Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “WASTE WATER”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 397 records · Page 22

Life Support and Habitation Systems: Crew Support and Protection for Human Exploration Missions Beyond Low Earth Orbit

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has recently expanded its mission set for possible future human exploration missions. With multiple options there is interest in identifying technology needs across these missions to focus technology investments. In addition to the Moon and other destinations in cis-lunar space, other destinations including Near Earth Objects and Mars have been added for consideration. Recently, technology programs and projects have been re-organizing to better meet the Agency s strategic goals and address needs across these potential future missions. Life Support and Habitation Systems (LSHS) is one of 10 Foundational Domains as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s Exploration Technology Development Program. The chief goal of LSHS is to develop and mature advanced technologies to sustain human life on missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to increase reliability, reduce dependency on resupply and increase vehicle self-sufficiency. For long duration exploration missions, further closure of life support systems is of interest. Focus includes key technologies for atmosphere revitalization, water recovery, waste management, thermal control and crew accommodations. Other areas of focus include technologies for radiation protection, environmental monitoring and fire protection. The aim is to recover additional consumable mass, reduce requirements for power, volume, heat rejection, crew involvement, and meet exploration vehicle requirements. This paper provides a brief description of the LSHS Foundational Domain as defined for fiscal year 2011.

Barta, Daniel J.↗

High-Efficiency Food Production in a Renewable Energy Based Micro-Grid Power System

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) systems can be used to produce high-quality, desirable food year round, and the fresh produce can positively contribute to the health and well being of residents in communities with difficult supply logistics. While CEA has many positive outcomes for a remote community, the associated high electric demands have prohibited widespread implementation in what is typically already a fully subscribed power generation and distribution system. Recent advances in CEA technologies as well as renewable power generation, storage, and micro-grid management are increasing system efficiency and expanding the possibilities for enhancing community supporting infrastructure without increasing demands for outside supplied fuels. We will present examples of how new lighting, nutrient delivery, and energy management and control systems can enable significant increases in food production efficiency while maintaining high yields in CEA. Examples from Alaskan communities where initial incorporation of renewable power generation, energy storage and grid management techniques have already reduced diesel fuel consumption for electric generation by more than 40% and expanded grid capacity will be presented. We will discuss how renewable power generation, efficient grid management to extract maximum community service per kW, and novel energy storage approaches can expand the food production, water supply, waste treatment, sanitation and other community support services without traditional increases of consumable fuels supplied from outside the community. These capabilities offer communities with a range of choices to enhance their communities. The examples represent a synergy of technology advancement efforts to develop sustainable community support systems for future space-based human habitats and practical implementation of infrastructure components to increase efficiency and enhance health and well being in remote communities today and tomorrow.

Fuel↗

High-Efficiency Food Production in a Renewable Energy Based Micro-Grid

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) systems can be used to produce high-quality, desirable food year round, and the fresh produce can positively contribute to the health and well being of residents in communities with difficult supply logistics. While CEA has many positive outcomes for a remote community, the associated high electric demands have prohibited widespread implementation in what is typically already a fully subscribed power generation and distribution system. Recent advances in CEA technologies as well as renewable power generation, storage, and micro-grid management are increasing system efficiency and expanding the possibilities for enhancing community supporting infrastructure without increasing demands for outside supplied fuels. We will present examples of how new lighting, nutrient delivery, and energy management and control systems can enable significant increases in food production efficiency while maintaining high yields in CEA.Examples from Alaskan communities where initial incorporation of renewable power generation, energy storage and grid management techniques have already reduced diesel fuel consumption for electric generation by more than 40 and expanded grid capacity will be presented. We will discuss how renewable power generation, efficient grid management to extract maximum community service per kW, and novel energy storage approaches can expand the food production, water supply, waste treatment, sanitation and other community support services without traditional increases of consumable fuels supplied from outside the community. These capabilities offer communities with a range of choices to enhance their communities. The examples represent a synergy of technology advancement efforts to develop sustainable community support systems for future space-based human habitats and practical implementation of infrastructure components to increase efficiency and enhance health and well-being in remote communities today and tomorrow.

Renewable Energy↗

Plasma for Crewed Transit and Planetary Habitation

As human exploration moves beyond low Earth orbit, innovative life support and resource production systems become forerunners for human colonization. Plasma systems allow for complex chemical processes while mitigating consumable needs. Plasma technology and applications can redefine the space environment. With this, scientists at NASA are looking to close known space technology gaps and create a paradigm shift in space-based applications. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is exploring the use of low-temperature plasma for applications in agriculture, sanitation ,regolith reduction, waste gasification, water activation, and nutrient recovery techniques. Using low temperature plasmas, we report on the success criteria and experimental results for plasma applications for crewed transit and planetary habitation.

