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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A Literature Review of NO x Emissions in Current and Future State-of-the-Art Gas Turbines

Current U.S. government policy seeks to achieve a completely carbon-free economy by 2050, with a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 (per executive orders #14008 and #14057). To address these goals, the U.S. Department of Energy is evaluating strategies and technologies that support the production, utilization, transport, and storage of hydrogen (via initiatives such as Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Earthshot—Hydrogen and various DOE funding opportunity announcements). A carbon-free fuel such as hydrogen cannot be overvalued in a dynamic electric energy sector seeking to decarbonize. One of the most important technologies needed to achieve the goal of a carbon-free electricity sector is a 100% hydrogen-fueled gas turbine. Accommodating hydrogen-based fuels has been a key goal for various original engine manufacturers (OEMs) for many years, but much more research and development (R&D) is needed. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the current state-of-the- art of hydrogen turbine technology, especially regarding nitrogen oxide (NO X ) emissions compared to natural gas-fueled turbines. NO X is the primary criteria pollutant from thermally driven combustion turbines and should be controlled to levels that are equivalent to or below existing standards (as reported “existing standards” for hydrogen-fueled gas turbines may need to be rebaselined). Further, this paper will provide an overview of hydrogen as a fuel and various NO X emissions control techniques that are relevant for hydrogen-based fuels. A conclusion from this overview is that, with some level of R&D, NO X emissions from hydrogen-fueled gas turbines can be controlled to levels similar to those produced by state-of-the-art (SOTA) natural gas-fueled combustion turbines while remaining competitive in terms of performance and efficiency.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Retrofit Energy Analysis and Central Thermal modeling (REACT) v1.0

REACT is a website designed to simplify the analysis and decision-making process for retrofitting existing central plant heating and cooling systems with advanced heat pump technologies. The tool evaluates the technical and economic viability of replacing traditional boilers with various options including water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps, which can provide efficient and lower-cost heating and cooling. It allows users to compare current central plant configurations with retrofit scenarios, assessing energy consumption, life-cycle costs, and environmental impact. Retrofitting traditional boiler and chiller systems with water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps can significantly reduce energy consumption and lower lifecycle costs. The REACT provides: User-Friendly Tools: A user friendly web interface for quick, intuitive analysis accessible to non-experts. Advanced Modeling: A Python-powered engine for detailed parametric studies, optimization, and research applications. Comprehensive Analysis: Lifecycle cost evaluation, energy consumption modeling, and environmental impact assessment. Visual Insights: A variety of plots to visualize system performance and design trade-offs. The engine for the website (REACT) bases on several Python libraries, and the website will be hosted on an ETA server.

Kim, Donghun [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborator↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy Storage Cost and Performance Database

In support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is applying its rich history of battery research and development to provide the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and industry with a guide to current energy storage costs and performance metrics for various technologies. Cost and performance metrics for individual technologies track the following to provide an overall cost of ownership for each technology: cost to procure, install, and connect an energy storage system; associated operational and maintenance costs; and end-of-life costs. These metrics are intended to support DOE and industry stakeholders in making sound decisions about future R&D directions and priorities that move the United States closer to its goal of energy independence. The technologies currently being evaluated are lithium-ion [lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC)] batteries, vanadium redox flow batteries, lead-acid batteries, zinc-based batteries, hydrogen energy storage, pumped storage hydropower, gravitational energy storage, compressed air energy storage, and thermal energy storage.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Lab Homes

This dataset includes processed data from the Lab Homes (LH) Test Facility located on the PNNL campus in Richland, WA. This a set of 2 identical homes that allow for the side-by-side comparison/performance evaluation of different technologies under the same weather at any given time. The dataset spans December 6, 2021 to December 27, 2021 and represents a series of tests performed; calibration, set-point excitation, pre-heating, free-floating and warm up. The measurements correspond to whole building electrical power, HVAC energy use, water heating, appliances and lighting, as well as space temperatures, space humidity, window glass surface temperatures, through glass solar radiation, and meterological data from an onsite meteorological weather station. In addition to the measurements, a metadata .json file, a .ttl file to visualize the data as per BRICK schema, and a detailed .pdf description of the dataset are also provided.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Offshore Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model (AIIM) Dashboard

The Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model (AIIM) is a multivariate, multi-machine learning modeling technology applied to evaluate the integrity of offshore energy infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, platforms) in the U.S Gulf Region. Offshore energy infrastructure plays an essential role in ensuring access to safe and secure energy for the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), production in the U.S. Gulf Region accounts for 15% of total crude and 5% of total natural gas from the United States. Many of these structures have been operating for close to or past their design life, while others have the chance of attrition before return on investment. To better understand the potential for reuse or life extension opportunities, an assessment of the infrastructure integrity is critical to inform safe decision making. Assessing structural integrity, AIIM provides key insights that inform infrastructure use and reuse, as well as hazard prevention planning, in support of stakeholders including researchers and industry.

Advanced Infrastructure Integrity Model↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Grey Zone Test Range Integrated Urban Simulation Environment

Sandia National Laboratories is part of the government test and evaluation team for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Collection and Monitoring via Planning for Active Situational Scenarios program. The program is designed to better understand competition in the area between peace and conventional conflict when adversary actions are subtle and difficult to detect. For the purposes of test and evaluation, Sandia conducted a range of activities for the program: creation of the Grey Zone Test Range; design of the data stream for a user experiment conducted with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; design, implementation, and execution of the formal evaluation; and analysis and summary of the evaluation results. This report details Sandia's activities and provides additional information on the Grey Zone Test Range urban simulation environment developed to evaluate the performer technologies.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nonproliferation and Arms Control Research and Development (NPAC R&D) [Slides]

NPAC R&D focus areas include: Advancing U.S. capabilities to detect and characterize nuclear weapon development activities globally, including material production, the movement of special nuclear materials and nuclear weapons, and the testing or use of nuclear weapons, Supporting the development and testing of policy options and technical capabilities for international nuclear safeguards, arms control / treaty verification, nuclear export controls, and nonproliferation initiatives consistent with U.S. Government goals and objectives to enable monitoring and verification, Utilizing uranium, lithium, and high explosives (HE) materials expertise to support national-level activities in nuclear forensics and nuclear detection technology testing and evaluation, Providing unique training and capacity-building programs, particularly with the Nuclear Detection and Sensor Testing Center (NDSTC), and Engaging internationally to promote nonproliferation and arms control norms and best practices through bilateral and multilateral work.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Request for Information on Establishing a New Manufacturing Institute (DE-FOA-0002564)

Deep decarbonization of major industries such as metals manufacturing requires extensive process integration and controls to manage feedstocks, side reactions, heat, water, and waste streams. The scale of the energy and capital investment requires that process integration be validated to a high level of confidence with no bias. Industries such as steel production have very thin profit margins. Therefore, lack of confidence in process integration, product quality, and economics is a major deterrence to changes in manufacturing capital investment. Public sector investment in reconfigurable pilot testbeds and a first-of-a-kind plant would be necessary to de-risk technical and financial barriers prior to industry-wide buildout. DOE should consider a National Lab-led hub for the testbeds. Lab testbeds could be utilized in campaigns and allow multiple industrial partners to evaluate and validate technologies prior to making major capital investments.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

ACES: Infrastructure As Code. Model Optimization and Performance Capability

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) refers to managing infrastructure (networks, physical/virtual machines, storage, and connection topology) in a descriptive model/language, rather than configuring it manually or using interactive configuration tools. Just like source code can be compiled to generate the same binary code, IaC enables generating the same environment every time it is applied. IaC is a key DevOps practice and is generally used in conjunction with continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). In CI, all code changes are merged into a mainline branch and validated multiple times a day as developers check in their changes to the source code. In CD on the other hand, code changes are automatically packaged for a new release-to-production on a regular basis. This typically enables teams to deliver software changes much more quickly and often. Developing and managing the ACES platform using (IaC) is vital for the robust deployment and continued sustainment of this foundational computing capability. IaC and DevOps practices will help us solve many of the common challenges often encountered in developing and maintaining compute infrastructure. First, it will make the provisioning, deployment, and maintenance of the compute infrastructure across multiple environments much more efficient. Second, these processes help make the overall system much more stable by continuously testing new changes as they are introduced to the system. Third, it allows us to be much more confident of the security controls in place since they can be tested as part of the CI process and all new changes can be audited and tracked. Finally, IaC enables the ACES Platform to be adaptable to the emerging technologies due to its ability to spin up different test beds to evaluate and incorporate these technologies. This document addresses common infrastructure-management challenges, describes what happens if they are not addressed, and highlights the value of utilizing IaC to tackle them. Finally, we will provide a high-level overview of the IaC and DevOps practices being utilized by the ACES Platform team.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Analysis of U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle-Fuel Pathways: A Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment of Current (2020) and Future (2030-2035) Technologies

