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At least 289 records · Page 16

Solar and Storage Integration in the Southeastern United States: Economics, Reliability, and Operations

Solar energy has the potential to be a core energy resource for the southeastern United States. To better understand the implications of higher levels of solar PV (27%-43% of total generation capacity) and electricity storage (13%-49% of peak load) would affect electricity system reliability, costs, and operations in the U.S. Southeast, this study sought to address two main questions. First, how would higher levels of solar PV and electricity storage impact the costs, reliability, and operations of electricity systems in the Southeast in 2035? Second, at different levels of solar PV and electricity storage, what are the benefits of operational coordination among utilities in the Southeast, through more efficient regional dispatch and sharing operating reserves? To answer these questions, the study used detailed capacity expansion and dispatch modeling to develop and examine 15 scenarios with different levels of solar PV, electricity storage, and operational coordination, focusing on the year 2035. The study also evaluates the benefits of operational coordination among utilities through more efficient regional dispatch and reserve sharing, at different levels of solar and storage. The study focuses on five balancing regions that cover Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and parts of Mississippi and Missouri.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Flexible Power Operation of a Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) are becoming cost prohibitive to operate. This is due to historically low natural gas prices and wind and solar prices often being less than the marginal cost of operating baseload coal and NPPs, which sometimes forces NPPs to pay for the electricity they create. Thus, the feasibility of using part of the heat from an NPP to create other commodities such as hydrogen is being evaluated; operating in this way is called flexible power operation (FPO). To change the NPP design and operation, a license review must happen. Part of the review is the Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) which proves the safety of the design and operation by identifying sequences of events that result in plant failure and estimating their likelihood of occurrence. A Level 1 PRA model that evaluates the risk of removing heat from the secondary side of NPP was created. The model was developed using Systems Analysis Program for Hands-On Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE 8) software to calculate core damage frequency (CDF). It is a fault tree that represents the possible pathways that could lead to a loss of steam inventory in the secondary loop. A loss of steam inventory can induce steam generator tube rupture or other events that activates response systems to avoid core damage. This is the main concern for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the group in the United States that licenses NPPs. This model will calculate a total CDF of any of these pathways occurring which will be compared to the baseline CDF in a generic NPP PRA for licensing support.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Electrification Futures Study: Power Systems Operation with Newly Electrified and Flexible Loads

The Electrification Futures Study (EFS) is a multi-year study designed to analyze the impacts of widespread electrification in the U.S. energy system. In this webinar we present the detailed power systems operational analysis from the final report in the EFS series. For this analysis, we simulate multiple 2050 power systems for the conterminous United States to assess how variations in the magnitude and shape of electricity demand driven by electrification, and the extent of load participation to more-actively provide grid services, might impact the hourly operation, operational costs, and emissions of various power systems in 2050. The impacts of electrification and demand flexibility are overlayed across systems with significantly greater penetrations of variable renewable energy than today. Overall, we find that the high electrification scenarios envisioned in the EFS with significant VRE penetration (66% of annual national generation) can be operated to meet future increased levels of electrified demand. We also find that demand-side flexibility can enhance operational efficiency and reduce overall annual production costs by $5-$10 billion. The complementary relationship between flexible electric vehicle charging loads and solar generation is particularly pronounced, but in the absence of demand-side flexibility electrification can lead to increased wind and solar curtailment. By helping to reduce renewable curtailment, flexibility can also reduce power sector CO2 emissions. The analysis highlights the value of increased integration and coordination of demand- and supply-side resources in future electric system planning and operations—particularly under high electrification futures.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

NM in HLW Borosilicate Glass: Focus on the High Performances of the IHMM Operated at La Hague Plant - 19019

