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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

User Friendly Web-Based Tool to Assess the Energy Efficiency and Durability of Residential Wall Retrofits

According to the U.S. Department of Energy Windows and Building Envelope Research and Development Roadmap for Emerging Technologies, building envelope wall energy loss in the United States accounts for about 5.9 x 1010 kWh or 2 quads of energy annually, costing homeowners and occupants billions of dollars. Enclosure retrofits targeting these losses can save significant energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save occupants millions of dollars over time. Older homes, built before 1992 when DOE’s Building Energy Codes Program was established, represent approximately 68 percent of the residential building stock in the country, often having significant air leakage and inadequate insulation. Homes with little to no air sealing or insulation have heating and cooling losses that can represent a substantial portion of utility bills.High-performance building envelope retrofit systems are rarely selected for retrofit applications. Current solutions are expensive and/or unfamiliar to many designers, builders, contractors, and code officials and therefore are perceived as risky. The dominant perceived risk is durability specifically related to condensation and moisture accumulation in the building envelope component.The Building Science Advisor (BSA) is a rule-based expert system web-based tool that was originally developed to assist building professionals in designing energy efficient and durable wall systems for new construction. With the present focus being placed on upgrading the existing building stock, a retrofit module has been developed that, based on the location, existing construction, and planned retrofit strategy, provides recommendations on how to address the retrofit in a manner that will perform in accordance with IECC 2018 building code and not create a durability problem. This paper will describe the development of this tool and demonstrate its features and capabilities.

Desjarlais, Andre Omer↗
DOE OSTI2022

Flexible Siting Criteria and Staff Minimization for Micro-Reactors

The economic potential of micro-reactors is vast and underestimated. Commonly-emphasized applications include niche markets such as remote communities, mines and military bases. However, micro-reactors could be used as flexible energy generators also for larger markets, such as mobile and containerized agriculture and manufacturing facilities, district heating, micro-grids for data centers, sea ports, airports and hospitals. The implication is that micro-reactors may have to be deployed also in non-remote locations. Successful implementation of micro-reactors needs a navigable and predictable licensing process, technology-appropriate siting restrictions, risk-informed emergency and safety requirements, and practical operating and maintenance requirements. The primary goal of this project was to develop siting criteria that are tailored to micro-reactors deployable in densely-populated areas, e.g., urban environments. To achieve that goal, we compared the characteristics of the MIT research reactor (MITR) with those of leading micro-reactor concepts (e.g., eVinci, USNC, Aurora), and evaluated whether and how the MITR design basis (e.g., inherent safety features, engineered safety systems, source term, emergency planning and emergency operating procedures) and associated regulations may be applicable to these new micro-reactors as well. What makes MITR a unique analogue in this context is its small power rating (6 MWt) and physical size, mode of operations (24/7 with a somewhat more commercial flavor than typical university reactors), and especially its urban location. Of course significant differences exist, such as mission (power production vs. research) and the reactor design itself. Leveraging the MITR experience, this project was able to generate criteria that will allow micro-reactors to realize their full economic potential as flexible heat and electricity generators for a diverse portfolio of applications in non-remote locations. As such, the outcome of this project might encourage investment in and use of micro-reactors. A second goal of the project was to conceptualize a model of operations for micro-reactors that would minimize the staffing requirements, and thus reduce the cost of electricity and heat generated by these systems. Here too our approach was to systematically review the MITR experience and requirements, as well as survey the innovations in autonomous control technologies and monitoring (e.g., advanced sensors, drones, robotics, AI) that would permit a dramatic reduction in staffing at future micro-reactor installations. The scope of work was expanded after the start date to include also an evaluation of micro-reactor security, using the so-called consequence-based analysis, and the development of a methodology to perform dynamic risk assessment for micro-reactors, using system theory and modeling and simulation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing qubit control pulses for state preparation

