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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Estimating the Impacts of Direct Load Control Programs Using GridPIQ, a Web-Based Screening Tool

In direct load control (DLC) programs, utilities can curtail the demand of participating loads to contractually agreed-upon levels during periods of critical peak load, thereby reducing stress on the system, generation cost, and required transmission and generation capacity. Participating customers receive financial incentives. The impacts of implementing DLC programs extend well beyond peak shaving. There may be a shift of load proportional to the interrupted load to the times before or after a DLC event, and different load shifts have different consequences. Tools that can quantify the impacts of such programs on load curves, peak demand, emissions, and fossil fuel costs are currently lacking. The Grid Project Impact Quantification (GridPIQ) screening tool includes a Direct Load Control module, which takes into account project-specific inputs as well as the larger system context in order to quantify the impacts of a given DLC program. This allows users (utilities, researchers, etc.) to test and compare different program specifications and their impacts.

Demand Reponse↗
DOE OSTI2018

Load Aggregation Methods for Quasi-Static Power Flow Analysis on High PV Penetration Feeders

This paper focuses on developing load aggregation methodologies for analyzing quasi-static power flows on high photovoltaic penetrated distribution feeders so statistics of the transformer loading levels, voltage ramping events, and voltage violation events can be properly quantified. A load profile aggregation algorithm is presented to construct 24-hour, minute-by-minute load profiles at each load node on the test feeder so the aggregation of those load profiles matches the load profile measured at the feeder head. A quasi-static power flow analyses are conducted to obtain minute-by-minute power flow results that can be used to quantify transformer overloads and voltage issues in distribution systems. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed methodology, the IEEE-123 test feeder model and residential load profiles collected from the PECAN street project are used in the case studies. Simulation results show that the method is effective in producing the required operation statistics.

Load aggregaton, PV integration, quasi-static powe↗
DOE OSTI2024

Heliostat Consortium: Gap Analysis on State of the Art in Wind Load Design

Wind loads are a major driver of heliostat cost. Standardized methods and tools are needed for a more detailed understanding of the static and dynamic loads of a heliostat design. This will enable cost reduction of wind-dependent heliostats to avoid unnecessarily conservative heliostat designs and increase field efficiency and reliability to reduce the risk of component failures due to high-wind events. Gaps related to wind load include lack of site characterization for wind measurements, insufficient critical load cases for heliostat design, insufficient understanding of turbulence impacts on heliostat tracking error, lack of knowledge on wind load under various heliostat array configurations, and underexplored heliostat field wind-load reduction and operating strategies. Recommended pathway forward is to develop wind load and site characterization guidelines for heliostat design and develop heliostat field wind-load models with optical performance impacts.

aerodynamics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Validation of Local Structural Loads Computed by OpenFAST Against Measurements From the FOCAL Experimental Campaign

This work presents the validation of the local structural load modeling capability in OpenFAST for floating substructures based on data from the FOCAL experimental campaign. Previously, OpenFAST could only represent the floating substructure as a rigid body, and though this approach can model the global response of the floater in most cases, it is not able to capture the structural loads within the floater's individual members. Consideration of local substructure loads is important for some floating designs, because the pursuit of cost reduction often results in lighter and more flexible structures. To address this limitation, the HydroDyn (hydrodynamics) and SubDyn (substructure dynamics) modules of OpenFAST have been recently extended to account for the flexibility of floating substructures. To validate this new capability, we compare the results obtained by OpenFAST with data measured during the FOCAL experimental campaign, which analyzed a 1:70 scale performance-matched model of the IEA 15-MW reference turbine atop a modified University of Maine VolturnUS-S semisubmersible in a wave basin under the action of both wind and waves. For the purposes of the present work, the most important feature of the experiment is the presence of load cells at the root of each pontoon, and our objective is to assess how well those loads are reproduced by OpenFAST. To model the distributed hydrodynamic and hydrostatic loads along the floating substructure, we adopt a strip-theory approach based on the Morison equation, and we discuss the impact of different hydrodynamic modeling options (wave stretching, MacCamy-Fuchs correction, and second-order wave kinematics) on both motions and loads. For simplicity, we focus on wave-only conditions, both regular and irregular. The results demonstrate good overall agreement for the loads at the root of the pontoons for the waves analyzed in this work, especially given the assumptions and simplifications inherent to a simple strip-theory model.

