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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Enhanced deep neural networks with transfer learning for distribution LMP considering load and PV uncertainties

As the flexibility of generation and demand increases in distribution systems, the residential loads are emerging as a promising means to participate in demand response and the transactive energy market. Market pricing is an instrumental mechanism for the distribution system operator to exploit the full potential of the flexible resources. The distribution locational marginal price (DLMP) can be used to guide the residential load consumption. This type of market signal helps the distribution system operator to optimize the scheduling of all resources while satisfying related network constraints through a day-ahead market. However, solving the optimization problem for large-scale systems can be computationally expensive. To address the scalability and practicability limitations of the DLMP framework, a learning-based approach is proposed in this paper to complement the day-ahead distribution market framework. Here, the proposed approach combines long short-term memory and transfer learning to develop deep neural network that can capture the spatial–temporal correlation of the input data. The model can determine the optimal DLMP for each node in a distribution system without the system parameters required to formulate the optimization problem. Testing results on IEEE 33-bus and 123-bus systems show that the proposed approach can generate a comparable DLMP against the optimization solutions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Imaging from Macro to Nanoscale: Multimodal Advances in Chemical and Biomedical Imaging

Imaging increasingly serves as a multiscale framework for linking molecular mechanisms to cellular behavior, tissue architecture, and organ phenotypes in biology and unraveling fundamental processes in chemistry, physics and materials science. This Perspective highlights recent advances in chemical and biomedical imaging across macro-, micro-, and nanoscales, using representative examples published in Chemical and Biomedical Imaging (CBMI). At the macroscale, we discuss chemically selective MRI, including endogenous and exogenous CEST strategies, together with photoacoustic imaging as a hybrid modality with functional and chemical contrast. At the microscale, we consider fluorescence, label-free optical and vibrational imaging, and selected X-ray approaches that expand sensitivity, specificity, and temporal resolution in biological and materials systems. At the nanoscale, we highlight super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, single-molecule methods, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and correlative imaging strategies that resolve local heterogeneity and molecular organization. Across scales, a common theme emerges that advances in probes, contrast mechanisms, instrumentation, and sample handling are enabling chemically informed imaging that connects molecular specificity with biological context.

multiscale imaging↗
DOE OSTI2021

Can We Better Constrain the Timing of GNAIW/UNADW Variability in the Western Equatorial Atlantic and Its Relationship to Climate Change During the Last Deglaciation?

We have revisited the well-trod VM28-122 core retrieved from the deep Colombian Basin, which includes sediments that reflect modern Upper North Atlantic Deep Water and extends through the last deglaciation into the last glacial period when the site was bathed in Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water. Here, we leverage the nearby Cariaco Basin's surface water radiocarbon reconstruction (reservoir age, and ΔR) on the IntCal20 timescale to recast the period of the last deglaciation with a newly constrained age model. Based on the revised age model, we observe that the multimillennial decrease in benthic δ 13 C and B/Ca (which record δ 13 C of dissolved inorganic carbon and Δ[CO 3 –2 ], respectively) began at 18,100 ± 240 (95% CI) calibrated years BP, synchronous with Termination 1, as identified by changes in the Antarctic Ice Sheet composite and by the onset of rapid glacier recession in the Southern Hemisphere (Denton et al., 2010, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1184119; Denton et al., 2021, https://10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106771). The beginning of the decrease in benthic δ 18 O is concurrent with the changes in carbon chemistry or at most, a few hundred years later. It is no later than 17,700 ± 300 (95% CI) yrs BP in our record, at the putative start of Heinrich Stadial 1. With sufficient data density (more than 2–3 control points per kyr) and an independent record of past surface water radiocarbon variations, it is possible to achieve late glacial and deglacial chronologies with fidelities similar to those of ice cores. Furthermore, doing so in more oceanographic locations should shed light more broadly on the mechanisms instrumental to abrupt climate change.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solenoid actuated driver valve for high repetition rate shock tubes

A high speed, high pressure solenoid actuated valve has been developed for use as a driver section for automated shock tubes. The valve is based on a prior design, and significant improvements in the design of the valve are described in this paper. The new design retains the performance of prior versions of the valve and creates very reproducible reaction conditions in the shock tube, which are illustrated by several thousand experiments. Additionally, the longevity of the valve is improved, failures are reduced, and the maintenance and manufacture of the valve are simplified.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

High pressure, high flow rate batch mixing apparatus for high throughput experiments

