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At least 379 records · Page 21

Tools Assessing Performance (TAP) 2.0

Dmitry Duplyakin will be presenting on the latest research and results in the Tools Assessing Performance (TAP) 2.0 project. This presentation will include updates on the latest data the group has produced, integration of obstacle models in the computational pipeline for distributed wind siting, and the plans for the near-term analysis and validation efforts. The talk will acknowledge the work of collaborators from NREL and three other national labs - ANL, LANL, and PNNL - all contributing to this multi-year project.

distributed wind↗

Effects of Deep Reductions in Energy Storage Costs on Highly Reliable Wind and Solar Electricity Systems.

We use 36 years (1980-2015) of hourly weather data over the contiguous United States (CONUS) to assess the impact of low-cost energy storage on highly reliable electricity systems that use only variable renewable energy (VRE; wind and solar photovoltaics). Even assuming perfect transmission of wind and solar generation aggregated over CONUS, energy storage costs would need to decrease several hundred-fold from current costs (to ~$1/kWh) in fully VRE electricity systems to yield highly reliable electricity without extensive curtailment of VRE generation. The role of energy storage changes from high-cost storage competing with curtailment to fill short-term gaps between VRE generation and hourly demand to near-free storage serving as seasonal storage for VRE resources. Energy storage faces "double penalties" in VRE/storage systems: with increasing capacity, (1) the additional storage is used less frequently and (2) hourly electricity costs would become less volatile, thus reducing price arbitrage opportunities for the additional storage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Validation of RU-WRF, the Custom Atmospheric Mesoscale Model of the Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership

The Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RU-COOL) contracted the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to evaluate RU-COOL's atmospheric observation and modeling capabilities for characterizing the New Jersey offshore wind resource. The observational network used by RU-COOL consists of mostly public but some private coastal and offshore buoy-based stations. The core wind resource modeling capability of RU-COOL is a custom setup of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model, referred to in this report as RU-WRF. The most unique feature of RU-WRF and not found in other WRF model setups is the use of custom sea surface temperature (SST) product generated by RU-COOL. This custom product was designed to better capture the unique coastal upwelling and strong storm mixing in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, which other typical SST products are not designed to capture. Funding for the development, maintenance, and use of RU-WRF by RU-COOL is provided by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, who also funded the validation work presented in this report. In this validation study, NREL was specifically tasked to: 1) Assess the observational network used by RU-COOL to validate RU-WRF and make recommendations for improvement, 2) Assess methods used by RU-COOL to validate RU-WRF and make recommendations for improvement, 3) Examine the inputs to and setup within RU-WRF, compare against available NREL data sets, and make recommendations for improvement.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

MPC4CLR (Model-Predictive-Control-for-Critical-Load-Restoration-in-Power-Distribution-Systems) [SWR-22-24]

Model predictive control (MPC) is a system or process control technique for making decisions under uncertainty via rolling look-ahead optimizations at each control step where only the current step decisions are applied, and the rest are discarded. In this work, we developed an MPC for a critical load restoration (CLR) in power distribution systems to recover system service (electricity delivery) following an extreme event-triggered substation outage. The method considers the problem of controlling distributed energy resources (DERs) of the distribution system with the objective of achieving maximum load pick up while satisfying distribution network flow and voltage constraints. A linearized optimal power flow (OPF) model is employed to represent the physics of the network. The problem formulation is augmented with a ramping (up) reserve product for the DERs to ensure improved and upward monotonic load restoration as time evolves. Simulation analysis and performance tests are performed using a modified IEEE 13-bus test feeder integrated with wind, solar, microturbine, and energy storage battery. The software is developed using various software packages in Julia and Python. The MPC model is implemented using the JuMP optimization language in Julia while the data analytics including renewable generation and load demand forecasts, running the MPC simulation and visualizations is performed in Python.