floating offshore wind turbine↗
DOE OSTI2024

Commercialization of Distribution System Load Modeling Tool for Improved DER Interconnection Studies

Residential and commercial buildings have huge potential to contribute value to improve grid resilience by participating grid services. To reveal the significant value, it is critical to estimate the grid service capability from these buildings. Unlike the large-scale distributed energy resources such as wind and solar farms, those buildings need to participate grid services in aggregation, not by individual. Therefore, it is important to appropriately group buildings for aggregation. The load profiles in the same group will have similar characteristics at the same time step, so grid operators can send the grid service signal to the customer group with a higher chance to respond at that time step. In this paper, we develop a load profile clustering method to classify the building-level load profiles for grid service capability estimation. In our two-step clustering approach, we first calculate the total load consumption for each building, clustering the load profiles based on energy consumption level. Then, we further cluster the load profiles in each energy cluster based on the load shape. The parameter selection for each clustering step is discussed. The proposed method is applied on actual building-level load profiles, and the results have proved the effectiveness of this method.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Data-Driven Linear Parameter-Varying Modeling and Control of Flexible Loads for Grid Services

Flexible loads have great potential to improve the electric grid's flexibility and stability. To effectively control large ensembles of heterogeneous loads, reliable models thereof are required. This paper presents a data-driven modeling and control approach to manage flexible loads for providing grid services. We leverage a linear parameter-varying autoregressive moving average (LPV-ARMA) model to describe the aggregate load response, where the parameters in the model are used to capture external environmental impacts (e.g., weather). A gain-scheduling feedback controller is then developed to adapt to environmental variations. This data-driven approach can be easily applied to different types of loads in various environmental conditions. In addition to the ensemble controller, distributed load controllers are designed to deliver grid services, while maintaining the quality of service of inherent load tasks. We demonstrate the work on the IEEE 37-node distribution system for real-time power regulation services through control of thermostatically controlled loads.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Short-Term Forecasting of Electric Loads Using Nonlinear Autoregressive Artificial Neural Networks with Exogenous Vector Inputs

Short-term load forecasting is crucial for the operations planning of an electrical grid. Forecasting the next 24 h of electrical load in a grid allows operators to plan and optimize their resources. The purpose of this study is to develop a more accurate short-term load forecasting method utilizing non-linear autoregressive artificial neural networks (ANN) with exogenous multi-variable input (NARX). The proposed implementation of the network is new: the neural network is trained in open-loop using actual load and weather data, and then, the network is placed in closed-loop to generate a forecast using the predicted load as the feedback input. Unlike the existing short-term load forecasting methods using ANNs, the proposed method uses its own output as the input in order to improve the accuracy, thus effectively implementing a feedback loop for the load, making it less dependent on external data. Using the proposed framework, mean absolute percent errors in the forecast in the order of 1% have been achieved, which is a 30% improvement on the average error using feedforward ANNs, ARMAX and state space methods, which can result in large savings by avoiding commissioning of unnecessary power plants. The New England electrical load data are used to train and validate the forecast prediction.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Load Estimation of Offshore Wind Turbines

