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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 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Commercialization of Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA) Tool, for Indoor Optical Analysis of Heliostats

Under HelioCon, NLR began developing a new optical measurement system, called Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA). ReTNA has shown promise towards addressing metrology gaps for heliostat used in concentrated solar thermal (CST) plant. This project is focused on advancing this measurement system from the laboratory into industry, where it can provide valuable information for heliostat developers during research, development, and qualification of a heliostat design, and be used for quality assurance during heliostat manufacture. Over the course of this project, ReTNA was deployed at several commercial heliostat facilities. The system developed and deployed with the primary project partner, Solar Dynamics LLC, is described in detail. The report discusses each project Milestone, the ending status, the achieved value, and how these Milestones improve and qualify the ReTNA measurement tool. Finally, the final report covers the market advancements, path forward, commercial successes, and lessons learned. Final Technical report for TCF Base Technology-Specific project TCF-23-20118, Commercialization of Reflected Target Non-Intrusive Assessment (ReTNA) tool, for indoor optical analysis of Heliostats.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Monte-Carlo Method for Evaluating the Economic Performance of Plastics Recycling Systems Using Historical Pricing

The management of plastic waste is a considerable emerging global concern. Conventional plastics recycling rates range from 5–10% in the US, which results in considerable material being sent to landfill. New sorting technologies using artificial intelligence have the potential to dramatically increase the ability of waste management companies to sort out valuable fractions of plastic waste and create high-purity streams for secondary markets. However, several fractions of the plastics recycling stream, i.e., low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene, do not have well-developed markets. These materials may be sent to pyrolysis facilities for thermal recycling, but the economics of the pyrolysis industry are currently uncertain. This work aims to identify the breakeven price of the plastic fractions that would be sent to pyrolysis in order to determine the economic viability of the sorting facility. The work will use Monte Carlo analysis to evaluate several scenarios and understand how compositional variation, price variability, and facility attributes affect the breakeven price. Here, the presorting conditions in Materials Recovery Facilities strongly affects the profitability of the sorting facility. High residual high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) content in presorted bales are important revenue drivers for the facility, even in presorted 3-7 bales. Key variables that lead to profitability include a high sale price of polyethylene terephthalate, a high sale price of high-density polyethylene, and if polypropylene can be sold to recycling markets (as opposed to pyrolysis facilities).

Plastics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Developing energy flexibility in clusters of buildings: A critical analysis of barriers from planning to operation

This paper examines building energy flexibility at an aggregated level and addresses the main barriers and research gaps for the development of this resource across three design and development phases: market and policy, early planning and design, and operation. We review methodologies and tools and discuss barriers, challenges, and opportunities, incorporating policy, economic, technical, professional, and social perspectives. Although various legal and regulatory frameworks exist to foster the development of energy flexibility for small buildings, financing mechanisms are limited with a significant number of perceived risks undermining private investment. For the early planning and design phase, planners and designers lack appropriate tools and face interoperability challenges, which often results in insufficient consideration of demand response programs. The review of the operational phase highlighted the socio-technical challenges related to both the complexity of deployment and communication, as well as privacy and acceptability issues. Finally, the paper proposes a number of targeted research directions to address challenges and promote greater energy flexibility deployments, including capturing building demand side dynamics, improving baseline estimations and developing seamless connectivity between buildings and districts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design of solvent-assisted plastics recycling: Integrated economics and environmental impacts analysis

In 2018, the United States generated over 35. 7 million tons of plastic waste, with only 8.4% being recycled and the other 91.6% incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. The continued growth of the polymer market has raised concerns over the end of life of plastics. Currently, the waste management system is faced with issues of inefficient sorting methods and low-efficiency recycling methods when it comes to plastics recycling. Mechanical recycling is the commonest recycling method but presents a lower-valued recycled material due to the material incompatibilities introduced via the inefficient sorting methods. Chemical recycling offers a promising alternative as it potentially allows for plastics to maintain their original properties. To that end, there is the need to investigate feasible chemical recycling methods to help mitigate the challenging problem posed by plastics at the end-of-life stage. This work proposes a conceptual solvent-assisted plastics recycling framework based on a superstructure optimization approach. This framework is evaluated using a representative case study to recover Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). In this case study, it is found that polymer recovery is both economically and environmentally favorable when compared to traditional methods of disposal such as incineration.