Eseye, Abinet Tesfaye↗

Solar, Wind, and Load Forecasting Dataset for MISO, NYISO, and SPP Balancing Areas

The Performance-based Energy Resource Feedback, Optimization, and Risk Management (PERFORM) program is an initiative intended to foster "a fundamental shift in grid management rooted in an understanding of asset risk and system risk" (ARPA-E 2020). Launched by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the program supports efforts to incorporate uncertainty in electric power decision making. In support of PERFORM, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has produced a set of time-coincident forecasts of solar, wind, and load profiles. As part of Phase I of the PERFORM effort, NREL created a dataset that consists of one year of time-coincident load, wind, and solar actuals and probabilistic forecasts based on data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) (Bryce et al. 2023). In Phase II, NREL developed similar datasets for three other U.S. Independent System Operators (ISO): the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

The Atmospheric Data Acquisition And Interpolation Process For Center-TRACON Automation System

The Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS), an advanced new air traffic automation program, requires knowledge of spatial and temporal atmospheric conditions such as the wind speed and direction, the temperature and the pressure in order to accurately predict aircraft trajectories. Real-time atmospheric data is available in a grid format so that CTAS must interpolate between the grid points to estimate the atmospheric parameter values. The atmospheric data grid is generally not in the same coordinate system as that used by CTAS so that coordinate conversions are required. Both the interpolation and coordinate conversion processes can introduce errors into the atmospheric data and reduce interpolation accuracy. More accurate algorithms may be computationally expensive or may require a prohibitively large amount of data storage capacity so that trade-offs must be made between accuracy and the available computational and data storage resources. The atmospheric data acquisition and processing employed by CTAS will be outlined in this report. The effects of atmospheric data processing on CTAS trajectory prediction will also be analyzed, and several examples of the trajectory prediction process will be given.

Jardin, M. R.↗

Satellites as Shared Resources for Caribbean Climate and Health Studies

Remotely-sensed data and observations are providing powerful new tools for addressing climate and environment-related human health problems through increased capabilities for monitoring, risk mapping, and surveillance of parameters useful to such problems as vector-borne and infectious diseases, air and water quality, harmful algal blooms, UV (ultraviolet) radiation, contaminant and pathogen transport in air and water, and thermal stress. Remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), improved computational capabilities, and interdisciplinary research between the Earth and health science communities are being combined in rich collaborative efforts resulting in more rapid problem-solving, early warning, and prevention in global health issues. Collaborative efforts among scientists from health and Earth sciences together with local decision-makers are enabling increased understanding of the relationships between changes in temperature, rainfall, wind, soil moisture, solar radiation, vegetation, and the patterns of extreme weather events and the occurrence and patterns of diseases (especially, infectious and vector-borne diseases) and other health problems. This increased understanding through improved information and data sharing, in turn, empowers local health and environmental officials to better predict health problems, take preventive measure, and improve response actions. This paper summarizes the remote sensing systems most useful for climate, environment and health studies of the Caribbean region and provides several examples of interdisciplinary research projects in the Caribbean currently using remote sensing technologies. These summaries include the use of remote sensing of algal blooms, pollution transport, coral reef monitoring, vectorborne disease studies, and potential health effects of African dust on Trinidad and Barbados.

Maynard, Nancy G.↗

Korean Power System Challenges and Opportunities, Priorities for Swift and Successful Clean Energy Deployment at Scale

With South Korea’s electricity demand expected to grow 30% by 2035, transitioning to clean energy resources will be critical in reducing the electric sector emissions and achieving national climate goals. Rapid technological improvements can help keep costs low and maintain grid reliability, if Korea’s government takes a coordinated approach to the clean energy transition. This policy brief identifies key barriers to Korea’s shift toward clean energy, based on the authors’ companion report (A Clean Energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% Carbon-Free Electricity Generation ), interviews with experts, and the most recent data and literature. It then explores policy solutions for overcoming these technological, economic, and institutional barriers, and suggests market transformation strategies to speed the adoption of clean energy technologies. Amid ongoing cost and technological improvements in wind, solar, and energy storage, advancing this report’s recommended policy actions with maximum coordination among government officials can meaningfully accelerate Korea’s clean energy transition.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Rocket temperature soundings

