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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Case Study: Montlake Modern - Seattle, Washington

This case study describes a DOE Zero Energy Ready Home in Seattle, WA, that scored HERS 42 without PV and a -1 with PV. This 3,192 ft2 custom home has 6-inch SIP walls, a 12-inch SIP roof, an R-28 ICF-insulated foundation slab edge with R-20 rigid foam under the slab; an air-to-water heat pump plus radiant floor heat; 100% LED lighting; filtered-fan-powered fresh air intake; triple-pane windows, 9.7 kWh PV for electric car charging station.

air-to-water heat pump↗
DOE OSTI2014

Existing Whole-House Solutions Case Study: Cascade Apartments - Deep Energy Multifamily Retrofit

In December of 2009-10, King County Housing Authority (KCHA) implemented energy retrofit improvements in the Cascade multifamily community, located in Kent, Washington, which resulted in annual energy cost savings of 22%, improved comfort and air quality for residents, and increased durability of the units. This research effort involved significant coordination from stakeholders KCHA, WA State Department of Commerce, utility Puget Sound Energy, and Cascade tenants. This report focuses on the following three primary Building America research questions: 1. What are the modeled energy savings using DOE low income weatherization approved TREAT software? 2. How did the modeled energy savings compare with measured energy savings from aggregate utility billing analysis? 3. What is the Savings to Investment Ratio of the retrofit package after considering utility window incentives and KCHA capital improvement funding.

BA-PIRC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Determination of Erosion/Corrosion Rates in Hanford Tank Farms Radioactive Waste Transfer System Pipelines

The twenty-eight double-shell underground radioactive waste storage tanks at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site near Richland, WA are interconnected by the Waste Transfer System network of buried steel encased pipelines and pipe jumpers in below-grade pits. The pipeline material is stainless steel or carbon steel in 51 mm to 152 mm (2 in. to 6 in.) sizes. The pipelines carry slurries ranging up to 20 volume percent solids and supernatants with less than one volume percent solids at velocities necessary to prevent settling. The pipelines, installed between 1976 and 2011, were originally intended to last until the 2028 completion of the double-shell tank storage mission. The mission has been subsequently extended. In 2010 the Tank Operating Contractor began a systematic evaluation of the Waste Transfer System pipeline conditions applying guidelines from API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 (2007), Fitness-For-Service. Between 2010 and 2014 Fitness-for-Service examinations of the Waste Transfer System pipeline materials, sizes, and components were completed. In parallel, waste throughput histories were prepared allowing side-by-side pipeline wall thinning rate comparisons between carbon and stainless steel, slurries and supernatants and throughput volumes. The work showed that for transfer volumes up to 6.1E+05 m 3 (161 million gallons), the highest throughput of any pipeline segment examined, there has been no detectable wall thinning in either stainless or carbon steel pipeline material regardless of waste fluid characteristics or throughput. The paper describes the field and laboratory evaluation methods used for the Fitness-for-Service examinations, the results of the examinations, and the data reduction methodologies used to support Hanford Waste Transfer System pipeline wall thinning conclusions.

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DOE OSTI2014

MULTI-SCALE COHERENT TURBULENCE AT TIDAL ENERGY SITES

Turbulence is known to affect the performance and survivability of tidal turbines, yet characterization of turbulence in the field remains limited. Here, we refine and demonstrate a new approach to turbulence measurements, in which an array of multiple Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADV) is suspended above the seabed at the hub height of a tidal turbine. These measurements provide information on the intensity, structure, and coherence of turbulence across the scale of a turbine rotor (< 10 m). Deployment of multiple moorings expands the analysis to array scales (> 10 m). Motion correction of the moored ADV data is essential to this approach and is verified using the turbulent kinetic energy spectra. Additional measurements include a bottommounted 5-beam Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, from which scales can be assessed using the velocities a separation distances along a given beam. These methods are demonstrated with data collected at the site of the Snohomish PUD pilot project in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, WA (USA). Coherent motion is found to be largely isotropic, such that coherence is high only at scales less than the advective length scale or the water depth, whichever is less.

