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At least 307 records · Page 17

TRUST-EABM End-of-Year Report: Release FY20

The Delivery Environments (DE) program work package Testbeds to Reduce Uncertainties in Simulations and Tests (TRUST) is designed to quantify and reduce the uncertainty associated with experimental testing and numerical simulation of large engineering assemblies to support the efficient and responsive development of future systems. Because engineering assemblies contain a large number of uncertainty sources, well-characterized testbeds must be designed to isolate individual uncertainty sources. Once quantified, uncertainty sources can be compared to direct research and development funding towards the largest sources driving behavior of interest. Quantified uncertainty may also be propagated through engineering simulations to determine quantitative confidence in simulation predictions and for comparison against uncertainty in the experimental measurements.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Performance Evaluation of Heterogeneous GPU Programming Frameworks for Hemodynamic Simulations

Preparing for the deployment of large scientific and engineering codes on upcoming exascale systems with GPU-dense nodes is made challenging by the unprecedented diversity of device architectures and heterogeneous programming models. In this work, we evaluate the process of porting a massively parallel, fluid dynamics code written in CUDA to SYCL, HIP, and Kokkos with a range of backends, using a combination of automated tools and manual tuning. We use a proxy application along with a custom performance model to inform the results and identify additional optimization strategies. At scale performance of the programming model implementations are evaluated on pre-production GPU node architectures for Frontier and Aurora, as well as on current NVIDIA device-based systems Summit and Polaris. Real-world workloads representing 3D blood flow calculations in complex vasculature are assessed. Our analysis highlights critical trade-offs between code performance, portability, and development time.

Martin, Aristotle↗

Surrogate Modeling of Landau Damping with Deep Operator Networks

Kinetic simulations excel at capturing microscale plasma physics phenomena with high accuracy, but their computational demands make them impractical for modeling large-scale space and astrophysical systems. In this context, we build a surrogate model, using Deep Operator Networks (DeepONets), based upon the Vlasov–Poisson simulation data to model the dynamical evolution of plasmas, focusing on the Landau damping process—a fundamental kinetic phenomenon in space and astrophysical plasmas. The trained DeepONets are able to capture the evolution of electric field energy in both linear and nonlinear regimes under various conditions. Extensive validation highlights DeepONets’ robust performance in reproducing complex plasma behaviors with high accuracy, paving the way for large-scale modeling of space and astrophysical plasmas.

plasma astrophysics↗

Impact of model predictive control-enabled home energy management on large-scale distribution systems with photovoltaics

Residential customers use more than one-quarter of the electricity in the world. Optimally managing home energy consumption is an effective way of easing the operational challenges facing the electric grid with increasing solar photovoltaics (PV). This paper studies the impact of the future proliferation of home energy management systems (HEMS) in the presence of PV on large-scale distribution systems. First, we present a stochastic HEMS model that minimizes residential customers' thermal discomfort and energy costs under uncertainty. The HEMS model schedules the optimal operations of residential appliances in the presence of PV within a mixed-integer linear programming-based model predictive control framework that links the proposed HEMS to a quasi-steady-state time-series simulation tool. Additionally, extensive simulations are conducted for a stand-alone residential home using two tariff structures and for 1977 homes on an 8,500-node distribution feeder. Simulation results quantify the impact of the future proliferation of HEMS on the large-scale distribution system with PV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

INTEGRATED WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT FOR PARTICLE ACCELERATOR SIMULATION

Supercomputing systems are used for a wide range of computationally demanding tasks in many fields of science and engineering. They play a key role in numerical simulation, in which mathematical models are computed in order to simulate the behavior of physical systems. Scientists and engineers that use supercomputers for numerical simulation often have their productivity limited by the need to manually organize and manage extremely large amounts of data that are often produced and consumed by the software programs run on these systems. Recognizing these limitations, Kitware Inc. (Clifton Park, NY) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Menlo Park, CA) are developing an advanced software platform that can reduce the cognitive overhead required by knowledge workers when using supercomputers for numerical simulation. Phase I of the project is complete and includes the development of new capabilities for organizing simulation project files, improvements to the user interface and overall usability, and deployment of a “middle tier” server to sit between user desktop machines and supercomputers to offload much of the data management workload. The project also developed prototype software for executing sequences of numerical simulations, and a prototype for migrating supercomputing software to cloud-based computing systems to provide a potential alternative to supercomputers with different logistical and price-to-performance tradeoffs.