In situ rocket-borne measurements of temperature and wind contribute to a better determination and understanding of stratospheric behavior and, hence, to a better understanding of processes that control the dynamical and chemical behavior of this region. Concern over ozone depletion and the difficulty generally involved in determining actual ozone trends has generated significant interest in temperature behavior, especially trends. Recent analysis of rocketsonde acquired temperature data between 1969 and 1986 contains evidence that the stratosphere may indeed be cooling. It is the intention of the RTOP to continue to provide rocketsonde measurements to: maintain the long term data stratospheric-mesospheric data base already established for Wallops; provide ground truth for remote measurements; and continue studies of atmospheric structure and morphology of disturbances and anomalous events as resources permit.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗

Energy requirements for HE-3 mining operations on the Moon

At the present rate of world energy consumption (10 TW-y/y) and allowing for an equilibrium consumption of 20 to 30 TW-y/y in mid 21st century, we will exhaust economically recoverable fossil fuels in the next 50 to 60 years. We will then have to rely on nuclear (fission and fusion) and renewable energy to feed, warm, and protect the world's population. Fusion energy is expected to play an important role in the 21st century and there a 2 billion dollar per year research program to commercialize that energy resource. A serious problem with this is its reliance on the D-T fuel cycle which releases 80 percent of its energy in the form of neutrons. These neutrons cause significant radiation damage and induce large amounts of radioactivity. There is another fusion fuel cycle involving the isotopes of Deuterium and Helium-3 which, if configured properly, releases 1 percent or less of its energy in neutrons. Obviously, such a fuel would be preferred, but there is no large source of He-3 known to satisfy world energy needs. Fortunately, a very large source of He-3 was found on the Moon, implanted over the past 4 billion years by the solar wind. Recent analysis of Apollo and Luna data reveals that over a million tons of He-3 sit on the Moon's surface. The potential energy in this He-3 fuel is 10 times that contained in all the coal, oil, and natural gas on the Earth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the energy required to extract the He-3 from the lunar regolith.

Kulcinski, Gerald L.↗

Nontargeted vs. Targeted vs. Smart Load Shifting Using Heat Pump Water Heaters

Deployment of CTA-2045–enabled devices is increasing in the U.S. market. These devices allow utilities or third-party aggregators to control appliance energy use in homes, and could also be applied to end uses in small commercial buildings. This study focuses on a field study using CTA-2045–enabled water heaters to shift electric load off the peak and toward periods when renewable resources are more prevalent (e.g., near noon for solar resources and near midnight for wind resources). The following load shifting strategies were compared to understand effects on the aggregate load-shifting capabilities of Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWHs) and on consumer hot water supply: non-targeted (traditional), targeted (grouped, with different shifting schedules) and “smart” (adaptive control commands). The results of this study show that targeted and smart control strategies yield significantly more load-shifting potential from a population of water heaters than the non-targeted approach without sacrificing hot water supply to occupants. However, as control commands become more aggressive, aggregators may face challenges in meeting consumer hot water demand. Furthermore, the findings and lessons learned can benefit electric utilities and inform updates to manufacturer controls and communications standards. The data collected may also be useful for developing and validating HPWH models.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Numerical methods for the simulation of complex multi-body flows with applications for the integrated Space Shuttle vehicle

This project forms part of the long term computational effort to simulate the time dependent flow over the integrated Space Shuttle vehicle (orbiter, solid rocket boosters (SRB's), external tank (ET), and attach hardware) during its ascent mode for various nominal and abort flight conditions. Due to the limitations of experimental data such as wind tunnel wall effects and the difficulty of safely obtaining valid flight data, numerical simulations are undertaken to supplement the existing data base. This data can then be used to predict the aerodynamic behavior over a wide range of flight conditions. Existing computational results show relatively good overall comparison with experiments but further refinement is required to reduce numerical errors and to obtain finer agreements over a larger parameter space. One of the important goals of this project is to obtain better comparisons between numerical simulations and experiments. In the simulations performed so far, the geometry has been simplified in various ways to reduce the complexity so that useful results can be obtained in a reasonable time frame due to limitations in computer resources. In this project, the finer details of the major components of the Space Shuttle are modeled better by including more complexity in the geometry definition. Smaller components not included in early Space Shuttle simulations will now be modeled and gridded.