The influence of 3 MW Hywind-II wind turbine wakes from an upstream offshore floating wind turbine on a downstream turbine with a separation distance of seven rotor diameters was studied for a site in the Gulf of Maine. The turbines and the platforms were subjected to atmospheric boundary layer flows. Various sensitivity studies on fatigue loads with respect to the positions of the downstream turbine were performed and validated with a large-eddy simulation tool. In particular, the effect of various lateral positions of the downstream turbine relative to the upstream turbine were considered using time-series turbine wake data generated from the large-eddy simulation tool which served as an input to an aero-elastic wind turbine model to assess the loads. The load response from the rotor, tower, and the floating platform for the downstream turbine were sensitive to the lateral offset positions where turbines that were partially exposed to upstream turbine wakes yielded significant increases in the cyclic load range. For the given set of lateral positions for the downstream turbine, the largest damage equivalent load occurred when the turbine was one rotor diameter to the left of the centerline, when looking upstream, which is the position of the turbine fully exposed to upstream turbine wake. On the other hand, the fatigue load on the downstream turbine placed on the right side of the position fully exposed to the upstream turbine wake, yielded lower stress due to the non-symmetric shape of the turbine wake. The configuration associated with the largest damage equivalent loads was further investigated in a large-eddy simulation, modeling both the upstream and downstream turbines. It was found that the energy spectra at the blade rotational frequency were a magnitude order higher for the downstream turbine, especially for surge, heave, pitch, and yaw motion of the platform. In conclusion, the increase of the damage equivalent load for the flapwise blade root moment was 45% compared to the upstream turbine, which can potentially reduce the turbine service life time.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Wind Turbine Gust Load Alleviation with Active Flow Control

Large wind turbine rotors are becoming more common in utility-scale wind power, especially for offshore wind plants. However, the trend toward large rotors can be limited by their ability to manage dynamic and extreme loads. To provide a safety margin for the rotor design and avoid catastrophic events such as tower strikes, extreme loads need to be controlled. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a feedback control system to alleviate extreme loads and reduce blade deflections under gust events using active flow control devices. We also propose a modification in the turbine controller to achieve further reduction in extreme loads. The extreme load reductions are evaluated under gust wind conditions with direction changes according to the IEC standard. The effects of the gust alleviation controller on turbine performance and fatigue loads are investigated as well. With the deployment of the gust alleviation controller and modified turbine baseline controller, the extreme loads and deflections reduce by up to 23%. The energy captured by the turbine is not affected by the proposed gust alleviation controller. The fatigue loads of various wind turbine components are either reduced or remain unchanged.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impacts of wind field characteristics and non-steady deterministic wind events on time-varying main-bearing loads

Abstract. This work considers the characteristics and drivers of the loads experienced by wind turbine main bearings. Simplified load response models of two different hub and main-bearing configurations are presented, representative of both inverting direct-drive and four-point-mounted geared drivetrains. The influences of deterministic wind field characteristics, such as wind speed, shear, yaw offset, and veer, on the bearing load patterns are then investigated for similarity scaled 5, 7.5, and 10 MW reference wind turbine models. Main-bearing load response in cases of deterministic gusts and extreme changes in wind direction are also considered for the 5 MW model. Perhaps surprisingly, veer is identified as an important driver of main-bearing load fluctuations. Upscaling results indicate that similar behaviour holds as turbines become larger, but with mean loads and load fluctuation levels increasing at least cubically with the turbine rotor radius. Strong links between turbine control and main-bearing load response are also observed.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Data-Driven Linear Parameter-Varying Modeling and Control of Flexible Loads for Grid Services: Preprint

Flexible loads have great potential to improve the power grid's flexibility and stability. To effectively control large ensembles of heterogeneous loads, reliable models thereof are required. The paper presents a data-driven modeling and control approach to manage flexible loads for providing grid services. We leverage a linear parameter-varying autoregressive moving average (LPV-ARMA) model to describe the aggregate load response, where the parameters in the model are used to capture external environment impacts (e.g., weather). A gain-scheduling feedback controller is then developed to adapt to environmental variations. This data-driven approach can be easily applied to different types of loads in various environmental conditions. In addition to the ensemble controller, distributed load controllers are designed to deliver grid services, while maintaining the quality of service of inherent load tasks. We demonstrate the work on the IEEE 37-node distribution system for real-time power regulation services through control of thermostatically controlled loads.

control↗
DOE OSTI2024

Validation of Local Structural Loads Computed by OpenFAST Against Measurements From the Focal Experimental Campaign: Preprint

