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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Innovative, Versatile and Cost-Effective Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Concept

This report summarizes the work performed for the U. S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) under Cooperative Agreement DE-FE0026211 entitled “Innovative, Versatile and Cost-Effective Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Concept”. The overall objective of this project was to develop and evaluate a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack configuration based on a novel prime-surface interconnect design for a broad range of power generation applications. The prime-surface is a one-piece metallic interconnect that incorporates both fuel and oxidant flow fields with peaks on one side of the interconnect serving as flow channels (valleys) on the other side. (One example is the egg-carton shaped interconnect design.) This stack technology has several attractive features including reduced stack weight and volume, decreased performance losses in stacking, improved sealing, versatility in incorporation of different types of cell construction (thin-film cells or sintered cells) and flexibility in gas flow configuration (cross-flow, co-flow or counter-flow). These features lead to lower cost, better performance, and enhanced reliability for the stack. The R&D work of this project focused on demonstrating fabrication, operability and cost effectiveness of the stack design and was conducted by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in conjunction with OxEon Energy (OxEon). The key technical activities of this project involved prime-surface interconnect design and fabrication development; supported thin-film cell structure development; stack development; stack operation demonstration; and stack cost assessment. The results of these activities are summarized in this report.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Very High Temperature Lead Cooled Microreactor Concept using Advanced Materials and Thermophotovoltaics Direct Energy Conversion Technology

Recently, significant advances have been made in designing high-temperature capable nuclear fuels. In parallel, important advances have occurred in design of nanophotonic structures (coatings) with ability to shape the frequencies of light being emitted from hot surfaces. In this project, we bring these materials advances together into a design for a new direct conversion nuclear powered system with high thermodynamic efficiency, inherent safety, and unprecedented reduction in size and weight relative to current designs. The concept involves using the heat generated from nuclear fission to raise the temperature of a selective thermal emitter to >800°C. The selective emitter shifts the normal broad brand emissions of light from its hot surface into the correct near- and mid-IR bands that produce electricity with inexpensive photovoltaic cells. We have designed a new annular flow Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) that minimizes overall reactor/power conversion footprint. The results indicate that the overall microreactor/power-system design offers a 2X reduction in size over existing technology that is based on the sCO 2 reverse compression Brayton cycle. Additionally, the only moving part in our design is a circulation pump to cool the PVT panels.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Degradation and Failure Phenomena of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts: FeCrAl Alloy Cladding

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is anticipating licensing applications and commercial use of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) in United States commercial nuclear power reactors. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is providing technical assistance to the NRC related to the newly proposed nuclear fuel and cladding designs. This report focuses specifically on the iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys being investigated to replace zirconium-based alloys for fuel cladding and provides current state-of-the-industry information on material properties and fuel performance considerations under reactor operating conditions and design basis accident conditions. Currently, Global Nuclear Fuels (GNF) is the only U.S.-based fuel vendor considering FeCrAl cladding as a near-term ATF design. GNF has tested several different FeCrAl alloys including Kanthal APMT, C26M, and MA956; fueled C26M rods and unfueled Kanthal APMT, C26M, and MA956 rods have been inserted in lead test assemblies at Plants Hatch and Clinton. This report will focus on those three alloys specifically, with broader information given regarding in-reactor and ex-reactor testing of FeCrAl alloys. To support the NRC’s readiness efforts, this report will identify and discuss degradation and failure modes of FeCrAl cladding concepts, including fuel performance characteristics that may not be addressed within existing regulatory documents.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

LLE Diagnostic Resource Team for Innovative Fusion Concepts (Final Report)

The LLE Diagnostic Resource Team for Innovative Fusion Concepts provided travelling neutron diagnostics, consultancy on neutron diagnostics, and consultancy on tritium handling to fusion companies. An existing neutron detector was recalibrated for low yields and two detectors were built based on designs proven on the Omega Laser Facility. The three detectors allow measurements over a wide range of yields (from 10 to 1E7 incident neutrons). The detectors were calibrated for DD neutrons on a dedicated OMEGA shot day. Neutron detectors from the company MIFTI were also calibrated on OMEGA. MIFTI is currently using their detectors and two of our detectors on staged Z-pinch experiments at UCSD. The Team acted as consultants for the development of a liquid scintillator array to detect neutrons from muon induced fusion by NK Labs. Segments of NK Labs’ detector were tested at the LLE using radioactive sources and a DD neutron generator. The Team also acted as consultants for the design of a tritium handling system for NK Labs. A new type of neutron spectrometer was designed and built, and has completed preliminary testing.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Developing the Proof of Concept for the SERI QC Flag Translation