Tourtellott, John↗

A Generalized Framework for Service Restoration in a Resilient Power Distribution System

An electric power grid is one of the complex infrastructures, and because of its complex nature, there is simply no way that outages can be completely avoided. Thus, a modern society that depends on reliable electric supply requires a resilient electric system that can recover from disruptions while integrating emerging smart grid technologies. Here, this article presents a novel approach for service restoration in a modern power distribution system with controllable switches and distributed generation (DG) resources for any kind of outage. The proposed framework supports both the traditional service restoration using feeder reconfiguration and the grid-forming DG-assisted intentional islands that are dynamically sized using algorithms based on the fault scenario, available resources, and priority of loads. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program that incorporates critical system connectivity and operating constraints. Simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using a large-scale four-feeder 1069-bus three-phase unbalanced distribution test system. It is demonstrated that the framework is effective in utilizing all available resources in quickly restoring the power supply to improve resiliency during extreme events and is scalable for a large-scale unbalanced power distribution system.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Development and assessment of a reactor system prognosis model with physics-guided machine learning

Autonomous control systems provide recommendations to help operators in decision-making during plant operations ranging from normal operation to accident management. An important step of autonomous control is prognosis. In nuclear engineering domain, prognosis is the process of predicting future conditions of a system or equipment based on present signs and symptoms of a fault. The prognosis model allows predicting future reactor states for possible candidate control strategies so that the outcomes can be evaluated to determine the best control strategy. The prognosis model requires representing direct relationships between the symptoms and the predictions. In nuclear engineering, computational simulations are approximate representations of the operation of the real system. However, prognosis with computational simulations requires high computation power and time due to possible large number of scenarios. Necessary computation resources can be reduced with machine learning (ML) approach for fast predictions by building a surrogate function using the simulation data. A critical issue is, ML models are ignorant of physical knowledge, and these models approximate statistical relationships between the system variables. This ignorance can produce results that are inconsistent with physical laws, even if an optimal result is achieved from a mathematical point of view. Physics-guided machine learning (PGML) is an approach to tackle this issue. Here, this work formulates and illustrates a framework to guide development and assessment of the ML-based prognosis model for autonomous control systems. The development of the prognosis model considers the training of a ML model which consists of optimizing many aspects of the ML approach. The assessment of the prognosis model considers training data limitations and uncertainties of the ML approach. Prognosis models with standalone ML and PGML are developed and assessed on the loss-of-flow scenario of Experimental Breeder Reactor II. The results indicate that PGML based prognosis model has the best performance compared to other prognosis models.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Animal movement estimation and network-based epidemic modeling: Illustration for the swine industry in Iowa (US)

Animal movement plays a critical role in disease transmission between farms. However, in the United States, the lack of available animal shipment data, sometimes coupled with a lack of detailed information about farm demographics and characteristics, presents great challenges for epidemic modeling and prediction. In this study, we proposed a new method based on the maximum entropy to generate “synthetic” animal movement networks, considering available statistics about the premises operation type, operation size, and the distance between premises. We illustrated our method for the swine movement networks in Iowa and performed network analyses to gain insights into the swine industry. We then applied the generated networks to a network-based epidemic model to identify potential system vulnerabilities in terms of disease transmission. The model was parameterized for African Swine Fever (ASF) as the US swine industry is quite concerned about this disease. Results show that premises with a central role in the network are more vulnerable to disease outbreaks and play an important role in disease spread. Simulations with outbreaks starting from random farms reveal no significant large outbreaks, indicating the system’s relative robustness against arbitrary disease introductions. However, outbreaks originating from high out-degree farms can lead to large epidemic sizes. This underscores the importance for stakeholders and policymakers to continue improving animal movement records and traceability programs in the US and the value of making that data available to epidemiologists and modelers to better understand risk and inform strategies aimed to cost-effectively prevent and control disease transmission. Our approach could be easily adapted to estimate movement networks in other animal production systems and to inform disease spread models for various infectious diseases.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