Plasma↗

Plasma for the Space Environment: An Overview of the Research at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Human life amongst other planets requires vast technological advancements to sustain nutritional, environmental, and logistical needs. Plasma systems allow for advanced chemical processing while mitigating consumable needs or reliance on industrial infrastructure. Scientists at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are attempting to close technology gaps with research into plasmas and their applications. Some such work includes the use of plasma for waste gasification, water activation, nutrient recovery techniques, lunar regolith reduction for oxygen extraction, and space crop production support. Here we report on the needs, success criteria, and results of plasma efforts for crewed transit and planetary habitation.

Plasma↗

American Society of Plant Biologists Plenary Symposium Overview Presentation

NASA’s Artemis program in collaboration with international space agencies, and various commercial partners, marks the return of humankind to the Moon. Unlike the Apollo lunar missions from fifty years ago, Artemis will set the stage for the continuous presence of humans on the Moon and pave a path for the journey to Mars and beyond. Plants will be an essential component of habitation systems that will enable humans to thrive on both the lunar and Mars surface, as well as space transit vehicles because of their nutritional and psychological benefits. Furthermore, plants will be valued in environmental control and life support systems because they generate oxygen, remove carbon dioxide, and recycle water and waste. However, an in-depth understanding of how plants and their associated microbial communities adapt to the harsh and confined environment of deep space is essential before they can be effectively used for long-duration space missions. This plenary symposium will address challenges and present potential solutions to growing plants in space. The four speakers will cover a broad range of topics, including mechanistic studies on fern resurgence after asteroid-triggered mass extinction events, artificial photosynthesis for space agriculture, and how the plant microbiome and an understanding of plant-pathogen dynamics in microgravity can guide crop production strategies in space.

Plant Space Biology↗

FY 2021 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan

The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. This FY 2021 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) was developed to enable and sustain Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) mission to discover, demonstrate, and secure innovative nuclear solutions, clean energy options, and critical infrastructure. The SSP was developed according to the narrative requirements from the “FY 2021 DOE Site Sustainability Plan Guidance” document issued in August 2020. The SSP contains strategies and activities that will lead to continual energy, water, and waste reductions that move INL toward meeting DOE sustainability goals and requirements. The SSP summarizes energy and available fuel use reporting requirements and references criteria for instituting sustainable design. SSP requirements are integrated into each INL contractor’s Integrated Safety Management System and Environmental Management System (EMS). Finally, the Sustainability Program directives, based on this SSP, are integrated into the INL Annual Laboratory Plan Fiscal Year 2020 (INL/LTD-20-59747), and operations and acquisition systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

FY 2022 Site Sustainability Plan

The United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a recognized leader in sustainability, as evidenced by its ongoing optimization of resources in campus operations, including water, energy, waste, and purchasing, as well as continued commitment to meeting federal mandates and goals. NREL's dedication to sustainability supports the laboratory's success by applying what is learned through research and development to campus facilities and infrastructure systems. The Site Sustainability Plan provides a road map for all site planning and development. NREL drives the adoption of these initiatives to a global audience by conducting business operations that demonstrate the incorporation of clean energy practices. NREL will continue to develop a sustainable and resilient campus while growing greater technological capabilities to advance the national renewable energy marketplace.

climate change↗

FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan

The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. This FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) was developed to enable and sustain Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) mission to discover, demonstrate, and secure innovative nuclear solutions, clean energy options, and critical infrastructure. DOE Order 436.1, “Departmental Sustainability,” provides requirements and assigns responsibilities for managing sustainability within DOE to ensure that DOE missions are carried out in a sustainable manner, to institute wholesale cultural change to factor sustainability into all DOE decisions, and to ensure DOE achieves sustainability goals. DOE Order 436.1 also requires DOE sites to commit appropriate personnel resources, establish a financing plan that prioritizes the use of life-cycle cost effective private-sector financing, optimize the application of appropriations and budgeted funds, and establish specific performance measures and deliverables designed to achieve the listed requirements. The SSP was developed according to the narrative requirements from the “FY 2022 DOE Site Sustainability Plan Guidance” document issued in September 2021. The SSP contains strategies and activities that will lead to continual energy, water, and waste reductions that move the INL site toward meeting DOE sustainability goals and requirements. The SSP summarizes energy and available fuel use reporting requirements and references criteria for instituting sustainable design. SSP requirements are integrated into each INL site contractor’s Integrated Safety Management System and Environmental Management System (EMS). Finally, the Sustainability Program directives, based on this SSP, are integrated into INL/LTD-21-62463, Annual Laboratory Plan 2021, and operations and acquisition systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Reliability and Decarbonization Resource Adequacy and Resilience