In the burgeoning field of quantum computing, the precise design and optimization of quantum pulses are essential for enhancing qubit operation fidelity. This study focuses on refining the pulse engineering techniques for superconducting qubits, employing a detailed analysis of square and Gaussian pulse envelopes under various approximation schemes. We evaluated the effects of coherent errors induced by naive pulse designs. Furthermore, we identified the sources of these errors in the Hamiltonian model’s approximation level. We mitigated these errors through adjustments to the external driving frequency and pulse durations, thus implementing a pulse scheme with stroboscopic error reduction. Our results demonstrate that these refined pulse strategies improve performance and reduce coherent errors. Moreover, the techniques developed herein are applicable across different quantum architectures, such as ion-trap, atomic, and photonic systems.

Chirp modulation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated Process Model Utilization and Development for Inertial Fusion Energy

This CRADA between LLNS and Longview Fusion Energy Systems utilized a modernized LLNL Integrated Process Model (IPM) to assess technoeconomic viability and power plant configurations for Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). During the collaboration period, a streamlined IPM model was produced by LLNL, which consolidated a combination of 3 models under one file. Additionally, obsolete parameters were removed and parameters available for trade space analysis were organized in a user-friendly fashion on the front interface. Gain scaling curves were discussed and analyzed in the framework of the IPM. Additional updates were made to account for cost scaling to today's dollars using an average inflation rate. Heat transfer material costing was updated using a ground up approach with public vendor data. Further levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) methods and models were discussed and reviewed for applicability to the IPM. Prior published literature on optical scaling was also discussed. Moreover, as part of this CRADA, the Participant developed a fusion technology development roadmap and point designs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated Process Model Utilization and Development for Inertial Fusion Energy

This CRADA between LLNS and Longview Fusion Energy Systems utilized a modernized LLNL Integrated Process Model (IPM) to assess technoeconomic viability and power plant configurations for Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). During the collaboration period, a streamlined IPM model was produced by LLNL, which consolidated a combination of 3 models under one file. Additionally, obsolete parameters were removed and parameters available for trade space analysis were organized in a user-friendly fashion on the front interface. Gain scaling curves were discussed and analyzed in the framework of the IPM. Additional updates were made to account for cost scaling to today's dollars using an average inflation rate. Heat transfer material costing was updated using a ground up approach with public vendor data. Further levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) methods and models were discussed and reviewed for applicability to the IPM. Prior published literature on optical scaling was also discussed. Moreover, as part of this CRADA, the Participant developed a fusion technology development roadmap and point designs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bringing HPE Slingshot 11 support to Open MPI

The Cray HPE Slingshot 11 network is used on the new exascale systems arriving at the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) laboratories (e.g., Frontier, Aurora, Perlmutter). As such, the support of this network is an important capability to meet the needs of exascale applications. Here, this article highlights recent work to develop supporting infrastructure to enable Open MPI to efficiently support these new platforms. A key component of this effort involves development of a new Open Fabrics Interface (OFI) provider, LinkX. We discuss the design and development of enhancements that take advantage of the new Slingshot 11 network and AMD GPUs. We include performance data from tests on the Frontier supercomputer using synthetic communication benchmarks, and the vendor provided MPI as a baseline for comparison. The tests demonstrate full functionality of Open MPI on the system and initial results show favorable performance when compared to the highly tuned vendor implementation.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Carbonate Management to Enable Energy- and Carbon-Efficient CO 2 Electrolysis (Final Technical Report)

