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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 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Future Vision for Autonomous Ocean Observations

Autonomous platforms already make observations over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, measuring salinity, temperature, nitrate, pressure, oxygen, biomass; and many other parameters. However, the observations are not comprehensive. Future autonomous systems need to be more affordable, more modular, more capable and easier to operate. Creative new types of platforms and new compact, low power, calibrated and stable sensors are under development to expand autonomous observations. Communications and recharging need bandwidth and power which can be supplied by standardized docking stations. In situ power generation will also extend endurance for many types of autonomous platforms, particularly autonomous surface vehicles. Standardized communications will improve ease of use, interoperability, and enable coordinated behaviors. Improved autonomy and communications will enable adaptive networks of autonomous platforms. Improvements in autonomy will have three aspects: hardware, control, and operations. As sensors and platforms have more onboard processing capability and energy capacity, more measurements become possible. Control systems and software will have the capability to address more complex states and sophisticated reactions to sensor inputs, which allows the platform to handle a wider variety of circumstances without direct operator control. Operational autonomy is increased by reducing operating costs. To maximize the potential of autonomous observations new standards and best practices are needed. In some applications, focus on common platforms and volume purchases could lead to significant cost reductions. Cost reductions could enable order-of-magnitude increases in platform operations and increase sampling resolution for a given level of investment. Energy harvesting technologies should be integral to the system design, for sensors, platforms, vehicles, and docking stations. Connections are needed between the marine energy and ocean observing communities to coordinate among funding sources, researchers, and end users. Regional teams should work with global organizations such as IOC/GOOS in governance development. International networks such as EGO for the emerging glider operations should also provide a forum for addressing governance. Networks of multiple vehicles can improve operational efficiencies and transform operational patterns. There is a need to develop operational architectures at regional and global scales to provide a backbone for active networking of autonomous platforms.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2013

Performing Probabilistic Risk Assessment Through RAVEN

The Reactor Analysis and Virtual control ENviroment (RAVEN) code is a software tool that acts as the control logic driver and post-processing engine for the newly developed Thermal-Hydraulic code RELAP-7. RAVEN is now a multi-purpose Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) software framework that allows dispatching different functionalities: Derive and actuate the control logic required to simulate the plant control system and operator actions (guided procedures), allowing on-line monitoring/controlling in the Phase Space Perform both Monte-Carlo sampling of random distributed events and Dynamic Event Tree based analysis Facilitate the input/output handling through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a post-processing data mining module

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2011

On the Kinematics of Undulator Girder Motion

The theory of rigid body kinematics is used to derive equations that govern the control and measurement of the position and orientation of undulator girders. The equations form the basis of the girder matlab software on the LCLS control system. The equations are linear for small motion and easily inverted as desired. For reference, some relevant girder geometrical data is also given. Equations 6-8 relate the linear potentiometer readings to the motion of the girder. Equations 9-11 relate the cam shaft angles to the motion of the girder. Both sets are easily inverted to either obtain the girder motion from the angles or readings, or, to find the angles and readings that would give a desired motion. The motion of any point on the girder can be calculated by applying either sets of equations to the two cam-planes and extrapolating in the z coordinate using equation 19. The formulation of the equations is quite general and easily coded via matrix and vector methods. They form the basis of the girder matlab software on the LCLS control system.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Multi-Speed Transmission For Commercial Delivery Medium Duty PEDVs

