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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
NASA NTRS1980

Solar energy system performance evaluation. Seasonal report for Wormser, Columbia, South Carolina

The Wormser Solar Energy System's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 was evaluated. The space heating subsystem met 42 percent of the measured space heating load and the hot water subsystem met 23 percent of the measured hot water demand. Net electrical energy savings were 4.36 million Btu's or 1277 kwh. Fossil energy savings will increase considerably if the uncontrolled solar energy input to the building is considered.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Low-Carbon District Heating: Performance Modeling of Hybrid Solar, Heat Pump, and Thermal Storage Systems for District Thermal Energy in the United States

District heating requires thermal energy in the temperature range of 40 degrees C - 120 degrees C. Typically, the thermal energy input for these systems has largely been met through fossil energy. However, the temperature range is low enough that it presents an opportunity for low-carbon technologies such as solar thermal and electrified thermal generators like heat pumps to decarbonize the heat generation. In this paper, a heat pump model was applied to estimate the performance and economics of a real-world low-carbon district heating substation. This system is comprised of a flat plate solar collector field paired with a mechanical vapor compression heat pump and hot water thermal storage, augmented by gas-fired boilers. Plant data was used to tune the model and estimate the system's benefits in terms of both standard financial metrics (IRR and payback), and environmental metrics, including avoided CO2 emissions. The model is subsequently employed to estimate the technical and economic potential of solar + heat pump + ther-mal storage hybrid systems as retrofits for district heating systems in eight US Markets.

district heating↗
DOE OSTI2023

Probing Particle Impingement in Boilers Using High-Performance Computing with Parallel CPUs and GPUs

The major goals of the project are to calculate and analyze particle impingement within boilers, quantify effects of particulates in boilers, and predict damage rates of boilers under different cycling modes. Collectively, these initiatives develop insight into existing coal plant challenges using advanced modeling tools, particularly those leveraging high-performance computing resources. High-performance CFD computing forms a central theme in this project that will employ a high degree of coordination and communication between these initiatives to realize a final, rigorously sound, and validated computational capability upon completion. These results will create a holistic, comprehensive, systems-level assessment of damage rates under different cycling modes. Together, these objectives will develop critical insight into damage mechanisms in existing coal plant challenges for accurately and efficiently assessing operating performance in fossil energy power plants.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Materials for Harsh Environments

The 2020 Materials for Harsh Service Conditions (M4HSC) Workshop was coordinated by three different U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Offices: the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), and the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). The event was held virtually October 27–30, 2020. The workshop brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, national laboratories, and DOE offices to identify the opportunities (paths for obtaining desirable goals), challenges (actionable tasks taken up along these paths), barriers (obstacles impeding advancement along the paths), and research and development (R&D) needs for enabling development of technology readiness level (TRL) 3–6 materials and materials systems, as well as their advancement into widespread commercial application.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Novel Algae Technology for CO2 Utilization