The rapid growth and plummeting cost of solar energy have spurred growing interest in using CO 2 electrolysis to produce chemicals and fuels as an alternative to conventional petrochemical processes. High-temperature (>800 °C) solid oxide electrolyzers that convert CO 2 into CO and O 2 have recently become commercially available. Low-temperature electrolysis cells offer the prospect of more convenient and flexible operation, which is critical for utilizing intermittent solar energy, and provide access to more valuable C 2+ products such as ethylene, ethanol, and propanol. Over the past 10 years, research in this area has yielded substantial progress in both fundamental understanding of the requisite electrocatalytic reactions and design of prototype devices. Leveraging insights from fuel cells and membrane water electrolyzers, researchers have developed electrolysis cells with gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) that have demonstrated high CO 2 electrolysis current densities (>100 mA cm –2 ) as well as promising selectivity and stability. Despite these advances, the energy efficiency (electrical energy-to-product) and carbon efficiency (CO 2 -to-product) of low-temperature CO 2 electrolysis remain far too low for large-scale deployment. A preponderance of evidence indicates that the principal source of efficiency losses is the rapid and thermodynamically favorable reaction of CO 2 with hydroxide (OH – ) to form carbonate (CO 3 2– ). Carbonate formation imposes steady-state electrolysis conditions that result in large voltage and CO 2 losses for all known (photo)electrochemical CO 2 cells. While much current research remains focused on CO 2 reduction catalyst design, this largely overlooked CO 3 2– problem presents a fundamental scientific barrier to creating a viable electrochemical option for converting solar energy into chemicals and fuels. The project pursues an integrated, multi-PI research effort that establishes a fundamental science of CO 3 2– management. PI Kanan and Co-PI Mani’s contribution to the project is to evaluate strategies to mitigate the CO 3 2– problem by changing the properties of the electrolyte and the environment in which CO 2 reduction catalysis takes place. Experimental studies showed that electrolytes composed of a high concentration of both CO 3 2– and HCO 3 – , which serve as moderately alkaline buffers, improved the cell voltage by compared to all-HCO 3 – electrolytes, but these buffered systems still show substantial CO 2 uptake that reduces pH over time. Computational studies developed a homogenized model of a CO 2 reduction catalyst layer that permits a low-cost exploration of the high-dimensional parameter space associated with catalyst layers on gas diffusion electrodes. The model was validated by accurately reproducing experimental data for the related but simpler reaction of CO reduction and then used to probe the effects of catalyst layer architecture on CO 2 reduction. Minimizing the size of catalyst and hydrophobic domains in the catalyst layer is predicted to mitigate CO 3 2– formation and thereby enable prolonged operation at elevated pH. In support of the CO 2 electrolysis studies, a new method for rapidly prototyping electrochemical cells was developed and validated. The method uses a combination of 3D printing and electroless plating to generate conductive cell components for evaluating new cell designs. The carbonate problem encompasses mass transport processes and acid-base reactions that are relevant to many other electrochemical systems. Investigation of strategies to address the carbonate problem led to an additional line of inquiry into the physicochemical phenomena that determine the efficiency of electrochemical acid-base production, which has numerous applications in the broader field of carbon management. New strategies for using the supporting electrolyte to inhibit H + /OH – recombination in electrochemical acid-base production were evaluated, leading to the development of a novel acid-base producing system that eliminates the need for ion exchange membranes and exhibits promising efficiency and current densities for scalable applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A critical review of electrochemical heat pump technologies: Status, challenges, and perspectives

The development of advanced heat pump technologies is critical for reducing global energy consumption in the building sector, where space heating and cooling account for nearly 50% of energy use. Electrochemical heat pumps (EHPs) offer a promising alternative to vapor compression systems by enabling direct electrochemical-to-thermal energy conversion, often with environmentally benign working fluids that exhibit low or zero global warming potential (GWP). Prior literature has predominantly focused on chemically reactive heat pumps, while comprehensive assessments of electrochemical mechanisms remain limited. Here, this review addresses this gap by systematically evaluating the underlying principles, architectures, and performance metrics of EHP systems. Compared to conventional vapor compression systems, EHPs can achieve 10%-30% higher energy efficiency, with reported cooling coefficients of performance (COP c ) ranging from 3.5 to 14.3 under standard operating conditions. Despite these advantages, widespread adoption is hindered by challenges including membrane degradation, electrode fouling, sluggish redox kinetics, and elevated system-level capital costs. To address these limitations, the review outlines three research priorities: (i) the development of advanced membranes, catalysts, and electrode materials with enhanced chemical and mechanical stability; (ii) the application of molecular-level simulations for the rational design of high-performance redox-active working fluids; and (iii) the integration of advanced diagnostic techniques for real-time monitoring and sustained operation of EHPs. By consolidating recent advances and explicitly identifying technological and scientific gaps, this work uniquely contributes a comprehensive framework for guiding future electrochemical heat pump research and facilitating the transition to sustainable thermal management technologies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Topology optimization of an airfoil fin microchannel heat exchanger using artificial intelligence

