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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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DOE OSTI2023

Solar Canopy Expansion Project (Final Technical Report)

This project is a parking-lot canopy solar photovoltaic system, consisting of four canopy structures and 1,080 470-watt (W) modules. The nameplate rating of the project is 507.6 kilowatts direct current (kWDC) at Standard Test Condition (STC), and 448 kilowatts alternating current (kWAC). It is interconnected to the existing Tribe-owned medium-voltage micro-grid generation system via a step-up transformer and short medium-voltage line. This project offsets energy usage from more expensive existing sources, specifically the Tribe-owned gas-fired engine generators providing the primary power source for existing Tribal facilities and the electric utility, which provides an alternate source. The solar photovoltaic system is a renewable source, which has the benefit of reducing reliance on fossil-fuel burning sources. By reducing demand on existing Tribe-owned conventional generators, the project has avoided the need to add more conventional generation and has prolonged the lifespan of existing gas-fired engine generators. The project reduced energy costs and reliance on fossil-fuel burning power sources, increasing Tribe-owned generating sources and self-reliance, and prolonging the lifespan of existing generators. A side benefit to the project is the production of dozens of covered parking spaces in the existing parking lot.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Life-cycle impact and exergy based resource use assessment of torrefied and non-torrefied briquette use for heat and electricity generation

Forest residue biomass can be used as bioenergy feedstock, however, issues associated with its properties including low density and high moisture content constrains its valorization. Using mobile conversion technologies that can operate in remote areas and are capable of converting forest residues into high quality energy products can address the issues associated with its valorization for renewable energy production. This study evaluated environmental sustainability of using an integrated novel system of semi-mobile biomass conversion technologies (BCTs) to utilize low-value forest residue biomass as high value bioenergy products. A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) and resource use assessment on a unit-process level was conducted for two bio-products: nontorrefied briquettes (NTB) and torrefied briquettes (TOB). Their use for production of useful thermal energy in wood stoves for domestic heating and electricity at power plants were investigated along with their alternatives. The analyses were performed with SimaPro 8.5 using the DATASMART database. The impact assessment results showed a notable decrease in global warming (GW) impact when substituting fossil fuels with these two bio-products. Specifically, for domestic heating on an equivalent energy basis, a 50% substitution of propane with NTB and TOB showed GHG emission reductions of 46% and 41%, respectively. For electricity generation, 10% cofiring at coal power plant with NTB and TOB showed GHG emission reductions of 6% and 8%, respectively. For the TOB supply chain, a large portion of the GW impact of the came from the torrefaction process and followed by the drying process. This was due to the propane use in these processes. Comparative analysis showed that near-woods biomass conversion for TOB production instead of processing feedstock at an in-town facility with access to grid electricity found 48%–55% lower GW impact for both electricity and heat generation scenarios, respectively. Resourced footprint analysis showed that most exergy extraction from the natural environment came from the drying process for NTB supply chain. In the TOB product system, torrefaction was the major contributor.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

NASA NTRS1977

Molten salt thermal energy storage for utility peaking loads

This paper considers the use of thermal energy storage (TES) in molten salts to increase the capacity of power plants. Five existing fossil and nuclear electric utility plants were selected as representative of current technology. A review of system load diagrams indicated that TES to meet loads over 95% of peak was a reasonable goal. Alternate TES heat exchanger locations were evaluated, showing that the stored energy should be used either for feedwater heating or to generate steam for an auxiliary power cycle. Specific salts for each concept are recommended. Design layouts were prepared for one plant, and it was shown that a TES tube/shell heat exchanger system could provide about 7% peaking capability at lower cost than adding steam generation capacity. Promising alternate heat exchanger concepts were also identified.

Ferrara, A.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Renewable Thermal Hybridization Framework for Industrial Process Heat Applications

Renewable thermal energy systems (RTES) could be hybridized with different renewable options (e.g., flat plate collectors (FPCs) with parabolic collectors), or combined with existing heat supplies (e.g., fossil fuels), to give options for targeted solar IPH applications, industrial decarbonization and the reduction of fuel consumption. Buildings and industrial thermal energy applications require different temperature ranges, quantities, and rates of thermal energy, and as such require flexible, cost competitive solutions, able to provide heat over various temperature ranges. Hybrid solutions and thermal energy storage (TES) will be important for the dispatch of heat at optimal times needed by the demand side of the buildings and industrial applications. A variety of tools and platforms, such as the System Advisor Model (SAM), can provide hourly thermal yield simulations from single renewable energy (RE) technology options, including FPCs or CSP for solar IPH. We have investigated a variety of approaches to hybrid system modeling for RTES at different temperatures or combinations of technologies and developed an initial framework. The hybridization framework starts by creating a heat stream and raising the temperature of that heat stream by various combinations of RE technologies and other sources such as fossil fuels, new fuels or electric heating in multiple stages, with options for TES and/or waste heat recovery (WHR).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

