Results for “Product design” — Page 14

DOE OSTI2024

H2Integrate [SWR-23-31]

H2Integrate(H2I) is an open-source Python package for hybrid systems engineering design and technoeconomic analysis. It models and optimizes hybrid energy plants that produce electricity, hydrogen, ammonia, steel, and other products. H2Integrate is designed to be flexible and extensible, allowing users to create their own components and models for various energy systems. The tool currently includes distributed energy generation (wind, solar, wave, tidal), battery storage, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and steel technologies. Other elements such as desalination systems, pipelines, compressors, and storage systems can also be included as developed by users. Some modeling capabilities in H2Integrate are provided by integrating existing tools, such as HOPP, PySAM, ORBIT, and ProFAST. The H2Integrate tool is built on top of NASA's OpenMDAO framework, which provides a powerful and flexible environment for modeling and optimization.

King, Jennifer [National Renewable Energy Laborato↗

DOE OSTI2026

NREL's 1MW Water Electrolysis Stack Performance Validation to Pilot-Scale Renewable Natural Gas Production [Slides]

NREL has designed, built, and operates a 1MW water electrolyzer balance-of-plant to support industrial partners and the U.S. Department of Energy in developing next-generation PEM stacks to reduce the cost of hydrogen production. With that hydrogen, we are developing, innovating and de-risking a biomethanation process capable of megawatt-scale deployment that upgrades biogas waste streams to produce pipeline quality renewable natural gas (RNG). Biomethanation is a two-step process using a methanogenic microorganism to convert renewable hydrogen (H 2 ) and waste carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to renewable methane (CH 4 ) - the primary component in natural gas. Using biogenic CO 2 from biogas sources like dairies, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills allows production of this drop-in direct replacement fuel. Research projects and future R&D topics are also discussed during the presentation.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2020

Process Development of the Vaporizing Foil Actuator Welding Technique

The industrial focus on continuous improvement for products is leading design engineers to consider multi-material design concepts more frequently. The design concepts use the advantages of each material while simultaneously minimizing the drawbacks. It also allows for the overall weight of the products to be reduced. Some traditional joining methods, though, struggle to join dissimilar material combinations. A technique known as vaporizing foil actuator welding, which was developed around ten years ago, is a solid-state joining method that has the potential to overcome the barriers to dissimilar material joining. The biggest drawbacks of vaporizing foil actuator welding are that it is still exclusively used in laboratory settings and early in the technology development process. As such, there is not enough confidence in the process for it to be transitioned to manufacturing environments yet. This work begins by analyzing the current state of the technology and identifying a roadmap to achieve a transition to manufacturing. The analysis found that increased confidence in the technology requires sample to sample repeatability to be improved. Beyond that, the process also needs to be fully automated before it can be considered as a viable technique for mass production. In order to further develop the technique, a fully automated work cell was constructed. By removing the human element from the process, this cell helped identify iii the aspects which contribute to process variability. The positioning of the vaporizing foil actuator was identified as the most important factor in process stability. A small set of samples were made in the automated cell with the addition of one component epoxy adhesive around the perimeter of the weld. These samples showed improved process repeatability compared with the samples made without adhesive. This indicates that small amounts of adhesive may be critical in using the process in industrial settings. Additionally, work was performed with manual positioning and adhesive dispensing. This work found that a hybrid joint behaves like traditional weld bonding, where the addition of adhesive makes the joint stronger than if either of the two joining methods were used on their own. To realize this performance with vaporizing foil actuator welding, though, the adhesive needs to be protected from burning during the rapid compression of air during the impact process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2024

Agrivoltaic system design tools for managing trade-offs between energy production, crop productivity and water consumption