An automated, high pressure, high flow rate batch mixing apparatus has been designed and constructed for rapid, stable, and repeatable mixing of multiple gases and vapors. The apparatus operates as an intermittent batch mixer with cycles of topping off fresh mixture to maintain pressure in an accumulator tank until consumed in an experimental apparatus. At high duty cycles, the apparatus can also function at steady state. This style of mixing is suitable for experiments such as high repetition rate shock tubes and other devices with intermittent flow demands. It is compact and portable, facilitating use in locations such as synchrotron light sources. The entire apparatus is heated to permit the mixing of vapors from species with low volatilities. The apparatus is fully automated and runs for extended periods with the only intervention being to refresh reagent supplies. Here, the accuracy and repeatability of the apparatus were verified by periodic gas sampling and analysis with gas chromatography. Multi-component mixtures spanning a wide range of complexity, dilution, and volatility of constituents have been prepared. The compositions of the majority of the mixture were found to be stable over several filling cycles, repeatable, and with the proper calibration of set-point conditions, accurate. Challenges were encountered preparing a mixture from multi-component liquids, and potential solutions are discussed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

A novel means to generate high pressure

Diamond anvil cells are the most popular means of generating pressures above 2 GPa. However, in many experiments, such as nuclear magnetic resonance and x-ray absorption, the metallic pressurizing gasket (which confines much of the sample) represents an occluding barrier that requires a low Z gasket material (e.g., Be), a split gasket, or other means to enable better coupling of the sample to electromagnetic radiation. In this paper, we demonstrate a novel method for generating high pressures that confines the sample just above the plane of the gasket by using a diamond with a laser hole drilled into the center of the tip. The sample is then confined by the hole, which is sealed by a flat gasket that fits over the hole. When load is applied to the diamonds, metal flows from the deformed gasket into the hole thereby pressurizing the sample similarly to how a piston pressurizes gas inside a cylinder. The pressurized sample is above the metallic gasket plane just inside the tip of the diamond, and thus easily accessible via x rays or visible light that skims just above the plane of the gasket providing an enhanced aperture of radiation collection. Furthermore, we have demonstrated the utility of this method by obtaining Raman spectra of SnC 2 O 4 and x-ray diffraction spectra of seleno-DL-cystine, all at high pressures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Human Factors for Advanced Reactors

Existing light water reactors in the U.S. are primarily large baseload electricity generating facilities. The concept of operations for these plants remains largely unchanged since the advent of commercial nuclear power—the main control room serves as the hub of plant activities and is staffed with multiple licensed operators who work in tandem under the shift supervisor, and staff such as field workers support the control room remotely. While newer plants have brought the advent of digital human-machine interfaces to replace earlier analog and mechanical instrumentation and controls, much of the control process remains unchanged and manual. It is simply a newer version of legacy concepts. Advanced reactors potentially bring considerable changes to the size, fuel type, automation, and staffing of nuclear power plants, necessitating a fundamental shift not just from analog to digital, but further from human to automation, from onsite to remote, from control to monitoring, and from many to few operators. Despite this multitude of parallel evolutions in reactor designs, many of the vendors developing the next generation of reactors represent smaller research and development enterprises. It is therefore not feasible to address all aspects of plant design at the same time. In particular, the competing design aspects of new reactors present a significant challenge to the development of robust and human factored systems at the plant. As vendors develop new reactor designs, much of the early focus is naturally on the fuel and reactor system technology. Looming behind these early advances is the daunting prospect of first-of-a-kind control concepts that have not yet been developed or validated. A failure to address the human element of reactor design early will lead to missed opportunities. The quickest development process is the replication of existing concepts of operations at legacy plants, even when such systems were long ago surpassed by better human-machine technologies outside the nuclear industry. Conversely, attempting to undertake novel concepts of operations late in the design life cycle of a plant could result in protracted development efforts and delays in licensing and deployment. This does not have to happen, and it is imperative that human factors be considered now, early in the design of new reactors.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Instrumentation for the In-Core Real-Time Mechanical Testing of Structural Materials (INCREASE) Project

