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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Guest Editorial: Advanced Data-Analytics for Power System Operation, Control, and Enhanced Situational Awareness

Along with the smart grid development, modern power systems are entering a ‘data-intensive’ era. A vast volume of data from power grids is being collected through advanced sensing and communication technologies, such as smart metering data, phasor measurement data, as well as meteorological data (e.g., wind speed and solar irradiance) related to renewable power generation. Such data contains comprehensive information about the power system covering equipment's health status, power grid's static and dynamic characteristics, renewable power generation, customers’ electricity usage pattern, etc. Therefore, advanced data-analytics techniques are needed to convert such data to knowledge for practical applications. In line with the trend of widespread data-driven applications in power systems, this Special Issue aims to present state-of-the-art research works on advanced data-analytics for power system's operation, control, and situational awareness. There are in total twenty-six papers accepted for publication in this Special Issue through careful peer reviews and revisions. Under the overarching theme of data-driven applications in power systems, the selected papers are broadly categorised into five topics. The summary of every topic is given below. You are, however, strongly encouraged to read the full paper if interested.

Xu, Yan↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Large Hadron–Electron Collider at the HL-LHC

The Large Hadron–Electron Collider (LHeC) is designed to move the field of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) to the energy and intensity frontier of particle physics. Exploiting energy-recovery technology, it collides a novel, intense electron beam with a proton or ion beam from the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). The accelerator and interaction region are designed for concurrent electron–proton and proton–proton operations. This report represents an update to the LHeC’s conceptual design report (CDR), published in 2012. It comprises new results on the parton structure of the proton and heavier nuclei, QCD dynamics, and electroweak and top-quark physics. It is shown how the LHeC will open a new chapter of nuclear particle physics by extending the accessible kinematic range of lepton–nucleus scattering by several orders of magnitude. Due to its enhanced luminosity and large energy and the cleanliness of the final hadronic states, the LHeC has a strong Higgs physics programme and its own discovery potential for new physics. Building on the 2012 CDR, this report contains a detailed updated design for the energy-recovery electron linac (ERL), including a new lattice, magnet and superconducting radio-frequency technology, and further components. Challenges of energy recovery are described, and the lower-energy, high-current, three-turn ERL facility, PERLE at Orsay, is presented, which uses the LHeC characteristics serving as a development facility for the design and operation of the LHeC. An updated detector design is presented corresponding to the acceptance, resolution, and calibration goals that arise from the Higgs and parton-density-function physics programmes. This paper also presents novel results for the Future Circular Collider in electron–hadron (FCC-eh) mode, which utilises the same ERL technology to further extend the reach of DIS to even higher centre-of-mass energies.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Extraction of Drell-Yan Angular Parameters in $pp$ Collisions with a 120 GeV Beam Energy Using a Deep-Learning Unfolding Algorithm

Dilepton production in pp collisions through the Drell-Yan process provides a crucial tool for studying the internal quark-gluon structure of the nucleon. By precisely measuring the $\cos2\phi$ asymmetry, where $\phi$ represents the azimuthal angle of the $l^{+}l^{-}$ pair in the Collins-Soper frame, we can gain valuable insights into the proton’s structure and the transverse momentum ($q_{T}$) dependence of the $\cos2\phi$ asymmetry. SeaQuest, a fixed-target Drell-Yan experiment at Fermilab, involved an unpolarized proton beam colliding with unpolarized LH$_{2}$ and LD$_{2}$ targets. Measurements obtained from experiments typically require corrections for detector inefficiencies, smearing, and acceptance. Traditionally, these corrections involve “unfolding” the detector-level measurements through matrix operations. However, in higher-dimensional phase space, these conventional methods fail to scale effectively. To overcome these limitations, we employ an unbinned unfolding method that utilizes deep neural networks for unfolding higher-dimensional phase space. In this presentation, we will explain the design of the neural network architecture, our training strategies, and outline our plans to achieve conclusive results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laboratory Testing and Performance Characterization of the High Efficiency Dehumidification System (HEDS) Technology