Lehr, Austin L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Facets of hydro power and future trends in a Nordic Context

Hydropower technologies bolster high penetration of variable renewable energies (VREs) in the net zero emissions scenarios. Nevertheless, there are various challenges to meeting the ambitious goal, such as stability, reliability, resiliency, security, lack of reactive power, voltage support and inertia, large-scale storage deployment and coordination, interconnectedness, demand-side response, higher thermal cycles with increased start/stops, and inadequate Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for system-wise VRE integration and profitability. This survey conducts a bottom-up analysis to unveil the opportunities to utilize hydropower facilities and disentangle the nested problem for intertwining design features, control algorithms, operation, optimization approaches, incentives, services, and market mechanisms using a three-pillar framework perspective: grid owners, power producers, and machine designers. The survey identified emerging trends in real-time and capacity markets, flexible power systems, and enhanced grid capabilities, including advanced voltage support and updated grid codes. These developments present significant opportunities for hydropower, such as achieving super-flexibility through hybridization, expanded reactive power capabilities, and advanced operational modes like a synchronous condenser and power adequator functionalities. These opportunities require novel design philosophies — including new winding, stator, and rotor configurations, optimized ventilation, and active cooling systems — to enhance performance under stressed grid and climate conditions. Finally, integrating climate and energy models for multi-basin optimization with finer spatial and temporal granularity enhances the planning accuracy for water management of hydropower while addressing environmental challenges. The review delivers helpful prospective suggestions and tools that would serve researchers, power engineers, and stakeholders in making decisions about hydropower technologies and services in 2050 and beyond.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Flexible Fully-Decoupled Nuclear Plants with Thermal Energy Storage - Technoeconomic Optimization

New nuclear power plants may be one of the technologies for future zero carbon electricity production. These future systems will however also need significant flexibility to cope with fluctuating demand and large share of intermittent renewable supply, rather than running in conventional baseload generation. The present work explores the use of thermal energy storage (TES) as a buffer between the reactor heat and its conversion to electricity, enabling flexible operation of nuclear plants. The focus is on maximizing flexibility, ideally as full decoupling of the nuclear and power cycle islands, as well as on system efficiency in various modes. A system design presented for a high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR) presents a slightly complex solution, as separate high- and low-temperature TES systems are required in order to cover the extended temperature range. Although this configuration imposes certain limitations on the discharge system configuration, it also presents the opportunity to design a more efficient system. For this case in particular, a steam reheat cycle is advantageous. Dynamic models were developed for the decoupled system in order to generate insights into aspects of off design operation and system control. A technoeconomic analysis, furthermore, provides sizing and costing of the component, followed by size and dispatch economic optimization considering energy arbitrage. This optimization shows that in all explored markets, the addition of TES system with the proposed configuration results in positive impact on project net present value. Further sensitivity analyses show impact of multiple inputs and possible technical limitations.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

NSTTF Voucher Program RPPR-1 (Final Report)

Sandia issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and individuals on the use of the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) to increase CSP technology market adoption across the United States. The voucher funds will be used to cover the cost of NSTTF test facilities usage and technical staff support for analysis, design and test planning and execution. Sandia will collect submitted proposals, coordinate their review through DOE SETO, and work in partnership or under contract with the applicants to complete the funded research. Through this program, participants will be supported in their use of the world class facilities and expertise available at the NSTTF at Sandia in Albuquerque, NM to accelerate the advancement of CST technologies toward meeting 2030 SETO goals for CSP. The goals of this semi-annual reporting period were to complete all administrative tasks and contracting, begin testing on three of the vouchers, and report on initial findings. The fourth voucher (University of Michigan) is predicated on the results of an ongoing heat exchanger test that is expected to conclude by the end of FY22.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Singapore-US Feasibility Study on Regional Energy Connectivity

There is strong potential amongst the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to adopt subsea interconnectors and benefit from increased energy trade and decarbonization benefits. As part of the Net Zero World Initiative, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, the technical and economic potential for such connectivity was investigated. This interim report provides a summary of the economic and technical feasibility analysis conducted related to increasing regional connectivity in Southeast Asia via subsea cables.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analysis of Fault Data Collected from Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostic Products for Packaged Rooftop Units