The Electric Power Transformation: 2023 MEGA Symposium has a focus on the transition of the energy generation industry to cleaner and climate resilient electric power that can remain cost-effective and reliable. Electric power energy issues abound as the world and the industry address environmental policy challenges—climate change, air quality, waste and water policy, environmental justice, and Environmental Social Governance —and various technology issues related to energy production and delivery, including the latest cutting-edge options. This presentation discusses reliability and decarbonization of the power sector with a focus on resource adequacy and resilience.

Balash, Peter↗

Radioactive waste repository when contacted by water provides borates that absorb neutrons

A container holds radioactive material. A sub-criticality controller protects the radioactive material from reaching a criticality from contact with the water. The sub-criticality controller includes a metallic composition having at least one metal component and at least one borate component bonded to the at least one metal component. The metallic composition forms borates when the metallic composition contacts the water.

Xiong, Yongliang↗

Radiological Recovery Logistics Tool - 20161

Argonne is building and testing a tool, the Radiological Recovery Logistics Tool (RRLT), that can be used during the response and recovery from a radiological or nuclear incident to effectively allocate appropriate commercial and public works equipment to mitigate, remove, and contain radiological contamination. The requirements for this tool - as well as development of the resulting software - is overseen by a steering committee of stakeholders from DHS's National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One essential requirement is for RRLT to support the efficient and appropriate allocation of resources for a radiological response. Subsequent discussions between ANL and stakeholders have solidified the nature of this support to include identification of the types of resources to be allocated. The study reported in this paper has both factored fundamental concepts and connections out of this identification process and created a Knowledge Base detailing support goals, response scenarios, and efficacy information on dozens of equipment types. In short, RRLT will dynamically apply these findings to situational conditions surrounding contamination incidents. RRLT's Domain, the model of elements, ideas and relationships with which the tool will work, draws concepts from technical reports and stakeholder vocabularies to connect response goals and scenarios to types of equipment that offer utility towards those goals in those scenarios. RRLT's Knowledge Base will contain details on dozens of equipment types and facilitate the operator's discovery and consumption of these details most pertinent to a dynamically selected subset of goals. The core of its Domain Model is based on a report authored by this team. This report [1] contains a comprehensive list of proposed equipment to accomplish various missions or scenarios that might arise after a large-scale radiological contamination incident in an urban environment or critical infrastructure. The report divides potential response and recovery efforts into five support goals: Survey and monitoring of the contaminated area; Mitigation of received dose to first responders: Decontamination (gross and final) of buildings, vehicles, roadways, parks, and other surfaces: Waste management of solid waste generated during recovery operations: and Containment of wastewater and other waste generated during the response and recovery phases. RRLT's development is driven by use cases. A use case is an intention with which a user approaches the software. Use cases are grouped into delivery increments to schedule development, testing, and presentation to stakeholders. This model partitions the system into seven increments: User Arrival and Authentication, Search and Navigation, Equipment Recommendation, Plan Management, Content Management, and Expanded Access. Once a user 15 authenticated, RRLT will present the user with a dashboard that allows them to explore or search RRLT's content. The dashboard will also include a 'Plan' panel for collecting decisions and relevant observations about an incident at hand to facilitate development of an equipment list. RRLT will offer three general modes of access to items in the knowledge base: - Keyword search for direct discovery of items, - Navigation along predetermined paths from recovery goal towards equipment types, and - Interactive guidance towards equipment types by an autonomous software agent: the Equipment Recommendation Wizard. This presentation will detail progress in the development of the RRLT and also discuss opportunities for those interested in providing feedback on its content and functionality. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Panel Session 110B: US DOE High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) Interpretation

This panel focused on the US DOE High-Level radioactive Waste (HLW) definition interpretation. Discussion integrated topics such as the issuance of the HLW interpretation Federal Registration Notice, the status of the draft Environmental Assessment that analyzes the treatment and commercial disposal of up to 10,000-gallons of SRS Defense Waste Processing Facility recycle wastewater in South Carolina, and the path forward. Panelists with presentations: Status on the Environmental Assessment for the Commercial Disposal of Defense Waste Processing Facility Recycle Wastewater from SRS (Theresa Kliczewski); Enhancing Stakeholder Engagement on the HLW interpretation (Kara Colton, Rick McLeod); Technical Aspects of Potential Disposal of SRS DWPF Recycle Wastewater (Kent Rosenberger)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

