Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Demonstration Projects”

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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Offshore Wind Resource, Cost, and Economic Potential in the State of Maine

This report provides information for decision-makers about floating offshore wind technologies in the state of Maine. It summarizes research efforts performed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory between 2015 and 2017 to analyze the resource potential, cost of offshore wind, and economic potential of offshore wind from four primary reports: Musial et al. (2016); Beiter et al. (2016, 2017); and Mone et al. (unpublished). From Musial et al. (2016), Maine's technical offshore wind resource potential ranked seventh in the nation overall with more than 411 terawatt-hours/year of offshore resource generating potential. Although 90% of this wind resource is greater than 9.0-meters-per-second average velocity, most of the resource is over deep water, where floating wind technology is needed. Levelized cost of energy and levelized avoided cost of energy were computed to estimate the unsubsidized 'economic potential' for Maine in the year 2027 (Beiter et al. 2016, 2017). The studies found that Maine may have 65 gigawatts of economic potential by 2027, the highest of any U.S. state. Bottom-line costs for the Aqua Ventus project, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Demonstration project, were released from a proprietary report written by NREL in 2016 for the University of Maine (Mone et al. unpublished). The report findings were that economies of scale and new technology advancements lowered the cost from $300/megawatt-hour (MWh) for the two-turbine 12-megawatt (MW) Aqua Ventus 1 project, to $126/MWh for the commercial-scale, 498-MW Aqua Ventus-2 project. Further cost reductions to $77/MWh were found when new technology advancements were applied for the 1,000-MW Aqua Ventus-3 project in 2030. No new analysis was conducted for this report.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lighting Technology Energy Solutions (LiTES) (Final Technical Report)

The Lighting Technologies Energy Solutions (LiTES) Program Final Technical Report is a collaborative effort between NextEnergy, Consumers Energy, DTE Energy (DTE) and the Detroit Joint Apprentice Training Center (DJATC) to evaluate customer and contractor experiences deploying advanced/networked lighting controls systems (ALC/NLC). The LiTES Program, funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE), sought to reduce energy use in small and medium commercial buildings (SMCB) by accelerating the adoption of ALC/NLC through contractor training and technology deployment. Leveraging recommendations already outlined by the Design Lights Consortium Commercial Advanced Lighting Controls (DLC CALC) project, NextEnergy led an effort to train contractors, evaluate the experience of ALC/NLC demonstration projects, identify opportunities to reduce market barriers, and accelerate the increased adoption of ALC/NLC technologies within SMCB. The LiTES Program defined SMCB as commercial buildings under 100,000 square feet. The LiTES Program efforts also included evaluating current ALC/NLC utility incentives, piloting ALC/NLC incentives specific to SMCB, and identifying opportunities to better align utility incentives with current ALC/NLC technology to support accelerating the adoption of ALC/NLC in SMCB. This report shares the survey results and M&V data findings, including energy savings, market barriers, experience of installations, impact of incentives/financing programs and provides recommendations for the increased deployment of ALC/NLC systems in small and medium commercial buildings. Utility survey results, incentive alternatives and recommendations, including a cost benefit analysis outlining energy and economic impacts of the provided ALC/NLC incentives on SMCB projects are also provided.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

SCALE Analyses of Scenarios in the Molten Salt Reactor Fuel Cycle

In support of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission non-light-water reactor fuel cycle demonstration project, the capabilities of SCALE 6.3.1 for radionuclide characterization, criticality, and shielding were demonstrated through several scenarios in a molten salt reactor (MSR) nuclear fuel cycle. Three scenarios were selected for this study, with the molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR) serving as the reference design. The original thorium-based fuel salt used in MSBR was replaced with a 235 U-enriched fuel salt to better reflect anticipated future MSR concepts. The first scenario focused on the fuel salt preparation stage. Criticality analyses, using SCALE/CSAS-Shift and SCALE/SAMPLER, examined potential critical configurations in the fresh fuel salt container based on variables such as 235 U enrichment, UF 4 molar fraction, temperature, and container geometry. The second scenario explored the release of fission products during reactor operation in which the tritium buildup in the primary fuel salt was quantified through depletion calculations using SCALE/TRITON with continuous fuel makeup and fractional fission product removal. This scenario also assessed radioactivity levels in the off-gas system (OGS), quantifying radiotoxic nuclides that could be released into the environment. SCALE/SAMPLER was employed to perform uncertainty quantification to identify key operating parameters influencing the buildup of radiotoxic nuclides in the OGS. Additionally, radiation dose rates were calculated using SCALE/MAVRIC to estimate the maximum exposure levels within the reactor cell complex during operation. The final scenario evaluated the decay heat and radioactivity of the primary fuel salt collected in the drain tank, as well as the radiation dose rate outside the building from the presence of the drain tank. Overall, the application of SCALE’s various capabilities for radionuclide inventory generation, criticality analysis, and shielding in MSR fuel cycles was successfully demonstrated across these scenarios.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