Rooftop units (RTUs) and other packaged systems are very common in commercial buildings in the U.S., and they often have minimal controls and poor performance. Automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD) is a powerful tool that can continuously monitor operating equipment, detect abnormal performance, diagnose problems, and report findings to building operators. AFDD technologies for RTUs have been under development for many years and have recently begun to enter the market in a significant way. There are several AFDD systems available for RTUs that feature a wide range of designs, capabilities, and reporting. Unfortunately, there is little consistency among the AFDD applications and little understanding of the performance and value of these systems. This study presents analysis of AFDD data provided by four companies from over 28,000 RTUs, five building types, and multiple climate zones. The objectives of this investigation were to gain a better understanding of how RTU AFDD systems operate, the types and frequencies of faults identified, and how building operators interact with these systems. The monitoring of a variety of RTUs provides insights into the AFDD monitoring inputs, faults, and diagnostics from which these tools are capable of informing building owners about the status of their HVAC systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analysis of Fault Data Collected from Automated Fault Detection and Diagnostic Products for Packaged Rooftop Units

Rooftop units (RTUs) and other packaged systems are very common in commercial buildings in the U.S., and they often have minimal controls and poor performance. Automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD) is a powerful tool that can continuously monitor operating equipment, detect abnormal performance, diagnose problems, and report findings to building operators. AFDD technologies for RTUs have been under development for many years and have recently begun to enter the market in a significant way. There are several AFDD systems available for RTUs that feature a wide range of designs, capabilities, and reporting. Unfortunately, there is little consistency among the AFDD applications and little understanding of the performance and value of these systems. This study presents analysis of AFDD data provided by four companies from over 28,000 RTUs, five building types, and multiple climate zones. The objectives of this investigation were to gain a better understanding of how RTU AFDD systems operate, the types and frequencies of faults identified, and how building operators interact with these systems. The monitoring of a variety of RTUs provides insights into the AFDD monitoring inputs, faults, and diagnostics from which these tools are capable of informing building owners about the status of their HVAC systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analysis of Space-Conditioning Loads in Commercial Buildings

Space conditioning end-uses, which include heating, cooling, and ventilation, represent a significant fraction of commercial building energy use, with a wide variety of heating and cooling technology options available in the market. In the interest of improving the overall efficiency of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) technologies, governments, utilities and private sector entities have implemented a variety of market transformation policies that aim to influence consumer purchase decisions. To evaluate the costs and benefits of such programs, analysts typically postulate a hypothetical default equipment choice, and compare it to one that provides comparable service with lower energy and/or power use. The corresponding reduced operating cost provides a benefit that offsets the potential higher cost of improved efficiency. Typically, life-cycle cost or cash-flow analyses are used to quantify the net economic benefit. These analyses require the capability to assess how a given equipment design would perform across a broad range of characteristics, both of the building and of the local weather. While these assessments can be performed using customized building simulations, it is generally not practical to develop and validate detailed building simulation code to cover all the potential variations of equipment design and installation. An alternative, and somewhat simpler, approach is to solely use detailed building simulations to generate time series of heating and cooling loads in commercial buildings. These loads can then be used as input to more detailed, stand-alone engineering models that simulate HVAC system performance under different equipment designs. This approach was used to evaluate a range of high-efficiency commercial packaged air conditioner design options for the Department of Energy’s Appliance and Equipment Standards Program (DOE-EERE 2015). While there may be some loss of precision relative to full simulation, the accuracy of this approach is sufficient for practical applications of cost-benefit analysis. This report describes the development of a database of commercial building heating and cooling loads, generated using the EnergyPlus software package, a whole building energy use model supported by the Department of Energy (DOE-EERE 2020a). EnergyPlus takes as input a set of configuration files that describe the building itself (size, zoning, envelope characteristics, etc.) and the various systems within it (HVAC, lighting, water heating, etc.). This analysis uses a publicly available collection of commercial reference buildings (CRB), comprised of sixteen building types and three vintages (DOE-EERE 2020b; Deru et al 2011). Each building is simulated in eighteen different locations, covering a wide range of climatic conditions. The prototype building description files assign the type of HVAC equipment used, and capacities across climate zones.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Comparing in planta accumulation with microbial routes to set targets for a cost-competitive bioeconomy