NASA NTRS2013

Response to Comment by Rabilloud on 'prevented Mortality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Historical and Projected Nuclear Power'

The critique by Rabilloud-whose only listed professional affiliation is an antinuclear activist groupis grossly biased and contains numerous misleading, hyperbolic, and erroneous claims about our paper2 and about nuclear energy in general. The nature of his comments bears a striking resemblance to the fallacious reasoning commonly employed by climate change deniers to try to undermine public concern about the climate crisis. Specifically, he resorts to cherry-picking of information and diversionary (red herring) arguments, demands unrealistic exactness, and cites untrustworthy sources. None of his claims undermine any of the key results of our paper, most notably our conclusion that nuclear energy has prevented, and can continue to prevent, a very high number of fatalities and very large greenhouse gas emissions due to fossil fuel burning. It follows that, as uncomfortable as it is for many well-intentioned environmentalists to admit, efforts to undermine nuclear energy also undermine mitigation of climate change and air pollution, with a heavy cost in human lives and potentially disastrous future climate change.

claiming↗

DOE OSTI2013

Flexible Opportunity Fuels for Process Heat and Steam Generation

The majority of industrial process heating and steam generation is currently fueled by natural gas or coal. Other fuels that are not used throughout industry, such as biomass, anaerobic digester gas and petroleum coke can potentially supplement or replace natural gas and coal in various process heating and steam generation applications. These non-traditional fuel supply options, also known as opportunity fuels, can enhance energy security for industrial facilities by increasing fuel flexibility and reducing or eliminating reliance on traditional fossil fuels. They can also provide significant economic benefits, by reducing fuel costs and improving profit margins. Some fuels may even be available at a negative cost, as owners seek to dispose of waste products that may have energy content.

Lemar, Jr, Paul L.↗

DOE OSTI2014

Greener pathways for energy-intensive commodity chemicals: opportunities and challenges

Not Available

Yao, Yuan↗

DOE OSTI2013

Development of a Low Cost 10kW Tubular SOFC Power System

The DOE program funded from 2003 through early 2013 has brought the Acumentrics SOFC program from an early stage R&D program to an entry level commercial product offering. The development work started as one of the main core teams under the DOE Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) program administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the DOE. During the first phase of the program, lasting approximately 3-4 years, a 5kW machine was designed, manufactured and tested against the specification developed by NETL. This unit was also shipped to NETL for independent verification testing which validated all of the results achieved while in the laboratory at Acumentrics. The Acumentrics unit passed all criteria established from operational stability, efficiency, and cost projections. Passing of the SECA Phase I test allowed the program to move into Phase II of the program. During this phase, the overall objective was to further refine the unit meeting a higher level of performance stability as well as further cost reductions. During the first year of this new phase, the NETL SECA program was refocused towards larger size units and operation on coal gasification due to the severe rise in natural gas prices and refocus on the US supply of indigenous coal. At this point, the program was shifted to the U.S. DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) division located in Golden, Colorado. With this shift, the focus remained on smaller power units operational on gaseous fuels for a variety of applications including micro combined heat and power (mCHP). To achieve this goal, further enhancements in power, life expectancy and reductions in cost were necessary. The past 5 years have achieved these goals with machines that can now achieve over 40% electrical efficiency and field units that have now operated for close to a year and a half with minimal maintenance. The following report details not only the first phase while under the SECA program and the key achievements but also the results while under EERE’s leadership and the transition to an early commercial product offering.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Distributed Wind for Commercial Loads

Distributed wind can help meet on site energy and resilience needs for a wide variety of commercial loads .While it is a variable resource, it has predictable daily and annual production trends. The presence of on-site renewable generation can enhance resilience, supplying power for long periods of time without worrying about conserving fuel supply. The addition of properly sized storage or complementary solar resources can further reduce the challenges of intermittency and reduce the need for fuel-limited backup power during outage situations. This fact sheet explores further the energy and resilience requirements of commercial loads and how distributed wind may be a good match to meet their load needs.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Distributed Wind for Commercial Loads

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Strategic Partnerships Final LDRD Report: Nanocomposite Materials for Efficient Solar Hydrogen Production

This 'campus executive' project sought to advance solar thermochemical technology for producing chemical fuels. The project advanced the common interest of Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Arizona in creating a sustainable and viable alternative to fossil fuels. The focus of this effort was in developing new methods for creating unique monolithic composite structures and characterizing their performance in thermochemical production of hydrogen from water. The development and processing of the materials was undertaken in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Arizona; Sandia National Laboratories performed the thermochemical characterization. Ferrite/yttria-stabilized zirconia composite monoliths were fabricated and shown to have exceptionally high utilization of the ferrite for splitting CO 2 to obtain CO (a process analogous to splitting H 2 O to obtain H 2 ).