SERI QC is a robust solar data quality assessment software tool that has been in continuous use for more than three decades. This report, the second of six in the Data Quality and Uncertainty Integration project, develops the proof of concept, including programming in C and a collection of spreadsheet tools, for estimating the operational uncertainty from three-component solar irradiance measurements using information available from SERI QC. The report establishes a field reference for determining the operational uncertainty for each irradiance component based on the SERI QC coupling. Results demonstrate that the operational uncertainty estimates based on global irradiance best represent the collective results for all sky conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Water Innovation and R&D Concept Exploration and Preliminary Assessment: Water Scoping Project Report Deliverable

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory produced a cursory review and initial framework to support the US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) in considering options for program development related to water. The laboratories provided a suite of tools – rationales, evaluation criteria, and visual maps – as well as R&D concepts that could be applied at various scales over short- and long-term time horizons. The effort is, by DOE request, largely the result of the authors’ creative efforts and not intended to be a comprehensive or detailed analytical exercise. This report summarizes the work provided to WPTO and is not intended for broad distribution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Motor with Advanced Concepts for High power density and INtegrated cooling for Efficiency (MACHINE)

Raytheon Technologies Research Center (RTRC) is the central research and development (R&D) organization for RTX, and has extensive expertise in the design, modeling and analysis of high-performance electrical machines and thermal management for all its business units. The proposing team consists of researchers from RTRC and John Deere (JD), will be referred as “Team”. Each organization a has long track record of successful R&D of materials, manufacturing, components, and systems for energy efficiency applications. Motor power density and efficiency are limited by fundamental physical trade-offs between electromagnetics, thermal management, and structural design considerations. The team is proposing to utilize novel technologies and multi-physics design methods to develop a Motor with Advanced Concepts for High power density and INtegrated cooling for Efficiency (MACHINE), demonstrating an 8X improvement in power density.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cybersecurity for Energy Systems: Foundational Concepts for Bangladesh Electric Utilities [Slides]

This slide deck was developed for a training for the Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The topics include: understanding the cybersecurity landscape in power utilities, fundamentals of cybersecurity for power utilities, regulatory compliance and standards, and best practices and strategies. The concepts in this slide deck are relevant for electric utilities throughout Bangladesh.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

SAM Code Enhancements for Modeling of Liquid Metal-Cooled Fast Reactor Concepts

The SAM code is under development and supported by DOE-NE’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program as a modern system-level modeling and simulation tool for advanced non-light water reactor safety analyses. These advanced reactor concepts incorporate novel and improved approaches to achieve safety and economic feasibility. This report summarizes two major efforts in addressing the modeling gaps in SAM for liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor (LMFR) applications, i.e. thermal mixing and stratification phenomena in large pools and corrosion-oxidation of components in flowing lead. A new one-dimensional model for thermal mixing and stratification effects in large pools and enclosures is developed and implemented. Thermal mixing and stratification occur when fluid enters a pool at a temperature different than the bulk fluid itself, a scenario often encountered during transients in pool-type systems. These phenomena are critical for the safety of reactors, impacting phenomena like natural circulation, which is essential for passive cooling. The improved model in SAM addresses limitations of state-of-the-art approaches by combining one-dimensional (1D) channels, representing the coolant jet flow, with lumped-parameter zero-dimensional (0D) pools, representing the rest of coolant in the tank. Energy exchange between the 1D jet and the 0D pools is based on heat transfer correlations calibrated against 3D simulations. It is verified that this model can handle various flow configurations, including hot jets in colder pools, cold jets in hotter pools, and the presence of features like ceilings, free surfaces, and obstacles. Additionally, validation against experimental data demonstrates the ability of the model to capture mixing and stratification effects in a wide range of conditions. The flexibility and improved accuracy of the new model make it a valuable tool for reactor safety analysis, allowing for the simulation of different geometries encountered in advanced reactors. A system-level corrosion modeling capability is developed and implemented in SAM to support Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) development. Although the initial focus of this capability will be on LFR application, this can later be expanded to include other liquid metals such as Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) and PbLi. This report summarizes the common corrosion mitigation strategies and outlines the progress on implementing and validating a corrosion-oxidation model in SAM. Verification and validation of the corrosion-oxidation portion of the model was performed using analytical solution and measured data from samples tested in the non-isothermal pumped lead loop at IPPE Obninsk. The iron transport and corrosion/precipitation portion of the model was assessed using an analytical model and measured corrosion depths from a natural convection lead loop experiment performed at CEA. It is demonstrated that the model implemented in SAM performed well in these assessments.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Concept of a Positron Source at Ce+BAF

A concept of the Ce+BAF positron injector is presented. The positron activities are described and the results of e+ beam tracking and calculations of e+ polarizations are discussed.

