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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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program: Digital Technology Business Case Methodology Guide

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program aims to develop and deploy technologies that will make the existing U.S. nuclear fleet more efficient and competitive. The program has developed a standard methodology for determining the impact of new technologies in order to assist nuclear power plant (NPP) operators in building sound business cases. The Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems Technologies Pathway is part of the DOE’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program. It conducts targeted research and development (R&D) to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control and related information systems of the U.S. operating light water reactor (LWR) fleet. This work involves two major goals: (1) to ensure that legacy analog II&C systems are not life-limiting issues for the LWR fleet and (2) to implement digital II&C technology in a manner that enables broad innovation and business improvement in the NPP operating model. Resolving long-term operational concerns with the II&C systems contributes to the long-term sustainability of the LWR fleet, which is vital to the nation’s energy and environmental security. The II&C Pathway is conducting a series of pilot projects that enable the development and deployment of new II&C technologies in existing nuclear plants. Through the LWRS program, individual utilities and plants are able to participate in these projects or otherwise leverage the results of projects conducted at demonstration plants. Performance advantages of the new pilot project technologies are widely acknowledged, but it has proven difficult for utilities to derive business cases for justifying investment in these new capabilities. Lack of a business case is often cited by utilities as a barrier to pursuing wide-scale application of digital technologies to nuclear plant work activities. The decision to move forward with funding usually hinges on demonstrating actual cost reductions that can be credited to budgets and thereby truly reduce O&M or capital costs. Technology enhancements, while enhancing work methods and making work more efficient, often fail to eliminate workload such that it changes overall staffing and material cost requirements. It is critical to demonstrate cost reductions or impacts on non-cost performance objectives in order for the business case to justify investment by nuclear operators. The Business Case Methodology (BCM) addresses the “benefit” side of the analysis—as opposed to the cost side—and how the organization evaluates discretionary projects (net present value (NPV), accounting effects of taxes, discount rates, etc.). The cost and analysis side is not particularly difficult for the organization and can usually be determined with a fair amount of precision (not withstanding implementation project cost overruns). It is in determining the "benefits" side of the analysis that utilities have more difficulty in technology projects and that is the focus of this methodology.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

Fragment-based screening of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)

The PD-1 immune checkpoint pathway is a highly validated target for cancer immunotherapy. Despite the potential advantages of small molecule inhibitors over antibodies, the discovery of small molecule checkpoint inhibitors has lagged behind. To discover small molecule inhibitors of the PD-1 pathway, we have utilized a fragment-based approach. Small molecules were identified that bind to PD-L1 and crystal structures of these compounds bound to PD-L1 were obtained.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simulation and Non-Simulation Based Human Reliability Analysis Approaches