This study provides a comprehensive life cycle analysis (LCA), or cradle-to-grave (C2G) analysis, of the cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a variety of vehicle-fuel pathways, the levelized cost of driving (LCD) and cost of avoided GHG emissions. The C2G analysis assesses light duty midsize sedans and small sport utility vehicles (SUVs) across a variety of vehicle-fuel technology pathways, including conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), flexible hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with varying vehicle ranges, and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Coming at a timely manner, given the marked increase, since 2016, in climate aspirations announced by governmental institutions and private firms both in the US and across the globe, this analysis builds on a previous comprehensive life cycle analysis, updating that study’s 2016 assumptions and methods (Elgowainy et al. 2016). These updates incorporate technological advances and changes in energy supply sources that have emerged during the intervening period. Utilizing these updated assumptions and methods, alongside more recent data, the present report accounts for a broader range of vehicle technologies and considers both current (2020) and expected future (2030-2035) conditions. Reflecting increased research interest in synthetic liquid fuels produced using renewable low-carbon electricity and CO 2 sources, electro-fuels (a.k.a. e-fuels) were added to the potential future fuel technologies that are evaluated. This study takes a “pathway” approach rather than a “scenario” approach; hence distinct, technically feasible, routes or sequences of processes starting with one or more feedstocks and ending with an intermediate or a final product are examined, not necessarily constrained by practical feedstock, economic, policy, and market considerations.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Plasmonics-Enhanced Optical Imaging Systems for Bioenergy Research

This final report summarizes the key accomplishments of the project entitled “Plasmonics-Enhanced Optical Imaging Systems for Bioenergy Research”. The goal of this project is aimed at developing innovative and improved imaging instrumentation for visualization and quantitative characterization of biomarkers related to molecular processes and cellular function in living plants. This project focused on three specific aims: 1) Development of Advanced Multimodal Optical Sensing And Imaging Combinatory (MOSAIC) System for SERS biosensing and bioimaging. 2) Evaluation of MOSAIC technologies for sensing and imaging gene expression in plant systems using plasmonic nanoprobes. 3) Application of MOSAIC techniques to bioenergy research.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Lignetics CRADA closeout report

Lignetics is one of the leading domestic producers of wood pellet fuels used for domestic heating. The company also produces pellets for other applications including animal bedding. The primary feedstock used for the production of Lignetics products is woody biomass. To improve the economics of pellet production, Lignetics is evaluating advanced preprocessing technologies developed by researchers at INL. In the proposed project, INL and Lignetics will work collaboratively to assess the feasibility of integrating INL’s advanced preprocessing technologies (fractional milling, high moisture pelleting and low temperature drying) in Lignetics production facilities. The successful completion of the project relies on the integration of the fractional milling and high moisture pelleting (HMP) process and low temperature drying to improve the economics of woody biomass pellet production for use in biofuel and bioproduct applications. In the HMP process, the biomass loses some moisture during compression and extrusion through the pellet die due frictional heat developed. Also, as pellets have a definite size and shape, they can be further dried in low temperature grain or belt dryers. Belt dryers are better suited to take advantage of low-grade and waste heat because they operate at lower temperatures than rotary dryers (Tumuluru et al.) Rotary dryers, for example, typically require inlet temperatures of 260°C, but more optimally operate around 400°C. In contrast, the inlet temperature of a belt dryer, such as a commercially available vacuum dryer, can be as low as 10°C above the ambient temperature, although more typically they operate at higher temperatures, between 90°C and 200°C. Because of their lower temperature operation, fire hazards and emissions to the air are lower for belt dryers in addition to reducing drying and overall pelleting costs, INL’s technology also has potential to reduce emissions at Lignetics facilities.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Attack Surface of Wind Energy Technologies in the United States

