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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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30 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Blockchain Empowered Provenance Framework for Sensor Identity Management and Data Flow Security in Fossil-based Power Plants

The overall goals of this project are divided into 3 important phases. First, a peer-to-peer SCADA network is to be established where identity profile of sensors from fossil-power plants will be stored in an immutable manner in order to verify data flow integrity in real time. Second, it is aimed to develop a Blockchain-based provenance platform to audit equipment operations along with data and process integrity violations. In this phase, various operational rules will be incorporated in the ledger on behalf of the operating sensor so its abnormal use can be easily detected. In addition, it is aimed to achieve provenance when the rate of transactions is exceedingly high, thus enabling to design a scalable provenance scheme that can work in real time when number of data collecting points or sensor units increase in fossil-based power plants. Finally, a working testbed will be developed to integrate the Blockchain platform with sensor-based fossil power plant comprising of Remote Terminal Units (RTU) and SCADA devices. Using multiple Raspberry-PIs mimicking the role of RTUs that are interfaced with multiple sensors devices will be deployed to serve as a critical component of fossil power plant and the performance metrics such as throughput, latency, bootstrapping time, etc., will be evaluated on the testbed.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

End-Use Savings Shapes Measure Documentation: Advanced Rooftop Unit Control

This technical report documents the Advanced Rooftop Unit Control End Use Savings Shapes (EUSS) measure, including providing a description of the technology, modeling methods, and the energy savings calculated from applying the measure to applicable across the US commercial building stock using ComStock to quantify its potential. Advanced rooftop unit controls (ARC) generally consist of a supply fan VFD, and controls to implement demand controlled ventilation (DCV) and air-side economizing, as a retrofit to improve energy efficiency of existing rooftop units (RTUs).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hardware Specification and Reference Design for the Low-Cost, Interoperable, User-Centric, Supervisory Controller Kit for Small and Medium Size Commercial Buildings

Commercial buildings are responsible for approximately 20 percent of the total United States energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Over 85 percent of these buildings lack building automation systems to manage the various building systems they have. Many of these buildings are small (< 50,000 square feet), underserved, and use rooftop units (RTUs) for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning needs. Because these buildings lack proper control systems, they have several operational deficiencies that lead to excess energy consumption. Studies have shown that managing the RTU’s heating and cooling setpoints, schedules, setbacks, and optimal start times can result in 20 to 25 percent reduction in electricity consumption in small and medium commercial buildings (SMBs). In addition, improving the demand flexibility of these buildings will result in additional cost savings for the building owner. To address the needs of the SMBs, the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office jointly funded Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to design, develop, test, and validate a low-cost, interoperable, user-centric, retrofit supervisory controller kit (SC-SMB) that can be used to continuously optimize energy consumption and deliver demand flexibility of SMBs, including all-electric buildings, and provide a means for maximizing decarbonization benefits. The team also includes industry partners Edo and Intellimation. Previously, the team drafted an SC-SMB system specification document (Goodman et al. 2023). This document describes a reference design of a low-cost supervisory control system for SMBs, including the various hardware components, software system, and an example implementation of the reference design. The final release of the reference design is planned for December 2025. Section 2.0 of the report documents the relevant building types that the SC-SMB system is suitable for. Section 3.0 documents the various hardware components, their function, cost, whether they are off-the-shelve, support standard communication, etc., and the software system. An example deployment in a 10,000-sf building with six rooftop units, a hot water heater, solar, and storage is described in Section 4.0. The planned next steps are described in Section 5.0, and references are listed in Section 6.0.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Design Requirements and Hardware Specification for the Low-Cost, Interoperable, User-Centric, Supervisory Controller Kit for Small and Medium Size Commercial Buildings

Commercial buildings are responsible for approximately 20 percent of the total United States energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Over 85 percent of these buildings lack building automation systems to manage the various building systems they have. Many of these buildings are small (< 50,000 square feet), underserved, and use rooftop units (RTUs) for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning needs. Because these buildings lack proper control systems, they have several operational deficiencies that lead to excess energy consumption. Studies have shown that managing the RTU’s heating and cooling setpoints, schedules, setbacks, and optimal start times can result in 20 to 25 percent reduction in electricity consumption in small and medium commercial buildings (SMBs). In addition, improving the demand flexibility of these buildings will result in additional cost savings for the building owner.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