The high efficiency dehumidification system (HEDS) is a unique air handling unit (AHU) design with two water coils. Connected in series, these water coils can sensibly reheat the airstream after it is cooled and dehumidified, thereby mitigating (or sometimes eliminating) the need for conventional sensible reheat with additional energy from hot water, electric resistance or steam coils. Another unique design feature is the size of the HEDS primary cooling coil. While typical AHU cooling coils have a 6-row geometry, the HED's cooling coil has a deeper 10-row geometry enabling discharge air dew point temperatures at or below 55 degrees F despite warmer chilled water supply temperatures approaching (sometimes exceeding) 50 degrees F. The ability to meet acceptable discharge air dew points with warmer chilled water supply temperatures improves both operational efficiency and system resilience against chilled water plant operational or control issues. This report summarizes the 59 steady-state test results that form a comprehensive performance map of the HEDS technology including its reheat capability. The breadth of outdoor air conditions and flow rates over which the HEDS technology was tested and characterized encompasses the unit 1) operating as a dedicated outdoor air system or mixed air system and 2) controlled with constant air volume or variable air volume fan control.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impacts of Dual-Use Solar (Agrivoltaics) on Crop Productivity and the Agricultural Economy in Massachusetts and Beyond

This project contributes applied research to better understand the impacts of agrivoltaics on farm microclimates, crop productivity, and economics at the farm and sector level. The site trial research is divided into two sets of site trials integrated into commercial farm and agrivoltaic operations – one set on annual vegetable and hay crops and one on perennial cranberry bog operations. The economic research developed methods for recording and evaluating changes in farm operations and costs, and on the public perception of and willingness-to-accept agrivoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

FY24 Report on Water NSTF Testing: Lower Tank Inlet Piping Configuration

The following report serves as a summary of the accomplishments and testing results by the Natural convection Shutdown heat removal Test Facility (NSTF) experimental program over the past 12-month period. A major activity included reconfiguration of the chimney piping geometry which altered the discharge position into the tank from the original 50% tank height to a new lower position at a 10.9% tank height. This modification increases the volume of available coolant thus extending long-term operating capacity, however also results in a decreased liquid driving head which has the potential to reduce the natural circulation efficiency and decrease overall performance. Examination of the tradeoffs for these two configurations is an area of interest for RCCS designers and drove planned test activities this year. Ten matrix tests were performed in FY24, totaling 195 hours of heated operations and 12.9 MWh of electrical heating throughout the year, with eight classified as Accepted per NQA-1 and two classified as Trending. Testing prior to the facility reconfiguration examined the facility response to throttling at the tank inlet, demonstrating increased sensitivity of flow instabilities to throttling within the two-phase region when compared to throttling at the lower sensitivity single-phase inlet region. Testing after the chimney reconfiguration began with a baseline test at conditions of 80% inventory fill and prototypic thermal power input of 2.1 MW t . In addition to establishing a reference for nominal system behavior and performance, repeat testing with multiple subsequent runs demonstrated strong repeatability between tests performed at the same conditions in this new configuration. These tests also examined if influences would occur to system behavior with installation of new higher-resolution instrumentation within the upper chimney. In this critical region where boiling and flashing phenomena dominate, the test results provided confidence that the new instrumentation does not uncharacteristically influence the observed behaviors. An inventory parametric series was then initiated to examine system behavior with the new chimney configuration at six varying initial inventory levels, ranging from high 80% to low 20% fill. Two-phase oscillations with similar peak and mean flow rates were observed when comparing to the previous mid tank configuration. Generally, similar system response trends with inventory were also observed, such as two phase oscillations suppressing as inventories were lowered. However, in one absolute inventory comparison at the highest fill of 80%, flow oscillations saw a gradual growth over the 4 hours of two-phase operation in the new lower tank inlet configuration, opposite of the gradual dampening observed in the mid tank inlet configuration. This can be attributed to, in part, a greater hydrostatic head pressure above the two-phase discharge region where the boiling front is developed. Furthermore, the change resulted in greater sensitivity to liquid degassing phenomena during single-phase heating, causing loop instabilities to form which trigged moderate flow degradation during the period approaching saturation and boiling conditions. This behavior had been observed previously under some conditions but was a common occurrence in recent testing with the newer lower tank inlet configuration. Initial observations from these first data sets suggest an overall larger window of stability for the mid tank inlet configuration compared to the lower tank inlet. Lastly, the lowest inventory fill test was repeated over an extended testing window to examine depletion behavior. Natural circulation flow and effective heat removal performance were observed during most of the testing period; only after the tank became fully drained (0% fill) did flow stagnate and violent geysering events occur. This early observation confirms one relative advantage over the mid tank inlet configuration, which stagnated under comparable conditions at ~20% inventory remaining in the tank.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

