Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “pipeline infrastructure”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Red Hills Storage Hub Feasibility Study - Summary of Milestone 2 - Conceptual Basis of Plants and Pipeline Infrastructure

This document provides the first conceptual-level design of plants and pipeline infrastructure, including maps showing the project location, the potential footprint of the carbon capture and storage plant, the potential site of the capture and compression unit, and the conceptual pipeline layout for transporting the CO2 product from the capture facility to the future potential injection sites.

Carbon Capture and Storage,CarbonSAFE↗
DOE OSTI2026

SimH 2 : an integrated techno-economic modeling framework for hydrogen pipeline infrastructure and network optimization

Large-scale hydrogen (H 2 ) pipeline transport design and network optimization have seldom been reported due to the lack of a cost model accounting for the relationship between transport cost and hydrogen mass flow rate. Here, this work introduced a system-level cost model for hydrogen pipeline transport at supercritical state and integrated it with an existing CO 2 pipeline network tool, SimCCS, for hydrogen-specific pipeline design and optimization. The Intermountain West (I-West) region of the U.S., historically dependent on fossil fuel-based economies, is chosen to demonstrate the capabilities of our H 2 pipeline cost model and transport network optimization platform called SimH 2 . Two scenarios are examined: one where the pipeline is not allowed to pass through disadvantaged communities and the other where it is permitted. The results highlight that incorporating disadvantaged-community constraints lead to longer pipeline routes and increased transport costs, reflecting the trade-offs involved in equitable infrastructure development. It is demonstrated that the newly developed SimH 2 tool not only enables the efficient design of H 2 transportation pipelines but also optimizes the network by accounting for local terrain and the presence of disadvantaged areas.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

SynthEsizing Novel H2 Sensors for Operational Resilience in Pipeline Infrastructure (SENSOR) (CRADA Final Report)

Hydrogen (H₂) is gaining attention as a versatile energy carrier with potential applications across industrial processes, power generation, and transportation. However, its practical deployment, particularly in large-scale distribution systems, faces significant infrastructure challenges. Transporting hydrogen through dedicated pipelines or blending it into existing natural gas networks can lead to serious issues, such as leakage due to the small size of hydrogen molecules and material degradation in pipelines through embrittlement. These technical risks raise safety concerns and could limit the integration of hydrogen into current energy infrastructures. Additionally, using hydrogen-enriched gas mixtures in combustion systems like turbines and engines introduces new performance and compatibility challenges that must be resolved before widespread use becomes feasible.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transport Affordable Clean Hydrogen Energy via Existing Pipeline Infrastructure (CRADA 573)

Our Nation’s vast network of oil pipelines span over 230,000 miles connecting remote energy producing regions to distant markets. The COVID-19 pandemic’s influence on oil prices intensified technical and economic vulnerabilities afflicting the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS, operating below 25% capacity) that may soon resurface as energy demand shifts to low carbon sources. Through the opportunity afforded by the Arctic Advanced Manufacturing Program, I’ve toured the great State of Alaska learning about its culture, unique energy challenges, business ecosystem, research institutions, and regulatory agencies. With encouragement and support from dedicated Alaskans and my professional mentors, I’ve founded Mighty Pipeline for the purpose of developing and commercializing proprietary technology and hardware to convert oil pipelines into clean hydrogen energy transmission systems. Leveraging the advanced technical capabilities of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we’ve demonstrated proof-of-concept (TRL = 3) and are seeking pre-pilot development project opportunities to conduct hardware and system level tests. If we successfully achieve technical and regulatory milestones, Mighty Pipeline’s technology could be available to help facilitate bulk clean hydrogen energy export this decade.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

ML Clustering to Identify Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure Vulnerabilities

The network of more than 2.5 million miles of natural gas pipelines the U.S. are exposed to a range of vulnerabilities, ranging from extreme weather, to human behavior, and increasingly, to cyber threats. Advanced, data-driven analytics, including the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, afford an opportunity to identify potential vulnerabilities, better understand risks, and help mitigate vulnerabilities in the network. At NETL, machine learning is being used to explore pipeline vulnerabilities and identify significant clusters of failure events, including failures due to weather, human behavior, and materials. These findings are being used to support the development of new technologies, including sensors, but can also be used to evaluate and inform mitigation strategies to reduce risks and vulnerabilities throughout the network.