Abstract Agrivoltaic systems that locate crop production and photovoltaic energy generation on the same land have the potential to aid the transition to renewable energy by reducing the competition between food, habitat, and energy needs for land while reducing irrigation requirements. Experimental efforts to date have not adequately developed an understanding of the interaction among local climate, array design and crop selection sufficient to manage trade-offs in system design. This study simulates the energy production, crop productivity and water consumption impacts of agrivoltaic array design choices in arid and semi-arid environments in the Southwestern region of the United States. Using the Penman–Monteith evapotranspiration model, we predict agrivoltaics can reduce crop water consumption by 30%–40% of the array coverage level, depending on local climate. A crop model simulating productivity based on both light level and temperature identifies afternoon shading provided by agrivoltaic arrays as potentially beneficial for shade tolerant plants in hot, dry settings. At the locations considered, several designs and crop combinations exceed land equivalence ratio values of 2, indicating a doubling of the output per acre for the land resource. These results highlight key design axes for agrivoltaic systems and point to a decision support tool for their development.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

DOE OSTI2025

High-Temperature SiC Cladding Bowing Irradiation Design and HFIR Readiness

Silicon carbide fiber–reinforced silicon carbide (SiC/SiC) matrix composites are candidate materials for long-term accident-tolerant fuel cladding for use in light water reactors (LWRs). This report documents the design of a dry SiC/SiC composite cladding bowing experiment intended for irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The dry experiment allows for testing at representative LWR temperatures for comparison to previous experimental results. This report describes detailed neutronics, thermal, and bowing analyses supporting the irradiation. The design leverages calculations from previous irradiation experiments and production targets for reduced design complexity. The thermal analysis provides a map of SiC thermometer temperatures for comparison during post-irradiation examination to determine the experiment’s irradiation temperatures. Finally, two concepts for introducing localized constraints representative of pressurized water reactor grid spacers are presented.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

MCNP Neutronic Design Optimization of an Accelerator-Driven Subcritical Assembly for Mo-99 Production

Molybdenum-99 (99Mo) has been in short supply in the recent decades. The most common productionmechanism, irradiation in a reactor fueled by highly enriched uranium (HEU), raisesproliferation concerns. Novel efforts are being pursued to meet the demand for 99Mo withoutHEU irradiation, relying on the processing of low-enriched uranium or natural uranium. Onesuch concept is to use an electron linear accelerator to generate bremsstrahlung that, through aphotonuclear reaction, can help multiply neutrons in a subcritical assembly. The goal of this workwas to neutronically optimize the subcritical assembly for keff and 99Mo production. This optimizationis unique for The design was optimized in terms of reflector type, pitch, and LEU andNU mass. Results of the paper show the effects of fuel mass, pitch, and reflector material on keffand the NU fission fraction. keff was found to be mostly driven by LEU mass, and the NU fissionfraction was dependent on several parameters, primarily pitch and mass.

Conant, Andrew↗

DOE OSTI2020

Multi-scale model based design of membrane reactor/separator processes for intensified hydrogen production through the water gas shift reaction

This paper aims to first quantify the impact of various diffusion models (Maxwell-Stefan, Wilke, Dusty-Gas) on the predictions of a multi-scale membrane reactor/separator mathematical model, and to then demonstrate this model's use for the design and process intensification of membrane reactor/separator systems for hydrogen production. This multi-scale model captures velocity, temperature and species' concentration profiles along the catalyst pellet's radial direction, and along the reactor's axial direction, by solving the momentum, energy, and species transport equations, accounting for convection, conduction, reaction, and diffusion mechanisms. In the first part of work, the effect of pellet-scale design parameters (mean pore diameter, volumetric porosity, tortuosity factor, etc.) and various species' flux models on the model predictions is studied. In the second part, the study focuses on the comparison, in terms of their process intensification characteristics, of various hydrogen production processes. These include a conventional high-temperature shift reactor (HTSR)/low-temperature shift reactor (LTSR) sequence, a novel HTSR/membrane separator (MS)/LTSR/MS sequence, and a process that involves low-temperature shift membrane reactors-LTSMR in a series.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2021

Human-Centric Lighting: Foundational Considerations and a Five-Step Design Process