The Corrective Maintenance Paradigm Shift at Hanford's Tank Farms - 20077

Hanford's Tank Farms facilities have been used to safely store waste for over 70 years, with the first single-shell tanks being constructed in 1943. Tank Farm facilities consist of 149 single-shell tanks, 28 double-shell tanks, an evaporator facility, and wastewater treatment facilities. Tank Farm facilities are aging, with a tremendous corrective maintenance burden on the Tank Farm contractor. The mission of Tank Farm facilities is soon changing from waste storage to waste staging for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). WTP operations will demand a significant increase in Tank Farm facility operations, in which corrective maintenance outage windows will shrink drastically. This realization has forced the Tank Farm contractor to consider a paradigm shift in Tank Farm facilities Maintenance planning, and the use of reliability Engineering tools. The Tank Farm Production Operations Engineering Cognizant System Engineering (CSE) organization has led the way in motivating this paradigm shift. This shift has been realized through the use of: 1) technical exchange with other Department of Energy (DOE) contractors to develop improvements in the CSE program, 2) a shift from the use of lagging to leading system health indicators, and 3) a Plant Health Committee to unite Engineering, Operations, and Maintenance personnel toward a productive maintenance strategy. The CSE organization has held several technical exchanges with other DOE contractors to discuss CSE concepts, and how to better maintain aging infrastructure. The technical exchange with other contractors has greatly reduced the time required to make improvements in the Tank Farm CSE program. Other DOE contractors have already faced issues surrounding aging infrastructure, and have vast experience in improving the reliability and usable life of structures and components in nuclear facilities. The past CSE program used lagging health indicators to determine the health of systems. The key lagging indicator used to determine system health was availability, which is the percentage of time that a facility was ready for operation compared to the time the facility was demanded for operation. Availability was a good indicator of health in the waste storage mission of Tank Farms, where safe storage was the most important function of the facility, and where maintenance outage windows were typically long-duration. In current and future operations, outage windows are reducing, resulting in the need for much more reliable systems. Systems that have had high availability may suddenly become inoperable due to a failed component or sub-system. In several instances, the use of availability as an indicator of system health failed to predict system/equipment failure before its occurrence. In discussions with other DOE contractors, a set of reliability tools, including leading indicators of health, has been implemented in the CSE program. This primarily involves the use of failure modes and effects analysis and the study of equipment failure to develop system monitoring plans that focus on trending data to detect oncoming equipment failure ahead of time. In addition, the use of a Plant Health Committee has added significantly to the paradigm shift from a corrective maintenance philosophy to the use of predictive and preventive maintenance. The Plant Health Committee is a chartered team consisting of Engineering, Operations, and Maintenance personnel. CSEs use this forum to present the results of their performance monitoring, including the presentation of health via leading health indicators. The most positive aspect of this committee is the communication that it creates within these critical organizations. The Operations and Maintenance organization benefit from focusing maintenance on the reliability-centered focus provided by Engineering. Engineering benefits from the operational experience of the Operations organization and from the failure data that can be provided by Maintenance personnel. The continued use of the Plant Health Committee is expected to further decrease maintenance outage times, in better support of oncoming 24/7 operations. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

FY 2023 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan

The mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. This FY 2022 Idaho National Laboratory Site Sustainability Plan (SSP) was developed to enable and sustain Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) mission to discover, demonstrate, and secure innovative nuclear solutions, clean energy options, and critical infrastructure. DOE Order 436.1, “Departmental Sustainability,” provides requirements and assigns responsibilities for managing sustainability within DOE to ensure that DOE missions are carried out in a sustainable manner, to institute wholesale cultural change to factor sustainability into all DOE decisions, and to ensure DOE achieves sustainability goals. DOE Order 436.1 also requires DOE sites to commit appropriate personnel resources, establish a financing plan that prioritizes the use of life-cycle cost effective private-sector financing, optimize the application of appropriations and budgeted funds, and establish specific performance measures and deliverables designed to achieve the listed requirements. The SSP was developed according to the narrative requirements from the “FY 2022 DOE Site Sustainability Plan Guidance” document issued in September 2021. The SSP contains strategies and activities that will lead to continual energy, water, and waste reductions that move the INL site toward meeting DOE sustainability goals and requirements. The SSP summarizes energy and available fuel use reporting requirements and references criteria for instituting sustainable design. SSP requirements are integrated into each INL site contractor’s Integrated Safety Management System and Environmental Management System (EMS). Finally, the Sustainability Program directives, based on this SSP, are integrated into INL/LTD-21-62463, Annual Laboratory Plan 2021, and operations and acquisition systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Part IV: Remedial Action