The United States, the world’s largest energy user and second largest CO2 emitter, is heavily dependent on fossil energy. In 2014, U.S. coal burning utilities emitted ~1562 million (MM) tons/year (TPY) of CO2 into the atmosphere, accounting for 76% of the total US power sector emissions1. Hence, reducing the CO2 emission footprint from coal plants is widely viewed as a key element in mitigating global warming. Despite significant interest, implementation of CO2 capture technologies has been constrained by the high capture cost which significantly increases the total cost of electricity. Not only is capturing CO2 with traditional technologies expensive, but generally the CO2 has little value and additional expense must be incurred for sequestration. This project funded by a SBIR grant from the U.S. D.O.E. to Helios-NRG in collaboration with the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) and Membrane Technology and Research Inc. (MTR) aimed to develop a novel, algae based technology to capture CO2 from the effluent of coal-based power plants and convert it to renewable bio-fuels and higher value co-products such as animal feed and nutraceuticals with the potential to enable a substantial reduction in the net cost of carbon capture. The Phase 2 project was aimed at further demonstrating the technical feasibility of the proposed multi-stage continuous (MSC) flow CO2 capture system and the generation of high-value co-products to offset the CO2 capture cost. The project was completed and the project objectives were met and exceeded. A first-of-a-kind integrated, laboratory scale MSC process unit was fabricated and tested in a greenhouse. The tests were conducted with the preferred algae species identified in Phase I and simulated flue gas containing contaminants at levels typically present in the post flue gas desulfurization (FGD) stream, including ~12% CO2, acid gas (SOX, NOX), and a large number of heavy metals. The tests were successful and demonstrated a 25g/m2/day seasonal average algae productivity and an 80% CO2 capture efficiency. Two new algae species were identified for high-value nutraceutical production. Studies to improve growth rate and nutraceutical content of these algae species were performed and a pathway for further improvements was identified. A new dewatering technology called DeAqua was further advanced. Significant improvement in the performance index was achieved. The anti-fouling membrane was developed and fabricated into a module. The fabricated membrane module was tested with algae slurry and demonstrated improved fouling resistant properties, that can potentially reduce the cost and energy of the critical dewatering step. Test data were used to simulate operation of the overall process. The preliminary economic analysis was updated and modelled based on a 5000-acre algae farm. To the extent possible, the financial and operating assumptions used were the same as those used in the DOE’s 2022 projections for algae technology for CO2 capture and utilization. The results showed the proposed technology’s potential to significantly reduce the cost of CO2 capture compared to current options and that the high value products generated from the CO2 captured can make a step change in the cost of carbon capture. Plans to advance the technology to Phase 2B were developed and potential end-user partners were identified.

Maloney, James↗
DOE OSTI2017

Carbon footprint as an environmental sustainability indicator for the particleboard produced in Pakistan

This study quantified the carbon footprint of particleboard production in Pakistan using a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment approach. The system boundary comprised raw materials acquisition, transport, particleboard manufacture and finished product distribution. Primary data were collected through surveys and meetings with particleboard manufacturers. Secondary data were taken from the literature. Greenhouse gas emissions from off-site industrial operations of the particleboard industry represented 52% of the total emissions from the production of 1.0 m{sup 3} of particleboard in Pakistan. The on-site industrial operations cause direct greenhouse gas emissions and accounted for 48% of the total emissions. These operations included energy consumption in stationary sources, the company-owned vehicle fleet, and the distribution and marketing of the finished product. The use of natural gas combustion in the stationary and mobile sources, raw material transport and urea-formaldehyde resin production chain accounted for the highest emissions from the particleboard production chain in Pakistan. The identification of the major hotspots in the particleboard production chain can assist the wood panel industry to improve their environmental profile. More efforts are needed to investigate the urea-formaldehyde resin production chain and substitution of roundwood with wood and agri-residues to assess the potential improvements. In addition, renewable energy sources should be encouraged to avoid greenhouse gas emissions by substituting fossil energy. This study also provides a benchmark for future research work to formulate comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans, because no previous research work is available on the carbon footprint of particleboard production in Pakistan. - Highlights: • We conducted the first carbon footprint assessment of particleboard produced in Pakistan. • System boundary comprised raw materials acquisition, particleboard manufacture and distribution. • Off-site industrial operations were accounted for highest emissions (52%) followed by on-site operations (48%). • Natural gas, materials transport and UF resin use accounted for highest emissions. • Identified potential strategies for GHG emissions reductions from PB production in Pakistan.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies: Cost Estimation Methodology for NETL Techno-economic Assessments

This Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies (QGESS) summarizes the methodology employed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in calculating plant costs in its techno-economic studies, such as the Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Systems series of reports. It also outlines the approach used to calculate the cost of electricity (COE) or cost of product (COP) metrics by which NETL estimates the impact of technology options. These metrics and a clear understanding of the methodology used are essential in allowing different plant technologies to be compared on a similar basis. These guidelines were initially developed for power producing plants, although they can be applied to a variety of different revenue generating plants (e.g., coal to liquids, syngas generation, hydrogen) by substituting the industrial product quantity for the electrical quantity in the equations. The tables contained in this QGESS have been expanded upon relative to previous versions to include values to assume for several industries.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Solar-energy-system performance evaluation: Honeywell OTS 44, Ocmulgee, Georgia