At its best, human-centric lighting considers the visual and non-visual effects of light in support of positive human outcomes. At its worst, it is a marketing phrase used to healthwash lighting products or lighting design solutions. There is no doubt that environmental lighting contributes to human health, but how might one practice human-centric lighting given both the credible potential and the implausible hype? Marketing literature is filled with promises. Technical lighting societies have summarized the science but have not yet offered design guidance. Meanwhile, designers are in the middle, attempting to distinguish credible knowledge from that which is dubious to make design decisions that affect people directly. This article is intended to: (1) empower the reader with fundamental understandings of ways in which light affects health; (2) provide a process for human-centric lighting design that can dovetail with the decision-making process that is already a part of a designer's workflow.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Assessing the Impacts of Recent Crop Expansion on Water Quality in the Missouri River Basin Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool

The Missouri River Basin (MORB) has experienced a resurgence of grassland conversion to crop production, which raised concerns on water quality. We applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to address how this conversion would impact water quality. We designed three crop production scenarios representing conversion of grassland to: (a) continuous corn; (b) corn/soybean rotation; and (c) corn/wheat rotation to assess the impact. The SWAT model results showed: (a) the lower MORB produced high total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) load before conversion (baseline) due mainly to high precipitation and high agricultural activity; (b) the greatest percentage increases of TN and TP occurred in the North and South Dakotas, coinciding with the highest amount of grassland conversion to cropland; and (c) grassland conversion to continuous corn resulted in the greatest increase in TN and TP loads, followed by conversion to corn/soybean and then conversion to corn/wheat. Although the greatest percentage increases of TN and TP occurred in the North and South Dakotas, these areas still contributed relatively low TN and TP to total basin loads after conversion. However, watersheds, predominantly in the lower MORB continued to be “hotspots” that contributed the greatest amounts of TN and TP to the total basin loads—driven by a combination of grassland conversion, high precipitation, and loading from pre-existing cropland. At the watershed outlet, the TN and TP loads were increased by 6.4% (13,800 t/yr) and 8.7% (3,400 t/yr), respectively, during the 2008–2016 period for the conversion to continuous corn scenario.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Data Deposition Platform for Sharing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Data

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data are rarely deposited in open databases, leading to loss of critical scientific knowledge. Existing data reporting methods (images, tables, lists of values) contain less information than raw data, and are poorly standardized. Together, these issues limit FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) access to these data, which in turn creates barriers for compound dereplication and the development of new data-driven discovery tools. Existing NMR databases are either not designed for natural products data, or employ complex deposition interfaces that disincentivize deposition. Journals, including the Journal of Natural Products (JNP), are now requiring data submission as part of the publication process, creating the need for a streamlined, user-friendly mechanism to deposit and distribute NMR data. Recently, our team reported the development of the Natural Products Magnetic Resonance Database (NP-MRD; www.np-mrd.org). Here in this paper we present a new data deposition platform for the NP-MRD project that is designed to enable users to deposit NMR data for published or submitted manuscripts in under five minutes. This platform includes a suite of automated data extraction and standardization tools, together with a simple-to-use web-based interface and detailed error reporting to simplify the data deposition process and is available at www.np-mrd.org/submissions.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2023

3-D Printed Electro-Magnetic Objects for THz Communications

Advanced materials and manufacturing techniques will pave the path towards high quality electro-magnetic circuits that operate up through THz and into optics regime. Digital additive manufacturing (AM) techniques offer game-changing potential for large scale manufacturing of Radio-frequency (RF) circuits and system in custom 2D/3D geometries. The technical collaboration will explore the design flexibility and product customization capabilities of additive manufacturing techniques to process magnetic materials in custom 3D geometries with tailored dielectric properties and frequency response characteristics. Transformation of an RF circuit design idea into a 3D printed system using additive manufacturing techniques will bring together the elements of advanced materials, additive integration, and low-cost manufacturing for future advanced wireless communication systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Systems and methods for automated nozzle design and 3D printing

A present disclosure relates to a system for automatic design and manufacturing of 3D printing units and 3D products. The system is configured to obtain specification of a target structure corresponding to a 3D product; automatically determine a design and a printing path of a 3D printing unit based on the specification of the target structure, wherein the 3D printing unit is a micronozzle unit configured to print the target structure of the 3D product; automatically determine a manufacturing procedure to print the 3D printing unit based on the specification of the target structure; and instruct a 3D printer to print the 3D printing unit according to the manufacturing procedure and the printing path of the 3D printing unit.