INTERIM BARRIER AT HANFORDS TY FARM TO PROTECT GROUNDWATER AT THE HANFORD SITE WASHINGTON USA

An innovative interim surface barrier was constructed as a demonstration project at the Hanford Site's TY Tank Farm. The purpose of the demonstration barrier is to stop rainwater and snowmelt from entering the soils within the tank farm and driving contamination from past leaks and spills toward the ground water. The interim barrier was constructed using a modified asphalt material with very low permeability developed by MatCon{reg_sign}. Approximately 2,400 cubic yards of fill material were added to the tank farm to create a sloped surface that will gravity drain precipitation to collection points where it will be routed through buried drain lines to an evapotranspiration basin adjacent to the farm. The evapotranspiration basin is a lined basin with a network of perforated drain lines covered with soil and planted with native grasses. The evapotranspiration concept was selected because it prevents the runoff from percolating into the soil column and also avoids potential monitoring and maintenance issues associated with standing water in a traditional evaporation pond. Because of issues associated with using standard excavation and earth moving equipment in the farm a number of alternate construction approaches were utilized to perform excavations and prepare the site for the modified asphalt.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Enabling Coal Technology with Carbon Capture for Future Markets with Flameless Pressurized Oxy-Combustion (FPO)

Future markets for power are expected to require more load following power plants, which reduces output during the night and early morning. This is when the demand for electricity is the lowest, so plants must respond rapidly at any time to peak loads resulting from the variable output of wind and solar power. A coal power plant based on Flameless Pressurized Oxy-combustion (FPO) can go from 5% to 100% of capacity rate in less than 30 minutes in response to fluctuating demand, operating at capacity when power prices are highest. FPO is a proven oxy-combustion technology that was developed to recover energy from low ranking coal, other brown fuels and wastes. ITEA began developing FPO in 2003 on a 5-MWth pilot in Gioia del Colle, Italy, to destroy hazardous industrial waste and as such, design objectives were very high combustion efficiencies and capture of metals in the fuel in the vitreous slag. The technology was subsequently deployed in 2009 at the 15-MWth scale at the Jurong Island petrochemical cluster in Singapore for waste incineration. FPO is an oxy-combustion process whereby oxygen is separated from the air, and it is used in combustion with recirculated flue gas to maintain combustion temperatures at acceptable levels. The resultant flue gas is primarily CO 2 and water, which allows for a relatively simple and cheap CO 2 capture process. This is in contrast to air-combustion systems which require a complex and costly post-combustion capture (PCC) process. Coal is fed to the combustor slurried in water, and the combustor operates at elevated pressure (approximately 12 bar) which improves the overall efficiency and reduces the size and cost of the combustor. Notably, the FPO cycle maintains high efficiency by recovering most of the heat of vaporisation of the contained water. The combustor is designed to coalesce the molten ash particles so that they settle to the chamber walls and drain to the outlet, significantly reducing the particulate content in the exhaust gas and allowing the use of coals with up to 40% alkaline ash content. FPO is a low-emission technology: zero thermal NOx minimises overall NOx; any organic nitrogen is converted to elemental nitrogen (N2). Total organic content (TOC) at combustor exit is hundreds of times lower than for traditional combustion processes, with dioxin and furans close to zero. Work commenced on a DOE funded pilot demonstration project in October 2016 to provide the design for a 50-MWth FPO pilot plant that can fire a wide range of high-to-low rank coals. The project will investigate updating and improving the cycle for power generation with CO 2 capture by incorporating a turbo-expander with a principal steam power island that utilizes a heat recovery steam generator, increasing the overall efficiency of the cycle. A cost study is also performed on the updated FPO design as part of the project. The FPO pilot plant built based on the design will then be demonstrated over a 3-year test program to generate data for the design of a commercial-scale 500 MWth firing module commercial power plant with integral carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which could start construction in 2025. A discussion of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of various cases are presented, including a comparison of established supercritical with PCC (SCPC) technologies with FPO fitted with CO 2 compression and liquefaction, and FPO ready for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS-ready). This would enable CO 2 capture for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or sequestration when market conditions make it attractive to do so. In addition, a comparison of LCOE of FPO and conventional processes for firing low-ranking coals with high water and ash content will be provided.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Suborbital and Orbital Activities at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA’s Langley Research Center recently completed development of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) suborbital coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL) instrument. Developed with support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, Earth Science Division, and LaRC Science Directorate, the AWP project adapted the Wind-SP 2 µm transceiver for airborne use. AWP successfully completed demonstration and engineering test flights in January 2023. LaRC has been funded by a NOAA Joint Venture program Suborbital 3-D Wind Measurement Demonstration project to collect and provide AWP data. The first campaign collected > 50 hours of data during the October 2023 EcoDemonstrator campaign on the NASA DC-8, samples of which will be presented here. AWP implemented and demonstrated multiple technologies needed for a space CDWL transceiver, which have continued development towards miniaturization and ruggedization. A space-based CDWL study is being completed that leverages these recent developments, informing a vision for a relatively low-cost orbital CDWL mission that will also be introduced.