Part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) Pathway develops approaches to estimating and managing safety margins. RISMC simulations pair deterministic plant physics models with probabilistic risk models. As human interactions are an essential element of plant risk, it is necessary to integrate human actions into the RISMC risk model. In this report, we review simulation-based and non-simulation-based human reliability assessment (HRA) methods. Chapter 2 surveys non-simulation-based HRA methods. Conventional HRA methods target static Probabilistic Risk Assessments for Level 1 events. These methods would require significant modification for use in dynamic simulation of Level 2 and Level 3 events. Chapter 3 is a review of human performance models. A variety of methods and models simulate dynamic human performance; however, most of these human performance models were developed outside the risk domain and have not been used for HRA. The exception is the ADS-IDAC model, which can be thought of as a virtual operator program. This model is resource-intensive but provides a detailed model of every operator action in a given scenario, along with models of numerous factors that can influence operator performance. Finally, Chapter 4 reviews the treatment of timing of operator actions in HRA methods. This chapter is an example of one of the critical gaps between existing HRA methods and the needs of dynamic HRA. This report summarizes the foundational information needed to develop a feasible approach to modeling human interactions in the RISMC simulations.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Application of Hydraulic and Thermal Stimulation Techniques to Create Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Geothermal energy production requires temperature at depth, a working fluid to transport heat to the surface, and a network of fluid pathways connecting injection and production wells. These requirements constrain the availability of geothermal energy resources. Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) development expands geothermal resource availability by artificially generating networks of fluid pathways in the reservoir. This is accomplished through hydraulic and thermal stimulation of the geothermal reservoir. Hydraulic and thermal techniques were applied at the Raft River geothermal field as part of a Department of Energy (DOE) EGS development project. The test well RRG-9 ST1 was hydraulically stimulated three times between February 2012 and April 2014. Since June, 2013 continuous injection of sub-reservoir temperature plant water has been used to thermally stimulate the well. The stimulation program has resulted in a large increase in the injectivity of the well, an increase from less than 20 gpm in June 2013 to nearly 1,000 gpm in April 2016. Wellbore imaging and temperature analysis identified a northeast striking fracture zone intersecting the well between 5,640 and 5,660 ft. measured depth (MD) has nominally accepted all of the injected fluid. Microseismic activity, related to stimulation program and plant activity was used to track possible fluid pathways within the reservoir. The microseismic data indicates that the injected fluid moves primarily to the northeast through the Narrows Zone, a northeast striking fault structure that bisects the field. Tracers injected into RRG-9 ST1 and recovered at the production wells RRG-2 and RRG-4, located to the northeast of RRG-9 ST1, support this theory. It is hypothesized that water injected into RRG-9 ST1 moves through the intersecting fracture zone which connects into the Narrows Zone, and then moves along the Narrows Zone to the northeast. This conceptual model was numerical simulated using FALCON a finite element reservoir simulation code developed by Idaho National Laboratory. The modeling suggests that both thermal and hydraulic fracturing mechanisms played an important role in improving the injectivity at RRG-9 ST1. The stimulation program at Raft River has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of hydraulic and thermal stimulation techniques. RRG-9 ST1 is now in commercial use.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of Genetic Algorithm Based Multi-Objective Plant Reload Optimization Platform

The U.S. nuclear industry is facing a challenge in maintaining required levels of safety while ensuring economic competitiveness to stay in business. Safety remains a key parameter for all aspects of light-water reactor nuclear power plant operations. Safety can become more economical by using a risk-informed ecosystem, such as the one being developed in the Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway under the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program promotes a wide range of research and development activities to maximize both the safety and economic efficiency of nuclear power plants through improved scientific understanding, especially given that many plants are now considering second license renewals. The Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway has two main goals: Deploy methodologies and technologies that better represent safety margins and cost and safety factors; Develop advanced applications that enable cost-effective plant operations. The Plant Reload Optimization Platform development project aims to build a reactor core design tool that includes reactor safety and fuel performance analyses and uses artificial intelligence to support the optimization of core design solutions. This report summarizes genetic-algorithm-based multi-objective fuel reload optimization activities, specifically: Developing the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II optimizer in the Risk Analysis and Virtual ENviroment (RAVEN); Demonstrating and validating the developed non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II optimizer using benchmark optimization problems.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Safety Analysis of FeCrAl Accident-Tolerant Fuels with Increased Enrichment and Extended Burnup

The U.S. nuclear industry is facing a strong challenge to maintain regulatory-required levels of safety while ensuring economic competitiveness to stay in business. Safety remains a key parameter for all aspects related to the operation of light water reactor nuclear power plants (NPPs), and it can be achieved more economically by using a risk-informed ecosystem, such as that being developed by the Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway under the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. This program is promoting a wide range of research and development activities to maximize both the safety and economically efficient performance of NPPs through improved scientific understanding, especially given that many plants are considering a second license renewal. The Risk-Informed Systems Analysis Pathway has two main goals: (1) The deployment of methodologies and technologies that enable a better representation of the safety margins and factors that contribute to cost and safety, and (2) The development of advanced applications that enable cost-effective plant operation. As part of this pathway, the Enhanced Resilient Plant project refers to an NPP where safety is improved by implementing various measures, such as accident-tolerant fuels, diverse and flexible coping strategies, enhancements to plant components and systems, incorporation of augmented or new passive cooling systems, and utilization of advanced battery technologies. The objective of the Enhanced Resilient Plant project is to use novel methods and computational tools to enhance existing reactors’ safety while reducing operational costs. This report documents research and development conducted in support of deployment of accident-tolerant fuels. This project performed safety analyses for the steady-state normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, and design-basis accidents of a representative four-loop pressurized water reactor model with Zr and FeCrAl accident-tolerant fuel clad with higher enrichment and burnup supporting plant refueling cycles of 18 and 24 months. The source terms and environmental impacts were studied for a large-break loss of coolant accident, including uncertainty analyses.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Retrospective of the ARPA-E ALPHA Fusion Program