This work presents the validation of the local structural load modeling capability in OpenFAST for floating substructures based on data from the FOCAL experimental campaign. Previously, OpenFAST could only represent the floating substructure as a rigid body, and though this approach can model the global response of the floater in most cases, it is not able to capture the structural loads within its individual members. Consideration of local substructure loads is important for some floating designs, as the pursuit of cost reduction often results in lighter and more flexible structures. To address this limitation, the HydroDyn (hydrodynamics) and SubDyn (substructure dynamics) modules of OpenFAST have been recently extended to account for the flexibility of floating substructures. To validate this new capability, we compare the results obtained by OpenFAST with data measured during the FOCAL experimental campaign, which analyzed a 1:70 scale performance-matched model of the IEA 15-MW reference turbine atop a modified University of Maine VolturnUS-S semisubmersible in a wave basin under the action of both wind and waves. For the purposes of the present work, the most important feature of the experiment is the presence of load cells at the root of each pontoon, and our objective is to assess how well those loads are reproduced by OpenFAST. To model the distributed hydrodynamic and hydrostatic loads along the floating substructure, we adopt a strip-theory approach based on the Morison equation, and we discuss the impact of different hydrodynamic modeling options (wave stretching, MacCamy-Fuchs correction, and second-order wave kinematics) on both motions and loads. For simplicity, we focus on wave-only conditions, both regular and irregular. The results demonstrate good overall agreement for the loads at the root of the pontoons for the waves analyzed in this work, especially given the assumptions and simplifications inherent to a simple strip-theory model.

floating offshore wind turbine↗
DOE OSTI2016

Calculation of reinforced-concrete frame strength under a simultaneous static cross section load and a column lateral impact

When designing buildings with reinforced concrete that are planned to resist dynamic loads it is necessary to calculate this structural behavior under operational static and emergency impact and blast loads. Calculations of the structures under shock-wave loads can be performed by solving dynamic equations that do not consider static loads. Due to this fact the calculation of reinforced concrete frame under a simultaneous static and dynamic load in full 3d settings becomes a very non trivial and resource consuming problem. This problem can be split into two tasks. The first one is a shock-wave problem that can be solved using software package RANET-3, which allows solving the problem using finite elements method adapted for dynamic task. This method calculates strain-stress state of the material and its dynamic destruction, which is considered as growth and consolidation of micro defects under loading. On the second step the results of the first step are taken as input parameters for quasi static calculation of simultaneous static and dynamic load using finite elements method in AMP Civil Engineering-11.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Exploring dynamic load imbalance solutions with the CoMD proxy application

Proxy applications are developed to simplify studying parallel performance of scientific simulations and to test potential solutions for performance problems. However, proxy applications are typically too simple to allow work migration or to represent the load imbalance of their parent applications. To study the ability of load balancing solutions to balance work effectively, we enable work migration in one of the Exascale Co-design Center for Materials in Extreme Environments (ExMatEx) [1] applications, CoMD. We design a methodology to parameterize three key aspects necessary for studying load imbalance correction: (1) the granularity with which work can be migrated; (2) the initial load imbalance; (3) the dynamic load imbalance (how quickly the load changes over time). Finally, we present a study of the impact of flexibility in work migration in CoMD on load balance and the associated rebalancing costs for a wide range of initial and dynamic load imbalance scenarios.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

NO{sub 2} gas sensing of flame-made Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} thick films

Unloaded WO{sub 3} and 0.25–1.0 wt% Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} nanoparticles for NO{sub 2} gas detection were synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The BET surface area (SSA{sub BET}) of the nanoparticles was measured by nitrogen adsorption. The NO{sub 2} sensing properties of the sensors based on unloaded and Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} nanoparticles were investigated. The results showed that the gas sensing properties of the Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} sensors were excellent to those of the unloaded one. Especially, 0.25 wt% Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} sensor showed highest response to NO{sub 2} than the others at low operating temperature of 150 °C. - Graphical abstract: The response of 0.25 wt% Pt-loaded WO3 sensor was 637 towards NO{sub 2} concentration of 10 ppm at 150 °C. - Highlights: • Unloaded and Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} nanoparticles for NO{sub 2} gas detection were synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP). • Gas sensing properties of the Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} sensors were excellent to those of the unloaded one. • 0.25 wt% Pt-loaded WO{sub 3} sensor showed highest response to NO{sub 2} at low operating temperature of 150 °C.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