Ruthenium, palladium and rhodium, which belong to Platinum-Group Metals (PGM), are part of fission products resulting from nuclear fuel reprocessing. All High Level Waste (HLW) vitrification facilities have experienced operational issues that can be related to the presence of Noble Metals (NM) in the melter. These metals have low solubility and modify glass properties such as viscosity or electrical and thermal conductivity. These dense metals also tend to settle to the bottom of the melter. Whatever the vitrification process operated, the specific properties and behavior of NM have a propensity to impact the production capacity by decreasing the glass throughput and increasing downtimes. Orano and the CEA have studied the behavior of NM in borosilicate glass for many years. It has led to several technological improvements and process operation optimizations on the Induction Heated Metallic Melter (IHMM) currently operated at La Hague plant. These enhancements, implemented since active commissioning, have headed to a high efficiency in terms glass production and NM incorporation (more than 21000 canisters produced with up to 3 % of Noble Metals in the glass). This paper sets out the continuous improvement program implemented on the La Hague vitrification lines that has led to outstanding records of operation in terms of production capacity and NM incorporation. The benefits of the close collaboration between R and D, engineering, and operation teams is particularly emphasized. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

The Challenges of Repository Operation in an Existing Mine - 19339

A generally accepted principle related to long term management of radioactive waste/ spent fuel is the isolation in a geological repository. In Germany, the disposal operation of low-level waste (LLW) and intermediate-level waste (ILW) started in the Asse II mine in 1967 and in the former German Democratic Republic in the Morsleben repository in 1971. After the German reunification, the responsibility for the existing sites changed several times until the Bundesgesellschaft fuer Endlagerung (BGE) became new license holder for both sites in 2017. The BGE is responsible to carry out the operative tasks of searching for a high-level waste (HLW) repository, the planning and construction of the Konrad repository for the emplacement of low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW), the operation of the Asse II mine including the retrieval of the emplaced waste, and the preparation for the closure of the Morsleben repository. Nevertheless, the challenges of repository operation in an existing mine have not changed in all these years, as the regulatory framework is mainly written for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and is difficult to adapt for a repository mine. In particular, conditions in a mine are substantially different from 'clean' above-ground nuclear installations. Dust due to mining activities, relatively high temperatures, and a corrosive atmosphere in a salt mine might be present. Therefore, the usability of the repository for several decades during the different operational phases, i.e. planning, construction, emplacement, and closure, can only be ensured by continuous maintenance. Furthermore, the atomic law is applicable for above-ground facilities and the mining law for mines of every description. The difficulty of geological repositories is to ensure that both laws are going to be applied above and below ground with no regulatory framework tailored especially for such sites. A special case is the Asse II mine where the mining law was applied from the very beginning, before the atomic law needed to be established later on and now requires the retrieval of the radioactive waste before decommissioning. In this presentation, similarities and differences in the legal framework of the repositories in the responsibility of BGE and some operational experiences throughout the years are described. This applies to the radiation protection regime, the excavation ratio, the host rock stability and the backfilling concepts of the mining areas. Further challenges arise from the demonstration of long term safety according to the state-of-the-art of science and technology for either existing repositories/ mines or those under construction or planned. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Enhancing Biomass Productivity by Forecast‐Informed Pond Operations

ABSTRACT Microalgal cultivation for biofuels and proteins holds significant promise but faces challenges in achieving economically viable biomass productivity under variable environmental conditions. This study introduces a forecast‐informed pond operation (FIPO) system that uses numerical weather prediction (NWP) ensemble forecasts and the biomass assessment tool (BAT) to optimize daily dilution rates for enhanced biomass production. In contrast to the current practice, where fixed dilution rates are based on operator experience, the FIPO system determines the optimal dilution rate based on future weather forecasts and biomass growth conditions. Our experiments validate the effectiveness of FIPO in both short‐ and long‐term growth scenarios. In short‐term experiments, FIPO increased biomass production by 21.3% compared to batch growth and 7.4% over fixed dilution (60% every 3 days) operations. The NWP forecast‐informed operations achieved biomass production nearly identical to that using perfect weather forecasts, highlighting the accuracy of current NWP forecasts for guiding pond operations. In long‐term experiments, FIPO resulted in biomass production increases of 13.3% and 17.8% compared to two fixed dilution rates (60% every 3 days and 20% daily). These findings underscore the viability of using NWP forecasts to optimize microalgal cultivation systems. By adjusting daily dilution rates in response to forecasted weather, operators can achieve higher biomass yields and mitigate risks associated with environmental variability. This study provides a foundation for future research and practical applications in commercial‐scale microalgal production.

