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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 451 records · Page 25

Digital Twin Development of FASTR

This work package is focused on creating a digital twin (DT) of the Facility to Alleviate Salt Technology Risks (FASTR) experiment. FASTR is a high-profile facility tasked with maturing molten salt applications such as liquid salt energy storage, concentrated solar power facilities, and molten salt cooling systems supporting other advanced reactor technologies, all of which may be incorporated as components within the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program. As part of creating a digital twin (DT), verification and validation (V&V) has been performed for the physics-based model, and gaps have been identified. Additionally, a preliminary integration of the FASTR model has been completed with the existing physics-based model of the Thermal Energy Distribution System (TEDS)/Microreactor AGile Non-nuclear Experimental Testbed (MAGNET) facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). A Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) of the physics-based system model and a reduced-order model (ROM) were both used to test for a preliminary hardware in the loop operation when the physical loop was offline. Future tasks could include improving the physics-based model to better match the available experimental data, improving the hardware in the loop integration, and improving the integration with the TEDS model.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Battery Life Prediction Using Reduced-Order Physics Models and Machine Learning (CRADA Final Report)

Phase 1 (Original CRADA, plus no-cost extension modifications #1-3, 6/1/2017 to 3/13/2021): The Australian Department of Defence (AUDoD) is performing accelerated aging tests of Li-ion batteries to benchmark their reliability and degradation characteristics. Using its previously developed battery lifetime predictive model framework, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) will develop analytical models based the AUDoD data to predict lifetime of the multiple Li-ion battery chemistries under real-world use scenarios of interest to AUDoD. The NLR model is based on physical degradation mechanisms encountered by Li-ion batteries and has been previously validated. Phase 2 (CRADA modification #4, plus no-cost extension modification #5, 2/22/2021 to 3/30/2025): Train and support Australian Department of Defence personnel to use NLR software for model-based estimation of Li-ion battery lifetime using accelerated battery aging data collected by the Australian Department of Defence. Under separate DOE funding from 2019 to 2021, NLR enhanced its battery life-prediction software using machine learning algorithms to automate portions of the model-fitting process, requiring significantly less labor and expert judgment and also adding uncertainty quantification, increasing statistical rigor. Under Phase 2, NLR will customize NLR Software and provide it to AuDoD. NLR will enhance its NLR Model to capture aging modes of AuDoD's multi-cell modules, including cell-balancing effects. NLR will develop example single-cell and multi-cell models based on one AuDoD battery aging dataset. NLR will train AuDoD personnel on NLR Software. By the conclusion of the project, NLR will have provided AuDoD the training materials, a user manual and software needed to perform their own analysis of additional and/or future battery aging datasets.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

A Method for Generating Reduced Order Linear Models of Supersonic Inlets

For the modeling of high speed propulsion systems, there are at least two major categories of models. One is based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and the other is based on design and analysis of control systems. CFD is accurate and gives a complete view of the internal flow field, but it typically has many states and runs much slower dm real-time. Models based on control design typically run near real-time but do not always capture the fundamental dynamics. To provide improved control models, methods are needed that are based on CFD techniques but yield models that are small enough for control analysis and design.

Chicatelli, Amy↗

A Method for Generating Reduced-Order Linear Models of Multidimensional Supersonic Inlets

Simulation of high speed propulsion systems may be divided into two categories, nonlinear and linear. The nonlinear simulations are usually based on multidimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodologies and tend to provide high resolution results that show the fine detail of the flow. Consequently, these simulations are large, numerically intensive, and run much slower than real-time. ne linear simulations are usually based on large lumping techniques that are linearized about a steady-state operating condition. These simplistic models often run at or near real-time but do not always capture the detailed dynamics of the plant. Under a grant sponsored by the NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, a new method has been developed that can be used to generate improved linear models for control design from multidimensional steady-state CFD results. This CFD-based linear modeling technique provides a small perturbation model that can be used for control applications and real-time simulations. It is important to note the utility of the modeling procedure; all that is needed to obtain a linear model of the propulsion system is the geometry and steady-state operating conditions from a multidimensional CFD simulation or experiment. This research represents a beginning step in establishing a bridge between the controls discipline and the CFD discipline so that the control engineer is able to effectively use multidimensional CFD results in control system design and analysis.