ADV↗
DOE OSTI2016

Subsoil contaminant Cr fate and transport: The complex reality of the Hanford subsurface

Chromium-contaminated subsurface sites are common throughout the globe. In this chapter the discussion will be focused on one Cr-contaminated, i.e., Hanford site, WA, USA. The chapter summarizes the work conducted at this site to study contaminant Cr6+ fate and behavior under conditions imposed by different waste chemistries ranging from acidic to hyperalkaline. The objectives of this chapter are to present an overview of different aspects of Cr interaction with minerals; present evidence of similar and contrasting Cr6+ reactions, processes and attenuation mechanisms operating in subsurface environments under different conditions imposed by acidic, neutral and alkaline waste liquids; provide inputs to conceptual Cr geochemical models (either site specific or general and suitable for many contaminated sites); present ideas on potential remedial measures. The insights presented and discussed in this chapter should be useful for other Cr contaminated sites across the world.

Hanford subsurface↗
DOE OSTI2017

Typical aqueous rare earth element behavior in co-produced Brines, Wyoming

Normalization of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) is important to remove the distracting effects of the Oddo–Harkins rule and provide a meaningful baseline. Normalizations for rocks are well developed and include chondritic meteorites, UCC, PM, PAAS, and NASC. However normalizations for aqueous REEs are limited to oceanic regions such as the North Pacific Deep Water or North Atlantic Surface Water. This leaves water in contact with continental lithologies without a suitable normalization. We present a preliminary continental aqueous REE normalization derived from 38 deep basin hydrocarbon brines in Wyoming. The REEs in these waters are seven orders of magnitude more dilute than NASC but with significant europium enrichment. Gromet 1984 reports NASC Eu/Eu* is 0.2179, whereas in the normalization offered here, Eu/Eu* is 3.868. These waters also are free from the distracting reduction-oxidation cerium behavior found in ocean normalizations. Because these samples exhibit both the uniform behavior of NASC and the absolute concentration of seawater, a normalization based upon them offers a unique combination of the advantages of both. We used single-peak gaussian analysis to quantify the mean values for each REE and estimate the distribution variability. Additional sample collection during the last year revealed that the Powder River Basin (PRB) is atypical relative to the other sampled basins of Wyoming. Those other basins are the Wind River Basin (WRB) Green River Basin (GRB) and Wamsutter Area (WA). A pre-normalization gadolinium anomaly (Gd/Gd*) of between 4 and 23 with a mean of 11.5, defines the PRB samples. Other basins in this study range from 1 to 7 with a mean of 2.8. Finally, we present a preliminary model for ligand-based behavior of REEs in these samples. This model identifies bicarbonate, bromide, and chloride as forming significant complexes with REEs contributing to REE solubility. The ligand model explains observed REEs in the sampled Cretaceous and Paleocene clastic reservoirs. However, the presence of more REEs than predicted in six samples suggests that there is an additional, unconsidered ligand contributing to REE dissolution. Further work will identify this ligand, which appears to be confined to calcium-cemented and dolostone systems.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) 2020 Fact Sheet

EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility supported by the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Research at EMSL supports BER’s mission to understand the biological, biogeochemical, and physical principles needed to predict a continuum of processes occurring at the molecular and genomics-controlled smallest scales to environmental and Earth system change at the largest scales. EMSL is in Richland, WA, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Decision Support Framework for Grid-Aware Electric Bus Charge Scheduling

While there are many advantages to electric public transit vehicles, they also pose new challenges for fleet operators. One key challenge is defining a charge scheduling policy that minimizes operating costs and power grid disruptions while maintaining schedule adherence. An uncoordinated policy could result in some buses running out of charge before completing their trip, while a grid agnostic policy might incur higher energy costs or cause an adverse impact on the grid’s distribution system. We present a grid aware decision-theoretic framework for electric bus charge scheduling that accounts for energy price, grid load, and bus status. The framework connects environmental models for traffic (SUMO) and the electric grid (GridLAB-D) to a planner, which evaluates bus charging decisions with regard to their long-term effect on grid reliability and cost. The framework has been evaluated on a simulation of Richland, WA’s bus and grid network, and compared to greedy methods.