Ushakov, Andriy↗
DOE OSTI2024

Full Scale HEPA Filter Encapsulation in Ultra-High-Performance Grout - Proof of Concept

The Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) currently being constructed to treat radioactive waste, includes vitrification facilities for both the high-level waste (HLW) and low activity waste (LAW) fractions. Operation of the WTP will produce contaminated high-efficiency particulate air filters (HEPA), as part of the solid secondary waste (SSW) stream. The HEPA filters receive off-gas from the vessel vent header and primary off-gas treatment system in LAW Facility and remove particulate contaminants including 99 Tc and 129 I salts. The current disposal method for HEPA filters is encapsulation in metal containers using cementitious material (CM) and disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF). Results from the 2017 IDF Performance Assessment (PA) WRPS (2018) demonstrated that while compliance is maintained for the 1000 year compliance period mandated by DOE O 435.1 and its accompanying manual, release of constituents from the HEPA filters result in exceedance of the performance objective imposed as the groundwater regulatory limit at later times. For example, at about 1500 years post-closure, solid secondary waste (SSW), including HEPA filters is predicted to become a dominant contributor to 99 Tc release and over the 10,000-year sensitivity analysis period, SSW is the dominant contributor of 129 I release to the groundwater. The estimated release could potentially be reduced if the HEPA filters are not compacted and waste containers could be distributed throughout a large space, thereby diluting the contaminant release. Additionally, a better cementitious material could be used to encapsulate the HEPA filters. One alternative method for disposal of contaminated HEPA filters is encapsulation of the filters in ultra high-performance grout (UHPG). UHPG is a variation of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is commonly used in the prestressed concrete industry for large structural members. Recent studies of UHPG show it has excellent properties for containing radionuclides such as 99 Tc and 129 I Nichols and Kaplan (2021). This report presents the results of the first attempt to encapsulate a clean, full-size HEPA filter in UHPG and evaluate the effectiveness of the immobilization process and final waste form. A full-scale proof-of-concept simulated waste form was prepared by encapsulating a HEPA filter in a 110-gallon stainless steel (SS) drum using UHPG. A change from Type I/II PC to Type 1L PLC was made after American Rock Products informed the team that they would no longer be using Type I/II by the end of 2024 and the northwest was phasing out Type I/II PC overall. Type I/II PC used in previous studies of UHPG for encapsulation (Nichols and Kaplan 2021). After the UHPG was cured both the scaled mockup and the full-scale simulated waste forms were sectioned for visual examination. UHPG completely encapsulated the filters and bonded to the external surfaces of materials comprising the filters. No cracks were observed in the sectioned waste forms.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Iron-Chromium-Aluminum Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept Source Term Accident Sequence Analysis - High Burnup Fuel Source Term Accident Sequence Analysis Supplement

To extend NUREG-1465 and high burnup fuel source term (SAND2023-01313) recommendations, representative radiological releases to containment – patterned after NUREG-1465 – have been evaluated for LWRs utilizing iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys in place of zirconium-based alloys in major core structures (cladding and fuel canisters) and high burnup fuel with enrichments of 8% and 10% for PWRs and BWRs, respectively. Representative radionuclide releases are generated for this accident tolerant fuel concept by applying non-parametric bootstrap methods to MELCOR simulation results. Accident scenarios considered in this analysis include principle contributors to historical core damage frequency estimates for a range of nuclear reactor technologies representative of the operating U.S.A. fleet of nuclear reactors.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cr-coated Accident Tolerant Fuel Concept Source Term Accident Sequence Analysis - High Burnup Fuel Source Term Accident Sequence Analysis Supplement