High-performance microchannel heat exchangers are needed to supply heat for power conversion for nuclear microreactors. An airfoil fin microchannel design, constructed of Alloy 617 with helium as the working fluid, is analyzed and optimized using a design of experiments with artificial intelligence techniques. The use of airfoil fins offers the potential to reduce pressure drop across the heat exchanger, as compared to other types of channel configurations. A framework for topology optimization of airfoil fin printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) has been developed that can be readily extended to different fin sizes and shapes, as well as different inlet and operating conditions, materials of construction, and working fluids. An optimization procedure is developed that employs computational fluid dynamics for a set of design points identified using Latin hypercube sampling. Computational fluid dynamics is used to analyze a simplified two-channel configuration where five design parameters are varied – inlet angle, fin scale, extent of staggering, transverse and longitudinal pitches. Two methods (a 5D polynomial and a regression neural network) are compared for generating surrogate models and the resulting response surface approximation is input to a genetic algorithm that is used to identify a set of optimal parameters. The optimal geometries are found across six channel Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 5000, since inlet conditions affect flow through the heat exchanger. Additionally, a set of optimal designs that maximizes heat transfer and minimizes pressure drop is identified, and a thermal stress analysis is performed on the optimal design. Correlations for the Nusselt number and Darcy friction factor are developed that can be useful for thermal hydraulic analyses using system codes. Thermal stresses are analyzed and a brief discussion of the status of code cases of PCHEs for nuclear applications is given. Testing and thermomechanical modeling is needed to facilitate future code compliance of PCHEs for high pressure and high temperature applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Roadmap for warm dense matter physics

This roadmap presents the state-of-the-art, current challenges and near future developments anticipated in the thriving field of warm dense matter (WDM) physics. Originating from strongly coupled plasma physics, high pressure physics and high energy density science, the WDM physics community has recently taken a giant leap forward. This is due to spectacular developments in laser technology, diagnostic capabilities, and computer simulation techniques. Only in the last decade has it become possible to perform accurate enough simulations & experiments to truly verify theoretical results as well as to reliably design experiments based on predictions. Consequently, this roadmap discusses recent developments of and contemporary challenges for theoretical methods and experimental techniques needed to describe, create and diagnose WDM. A large part of this roadmap is dedicated to specific WDM systems and applications in astrophysics, inertial confinement fusion and novel material synthesis.

dense astrophysical objects↗
DOE OSTI2025

Secure biosystems design in Saccharomyces cerevisiae establishes effective biocontainment strategies and mechanisms of escape

The widespread application of recombinant DNA and synthetic biology approaches for microbial metabolic engineering pursuits has motivated the development of biocontainment strategies, targeting safe and secure deployment of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs). However, the design rules and mechanistic drivers governing biocontainment efficacy, as well as impacts of biocontainment upon microbial fitness, remain to be comprehensively evaluated, hindering predictive design and application of these strategies. We have developed a platform for high-resolution analysis of a transactivated kill switch in laboratory and industrial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to assess modes of biocontainment escape and establish design rules for development of kill switch systems in diverse microbes. A camphor-regulated, RelE toxin system was systematically deployed to assess the impacts of differential kill switch copy number and ploidy in laboratory vs industrial strains. CRISPR-mediated integration of the biocontainment system at various loci revealed rapid escape events driven, in part, by mutations to both the Cam-transactivator (cam-TA) and RelE toxin. Genetic engineering enabled recapitulation of escape phenotypes, confirming mechanisms of escape and establishing structure-function relationships in the cam-TA system. Interestingly, genomic resequencing of escape mutants also revealed a series of off-target mutations, implicating additional modes of kill switch escape. Multi-copy integration of the kill switch system mitigated these effects by orders of magnitude, without compromising the biosynthetic capacity of the microbes, but proved insufficient to establish sustained biocontainment. The resultant data define a series of key design rules for next-generation biocontainment strategies and add to a growing foundational knowledge base targeting establishment of secure biosystems designs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