AWP↗
DOE OSTI2023

Demonstration of low-density, high-performance operation of sustained spheromaks and favorable scalability toward compact, low-cost fusion power plants (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

This project worked to advance the technical viability of a novel method for efficiently sustaining stable, high-performance spheromak plasma configurations to serve as the basis of compact, low-cost fusion power plants. In particular, our group worked to improve the method of Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) with Imposed-Dynamo Current Drive (IDCD) for spheromak plasma sustainment. Prior to this project demonstrations of this plasma sustainment technology have achieved plasma performance consistent with entry milestone 3 of the BETHE FOA. Research and development (R&D) activities for this project were focused on increasing plasma performance toward a level consistent with exit milestone 4. To do this the PI and his group worked to increase the performance of sustained spheromaks produced in an existing experimental prototype (HIT-SIU) while improving confidence in projections to and design of future, higher performance devices through three primary R&D activities: 1) Improved control over the density of plasma in the device throughout a discharge to provide a pathway for demonstration of spheromaks Ohmically heating to the Mercier beta limit via: a. Fueling the device directly with plasma through the installation of pre-ionized source on the injectors b. Optimization of electrical current waveforms in the driver circuits to enable low-density plasma formation with a lower fueling rate 2) Computational demonstration of a validated, realistic injector circuit coupled to a dynamic plasma model capable of use as a design tool for SIHI drivers and associated circuits for new experimental design points on the pathway to commercial reactors. The improvements in plasma performance achieved during research activity 1), and the computational projections performed in research activity 2) increased the technological readiness level (TRL) of this fusion energy concept toward a level sufficient to attract early-stage private investment and/or other forms of follow-on investment to pursue required R&D activities required for the eventual fusion power plants based on this novel technical approach.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Energy Efficiency Upgrades

The energy efficiency upgrades project at Hardin County General Hospital did not include research nor was it a demonstration project. The project enabled the hospital to replace outdated systems with modern efficient models. Hardin County General Hospital is a 501c3, nonprofit hospital and the sole community provider for Hardin and Pope Counties of Illinois. This project provided much needed equipment and facility upgrades that would not have been possible through locally generated funding. Task 1 was a reroofing of the hospital. The hospital architect designed the replacement to increase the energy efficiency of the hospital roof/ceiling structure. Task 2 was replacement and installation of a new more efficient CT scanner for the hospital. Included in the project was replacement of HVAC equipment for the entire radiological suite. Task 5 was a replacement and installation of a new higher capacity diesel-fueled emergency generator for the hospital replacing a 50+ year old gas-fired generator. Task 7 was the replacement of 50+ year-old walk-in cooler/freezer with a newer, energy efficient model. Task 8 was the replacement of 10+ year-old washing machines in the hospital laundry with higher capacity, energy efficient models. Task 9 was replacement of 50-year old single pane curtain window system with double-pane insulated windows. Additionally, insulation was added around ventilation systems and the curtain wall system.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

GM Light Duty Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Validation Data