This paper provides a retrospective of the ALPHA (Accelerating Low-cost Plasma Heating and Assembly) fusion program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy. ALPHA’s objective was to catalyze research and development efforts to enable substantially lower-cost pathways to economical fusion power. To do this in a targeted, focused program, ALPHA focused on advancing the science and technology of pulsed, intermediate-density fusion approaches, including magneto-inertial fusion and Z-pinch variants, that have the potential to scale to commercially viable fusion power plants. Here, the paper includes a discussion of the origins and framing of the ALPHA program, a summary of project status and outcomes, a description of associated technology-transition activities, and thoughts on a potential follow-on ARPA-E fusion program.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Microenvironmental Signals and Biochemical Information Processing: Cooperative Determinants of Intratumoral Plasticity and Heterogeneity

Intra-tumor cellular heterogeneity is a major challenge in cancer therapy. Tumors are composed of multiple phenotypic subpopulations that vary in their ability to initiate metastatic tumors and in their sensitivity to chemotherapy. In many cases, cells can transition between these subpopulations, not by genetic mutation, but instead through reversible changes in signal transduction or gene expression programs. This plasticity begins at the level of the microenvironment where local autocrine and paracrine signals, exosomes, tumor–stroma interactions, and extracellular matrix (ECM) composition create a signaling landscape that varies over space and time. The integration of this complex array of signals engages signaling pathways that control gene expression. The resulting modulation of gene expression programs causes individual cells to sample a wide array of phenotypic states that support tumor growth, dissemination, and therapeutic resistance. In this review, we discuss how information flows dynamically within the microenvironmental landscape to inform cell state decisions and to create intra-tumoral heterogeneity. We address the role of plasticity in the acquisition of transient and prolonged drug resistant states and discuss how targeted pharmacological modification of the signaling landscape may be able to constrain phenotypic plasticity, leading to improved treatment responses.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

On the various Cu-redox pathways and O 2 -mediated Bronsted-to-Lewis adsorbed-NH 3 redistribution under SCR half-cycle conditions

The Standard SCR reaction on Cu-SSZ-13 is a complex redox process facilitated by a reduction half cycle (RHC) and an oxidation half cycle (OHC). It is generally accepted that RHC requires the simultaneous presence of NO and NH 3 , while OHC requires both NO and O 2 ; however understanding of how these individual reactants impact the Cu redox cycle is limited. In this work, we provide experimental investigation of NO-only, NH 3 -only and NO+NH 3 RHC, and their relative rates. Simple kinetic models were developed to understand the dependance of NO-only and NH 3 -only RHC on Cu speciation. Various OHC routes including NO+O 2 and O 2 -only OHC, and a previously unreported H 2 O-mediated OHC pathway were also investigated. Detailed NH 3 temperature-programmed desorption studies showed that RHC selectively consumes NH 3 adsorbed on Lewis-acid sites, and that part of the remaining Bronsted-bound NH 3 moves to the Lewis-acid sites during subsequent OHC, thereby resulting in a repartitioning of adsorbed NH 3 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Estimating Arrhenius parameters using temperature programmed molecular dynamics

Kinetic rates at different temperatures and the associated Arrhenius parameters, whenever Arrhenius law is obeyed, are efficiently estimated by applying maximum likelihood analysis to waiting times collected using the temperature programmed molecular dynamics method. When transitions involving many activated pathways are available in the dataset, their rates may be calculated using the same collection of waiting times. Arrhenius behaviour is ascertained by comparing rates at the sampled temperatures with ones from the Arrhenius expression. Three prototype systems with corrugated energy landscapes, namely, solvated alanine dipeptide, diffusion at the metal-solvent interphase, and lithium diffusion in silicon, are studied to highlight various aspects of the method. The method becomes particularly appealing when the Arrhenius parameters can be used to find rates at low temperatures where transitions are rare. Systematic coarse-graining of states can further extend the time scales accessible to the method. Good estimates for the rate parameters are obtained with 500-1000 waiting times.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