Chan, William M.↗

Anticipated Electrical Environment Within Permanently Shadowed Lunar Craters

Shadowed locations ncar the lunar poles arc almost certainly electrically complex regions. At these locations near the terminator, the local solar wind flows nearly tangential to the surface and interacts with large-scale topographic features such as mountains and deep large craters, In this work, we study the solar wind orographic effects from topographic obstructions along a rough lunar surface, On the leeward side of large obstructions, plasma voids are formed in the solar wind because of the absorption of plasma on the upstream surface of these obstacles, Solar wind plasma expands into such voids) producing an ambipolar potential that diverts ion flow into the void region. A surface potential is established on these leeward surfaces in order to balance the currents from the expansion-limited electron and ion populations, Wc find that there arc regions ncar the leeward wall of the craters and leeward mountain faces where solar wind ions cannot access the surface, leaving an electron-rich plasma previously identified as an "electron cloud." In this case, some new current is required to complete the closure for current balance at the surface, and we propose herein that lofted negatively charged dust is one possible (nonunique) compensating current source. Given models for both ambipolar and surface plasma processes, we consider the electrical environment around the large topographic features of the south pole (including Shoemaker crater and the highly varied terrain near Nobile crater), as derived from Goldstone radar data, We also apply our model to moving and stationary objects of differing compositions located on the surface and consider the impact of the deflected ion flow on possible hydrogen resources within the craters

Farrell, W. M.↗

Pricing Strategy of Electric Vehicle Aggregators Based on Locational Marginal Price to Minimize Photovoltaic (PV) Curtailment

The global climate crisis demands urgent action to mitigate global warming. Using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, for electricity generation is crucial. This shift from centralized to distributed power systems, however, brings challenges, including voltage fluctuations and renewable energy curtailment. The rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry adds complexity, increasing overall electricity demand and straining the power supply during peak charging times. This paper proposes a scheduling strategy for EV aggregators to reduce renewable energy curtailment and stabilize grid operation by strategically scheduling EV charging. Using Multi -Agent Transport Simulation (MATSim), a traffic simulation tool, EV driving data in Denver, Colorado, USA, were modeled. The EV aggregator adjusts charging fees based on locational marginal prices, encouraging EVs to charge at different stations according to pricing. Simulations on an IEEE 33-bus system with distributed energy resources and EV charging stations validate the proposed algorithm, demonstrating its effectiveness in reducing curtailment by 12.55% and stabilizing grid operation.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Multiple-body simulation with emphasis on integrated Space Shuttle vehicle

The program to obtain intergrid communications - Pegasus - was enhanced to make better use of computing resources. Periodic block tridiagonal and penta-diagonal diagonal routines in OVERFLOW were modified to use a better algorithm to speed up the calculation for grids with periodic boundary conditions. Several programs were added to collar grid tools and a user friendly shell script was developed to help users generate collar grids. User interface for HYPGEN was modified to cope with the changes in HYPGEN. ET/SRB attach hardware grids were added to the computational model for the space shuttle and is currently incorporated into the refined shuttle model jointly developed at Johnson Space Center and Ames Research Center. Flow simulation for the integrated space shuttle vehicle at flight Reynolds number was carried out and compared with flight data as well as the earlier simulation for wind tunnel Reynolds number.