The operation and technical performance of the solar operational test site (OTS 44) are described, based on data collected between April, 1981 and August, 1981. The following topics are discussed: system description, performance assessment, operating energy, energy savings, system maintenance, and conclusions. The solar energy system at OTS 44 is a hydronic heating and cooling system consisting of 5040 square feet of liquid cooled flat plate collectors; a 4000 gallon thermal storage tank; one 25 ton capacity organic Rankine cycle engine assisted water chillers; a forced draft cooling tower; and associated piping, pumps, valves, controls and heat rejection equipment. The solar system has eight basic modes of operation and several combination modes for providing space conditioning and hot water to the building. Data monitored during the 4 months of the operational test period found that the solar system collected 285 MMBtu of thermal energy of the total incident solar energy of 1040 MMBtu and provided 210 MMBtu for cooling and 10 MMBtu for heating and hot water. The net electrical energy saving due to the solar system was approximately 2600 kWh(e), and fossil energy saving was about 20 million Btu (MMBtu).

Mathur, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Brayton cycle solarized advanced gas turbine

Described is the development of a Brayton Engine/Generator Set for solar thermal to electrical power conversion, authorized under DOE/NASA Contract DEN3-181. The objective was to design, fabricate, assemble, and test a small, hybrid, 20-kW Brayton-engine-powered generator set. The latter, called a power conversion assembly (PCA), is designed to operate with solar energy obtained from a parobolic dish concentrator, 11 meters in diameter, or with fossil energy supplied by burning fuels in a combustor, or by a combination of both (hybrid model). The CPA consists of the Brayton cycle engine, a solar collector, a belt-driven 20-kW generator, and the necessary control systems for automatic operation in solar-only, fuel-only, and hybrid modes to supply electrical power to a utility grid. The original configuration of the generator set used the GTEC Model GTP36-51 gas turbine engine for the PCA prime mover. However, subsequent development of the GTEC Model AGT101 led to its selection as the powersource for the PCA. Performance characteristics of the latter, thermally coupled to a solar collector for operation in the solar mode, are presented. The PCA was successfully demonstrated in the fuel-only mode at the GTEC Phoenix, Arizona, facilities prior to its shipment to Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for installation and testing on a test bed concentractor (parabolic dish). Considerations relative to Brayton-engine development using the all-ceramic AGT101 when it becomes available, which would satisfy the DOE heat engine efficiency goal of 35 to 41 percent, are also discussed in the report.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Promoting Domestic and International Consensus - Program Area 1: Carbon Capture & Storage & Clean Energy Systems

This is the Final Report for the U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement DE-FE-0024159, Promoting Domestic and International Consensus on Fossil Energy Technologies: Carbon Capture and Storage and Clean Energy Systems carried out by the United States Energy Association. It is a compendium of each quarterly report submitted over the 7-year period of the agreement accounting for all accomplishments, including major activities, significant results, major findings or conclusions, key outcomes or other achievements. Changes in approach or aims, and reasons for those changes, are included as well as any problems or delays and actions taken and planned to resolve them. It also summarizes budget statuses and any changes in key personnel throughout the life of the agreement. Originally planned for 5 years, the agreement was extended twice through back-to-back no-cost extensions, one to enable full completion of tasks critical to the program’s success and the other due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The goals of the program were to provide increased knowledge regarding Carbon, Capture, and Storage (CCS) and Clean Energy Systems (CES) to Industry and Government decision makers, technology developers, educators, policymakers, environmental and other stakeholders, and the public by sharing research, technologies, and best practices with domestic and international partners. Increasing such knowledge was key to the other goals of the program of building of a broad consensus among domestic and international decision makers, stakeholders, and the public to take action to support and implement CCS and CES technologies and systems to ensure clean, secure, and affordable energy while enhancing environmental protection. The program accomplished these goals through a series of activities including hosting of conferences and workshops, in-person briefings, virtual webinars, reports and white papers, and keeping stakeholders informed of industry happenings through email distribution lists. It is the belief of the authors of this report, that these activities can be considered to have been successful in their goals.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2022