An Open-Source Parallel EMT Simulation Framework: Preprint

As the integration level of inverter-based resources (IBR) increases, ensuring the reliable operation of the bulk power systems requires the use of electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation tools to identify and mitigate system-wide stability risks. Conducting EMT studies for large-scale, IBR-rich grids, however, is challenging due to the inherent computational bottleneck caused by the underlying high-fidelity models and required small time steps. This paper introduces ParaEMT: an open-source, generic EMT simulation framework designed to accelerate simulations by leveraging advanced parallel computational technologies, such as high-performance computers. This paper presents a comprehensive exposition of ParaEMT, covering its modeling library, simulation strategy, framework structure, operational procedures, and auxiliary features, alongside its extensible parallel computational architecture. Notably, ParaEMT is a publicly accessible and modularized framework written in Python, thereby facilitating future development and the integration of new models and algorithms. The accuracy and efficiency of ParaEMT are demonstrated by rigorous validations via multiple case studies.

electromagnetic transient simulation↗

The development of the NNBAR experiment

The NNBAR experiment for the European Spallation Source will search for free neutrons converting to antineutrons with a sensitivity improvement of three orders of magnitude compared to the last such search. This paper describes progress towards a conceptual design report for NNBAR. The design of a moderator, neutron reflector, beamline, shielding and annihilation detector is reported. The simulations used form part of a model which will be used for optimisation of the experiment design and quantification of its sensitivity.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

An Open-Source Parallel EMT Simulation Framework

As the integration level of inverter-based resources (IBRs) increases, ensuring the reliable operation of the bulk power systems requires the use of electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation tools to identify and mitigate system-wide stability risks. Conducting EMT studies for large-scale, IBR-rich grids, however, is challenging due to the inherent computational bottleneck caused by the underlying high-fidelity models and required small time steps. This paper introduces ParaEMT: an open-source, generic EMT simulation framework designed to accelerate simulations by leveraging advanced parallel computational technologies, such as high-performance computers. This paper presents a comprehensive exposition of ParaEMT, covering its modeling library, simulation strategy, framework structure, operational procedures, and auxiliary features, alongside its extensible parallel computational architecture. Notably, ParaEMT is a publicly accessible and modularized framework written in Python, thereby facilitating future development and the integration of new models and algorithms. The accuracy and efficiency of ParaEMT are demonstrated by rigorous validations via multiple case studies.

electromagnetic transient simulation↗

Deep learning-based model for progress variable dissipation rate in turbulent premixed flames

A deep neural network (DNN) based large eddy simulation (LES) model for progress variable dissipation rate in turbulent premixed flames is presented. The DNN model is trained using filtered data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of statistically planar turbulent premixed flames with n-heptane as fuel. Training data was comprised of flames with varying turbulence levels leading to a range of Karlovitz numbers. Through a-priori tests the DNN model is shown to predict the subfilter contribution to progress variable dissipation rate accurately over a range of filter widths and for all Karlovitz numbers examined in this study. Superior performance of the DNN model relative to an established physics-based model is also demonstrated. Additionally, transferability of the DNN model is highlighted by a-priori evaluation of the model using filtered DNS data from multiple cases with different Karlovitz numbers and fuel species than those that were used for training the model.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Transient Simulations with a Large Penetration of Converter-Interfaced Generation: Scientific Computing Challenges and Opportunities

Current trends in energy systems point to renewable energy sources (RESs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) becoming prevalent in power system operations. As of writing this article, the United States has more than 37 GW of utility-scale solar capacity and an additional 112 GW under development. With the rapidly declining capital costs of many of these technologies, we can expect significant deployments in the coming years.

analytical models↗

Uncertainty Quantification of Bifacial Performance Modeling

Analysis on uncertainty in the annual energy of PV systems that can be attributed to parameters of particular importance to bifacial PV modules is presented. Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the effect of uncertain module bifaciality factors, module transmission fractions, albedo values, and ground clearance. The analyses cover a wide spectrum of potential PV array archetypes through variation of installation parameters. The results of the Monte Carlo analysis reveal that the uncertainty is largely dependent on albedo uncertainty, but more simulations are needed to identify trends across system archetypes. The simulations are aimed at attributing an annual energy uncertainty factor for bifacial considerations that can be applied in post-processing of project probability of exceedance analysis.

