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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Fuel Economy and Emissions of a Vehicle Equipped with an Aftermarket Flexible-Fuel Conversion Kit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants Certificates of Conformity for alternative fuel conversion systems and also offers other forms of premarket registration of conversion kits for use in vehicles more than two model years old. Use of alternative fuels such as ethanol, natural gas, and propane are encouraged by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) produce emissions-certified vehicles capable of using alternative fuels, and several alternative fuel conversion system manufacturers produce EPA-approved conversion systems for a variety of alternative fuels and vehicle types. To date, only one manufacturer (Flex Fuel U.S.) has received EPA certifications for ethanol fuel (E85) conversion kits. This report details an independent evaluation of a vehicle with a legal installation of a Flex Fuel U.S. conversion kit. A 2006 Dodge Charger was baseline tested with ethanol-free certification gasoline (E0) and E20 (gasoline with 20 vol % ethanol), converted to flex-fuel operation via installation of a Flex Box Smart Kit from Flex Fuel U.S., and retested with E0, E20, E50, and E81. Test cycles included the Federal Test Procedure (FTP or city cycle), the highway fuel economy test (HFET), and the US06 test (aggressive driving test). Averaged test results show that the vehicle was emissions compliant on E0 in the OEM condition (before conversion) and compliant on all test fuels after conversion. Average nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions exceeded the Tier 2/Bin 5 intermediate life NO X standard with E20 fuel in the OEM condition due to two of three test results exceeding this standard [note that E20 is not a legal fuel for non-flexible-fuel vehicles (non-FFVs)]. In addition, one E0 test result before conversion and one E20 test result after conversion exceeded the NO X standard, although the average result in these two cases was below the standard. Emissions of ethanol and acetaldehyde increased with increasing ethanol, while nonmethane organic gas and CO emissions remained relatively unchanged for all fuels and cycles. Higher fraction ethanol blends appeared to decrease NO X emissions on the FTP and HFET (after conversion). As expected, fuel economy (miles per gallon) decreased with increasing ethanol content in all cases.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2018

Quantifying the Impact of Vehicle and Motor Fuel Provisions from the Energy Policy Act on the Sustainability and Resilience of U.S. Cities

The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992, with later amendments, was enacted with the goal of reducing U.S. petroleum consumption by building a core market for alternative fuels and vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy manages three federal programs related to EPAct; the Sustainable Federal Fleets Program, the State and Alternative Fuel Provider Program, and Clean Cities. Federal agencies and State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleets are required to submit annual reports that document their compliance with the legislation. Clean Cities is a voluntary program aimed at building partnerships and providing technical expertise to encourage cities to reduce petroleum use in transportation. This study reviews the evolution of these three programs in relation to alternative fuel and vehicle markets and private sector adoption of alternative fueled vehicles to assess the impact of the programs on reduction in petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions both within the regulated fleets and through development of alternative fuel and vehicle markets. The increased availability of alternative fuels and use of alternative fuels in regulated fleets is expected to improve cities' ability to respond to and quickly recover from both local disasters and short- and long-term regional or national fuel supply interruptions. Our analysis examines the benefits as well as potential drawbacks of alternative fuel use for the resiliency of U.S. cities.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quantifying the Impact of Vehicle and Motor Fuel Provisions from the Energy Policy Act on the Sustainability and Resilience of U.S. Cities: Preprint

The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992, with later amendments, was enacted with the goal of reducing U.S. petroleum consumption by building a core market for alternative fuels and vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy manages three federal programs related to EPAct; the Sustainable Federal Fleets Program, the State and Alternative Fuel Provider Program, and Clean Cities. Federal agencies and State and Alternative Fuel Provider Fleets are required to submit annual reports that document their compliance with the legislation. Clean Cities is a voluntary program aimed at building partnerships and providing technical expertise to encourage cities to reduce petroleum use in transportation. This study reviews the evolution of these three programs in relation to alternative fuel and vehicle markets and private sector adoption of alternative fueled vehicles to assess the impact of the programs on reduction in petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions both within the regulated fleets and through development of alternative fuel and vehicle markets. The increased availability of alternative fuels and use of alternative fuels in regulated fleets is expected to improve cities' ability to respond to and quickly recover from both local disasters and short- and long-term regional or national fuel supply interruptions. Our analysis examines the benefits as well as potential drawbacks of alternative fuel use for the resiliency of U.S. cities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1978

Alternative aircraft fuels

In connection with the anticipated impossibility to provide on a long-term basis liquid fuels derived from petroleum, an investigation has been conducted with the objective to assess the suitability of jet fuels made from oil shale and coal and to develop a data base which will allow optimization of future fuel characteristics, taking energy efficiency of manufacture and the tradeoffs in aircraft and engine design into account. The properties of future aviation fuels are examined and proposed solutions to problems of alternative fuels are discussed. Attention is given to the refining of jet fuel to current specifications, the control of fuel thermal stability, and combustor technology for use of broad specification fuels. The first solution is to continue to develop the necessary technology at the refinery to produce specification jet fuels regardless of the crude source.