Bauer, Jennifer↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluating the Nation's Pipeline Infrastructure with NETL's Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model (AIIM)

This poster is a part of BIL-EDX4CCS Task 36: Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Modeling to Evaluate Existing Energy Infrastructure Reusability and Risk, the goal of which is to produce a smart tool that will assess existing energy infrastructure reusability and risk using the Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model (AIIM). This model forecasts lifespan and potential risk using a multitude of factors such as incidents reports, structural characteristics, and the surrounding environment. The project aims to provide scientific insights for a better understanding of carbon storage (CS), potential to support CS stakeholder needs, national decarbonization, and mitigating climate change. AIIM will utilize an energy infrastructure database as its input, developed by acquiring publicly available data as well as NETL derived products. These resources include incidents, geohazards, and infrastructure variables. Soil data in the form of rasters and pipeline incident reports were processed and a script was developed to count the number of times features such as roads, railroads, and rivers intersected with pipeline segments which were then converted to points. Distance to oil and natural gas wells, petroleum ports, intermodal freight facilities, and geologic structures were also calculated. After data preparation and quality control was completed, the data was integrated into the pipeline points. Once models are complete, a smart tool will be created in the form of an online dashboard.

Malay, Caleb↗
DOE OSTI2022

Balancing CO 2 Pipeline Infrastructure Challenges

Conference presentation at American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Conference, Houston, Texas, March 28–30, 2022. This study on the pipeline systems revealed challenges that a pipeline system will face: a) pipeline cost estimates and cost drivers, b) cost and hydraulics optimization, and c) temperature effects on the pipeline capacity and maximum injection pressure at an injection well.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hydrogen Blending into Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure: Review of the State of Technology

Hydrogen is an energy carrier that could play an important role in reducing emissions associated with difficult-to-decarbonize sectors including peaking and load-following electricity and industrial heating. Blending hydrogen into the natural gas pipelines has been proposed as an approach for achieving near-term emissions reductions and early-market access for hydrogen technologies such as electrolyzers. Numerous challenges and uncertainties complicate this approach to natural gas decarbonization, however, and this review summarizes current research on the material, economic, and operational factors that must be considered for hydrogen blending. First, this review explores previous research regarding the effects of blending hydrogen on gas mixture fluid and thermodynamic properties, pipeline materials and equipment performance within transmission and distribution networks, and supporting facilities such as underground storage and end-use hydrogen separation. We also investigate and summarize studies that developed mathematical models of natural gas pipeline networks with hydrogen blending, and the operational and techno-economic findings of these network studies. Finally, we discuss notable hydrogen blending demonstrations and their key outcomes. Many blending demonstrations internationally have proven that low hydrogen percentage blending is feasible under very specific scenarios with limited end-usage applications on both high-pressure transmission lines and low-pressure distribution lines. This report summarizes findings from literature into key areas of consensus and disagreement. Research gaps and disagreements between the literature are highlighted to provide directions for future hydrogen blending research.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2026

SynthEsizing Novel H2 Sensors for Operational Resilience in Pipeline Infrastructure (SENSOR)

A flexible and extensible computational framework acts as a black-box materials discovery engine, capable of screening, predicting, and designing advanced materials with minimal manual intervention was developed. While developed for hydrogen sensing, the approach can be readily adapted to other materials challenges, offering a powerful tool for data-driven materials innovation.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

“Innervated” Pipelines: A New Technology Platform for In-Situ Repair and Embedded Intelligence

The overall vision pursued under the project would ultimately enable capability for real-time operational monitoring of natural gas (and other) pipeline infrastructures through the combination of in-situ repair and rehabilitation methods with embedded fiber optic sensing and associated data analytics methods and platform tools. Benefits to the public include more resilient and robust natural gas pipeline infrastructures with the potential to expand the applications of developed technologies under the program to other important areas of critical energy infrastructure in the future such as H2 pipelines and infrastructure, municipal and other civil infrastructure, as well as subsurface oil, gas, and geothermal infrastructure applications. The program has successfully demonstrated feasibility for all of the critical enabling elements and serves as a foundation for future technology maturation, deployment, and customization for other potential applications and high-priority needs into the future. Several underlying innovations have shown potential for commercial deployment and are the subject of continued development and technology transfer based upon patents submitted during the project duration.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2022