Plants and microbes share common metabolic pathways for producing a range of bioproducts that are potentially foundational to the future bioeconomy. However, in planta accumulation and microbial production of bioproducts have never been systematically compared on an economic basis to identify optimal routes of production. A detailed technoeconomic analysis of four exemplar compounds (4-hydroxybenzoic acid [4-HBA], catechol, muconic acid, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid [PDC]) is conducted with the highest reported yields and accumulation rates to identify economically advantaged platforms and breakeven targets for plants and microbes. The results indicate that in planta mass accumulation ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 dry weight % (dwt%) can achieve costs comparable to microbial routes operating at 40 to 55% of maximum theoretical yields. These yields and accumulation rates are sufficient to be cost competitive if the products are sold at market prices consistent with specialty chemicals ($20 to $50/kg). Prices consistent with commodity chemicals will require an order-of-magnitude-greater accumulation rate for plants and/or yields nearing theoretical maxima for microbial production platforms. This comparative analysis revealed that the demonstrated accumulation rates of 4-HBA (3.2 dwt%) and PDC (3.0 dwt%) in engineered plants vastly outperform microbial routes, even if microbial platforms were to reach theoretical maximum yields. Their recovery and sale as part of a lignocellulosic biorefinery could enable biofuel prices to be competitive with petroleum. Muconic acid and catechol, in contrast, are currently more attractive when produced microbially using a sugar feedstock. Ultimately, both platforms can play an important role in replacing fossil-derived products.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

In-situ and in-operando analysis of voltage losses using sense wires for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers

Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer development requires understanding processes at the materials and interface levels to reach the required performance and lifetime targets for increasing market penetration. To achieve the required progress, it is critical to develop advanced in-situ diagnostics that allow observation of the changes that come with the reduction of catalyst loading combined with long-term intermittent operation. This work presents an internal voltage sensing method that enables observing internal voltage drops in an operating electrolyzer cell. It allows the total cell resistance to be separated into anode, CCM, and cathode resistance. The method is demonstrated by operating cells with different anode porous transport layers (PTLs). The changing properties of the PTLs result in significant variations of the resistances. Enhancing the PTL properties with a protective coating reduces the anode resistance significantly. In addition to these observations, the method enables a real-time monitoring of resistance related values that impact performance in water electrolyzers. Long-term experiments with the method allow us to gain insights into processes that occur during operation such as conditioning or degradation. The internal voltage sensing method presented in this study is a novel technique for diagnosing, analyzing, and optimizing water electrolyzers and other energy conversion devices.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of wind turbine blade recycling baselines in the United States

Over the past several years, the wind energy industry has received scrutiny regarding wind turbine blade (WTB) recycling due to the landfilling of WTBs caused by a lack of industrially viable recycling solutions. The amount of WTBs that will need to be recycled is set to increase in the United States as the deployment of wind energy is expected to rapidly grow to meet the nation's energy goals by 2035. While significant progress has been made worldwide, it is still unclear which WTB recycling solutions would be the most cost and energy effective within the United States for the existing fleet of wind turbines. To guide researchers and industry with a clear path forward, a range of options for WTB recycling in the United States are modeled through development of baseline scenarios and the use of formal life cycle assessment (LCA). Model data have been collected through literature review, industry engagement, and expert opinion regarding current end of life practices and considerations surrounding equipment, labor, and logistics. A detailed baseline for WTB decommissioning processes has been developed and used to assess alternative approaches, such as on-site shredding to compare the impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The developed LCA model and baseline scenarios for WTB recycling is used to assess the current WTB decommissioning practices in the United States along with emerging recycling pathways, including cement kiln co-processing and pyrolysis. Initial findings indicate that there are different approaches to decommissioning WTBs in the United States, each of which has unique implications for recycling. In light of this finding, additional results from the modeling will be used to better understand decommissioning practices and assist in making educated decisions on recycling pathways for the future. Throughout the analysis, focus was given to where international efforts might differ from the United States. WTB recycling is occurring worldwide, and different countries have different drivers for creating markets for recycled WTB materials. The contrasts and similarities between the United States and other countries offer insight to areas of opportunity that the United States could investigate and areas that can be readily transferred from existing solutions. By modeling and characterizing the current decommissioning practices and potential recycling solutions for the United States, a clearer vision will be created for pathways forward as to how to handle end of life WTBs to enable more efficient and cost-effective opportunities for material recovery from end-of-life WTBs.

