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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 OSTI2020

Integrated Circuit Design for Radiation-Hardened Charge-Sensitive Amplifier Survived up to 2 Mrad

According to the continuous development of metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) fabrication technology, transistors have naturally become more radiation-tolerant through steadily decreasing gate-oxide thickness, increasing the tunneling probability between gate-oxide and channel. Unfortunately, despite this radiation-hardened property of developed transistors, the field of nuclear power plants (NPPs) requires even higher radiation hardness levels. Particularly, total ionizing dose (TID) of approximately 1 Mrad could be required for readout circuitry under severe accident conditions with 100 Mrad around a reactor in-core required. In harsh radiating environments such as NPPs, sensors such as micro-pocket-fission detectors (MPFD) would be a promising technology to be operated for detecting neutrons in reactor cores. For those sensors, readout circuits should be fundamentally placed close to sensing devices for minimizing signal interferences and white noise. Therefore, radiation hardening ability is necessary for the circuits under high radiation environments. This paper presents various integrated circuit designs for a radiation hardened charge-sensitive amplifier (CSA) by using SiGe 130 nm and Si 180 nm fabrication processes with different channel widths and transistor types of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) and bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS). These circuits were tested under γ–ray environment with Cobalt-60 of high level activity: 490 kCi. The experiment results indicate amplitude degradation of 2.85%–34.3%, fall time increase of 201–1730 ns, as well as a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0.07–11.6 dB decrease with irradiation dose increase. These results can provide design guidelines for radiation hardening operational amplifiers in terms of transistor sizes and structures.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of Power Electronic Solutions for Wide-Range Wave Energy Input

Wave energy is a largely untapped energy source with the potential to provide 290 TWh per year to the continental United States. As a new technology, wave energy converters are less efficient and reliable compared to established energy sources, leaving the vast energy of the sea largely unutilized. Wave energy is uniquely inconsistent, with large fluctuations. Paired with harsh operating environments and difficulty in repair, the power electronics designed to harvest wave energy need to be reliable, cost-effective, and able to work in a wide operating band. The literature on existing power electronics in wave energy converters and lessons learned across other industries provide a framework of topologies to simulate. WEC-Sim, an open-source hydrodynamic platform in MATLAB Simulink developed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies, was used to simulate a wide range of power electronics under a variety of wave conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive investigation into existing wave energy power electronics converters, state-of-the-art topologies that can be applied to wave energy, and novel solutions to wave conversion.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2020

Study of Additive Manufacturing Application to Geothermal Technologies

Geothermal reservoir characterization, field construction, and reservoir operations are very technology intensive activities that contribute significantly to the cost of delivering electricity produced from geothermal resources. Many geothermal technologies, such as downhole tools and drilling equipment, have unusual material, design, and manufacturing considerations dictated by the harsh geothermal environment and extreme aspect ratios required for deployment in a borehole. An additional challenge that faces geothermal applications is the low tool production volume needed to support the industry. Whereas tens of thousands of Oil & Gas wells are drilled and completed in the U.S. annually, there are typically only tens of geothermal wells that are drilled and completed. If a tool typically used in Oil & Gas applications cannot be directly used for geothermal, then the cost associated with making the tool suitable for geothermal is often prohibitive. There is therefore a much smaller inventory of technologies available to geothermal as compared to Oil & Gas and the level of efficiency and sophistication associated with field practice suffers accordingly. A number of advanced manufacturing methods, such as additive manufacturing, have received increased R&D as well as commercial attention in recent years because of their ability to rapidly prototype complex parts. Additive manufacturing in particular provides an opportunity to increase the technology available to the geothermal industry by either reducing fabrication costs associated with complex components or enabling economic production of low volume parts where specialized tooling is often required. Additional potential benefits of additive manufacturing include increased design freedom to make higher performing parts that cannot be made conventionally, the ability to integrate components into assemblies without joining operations, and the ability to economically fabricate variations on design in cases, such as casting molds, where there are large up-front costs associated with tooling. We have recently completed a study that investigated technology needs, representative use cases, manufacturability, and a techno-economic framework for comparing conventional to additive manufacturing methods for geothermal applications. This paper will provide an overview of this recent effort, describe the different elements of the assessment, and summarize the key takeaways related to both the feasibility of using additive manufacturing for geothermal technology applications as well as the potential benefits and impacts.