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2022

Renewable Thermal Hybridization Framework for Industrial Process Heat Applications

Solar industrial process heat (SIPH) technologies, such as concentrating solar power collectors, could economically replace the steam or heat needs at many industrial sites by providing high-temperature heat transfer fluids (HTFs) such as pressurized water, synthetic-oil, or direct steam. Renewable thermal energy systems (RTES) could be hybridized with different renewable options e.g., flat plate collectors with parabolic trough collectors, or combined with existing heat supplies (e.g., fossil fuels), to give options for targeted SIPH applications, industrial decarbonization and the reduction of fuel consumption. Hybrid solutions and thermal energy storage will be important for the dispatch of heat at optimal times needed by the demand side of the buildings and industrial applications. At present, there is no integrated modeling tool for hybrid RTES, and this paper highlights the development of a renewable thermal hybridization framework for IPH use that is built from existing tools like System Advisor Model. The long-term vision for the framework (through significant further research) is to develop a coupled hybrid energy generation and cost analysis tool, where the tool could help the user in determining the most suitable and cost-effective technologies for their applications. Ongoing work will look to add costs for RTES options and further refinement on the selection of suitable technologies. This future tool could calculate the levelized cost of heat of various RTES hybrid options, by taking the user's solar resource, fuel costs, industrial heat demand profile, available land, and other factors into account to determine the applicability into their process.

concentrating solar power↗

DOE OSTI2012

GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION POTENTIAL WITH COMBINED HEAT AND POWER WITH DISTRIBUTED GENERATION PRIME MOVERS - ASME 2012

Pending or recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations and mandates are leading to the need for current and feasible GHG reduction solutions including combined heat and power (CHP). Distributed generation using advanced reciprocating engines, gas turbines, microturbines and fuel cells has been shown to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to the U.S. electrical generation mix due to the use of natural gas and high electrical generation efficiencies of these prime movers. Many of these prime movers are also well suited for use in CHP systems which recover heat generated during combustion or energy conversion. CHP increases the total efficiency of the prime mover by recovering waste heat for generating electricity, replacing process steam, hot water for buildings or even cooling via absorption chilling. The increased efficiency of CHP systems further reduces GHG emissions compared to systems which do not recover waste thermal energy. Current GHG mandates within the U.S Federal sector and looming GHG legislation for states puts an emphasis on understanding the GHG reduction potential of such systems. This study compares the GHG savings from various state-of-the- art prime movers. GHG reductions from commercially available prime movers in the 1-5 MW class including, various industrial fuel cells, large and small gas turbines, micro turbines and reciprocating gas engines with and without CHP are compared to centralized electricity generation including the U.S. mix and the best available technology with natural gas combined cycle power plants. The findings show significant GHG saving potential with the use of CHP. Also provided is an exploration of the accounting methodology for GHG reductions with CHP and the sensitivity of such analyses to electrical generation efficiency, emissions factors and most importantly recoverable heat and thermal recovery efficiency from the CHP system.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2023

AI-based Detection and Defense Against Cyberattacks in Distributed Energy Resources

This study will provide comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution tools for network security, malware prevention, and sensor data anomaly detection for distributed energy resource (DER) research, development, and demonstration. DER technologies are energy systems (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines, and energy storage systems) that are often connected to the internet and thus vulnerable to cyberattacks. Cybersecurity should be of primary concern for DERs, which is why we propose an integrated multi-layer cyber-defense system for DERs. This system encompasses risk assessments, network security, malware prevention, and detection of anomalies in the sensor data. Implementation of a comprehensive risk assessment with an overview of the model architecture should be the primary step, and should include the potential impact of experiencing, at a given time, one or more cyberattacks on the system. The second step is to ensure that the network security includes firewalls, intrusion detection, and malware prevention. The third step is to provide solution tools that enable sensor data anomaly detection for DERs. By incorporating these considerations into DER research, development, and demonstration, organizations can help ensure the safety and security of their systems and protect against potential cyberattacks.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Avoiding compressor surge during emergency shutdown hybridturbine systems