Longwell, J. P.↗
DOE OSTI2014

AVTA Federal Fleet PEV Readiness Data Logging and Characterization Study for United States Coast Guard Headquarters

Federal agencies are mandated to purchase alternative fuel vehicles, increase consumption of alternative fuels, and reduce petroleum consumption. Available plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) provide an attractive option in the selection of alternative fuel vehicles. PEVs, which consist of both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), have significant advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of energy efficiency, reduced petroleum consumption, and reduced production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and they provide performance benefits with quieter, smoother operation. This study intended to evaluate the extent to which the United States Coast Guard Headquarters (USCG HQ) could convert part or all of their fleet of vehicles from petroleum-fueled vehicles to PEVs.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Connected and Learning Based Optimal Freight Management for Efficiency

The management of the future heterogenous fleet is a complex decision-making problem. The heterogenous fleet is emerging as decarbonization technologies are deployed by fleets toward lowering the freight operation emissions in Medium and Heavy-duty vehicles. Traditionally, in fleets characterized by a homogeneous Diesel Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powertrain, the process of fleet planning and operational optimization unfolds sequentially without the necessity to account for powertrain and vehicle-specific characteristics during dispatch decisions. Fleets with trucks less than 5 years old tend to maintain stable vehicle efficiency with minimal operational reliability risks for fleet managers. However, the landscape changes with the incorporation of emerging powertrain technologies, which lack extensive operational data and service experiences. This includes technologies like hybrid, Electric, Fuel Cell, or alternative fuel ICE. Operational decisions for fleets featuring heterogeneous powertrain technologies and facing limited access to alternative fueling and charging stations become intricate, requiring careful consideration and optimization at each dispatch. The difference in efficiency characteristics of emerging technologies, their range limitations, and the restricted availability of charging/alternative fueling infrastructure, coupled with sensitivity to driving conditions (e.g., EV range reduction in low temperatures) and their impact on component aging (such as batteries), become pivotal factors influencing the reliable and efficient freight transportation. To make the path toward low emission freight transportation efficient and reliable, an AI-assisted fleet management software is developed in this project to help fleet managers in optimizing both adoption of emerging powertrain decarbonization, connected and automated technologies and also operating the fleet after such technologies are deployed as schematically. Freight transportation requirements are different depending on the cargos to be shipped, customer requirements and regions of operations. This further highlights the need for software and digital solutions to tailor deployment and operation of emerging powertrain, connectivity, and automation technologies toward the specific fleet operation requirements. The fleet management optimizer was also integrated with a model of the fleet to simulate the operation of the fleet over 1 year of the baseline fleet operation (250,000+ shipments) indicating the significance of day-to-day variations on emissions and energy consumption of a freight transportation fleet. The results demonstrate ≥20% improvement in freight efficiency in terms of WTW CO2 per ton-mile of cargo shipments while all fleet operation constraints are enforced, and the cost (CapEx and OpEx) is minimized.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Primer on the Cost of Marine Fuels Compliant with IMO 2020 Rule

This report aims to provide information for owners and operators of U.S. ocean-going marine cargo vessels on the cost of different approaches to compliance with the IMO mandate to reduce the sulfur content of marine fuels (outside emission control areas) to no more than 0.5%. The IMO 2020 rule came into effect on January 1, 2020. The report discusses a suite of options for compliance including low-sulfur petroleum-based fuels and alternative fuels. Since fuel prices are a primary factor in determining the cost of the various alternatives, the document also includes a discussion of the main drivers of marine fuel prices. The cost analysis compares the average annual costs (capital and fuel) out to 2050 of each compliance approach under alternative scenarios regarding fuel prices, policy, and technology innovation. The cost calculations focus on representative U.S. fleet vessels for containership and tanker types. Even though the analysis focuses on average cost of approaches to comply with IMO 2020, the comparison of approaches also acknowledges other benefits or risks including fuel price risk and the contribution of the approach to achieving other potential environmental performance objectives or regulations.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2020