Successful completion of the proposed project will set a course for improving quality of life by overcoming key challenges in the gearbox for commercial-delivery, medium-duty, plug-in electric drive vehicles: It will reduce US dependency on foreign oil through the use of electric driven propulsion instead of fuel driven. It will reduce health risks by replacing tailpipe emissions in densely populated city centers. Finally, it will improve the performance-cost basis to meet or exceed the expectations of the targeted medium duty vehicle fleet owners and the independent customers. The proposed multi-speed transmission will narrow motor operation to the peak efficiency region, thereby increasing the electric powertrain efficiency to help close the range gap. Further, it will enhance customer satisfaction by improving vehicle acceleration, top speed and gradeability over the baseline. The project was conducted in three budget periods: In BP1: Technology Development, High-level vehicle powertrain models were used to optimize candidate transmission architectures and ratios along with a variety of traction motor characteristics for concept selection. The detailed driveline designs and component dynamics were investigated to meet medium-duty EV requirements; In BP2: Technology Development and Prototype Demonstration, The modeling and simulations with multi-speed transmissions were extended to other MD and HD EV platforms. Clean sheet design of a compact, lightweight, flexible, and modular, four-speed transmission was completed. Development of novel shifting and controls strategies were started and procurement of the prototype transmission and the controller hardware was begun; In BP3: Technology Integration, Testing, and Demonstration, Prototyping the four-speed automated mechanical transmission was completed. The transmission controls system and software development and preliminary gearbox dyno tests were done at Eaton. ORNL conducted integrated powertrain HIL tests. One of the prototype units was fully integrated into a Proterra BE35 demonstration electric bus. The shift control strategy was fine-tuned on the integrated vehicle at Eaton Marshall Proving Grounds. NREL tested the vehicle and validated the performance gains. Simulations predicted up to 20% increase in system energy efficiency depending on drive cycles, a top speed of greater than70 mph on flat road, 40% faster acceleration and a doubled gradeability with four-speed transmission as compared to the baseline EVs. Chassis Dyno Tests at NREL verified the simulation results of Eaton team and the HIL test results of ORNL team. The new four-speed EV transmission is efficient, reliable, modular, scalable, light weight, small size, and will be affordable. Furthermore, four-speed transmission enables downsizing of motor, battery and final drive, thereby reducing the total system cost.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Dual Active Bridge based DC Transformer LabVIEW FPGA Control Code [SWR-16-25]

In the area of power electronics control, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have the capability to outperform their Digital Signal Processor (DSP) counterparts due to the FPGA’s ability to implement true parallel processing and therefore facilitate higher switching frequencies, higher control bandwidth, and/or enhanced functionality. National Instruments (NI) has developed two platforms, Compact RIO (cRIO) and Single Board RIO (sbRIO), which combine a real-time processor with an FPGA. The FPGA can be programmed with a subset of the well-known LabVIEW graphical programming language. The candidate software implements complete control algorithms in LabVIEW FPGA for a DC Transformer (DCX) based on a dual active bridge (DAB). A DCX is an isolated bi-directional DC-DC converter designed to operate at unity conversion ratio, M, defined by where Vin is the primary-side DC bus voltage, Vout is the secondary-side DC bus voltage, and n is the turns ratio of the embedded high frequency transformer (HFX). The DCX based on a DAB incorporates two H-bridges, a resonant inductor, and an HFX to provide this functionality. The candidate software employs phase-shift modulation of the two H-bridges and a feedback loop to regulate the conversion ratio at unity. The software also includes alarm-handling capabilities as well as debugging and tuning tools. The software fits on the Xilinx Virtex V LX110 FPGA embedded in the NI cRIO-9118 FPGA chassis, and with a 40 MHz base clock, supports a modulation update rate of 40 MHz, and user-settable switching frequencies and synchronized control loop update rates of tens of kHz.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Modernizing the SNS Control System

The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been operating since 2006. An upgrade to double the machine power from 1.4 MW to 2.8 MW is currently underway and a project to add a second target station is in the preliminary design phase. While each project will add the controls needed for their specific scope, the existing control system hardware, software, and infrastructure require upgrades to maintain high availability and ensure the system will meet facility requirements into the future. While some systems have received new hardware due to obsolescence, much of the system is original apart from some maintenance and technology refresh. Software will also become obsolete and must be upgraded for sustainability. Further, requirements for system capacity can be expected to increase as more subsystems upgrade to smarter devices capable of higher data rates. This paper covers planned improvements to the integrated control system with a focus on reliability, sustainability, and future capability.