Chiu, Ing-Tsau↗

Looking at Earth from space: Direct readout from environmental satellites

Direct readout is the capability to acquire information directly from meteorological satellites. Data can be acquired from NASA-developed, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-operated satellites, as well as from other nations' meteorological satellites. By setting up a personal computer-based ground (Earth) station to receive satellite signals, direct readout may be obtained. The electronic satellite signals are displayed as images on the computer screen. The images can display gradients of the Earth's topography and temperature, cloud formations, the flow and direction of winds and water currents, the formation of hurricanes, the occurrence of an eclipse, and a view of Earth's geography. Both visible and infrared images can be obtained. This booklet introduces the satellite systems, ground station configuration, and computer requirements involved in direct readout. Also included are lists of associated resources and vendors.

Source record↗

The Meteorological Experiment on the Mars Surveyor '98 Polar Lander

When it lands on Mars on December 3, 1999, the Mars Surveyor '98 Mars Polar Lander (MPL) will provide the first opportunity to make in-situ measurements of the near-surface weather climate, and volatile inventory in the Martian south polar region. To make the most of this opportunity, the MPL's Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) payload includes the most comprehensive complement of meteorological instruments ever sent to Mars. Like the Viking and the Mars Pathfinder Lander, the MVACS Meteorological (Met) package includes sensors for measuring atmospheric pressures, temperatures, and wind velocities. This payload also includes a 2-channel tunable diode laser spectrometer for in-situ measurements of the atmospheric water vapor abundance near the ground, and improved instruments for measuring the relative abundances of oxygen isotopes (in water vapor and CO2) and a surface temperature probe for measuring the surface and sub-surface temperatures. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the environmental conditions anticipated at the surface in the Martian regions. We will then provide an over-view of the MVACS Met instrument and describe the MET sensors in detail, including their principle of operation, range, resolution, accuracy, sampling strategy, heritage, accommodation on the Lander, and their control and data handling system. Finally, we will describe the operational sequences, resource requirements, and the anticipated data volumes for each of the Met instruments.

Crisp, D.↗

General Analysis of Data Collected from DOE Lidar Buoy Deployments Off Virginia and New Jersey

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operates two AXYS WindSentinel lidar buoys for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies. The purpose of these buoys is to collect hub-height winds and supporting meteorological and oceanographic information to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy in the U.S. In general, each buoy is deployed for a year or more at a given location in order to capture at least a full annual cycle of weather conditions. The initial deployment for one buoy was off the coast of Virginia beginning in 2015, and the other buoy was first deployed off the coast of New Jersey beginning in 2016. Over the last two years, PNNL has had an opportunity to analyze the data collected during these first two deployments. This report describes a substantial analysis of data collected by the two lidar buoys operated off the coasts of Virginia and New Jersey. The centerpiece instrument for each buoy as deployed off Virginia and New Jersey is a lidar system, which is designed to measure the horizontal wind vector from approximately 40 m to 200 m above the sea surface with vertical resolution of 40 m. Since the initial deployments, the original lidars have been replaced with more powerful Leosphere 866 v2 systems. The analyses in this report will apply to the original Vindicator systems. In addition to the wind profiles from the lidars, the buoys collect near-surface measurements of wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and solar irradiance. Oceanographic variables measured include the two-dimensional wave spectrum, water temperature and conductivity, and ocean current vectors to a depth of 90 m. An assessment of overall data recovery and a basic analysis of the data collected was provided in a previous report This report substantially extends that analysis. The various sections describe the development and application of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) data recovery scheme for the New Jersey deployment; a climatological analysis of winds at hub height and at the surface together with thermodynamic variables measured at the surface for the full deployment periods; an analysis of oceanographic observations describe sea state; the development of a refinement for NOAA’s WaveWatch III model to allow its application to near-shore areas; a basic climatology of ocean currents observed from the buoys; an analysis of observed winds in the framework of Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory; and the development and evaluation of techniques to extract turbulence intensity and turbulence kinetic energy from the lidars. The analyses contained in this report provide a great deal of new information about offshore conditions on the U.S. East Coast. In addition, the experience gained will inform both configurations and analysis of data from future deployments of these lidar buoy systems.

17 WIND ENERGY↗