On the effect of strain rate during the cyclic compressive loading of liquid crystal elastomers and their 3D printed lattices

Nematic liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a unique class of network polymers with the potential for enhanced mechanical energy absorption and dissipation capacity over conventional network polymers because they exhibit both conventional viscoelastic behavior and soft-elastic behavior (nematic director changes under shear loading). This additional inelastic mechanism makes them appealing as candidate damping materials in a variety of applications from vibration to impact. The lattice structures made from the LCEs provide further mechanical energy absorption and dissipation capacity associated with packing out the porosity under compressive loading. Understanding the extent of mechanical energy absorption, which is the work per unit mass (or volume) absorbed during loading, versus dissipation, which is the work per unit mass (or volume) dissipated during a loading cycle, requires measurement of both loading and unloading response. Here, in this study, a bench-top linear actuator was employed to characterize the loading-unloading compressive response of polydomain and monodomain LCE polymers and polydomain LCE lattice structures with two different porosities (nominally, 62% and 85%) at both low and intermediate strain rates at room temperature. As a reference material, a bisphenol-A (BPA) polymer with a similar glass transition temperature (9 °C) as the nematic LCE (4 °C) was also characterized at the same conditions for comparing to the LCE polymers. Based on the loading-unloading stress-strain curves, the energy absorption and dissipation for each material at different strain rates (0.001, 0.1, 1, 10 and 90 s -1 ) were calculated with considerations of maximum stress and material mass/density. The strain-rate effect on the mechanical response and energy absorption and dissipation behaviors was determined. The energy dissipation ratio was also calculated from the resultant loading and unloading stress-strain curves. All five materials showed significant but different strain rate effects on energy dissipation ratio. The solid LCE and BPA materials showed greater energy dissipation capabilities at both low (0.001 s -1 ) and high (above 1 s -1 ) strain rates, but not at the strain rates in between. The polydomain LCE lattice structure showed superior energy dissipation performance compared with the solid polymers especially at high strain rates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Assessment of bearing capacity of axially loaded monopiles based on centrifuge tests

The monopile has been widely used to support offshore and coastal structures. A series of centrifuge tests has been performed to investigate the bearing capacity of large diameter monopiles in sandy soil. Both static tests and cyclic tests have been conducted for open-ended and close-ended model piles, and the effects of influence factors, such as loading rates, embedment depths, and loading histories are considered. The piles are then loaded by a sequence of compressive-tensile loadings to estimate the tension capacity, from which the shaft friction is derived. The cyclic load tests are performed with five varying load intensities, and the accumulated settlement is assessed. The centrifuge tests indicate that the pile bearing capacity tends to increase with the initial penetration depth, and the stress state of soil greatly influences the pile behavior. The tensile shaft friction is smaller compared to the compression test. The capacities of the piles reduce significantly under the axial cyclic load, and the maximum cyclic load intensity should be limited to 75% of the ultimate bearing capacity. The API design method is used to calibrate with the centrifuge test results. The method overestimates the bearing capacity at larger depths, and a conservative reduction factor is required.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Synthetic residential load models for smart city energy management simulations

The ability to control tens of thousands of residential electricity customers in a coordinated manner has the potential to enact system-wide electric load changes, such as reduce congestion and peak demand, among other benefits. To quantify the potential benefits of demand-side management and other power system simulation studies (e.g. home energy management, large-scale residential demand response), synthetic load datasets that accurately characterize the system load are required. This study designs a combined top-down and bottom-up approach for modelling individual residential customers and their individual electric assets, each possessing their own characteristics, using time-varying queueing models. The aggregation of all customer loads created by the queueing models represents a known city-sized load curve to be used in simulation studies. The three presented residential queueing load models use only publicly available data. An open-source Python tool to allow researchers to generate residential load data for their studies is also provided. The simulation results presented consider the ComEd region (utility company from Chicago, IL) and demonstrate the characteristics of the three proposed residential queueing load models, the impact of the choice of model parameters, and scalability performance of the Python tool.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