This part of the book focuses on the remedial action where the remedy is selected and approved with associated regulatory documentation, detailed designs are prepared, and construction and/or implementation of the remedy is completed. The application may include remediation of environmental media (e.g., subsurface sediments or surface water sources), waste processing, and/or deactivation and decommissioning of historical facilities. Once a preferred remedy is implemented, the final steps include long-term stewardship and site closure (discussed in Part V). Refer to Section 3.2 of Chapter 1, Remediation Strategy for Complex Waste Sites, for context on how these steps fit into the broader remediation process.

Johnson, Christian D.↗

Field-Scale Lysimeter Studies of Glass and Cementitious Waste Forms at the Hanford Site - 20392

The Hanford site Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) will receive waste forms from vitrification activities at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The waste form inventory to be disposed of at the IDF will consist of vitrified low-activity waste (LAW) in glass forms and solidified (or encapsulated) secondary wastes in cementitious forms. The IDF is a near-surface burial facility located near Hanford's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant in the 200 East Area of the site's Central Plateau. An extensive set of laboratory experimental data has been collected to support IDF performance assessment calculations of the eventual degradation of waste forms and mobility of contaminants. This paper describes the start of a field experiment to generate waste-form performance data on a larger scale (tens of centimeters), over a longer duration (five years or more), and under field conditions representative of the IDF. Results from this study are expected to improve model descriptions of contaminant mobility, reduce uncertainties about the representativeness of laboratory results in the IDF performance assessment, improve stakeholder confidence in the safe disposal of treated waste at the IDF, and facilitate the adoption of informed facility designs with the potential to reduce operational costs. A lysimeter test facility near Hanford's 200 West Area has been repurposed to carry out long-term assessments of waste forms buried in sediments excavated from the IDF. The waste forms are buried in large drainage lysimeters, open caissons that are two meters in diameter and three meters deep. Waste forms are buried in up to six locations in each lysimeter. Samplers collect pore water and drainage water beneath the waste forms and air from the pore space adjacent to waste forms. Sensors measure temperature, soil water content, soil water tension, and drainage flux. One lysimeter containing cementitious waste forms and one containing glass waste forms have been completed, along with a control lysimeter (without waste forms). The cementitious waste forms are Cast Stone grout formulations using a liquid secondary waste simulant and a generic Hanford high-salt simulant, as well as a hydrated lime-based grout formulation using a liquid secondary waste simulant. Technetium-99 and iodine-127 were added as tracers to monitor contaminant mobility. Glass waste forms were fabricated in two formulations (LAWA44 and ORLEC28), with rhenium and molybdenum tracers to monitor waste form degradation. The predicted performance of the waste forms in the lysimeters was modeled prior to installation to determine waste form size, tracer concentration/activity, and locations of sensors and samplers. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Integrated Waste Trade Study: Lunar Surface to Deep Space

The Logistics Reduction Project is one of NASA's technology development projects that is preparing humanity for deep space missions. Reducing the mass and volume of logistical supplies that must be carried from Earth to support the missions and their crews is the primary goal of the project. Effective ways to achieve this goal include reducing, reusing, or recycling wastes generated throughout the mission. Due to the goal of the project, waste processing technologies were analyzed for Lunar surface missions at various lengths and an 850-day Mars transit mission to evaluate the potential benefits of waste processing pertaining to each mission. The technologies assessed include trash compaction, trash-to-gas and human metabolic waste processing technologies, integrated with the baseline architectures of each mission’s habitat. The fully integrated systems were analyzed using an equivalent system mass, which is a metric that encompasses the mass, volume, power and cooling of a system, resulting in an estimate of launch mass and serving as a proxy for cost. Each system’s equivalent system mass was compared to that of the baseline waste processing system of the respective habitat, hand compaction with storage for Lunar surface missions and hand compaction with jettisoning for Mars transit, to evaluate whether the traded waste processing technology was beneficial. This analysis identifies a general trend that more sophisticated waste processing can be beneficial depending on the mission duration. For Lunar surface missions, the water recovery from waste processing can pay off over consecutive missions, due to offsetting the losses from the system via extravehicular activities. In contrast for Mars transit, the primary objective is mass removal from the spacecraft, so technologies like trash-to-gas are competitive with the baseline. Furthermore, the technologies which can recover resources from waste, such as water, may present additional advantages to an ever-changing Mars mission architecture.

Waste processing↗