PIP-II Linac Cryogenic Distribution System Design Challenges

The PIP-II linac Cryogenic Distribution System (CDS) is characterized by extremely small heat inflows and robust mechanical design. It consists of a Distribution Valve Box (DVB), Intermediate Transfer Line, Tunnel Transfer Line, comprising 25 Bayonet Cans, and ends with a Turnaround Can. Multiple helium streams, each characterized by distinct helium parameters, flow through each of these elements. The CDS geometry allows maintaining an acceptable pressure drop for each helium stream, considering the planned flows and helium parameters in different operation modes. This is particularly crucial for the return line of helium vapors, which return from cryomodules to the cold compressors and thus have very restrictive pressure drop requirements. On both sides of the DVB there are fixed supports for process pipes. One of the DVB design challenges was to route the process pipes in such a way that their shape provided sufficient compensation for thermal shrinkage. This ensures th at the forces resulting from thermal shrinkage acting on the cryogenic valves remain at a level acceptable to the manufacturer. The required thermal budget of the CDS was achieved by thermo-mechanical optimization of its components, like process pipes fixed supports in Bayonet Cans.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

VersaBuild: A Novel, Multi-scale, Versatile 3d Printer Concept

Our team has identified and attempted to solve a major challenge limiting the increased deployment of additive manufacturing in full-scale production environments. As engineers desire for greater flexibility of design grows, and as the diversity of properties achievable and materials usable in additive manufacturing increases, additive manufacturing becomes increasingly valuable and useful. However, the machines used to produce AM parts have largely stagnated in terms of configurability, technology, and design. We have conceptualized a system which enables a single machine to provide the functionality of multiple machines, with minimal operator changes. The gap that was identified by the team was the lack of a system that could accept user-configurable changes to the print resolution and printbed size. This would enable manufacturers flexibility in the size, quality, and quantity of parts produced in a facility of a given size. Significant floorspace savings could be achieved in a facility deploying our proposed solution due to the flexibility of the machine, lowering operational cost. Our envisioned design is similar in concept to a standard Delta robot, which is a three-armed robot that is used in many industrial applications. However, we intend for our design to have extensible delta arms that include position sensing, allowing for a greater range of motion and thus print volume while maintaining precise control over the printhead position. Some of the key risks associated with are system are caused by the novelty of the concept. Our system must undergo significant R&D and requires a fully integrated software, electrical, and mechanical system to be developed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accelerating technology development to monitor and minimize effects from land‐based wind energy on birds and bats

While wind energy is a key sector of domestic energy production for the United States, operation of wind turbines directly and indirectly adversely affects certain species of birds and bats. The cumulative effect of wind turbine strikes can have both biological and regulatory consequences, and, in some cases, delay permitting and construction or affect ongoing operations. Technology can help quantify and minimize these effects, but the pace of development, acceptance, and adoption of technological solutions is slow. Although adopting cost‐effective technologies may reduce negative effects on wildlife and help achieve both energy production and conservation goals, consensus is lacking among developers, regulators, and the conservation community regarding how to define technology effectiveness and acceptance and how to develop a standardized process for doing so. Removing barriers to technology advancement requires deviating from the status quo. Changes include 1) creating incentives to mitigate impacts, 2) establishing options for research as mitigation, 3) rethinking how research is funded, 4) increasing stakeholder coordination, and 5) increasing the efficiency of research and development. We recommend the creation of a national framework to establish clear criteria and protocols for technology evaluation and adoption.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bridging the Energy Future: The Role and Potential of Hydrogen Co-Firing with Natural Gas

In the transition toward sustainable energy systems, the co-firing of hydrogen (H2) with natural gas emerges as a critical technology for cleaner power generation. This study examines its benefits, including emissions reduction, enhanced efficiency, and compatibility with existing infrastructure. Concurrently, it addresses the inherent challenges, such as combustion dynamics, necessary infrastructure modifications, and economic considerations. Incorporating global case studies, the review explores recent advancements in hydrogen production and co-firing, evaluating their practicality and operational efficiency. It also provides a critical examination of the economic implications and societal acceptance, which are crucial for the adoption of hydrogen technologies. Moreover, the review investigates the synergy between hydrogen and renewable energy technologies, assessing potential impacts on energy policy and regulation. Ultimately, this comprehensive analysis underscores the essential role of hydrogen co-firing in the energy sector and advocates for a comprehensive strategy that synergizes technological progress, economic viability, regulatory support, and public engagement to promote a resilient and sustainable energy future.