Yan, Hongxiang [Energy and Environment Directorate↗

Local element operations for curved simplex meshes

Summary Mesh optimization procedures are generally a combination of node smoothing and discrete operations which affect a small number of elements to improve the quality of the overall mesh. These procedures are useful as a post‐processing step in mesh generation procedures and in applications such as fluid simulations with severely deforming domains. In order to perform high‐order mesh optimization, these ingredients must also be extended to high‐order (curved) meshes. In this work, we present a method to perform local element operations on curved meshes. The mesh operations discussed in this work are edge/face swaps, edge collapses, and edge splitting (more generally refinement) for triangular and tetrahedral meshes. These local operations are performed by first identifying the patch of elements which contain the edge/face being acted on, performing the operation as a “straight‐sided one" by placing the high‐order nodes via an isoparametric mapping from the master element, and smoothing the high‐order nodes on the elements in the patch by minimizing a Jacobian‐based high‐order mesh distortion measure. Since the initial “straight‐sided guess” from the placement of the nodes via the isoparametric mapping frequently results in invalid elements, the distortion measure must be regularized which allows for mesh untangling for the optimization to succeed. We present several examples in 2D and 3D to demonstrate these local operations and how they can be combined with a high‐order node smoothing procedure to maintain mesh quality when faced with severe deformations.

Shi, A.↗

The Branes Behind Generalized Symmetry Operators

The modern approach to m-form global symmetries in a d-dimensional quantum field theory (QFT) entails specifying dimension d–m–1 topological generalized symmetry operators which non-trivially link with m-dimensional defect operators. In QFTs engineered via string constructions on a non-compact geometry X, these defects descend from branes wrapped on non-compact cycles which extend from a localized source / singularity to the boundary ∂X. The generalized symmetry operators which link with these defects arise from magnetic dual branes wrapped on cycles in ∂X. This provides a systematic way to read off various properties of such topological operators, including their worldvolume topological field theories, and the resulting fusion rules. We illustrate these general features in the context of 6D superconformal field theories, where we use the F-theory realization of these theories to read off the worldvolume theory on the generalized symmetry operators. Defects of dimension 3 which are charged under a suitable 3-form symmetry detect a non-invertible fusion rule for these operators. We also sketch how similar considerations hold for related systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Acoustic Exposure to Turbine Operation Quantifies Risk to Bats at Commercial Wind Energy Facilities

ABSTRACT Turbine‐related bat mortality at commercial wind energy facilities may threaten populations of migratory tree‐roosting bat species in North America. Industry stakeholders and regulatory agencies alike are investigating strategies to reduce risk of population‐level consequences as the wind energy industry grows. Bats collide with turbines only when turbine rotors are spinning and curtailing turbine operation at low wind speeds can effectively reduce bat fatality rates. Nonetheless, few quantitative data exist to determine appropriate threshold wind speeds below which turbine operations should be curtailed. Carcass monitoring is labor‐intensive and does not provide information on factors linked to bat fatality rates on any scale finer than nightly. We tested whether acoustic bat data recorded at turbine nacelles could provide a more precise and sensitive measure of fatality risk to bats by analyzing acoustics, weather, turbine operation, and carcass data collected at 2 commercial wind energy facilities in West Virginia over 7 years. Each wind facility implemented several distinct curtailment treatments during our study, allowing us to compare fatality rates and acoustic bat activity across multiple operational strategies. We found that bat passes exposed to turbine operation explained close to 80% of the variation in carcass‐based estimates of bat fatality rates and accounted for significant variation in raw carcass counts per turbine and probability of finding bat carcasses during individual turbine searches. Conversely, bat activity occurring when turbines were not operating had little or no relationship to fatality rates. We also found that patterns in bat activity exposure could be predicted accurately among turbines and years. Our results demonstrate that measuring exposure of acoustic bat activity provides a quantitative basis for designing, evaluating, and adaptively managing curtailment strategies. This is an important advance towards using curtailment to reduce bat fatality rates strategically while allowing for increased generation of renewable energy. © 2021 The Authors. Wildlife Society Bulletin published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Entanglement island, miracle operators and the firewall