General Motors LLC (GM) completed a multi-phase project with the Department of Energy to validate light-duty fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) performance and durability using dynamometer fuel cell system and real-world vehicle performance data. This project began with GM’s Gen 0 Fuel Cell Fleet vehicles with Technology Insertion operating strategies and materials, and extended to GM’s Gen 1 and early Gen 2 commercial-design intent Fuel Cell stacks and Fuel Cell Systems. The intent of this project was to understand how fuel cell materials, system architectures, and operating strategies impact fuel cell stack durability under fully dynamic operating conditions such as those seen in a light duty vehicle application. More than 87,000 hours of system run time were accumulated under this project simulating several vehicle lifetimes under aggressive driver usage conditions. Lessons learned from this demonstration project have helped expedite the development of a commercially viable, zero-petroleum, zero-emission, Fuel Cell propulsion system. Durability test results have enabled a substantial reduction in the precious metal content in the Fuel Cell Stack with each successive generation of stack design. Stack lifetimes between the first and current design iterations have increased nearly tenfold, while the overall precious metal content has been reduced by approximately 85%. The Gen 2 system power density (kW/gPt) is over five times that of the Gen 0 system. In addition, run time voltage degradation as a function of total platinum was reduced by more than an order of magnitude between the first and last phase of this project. GM is proceeding with a low volume production program aided by the results of the durability testing performed under this cooperative agreement.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Building Cybersecurity Educational Materials for Students: The Windfarm Capture-The-Flag Exercise

Securing and protecting critical infrastructure in an increasingly digital world is vital but it is all too often an afterthought. It is especially important that students become aware of internet safety and security at an early age. However, the availability of interactive and educational cybersecurity material targeted toward students is minimal in the United States. Here we show an example of interactive cyber security educational material that an educator can use in their classroom to encourage students to think about the interaction between real-world physical objects, cyber security, and information security. By putting together a “capture-the-flag” exercise, students can see in real time how hackers and cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities and gain access information. The students try to “capture” the “flag” (i.e., information) in the wind farm by looking for oddities in the code or by taking advantage of weaknesses in everyday protocols. Students can also see how cybersecurity interacts with the power grid through the wind farm project scenario and how a hacker could cause serious problems to a critical infrastructure sector. Our goal for the project is getting students interested in cybersecurity and help them develop an awareness of how important having robust security systems is. We also hope that this project demonstrates the importance of introducing these concepts early and inspires others to create similar projects geared toward students.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2008

Health and Environment Linked for Information Exchange (HELIX)-Atlanta: A CDC-NASA Joint Environmental Public Health Tracking Collaborative Project

HELIX-Atlanta was developed to support current and future state and local EPHT programs to implement data linking demonstration projects which could be part of the CDC EPHT Network. HELIX-Atlanta is a pilot linking project in Atlanta for CDC to learn about the challenges the states will encounter. NASA/MSFC and the CDC are partners in linking environmental and health data to enhance public health surveillance. ~ The use of NASA technology creates value added geospatial products from existing environmental data sources to facilitate public health linkages. Proving the feasibility of the approach is the main objective

Al-Hamdan, Mohammad↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Use of Radar to Improve Rainfall Estimation over the Tennessee and San Joaquin River Valleys

This slide presentation provides an overview of the collaborative radar rainfall project between the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Von Braun Center for Science & Innovation (VCSI), NASA MSFC and UAHuntsville. Two systems were used in this project, Advanced Radar for Meteorological & Operational Research (ARMOR) Rainfall Estimation Processing System (AREPS), a demonstration project of real-time radar rainfall using a research radar and NEXRAD Rainfall Estimation Processing System (NREPS). The objectives, methodology, some results and validation, operational experience and lessons learned are reviewed. The presentation. Another project that is using radar to improve rainfall estimations is in California, specifically the San Joaquin River Valley. This is part of a overall project to develop a integrated tool to assist water management within the San Joaquin River Valley. This involves integrating several components: (1) Radar precipitation estimates, (2) Distributed hydro model, (3) Snowfall measurements and Surface temperature / moisture measurements. NREPS was selected to provide precipitation component.

Petersen, Walter A.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Evaluation of Model Results and Measured Performance of Net-Zero Energy Homes in Hawaii: Preprint

The Kaupuni community consists of 19 affordable net-zero energy homes that were built within the Waianae Valley of Oahu, Hawaii in 2011. The project was developed for the native Hawaiian community led by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. This paper presents a comparison of the modeled and measured energy performance of the homes. Over the first year of occupancy, the community as a whole performed within 1% of the net-zero energy goals. The data show a range of performance from house to house with the majority of the homes consistently near or exceeding net-zero, while a few fall short of the predicted net-zero energy performance. The impact of building floor plan, weather, and cooling set point on this comparison is discussed. The project demonstrates the value of using building energy simulations as a tool to assist the project to achieve energy performance goals. Lessons learned from the energy performance monitoring has had immediate benefits in providing feedback to the homeowners, and will be used to influence future energy efficient designs in Hawaii and other tropical climates.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Demonstration of LED Retrofit Lamps at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (Final Report)