Linking climate change and human systems: a case study of Arctic pipelines

This case study estimates the potential economic risk from permafrost thaw on oil and gas pipelines in the Russian Arctic as part of a larger effort to better understand complex interactions between human and earth systems in the Arctic. Pan-Arctic simulations of permafrost thaw-depth from the Community Land Model version 4.5 and ground ice characteristics were used to generate ground subsidence projections over the period 2020 to 2040 with a quantification of uncertainty. Russian oil and gas transmission pipeline networks were then overlaid on the permafrost thaw projections in ArcGIS to identify pipelines vulnerable to damage from permafrost thaw. Recent pipeline construction costs were used to estimate the total replacement costs for at-risk pipelines under several thaw scenarios. The results indicate that permafrost thaw poses a major threat to pipeline infrastructure, especially gas pipelines, in the Russian Arctic. Over the twenty-year study period, total replacement costs for oil and gas pipelines were estimated at $\$$110 billion in 2020 USD. Reduced economic viability of pipelines under climate change will likely trigger major shifts in the Russian oil and gas industry, which would have impacts on markets, emissions, and geopolitics.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

In-Situ Pipeline Coatings for Methane Emissions Mitigation and Quantification from Natural Gas Pipelines

Addressing the current health of the nation’s existing 3 million miles of pipeline infrastructure is key to preventing further climate change. In 2020, natural gas production exceeded 34 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Roughly 75% of natural gas consists of methane (CH 4 ), which is up to 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at trapping heat within the atmosphere over a 100-year period, and studies from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) estimate approximately 2% of all the natural gas produced will be lost during normal operations due to unaddressed leaks. This does not even consider the risks of major disaster due to pipeline failure, or the losses and extra fuel costs incurred due to corrosion and scale deposits in under-maintained pipelines. The objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate the protection capabilities and economic benefits of Oceanit’s internal pipe surface treatment, known as DragX™. DragX™ is a chemically resistant, water-and-oil repellent nanocomposite system that can be readily applied in-situ on natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines with a minimum of surface preparation. This makes it an ideal candidate for in-place retrofitting and refurbishment of existing pipelines without the need for expensive extraction and replacement. DragX™ is also able to significantly reduce the surface roughness, and subsequently, the frictional drag forces within a pipeline, improving throughput, decreasing energy costs of pressurization and pumping, and allowing for longer pipeline operation without interruption, reducing the methane emitted during pipe isolation and venting. As part of this project, Oceanit has utilized the Department of Energy’s support to fully develop, de-risk and prove the DragX™ core technology is both economically viable and commercially desirable to pipeline operators and energy companies alike. DragX™ material properties were optimized in this effort both for ease of applicability, to provide value in certain key parameters, and was demonstrated on pilot applications exceeding 2 miles in length. Beyond the already field demonstrated applications, this innovative nanocomposite surface treatment has the potential to be the backbone for CO 2 and Hydrogen transporting pipeline infrastructure. The learnings from this project could accelerate the deployment of surface treatment technologies related to the energy transition infrastructure, thus benefitting the clean energy initiatives in the United States and all around the world.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Gap Analysis on the Impacts of Hydrogen Addition to the North American Natural Gas Infrastructure Polyethylene Pipelines

The existing natural gas pipeline system is being considered as a means to distribute blends of clean hydrogen and natural gas as one component of clean hydrogen’s role in enabling a future low-carbon energy system. With nearly three million miles of transmission and distribution lines in the United States, this national asset is uniquely situated as a transition strategy to assist in the decarbonization of the US economy. 1 This report reviews existing data on the effects of hydrogen on polyethylene (PE) natural gas pipeline materials and identifies gaps where additional investigation is required to fully assess deleterious impacts to the polyethylene pipes from exposure to hydrogen. This gap analysis will assist in determining the feasibility of blending hydrogen gas into existing natural gas pipelines.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