In this paper, we obtain some general results on information retrieval from the black hole interior, based on the recent progress on quantum extremal surface formula and entanglement island. We study an AdS black hole coupled to a bath with generic dynamics, and ask whether it is possible to retrieve information about a small perturbation in the interior from the bath system. We show that the one-norm distance between two reduced states in a bath region A is equal to the same quantity in the bulk quantum field theory for region AI where I is the entanglement island of A. This is a straightforward generalization of bulk-boundary correspondence in AdS/CFT. However, we show that a contradiction arises if we apply this result to a special situation when the bath dynamics includes a unitary operation that carries a particular measurement to a region A and send the result to another region W. Physically, the contradiction arises between transferability of classical information during the measurement, and non-transferability of quantum information which determines the entanglement island. We propose that the resolution of the contradiction is to realize that the state reconstruction formula does not apply to the special situation involving interior-information-retrieving measurements. This implies that the assumption of smooth replica AdS geometry with boundary condition set by the flat space bath has to break down when the particular measurement operator is applied to the bath. Using replica trick, we introduce an explicitly construction of such operator, which we name as “miracle operators”. From this construction we see that the smooth replica geometry assumption breaks down because we have to introduce extra replica wormholes connecting with the “simulated blackholes” introduced by the miracle operator. We study the implication of miracle operators in understanding the firewall paradox.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

One-loop matching for quark dipole operators in a gradient-flow scheme

The quark chromoelectric dipole (qCEDM) operator is a CP-violating operator describing, at hadronic energies, beyond-the-standard-model contributions to the electric dipole moment of particles with nonzero spin. In this paper we define renormalized dipole operators in a regularization-independent scheme using the gradient flow, and we perform the matching at one loop in perturbation theory to renormalized operators of the same and lower dimension in the more familiar MS scheme. We also determine the matching coefficients for the quark chromo-magnetic dipole operator (qCMDM), which contributes for example to matrix elements relevant to CP-violating and CP-conserving kaon decays. The calculation provides a basis for future lattice QCD computations of hadronic matrix elements of the qCEDM and qCMDM operators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Line operators in Chern-Simons-Matter theories and Bosonization in Three Dimensions II: Perturbative analysis and all-loop resummation

We study mesonic line operators in Chern-Simons theories with bosonic or fermionic matter in the fundamental representation. In this paper, we elaborate on the classification and properties of these operators using all loop resummation of large N perturbation theory. We show that these theories possess two conformal line operators in the fundamental representation. One is a stable renormalization group fixed point, while the other is unstable. They satisfy first-order chiral evolution equations, in which a smooth variation of the path is given by a factorized product of two mesonic line operators. The boundary operators on which the lines can end are classified by their conformal dimension and transverse spin, which we compute explicitly at finite ’t Hooft coupling. We match the operators in the bosonic and fermionic theories. Finally, we extend our findings to the mass deformed theories and discover that the duality still holds true.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Combining Simulation and Optimization to Derive Operating Policies for a Concentrating Solar Power Plant