A new emergency shutdown procedure for a direct-fired fuel cell turbine hybrid power system was evaluated using a hardware-based simulation of an integrated gasifier/fuel cell/turbine hybrid cycle (IGFC), implemented through the Hybrid Performance (Hyper) project at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy (NETL). The Hyper facility is designed to explore dynamic operation of hybrid systems and quantitatively characterize such transient behavior. It is possible to model, test, and evaluate the effects of different parameters on the design and operation of a gasifier/fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid system and provide a means of quantifying risk mitigation strategies. An open-loop system analysis regarding the dynamic effect of bleed air, cold air bypass, and load bank is presented in order to evaluate the combination of these three main actuators during emergency shutdown. In the previous Hybrid control system architecture, catastrophic compressor failures were observed when the fuel and load bank were cut off during emergency shutdown strategy. Improvements were achieved using a nonlinear fuel valve ramp down when the load bank was not operating. Experiments in load bank operation show compressor surge and stall after emergency shutdown activation. The difficulties in finding an optimal compressor and cathode mass flow for mitigation of surge and stall using these actuators are illustrated.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Chapter 10: Research and Deployment of Renewable Bioenergy Production from Microalgae

Recent progress towards the implementation of renewable bioenergy production has included microalgae, which have potential to significantly contribute to a viable future bioeconomy. In a current challenging energy landscape, where an increased demand for renewable fuels is projected and accompanied by plummeting fossil fuels' prices, economical production of algae-based fuels becomes more challenging. However, in the context of mitigating carbon emissions with the potential of algae to assimilate large quantities of CO2, there is a route to drive carbon sequestration and utilization to support a sustainable and secure global energy future. This chapter places international energy policy in the context of the current and projected energy landscape. The contribution that algae can make, is summarized as both a conceptual contribution as well as an overview of the commercial infrastructure installed globally. Some of the major recent developments and crucial technology innovations are the results of global government support for the development of algae-based bioenergy, biofuels and bioproduct applications, which have been awarded as public private partnerships and are summarized in this chapter.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Immediate Deployment of Waste Energy Recovery Technologies at Multi Sites

Verso Paper Corp. implemented a portfolio of 13 commercially available proven industrial technologies each exceeding 30% minimum threshold efficiency and at least 25% efficiency increase. These sub-projects are a direct result of a grant received from the Department of Energy (DOE) through its FOA 0000044 (Deployment of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems, District Energy Systems, Waste Energy Recovery Systems, and Efficient Industrial Equipment), which was funded by the American Recovery Act. These were installed at 3 sites in 2 states and are helping to reduce Verso costs, making the facilities more competitive. This created approximately 100 construction jobs (FTE's) and reduced impacted Verso facilities' expense budgets. These sub-projects were deployed at Verso paper mills located in Jay, Maine, Bucksport, Maine, and Sartell, Minnesota. The paper mills are the economic engines of the rural communities in which these mills are located. Reinvestment in waste energy recovery capital improvements is providing a stimulus to help maintain domestic jobs and to competitively position the US pulp and paper industry with rising energy costs. Energy efficiency improvements are also providing a positive environmental impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the quantity of wastewater treated and discharged, and fossil fuel demand. As a result of these projects, when fully operating, Verso realized a total of approximately 1.5 TBtu/Year reduction in overall energy consumption, which is 119% of the project objectives. Note that three paper machines have since been permanently curtailed. However even with these shutdowns, the company still met its energy objectives. Note also that the Sartell mill's paper machine is down due to a recent fire which damaged the mill's electrical infrastructure (the company has not decided on the mill's future).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2011

Immediate Deployment of Waste Energy Technologies at Multiple Sites

Verso Paper Corp. implemented a portfolio of 13 commercially available proven industrial technologies each exceeding 30% minimum threshold efficiency and at least 25% efficiency increase. These sub-projects are a direct result of a grant received from the Department of Energy (DOE) through its FOA 0000044 (Deployment of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Systems, District Energy Systems, Waste Energy Recovery Systems, and Efficient Industrial Equipment), which was funded by the American Recovery Act. These were installed at 3 sites in 2 states and are helping to reduce Verso costs, making the facilities more competitive. This created approximately 100 construction jobs (FTE’s) and reduced impacted Verso facilities’ expense budgets. These sub-projects were deployed at Verso paper mills located in Jay, Maine, Bucksport, Maine, and Sartell, Minnesota. The paper mills are the economic engines of the rural communities in which these mills are located. Reinvestment in waste energy recovery capital improvements is providing a stimulus to help maintain domestic jobs and to competitively position the US pulp and paper industry with rising energy costs. Energy efficiency improvements are also providing a positive environmental impact by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the quantity of wastewater treated and discharged, and fossil fuel demand. As a result of these projects, when fully operating, Verso realized a total of approximately 1.5 TBtu/Year reduction in overall energy consumption, which is 119% of the project objectives. Note that three paper machines have since been permanently curtailed. However even with these shutdowns, the company still met its energy objectives. Note also that the Sartell mill’s paper machine is down due to a recent fire which damaged the mill’s electrical infrastructure (the company has not decided on the mill’s future).

distributed energy, combined heat and power, CHP, ↗