Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “custom”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Foundations of Off-Grid Solar in Haiti: 4. Understanding Off-Grid Solar Customers

This training lends insight into key information and concepts for off-grid solar in Haiti, building foundational knowledge and an ability to catalyze interest in off-grid solar for rural electrification in Haiti. This self-paced course is offered in both English and French and covers a variety of topics related to energy access in Haiti including off-grid solar products, market potential in Haiti, supply and demand side considerations, system design, installation and maintenance, off-grid solar business models, financial modeling, gender and energy access, productive use of energy, and climate adaptation. The training is intended for university students, government partners, NGOs, funders, development partners, professionals, and more. No prior knowledge of off-grid solar or Haiti is required to benefit from this training. See NREL/PR-7A40-89258 for the French translation of this document.

customers↗
DOE OSTI2023

Customized Nanostructured Ceramics via Microphase Separation 3D Printing

To date, the restricted capability to fabricate ceramics with independently tailored nano- and macroscopic features has hindered their implementation in a wide range of crucial technological areas, including aeronautics, defense, and microelectronics. In this study, a novel approach that combines self- and digital assembly to create polymer-derived ceramics with highly controlled structures spanning from the nano- to macroscale is introduced. Polymerization-induced microphase separation of a resin during digital light processing generates materials with nanoscale morphologies, with the distinct phases consisting of either a preceramic precursor or a sacrificial polymer. By precisely controlling the molecular weight of the sacrificial polymer, the domain size of the resulting material phases can be finely tuned. Pyrolysis of the printed objects yields ceramics with complex macroscale geometries and nanoscale porosity, which display excellent thermal and oxidation resistance, and morphology-dependent thermal conduction properties. This method offers a valuable technological platform for the simplified fabrication of nanostructured ceramics with complex shapes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Easy‐to‐Use Custom‐Built Cell for Neutron Powder Diffraction Studies of Rechargeable Batteries

Abstract In operando powder diffraction remains one of the most powerful tools for non‐destructive investigation of battery electrode materials. While in operando X‐ray, especially synchrotron radiation, powder diffraction is by now a routine experimental technique, in operando neutron powder diffraction is still less established. We present a new electrochemical cell for in operando neutron powder diffraction, which is, first and foremost, easy to use, but can also cycle electrode materials under electrochemical conditions close to those achieved using standard laboratory cells. The cell has been designed in multiple sizes, and high‐quality electrochemical and neutron powder diffraction data is presented for sample sizes as low as 48 mg total active material. The cell handles lithium‐ion and sodium‐ion materials equally well, with no difference in how the cell is prepared and assembled. The cell is intended to be used as sample environment at powder diffractometers at the neutron facilities MLZ, ORNL and ACNS.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Using a Customized Portable Deepwater Portable Electrofisher to Assess Larval Lamprey Populations in Irrigation Canals

Larval lamprey densities were quantified at two large-scale water diversions facilities located on the Yakima River near the city of Yakima, Washington. Water diversions are very common in the Yakima River Basin and provide water to irrigate a diverse range of valuable cropland. Out-migrating larval Pacific Lamprey are vulnerable to entrainment through fish protection screens during the withdrawal period and desiccation or predation during dewatering at the end of the season. In order to determine the impact to lamprey populations which inhabit these regions a portable deepwater electroshocking system was utilized to determine lamprey densities which could otherwise not be determined due to water depth. Surveys were conducted in the fall during the dewatering period in 2015 and 2017 and larval lamprey densities ranged from 0.8 to 8.8 fish m-2 at the Sunnyside Diversion Facility to 4.2 to 6.5 fish m-2 at the Wapato Diversion Facility. The estimates for the total lamprey numbers at each of the region using a portable deepwater electrofishing platform (PDEP) was very similar to those estimates using backpack electrofishing post-dewatering; the PDEP method was 12- 36% higher where comparisons were available. During 2017, the estimated lamprey entrainment at the Sunnyside Diversion increased by 484% from August to November. Lamprey lengths were also determined and ranged from 50 to 130 mm. Our results indicate that the use of the deepwater shocking system was very safe and effective at determining larval lamprey densities at hard to sample regions which are present near irrigation facilities.

larval lamprey, electrofishing, water diversion↗
DOE OSTI2026

Demand response event simulator and risk-aware bidding tool for industrial customers