High CO2 Capture Rate Cost and Performance for F- and H-Class Natural Gas Combined Cycles (NGCC)

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is updating its study titled “Cost and Performance Baselines for Fossil Energy Plants, Volume 1: Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity.” Revision 4 was published in 2019. Pulverized coal (PC) and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) cases with carbon capture in that study capture carbon dioxide (CO2) at 90% efficiency. Field-testing of post-combustion CO2 capture technology as well as vendor and industry feedback on projects currently in the planning stages (including FEED projects sponsored by DOE) indicate that capture rates as high as 95% are feasible for both coal- and natural gas-fueled electricity generating units. Technology suppliers (as reflected in vendor-supplied information provided to DOE for this study that included cost and performance estimates for both NGCC (97%) and PC (99%) study cases) as well as subject matter experts acknowledge and support that solvent-based post-combustion CO2 capture technologies are capable of achieving CO2 removal rates beyond 95% on low-purity streams representative of fossil-fueled combustion; however, the relatively limited experience with design and operation of capture systems that can routinely, reliably, and economically achieve very high removal rates (e.g., 97% for NGCC flue gas) requires further study. This presentation will address performance and cost estimates for 90%, 95%, and 97% capture for F- and H-class NGCC plants. This presentation was given at the 2022 Pittsburgh Coal Conference.

Fout, Timothy↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quality Guidelines for Energy Systems Studies: Cost Estimation Methodology for NETL Assessments of Power Plant Performance

This paper summarizes the methodology employed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in calculating power plant costs in its techno-economic studies, such as the Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Systems series of reports. It also outlines the approach used to calculate the cost of electricity by which NETL evaluates electric power plants. These metrics and a clear understanding of the methodology used are essential in allowing different power plant technologies to be compared on a similar basis. These guidelines are tailored for power producing plants, although they can be applied to a variety of different revenue generating plants (e.g., coal to liquids, syngas generation, hydrogen).

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Guam Energy Action Plan

Describes the four near-term strategies selected by the Guam Energy Task Force during action planning workshops conducted in March 2013, and outlines the steps being taken to implement those strategies. Each strategy addresses one of the energy sectors identified in the earlier Guam strategic energy plan as being an essential component of diversifying Guam's fuel sources and reducing fossil energy consumption 20% by 2020. The four energy strategies selected are: (1) expanding public outreach on energy efficiency and conservation, (2) establishing a demand-side management revolving loan program, (3) exploring waste-to-energy options, and (4) influencing the transportation sector via anti-idling legislation, vehicle registration fees, and electric vehicles.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Demonstrating Hybrid Heat Transport and Energy Conversion System Performance Characterization Using Intelligent Control Systems

The debate continues on the magnitude and validity of climate change caused by human activities. However, there is no debate about the need to make buildings, modes of transportation, factories, and homes as energy efficient as possible. Given that climate change could occur with the wasteful use of fossil fuel and the fact that fossil energy costs could and will swing wildly, it is imperative that every effort be made to utilize energy sources to their fullest. Hybrid energy systems (HES) are two or more separate energy producers used together to produce energy commodities. The HES this report focuses on is the use of nuclear reactor waste heat as a source of further energy utilization. Nuclear reactors use a fluid to cool the core and produce the steam needed for the production of electricity. Traditionally this steam, or coolant, is used to convert the energy then cooled elsewhere. The heat is released into the environment without being used further. By adding technologies to nuclear reactors to use the wasted heat, a system can be developed to make more than just electricity and allow for loading following capabilities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

New U.S. Data Tools are Playing a Crucial Role in Decarbonizing Buildings at Speed, Scale, and Low Cost