EV, machine leaning, EV-Grid, Transportation, Grid↗
DOE OSTI2017

Geothermal Exploration of Mount Baker Hot Springs Through Ground-Based Magnetic and Gravity Surveys

The Washington State Division of Geology and Earth Resources (WDGER), together with the USGS, Altarock Energy Inc., Colorado College, Temple University, Innovate Geothermal Ltd., University of British Columbia, and Western Washington University(WWU), conducted phase two of a geothermal play fairway exploration at three plays (Mount Baker, Mount St. Helens seismic zone, and Wind River valley) along the Washington Cascade Range. The Mount Baker (MB) play is an ideal location for further investigation as a potential geothermal resource due to the presence of thermal features, young volcanic centers, existing geothermal leases, accessibility, and its proximity to existing transmission lines at the Baker Lake Dam. The goal of phase II exploration at all three plays is to collect geologic and geophysical data to help constrain spatial changes in subsurface lithology and structures that may be associated with the geothermal systems. Furthermore, this paper discusses the geothermal potential of the southeast flank of Mount Baker, WA by interpreting newly collected ground-based gravity and magnetic data. The Mount Baker play was surveyed from July-September, 2016 by the USGS, WDGER, and WWU. Results of a detailed magnetic and gravity surveys of the region surrounding the Baker hot springs, the primary surface expression of the hydrothermal system, are presented here. Gravity data were collected at 495 stations in the study area amounting to an area of roughly 150 square km. Approximately 93 km of line magnetometer data were collected within the study area, over a dozen magnetic susceptibility measurements were taken at 50 locations and about 50 hand samples were collected for density measurements. Preliminary data and modeling suggest pronounced magnetic anomalies trending NE/SW, generally in line with previously mapped lineaments identified in LiDAR. We present a series of preliminary two-dimensional forward models of the gravity and magnetic data as well as a 3D inversion model of magnetic susceptibility and interpret these models in terms of the structural controls influencing the Baker hot springs and hydrothermal system.

Geophysics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Case Studies of Residential Façade Upgrades in Four Climate Zones

This paper reports on a project that explored the viability of insulation and window upgrades during siding retrofits in four case studies across the United States. Thousands of homes are re-sided every year, but only a fraction of consumers add insulation and upgrade the windows at the same time, even though a siding replacement is the ideal time to update the thermal performance of building enclosures. To better understand why more siding retrofits do not include insulation and window upgrades, research staff from several organizations collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy on a multi-faceted research project that included a cost analysis, workforce analysis, market assessment, and contractor assessment. This paper will review four in-field case studies conducted with contractors actively engaged in home re-siding projects that agreed to add rigid insulation and window upgrades as part of their projects. Findings from the case studies will be presented including contractor perspectives, cost, and technical approaches on projects, located in multiple climate zones including Bellingham WA, Jackson MS, Kalamazoo MI, and Phoenix AZ. All projects involved adding continuous rigid insulation on the exterior walls and installation of new cladding. Cladding types varied from wood and metal to fiber cement, vinyl, and traditional stucco. All homes also received a window upgrade, although upgrades varied depending on the original condition of the windows and climate; upgrades included triple-pane windows, low-e storm windows, and exterior shading. Key findings including technical approaches, opportunities, barriers, and project cost will be presented.

re-siding, insulation, rigid insulation, exterior ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Development of New Type-B Containers and the 'Alternative Approach' Disposal of High-Activity Sealed Sources - 17385

The DOE/NNSA Office of Radiological Security (ORS) is undertaking two projects to enable the recovery and disposal of high-activity sealed sources. First, ORS has completed the development, certification, and fabrication of a new Type B package to support the recovery and transportation of high-activity sources commonly used in irradiators and cancer treatment devices. A second design is currently undergoing certification. The new containers will enable DOE/NNSA shipment of nearly 100 percent of all commercially used devices containing Cs-137 and Co-60, which are particularly significant from a National security, public health, and safety standpoint. Second, ORS and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) Source Collection and Threat Reduction (SCATR) are piloting the commercial disposal of a high-activity device under the NRC's revised guidance on concentration averaging and encapsulation. The Cs-137 blood irradiator is being proposed for disposal at the U.S. Ecology facility in Richland, WA. The project is intended to serve as a model for commercial disposal of similar Class C sources that for decades have been without a commercial disposal pathway. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Design, Fabrication and Start-up of Test Facilities for the LAWPS Full-Scale IX Column Test and Engineering Scale Test - 17418