Korey, Matt↗
DOE OSTI2021

plutus: An R package to calculate electricity investments and stranded assets from the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM)

plutus is an R package that post-processes outputs from the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM) to calculate the power sector capital investment costs and stranded asset costs associated with GCAM projections of electricity generation by technology. GCAM is a market equilibrium model used to examine the dynamics of the coupled human-Earth system and the response of this system to global change, including socioeconomics, technology, climate, and policy. GCAM tracks electricity generation by technology and vintage over 32 geopolitical regions throughout the lifetime of each generating technology. plutus extends GCAM functionality by (1) estimating the foregone economic value of prematurely retired power plants as a result of economic-induced retirements compared to scheduled lifetimes; and (2) estimating the new installations and capital investments driven by future changes in economic, energy, agriculture, and land-use systems in GCAM.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Virtual Power Plants and Energy Justice

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Order 2222, issued in September 2020, removes barriers for distributed energy resources (DERs) to participate in wholesale energy markets by allowing DERs to aggregate and participate in wholesale markets as a single entity, known as a virtual power plant (VPP). VPPs can provide balancing, reliability, and resiliency grid services and can participate in capacity, energy and ancillary services markets. They can also increase customer energy access and lower electricity bills. This report focuses on VPP business models, including considerations of energy justice (EJ). Through an analysis of the VPP value chain, business models, programs, and pilots, several VPP applications are identified and grouped by their ability to have quantitatively measurable or monetized benefits. Benefits and barriers specific to underserved communities are outlined, and VPP programs with an intentional focus on underserved communities are compared to those without such a focus.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Application of Cyber-Informed Engineering for Protecting BESS

This white paper synthesizes an array of crucial grid services provided by BESS technology, assesses its architecture and communications, and presents a case study for analysis against the principles introduced by Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE). Furthermore, in walking through the analysis, this paper presents a framework to evaluate risks and solutions when considering BESS components. Asset owners and buyers could perform this analysis to assess their BESS product implementations, alternative inverter-based resources (IBR), and energy management systems (EMS). Battery systems fulfill various roles contingent on the unique market demands and the specific challenges presented by regional grid infrastructures. These roles also vary due to the differing utility models for ownership and operation, which are adapted to meet regional and local capabilities and requirements. Concerns have been raised regarding the potential for adversaries to exploit knowledge of battery operational patterns to orchestrate decisive attacks. However, the security of operational data for these systems may not be the primary vulnerability, as much of this information is already well-understood within the community. Applying a modest degree of subject matter expertise can often yield valuable predictions regarding how a battery will respond under certain conditions, such as grid emergencies, high or low-temperature days, Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, and outages. The operational characteristics of batteries are well-documented, and their capabilities, including the risks associated with misoperation and the resulting consequences, are published and understood within the industry. CIE practices represent the next step in gaining functional assurance and providing an acceptable level of risk, regardless of whether a battery vendor can support a trusted and validated supply chain. While this issue has exacerbated supply chain challenges, it is not an isolated condition. This foreign supply route is the primary source of BESS for the U.S. market. Significant efforts are underway through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to change that. Still, strategic short-term operational mitigations are needed to ensure the security of our operational technology (OT) systems, which are enhanced by instilling trust and are separate from vendors implementing CIE principles.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Techno-economic Analysis for a Low Cost and Recyclable Oxygen Carrier

The novelty of a chemical looping combustion (CLC) process is its ability to oxidize solid or gaseous fuels in a nitrogen-free environment eliminating the need for post combustion carbon dioxide capture. The technology is based on the oxygen carrier (OC); a metal oxide that at high temperatures can undergo a reduction reaction with a fuel, followed by an oxidation reaction with air. Successful development of CLC processes is dependent on the OC having: low cost, high attrition resistance under CLC conditions, and high reactivity for coal. In this paper, we discuss the development of a novel iron-based OC formulation produced from low cost and abundant raw materials. The active OC components are recyclable, with reformulated material performance comparable to the virgin OC, even when reformulated with ash contents of up to 10%. Furthermore, we discuss a techno-economic analysis for a centrally located OC facility for the novel OC, with a production capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per year. The facility serves a hypothetical market comprising 25 chemical looping combustion facilities, averaging 5 tonnes per hour OC replacement per facility. Estimates for the cost of the OC are around $150/tonne, and include an energy-to-power option to improve process economics.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