White, Karen S.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Vind: A Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Provenance Framework for Energy Delivery Systems

Enterprise-level energy delivery systems (EDSs) depend on different software or hardware vendors to achieve operational efficiency. Critical components of these systems are typically manufactured and integrated by overseas suppliers, which expands the attack surface to adversaries with additional opportunities to infiltrate into EDSs. Due to this reason, the risk management of the EDS supply chain is crucial to ensure that we are knowledgeable about the vulnerabilities in software and hardware components that comprise any critical part, quantifiable risk metrics to assess the severity and exploitability of the attack, and provide remediation solutions that can influence a prioritized mitigation plan. There is a need to realize cyber supply chain risk management for industrial control systems’ hardware, software, and computing and networking services associated with bulk electric system (BES) operations. This article proposes a blockchain-based cyber supply chain provenance platform (“Vind”) for EDSs to realize data provenance in a cyber supply chain ecosystem.

Bandara, Eranga↗
DOE OSTI2022

SolarPlus-Optimizer v0.1

With the falling costs of solar arrays and battery storage and reduced reliability of the grid due to natural disasters, small-scale local generation and storage resources are beginning to proliferate. However, very few software options exist for integrated control of building loads, batteries and other distributed energy resources. The available software solutions on the market can force customers to adopt one particular ecosystem of products, thus limiting consumer choice, and are often incapable of operating independently of the grid during blackouts. In this software package, we present the "Solar+ Optimizer" (SPO), a control platform that provides demand flexibility, resiliency and reduced utility bills, built using open-source software. SPO employs Model Predictive Control (MPC) to produce real time optimal control strategies for the building loads and the distributed energy resources on site. SPO is designed to be vendor-agnostic, protocol-independent and resilient to loss of wide-area network connectivity. The software was evaluated in a real convenience store in northern California with on-site solar generation, battery storage and control of HVAC and commercial refrigeration loads. Preliminary tests showed price responsiveness of the building and cost savings of more than 10% in energy costs alone.

Prakash, AnandKrishnan↗
DOE OSTI2014

TH-C-19A-02: Characterization of An Actively Controlled Graphite Probe Calorimeter

Purpose: To construct and experimentally evaluate the performance of a miniature probe-format graphite calorimeter (GPC) with built-in active control. The GPC is the first ever calorimeter designed specifically for routine clinical use. Methods: The original GPC design, developed as part of our previous work, was modified to accommodate a micro-thin, resistive heating element and sensing thermistors embedded in the outermost graphite layer. A software-based process control loop was written to maintain a predefined set point temperature throughout the detector by precisely modulating the current flowing through the resistive element. Continuous feedback is provided to the controller by the additional thermistors. A functioning prototype was constructed in-house and operated in adiabatic mode in a 6 MV photon beam. Ten sets of measurements of varying duration (10 to 60 seconds) and repetition rate (200 to 600 MU/min) were analyzed. Reproducibility, linearity and dose rate dependence were assessed. Results: A total of 47 individual measurements were performed using the active GPC. The reproducibility, defined here as the sample standard deviation weighted across all 10 measurement sets, was found to be 0.37%. Similarly, the standard error (type A uncertainty) was 0.17%. Linearity was quantified by plotting signal as a function of monitor units delivered at 600 MU/min. The adjusted R-square of the resulting linear fit was 0.9996. Dose rate dependence, evaluated as the change in normalized response (signal/MU) as a function of repetition rate, was found to be statistically insignificant. Conclusions: The incorporation of active control has resulted in a marked improvement in the GPC's reproducibility and it allows the user to now perform measurements within minutes of setup. With this refinement, it is estimated that the overall standard uncertainty in the absolute determination of dose to water is 1%, making the GPC comparable to a calibrated ionization chamber. This research has received financial support from Sun Nuclear Corporation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Continuous Test and Transition Infrastructure for Quantum Networking for Science Complex