A temporal hierarchy underpins the transcription factor–DNA interactome of the maize UPR

Adverse environmental conditions reduce crop productivity and often increase the load of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This potentially lethal condition, known as ER stress, is buffered by the unfolded protein response (UPR), a set of signaling pathways designed to either recover ER functionality or ignite programmed cell death. Despite the biological significance of the UPR to the life of the organism, the regulatory transcriptional landscape underpinning ER stress management is largely unmapped, especially in crops. To fill this significant knowledge gap, we performed a large–scale systems–level analysis of the protein–DNA interaction (PDI) network in maize (Zea mays). Using 23 promoter fragments of six UPR marker genes in a high–throughput enhanced yeast one–hybrid assay, we identified a highly interconnected network of 262 transcription factors (TFs) associated with significant biological traits and 831 PDIs underlying the UPR. We established a temporal hierarchy of TF binding to gene promoters within the same family as well as across different families of TFs. Cistrome analysis revealed the dynamic activities of a variety of cis–regulatory elements (CREs) in ER stress–responsive gene promoters. By integrating the cistrome results into a TF network analysis, we mapped a subnetwork of TFs associated with a CRE that may contribute to UPR management. Lastly, we validated the role of a predicted network hub gene using the Arabidopsis system. The PDIs, TF networks, and CREs identified in our work are foundational resources for understanding transcription–regulatory mechanisms in the stress responses and crop improvement.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

R&D Roadmap for Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems, Metrics, Scenarios, Risk Analysis, and Modeling and Simulation

The nuclear industry and the U.S. Department of Energy are jointly developing accident tolerant fuel (ATF) which has the potential to greatly improve the safety and economic performance of the current fleet of NPPs. The combination of ATF with the optimal use of FLEX equipment (deployed as an industry response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident in 2012), enhancements on plant components and systems, incorporation of augmented cooling systems or new passive cooling systems, and improvements in fuel cycle efficiency, have the potential to render the NPPs more efficient and resilient to events (both internally and externally initiated) that have the potential to challenge the integrity of the fuel or plant containment. In this report, combinations of these plant improvements are called Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems. In order to accelerate the development and deployment of the components that comprise Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems, a well-integrated toolkit that is fuel/clad-, fuel cycle-, systems-, and scenario-centric is required to provide a ready platform for the analysis of the advanced ATF fuel and cladding materials that are being developed, as well as plant systems modifications to achieve enhanced resiliency. Since the deployment of these enhancements will comprise a risk/benefit tradeoff of their impacts on plant safety and economics, the envisioned toolkit will need to be capable to characterizing the multidimensional aspects associated with these evaluations and provide decision-makers with information that can optimize the technological, economic, and safety benefits that are to be obtained. The Risk-Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway of the DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program initiated several research tasks to develop analytical capabilities to support the industry in the transition to the ATF and Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems. The general idea behind the initiative is the development of an integrated evaluation approach which combines the plant probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) models with Multi-Physics Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty (MP-BEPU) analyses in a seamless fashion. The integrated evaluation framework aims at enabling plant system configuration variations to be studied with speed and precision, including detailed risk and benefit assessments of introducing ATF and Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems into current LWR plants to achieve both safety and operational performance enhancements. The focus of this report is to present an integrated research and development (R&D) roadmap to identify and perform high value evaluations of proposed ATF and Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems concepts to identify both the technical (e.g. benefits to risk, safety, and operational margins) and the economic (i.e. business and cost) elements associated with industry adoption of the technology. The integrated evaluation approach will be developed to support the development, testing, qualification, licensing, and deployment of ATF and Enhanced Resilient Plant Systems technology that is capable of achieving substantial safety and economic improvements as well as timely widespread adoption by the US nuclear industry.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Activation Energies of Harvested Boston Insulated Wire and Okonite Cable Materials