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection's (ORP) primary mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the Tank Farms to protect the Columbia River. Mixed radioactive waste is stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site as reported in DOE/ORP 2003-02, Environmental Impact Statement for Retrieval, Treatment, and Disposal of Tank Waste and Closure of the Single Shell Tanks at the Hanford Site, Richland WA, Inventory and Source Term Data Package. The 177 underground tanks are estimated to contain about 56 million gallons of waste. The Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System (LAWPS) Project provides for the early production of immobilized low activity waste (ILAW) by feeding LAW directly from Tank Farms to the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant's (WTP's) LAW Facility, bypassing the Pretreatment Facility. Prior to the transfer of feed to the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility, tank supernatant waste will be pretreated in the LAWPS to meet the WTP LAW waste acceptance criteria. The LAWPS will also facilitate the return of secondary liquid wastes from the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility to the Tank Farms. In November of 2015 DOE's Tank Operations Contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), awarded a contract to the AECOM Team to design, fabricate and operate two test platforms to generate performance data at two different scales and demonstrate technology maturation. The first platform models the ion exchange (IX) columns at full scale, and the second platform models the integrated flowsheet (cross flow filter (CFF) and IX) at 1/9. scale. Both test platforms underwent shakedown and start-up testing in August 2016 and moved into actual testing and NQA-1 data generation shortly thereafter. This paper covers the engineering design, procurement, construction, installation, and acceptance testing of the test platforms (which are now operational) under an aggressive fast track schedule, and initial test data as available. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Hanford double-shell tank AY-102 radioactive waste leak investigation update - 15302

Tank AY-102 was the first of 28 double-shell radioactive waste storage tanks constructed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, near Richland, WA. The tank was completed in 1970, and entered service in 1971. In August, 2012, an accumulation of material was discovered at two sites on the floor of the annulus that separates the primary tank from the secondary liner. The material was sampled and determined to originate from the primary tank. This paper summarizes the changes in leak behavior that have occurred during the past two years, inspections to determine the capability of the secondary liner to continue safely containing the leakage, and the initial results of testing to determine the leak mechanism. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Engineering scale demonstration of a prospective cast Stone process - 15584

A cementitious waste form is one of the alternatives being evaluated for Supplemental Immobilization of Hanford Low Activity Waste (LAW). Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is collecting data on cementitious or pozzolanic waste forms such as Cast Stone. The goal of this project for WRPS is to obtain data on the performance of the Cast Stone waste form for immobilizing LAW. As part of the data package being assembled, an engineering-scale demonstration with non-radioactive simulants was performed at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) using the Scaled Continuous Processing Facility (SCPF) to fill a container with simulated Cast Stone grout. Legacy salt solution from previous Hanford salt waste testing was trimmed to resemble the average composition generated from the Hanford Tank Waste Operation Simulator (HTWOS) used in the screening tests. The dry blend materials, ordinary portland cement (OPC), Class F fly ash, and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS or BFS) were obtained from Lafarge North America in Pasco, WA. Over three days, the SCPF was used to fill a 6,056 liter (1600 gallon) container with simulated Cast Stone grout. The tank was instrumented with x-, y-, and z-axis thermocouples to monitor curing temperature and two formed core sampling vials. The target production rate was 5.7 L/min (1.5 gpm). This required a salt solution flow rate of approximately 3.78 L/min (1 gpm) and a premix feed rate of approximately 263 kh/h (580 lb/h). The final surface slope at a fill height of 100 cm was 2.5-3.8 cm across the 260 cm (8.5 ft) diameter tank. During processing, grout was collected from both the mixer discharge and the discharge into the tank. These samples were stored in a humid environment either in a closed box proximal to the tank or inside the laboratory. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Crystallization of Sodium Phosphate Dodecahydrate and Re-crystallization to Natrophosphate in Simulated Hanford Nuclear Waste - 16188