hydrogen co-firing↗
DOE OSTI2021

MULTI-MISSION THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR ASSEMBLY TESTING AND LAUNCH OPERATIONS FOR MARS 2020

The Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies (SNPIT) division at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) fuels, performs acceptance testing, and provides spacecraft integration support of Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) in support of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions. Recently the SNPIT team completed assembly, testing and launch support of the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bio-project “derisking” through development of systematic methodologies and frameworks for risk assessment

One of the primary hindrances to producing a viable, sustainable domestic biomass industry for renewable biofuels, bio-products and bio-power is the lack of understanding and quantification of the risks associated with both the biomass supply chain and preprocessing and conversion technologies. Currently a consistent method for assessing, comparing, and quantifying risks in biomass supply chains does not exist, creating a major investment barrier to bioenergy projects in the U.S. The lack of a standardized approach has resulted in bioenergy stakeholders independently using inconsistent approaches and evaluation criteria, leading to unreliable and incomparable assessments of risks and financing barriers to bio-project development. Along with the challenges of inconsistent risk assessment for supply chain risk, technology specific risks based on variability in biomass properties are not fully understood and can pose significant unforeseen challenges for bioenergy projects. In many cases these properties have not yet been identified and the impacts on the proposed technology and products unquantified. This is particularly challenging for emerging preprocessing and conversion technologies. Without a firm understanding of the preprocessing/conversion technology-specific critical properties, the risk of a proposed bio-project cannot be fully evaluated. To address inconsistent risk evaluation in the biomass supply chain supporting project financing, a Biomass Supply Chain Risk Standards (BSCRS) framework was developed. The BSCRS framework includes a comprehensive list of known and perceived risks (Risk Indicators) to the supply chain developed through 100’s of interviews with bioenergy industry experts spanning from feedstock growers and suppliers to representatives from the financial sector. These risks have been organized into a manageable hierarchy of Risk Categories and Risk Factors that can be practically assessed. This BSCRS framework also provides mitigation strategies for multiple Risk Indicators from best available industry practices and research findings. Additionally, a risk quantification methodology for each Risk Factor, Risk Category, and the bio-project as a whole was developed to enable capital markets to assess feedstock risk more efficiently and more accurately. Multiple case studies representing existing bio-projects have been used to evaluate and verify the BSCRS framework and scoring methodology. To address technological risk along with the supply chain risk captured in the developed BSCRS framework, this work also focuses on development of a systematic criticality assessment tool using well-accepted, quantitative risk analysis methods to evaluate bioenergy feedstock critical properties impacting system unit operations. The proposed Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) approach uses a team of subject area experts (SAEs) for each targeted unit operation within a system. Collectively, the team will develop and use a quantitative scoring system to assess the material attributes, process parameters, and quality attributes for key unit operations that have already been identified. The FMEA process generates Risk Priority Numbers (RPNs) for the various failures and predominant causes for each material/process unit/product combination resulting in a semi-quantitative, standardized methodology for assessing technological risk and biomass properties contributing to that risk.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

MULTI-MISSION THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR ASSEMBLY TESTING AND LAUNCH OPERATIONS FOR MARS 2020

The Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies (SNPIT) division at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) fuels, performs acceptance testing, and provides spacecraft integration support of Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) in support of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions. Recently the SNPIT team completed assembly, testing and launch support of the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Managing the techno-economic impacts of partial string failure in multistring energy storage systems