Chicatelli, Amy↗

Flow field Reconstruction for Inhomogeneous Turbulence using Data and Physics Driven Models

A methodology combining Large Eddy Simulation (LES) trained data and a physics driven wave packet model to obtain a reduced order reconstruction for broadband, three-dimensional, temporally stationary but spatially inhomogeneous, incompressible turbulence. Wake turbulence generated by an axisymmetric dragging disk with a turbulent co-flow serves as the benchmark test case. We begin by studying the proper-orthogonal decomposition of the turbulent fluctuations taken from a high-resolution LES to first identify whether the fields demonstrate a low-rank character. It is argued that the presence of the turbulent co-flow results in a largely broadband character lacking any tonal properties. This is especially true for Strouhal numbers greater than 1 and only a small fraction of energy is contained in the leading order Kelvin-Helmholtz modes. As such reconstructions and reduced order modeling purely relying on data from LES does not appear to be a lucrative solution - contrary to problems with strongly tonal character. To supplement the missing energy from a low order truncated mode expansion, we utilize a physics based super-resolution (enrichment) algorithm that relies on spatio-temporally localized Gabor wave packets whose time evolution is described using a set of ordinary differential equations. The reconstructed flow has single- and two-point correlations that are consistent with the reference high resolution simulation data.

SLS↗

A COUPLED DETERMINISTIC TRANSPORT CALCULATION IN COMSOL USING PROPER ORTHOGONAL DECOMPOSITION

A coupled physics problem consisting of radiation transport and heat transfer was modeled using COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate a criticality accident. Reduced order models (ROM) were created to accelerate the radiation transport calculation through Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). Additionally, on-the-fly neutron cross sections were generated from a non-linear function through a feed forward neural network. The Livelink for MATLAB module allowed for data transfer between an otherwise independent solver and in-house modules. A data driven approach to POD was developed to act as a surrogate model to couple with heat transfer, with the POD module written in MATLAB coupled to an isolated heat transfer solve in COMSOL. A coupled transient solution resulted in a good approximation of the flux and temperature, with the maximum error being 3E-2 and 2.5E-3 respectively.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

A Data-Driven Nonparametric Approach for Probabilistic Load-Margin Assessment Considering Wind Power Penetration

A modern power system is characterized by an increasing penetration of wind power, which results in large uncertainties in its states. These uncertainties must be quantified properly; otherwise, the system security may be threatened. Facing this challenge, here we propose a cost-effective, data-driven approach to assessing a power system's load margin probabilistically. Using actual wind data, a kernel density estimator is applied to infer the nonparametric wind speed distributions, which are further merged into the framework of a vine copula. The latter enables us to simulate complex multivariate and highly dependent model inputs with a variety of bivariate copulae that precisely represent the tail dependence in the correlated samples. Furthermore, to reduce the prohibitive computational time of traditional Monte-Carlo simulations that process a large amount of samples, we propose to use a nonparametric, Gaussian-process-emulator-based reduced-order model to replace the original complicated continuation power-flow model through a Bayesian-learning framework. To accelerate the convergence rate of this Bayesian algorithm, a truncated polynomial chaos surrogate, which serves as a highly efficient, parametric Bayesian prior, is developed. This emulator allows us to execute the time-consuming continuation power-flow solver at the sampled values with a negligible computational cost. Results of simulations that are performed on several test systems reveal the impressive performance of the proposed method in the probabilistic load-margin assessment.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Regional surrogates for predictive control of digital twins

Digital twins of complex systems must involve a model that is fast, generalizable, and usable for real-time control. For example, high-fidelity nonlinear multiphysics simulations can capture laser-material interactions, but are too slow for optimization or model predictive control (MPC). Reduced-order models, used to accelerate such computation, frequently fail to generalize to unseen inputs or control states. We show theoretically that this failure is intrinsic, i.e., that a learned model is non-unique outside the sampled subspace when its low-rank structure arises from limited excitation and clustered eigenvalues, rather than from a user-imposed truncation alone. Motivated by this result, we propose a control-ready regional surrogate-construction framework for both autonomous and nonautonomous dynamics; it employs Koopman lifting to represent nonlinearities, while preserving spatial locality. We illustrate our approach by constructing a control-ready surrogate for the digital twin of a thermal component of additive-manufacturing process. Our surrogate, localized in space through a von Neumann stencil, is learned from noisy high-fidelity simulations that emulate thermal-camera images collected during the manufacturing. It is linear in thermo-physically augmented states so that MPC reduces to a convex quadratic program. The surrogate requires no online correction, generalizes to unseen scan paths and power profiles of the laser, and is more than three orders of magnitude faster than a finite-difference solver. Furthermore, when the MPC sequence computed on the digital twin is applied to this solver, closed-loop temperature regulation is recovered, showing that the surrogate preserves control-relevant input-output behavior.