Preparing buildings for retrofits traditionally requires expensive on-site audits or timeintensive simulation models. As a result, the majority of buildings fail to pursue cost-saving retrofits. To address these barriers, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has introduced the Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER)-a new, free, on-line tool that utilizes a data-driven analytical engine and user-friendly web interface to automatically analyze a building's monthly energy usage in response to weather conditions. The tool benchmarks a building's electric and fossil energy usage against peers; estimates energy, cost, and emissions reductions at the building and portfolio levels; recommends energy efficiency measures; and prioritizes buildings for net-zero energy retrofits. Thanks to interoperability with the DOE's Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) platform, BETTER is supporting U.S. jurisdictions to prepare buildings for retrofit at speed, scale, and low cost to comply with energy policies. This paper discusses the use of BETTER and SEED by one of the branches of the California state government to streamline a retrofit program across 455 public non-residential buildings to align with state goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It describes the organization's challenge to reduce energy consumption across a geographically diverse, aging portfolio; explores how BETTER and SEED improved workflow efficiency; presents preliminary results, including avoiding audit costs of $3.28 million and developing the groundwork for retrofit projects estimated to prevent emission of 2,271 t CO2e annually; and provides guidance for other jurisdictions seeking similar results.

BETTER↗
DOE OSTI2024

New U.S. Data Tools are Playing a Crucial Role in Decarbonizing Buildings at Speed, Scale, and Low Cost

Preparing buildings for retrofits traditionally requires expensive on-site audits or time- intensive simulation models. As a result, the majority of buildings fail to pursue cost-saving retrofits. To address these barriers, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has introduced the Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER)—a new, free, on-line tool that utilizes a data-driven analytical engine and user-friendly web interface to automatically analyze a building’s monthly energy usage in response to weather conditions. The tool benchmarks a building’s electric and fossil energy usage against peers; estimates energy, cost, and emissions reductions at the building and portfolio levels; recommends energy efficiency measures; and prioritizes buildings for net-zero energy retrofits. Thanks to interoperability with the DOE’s Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) platform, BETTER is supporting U.S. jurisdictions to prepare buildings for retrofit at speed, scale, and low cost to comply with energy policies. This paper discusses the use of BETTER and SEED by one of the branches of the California state government to streamline a retrofit program across 455 public non-residential buildings to align with state goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It describes the organization’s challenge to reduce energy consumption across a geographically diverse, aging portfolio; explores how BETTER and SEED improved workflow efficiency; presents preliminary results, including avoiding audit costs of $3.28 million and developing the groundwork for retrofit projects estimated to prevent emission of 2,271 t CO2e annually; and provides guidance for other jurisdictions seeking similar results.

Li, han↗
DOE OSTI2019

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Hybrids for Distributed Generation

Given the need for clean and reliable energy, fuel cell technologies offer the ability to produce extremely low-emission electricity from reliable fossil energy. A standalone solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) module can reach electrical efficiencies of about 60%. However, coupling a SOFC to a Brayton style gas turbine (GT) increases the efficiency of the system to 70-75% or more. Using results from NETL’s HYPER Lab and published research, this project evaluates the strengths, limitations, and potential applications of SOFC-GT hybrids.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Comparing projections of industrial energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in long-term energy models

The industry sector consumes more energy and emits more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other end-use sector. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) and energy system models have been widely used to evaluate climate policy at a global level, and include a representation of industrial energy use. In this study, the projected industrial energy use and accompanying GHG emissions, as well as the model structure of multiple long-term energy models are compared. The models show varying degrees to which energy consumption is decoupled from GDP growth in the future. In all models, the sector remains mostly (>50%) reliant on fossil energy through 2100 in a reference scenario (i.e., absent emissions mitigation policies), though there is significant divergence in the projected ability to switch to alternative fuels to mitigate GHG emissions. Among the set analyzed here, the more technologically detailed models tend to have less capacity for switching from fossil fuels to electricity. This highlights the importance of understanding of economy-wide mitigation responses and costs as an area for future improvement. Analyzing industry subsector material and energy use details can improve the ability to interpret results, and provide insight in feasibility of how emissions reduction can be achieved.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