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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 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

IRA Energy Community Data Layers

Data, geospatial data resources, and the linked mapping tool and web services reflect data for two types of potentially qualifying energy communities: 1) Census tracts and directly adjoining tracts that have had coal mine closures since 1999 or coal-fired electric generating unit retirements since 2009. These census tracts qualify as energy communities. 2) Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and non-metropolitan statistical areas (non-MSAs) that are energy communities for 2023 and 2024, along with their fossil fuel employment (FFE) status. Additional information on energy communities and related tax credits can be accessed on the Interagency Working Group on Coal & Power Plant Communities & Economic Revitalization Energy Communities website (https://energycommunities.gov/energy-community-tax-credit-bonus/). Use limitations: these spatial data and mapping tool may not be relied upon by taxpayers to substantiate a tax return position or for determining whether certain penalties apply and will not be used by the IRS for examination purposes. The mapping tool does not reflect the application of the law to a specific taxpayer’s situation, and the applicable Internal Revenue Code provisions ultimately control.

Census Tract↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Overview of Policies Influencing Air Pollution from the Electricity Sector in Central Asia

The electricity sector is a substantial source of air pollution and associated health problems in Central Asia and elsewhere. Fossil-fueled power plants emit a wide variety of harmful pollutants and their chemical precursors. The pollutants with the greatest health impacts are particulate matter and ozone. Once released into the atmosphere, there is no practical way to remove air pollutants, which means that policies designed to improve air quality have to limit the pollutants before release. However, tackling such pollution is challenging, particularly in developing economies, due to the need to provide electricity as a basic necessity for citizens and as an engine of economic growth. This report provides examples of policies impacting air pollution from the electricity sector in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is a partner publication to an earlier report that addressed policies in South Asia. As with the South Asia report, information on policies in some countries was difficult to locate; therefore, this is not a comprehensive study, but rather an overview or "scan" of the sector that includes examples of: (1) policies that directly regulate air quality by limiting emissions from specific point sources (by restricting operating hours, for instance); and (2) indirect policies that incentivize or disincentivize polluting activities, such as policies to encourage fuel switching to or from cleaner renewable resources. Note that this report was prepared before the Russia-Ukraine conflict and therefore doesn't address consequences of that war for Central Asia. The report finds: (1) That Central Asian countries typically have relatively few policy instruments available for regulating national air emissions; (2) That many countries, especially those that have a mismatch between seasonal demand and resource availability, could improve energy security and reduce air pollution through increased cross-border electricity trade; (3) That some countries have seemingly contradictory policies (promoting both coal and renewables, for instance). This report is also available in Russian: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85192.pdf.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS2021

Global Methane Assessment: Benefits and Costs of Mitigating Methane Emissions

The assessment highlights the critical role that cutting methane emissions, including from the fossil fuel industry, plays in slowing the rate of global warming. Cutting human-caused methane by 45% this decade would keep warming beneath a threshold agreed by world leaders. There are multiple benefits to acting including: the rapid reduction of warming, which can help prevent dangerous climate tipping points; improved air quality that can save hundreds of thousands of lives; improve food security by preventing crop losses; and create jobs through mitigation efforts while increasing productivity through reduced heat stress.

Methane↗
DOE OSTI2024

Uncertainty Quantification of Fatigue Behavior of Rough AM Surfaces and Microstructures to Enable Hydrogen Gas Turbine

Modifying fossil-fueled industrial gas turbines to utilize low or zero-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen or hydrogen-natural gas blends, is a complex endeavor. The successful implementation of this technology hinges on three key design criteria: (1) developing new fuel injectors capable of efficiently burning alternative fuels, (2) ensuring manufacturability to meet cost and time-to-market goals, and (3) achieving component durability in the demanding environment of an operating gas turbine. Additive manufacturing (AM) accelerates product development, yet concerns persist regarding the durability of parts with rough AM surfaces. A fully experimental approach to quantify the fatigue performance of rough AM microstructures is both costly and labor-intensive. To address this, ORNL and Solar Turbines Incorporated (Solar) employed a crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) model to identify the factors influencing AM surface fatigue behavior. These CPFE findings, combined with targeted experimental data, were used to develop a computationally efficient surrogate model suitable for assessing the lifespan of gas turbine engine components.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Datasets for DOE 2023 Communities LEAP