Optimizing short-term decisions over a rolling horizon and/or using deterministic penalties to capture system stochasticity can lead to myopic policies that fail to consider unplanned events and their long-term adverse effects. We present a methodology that integrates an off-line optimization model with a simulation procedure to determine the profitability of different operating strategies; specifically, the latter is used to generate additional constraints for the former when failures occur according to system component operating lifetimes that (i) are subject to exogenous uncertainty, and (ii) may degrade more quickly under specific operating conditions. We use the feedback provided by the simulation model in a parametric analysis to obtain penalties that can be used in short-term operations scheduling to maximize the long-term revenues obtained by the optimization model. We apply this research to a concentrating solar power plant; our results show that the methodology can be used to choose an operating policy that balances maximizing profit while accounting for maintenance costs. Integrating the optimization model with a simulation procedure reveals that aggressive prices for cycling yield about 55% fewer startups and 30% fewer failures compared to using a more typical start-up operating strategy, and can save hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in repair costs over the lifetime of the plant.

concentrating solar power↗

Study of the Effect of Reflections on High-Power, 110-GHz Pulsed Gyrotron Operation

The effect of reflection is studied experimentally and theoretically on a high-power 110-GHz gyrotron operating in the TE 22,6 mode in 3 μs pulses at 96 kV, 40 A. The experimental setup allows variation of the reflected power from 0 to 33% over a range of gyrotron operating conditions. The phase of the reflection is varied by translating the reflector along the axis. Operating at a higher efficiency point, at 4.40 T with 940kW of output power, reflected power exceeding 11% causes a switch from operation in the TE 22,6 to simultaneous operation in the TE 22,6 and TE 21,6 modes with a large decrease of the total gyrotron output power. This switching effect is in good agreement with simulations using the MAGY code. Operating at a more stable point, 4.44 T with 580kW of output power, when the reflection is increased, the output power remains in the TE 22,6 mode but it decreases monotonically with increasing reflection, dropping to 200kW at 33% reflection. Furthermore, at a reflection above 22%, a power modulation at 25 to 30MHz is observed, independent of the phase of the reflected wave. Such a modulated signal may be useful in spectroscopic and other applications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Operability thresholds for thermally damaged EBW detonators

Operability thresholds that differentiate between functional RP-87 exploding bridge wire (EBW) detonators and nonfunctional RP-87 EBW detonators (duds) were determined by measuring the time delay between initiation and early wall movement (function time). The detonators were inserted into an externally heated hollow cylinder of aluminum and fired with current flow from a charged capacitor using an exploding bridge wire (EBW initiated). Functioning detonators responded like unheated pristine detonators when the function time was 4 μs or less. The operability thresholds of the detonators were characterized with a simple decomposition cookoff model calibrated using a modified version of the Sandia Instrumented Thermal Ignition (SITI) experiment. These thresholds are based on the calculated state of the PETN when the detonators fire. The operability threshold is proportional to the positive temperature difference (ΔT) between the maximum temperature within the PETN and the onset of decomposition (~406 K). Furthermore, the temperature difference alone was not sufficient to define the operability threshold. The operability threshold was also proportional to the time that the PETN had been at elevated temperatures. That is, failure was proportional to both temperature and reaction rate. The reacted gas fraction is used in the current work for the reaction correlation. Melting of PETN also had a significant effect on the operability threshold. Detonator failure occurred when the maximum temperature exceeded the nominal melting point of PETN (414 K) for 45±5 s or more.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DINGO: Digital assistant to grid operators for resilience management of power distribution system

With increasing adverse weather events and disasters, enabling resiliency of the power distribution system (PDS) is becoming increasingly important. Here in this work, resiliency is defined as the systems ability to keep supplying critical loads even with multiple contingencies. Resiliency may depend on: (a) advanced tools to assist operators in situational awareness and decision making with the increasing volume of data generated by the PDS, (b) visualization and ease of interaction with system resources and information, especially during extreme events and resulting human operator stress, and (c) flexible resources and autonomous control. Operators and support engineers need to interact with the system for key information and take action under stress, given the requirement for decisions in a short time. Integrated technological solutions are prevailing steps to support the most appropriate decision during critical times to serve essential loads. In order to meet the required goals, a Real-time Resiliency Monitoring and Operational Decision Support (RT-RMOD) tool have been developed. It supports various functionalities, including real-time monitoring, resilience assessment, and proactive decision support. However, this work makes advanced feature additions to the tool by developing data-enabled resilience management algorithms for (i) outage detection and localization, (ii) Resiliency-metric driven restoration and reconfiguration, and (iii) NLP based digital assistant for operators called DINGO (DIgital assistaNt to Grid Operators) to interact with Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) and RT-RMOD. The developed algorithm was validated for multiple cases of weather events using a real-world, off-grid microgrid system modeled in a real-time simulator, sensor data, and software tools.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Gasoline fuels properties for multi-mode operation – Observations in a GDI and the CFR engine