Polsky, Yarom↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of Bismuth and Platinum Bi-Metallic Nanoparticles to Enhance Melt Wire Temperature Resolution

Advanced manufacturing (AM) based on direct-write (DW) technologies has emerged as the predominant enabler for the fabrication of active and passive sensors to be deployed in harsh operating environments seen in a nuclear reactor. Recently, Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State University have recently established capabilities to incorporate advanced manufacturing (AM) methods to accelerate, modernize and enhance functionality of nuclear sensors and instrumentation to achieve the goal of enhancing the safety and efficiency of nuclear reactors. A significant thrust of this work includes the development of nuclear relevant feedstock materials compatible with a variety of direct-write processes for the development, fabrication and testing of AM sensors for peak temperature detection and neutron flux monitoring. For this report, bismuth and bismuth/platinum (BiPt) bi-metallic nanoparticles were synthesized using wet chemical approaches to develop bi-metallic feedstock materials to enhance the sensitivity of melt wires for peak temperature detection. Nanoparticle characterization was performed with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for nanoparticle composition and size, Transmission X-Ray Diffraction Fluorescence (TXRF) for nanoparticle composition, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry to elucidate the melting point of BiPt bi-metallic nanoparticles. Preliminary results indicate bi-metallic BiPt nanoparticles as a viable pathway for fabricating high resolution AM melt wires.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design Challenges in High-Current Pulsed Striplines

The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) will produce the worlds most intense neutrino beam. Three series connected magnetic horns will require 5 kV, 300 kA, 800 $\mu$s pulses at a rate of 1.4 Hz to focus the beam. Connecting a single power supply to these focusing horns will require a low impedance connection measuring over 60 m in length. To meet the challenging requirements of connecting the horns to the power supply, this connection is engineered as a nine-conductor, high-current pulsed stripline. It must pass through a harsh radiation environment, be passively cooled, and have an operational lifetime of at least 30 years. This paper discusses mechanical and electrical considerations such as high-voltage holdoff, clamped joint performance, and Lorentz force mitigations in order to meet the specified requirements. The results of tests and experiments on several prototypes of key design features will be presented and discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigating Marine Environmental Degradation of Additive Manufacturing Materials for Renewable Energy Applications: Preprint

Marine renewable energy is a relatively young industry where there is a great need for rapid prototyping in design-build-test campaigns to quickly mature groundbreaking technologies. Additive manufacturing has an important role to play in the industry; however, little information is available to marine energy developers to help inform them on which additive manufacturing materials are appropriate for harsh marine environments. This paper presents an initial study on the mechanical characterization of polymeric additive manufacturing materials and the degradation effects of marine environments. Ultem 9085, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate, and chopped carbon-filled nylon, as well as continuous carbon and glass fiber-reinforced nylon were chosen for this study. Samples were manufactured to perform a variety of tension, shear, and compression mechanical characterization tests on the materials. Half of the samples were conditioned in Pacific Ocean water for approximately 6 months at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Marine Sciences Laboratory before being returned for mechanical characterization. The mechanical testing results showed that the Ultem 9085 and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate materials experienced little to no degradation in stiffness or strength after exposure to the marine environment. On the other hand, the nylon-based materials suffered significant stiffness and strength degradation (over 50% in some cases) after environmental conditioning. Ultimately, these data sets should serve as starting points to allow marine renewable energy developers to make informed additive manufacturing material choices for their prototype deployments.

additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigating Marine Environmental Degradation of Additive Manufacturing Materials for Renewable Energy Applications

Marine renewable energy is a relatively young industry where there is a great need for rapid prototyping in design-build-test campaigns to quickly mature groundbreaking technologies. Additive manufacturing has an important role to play in the industry; however, little information is available to marine energy developers to help inform them on which additive manufacturing materials are appropriate for highly loaded structures in harsh marine environments. This paper presents an initial study on the mechanical characterization of polymeric additive manufacturing materials and the degradation effects due to the marine environment. Ultem 9085, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate, and chopped carbon-filled nylon, as well as continuous carbon and glass fiber-reinforced nylon were chosen for this study. Samples were manufactured to perform a variety of tension, shear, and compression mechanical characterization tests on the materials. Half of the samples were conditioned in Pacific Ocean water for approximately 6 months at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory before being returned for mechanical characterization. The mechanical testing results showed that the Ultem 9085 and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate materials experienced little to no degradation in stiffness or strength after exposure to the marine environment. On the other hand, the nylon-based materials suffered significant stiffness and strength degradation (over 50% in some cases) after environmental conditioning. Ultimately, these data sets should serve as starting points to allow marine renewable energy developers to make informed additive manufacturing material choices for their prototype deployments.

additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multi-Parameter Optical Fiber Sensing of Humidity, CH4, CO2, and Corrosion