Federal Best Practices: Core Principles of Sustainable Fleet Management

This document is designed to help agency fleet managers understand and implement optimal petroleum reduction strategies for each fleet location by evaluating the most appropriate combination of the four core principles of sustainable fleet management: Right-sizing the fleet to agency mission by implementing a vehicle allocation methodology study; Minimizing vehicle miles traveled; Increasing fleet fuel efficiency by replacing inefficient vehicles with more fuel-efficient vehicles, maintaining vehicles, driving more efficiently, and avoiding excessive idling; Optimizing cost-effective alternative fuel use, including maximizing utilization of existing alternative fuel infrastructure, installing alternative fuel infrastructure where practical (including electric vehicle charging stations), and aligning deployment of alternative fuel vehicles with fueling infrastructure.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Operating on Alternative and Renewable Fuels

This DOE project at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) initially involved Siemens Energy, Inc. to (1) develop new fuel processing approaches for using selected alternative and renewable fuels – anaerobic digester gas (ADG) and commercial diesel fuel (with 15 ppm sulfur) – in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power generation systems; and (2) conduct integrated fuel processor – SOFC system tests to evaluate the performance of the fuel processors and overall systems. Siemens Energy Inc. was to provide SOFC system to Penn State for testing. The Siemens work was carried out at Siemens Energy Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA. The unexpected restructuring in Siemens organization, however, led to the elimination of the Siemens Stationary Fuel Cell Division within the company. Unfortunately, this led to the Siemens subcontract with Penn State ending on September 23rd, 2010. SOFC system was never delivered to Penn State. With the assistance of NETL project manager, the Penn State team has since developed a collaborative research with Delphi as the new subcontractor and this work involved the testing of a stack of planar solid oxide fuel cells from Delphi.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2014

AVTA Federal Fleet PEV Readiness Data Logging and Characterization Study for NASA Stennis Space Center

Federal agencies are mandated to purchase alternative fuel vehicles, increase consumption of alternative fuels, and reduce petroleum consumption. Available plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) provide an attractive option in the selection of alternative fuel vehicles. PEVs, which consist of both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), have significant advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of energy efficiency, reduced petroleum consumption, and reduced production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and they provide performance benefits with quieter, smoother operation. This study intended to evaluate the extent to which NASA Stennis Space Center (Stennis) could convert part or all of their fleet of vehicles from petroleum-fueled vehicles to PEVs.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Propane Fueling Infrastructure Trends: A Decade in Review

This report provides information on propane fueling infrastructure and industry trends over the last 10 years. It is informed primarily by propane fueling station location data collected through the Alternative Fuels Data Center's Alternative Fueling Station Locator from 2011 through 2021. Industry stakeholders, including the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) and other members of the Alternative Fuels Data Center Station Locator Propane Working Group, also provided data and additional context around trends seen in the data.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRS1977

Alternate aircraft fuels prospects and operational implications

The paper discusses NASA studies of the potentials of coal-derived aviation fuels, specifically synthetic aviation kerosene, liquid methane, and liquid hydrogen. Topics include areas of fuel production, air terminal requirements for aircraft fueling (for liquid hydrogen only), and the performance characteristics of aircraft designed to utilize alternate fuels. Energy requirements associated with the production of each of the three selected fuels are determined, and fuel prices are estimated. Subsonic commercial air transports using liquid hydrogen fuel have been analyzed, and their performance and the performance of aircraft which use commercial aviation kerosene are compared. Environmental and safety issues are considered.

Witcofski, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Hydrogen for the subsonic transport

Relations between air travel and fuel requirements are examined. Alternate fuels considered in connection with problems related to a diminishing supply of petroleum include synthetic jet fuel, methane, and hydrogen. A cruise flight of a subsonic aircraft on a hydrogen-fueled jet engine was demonstrated in 1957. However, more development work is required to provide a sound engineering base for a complete air transportation system using hydrogen as fuel. Aircraft designs for alternate fuels are discussed, giving attention to hydrogen-related technology already available and new developments which are needed.