CALORIE: A Constraint Language and Optimizing Runtime for Exascale Power Management (Final Report)

This final technical report summarizes the key accomplishments on the CALORIE project, a DOE Early Career award received by PI Henry Hoffmann at the University of Chicago. CALORIE’s main goal was to create principled methodologies, tools, and practices to help scientists and high-performance computing (HPC) operators maximize the performance and insights obtained from scientific computing applications in the face of exascale power constraints. The project accomplished these goals by completing the following objectives: • Designing a language for describing application goals (including constraints and objectives) and system capabilities. The application goals will include things like which simulations or simulations plus in situ analysis will be run together, what the power constraints are, and what requirements there are for in situ analysis (for example, a desired frame rate for visualization). The system capabilities include all components that can be adjusted to tradeoff power and performance. • Designing a runtime system that takes specified goals and capabilities and dynamically determines what capabilities to use to meet the goals. This runtime adapts to changes in goals, application behavior, or available capabilities to automatically maintain the goals despite unexpected disturbances. • Developing a foundational understanding of how power constraints affect the problem of scheduling applications in large-scale systems. This report provides an overview of the accomplishments related to each of these key objectives.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Refreshing Waste Tracking Software for the 2020's - 20059

The Waste Compliance and Tracking System (WCATS) is a software application designed to manage waste operations from cradle to grave. The system provides the support needed for characterization, generation, processing, and shipment of all waste generated or stored at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Waste is tracked with task records for containers in real-time via both desktop and mobile device applications. The software allows application administrators to configure sites with appropriate limits for Pu-239 equivalent Curies (PE-Ci), fissile gram equivalents (FGEs), volume limits, as well as custom limits for site-specific technical safety requirements (TSRs). WCATS was developed based on a need at Los Alamos National Laboratory for a modern, customizable waste tracking system that could support many different waste types. The application is built using Oracle{sup R} database and Oracle{sup R} ADF Swing application framework. The technologies and software frameworks selected for the system were finalized in 2006. Although Oracle{sup R} Database has proven to be robust, the user interface and application framework interface with the database have been deprecated and need to be replaced. The technologies selected for modernization follow the open-source model, which allows the WCATS team to more easily recruit developers, improve the speed of development, and ease the deployment and adoption of the system. The tools that support the re-engineering effort are Vue.js{sup R}, a JavaScript{sup R} framework, and Spring Boot{sup R}, an API (application programming interface) development tool written in Java{sup R}. An API allows for simplified communication from the database to the user interface of the application. In addition, legacy Crystal Reports{sup R} will be replaced with reports developed with the open source Pentaho{sup TM}f Report Designer community edition. Because the application uses HTML and JavaScript{sup R}, it builds upon tools that have been used for many years in web development. These tools have large community support and their proven track record will ensure that enhancements to WCATS can continue for years to come. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Laser ablation spectrometry for studies of uranium plasmas, reactor monitoring, and spent fuel safety