The combustion behavior of five full boiling range RON98 gasoline blends was evaluated for multi-mode operation in a GDI and the CFR octane rating engine. The GDI engine tests were conducted with stoichiometric air-fuel ratio in spark-ignition (SI), and with air-diluted homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode. In the CFR engine, the knocking combustion was analyzed under standard RON testing conditions at both peak knocking lambda and stoichiometric air-fuel ratios, whereas compression ignited operation was characterized by utilizing the HCCI number test protocol. Disparate knock limited SI and HCCI combustion behavior was observed for the test fuels, despite four of the fuels having the same RON and octane sensitivity. It was found that knock-limited combustion phasing in the GDI engine did not align well with the RON. However, a detailed comparison of knock-limited SI operation in the GDI and CFR engine revealed that a more appropriate effective RON based on a common knock intensity metric (MAPO) and stoichiometric air-fuel ratio resulted in comparable knock characterization between the two engine platforms. Furthermore, the critical intake air temperature and the critical compression ratio were proposed to characterize knock-limited SI operation, while the minimum intake air heating and compression ratio were used to define a fuel's autoignition propensity for compression ignition operation in the GDI and CFR engine, respectively. Finally, each fuel's characteristic compression ratio needed to obtain knock-limited SI (KLSI) and HCCI operation was used to calculate an effective multi-mode octane number (MM-ON) based on the primary reference fuel blends.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Fuel reid vapor pressure level and ethanol content on stochastic preignition, effects at steady and unsteady engine operation

The present work investigates relations between fuel Reid vapor pressure (RVP) and biofuel (ethanol) content on stochastic preignition (SPI) at both sustained steady-state engine operation and following load transients. This work stems from in-field observations that automotive original equipment manufacturers have observed consistent seasonal increases in United States customer drivability complaints and warranty claims during September and October where SPI is suspected to be responsible. The seasonal timing of these events coincides with the United States seasonal fuel property changeover initiating on September 15 each year, where fuel RVP increases. To explore potential linkage between fuel RVP and SPI the present study employs engine SPI experiments coupled with laboratory spray measurements of fuels with RVPs of 8, 12, and 16 psi in both E10 (10% ethanol) and E25 (25% ethanol) fuels. Engine results are partitioned into fuel RVP and ethanol content effects on SPI in steady-state, sustained high-load engine operation and unsteady-state low- to high-load transitions, where off-engine spray vessel patternation and tip penetration results help to elucidate the observed fuel effects on SPI. A boosted direct-injected, spark-ignition engine was fueled with three market relevant E10 and E25 fuels with RVPs of 8, 12, and 16 to characterize the interplay between winter fuels and abnormal combustion behavior. The steady-state work shows that for high-load, steady-state engine operation, SPI is directly linked to fuel retention, which was found to be dependent on fuel distillation. The unsteady-state engine operation work shows that following low-to high-load transitions, SPI can occur from a memory of fuel property effects at low-load operation. Specifically, the fuel RVP effect on fuel spray collapse at low loads was found to correlate with SPI with a more than 95% confidence interval following low- to high-engine-load transitions. Results suggest that fuel-wall impingement at low-load operation could carry over into high-load transitions and generate SPI events following low- to high-load transitions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