Data-driven model↗

Physics-constrained, low-dimensional models for magnetohydrodynamics: First-principles and data-driven approaches

Plasmas are highly nonlinear and multiscale, motivating a hierarchy of models to understand and describe their behavior. However, there is a scarcity of plasma models of lower fidelity than magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), although these reduced models hold promise for understanding key physical mechanisms, efficient computation, and real-time optimization and control. Galerkin models, obtained by projection of the MHD equations onto a truncated modal basis, and data-driven models, obtained by modern machine learning and system identification, can furnish this gap in the lower levels of the model hierarchy. This work develops a reduced-order modeling framework for compressible plasmas, leveraging decades of progress in projection-based and data-driven modeling of fluids. We begin by formalizing projection-based model reduction for nonlinear MHD systems. To avoid separate modal decompositions for the magnetic, velocity, and pressure fields, we introduce an energy inner product to synthesize all of the fields into a dimensionally consistent, reduced-order basis. Next, we obtain an analytic model by Galerkin projection of the Hall-MHD equations onto these modes. We illustrate how global conservation laws constrain the model parameters, revealing symmetries that can be enforced in data-driven models, directly connecting these models to the underlying physics. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on data from high-fidelity numerical simulations of a three-dimensional spheromak experiment. Finally, this manuscript builds a bridge to the extensive Galerkin literature in fluid mechanics and facilitates future principled development of projection-based and data-driven models for plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Leveraging Optimal Sparse Sensor Placement to Aggregate a Network of Digital Twins for Nuclear Subsystems

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) require continuous monitoring of various systems, structures, and components to ensure safe and efficient operations. The critical safety testing of new fuel compositions and the analysis of the effects of power transients on core temperatures can be achieved through modeling and simulations. They capture the dynamics of the physical phenomenon associated with failure modes and facilitate the creation of digital twins (DTs). Accurate reconstruction of fields of interest (e.g., temperature, pressure, velocity) from sensor measurements is crucial to establish a two-way communication between physical experiments and models. Sensor placement is highly constrained in most nuclear subsystems due to challenging operating conditions and inherent spatial limitations. This study develops optimized data-driven sensor placements for full-field reconstruction within reactor and steam generator subsystems of NPPs. Optimized constrained sensors reconstruct field of interest within a tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel irradiation experiment, a lumped parameter model of a nuclear fuel test rod and a steam generator. The optimization procedure leverages reduced-order models of flow physics to provide a highly accurate full-field reconstruction of responses of interest, noise-induced uncertainty quantification and physically feasible sensor locations. Accurate sensor-based reconstructions establish a foundation for the digital twinning of subsystems, culminating in a comprehensive DT aggregate of an NPP.

42 ENGINEERING↗

High Frequency Transverse Instabilities in Low NOx Gas Turbines

This program addresses the topic of combustion instabilities under the goal of developing “Low-NOx Combustion Technology for ‘Air-Breathing’ Advanced Turbines”. With recent advances in high-temperature withstanding materials, the push towards higher efficiency has resulted in efforts to design high temperature, low NOx gas turbines. The development of such low NOx systems is often plagued with combustion instabilities. These instabilities manifest with acoustic modes that are longitudinal, transverse or both. A large body of literature and work exists addressing the underlying mechanisms and models for longitudinal instabilities and these have been successfully implemented in the design tools for low NOx gas turbines. The flame response aspect of the thermoacoustic feedback loop was often modeled in an acoustically compact framework since for low frequencies, the flame length scale was small compared to the acoustic wavelength. This enabled simplification where the modeling focused only on the overall flame response and not the local spatial distribution of the flame response. In addition, additional mechanisms such as the direct effect of pressure fluctuations on the flame response could be neglected. In contrast, high frequency instabilities which often are transverse in nature, have received relatively less attention in the literature. The flame is no longer acoustically compact and thus the local distribution of heat release must be accurately understood. The flame responds to velocity fluctuations, equivalence ratio fluctuations as before, but also to pressure fluctuations through kinetic effects. These aspects of high-frequency instabilities make it a challenging problem that requires a detailed elucidation of the underlying mechanisms and creating models for them. In this program we significantly improved the understanding of these instabilities through a combination of experiments (informed by interactions with OEMs), modeling of measured data and reduced order modeling of flame response. The results from the program can be used as basis for robust design tools that are essential for successfully developing gas turbines that operate in an environmentally acceptable manner with mitigation strategies for high-frequency instabilities.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Lower length scale model for palladium attack of silicon carbide in TRISO fuel