energy modeling↗

Simulation of Binary-single Interactions in AGN Disk. I. Gas-enhanced Binary Orbital Hardening

Stellar-mass binary black hole (BBH) mergers within the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei may contribute to gravitational wave (GW) events detected by ground-based GW detectors. In particular, the interaction between a BBH and a single stellar-mass black hole (sBH), known as the binary-single interaction (BSI) process, can potentially lead to GW events with detectable nonzero eccentricity. Previous studies of the BSI process, which neglected the effects of gas, showed that BSIs contribute non-negligibly to GW events in a coplanar disk environment. In this work, we conduct a series of two-dimensional hydrodynamical and N-body simulations to explore the BSI in a gas environment by coupling REBOUND with Athena++. We perform 360 simulation runs, spanning parameters in disk surface density Σ 0 and impact parameter b. We find that the gas-induced energy dissipation within the three-body system becomes significant if the encounter velocity between the sBHs is sufficiently large (≫c s ). Our simulation results indicate that approximately half of the end states of the BSI are changed by gas. Furthermore, at higher gas density, the number of close encounters during the BSI process will increase, and the end-state BBHs tend to be more compact. Consequently, the presence of gas may shorten the GW merger timescale for end-state BBHs and increase the three-body merger rate.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Uncertainty Quantification of Bifacial Performance Modeling

Analysis on uncertainty in the annual energy of PV systems that can be attributed to parameters of particular importance to bifacial PV modules is presented. Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the effect of uncertain module bifaciality factors, module transmission fractions, albedo values, and ground clearance. The analyses cover a wide spectrum of potential PV array archetypes through variation of installation parameters. The results of the Monte Carlo analysis reveal that the uncertainty is largely dependent on albedo uncertainty, but more simulations are needed to identify trends across system archetypes. The simulations are aimed at attributing an annual energy uncertainty factor for bifacial considerations that can be applied in post-processing of project probability of exceedance analysis.

bifacial↗

Uncertainty Quantification of Bifacial Performance Modeling: Preprint

Analysis on uncertainty in the annual energy of PV systems that can be attributed to parameters of particular importance to bifacial PV modules is presented. Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the effect of uncertain module bifaciality factors, module transmission fractions, albedo values, and ground clearance. The analyses cover a wide spectrum of potential PV array archetypes through variation of installation parameters. The results of the Monte Carlo analysis reveal that the uncertainty is largely dependent on albedo uncertainty, but more simulations are needed to identify trends across system archetypes. The simulations are aimed at attributing an annual energy uncertainty factor for bifacial considerations that can be applied in post-processing of project probability of exceedance analysis.

energy modeling↗

Load Control for Frequency Response - A Literature Review

As electricity grids employ greater fractions of renewable energy, which introduce additional variability and uncertainty in the net load, balancing electrical load and generation becomes more challenging. This paper reviews the literature documenting physical simulations and real systems that employ load control (LC) for frequency response and other grid services, which balance net load on the grid and prevent unwanted frequency excursions. Apart from academic and simulation studies, few sources exist on large-scale laboratory hardware testing or actual real-world systems that employ LC for frequency response, and we review them here. Four types of systems that we consider are: 1) Laboratory-based LC experiments, 2) Isolated microgrids that employ LC, 3) Larger grids that employ LC and 4) vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, using electric vehicles (EVs). In general, these systems have successfully used LC to meet their objectives, which are often keeping grid frequency within a required band. However, LC struggled to balance grid frequency in an isolated system powered by a single wind turbine, and V2G technology requires refinement in communication and control to provide optimal regulation that adheres to industry standards. As LC grows in the energy industry, we have three main recommendations: 1) encouraging system operators who use LC to publish system characteristics and lessons learned; 2) transitioning more LC theoretical/simulated systems to physical experiments, and physical experiments to real-world pilot systems; 3) demonstrating load control to support isolated, high-wind-contribution systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