Incentive Based Demand Response (IBDR) program participation delivers financial benefits to the consumers and resiliency benefits to the electricity grid. Effectively participating in these programs as an industrial consumer requires bidding strategies that balance financial risk with operational constraints. Existing bidding tools tend not to fully incorporate stochastic IBDR event modeling, program specific baseline and payment/penalty calculations, or demand reduction process control schemes that account for the cascading impacts of shutdown in complex facilities. Here, this work presents an IBDR event simulator and risk-aware bidding framework tool integrating three key components: a flexible, parameterized demand response event generator that rigorously accounts for program structures and stochasticity, a demand response operational simulation model that generates explicit control strategies for load reduction, and a Monte Carlo simulator to evaluate financial risk for varied capacity bids. A case study at a wastewater treatment plant participating in PG&E's Capacity Bidding Program demonstrates the framework's utility. In the peak capacity price month of August, optimal bidding by the wastewater treatment plant nets a mean IBDR benefit of $101,000 (67% of the August electricity bill) with 0.4% probability of a financial loss. This framework enables industrial operators to make informed bidding decisions, negotiate better program terms with demand response load aggregators, and analyze energy flexibility investments at their facilities. Ultimately, this work reduces participation barriers in IBDR programs and supports the broader goal of enhancing grid reliability and renewable energy integration.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A custom high-stability pulse generator for the test of a novel in-situ magnetic sensor developed to detect radiation damage in undulators

High-performance analog-to-digital converters (ADC) have been widely applied in many areas of science. For instance, magnetic field measurements based on the Faraday’s induction law require high-precision voltmeters to measure induced voltages. In this study in the context of free-electron lasers technology, the Magnetic Measurements Team at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory proposed a novel in-situ radiation damage detection system (RDDS) for detecting small field variations in undulators. The system measures the flux change in a flexible printed-circuit coil attached to the magnet array during the undulator gap movement. The gap movement changes the magnetic field, which induces a voltage signal in the coil that is measured and integrated with an ADC. Although the system is capable of detecting relative flux changes better than 100 ppm, drift in the ADC’s gain or offset can cause apparent changes in the relative flux. This paper describes the first attempt to developed a high-precision verification circuit to perform ADC testing in the framework of the novel RDDS. The circuit generates a reference voltage pulse with a voltage–time integral relative precision better than 50 ppm for a few hundreds of mVs — the typical order of magnitude measured with the RDDS. The circuit’s design combines a fast and precise switch with a low-noise voltage reference. Long-term measurements allowed statistical analysis and showed that averaging the voltage–time integral of ten pulses gives the required 50 ppm stability. Moreover, reproducibility tests confirmed that the circuit’s output is invariable under small power supply instabilities and equipment shutdown. Instruments and applications designed to quantify the magnetic field by integrating voltage signals may use the pulse generator proposed in this paper for verification purposes.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Advanced manufacturing of 3D custom boron-carbide collimators designed for complex environments for neutron scattering

Scattered-beam collimation is a very useful method to reduce unwanted backgrounds and to boost the desired sample signal instead. This approach is of particular interest for samples contained within a complex environment that gives rise to much unwanted parasitic scatter. As neutron scattering instrument and techniques advances, small samples are becoming of more and more interest, which necessitates optimized collimation. Here, in this work, we describe a concept for the design and fabrication of advanced scattered-beam collimation 3D printed from B 4 C specifically tailored for samples contained within a complex environment. This concept is demonstrated through the use of a diamond anvil cell for high pressure experimentation, a technique that very typically requires small samples. The collimators here are designed through a modeling procedure via Monte Carlo neutron ray tracing that encompasses the entire system: the instrument, the complex environment and the collimator. Since the first approach of simply scaling up of the print-size was not successful, a novel concept of a multi-part alternate-blade collimator was developed. This approach addresses printing constraints but gives greater flexibility in design. Its performance is computationally compared against an unprintable progressively tighter blade collimator to assess the effect of alternating blades. No strong difference was observed. Its performance was validated through experimentation at the Spallation Neutron Source. The results emphasize the critical importance of ultra-high precision alignment while showing good overall agreement between simulation and experiment and underscore the feasibility of the method and its real-world application.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

A methodology for customizing implantation profiles of light ions using a single thin foil energy degrader

We report a method was developed to quantify the spatial distribution and implantation depth of energy-degraded light ions with a thin foil rotating energy degrader for use during multiple ion beam irradiation. The methodology covers three physical phenomena: ions passing through the thin foil, ions travelling through the vacuum to the target, and ion implantation into the target, and accounts for the distribution of ions both in depth and in plane. The processes of energy straggling and scattering were calculated using SRIM. The effects of raster-scanning, and the geometry of the system were implemented in scripts handling the SRIM output files. Elastic backscattering (EBS) using 2.38 MeV H+ protons was used to measure the helium depth profiles after implantation with and without thin foil energy degradation. Defect analysis with transmission electron microscopy confirmed the implantation profiles measured with EBS and calculated with SRIM.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