This data is aligned to eligibility criteria outlined in the United States Department of Energy (DOE) 2023 Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program). Please visit the LEAP website (https://www.energy.gov/communitiesLEAP/communities-leap) to learn more about LEAP and gain additional contextual information for how these data may be used. The data provided approximates how the eligibility criteria apply at the census tract level across the United States. This EDX submission provides access to information pertaining to each of the four eligibility criteria outlined (average energy burden, percent low income, communities with a historic economic dependence on fossil fuel industrial facilities, and disadvantaged communities) for all census tracts within the 50 U.S. States, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and Puerto Rico. This information can be access in a detailed excel spreadsheet or through the linked interactive web application (https://arcgis.netl.doe.gov/portal/apps/experiencebuilder/experience/?id=2a77f443d72b4a4d82474b3ffe33b8cd). Please note that while these data are provided at the census tract level, census tracts do not necessarily have the same physical boundaries as a community but were used as they provide the closest proxy based on publicly available information collected using an empirically robust method. U.S. territories are not listed but are eligible to apply to Communities LEAP. As stated in the Opportunity Announcement, applying communities should describe how they meet the eligibility criteria in their application even if these data do not specifically show that they are eligible.

2023↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effect of Feedstock Variability, Feedstock Blends, and Pretreatment Conditions on Sugar Yield and Production Costs

Mass production of sustainable biofuels replacing fossil fuels will significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, biomass feedstock variability, availability, and affordability pose significant risks for the sustainable production of biofuels in biorefinery plants. To derisk the sustainable production of biofuels, this work investigates the sugar yields and production costs of four different feedstocks as well as their blends, using different pretreatment methods: deacetylation and dilute acid pretreatment (DDA) and deacetylation and mechanical refining pretreatment (DMR). We found that not only feedstock species variability, but also feedstock harvesting techniques have large impacts on both sugar yields and production costs. Single-pass harvested corn stover (SPCS) showed higher sugar yields and lower production costs than multipass harvested corn stover, followed by sorghum and switchgrass. The highest glucose yields of 91% and 95.3%, which corresponds to the lowest sugar production costs of $0.2286/lb. and $0.2490/lb., were observed for SPCS using DDA and DMR, respectively. The difference in sugar yields and production costs due to feedstock variability can be largely mitigated by increasing deacetylation severity, especially in DMR. Higher deacetylation severity resulted in decreased sugar production costs in the case of DMR in contrast to increased costs in the case of DDA. Blending switchgrass and sorghum into corn stover, which can significantly increase the feedstock availability and sustainability, resulted in sugar yields and production costs of roughly the weighted average of those derived from constituent individual feedstocks, respectively. Thus, blending feedstocks of different biomass species is a potential successful strategy for sustainable production of biofuels to replace fossil-derived fuels.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

sCO2 Primary Power Large-Scale Pilot Plant FEED Summary

Echogen Power Systems and its project partners the Electric Power Research Institute, CDM Smith, Riley Power Inc. (a Babcock Power Inc. company), and the University of Missouri completed the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study of a nominal 10 MWe supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) large-scale pilot plant based on Recompression Brayton Cycle (RCBC) architecture. The FEED study was completed under Phase II of the U.S. Department of Energy Fossil Fuel Large-Scale Pilots program. The FEED study scope included the preliminary design of the combustion and environmental control systems, the primary heater, the sCO2 power cycle and its associated turbomachinery, and the balance of plant equipment to determine accurate cost and schedule requirements for fabrication and installation of the system at the University of Missouri’s Combined Cooling, Heat, and Power Plant, located in Columbia, Missouri. The RCBC sCO2 cycle presents superior thermodynamic efficiency compared to steam-Rankine cycles and is adaptable to a broad range of heat sources. The risk aversion of the power generation industry requires a successful large-scale pilot plant demonstration to enable financing and deployment of commercial-scale plants. Therefore, successful construction and demonstration of a 10 MWe RCBC sCO2 power plant would empower a transformational step forward for the efficiency of the next generation of utility power plants. This paper provides details on the primary heater, environmental control systems, and sCO2 power cycle design and performance.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electrochemical Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Alcohols