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), the Joint Research Center (JRC), the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), and the Research Center Rez (CVR), started a Joint Experimental Program (JEEP) project that operates within the Nuclear Energy Agency’s Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES II) program in order to develop capabilities for the in-core real-time mechanical testing of structural materials. This effort will focus on designing a shared capsule capable of housing a variety of in-core mechanical testing instrumentation allowing enhanced experiments for the material science community. The outcome of the project would be high-priority, stress relaxation data for stainless-steel-based materials provided by EPRI and CEA. Stress relaxation is a major phenomenon that contributes to material degradation in nuclear reactor components. Currently, nuclear material stress relaxation is assessed both before and after irradiation, using complex and costly post-irradiation examination (PIE) activities. In-situ data would support the development of precision modeling and simulation of this degradation phenomena and would provide validation and benchmarking for existing models using the PIE data. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Sensor and Instrumentation (ASI) program, INL has fabricated and tested out-of-core mechanical test instrumentation. This instrumentation was designed for easy adaptation to the irradiation capsule proposed under this JEEP, and can be deployed to measure real-time stress relaxation under pressurized-water reactor (PWR) conditions. This initial effort will partially serve to replace the testing capabilities lost because of shutting down the Halden Boiling Water Reactor (HBWR). The project would provide these capabilities to the international community via a shared capsule design that is easily adaptable to additional material test reactors. The design features will incorporate expansion to PWR and non-light-water reactor (LWR) environments that will be developed in future work. The capsule and instrumentation will be demonstrated in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) for phase I and the Petten High Flux Reactor (HFR) for phase II irradiations to deliver real-time stress relaxation data on high priority stainless steel structural materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

INSTRUMENTATION FOR IN-CORE REAL-TIME MECHANICAL TESTING OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS (INCREASE) PROJECT

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Nuclear Regulatory Commission, French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), Joint Research Centre, Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, and Research Center Rez, is the operating agent of the In-Core Real-Time Mechanical Testing of Structural Materials (INCREASE) joint experimental program (JEEP) project that operates within the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)’s Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) program. The first objective of the INCREASE project is to design a shared capsule that can house a variety of in-core mechanical testing instrumentation for enabling smart irradiation experiments. The second objective is to collect in core stress relaxation data pertaining to high priority stainless steel (SS) materials under light water reactor conditions with target temperature of 340°C +/-20°C and a minimum neutron damage of 2 displacement per atom (dpa). The INCREASE project will be demonstrated in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nuclear Research Reactor (MITR).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nb 3 Sn multicell cavity coating system at Jefferson Lab

Superconducting radio frequency niobium cavities are the building blocks of modern accelerators for scientific applications. Lower surface resistance, higher fields, and high operating temperatures advance the reach of the future accelerators for scientific discovery as well as potentially enabling cost-effective industrial solutions. We describe the design and performance of an Nb 3 Sn coating system that converts the inner surface of niobium cavities to an Nb 3 Sn film. The niobium surface, heated by radiation from the niobium retort, is exposed to Sn and SnCl 2 vapor during the heat cycle, which results in about 2 μm Nb 3 Sn film on the niobium surface. Film composition and structure as well as radio frequency properties with 1-cell R&D cavities and 5-cell practical accelerator cavities are presented.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

A cryogenic torsion balance using a liquid-cryogen free, ultra-low vibration cryostat

We describe a liquid-cryogen free cryostat with ultra-low vibration levels, which allows for continuous operation of a torsion balance at cryogenic temperatures. The apparatus uses a commercially available two-stage pulse-tube cooler and passive vibration isolation. Here, the torsion balance exhibits torque noise levels lower than room temperature thermal noise by a factor of about four in the frequency range of 3–10 mHz, limited by residual seismic motion and by radiative heating of the pendulum body. In addition to lowering thermal noise below room-temperature limits, the low-temperature environment enables novel torsion balance experiments. Currently, the maximum duration of a continuous measurement run is limited by accumulation of cryogenic surface contamination on the optical elements inside the cryostat.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Polymer Additive Manufacturing for Marine Renewable Energy Applications: Best Practices, Research Trends, and Current Challenges