Korycinski, P. F.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Federal Best Practices: Core Principles of Sustainable Fleet Management

This report helps agency fleet managers understand and implement optimal petroleum reduction strategies for fleet locations by evaluating the most appropriate combination of the four core principles of sustainable fleet management: right-sizing the fleet to agency mission by implementing a vehicle allocation methodology study; minimizing vehicle miles traveled; increasing fleet fuel efficiency by replacing inefficient vehicles with more fuel-efficient vehicles, maintaining vehicles, driving more efficiently, and avoiding excessive idling; and optimizing cost-effective alternative fuel use, including maximizing utilization of existing alternative fuel infrastructure, installing alternative fuel infrastructure where practical (including electric vehicle charging stations), and aligning deployment of alternative fuel vehicles with fueling infrastructure.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Comparative Cost Analysis of Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Alternatives

This report presents a comparative analysis of spent nuclear fuel management options to support the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Specifically, a set of scenarios was constructed to represent a range of possible combinations of alternative spent fuel management approaches. Analyses were performed to provide simple and credible estimates of relative costs to the U.S. government and to the nuclear utilities for moving forward with each scenario. The analyses of alternatives and options related to spent nuclear fuel management presented in this report are based on technical and programmatic considerations and do not include an evaluation of relevant regulatory and legal considerations (e.g., needs for new or modified regulations or legislation). This report has been prepared for informational and comparison purposes only and should not be construed as a determination of the legal permissibility of specific alternatives and options. No inferences should be drawn from this report regarding future actions by DOE. To the extent this report conflicts with provisions of the Standard Contract, those provisions prevail.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Alternative Aviation Fuel Experiment (AAFEX)

The rising cost of oil coupled with the need to reduce pollution and dependence on foreign suppliers has spurred great interest and activity in developing alternative aviation fuels. Although a variety of fuels have been produced that have similar properties to standard Jet A, detailed studies are required to ascertain the exact impacts of the fuels on engine operation and exhaust composition. In response to this need, NASA acquired and burned a variety of alternative aviation fuel mixtures in the Dryden Flight Research Center DC-8 to assess changes in the aircraft s CFM-56 engine performance and emission parameters relative to operation with standard JP-8. This Alternative Aviation Fuel Experiment, or AAFEX, was conducted at NASA Dryden s Aircraft Operations Facility (DAOF) in Palmdale, California, from January 19 to February 3, 2009 and specifically sought to establish fuel matrix effects on: 1) engine and exhaust gas temperatures and compressor speeds; 2) engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) gas phase and particle emissions and characteristics; and 3) volatile aerosol formation in aging exhaust plumes

Anderson, B. E.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Spray combustion modeling

Concern over the future availability of high quality liquid fuels or use in furnaces and boilers prompted the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider alternate fuels as replacements for the high grade liquid fuels used in the 1970's and 1980's. Alternate fuels were defined to be combinations of a large percentage of viscous, low volatility fuels resulting from the low end of distillation mixed with a small percentage of relatively low viscosity, high volatility fuels yielded by the high end of distillation. The addition of high volatility fuels was meant to promote desirable characteristics to a fuel that would otherwise be difficult to atomize and burn and whose combustion would yield a high amount of pollutants. Several questions thus needed to be answered before alternate fuels became commercially viable. These questions were related to fuel atomization, evaporation, ignition, combustion and pollutant formation. This final report describes the results of the most significant studies on ignition and combustion of alternative fuels.

Combustion↗
DOE OSTI2018

Autoignition of trans -decalin, a diesel surrogate compound: Rapid compression machine experiments and chemical kinetic modeling

Decahydronaphthalene (decalin), with both cis and trans isomers, is a bicyclic alkane that is found in aviation fuels, diesel fuels, and alternative fuels from tar sands and oil shales. Between the two decalin isomers, trans-decalin has a lower cetane number, is energetically more stable, and has a lower boiling point. Moreover, trans-decalin has often been chosen as a surrogate component to represent two-ring naphthenes in transportation fuels. Recognizing the importance of understanding the chemical kinetics of trans-decalin in the development of surrogate models, an experimental and modeling study has been conducted. Experimentally, the autoignition characteristics of trans-decalin were investigated using a rapid compression machine (RCM) by using trans-decalin/O2/N2 mixtures at compressed pressures of PC=10–25 bar, low-to-intermediate compressed temperatures of TC=620–895 K, and varying equivalence ratios of Φ=0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. These new experimental data demonstrate the effects of pressure, fuel loading, and oxygen concentration on autoignition of trans-decalin. The current RCM data of trans-decalin at lower temperatures were also found to complement well with the literature shock tube data of decalin (mixture of cis+trans) at higher temperatures. Furthermore, a chemical kinetic model for the oxidation of trans-decalin has been developed with new reaction rates and pathways, including, for the first time, a fully-detailed representation of low-temperature chemical kinetics for transdecalin. This model shows good agreement with the overall ignition delay results of the current RCM experiments and the literature shock tube studies. Chemical kinetic analyses of the developed model were further conducted to help identify the fuel decomposition pathways and the reactions controlling the autoignition at varying conditions.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