This report documents observations and results obtained from a lighting demonstration project conducted under the U.S. Department of Energy GATEWAY Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Technology Demonstration Program at the Smithsonain American Art Museum in Washington, DC. LED Lamp samples were tested in the museum workshop, temporarily installed in a gallery for feedback, and ultimately replaced all traditional incandescent lamps in one gallery of modernist art at the American Art Museum and partially replacing lamps in two galleries at the Musesum's Renwick Gallery. This report describes the selection and testing process, technology challenges, perceptions, economics, energy use, and mixed results of usign LED replacement lamps in art galleries housing national treasures.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

SWAY/NREL Collaboration on Offshore Wind System Testing and Analysis: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-11-459

This shared resources CRADA defines collaborations between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and SWAY. Under the terms and conditions described in this CRADA agreement, NREL and SWAY will collaborate on the SWAY 1/5th-scale floating wind turbine demonstration project in Norway. NREL and SWAY will work together to obtain measurement data from the demonstration system to perform model validation.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Information Products & Communication Materials for SSEB, SGA, SLC and Partners [Slides]

Contents include the following: 1) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB)–Southern States Energy Board's 48th Annual Meeting, August 8, 2008; 2) Southern States Energy Board Carbon Management Program SSEB Associate Members Meeting, August 21, 2009; 3) Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Demonstration Project, August 21, 2009; 4) Clean Energy in the Southern Region, August 27, 2010; 5) Carbon Management–Southern Leadership of a Regional Partnership, October 17, 2011; 6) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership "Knowledge Sharing", August 10, 2012; 7) Southeastern Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership; 8) Site Visit by Southern Legislative Group, July 30, 2013; 9) SECARB Awards Anthropogenic Test, March 4, 2014; 10) Southern Company/MHI Ltd. 500 TPD CCS Demonstration; 11) SECARB Anthropogenic Test Project Assessment, March 4-5, 2014; 12) Advanced Monitoring Technologies SECARB Phase III CO 2 Storage Citronell, Alabama, March 4, 2014; 13) Geomechanics at Cranfield, March 5, 2014; 14) Gulf Coast Carbon Center Near-Surface Update, March 4-5, 2014; 15) Monitoring Design Best Practices, March 5, 2014; 16) Special Projects–Carbon Management Program, 2015; 17) Special Projects, November 2-3, 2016; 18) Carbon Management Program Carbon Capture & Storage Projects, September 24, 2017; 19) Remarks Before the 58th Annual Meeting of the Executive Committee, September 16, 2018; 20) Annual Business Session, September 24, 2019; and 21) Recent Activities & 2019-2020 Elections Insights, February 7, 2020.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2011

Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration Phase II

The Southwest Regional Partnership (SWP) on Carbon Sequestration designed and deployed a medium-scale field pilot test of geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in the Aneth oil field. Greater Aneth oil field, Utah's largest oil producer, was discovered in 1956 and has produced over 455 million barrels of oil (72 million m3). Located in the Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah, Greater Aneth is a stratigraphic trap producing from the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation. Because it represents an archetype oil field of the western U.S., Greater Aneth was selected as one of three geologic pilots to demonstrate combined enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO2 sequestration under the auspices of the SWP on Carbon Sequestration, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The pilot demonstration focuced on the western portion of the Aneth Unit as this area of the field was converted from waterflood production to CO2 EOR starting in late 2007. The Aneth Unit is in the northwestern part of the field and has produced 149 million barrels (24 million m3) of the estimated 450 million barrels (71.5 million m3) of the original oil in place - a 33% recovery rate. The large amount of remaining oil makes the Aneth Unit ideal to demonstrate both CO2 storage capacity and EOR by CO2 flooding. This report summarizes the geologic characterization research, the various field monitoring tests, and the development of a geologic model and numerical simulations conducted for the Aneth demonstration project. The Utah Geological Survey (UGS), with contributions from other Partners, evaluated how the surface and subsurface geology of the Aneth Unit demonstration site will affect sequestration operations and engineering strategies. The UGS-research for the project are summarized in Chapters 1 through 7, and includes (1) mapping the surface geology including stratigraphy, faulting, fractures, and deformation bands, (2) describing the local Jurassic and Cretaceous stratigraphy, (3) mapping the Desert Creek zone reservoir, Gothic seal, and overlying aquifers, (4) characterizing the depositional environments and diagenetic events that produced significant reservoir heterogeneity, (5) describing the geochemical, petrographic, and geomechanical properties of the seal to determine the CO2 or hydrocarbon column it could support, and (6) evaluating the production history to compare primary production from vertical and horizontal wells, and the effects of waterflood and wateralternating- gas flood programs. The field monitoring demonstrations were conducted by various Partners including New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, University of Utah, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Cambridge Geosciences. The monitoring tests are summarized in Chapters 8 through 12, and includes (1) interwell tracer studies during water- and CO2-flood operations to characterize tracer behavoirs in anticipation of CO2-sequestration applications, (2) CO2 soil flux monitoring to measure background levels and variance and assess the sensitivity levels for CO2 surface monitoring, (3) testing the continuous monitoring of self potential as a means to detect pressure anomalies and electrochemical reaction due to CO2 injection, (4) conducting time-lapse vertical seismic profiling to image change near a CO2 injection well, and (5) monitoring microseismicity using a downhole string of seismic receivers to detect fracture slip and deformation associated with stress changes. Finally, the geologic modeling and numerical simulation study was conducted by researcher at the University of Utah. Chapter 13 summarizes their efforts which focused on developing a site-specific geologic model for Aneth to better understand and design CO2 storage specifically tailored to oil reservoirs.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2016

Renewable Enhanced Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (REFABB)

The basic concept of the REFABB project was that by genetically engineering the biomass crop switchgrass to produce a natural polymer PHB, which is readily broken down by heating (thermolysis) into the chemical building block crotonic acid, sufficient additional economic value would be added for the grower and processor to make it an attractive business at small scale. Processes for using thermolysis to upgrade biomass to densified pellets (char) or bio-oil are well known and require low capital investment similar to a corn ethanol facility. Several smaller thermolysis plants would then supply the densified biomass, which is easier to handle and transport to a centralized biorefinery where it would be used as the feedstock. Crotonic acid is not by itself a large volume commodity chemical, however, the project demonstrated that it can be used as a feedstock to produce a number of large volume chemicals including butanol which itself is a biofuel target. In effect the project would try to address three key technology barriers, feedstock logistics, feedstock supply and cost effective biomass conversion. This project adds to our understanding of the potential for future biomass biorefineries in two main areas. The first addressed in Task A was the importance and potential of developing an advanced value added biomass feedstock crop. In this Task several novel genetic engineering technologies were demonstrated for the first time. One important outcome was the identification of three novel genes which when re-introduced into the switchgrass plants had a remarkable impact on increasing the biomass yield based on dramatically increasing photosynthesis. These genes also turned out to be critical to increasing the levels of PHB in switchgrass by enabling the plants to fix carbon fast enough to support both plant growth and higher levels of the polymer. Challenges in the critical objective of Task B, demonstrating conversion of the PHB in biomass to crotonic acid at over 90% yield, demonstrated the need to consider up-front the limitations of trying to adopt existing equipment to a task for which subsequent basic research studies indicated it was not suitable. New information was developed in the most complex of the chemical conversions studied, advanced catalysis to make acrylic acid, a chemical used widely to make paints, and this was published in a scientific journal. In regard to the technical effectiveness, the crop science aspects were for the most part remarkably effective in addressing the underlying objectives indicating the soundness of the technical approach. With time, it should be possible to fully develop the advanced biomass biorefinery feedstock. Challenges within the thermolysis step to recover crotonic acid meant that by the end of the project we were not able to demonstrate an economic case based on data from scaled up equipment. Solving this will take further research and development work. As a general statement, the broadest public good is in demonstrating the value of funding a very unique approach to the complex problem of enabling large-scale biomass biorefineries which resulted in significant progress towards the ultimate goal and a clearer understanding of the technical hurdles remaining. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the broader benefits to the public come from the use of the REFABB project innovations in areas unrelated to the initial objective. It is worth highlighting the breakthrough developments in identifying three single global regulator genes which can be engineered into plants to dramatically increase photosynthesis and carbon capturing ability. These genes have tremendous potential for use in major food crops, in particular corn to enhance grain yield and based on recent findings, increase the root density, a critical key to increasing carbon sequestration in agriculture and improving the sustainability of global food and biofuel production.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