Machine Learning for Correlated Intelligence. LDRD SAND Report

The Machine Learning for Correlated Intelligence Laboratory Directed Research & Development (LDRD) Project explored competing a variety of machine learning (ML) classification techniques against a known, open source dataset through the use of a rapid and automated algorithm research & development (RD) infrastructure. This approach relied heavily on creating an infrastructure in which to provide a pipeline for automatic target recognition (ATR) ML algorithm competition. Results are presented for nine ML classifiers against a primary dataset using the pipeline infrastructure developed for this project. New approaches to feature set extraction are presented and discussed as well.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

SECARB-USA: A Sub-Basin Framework for Future CO 2 Infrastructure Development

Task 4 of the SECARB-USA Project is designed to evaluate the regional needs and challenges for the development of a safe and environmentally sound CO 2 transport infrastructure. This infrastructure would transport CO 2 capture from power generating plants and/or industrial sources and distribute it to oil fields for associated storage in EOR operations, saline storage, and/or other suitable storage sites. The objective of this report on Sub-Basin Prospective Areas (Deliverable 4.1.a), is to provide the framework for understanding how regional infrastructure development could occur. The sub-basin prospective areas, in conjunction with the locations of CO 2 sources and pipeline infrastructure (for source-sink matching networks), form the basis for the analysis that will be performed in the Techno-Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Buildout Scenarios (Deliverable 4.1.b).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Monitoring pipeline integrity of underground gas storage facilities using membrane-based electrochemical sensors

Effective monitoring of internal corrosion risk is crucial to ensuring the safety and longevity of natural gas pipeline infrastructure. While electrochemical sensors are commonly used to assess corrosion rates and corrosion indicators in aqueous fluids, they are rarely used in gas pipelines as these fluids lack the ionic conductivity needed for electrochemical measurements. The inclusion of ion-conductive membranes into electrochemical sensors can extend their functionality into humidified gas streams, providing critical information about emerging corrosion events that are common during withdrawal season in pipeline systems downstream from underground storage facilities. In parallel, new protective films, like those obtained through cold spray coating, are being developed to protect oil and gas pipelines and recover losses in structural integrity due to corrosion damage. Herein, we demonstrate how membrane-based electrochemical sensors (MBES) can be used to monitor fluid corrosivity by examining their response to changes in water content for a wide range of fluid compositions. It was found that MBES readings were highly sensitive to water content changes with membrane conductivity measurements varying from 10 –6 to 10 –1 S cm -1 , and corrosion rate measurements which varied from 10 –7 to 1 mm y -1 . Electron microscopy confirmed that the self-healing characteristics of metal coating films were still active despite their inclusion into an MBES probe. In conclusion, these findings indicate that membrane-based corrosion monitoring can be expanded to monitor coated-pipeline materials and provide early detection of emerging corrosion upsets relevant to underground gas storage facilities.

Electrochemical sensor↗
NASA NTRS2015

From Pixels to Planets

The Kepler Mission was launched in 2009 as NASAs first mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. Its telescope consists of a 1.5-m primary mirror and a 0.95-m aperture. The 42 charge-coupled devices in its focal plane are read out every half hour, compressed, and then downlinked monthly. After four years, the second of four reaction wheels failed, ending the original mission. Back on earth, the Science Operations Center developed the Science Pipeline to analyze about 200,000 target stars in Keplers field of view, looking for evidence of periodic dimming suggesting that one or more planets had crossed the face of its host star. The Pipeline comprises several steps, from pixel-level calibration, through noise and artifact removal, to detection of transit-like signals and the construction of a suite of diagnostic tests to guard against false positives. The Kepler Science Pipeline consists of a pipeline infrastructure written in the Java programming language, which marshals data input to and output from MATLAB applications that are executed as external processes. The pipeline modules, which underwent continuous development and refinement even after data started arriving, employ several analytic techniques, many developed for the Kepler Project. Because of the large number of targets, the large amount of data per target and the complexity of the pipeline algorithms, the processing demands are daunting. Some pipeline modules require days to weeks to process all of their targets, even when run on NASA's 128-node Pleiades supercomputer. The software developers are still seeking ways to increase the throughput. To date, the Kepler project has discovered more than 4000 planetary candidates, of which more than 1000 have been independently confirmed or validated to be exoplanets. Funding for this mission is provided by NASAs Science Mission Directorate.

supercomputers↗