Lewis, Jennifer A.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Managing weather- and market price-related financial risks in algal biofuel production

Large-scale algae production has garnered interest due to its potential as a biofuel feedstock. Previous research assessing the profitability of algae products has been mostly based on values averaged over time, but algae production and resulting financial returns exhibit significant variability due to weather and fluctuations in selling prices for algae-based products. In other sectors, producers often reduce weather- and market price-related financial risk with financial instruments such as insurance, but little research has been performed on the design of insurance products to protect algae producers. Furthermore, this study develops a novel index-based insurance instrument that pays-out during unfavorable weather and market conditions, then explores the instrument's effectiveness, combined with a cash reserve, in reducing revenue stream variability for an algae producer. Results indicate that a biophysically based index-insurance product tailored to the specific financial risks in algae production can reduce variability in net revenues and can do so at a lower cost than relying solely on cash reserves, the most common financial risk management tool. Assessing the performance of index-insurance in algae production is particularly timely given the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which newly opens opportunities for the USDA to provide crop insurance to algae producers.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Monochromatization interaction region optics design for direct s-channel Higgs production at FCC-ee

The FCC-ee offers the potential to measure the electron Yukawa coupling via direct s-channel Higgs production, e + e − → H , at a centre-of-mass (CM) energy of ∼125 GeV. This measurement is significantly facilitated if the CM energy spread of e + e − collisions can be reduced to a level comparable to the natural width of the Higgs boson, Γ H = 4.1 MeV, without substantial loss in luminosity. Achieving this reduction in collision-energy spread is possible through the “monochromatization” concept. The basic idea is to create opposite correlations between spatial position and energy deviation within the colliding beams, which can be accomplished in beam optics by introducing a nonzero dispersion function with opposite signs for the two beams at the interaction point. Since the first proposal in 2016, the implementation of monochromatization at the FCC-ee has been continuously improved, starting from preliminary parametric studies. In this paper, we present a detailed study of the interaction region optics design for this newly proposed collision mode, exploring different potential configurations and their implementation in the FCC-ee global lattice, along with beam dynamics simulations and performance evaluations including the impact of “beamstrahlung.”

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

From Chills to Thrills: Revolutionizing Energy Efficiency and Load Flexibility in Supermarket Refrigeration

Open-vertical medium-temperature refrigerated display cases comprise nearly 50% of total case lineups in a typical supermarket, with more than 80% of their cooling load attributed to infiltration of warm and moist air from the surrounding space. The infiltration takes place across the air curtain system of the display case. While the air curtain acts as a thermal shield and as a cooling mechanism to maintain product temperature, it also entrains large amounts of heat and moisture from the adjacent space. Additionally, from food safety and quality standpoints, these fixtures are vulnerable to electric outages and traditionally cannot participate in load flexibility events. This paper describes key features of an innovative design of a self-contained, water-cooled, medium-temperature, open-vertical display case. The novel concept will eliminate the inefficient air curtain system and incorporate a hybrid radiant and low-airflow convective cooling design with a thermal-energy-storage-coupled heat exchanger integrated into the refrigeration circuit. The focus of this paper is on evaluating the thermal performance of the novel hybrid design in maintaining target product temperature. It presents thermal performance findings from thermo-fluid system modeling and robust state-of-the-art laboratory experiments used to validate those models. Load flexibility attributes from thermal energy storage are not discussed. A controlled-environment chamber at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was leveraged to validate the thermal performance of the novel technology. Final results from bench-scale experiments indicate the proposed design maintained mean product temperatures within food safety guidelines.

commercial refrigeration↗

DOE OSTI2024

From Chills to Thrills: Revolutionizing Energy Efficiency and Load Flexibility in Supermarket Refrigeration: Preprint