As part of the Cable Aging Task within the Material Aging and Degradation (MAaD) pathway of the DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program, ORNL is collaborating with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NCR) to study cable aging mechanisms. Understanding cable aging mechanisms in cable nuclear power plants (NPPs) with needed information as they seek plant life extensions to 80 years of operations. This report summarizes activities in the characterization of harvested electrical I&C cables related to activation energy and their role in determining the remaining margin of time cable insulation in NPPs can be used. Activation energy is the amount of energy that is required to break chemical bonds in a polymer through an endothermic reaction. For I&C cables that are utilized in NPPs, activation energy is used with a time and temperature dependent cable property like elongation at break (EAB) and/or an electrical property like voltage withstand to determine whether a cable insulation material meets the performance requirements for the environmental conditions such as temperature, radiation, and humidity for a given plant location. Considering differences in activation energies that were observed in harvested cable jackets when compared to previous measurements, an assessment of the cable insulation activation energy in harvested I&C cables was performed given that the insulation performance ultimately determines that lifetime performance for a cable. This assessment consisted of the mechanical and chemical characterization of harvested Boston Insulated Wire (BIW) and Okonite cable insulations from Zion NPP from a series of thermal accelerated aging exposures between 140°C and 160°C. Cables were obtained as part of the LWRS Zion Harvesting Project in cooperation with Energy Solutions and the NRC. Activation energies of 1.10 eV and 0.61 eV were obtained for BIW and Okonite manufactured ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) insulation with individual chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE) jackets respectively. When compared to previous measurements, the activation energy of BIW agreed well, while there was a sizeable gap for previous Okonite activation energies near 0.91 eV. The lack of agreement could be attributed to differences in raw materials used in a given insulation and/or jacket, differences in the thicknesses of the EPR insulation and CSPE individual jacket or the environmental conditions that the insulation from previous measurements experienced prior to characterization especially if cables were not stored at manufacturer recommended conditions. Comparison of harvested insulation compositions from multiple NPP sites and locations in a given NPP with respect to activation energy could provide some guidance on property sensitivity and insulation variations. To address the issue of material thickness, an initial assessment of the influence of the CPSE individual jacket was also done. This was motivated by the different combinations of EPR insulation and CSPE individual jacket thicknesses that were found in harvested cables and previous measurements. Accelerated thermal aging of BIW-manufactured EPR insulation with individual CSPE jackets removed did show that the CSPE layer affected insulation degradation, further comparison of the compositional make-up of the CSPE and EPR for both BIW and Okonite insulation, along with a limited amount of additional accelerated aging, is needed to increase the level of confidence regarding the influence of the CSPE.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wet Waste Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading to Hydrocarbon Fuels: 2020 State of Technology

Data from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s conversion hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) program for wet waste was used to update the pathway techno-economic analysis (TEA) for the fiscal year 2020 State of Technology (2020 SOT). The modeled fuel blendstock MFSP for the 2020 SOT is estimated at $4.50/GGE (with ammonia stripping of the AP), a reduction of $0.61/GGE, or 12%, relative to the 2019 SOT (Snowden-Swan et al. 2020). Progress in the HTL area includes increased reactor LHSV from 3.6 to 4.0 and a newly designed staged approach for the sludge pumping and heating, resulting in a 1 cent and 26 cent reduction in modeled MFSP, respectively. The newly designed heat exchanger configuration is less material and capital intensive than the previous SOT, and provides a system design that is more scalable with regard to practical fabrication limitations. Further improvements may be possible with the use of core inserts to enhance tube velocity and heat transfer rates. Biocrude hydrotreating research progress improved weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) from 0.67 to 0.72 hr-1 in the guard bed and from 0.39 to 1.02 hr-1 in the main hydrotreating bed, a 7% and 162% improvement, respectively. Hydrotreating performance was not sacrificed at the higher throughput rates and catalyst activity remained stable over the run. The demonstrated increase in WHSVs reduced the modeled MFSP by $0.34/GGE.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Wet Waste Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Biocrude Upgrading to Hydrocarbon Fuels: 2022 State of Technology