The vast quantities of fossil fuels used by our society have led to unprecedented atmospheric carbon dioxide levels with widespread climate impacts. Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to valuable fuels and chemicals is a promising technology to utilize carbon dioxide emitted from coal-fired power plants. In this project, the team developed an integrated electrolyzer system that takes the flue gas from the power plant and produce C2/C3 alcohols (i.e., ethanol and n-propanol) through a two-stage electrolysis process. The pretreated carbon dioxide from the flue gas is converted into carbon monoxide by the first stage carbon dioxide electrolysis, followed by the second stage where the produced carbon monoxide is further converted into liquid C2/C3 alcohols with a high selectivity and energy efficiency. Impact and anticipated fate of flue gas contaminants, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, on the proposed technology was also evaluated. Furthermore, a full analysis of economics and life-cycle of the carbon dioxide electrolysis technology for carbon dioxide emissions mitigation from coal-fired power plants was conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility and carbon dioxide mitigation potential of the proposed technology.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Sustainable Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Shale Gas to Green Acetic Acid via a Thermochemical Cyclic Redox Scheme (Final Report)

The large-scale production of commodity chemicals relies heavily on the combustion of fossil fuels. As a result, enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) are emitted which severely affects the global climate. The challenges for CO 2 utilization reside in the high stability of CO 2 molecules relative to the products, which requires the addition of significant external energy and overcoming slow and/or unfavorable reaction kinetics/thermodynamics. Chemical looping dry reforming of methane (CLDRM), also known as a hybrid redox process (HRP), is a promising alternative that allows the utilization of CO 2 and domestic shale gas resources to produce commodity chemicals. HRP works in two steps: In the first step, a redox catalyst reacts with methane to yield synthesis gas with a H 2 /CO ratio near 2:1, which is suitable for methanol and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. The reduced redox catalyst then reacts with an oxidizing agent, such as CO 2 , to yield CO. In comparison to conventional thermochemical CO 2 splitting approaches, the use of methane as the reducing agent in HRP can significantly lower the operating temperature for CO 2 splitting.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Size Up or Size Down? National Analysis of Heat Pump Sizing and Impacts

Electrification of on-site fossil fuel combustion in buildings is recognized as a key component of achieving global greenhouse gas emissions targets. Air-source heat pumps are an efficient approach for space heating electrification. However, a major barrier to heat pump adoption is the high installation cost relative to furnaces and air conditioners. Because the installation cost of heat pumps - especially cold climate models - is dependent on their size, it is important to understand the distribution of heat pump sizes using different sizing methods and factors that impact heat pump sizing. In this study, we use sub-hourly physics simulations of 550,000 statistically representative dwelling units to analyze the distribution of heat pump size in the U.S. for three different efficiency levels of heat pumps, with and without building insulation and air sealing upgrades. We will present results from the national analysis of different factors affecting heat pump sizing along with the impact of sizing decisions on upgrade costs and operating costs.

electrification↗
DOE OSTI2022

Material Characterization of Grade 91 Steel Welds using, Micro-resolution Ultrasonic Imaging System

Grade 91 (9Cr-1Mo-V) steel is a common structural material for fossil-fuel fired and nuclear power plants because of its creep strength and oxidation resistance at high temperatures. In this research, we studied the feasibility of correlating the high-resolution images obtained from the immersion ultrasonic imaging technique to microstructure regions in Grade 91 steel plate weldments. The high-resolution ultrasonic images presented in this paper were generated using a 20-MHz focused transducer as the transmitter, and a laser vibrometer as the receiver in the through transmission configuration to produce longitudinal and shear waves. This nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method was used to identify the Fusion Zone (FZ), Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ), and Base Metal (BM) regions of Grade 91 cold metal transfer (CMT) and flux core arc welds (FCAW). The ultrasonic imaging results were analyzed using beam propagation amplitudes and homogeneity, which in turn were used to relate the different microstructure regions of the FCAW and CMT welded samples. With this study, we were able to identify highly susceptible microstructures in the weld that could potentially promote creep type failures.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Life cycle analysis of a hydrogen production system based on solid oxide electrolysis cells integrated with different energy and wastewater sources