To extend NUREG-1465 and high burnup fuel source term (SAND2023-01313) recommendations, representative radiological releases to containment – patterned after NUREG-1465 – have been evaluated for LWRs utilizing the chromium-coating on major zircaloy structures (cladding and fuel canisters) and high burnup fuel with enrichments of 8% and 10% for PWRs and BWRs, respectively. Representative radionuclide releases are generated for this accident tolerant fuel concept by applying non-parametric bootstrap methods to MELCOR simulation results. Accident scenarios considered in this analysis include principle contributors to historical core damage frequency estimates for a range of nuclear reactor technologies representative of the operating U.S.A. fleet of nuclear reactors.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Novel Concepts for High Gradient Acceleration (Final Technical Report)

We have conducted an intensive, pioneering program to demonstrate novel concepts for achieving high gradient acceleration at frequencies from the conventional microwave bands up to the millimeter wave /THz bands. High gradient accelerators hold the promise of smaller and less costly accelerators for applications ranging from the largest scale accelerators used for discovery science down to the smallest accelerators used for industrial, homeland security and medical applications. The research consisted of two major research thrusts: 1.) Structure-based wakefield accelerator (SWFA) research in collaboration with the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator research group and 2.) Millimeter Wave / THz high gradient acceleration in collaboration with SLAC. The specific goals of the research program were: Design novel metallic metamaterial structures that increase the beam-wave coupling for the accelerator mode and reduce the effect of high order modes; test novel metamaterial structures to achieve higher output power, > 1 GW at X-Band (11.7 GHz), in test at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA); determine the experimental breakdown threshold for nanosecond-scale pulses at X-Band in testing at the AWA; test a 110 GHz accelerator structure with a field emission electron gun, built at SLAC, using pulses from a 1 MW, 110 GHz gyrotron; design, build and test a 110 GHz quasi-optical, resonant-ring pulse compressor to compress microsecond pulses from the 1 MW gyrotron into > 20 MW, 5 ns output pulses for accelerator structure testing. The proposed research program built on our successes in our research program including: Generation of 510 MW, 2.1 ns (FWHM) pulses at 11.7 GHz from a metallic metamaterial structure in test at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator using a train of eight 65 MeV electron bunches spaced at 1.3 GHz with a total charge of 280 nC. The metamaterial structure consisted of 100 copper unit cells each consisting of a “wagon-wheel” plate and a spacer plate with a total structure length of 0.2 m. The 510 MW pulse generated an on-axis wakefield of 130 MV/m that could be used to accelerate a trailing witness bunch. Demonstration of coupling of an unprecedented rf power level of 575kW into a 110 GHz accelerator structure using a quasi-optical setup. The standing structure consisted of a central copper cavity located between two matching cavities fed by a TM01 mode. The 6 ns input pulses were sliced from 3 microsecond pulses from the gyrotron using a laser-driven silicon switch. We obtained an unprecedented high gradient up to 230MV/m corresponding to a peak surface electric field of more than 520 MV/m.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Concept and Role of Reference Architectures In NIF LRU Refurbishment Factories within LLNL

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) operates one of the most advanced laser systems in the world, relying on a vast number of optical components and Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) to maintain its functionality. Over time, these components degrade due to operational wear, necessitating refurbishment to sustain performance. However, many NIF LRU refurbishment factories have been “mothballed” or suffer from aging infrastructure, inconsistent work flows, and inefficiencies due to different approaches to production control and management. This paper explores the concept of reference architecture as a standardized framework to guide the redevelopment and restructuring of NIF LRU refurbishment factories. By establishing a common reference architecture, the refurbishment process can achieve reduced inefficiencies, produce quality products, and enhanced coordination across factories. This paper evaluates existing reference architectures, particularly those that integrate technical architecture, business architecture, customer context perspectives, and proposes tailored reference architecture for NIF LRU refurbishment factories.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Rapid Cycling ReBCO Dipole Magnet Concept for Muon Acceleraion

We present a concept of the rapid-cycling 1.7 T ReBCO magnet for 1 to 10 kT/s ramping range as required for muon acceleration in a future muon collider presently under study. This approach is based on the 6 kA CORC-like cable constructed with 12 superconducting ReBCO tapes of 2 mm width. Based on theoretical prediction there is a linear scaling of the ReBCO cable hysteresis loss with the crossing magnetic field possibly generating power loss independent of the magnetic field ramping speed. This feature makes this ReBCO cable suitable for the construction of rapid-cycling magnets. In this work we outline the design of a dipole magnet for 1.7 T gap magnetic field and discuss the helium coolant parameters for the minimal electric power.

Piekarz, Henryk [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000194225662↗