Data from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) conversion hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) program for wet waste was used to update the pathway techno-economic analysis (TEA) for the fiscal year 2022 State of Technology (2022 SOT). Figure S.1 shows the modeled minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) for the 2022 SOT, along with the previous years’ SOTs (Snowden-Swan et al. 2020, 2021, 2022). These costs are for a HTL plant scale of 110 dry ton/day sludge feed and a larger centralized upgrading plant scale of 38 million gallons/year biocrude feed, commensurate with the design case. All costs were updated to 2020 dollars. Corresponding cost breakdowns and technical parameters for each case are given in Appendix B. In previous years’ analyses options with and without ammonia (NH 3 ) stripping treatment of the HTL aqueous phase recycle stream were included in the analysis to account for cases with direct recycle of untreated HTL aqueous phase back to the wastewater treatment plant. In the FY21 SOT assessment however, system boundaries for the analysis were adjusted to reflect separate ownership/operatorship for the HTL plant and with that, nutrient surcharge fees associated with disposal of the aqueous phase wastewater to a municipal sewer system were incorporated to provide an improved accounting of true disposal costs for a standalone plant. With these changes, there is no significant cost difference between the case including ammonia removal and the case excluding ammonia removal and therefore the “no NH3 removal” options will not be included in the 2022 and future SOTs.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Accelerated Scaling to Rapid Open-Air Fabrication of Durable Perovskite Solar Modules

The goals of this SETO project (DE-EE0008559, Accelerated Scaling to Rapid Open-Air Fabrication of Durable Perovskite Solar modules) are to address the principal challenges towards the successful commercialization of perovskite solar modules utilizing scalable, high-throughput open-air spray deposition. The successful outcome of the project will provide the foundation of an all open-air spray deposited perovskite solar module with hole transport layer (HTL), perovskite, electron transport layer (ETL), and barrier layer development while establishing a fundamental understanding of perovskite device behavior under accelerated aging conditions. Through this program, we have made significant progress towards a commercializable pathway for perovskites. (1) We’ve demonstrated the successful open-air deposition of perovskite and transport layer materials. These deposition methods were chosen for their inherent scalability, and open-air processing enables a significant reduction in processing costs. These methods are also compatible with high throughputs, demonstrating the fastest perovskite film deposition at these performance levels. (2) Development of a unique all-fiber laser scribing procedure provides a high-performance, low-cost method for further improvements in scalability. (3) Our group has also placed a unique emphasis on device stability. The development of testing standards for perovskite modules is required to thoroughly evaluate potential candidates for commercialization, and we’ve taken inspiration from current industry standards to provide an honest insight into the performance and reliability of our devices. (4) An extensive cost model detailing the specific contributions of each device layer and production component provides the most thorough evaluation of any perovskite technology against conventional silicon and compound semiconductor solar devices. The cost model is a critical advancement that will provide the foundation for evaluating the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of this technology.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

H 2 Production Pathways Cost Analysis (2016 - 2021) (Final Report)

This final report documents cost analysis conducted for the Department of Energy over a five year period (2016 to 2021) pertaining to hydrogen production and delivery system components, focusing on the key remaining challenges of the technology pathways within the Hydrogen Production and Delivery sub-program portfolio. A particular focus was placed on electrolysis for the generation of hydrogen. The effort primarily used the H2A discounted cash flow computational model as a tool to project hydrogen cost ($/kgH 2 ) and determine status improvements resulting from technology advancements. The effort also considered cost as a function of production volume, employed error bars to illustrate uncertainties in the cost estimates, and utilized sensitivity analyses to show the potential for cost reductions. The project examined a range of hydrogen production and delivery related systems. These included WireTough wire-wrapped pressure vessels for hydrogen storage, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis, solid oxide electrolysis (SOE), anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis, photoelectrochemical (PEC) electrolysis, solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) production, the cost of energy transmission, and a study on the necessary price of hydrogen to produce competitively-priced electricity via fuel cell conversion.

08 HYDROGEN↗