We propose a network architecture with a separate quantum dataplane and a conventional control plane: (a) Quantum Data Plane: The Quantum Data plane consists of links of dark fibers connecting quantum switches and repeaters, which in turn, connect to quantum computers, memory and sensors. Since the current reach is limited to local areas, it will begin as a collection of site networks at laboratories, (b) Conventional Control Plane: The Control plane provides management access to quantum devices for configuration and provisioning via control nodes with firewall and encryption capabilities. Continuous Test and Transition Infrastructure: We propose an infrastructure with a control plane connecting multiple sites via encrypted tunnels over conventional networks consisting of the following: (a) Site Quantum Networks: Individual site networks supported by their fiber plants connect laboratories that house and connect to their quantum devices for testing and interoperability.(b) Site Control Planes: Sites are connected over individual control planes with control hosts with Software Defined Networking capabilities, which can be peered with other networks via ESnet.(c) Progressive Expansion: Initially, sites will develop individual data planes with their specific quantum devices and fiber connections, and mechanisms to interface with conventional networks. They progressively expand and interconnect, under a wide-area ecosystem of peered control planes for device testing, interoperability development and roll off into production environments.

Rao, Nageswara S.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Recent improvements to software used for optimization of SRF linacs

This work describes a software tool that allows one to vary parameters and understand the effects on the optimized costs of construction plus 10 year operations of an SRF linac, where operation costs includes the cost of the electrical utilities but not the labor or other costs. The program includes estimates for the associated cryogenic facility, and controls hardware. The software interface provides the ability to vary the cost of the different aspects of the machine as well as to change the cryomodule and cavity types. Additionally, this work will describe the recent improvements to the software that allow one to estimate the costs of energy-recovery based linacs and to enter arbitrary values of the low field Q0 and Q0 slope. The initial goal when developing the software was to convert a spreadsheet format to a graphical interface and to allow the ability to sweep different parameter sets. The tools also allow one to compare the cost of the different facets of the machine design and operations so as to better understand tradeoffs. An example of how it was used to independently investigate cost optimization tradeoffs for the LCLS-II linac will also be presented.

Powers, Tom J.↗
DOE OSTI2015

The CARIBU EBIS control and synchronization system

The Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) charge breeder has been built and tested. The bases of the CARIBU EBIS electrical system are four voltage platforms on which both DC and pulsed high voltage outputs are controlled. The high voltage output pulses are created with either a combination of a function generator and a high voltage amplifier, or two high voltage DC power supplies and a high voltage solid state switch. Proper synchronization of the pulsed voltages, fundamental to optimizing the charge breeding performance, is achieved with triggering from a digital delay pulse generator. The control system is based on National Instruments realtime controllers and LabVIEW software implementing Functional Global Variables (FGV) to store and access instrument parameters. Fiber optic converters enable network communication and triggering across the platforms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Megawatt Scale Charging System Architecture

The paper presents a novel and futuristic architecture for a megawatt charging system (MCS) capable of charging light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles. The station architecture consists of multiport systems with each multiport interfacing the grid, EV, PV, and energy storage system through an intermediate DC bus. The station being a “system of systems” requires a complex software layer with intelligence, control, and communication for effective coordination and utilization of the power electronic interfaces and the assets. The paper elaborates on the station architecture and the associated software layer used for control and coordination. Additionally, the paper provides an approach to utilize hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) capabilities to validate such architectures.

Krishna Moorthy, Radha↗
DOE OSTI2024

Autonomous Energy Systems: Building Reliable, Resilient, and Secure Electrified Communities

Technological changes across energy systems are forcing utilities and operators to reconsider their methods for managing power delivery, but few operators have adopted advanced controls and operational software. Their challenge is that every system has peculiar requirements, and the available solutions are relatively new, untested, and difficult to integrate into an operational environment. Through extensive collaboration with utilities and cooperatives, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has realized the need for autonomous and optimized management of energy resources, leading to the development of Autonomous Energy Systems, a packaged set of controls that is ready to be integrated into existing control rooms.

automation↗