The role of energy storage systems (ESSs) is becoming increasingly important for today’s electric power systems. Unavailability of an ESS assigned to critical grid services may cause unwanted disruption of those services and hence, may have a significant techno-economic impact. Like any physical equipment, an ESS is vulnerable to various types of faults. Failure of one or more strings in a multistring ESS does not have to be the cause of shutting down the entire ESS. It can still operate with a partial number of strings and continue providing critical services to the grid, if there are no reliability or safety issues and is acceptable under applicable standards. However, it is important to make sure that the control strategies are adaptable to the changes in ESS capacity caused by failed strings. Also, depending on the previous operation and type of failure, the reallocation of duty cycle burden among available strings could be non-uniform. These complexities suggest that mitigation of the impact of partial failure in multistring ESSs is not trivial and needs careful consideration. This is the topic of this paper. The proposed work investigates the impact of partial failure of a large multistring ESS on the assigned service and develops strategies to adjust the ESS control duty cycles for reducing such impacts. In doing so, the paper proposes a novel two-stage framework that plans for the multistring failure using robust optimization theory and then adjusts in real-time using a rule-based algorithm, based on the real-time information on the power availability of the string. Illustrations provided in this work are based on frequency regulation use-case, which is a common application for many utility-scale ESSs. A 750 kilowatt (kW)/1500 kilowatt-hour (kWh) 3-string ESS is used for the demonstration in this work and the efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated and compared against methods that do not incorporate string failure in their strategy. In particular, here we show that revenue loss of 93% can be incurred when partial string failure is not included in operation and planning. These losses in revenue are reduced by 60% with the proposed method.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Techno-economic and life-cycle analysis of strategies for improving operability and biomass quality in catalytic fast pyrolysis of forest residues

Many of the challenges faced by the first commercial biorefineries were associated with feedstock handling, quality, and cost. Strategies are needed to enable further expansion of biorefineries and meet the growing demand for bio-based fuels and products. Here, we examine 2 key feedstock challenges and mitigation strategies in the context of a catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) biorefinery: (1) the operability of the feed system, which may be improved by modifying the minimum particle size fed to the reactor, and (2) the quality of the biomass, which may be improved by employing air classification to remove undesirable material and increase fuel yields. We conduct techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle analysis for these strategies, employing a discrete event simulation model for biomass preprocessing combined with a series of correlations developed from literature data and a rigorous CFP conversion model. Our results highlight the importance of balancing increased cost and material losses from preprocessing against improved operability and fuel yields. Economics and sustainability were optimized when operating at the lowest minimum particle size, emphasizing the importance of minimizing material losses while maintaining the operability of the process. Economically, additional costs and material losses from air classification could be acceptable due to improved biomass conversion, and an optimum air classification speed was identified; however, the fuel GHG emissions were minimized when air classification was not used. Valorizing material removed during preprocessing as a coproduct could improve economics and sustainability, decreasing the burden of material losses.

09 - BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Initial development of an in-situ, passive material surveillance test article for monitoring high temperature reactor structural components

This report describes the development of a family of passively-actuated surveillance test articles, suitable for use in an in-situ reactor test program monitoring the degradation in structural material properties caused by the reactor environment. The test articles apply creep-fatigue-type cyclic load to a test section driven by changes in the reactor coolant temperature converted to mechanical force by differential thermal expansion. The report describes three types of test articles, all of which apply the load to a 316H test section using Alloy 617 as the driver material. The three types of specimens each serve a unique purpose: (1) initial proof-of-concept, (2) validation of the models used to size the specimens to achieve a given strain range, and (3) demonstration that the articles can be miniaturized for use in an actual operating reactor. In addition to the specimen design, fabrication, and testing, this report describes the outline of two types of in-situ monitoring programs, using the test article. Monitoring programs such as these could be a critical component in gaining regulator acceptance for Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) designs using structural materials for which there is little long-term experimental environmental testing or operating experience available for calibrating the component structural design.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cost Reduction of School Bus Fleet Electrification With Optimized Charging and Distributed Energy Resources: Preprint

Considerations for electrifying school buses are presented with an analysis of battery sizing to match bus driving requirements. The charging and vehicle-to-building dispatch of the electric school buses were optimized to evaluate the potential to reduce the impact of the bus charging on the school's electric utility bill. Distributed energy resources (DER) and flexible building loads were also considered with the school bus electrification to evaluate the further reduction in energy costs with enhanced system integration and optimized dispatch. The effect of degradation on the school bus batteries was analyzed to determine if the smart charging and vehicle-to-building battery operation decreases the life of the battery. The results show that there is an opportunity to mitigate the increase of electric utility bills with improved charging controls and bi-directionally operating the school bus batteries to reduce building demand charges. The battery degradation analysis using dispatch with optimized charging and discharging shows acceptable battery life.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