The nuclear waste at the Hanford site near Richland, WA, has large concentrations of phosphate in the form of the phosphate ion, sodium phosphate dodecahydrate (Na{sub 3}PO{sub 4}.12H{sub 2}O.(1/4)NaOH) and natrophosphate (Na{sub 7}F(PO{sub 4}){sub 3}.19H{sub 2}O). Sodium phosphate dodecahydrate can form a gel and natrophosphate can crystallize large particles, complicating the processing of slurries of both salts. The gel is regarded as more problematic, so natrophosphate has historically been crystallized to prevent phosphate gelling. This study determined if natrophosphate crystals can grow to large size in short time periods (a few weeks), time periods relevant to short process shutdowns. Solutions of NaOH and NaAl(OH){sub 4} were blended at different ratios with stock solutions containing NaOH, NaF, and Na{sub 3}PO{sub 4} at 50 deg. C. The mixtures were allowed to cool to 22 deg. C, and the crystal growth was monitored by Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) for 17 days. Four of the six blends investigated gelled rapidly due to Na{sub 3}PO{sub 4}.12H{sub 2}O.(1/4)NaOH precipitation. The gel slowly dissipated over time as the solids recrystallized into natrophosphate. In one case, the natrophosphate reached sizes of greater than 1000 microns in diameter in just 4 days. This rapid gelling and crystallization kinetics is important to engineers trying to manage nuclear wastes high in phosphates. Hanford tank farm engineers are developing sampling plans to support temperature and process control strategies for preventing the formation of solid phosphates. They are also developing methods of suspending large natrophosphate crystals. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Determination of Erosion/Corrosion Rates in Hanford Tank Farms Radioactive Waste Transfer System Pipelines - 16395

The twenty-eight double-shell underground radioactive waste storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site near Richland, WA are interconnected by the Waste Transfer System network of buried steel encased pipelines and pipe jumpers in below-grade pits. The pipeline material is stainless steel or carbon steel in 51 mm to 152 mm (2 in. to 6 in.) sizes. The pipelines carry slurries ranging up to 20 volume percent solids and supernatants with less than one volume percent solids at velocities necessary to prevent settling. The pipelines, installed between 1976 and 2011, were originally intended to last until the 2028 completion of the double-shell tank storage mission. The mission has been subsequently extended. In 2010 the Tank Operating Contractor began a systematic evaluation of the Waste Transfer System pipeline conditions applying guidelines from API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 (2007), Fitness-For- Service. Between 2010 and 2014 Fitness-for-Service examinations of the Waste Transfer System pipeline materials, sizes, and components were completed. In parallel, waste throughput histories were prepared allowing side-by-side pipeline wall thinning rate comparisons between carbon and stainless steel, slurries and supernatants and throughput volumes. The work showed that for transfer volumes up to 6.1 E+05 m{sup 3} (161 million gallons), the highest throughput of any pipeline segment examined, there has been no detectable wall thinning in either stainless or carbon steel pipeline material regardless of waste fluid characteristics or throughput. The paper describes the field and laboratory evaluation methods used for the Fitness-for-Service examinations, the results of the examinations, and the data reduction methodologies used to support Hanford Waste Transfer System pipeline wall thinning conclusions. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Detection and Mitigation of Hanford Site Radioactive Waste Tank Surface Water Intrusion - 16396

The last single-shell underground radioactive waste storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, near Richland, WA, were removed from service in November, 1980. At that time the single-shell tanks contained 153,300 m{sup 3} (40.5 million gallons) of waste, including 34,400 m{sup 3} (9.1 million gallons) of liquids. Subsequently the Interim Stabilization Program and Waste Retrieval/Closure Project have removed 24,600 m{sup 3} (6.5 million gallons) of liquid from the tanks to reduce the potential for leakage to the environment. After interim stabilization, each tank was isolated by cutting and capping waste transfer lines, filling drains with grout, and covering likely surface water entry points. The minimum expected lifetime for the isolation features was 20 years, consistent with planned retrieval of all single-shell tank wastes by 2018. Since then the retrieval completion date has been extended. In 2011 the Tank Operating Contractor began a systematic review of the aging isolation barriers to determine if surface water was entering the single-shell tanks. This paper summarizes the results of the 2011 - 2015 activities including single-shell tank inspection results, methodologies used to identify intrusions and waste leaks masked by intrusion, and eventual deployment of a prototype forced ventilation exhauster in 2015 to evaporate water intrusion pools on the waste surface. Further efforts to limit water intrusion, including deployment of surface barriers, are discussed. (authors)

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