ComStock Measure Scenario Documentation: Reduced Thermostat Setbacks for Heat Pumps

This report provides documentation of a measure for the End Use Savings Shapes project, which consists of analysis of different energy efficiency and renewable energy measures on the commercial building stock, using NREL's ComStock tool. The measure consists of a reduction in thermostat setbacks for air-source heat pump RTUs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

ComStock Measure Scenario Documentation: Laboratory-Informed Modeling of Standard Performance Heat Pump Rooftop Units

This measure scenario replaces gas and electric resistance RTUs in the U.S. commercial building stock with standard efficiency commercial off the shelf heat pump rooftop units. This study uses performance data informed by NREL laboratory testing of a standard efficiency 7.5-ton heat pump RTU. This is the key distinction between this measure scenario and a similar ComStock measure scenario - Standard Performance Heat Pump Rooftop Units - that uses published manufacturer data tables to inform performance. These two scenarios are compared in this report.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cybersecurity Center for Offshore Wind Energy (Final Project Report)

This project establishes a Cybersecurity Center for Offshore Wind Energy with the objective of designing and operating a cyber-physical testbed for wind energy farms (WEFs) that enables comprehensive cybersecurity research. The testbed incorporates a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system connected to turbine models via industrial-grade programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and remote terminal units (RTUs). It supports side-channel data acquisition, implementation and analysis of various cyberattack scenarios, and development of attack detection, mitigation, and best-practice guidance tailored to wind energy systems. During the project, the team expanded the number and fidelity of mathematical turbine models (MTMs), integrated these models with SCADA infrastructure, and deployed a scaled physical turbine and associated sensors. High-resolution operational and side-channel data streams were collected and used to refine machine-learning (ML)-based attack detection systems and to extend the WindCRAFT framework to multi-turbine threat scenarios. The project demonstrated a realistic, scalable environment for evaluating cyber threats, validated attack detection approaches using enriched datasets, and identified new multi-turbine and inter-turbine communication attack vectors. The resulting testbed, models, and security mechanisms provide a foundation for ongoing R&D and deployment of cyber-resilient offshore wind energy systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Rooftop Unit (RTU) Maintenance Guide

The commercial buildings industry has long emphasized affordability, energy efficiency, and useful service life in rooftop unit (RTU) equipment. The trade-offs between these characteristics can impact decisions about the initial cost of equipment and ongoing operating costs. Often, the desire for lower initial costs leads to adoption of low-efficiency systems or neglect of proper maintenance in the interest of short-term cost savings. Maintenance of these systems is a critical step to ensure system efficiency and reliability, low operating costs, and a reasonable payback period. This guide is intended for facility managers who own or are interested in purchasing and installing RTUs and need to familiarize themselves with the maintenance requirements. This resource contains best practices, important considerations, and additional information related to commercial RTU equipment, but does not replace manufacturer-specific instructions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Building the Business Case with JUSTIFI: Quantifying Multiple Benefits in the Automotive Industry

The Michigan State University Industrial Training and Assessment Center (MSU ITAC) conducted a pilot study at an automotive parts manufacturer in Michigan. The study identified energy-productivity enhancements through the application of the JUSTIFI software. Key recommendations included replacing six inefficient rooftop units (RTUs) with a new air rotational unit. By quantifying operational savings for this project, the expected payback period went from 6.6 years to 1.4 years. Additionally, the installation of variable frequency drives (VFDs) on condenser tower motors was suggested. By including all operational benefits, the payback period was reduced from 8.2 years to 1.3 years. This comprehensive analysis aims to bolster the manufacturer's goals of reducing energy while enhancing overall operational efficiency.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

End-Use Savings Shapes Measure Documentation: Heat Pump Rooftop Units with Original Fuel Backup

This documentation focuses on a single end-use savings shape measure—heat pump rooftop units with supplemental heat that matches the original fuel type of the replaced system; if the existing system used electric resistance heating, the supplemental heating source is electric resistance. If it was a natural gas furnace, the supplemental system is modeled as natural gas. This is a modification to the heat pump rooftop unit with electric supplemental heat measure from the Commercial EUSS 2023 Release 1 dataset. This document will primarily discuss the supplemental heating change for the heat pump RTU measure. For a comprehensive overview of the fundamental modeling methodology and background of the heat pump RTU measure, including performance curves and other key assumptions, please review the documentation for the original heat pump rooftop unit with electric supplemental heat.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