In this work, the previously demonstrated capability of the optical fiber sensor (OFS) for successful monitoring of humidity has been extended to monitor the humidity, CH4, and CO2 with different gas composition based on the strain produced along the single mode fiber (SMF) sensor. This is enabled by absorption of H2O/gases on to the commercially available polyacrylate coated jacketed portion of the fiber resulting a change in strain. Under equilibrium, a differential microstrain was observed along the jacketed portion of the SMF with N2, CH4, and CO2 at different humidity conditions, while the unjacketed portion of the fiber was used only for sensing pressure/temperature induced strain. In case of N2 at 800 psig pressure, the observed microstrain was approximately 80, 65, 50 and 35 µε at 100, 75.0, 46.8, and 23.4 RH% respectively. Comparatively, a microstrain of approximately 95 µε was observed with 100% RH CH4 which demonstrates that SMF produces a measurable CH4 response alongside water. Similarly, the observed microstrain with CO2 was approximately 105, 90, 85, 80, and 70 µε at 100, 75.0, 46.8, 23.4, and 0 RH% respectively. Linear regression and principal component analysis of these dataset provided deconvolution of the impact of strain from H2O, CH4, and CO2 enabling good cross sensitivity. Additionally, modified OFS comprising of Fe coated fiber section was employed to monitor corrosion, using Fe as corrosion proxy, under harsh corrosive environment.

Mainali, Badri↗
DOE OSTI2022

Environmentally Assisted Cracking Research for Current and Advanced Nuclear Structural Materials

Understanding environmentally assisted cracking is an important aspect of nuclear materials research, as it provides information about failure mechanisms that lead to safety concerns or shutdowns. Idaho National Laboratory has ongoing research to understand how materials behave in the harsh nuclear environments for both the current fleet of light water reactors, as well as advanced reactors, where materials are exposed to more extreme environments. Corrosion and cracking of current materials, advanced materials, and materials formed through advanced manufacturing techniques are being examined, with particular interest in irradiation effects on corrosion and cracking, as well as the effects of environmental impurities. Testing, such as stress corrosion cracking, corrosion fatigue, and in-situ crack growth measurements, as well as a suite of characterization tools, including electron microscopy techniques and x-ray computed tomography, are being utilized to better understand the material response, limitations, and cracking mechanisms to ensure safe and reliable nuclear plants.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigating Marine Environmental Degradation Of Additive Manufacturing Materials For Renewable Energy Applications

Marine renewable energy is a relatively young industry where there is a great need for rapid prototyping in design-build-test campaigns to quickly mature ground-breaking technologies. Additive manufacturing has an important role to play in the industry; however, little information is available to marine energy developers to help inform them on which additive manufacturing materials are appropriate for harsh marine environments. This paper presents an initial study on the mechanical characterization of polymeric additive manufacturing materials and degradation effects due to the marine environment. Ultem 9085, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), and chopped carbon-filled Nylon, as well as continuous carbon and glass fiber reinforced Nylon were chosen for this study. Samples were manufactured to perform a variety of tension, shear, and compression mechanical characterization tests on the materials. Half of the samples were conditioned in Pacific Ocean water for approximately 6 months at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory before being returned for mechanical characterization. The mechanical testing results showed that the Ultem 9085 and ASA materials experienced little to no degradation in stiffness or strength after exposure to the marine environment. On the other hand, the Nylon-based materials suffered significant stiffness and strength degradation (over 50% in some cases) after environmental conditioning. Ultimately, these results should serve as starting points to allow marine renewable energy developers to make informed additive manufacturing material choices for their prototype deployments.

Murdy, Paul↗
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Coaxial Cable Sensors for In-Situ Condition Based Monitoring of Coal-Fired Boiler Tubes

The increasing contributions of renewable energy sources present new challenges to the operation and maintenance of the existing coal-fired power plants. One of the major operational risks is the unexpected failure of superheater boiler tubes, leading to the most unplanned power plant outrages. The boiler tube failure is difficult to predict due to the harsh operating environments. Therefore, condition-based monitoring (CBM) with a reliable high temperature sensor becomes necessary to produce a meaningful assessment of the health condition of boiler tubes and their remaining lifetime. In this work, the stainless-steel and quartz coaxial cable sensor (SSQ-CCS) is proposed for in-situ distributed monitoring of the boiler tube temperatures in existing coal-fired power plants. Comprehensive tests have been conducted with an in-house testing facility at Clemson University to study and evaluate the sensors’ performance in the temperature range of 100℃ to 600℃. The results indicated that the measurement resolution of the SSQ-CCS sensor is better than 1℃, and the drift is less than 2% over long-period testing. Meanwhile, multi-physics finite element analysis has been conducted to optimize the design and evaluate the safety of the SSQ-CCS temperature sensor under various operational conditions. Based on the performance obtained in the laboratory-scale testing, a field test has been implemented at a power plant. Four SSQ-CCS temperature sensors were installed for in-situ monitoring of the temperatures of a power plant’s superheat tube assembles. The data acquisition system has been successfully set up and collected sensing signals for more than three months. The sensing signals have been post-processed, and the monitored temperature history through the SSQ-CCS temperature sensor has been validated and compared with the conventional high temperature thermal couple data.