Hydrogen production via water electrolysis is a promising and evolving technology. The solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is one of the several technologies for this purpose. They are alternatives to the traditional hydrogen production from fossil fuels to enhance global energy decarbonization. However, in the bid for sustainability and a green economy, these technologies are not free from causing some environmental burdens. Using life cycle assessment (LCA), the greenhouse gas emission and degree of environmental impacts by these technologies can be identified and measured throughout their lifespan. This study addresses how to quantify these CO 2 emission impacts for an electrolytic system with different energy sources. The LCA of a novel integrated hydrogen production SOEC system with energy from solar photovoltaic and bituminous powerplant is performed using simaPro, the leading global LCA solution software. Measuring the environmental impact of the electrolytic operation in terms of weight, the bituminous powerplant poses damage which is, on average 700% more than solar PV. The thermal-to-hydrogen efficiency of the SOEC system is 56%, and a probable 28% reduction in carbon footprint with heat integration. The steam generation and the manufacturing of the SOEC have a very high environmental impact potential on the system. Here, we recommend LCA and net energy analysis is carried out for every new hydrogen technology and adequate comparison to enhance sustainable and green economy.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modeling PAH Mixture Interactions in a Human In Vitro Organotypic Respiratory Model

One of the most significant challenges in human health risk assessment is to evaluate hazards from exposure to environmental chemical mixtures. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a class of ubiquitous contaminants typically found as mixtures in gaseous and particulate phases in ambient air pollution associated with petrochemicals from Superfund sites and the burning of fossil fuels. However, little is understood about how PAHs in mixtures contribute to toxicity in lung cells. To investigate mixture interactions and component additivity from environmentally relevant PAHs, two synthetic mixtures were created from PAHs identified in passive air samplers at a legacy creosote site impacted by wildfires. The primary human bronchial epithelial cells differentiated at the air–liquid interface were treated with PAH mixtures at environmentally relevant proportions and evaluated for the differential expression of transcriptional biomarkers related to xenobiotic metabolism, oxidative stress response, barrier integrity, and DNA damage response. Component additivity was evaluated across all endpoints using two independent action (IA) models with and without the scaling of components by toxic equivalence factors. Both IA models exhibited trends that were unlike the observed mixture response and generally underestimated the toxicity across dose suggesting the potential for non-additive interactions of components. Overall, this study provides an example of the usefulness of mixture toxicity assessment with the currently available methods while demonstrating the need for more complex yet interpretable mixture response evaluation methods for environmental samples.

3D in vitro models↗
NASA NTRS2022

Clean Air Policies Are Key for Successfully Mitigating Arctic Warming

A tighter integration of modeling frameworks for climate and air quality is urgently needed to assess the impacts of clean air policies on future Arctic and global climate. We combined a new model emulator and comprehensive emissions scenarios for air pollutants and greenhouse gases to assess climate and human health co-benefits of emissions reductions. Fossil fuel use is projected to rapidly decline in an increasingly sustainable world, resulting in far-reaching air quality benefits. Despite human health benefits, reductions in sulfur emissions in a more sustainable world could enhance Arctic warming by 0.8 °C in 2050 relative to the 1995–2014, thereby offsetting climate benefits of greenhouse gas reductions. Targeted and technically feasible emissions reduction opportunities exist for achieving simultaneous climate and human health co-benefits. It would be particularly beneficial to unlock a newly identified mitigation potential for carbon particulate matter, yielding Arctic climate benefits equivalent to those from carbon dioxide reductions by 2050.

Atmospheric chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2020

Zeolite Membrane Reactor for Pre-Combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture

Water-gas shift (WGS) reaction followed by carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) separation is a critical step in the integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) process for fossil-fuel-fired electrical power generation with CO 2 capture. To intensify the IGCC process hydrogen-permselective zeolite membrane reactor offers promise to replace the conventional energy-intensive fixed-bed reactors and solvent-based CO 2 capture units. The objectives of this project were to develop a bench-scale zeolite membrane reactor (total membrane area: 932 cm 2 for a 21-tube membrane bundle) for the water-gas-shift reaction of raw syngas from an oxygen-blown coal-gasifier for H 2 production with simultaneous CO 2 separation at the capability of about 2 kilograms H 2 per day (equivalent to 2 kW IGCC power plant) and to demonstrate significant progress toward achieving overall performance goal of 90% CO 2 capture rate with 95% CO 2 purity at the cost of electricity 30% less than the baseline carbon capture approaches. This report summarizes results obtained in this project on scaling up the zeolite membrane reactor by a factor of 200 in membrane area, tests of the bench-scale zeolite membrane reactor for the water-gas-shift reaction at high temperature and high-pressure, and techno-economic analysis of the integration of the zeolite membrane reactor in IGCC power plant for the electrical generation with CO 2 capture.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Robust and tunable oxide nanoscrolls for solar-driven H 2 generation and storage

