDU and to the payloads, such as the Geology Lab, that those systems will support. Scheduled activities such as early fit-checks and the utilization of a Habitat avionics test bed prior to equipment installation into HDU. A coordinated effort to establish simplified Computer Aided Design standards and the utilization of a modeling and simulation systems will aid in design and integration concept development. Finally, decision processes on the shell development including the assembly sequence and the transportation have been fleshed out early on HDU to maximize the efficiency of both integration and field operations.

Kennedy, Kriss J.↗

The Simulation and Assimilation of Doppler Wind Lidar Observations in Support of Future Instruments

With the launch of the European Space Agency's Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM-Aeolus) in 2011 and the call for the 3D-Winds mission in National Research Council's decadal survey, direct spaceborne measurements of vertical wind profiles are imminent via Doppler wind lidar technology. Part of the preparedness for such missions is the development of the proper data assimilation methodology for handling such observations. Since no heritage measurements exist in space, the Joint Observing System Simulation Experiment (Joint OSSE) framework is being utilized to generate a realistic proxy dataset as a precursor to flight. These data are being used for the development of the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system utilized at a number of centers through the United States including the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NOAA/NWS/NCEP). This effort will be presented, including the methodology of proxy data generation, the handling of line-of-sight wind measurements within the GSI, and the impact on both analyses and forecasts with the addition of the new data type.

McCarty, Will↗

The Use of Software Agents for Autonomous Control of a DC Space Power System

In order to enable manned deep-space missions, the spacecraft must be controlled autonomously using on-board algorithms. A control architecture is proposed to enable this autonomous operation for an spacecraft electric power system and then implemented using a highly distributed network of software agents. These agents collaborate and compete with each other in order to implement each of the control functions. A subset of this control architecture is tested against a steadystate power system simulation and found to be able to solve a constrained optimization problem with competing objectives using only local information.

autonomous control↗

The extent of non-thermal particle acceleration in relativistic, electron-positron reconnection

Reconnection is studied as an explanation for high-energy flares from the Crab Nebula. The production of synchrotron emission >100 MeV challenges classical models of acceleration. 3D simulation shows that reconnection, converting magnetic energy to kinetic energy, can accelerate beyond γ rad . The power-law index and high-energy cutoff are important for understanding the radiation spectrum dN/dγ = f(γ) ∝ γ -α . α and cutoff were measured vs. L and σ, where L is system (simulation) size and σ is upstream magnetization (σ = B 2 /4πnmc 2 ). α can affect the high-energy cutoff. In conclusion, for collisionless relativistic reconnection in electron-positron plasma, without guide field, n b /n d =0.1: (1) relativistic magnetic reconnection yields power-law particle spectra, (2) the power law index decreases as σ increases, approaching ≈1.2. (3) the power law is cut off at an energy related to acceleration within a single current layer, which is proportional to the current layer length (for small systems, that length is the system length, yielding γ c2 ≈ 0.1 L/ρ 0 ; for large systems, the layer length is limited by secondary tearing instability, yielding γ c1 ≈ 4σ; the transition from small to large is around L/ρ 0 = 40σ.). (4) although the large-system energy cutoff is proportional to the average energy per particle, it is significantly higher than the average energy per particle.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Assessing Photovoltaic Capacity Factor Variability Using Long-Term Satellite Derived Solar Resource Data Under Brazilian Climate

Accurate estimation of photovoltaic (PV) energy yield and its variability is essential for reducing financial risk and supporting reliable system planning for rapidly expanding PV markets. In Brazil, high solar adoption and increasing levels of distributed energy resources are beginning to introduce operational challenges such as curtailment and evolving grid requirements. Understanding how natural variability in solar resource propagates into PV system performance is therefore increasingly important for both project design and grid integration. Modern PV yield assessments commonly rely on multi-year meteorological datasets and probabilistic exceedance metrics (e.g., P50/P90) to quantify energy yield uncertainty for project financing. However, the implications of long-term solar resource variability for PV system design choices and high-adoption grid conditions remain less well characterized for rapidly expanding markets such as Brazil. In particular, understanding how weather-driven variability propagates into PV production distributions and capacity factor expectations is important for evaluating curtailment exposure, deployment strategies, and storage requirements in regions experiencing rapid growth of distributed and utility-scale PV. Seasonal and interannual variability in atmospheric conditions can produce substantial fluctuations in monthly PV energy production, which propagate into uncertainty in annual energy yield and capacity factor expectations. Characterizing this variability using long-term meteorological datasets allows probabilistic estimation of PV system performance and provides improved insight into the range of expected PV energy outcomes. This study explores the use of long-term satellite-derived meteorological data from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) to evaluate the variability of photovoltaic system performance across multiple locations in Brazil. Using a 27-year dataset (1998-2024), PV system simulations are performed to characterize the distribution of annual and seasonal capacity factors and energy yield outcomes, while propagating key sources of meteorological variability and model uncertainty through the PV modeling chain. The analysis also investigates the sensitivity of PV performance outcomes to key system design assumptions within the PV modeling chain, including tracking configuration and system sizing parameters. The resulting probabilistic performance characterization provides insight into how weather-driven variability influences PV production expectations and capacity factor distributions. These results provide a foundation for evaluating how weather-driven variability interacts with high PV adoption and potential storage or curtailment mitigation strategies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