Open-vertical medium-temperature refrigerated display cases comprise nearly 50% of total case lineups in a typical supermarket, with more than 80% of their cooling load attributed to infiltration of warm and moist air from the surrounding space. The infiltration takes place across the air curtain system of the display case. While the air curtain acts as a thermal shield and as a cooling mechanism to maintain product temperature, it also entrains large amounts of heat and moisture from the adjacent space. Additionally, from food safety and quality standpoints, these fixtures are vulnerable to electric outages and traditionally cannot participate in load flexibility events. This paper describes key features of an innovative design of a self-contained, water-cooled, medium-temperature, open-vertical display case. The novel concept will eliminate the inefficient air curtain system and incorporate a hybrid radiant and low-airflow convective cooling design with a thermal-energy-storage-coupled heat exchanger integrated into the refrigeration circuit. The focus of this paper is on evaluating the thermal performance of the novel hybrid design in maintaining target product temperature. It presents thermal performance findings from thermo-fluid system modeling and robust state-of-the-art laboratory experiments used to validate those models. Load flexibility attributes from thermal energy storage are not discussed. A controlled-environment chamber at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was leveraged to validate the thermal performance of the novel technology. Final results from bench-scale experiments indicate the proposed design maintained mean product temperatures within food safety guidelines.

commercial refrigeration↗

DOE OSTI2024

Grid Interactive Micro-Distributed Refrigerated Display Case

Open-vertical medium-temperature refrigerated display cases comprise nearly 50% of total case lineups in a typical supermarket, with more than 80% of their cooling load attributed to infiltration of warm and moist air from the surrounding space. The infiltration takes place across the air curtain system of the display case. While the air curtain acts as a thermal shield and as a cooling mechanism to maintain product temperature, it also entrains large amounts of heat and moisture from the adjacent space. Additionally, from food safety and quality standpoints, these fixtures are vulnerable to electric outages and traditionally cannot participate in load flexibility events. This paper describes key features of an innovative design of a self-contained, water-cooled, medium-temperature, open-vertical display case. The novel concept will eliminate the inefficient air curtain system and incorporate a hybrid radiant and low-airflow convective cooling design with a thermal-energy-storage-coupled heat exchanger integrated into the refrigeration circuit. The focus of this paper is on evaluating the thermal performance of the novel hybrid design in maintaining target product temperature. It presents thermal performance findings from thermo-fluid system modeling and robust state-of-the-art laboratory experiments used to validate those models. Load flexibility attributes from thermal energy storage are not discussed. A controlled-environment chamber at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was leveraged to validate the thermal performance of the novel technology. Final results from bench-scale experiments indicate the proposed design maintained mean product temperatures within food safety guidelines.

commercial refrigeration↗

DOE OSTI2021

Technoeconomic Design of a Geothermal-Enabled Cold Climate Zero Energy Community

Development of a zero energy community is more costly in northern cold climates than in moderate regions. Building energy loads are higher, thanks to the colder weather, and site solar photovoltaics (PV) are less productive due to lower solar incidence and misalignment with the buildings’ energy needs (summer production, winter demands). Geothermal energy production can support a zero energy community through application of energy efficiency (demand design), geothermal production (supply design), and asset dispatch as an integrated techno-economic package. This article presents the process used to explore geothermal system integration, our findings, and technical challenges for community-scale adoption of geothermal as an electric and thermal resource. We show that under a wide range of conditions, community-scale geothermal electric power and direct-use thermal energy is economically competitive with “business-as-usual” design and construction practices for zero energy communities. Furthermore, geothermal-produced energy will be self-consumed to a much greater extent than PV, resulting in significant reductions in site energy import and export. We conclude that under appropriate conditions, community-scale geothermal can be the most economically favorable energy resource for northern-climate zero energy community developments. Ongoing geothermal research and development to improve performance and reduce costs will further enhance the value proposition for community-scale geothermal technologies. We expect that including geothermal power and thermal energy in zero energy community design can improve its cost-effectiveness and therefore enhance the benefits of zero energy in more northern climates.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