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly growing technology space, not only for prototyping, but is also becoming more feasible at larger scales and increasing component quantities. There are a large variety of AM processes and materials available to users and effectively applying those processes and materials to a specific use case can be challenging. One specific area where AM could be particularly beneficial is marine renewable energy (MRE). Not only is MRE a relatively nascent industry with a near-term need for rapid deployments and prototype testing, but developers could also see long-term benefits from the broad variety of environmentally resistant materials available and the ability to manufacture complex geometries that AM technologies offer. Over the past 4 years, AM materials have played an increasing role in the Advanced Materials project; a multi-year, multi-laboratory research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office, with the main goal of reducing barriers to the adoption of complex materials in the MRE industry. The primary focus of this project is to develop test methods and generate datasets to understand the long-term performance of advanced materials in marine environmental and address specific material challenges as they arise. This report provides an extensive overview of the research that has been performed specific to AM polymers as part of the Advanced Materials project. The intention of this document is to provide recommendations of best practices with regards to material selection, mechanical test method development, and design practices, lessons learned along the way, current research trends, and ongoing challenges with regards to AM polymers in marine environments. In particular, this report focuses on several key aspects: Material and process selection, Environmental conditioning and subsequent degradation quantification through mechanical characterization, Composite reinforcements on AM polymer substrates, Adhesion of instrumentation for mechanical characterization and loads measurements, Protective coatings for preventing biofouling and water ingress, Other MRE case studies where AM has proved particularly useful. Ultimately, we hope that the test methods that have been developed, data generated, and lessons learned from this research will be valuable to the MRE community (researchers and developers alike), as well as other industries, and can be used as a reference point as the respective MRE and AM industries continue to grow and mature.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2022

In situ melt pool measurements for laser powder bed fusion using multi sensing and correlation analysis

Laser powder bed fusion is a promising technology for local deposition and microstructure control, but it suffers from defects such as delamination and porosity due to the lack of understanding of melt pool dynamics. To study the fundamental behavior of the melt pool, both geometric and thermal sensing with high spatial and temporal resolutions are necessary. This work applies and integrates three advanced sensing technologies: synchrotron X-ray imaging, high-speed IR camera, and high-spatial-resolution IR camera to characterize the evolution of the melt pool shape, keyhole, vapor plume, and thermal evolution in Ti–6Al–4V and 410 stainless steel spot melt cases. Aside from presenting the sensing capability, this paper develops an effective algorithm for high-speed X-ray imaging data to identify melt pool geometries accurately. Preprocessing methods are also implemented for the IR data to estimate the emissivity value and extrapolate the saturated pixels. Quantifications on boundary velocities, melt pool dimensions, thermal gradients, and cooling rates are performed, enabling future comprehensive melt pool dynamics and microstructure analysis. The study discovers a strong correlation between the thermal and X-ray data, demonstrating the feasibility of using relatively cheap IR cameras to predict features that currently can only be captured using costly synchrotron X-ray imaging. Such correlation can be used for future thermal-based melt pool control and model validation.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development of a pulsed, variable-energy positron beam for atomic scale defect studies

Positron annihilation spectroscopy provides a sensitive means of non-destructive characterization of materials, capable of probing single atom vacancies in solids with 10 –7 sensitivity. Here, in this work, we detail the development of a magnetically guided, variable energy, pulsed positron beam designed to conduct depth-dependent defect studies in metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics, which will be the first of its kind in the United States. The design of the target stage provides capabilities for measurements during in situ annealing up to 800 °C and incorporates a new approach to minimize the background due to energetic backscattered positrons. The developed beam at Bowling Green State University provides a powerful tool for characterization of thin films, devices, and ion irradiated materials.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Scattered-light uniformity imager for diagnosing laser absorption asymmetries on OMEGA

Light scattered from a target is the most-direct measurement for diagnosing laser absorption in a direct-drive implosion. Observations from OMEGA implosions show much larger scattered-light asymmetries than predictions. A new instrument has been developed to absolutely measure the scattered-light intensity and nonuniformity for the purpose of diagnosing the asymmetry. The scattered-light uniformity imager (SLUI) diagnostic records the variation in scattered-light intensity over a transmission diffuser using a charge-coupled device (CCD)/lens assembly. At the standard operating position, an 11.3° (f/2.5) cone of light is collected. A stray light baffle, debris shield, and antireflection absorbing filter are also incorporated into the diagnostic payload inserted into the target chamber. The imaging parts of the diagnostic (light baffle, vacuum window, filters, lens, and CCD camera) are located outside the target chamber. Five SLUIs have been built and deployed in OMEGA’s ten-inch manipulator diagnostic ports, covering almost 5% of the emission surface, enabling an absolute scattered-light measurement should be within a few percent of the global average. Each SLUI system is calibrated offline, providing absolute scattered-light intensity measurements. Based on the measured point spread function, each diffuser plate image contains over 20 000 independent scattered-light absolute-intensity measurements of the variation over the collection cone. SLUI provides a platform to study scattered light and absorption asymmetries, and their possible sources.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