Low cost, reliable electrical energy production from wind relies upon automation and control systems, arguably more so than traditional thermal generation. These same systems, however, can serve as the target of adversaries’ cyber-attacks. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), at the request of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), evaluated a generalized wind plant architecture to understand the classes of potential threat actors and the vectors that could enable a cyber-attack. This evaluation explores the attack surface of a representative wind plant, identifying potential methods and vectors that an adversary could leverage to conduct a cyber-attack. Included in this assessment are some recommended mitigations and approaches. Each recommendation requires a full security evaluation, cost/benefit analysis, and risk analysis by each owner and operator.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Selection of Components for the Remote, Canister-Monitoring System

This report documents the selection of components as part of the efforts initiated to develop a remote, canister-monitoring system (RCMS) for determining and monitoring environmental conditions within dry fuel storage canisters containing aluminum clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These efforts are in support of Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) investigations into technical issues associated with extended dry storage (50+ years) of ASNF. The capability to establish and monitor the performance of ASNF in situ provides the opportunity to (1) evaluate the appropriate technologies for monitoring, (2) collect canister environment conditions as soon as possible, (3) verify and validate current laboratory-based study results and analytic modeling approaches, and (4) potentially identify additional dry storage options for ASNF at the INL site. The improved understanding of ASNF behavior gained by performing this work would also contribute to the safety basis for extended dry storage in current and future configurations as well as to provide information for future transportation, conditioning, and disposal of ASNF. The parameters to be monitored by the RCMS include temperature, relative humidity, hydrogen gas concentration and radiation environment (dose). Components are selected based on the expected environmental conditions within the canister and fuel storage area, and the desired performance of the RCMS. Several of these components have been purchased and received. Future activities include component testing and calibration, software development for operation of the integrated sensor module and fabrication of a representative test volume. The results of these tests and changes to desired performance characteristics will inform subsequent activities.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Roadmap for the Completion of the Design and Implementation of a Remote Canister Monitoring System

The Office of Environmental Management within the Department of Energy is currently investigating technical issues associated with extended dry storage (50+ years) of aluminum spent nuclear fuel. As part of these efforts, a remote canister-monitoring system (RCMS) has been proposed to collect the real-time data of the environmental conditions in the canisters used for the dry storage of aluminum spent nuclear fuel in the CPP-603 facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The proposed RCMS would provide the opportunity to evaluate the appropriate technologies for monitoring, to collect canister environment conditions as soon as possible, to verify and validate current laboratory-based study results and analytic modeling approaches, and to potentially identify additional dry storage options for aluminum spent nuclear fuel at the INL Site. The document provides a brief update on the progress that has been made toward deploying the RCMS and will present at a high level, the general system design philosophy behind the project and the key future tasks necessary for the completion of the RCMS system design, fabrication of the RCMS prototype, testing, and eventual deployment of the RCMS, and a tentative timeline for these tasks.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Port Electrification Handbook: A reference to aid U.S. port energy transitions

Port electrification can take many forms, such as electrifying cargo handling equipment or deploying a microgrid to power critical port infrastructure. To help evaluate the growing challenge of increased electrification and its impacts on the system, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed this Port Electrification Handbook with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity’s Microgrids R&D [research and development] program. The goals of this handbook are the following: (1) Help port operators and planners evaluate different electrification technologies; (2) Explain how these technologies could aid and impact ports and surrounding communities; and (3) Provide step-by-step considerations for port electrification.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Port Electrification Handbook: A Reference to Aid U.S. Port Energy Transitions

Port electrification can take many forms, such as electrifying cargo handling equipment or deploying a microgrid to power critical port infrastructure. To help evaluate the growing challenge of increased electrification and its impacts on the system, the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity’s Microgrids R&D [research and development] program created this Port Electrification Handbook through a project led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The goals of this handbook are the following: help port operators and planners evaluate different electrification technologies, explain how these technologies could aid and impact ports and surrounding communities, provide step-by-step considerations for port electrification.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