Hydrogen gas is a promising alternative to fossil fuels due to its high energy output and environmentally safe byproducts. Various morphologies of photocatalytic materials have been explored for high-efficiency H 2 production, for instance, quasi-1D nanoscroll structures that provide a larger surface-to-volume ratio. Recently, we predicted layer-by-layer formation of stable oxide nanoscrolls directly from dichalcogenide precursors, eliminating the need for costly formation of two-dimensional oxides for a roll-up synthesis of nanoscrolls. Here, in this study, we evaluate the suitability of those oxide nanoscroll materials—MoO 3 , WO 3 , PdO 2 , HfO 2 , and GeO 2 —for solar-driven photocatalytic H 2 production and storage. Using excited state theory coupled with Bethe–Salpeter equation simulations, we discern their electronic and optical properties as a function of interlayer scroll spacing and find them to be highly conducive for solar-driven photocatalysis. Additionally, using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we show that they are also suitable for H 2 storage as the nanoscrolls exhibit an effective trapping of hydrogen, even in the presence of defects and vacancies in the oxides. This work thus demonstrates the discovery of robust and tunable oxide nanoscrolls as materials for advancing solar-driven hydrogen technologies.

Chemical compounds↗
DOE OSTI2023

Durable Low-Cost Pressure Vessels for Bulk Hydrogen Storage

Long-duration energy storage (LDES) in the form of gaseous hydrogen is vital for fossil fuel power plants to reduce frequent shutdowns and rapid start-ups. It's also crucial in renewable energy power plants for grid stabilization. WireTough Cylinders (WTC) has developed a Type II-S pressure vessel that uses steel liners that are hoop-wrapped with multiple layers of high-strength, cost-effective, and readily available steel wires. This design enables the vessel to withstand significantly higher pressures. It addresses hydrogen embrittlement issues and cyclic loading from repeated pressurization and depressurization during service. The WireTough design is cost-efficient, robust, and fatigue-resistant (with a 30-year design life) and is ASME certified for ground storage of hydrogen at a maximum operating pressure (MOP) of 350 bar and a design pressure of 500 bar. The cylinder has a 645 mm outside diameter and a water capacity of 1,715 liters, capable of storing 40.7 KG of hydrogen at MOP. Two prototypes were successfully produced to showcase the manufacturing technologies, with one being certified under ASME Section VIII Division 3 rules. Preliminary design work for a similar Type II-S vessel with a 500 bar MOP was also completed. The 350 bar and 500 bar Type II-S vessels were shown respectively to be 47.5% to 60% more cost-effective and 55% and 62.5% lighter based on per KG of hydrogen stored, when compared with their Type 1 counterparts.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Report on High-Fidelity Dynamic Modeling of a Coal-Fired Steam Power Plant

As a result of the growth of renewables including solar and wind energy with fluctuating production, fossil fuel power plants are being required to cycle between high and low power production. This cycling is both at a greater frequency and over a wider range than in the past. In many cases, power plants are not designed for this type of cycling operation but can nonetheless endure these challenging operation requirements under the right conditions. In this project, optimal solution for enhanced flexible operations are being investigated using model based estimation and control techniques. To support the development of model-based estimator and model-based controls at GE Global Research, GE Steam Power configured a dynamic model using a reference steam plant design including the boiler, turbine, and water/steam conditioning systems as well as the controls needed for plant cycling with stability and reliability. The dynamic model was built using the APROS® software from VTT, and then calibrated to multiple load conditions from full load (100%TMCR) to partial loads (75%TMCR, 50%TMCR and 25%TMCR) based on internally developed steady state heat balance models at the unit level. These internal heat balance models are based on first principles and extensive engineering experiences from GE Steam Power as an OEM and a services provider. This topical report presents the structure of the unit level dynamic model, the tuning process, and representative simulation results from typical load cycling simulations using the dynamic model.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