Jiao, Xinyu↗
DOE OSTI2025

Characterization and Damping Control of Mechanical Connections to Improve Performance of Horn Stripline

Magnetic focusing horns are critical components for creating a stable beam of neutrinos for neutrino facilities, such as the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and the Neutrinos and Main Injector (NuMI) beam lines at Fermilab. The pulsed magnetic horns are powered by high current electricity through long striplines. In addition to requirements for low inductance and voltage standoff, the striplines must survive in a harsh radiation environment for the operational life of the component, specified as the 100 million pulses requirement for LBNF. Each stripline assembly consists of four (eight layers that splits off to 2 pairs of four layers at the horn interface) layers of Al 6101-T6. As an electromechanical system, the stripline layers are bolted together with ceramic isolators for electrical insulation and connections must facilitate passive cooling and mechanical stability. The striplines experience vibrational force in addition to clamping force, repetitive thermal and electro-magnetic loading. The holes of stripline plates for ceramic joints represent one of the weak links for potential failure [1,2]. By characterizing the contact behavior of these joints and optimizing their damping properties through finite element analysis and experimental modal analysis, stripline performance and longevity can be improved. This study not only helps predict the behavior of the striplines but also improves their performance to meet the required operational lifetime.

Liu, Zunping [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2025

XFEM Development for Modeling Crack Growth in Prototypical Welded Components

Nuclear power plant components are subjected to harsh operating environments that can lead to multiple degradation mechanisms in which fracture can play a prominent role. Predicting crack growth is important for assessing the integrity of welded components. The extended finite element method (XFEM) is an important tool for modeling such crack growth, and XFEM capabilities have been developed within the MOOSE framework. This report documents work in the MOOSE XFEM module to model fractures in three-dimensional representations of components using a topologically two-dimensional mesh to define cutting planes. Crack growth algorithms have been implemented to evolve the cutting mesh based on equations for stress corrosion cracking. Additionally, several usability and robustness improvements have been developed to enable three-dimensional fracture simulations. The cutting algorithms were demonstrated on a three-dimensional model of a prototypical reactor component undergoing stress corrosion cracking driven by idealized weld residual stresses. This is an incremental step toward using this capability to model more complex components with residual stresses computed through welding process simulations.

42 - ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

The future of subsurface monitoring: AEC’s breakthroughs in CCS technology

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a key solution in the fight against climate change. However, for CCS to succeed, it is crucial to ensure that the sequestered CO2 stays safely trapped underground. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has emphasized the need for advancements in subsurface monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification. Aside from caprock integrity failure, the other primary failure points usually involve defective cement in the casing annulus of wellbores or plugged and abandoned wells. In addition, many energy producers (e.g., oil and gas, geothermal) and storage and disposal operators (e.g., H2 and water) must deal with the same issue. Poorly placed or degraded cement can create pathways for gas or fluid to escape from casing annuli and in plugged and abandoned or orphan wells, posing environmental risks. Yet, a reliable and cost-effective way to monitor cement and well integrity over multiple decades is still unavailable. Traditional geophysical methods like 4D seismic imaging and surface-based electromagnetic monitoring lack the resolution and accuracy for detecting these types of failures (Vasco et al., 2022; Fawad and Mondol, 2021). Wireline logging is expensive to run continuously and is obtrusive to the operation. While fiber optics can potentially be a solution, its bulkiness can significantly compromise the cement's integrity. To address these challenges, the Advanced Energy Consortium (AEC) at The University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology (the Bureau) has been pioneering research in subsurface monitoring using its portfolio of distributed autonomous microfabricated sensors for harsh subsurface environments since 2008. A class of these microsensors [System on a Chip (SoC)] can be mixed in cement and permanently placed without compromising the cement column; the sensors would then communicate with each other or a data acquisition (DAQ) master node. Another class of the AEC microsensors can be fully autonomous, with rechargeable micro-batteries capable of exceeding 100°C, flash memory, and, currently, a pressure and temperature sensor. They are designed to circulate in mud, geothermal fluids, U-loops, or pipelines. They can log data into memory and are unobtrusive to operations. Our team has been working on a multi-year DOE-funded project (DE-FE0031856)—supported by $2.95M in federal funding and $0.75M in cost-matching from the AEC—to demonstrate SoC sensor utility for CO2 leakage monitoring in CCS applications. This multi-institutional collaboration developed a novel sensing architecture utilizing radiofrequency (RF) microsensors embedded within the cement sheath. These sensors detect CO2 migration and are interrogated via a Smart Casing Collar (SCC).

58 GEOSCIENCES↗