TRistructural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle fuels rely on silicon carbide (SiC) as the primary barrier for metallic fission product (FP) release. Palladium (Pd) generated by fission degrades the SiC layer, resulting in the formation of lamellar layers of palladium silicides (PdxSi) and carbon (C) perpendicular to the direction of attack. The Pd attack has been hypothesized to be responsible for failure of the SiC layer and enhance FP release. To better understand and quantify Pd attack of SiC in TRISO particles, a multiscale, mechanistic model of Pd transport is being developed by the NEAMS program. Previous work provided an initial hypothesis for modeling lamellar microstructure formation in SiC due to Pd attack using a phase-field model. The work described in this report builds on the previous model by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to parameterize the phase-field model kinetics, and build a reduced order model in BISON using the improved mesoscale Pd penetration model.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Development of a Techno-Economic Analysis Framework for a Solar Thermochemical Fuel Production Process

Synthetic liquid fuels can provide a drop-in substitute for fossil-based fuels in sectors such as aviation and maritime, where electrification is not a viable option due to the need for high specific energy density. However, for these alternative fuels to be adopted at a commercial scale, their price must be competitive compared to their fossil-based counterparts. The reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction offers a promising pathway, using hydrogen (sourced from electrolysis) and carbon dioxide as the feed and reacting to produce syngas - a mixture of H2 and CO at a specific ratio. Syngas is a useful precursor that can be converted into fuels and chemicals via known downstream processes, such as liquid transportation fuels via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. The RWGS reaction is currently not applied in commercial scale, unlike the rest of the components in the process chain (electrolyzers and syngas-to-fuel synthesis units). The RWGS reaction poses several challenges due to its restrictive thermodynamics. Being an equimolar reaction, high temperatures and a large excess of H2 are needed to achieve reasonable CO2 conversion at equilibrium. This has detrimental effects on practical process implementation and the quality of syngas that can be produced, with direct effect on the energy and capital requirements, as well as the need for expensive downstream separation. In this work, we are proposing to develop a new concentrating solar thermal (CST) compatible RWGS reactor, performing the reaction in a 2-step chemical looping process using metal oxide at a temperature range of 600-800 degrees Celsius. By decoupling the reactor from the solar receiver, the Generation 3 (Gen3) CST technology could be utilized, together with its proposed thermal energy storage (TES) technology, benefitting from a good match to the required temperatures. CST technology is a viable option for supplying the heat that could be rapidly deployed in scale, thus being a good match to the gas-to-liquid (GTL) process which requires a large minimal scale to be commercially viable. The integration of TES with CST also allows operating the plant at large annual capacity factors and avoids multiple shutdown/startup cycles, thus fitting into the steady-state operation mode that most GTL processes require. The main innovation in the proposed design hinges on a countercurrent reaction design using a packed bed reactor. In 2019 Metcalfe et al. showed the benefits of countercurrent species exchange could be realized in a redox chemical-looping processes, by storing the favorable countercurrent chemical potential profiles in a packed bed of non-stoichiometric oxide. Metcalfe et al. applied this breakthrough concept to the WGS reaction, which is conventionally a co-feed catalytic process, showing a dramatic improvement. Bulfin et al. (2023) performed a similar proof-of-concept demonstration for the RWGS reaction using CeO2, achieving cumulative and peak CO2 conversions of 88% and 95%, respectively, compared to a thermodynamic limit of 58% for the co-feed catalytic process at the same conditions. In our new REGENLOOP project, we are developing a reactor prototype from the heat-exchange packed bed reactor-type, a commonly used reactor in the chemical industry. The endothermic heat of reduction will be supplied to the reactor using CST, while the same heat transfer fluid (HTF) mechanism will be used to extract the exothermic heat of oxidation. An array of multiple reactors is used to supply constant high-purity CO stream, that is then mixed with H2 from electrolysis to produce a high-purity syngas at the required composition. By removing the CO-CO2 separation after the RWGS process, significant energy and cost reduction can be achieved. A physics-based TEA framework is currently being developed, covering all the major plant processes, from the solar collection through storage, chemical looping RWGS, GTL, and auxiliary unit operations, up to the liquid hydrocarbon product. This modeling framework will utilize reduced-order models for the chemical looping RWGS and TES, CST modeling using SolarPILOT, and Aspen Plus for the GTL. By using this combined physics-based approach, the effects of design/operating parameters on the performance and cost can be elucidated. In our presentation, the modeling framework will be presented in detail, including preliminary cost predictions of using this plant configuration under a few selected relevant case studies. This study will be used to identify the major cost drivers, informing further system design and optimization needed to chart the way for a commercially viable pathway.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