Nuclear security is one of the defining challenges of our time. Nuclear threats range from deliberate dispersal of radioactive material to contaminate the vital infrastructure to diversion and smuggling of special nuclear material for clandestine nuclear programs and nuclear terrorism, respectively. There is an associated need to develop and sustain the nuclear forensics capabilities, which requires the understanding of complex processes that occur in plasmas of nuclear materials. The area of nuclear safety has seen a resurgence of public interest, and there is a concomitant need to safely store used nuclear fuel and detect structural material failure in nuclear power systems, especially in innovative reactor designs envisioned for future adoption. Laser-produced plasmas are complicated extreme environments that can generate intense and rich, highly specific signatures of nuclear and radiological materials, which can then be explored in a wide range of applications. They include interdiction and rapid detection of nuclear materials, including their isotopic composition, detection over long distances, laboratory simulation of weapons effects, monitoring the condition of structural materials in dry cask storage containers, and novel instrumentation for nuclear power systems. We present a compilation of recent representative examples of the application of laser spectroscopy, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in particular, to nuclear safety and security problems. A case is made that spectroscopic techniques based on laser-produced plasmas offer complementary, and sometimes unique, capabilities that motivate the continued exploration of their efficient production and understanding of the signatures they produce

(020.3260) Isotope shifts, (140.3440) Laser-induce↗
DOE OSTI2021

Theory-guided Design of Refractory MPEAs for High-Temperature, Harsh-Service Conditions

Focusing on novel materials for harsh-service environments (oxidation, corrosion, and load), durability, higher operational temperature, and direct impact on power-generation technology, the goal was, using a quantitative theory-guided design approach integrated with high-throughput synthesis and characterization for validation, to accelerate by 50% the development of high temperature, refractory-based multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) materials platforms (with co-designed oxidation-resistant, self-healing coatings) that demonstrate phase-stable operation with desired properties at 10-20% higher temperatures in oxidizing environments over state-ofthe- art systems (like Ni-stainless steels, i.e., Haynes 282 – used in critical gas turbine applications, and refractory TZM, i.e., molybdenum-rich Mo99.4-Ti0.5-Zr0.08-C0.02 in wt%). Notably, refractory MPEAs may achieve higher operational temperatures with superior creep strength and offer 50-100% larger thermal conductivity (140-170 W/m-K) than Ni-based systems, potentially eliminating active cooling, reducing system weight, complexity, and cost. Achieving this goal addresses DOE material challenges in energy generation and efficiency (higher-temperature operation), reduced lifecycle energy (waste-heat recovery), and accelerating materials development in support of AMO’s Strategic Plan and QTR goals. DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) goal of reducing industrial energy intensity and GHG emissions is addressed by development of coated refractory MPEAs exhibiting 20%+ higher operational temperature (direct increase of Carnot efficiency), higher melting temperatures (better phase stability), superior creep strength (better lifetime with creep rate lower by factor of 10), larger (50-100%) thermal conductivity (improved cooling without active cooling), reduced complexity (single-phase alloys), self-healing coating (reliable oxidation-resistance) and cost.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design and calibration of an optically segmented single volume scatter camera for neutron imaging

The Optically Segmented Single Volume Scatter Camera (OS-SVSC) aims to image neutron sources for non-proliferation applications using the kinematic reconstruction of elastic double-scatter events. Our prototype system consists of 64 EJ-204 organic plastic scintillator bars, each measuring 5mm × 5mm × 200mm and individually wrapped in Teflon tape. The scintillator array is optically coupled to two silicon photomultiplier ArrayJ-60035 64P-PCB arrays, each comprised of 64 individual 6x6mm J-Series sensors arranged in an 8 × 8 array. We report on the design details, including component selections, mechanical design and assembly, and the electronics system. The described design leveraged existing off-the-shelf solutions to support the rapid development of a phase 1 prototype. Several valuable lessons were learned from component and system testing, including those related to the detector's mechanical structure and electrical crosstalk that we conclude originates in the commercial photodetector arrays and the associated custom breakout cards. We detail our calibration efforts, beginning with calibrations for the electronics, based on the IRS3D application-specific integrated circuits, and their associated timing resolutions, ranging from 3090ps. With electronics calibrations applied, energy and position calibrations were performed for a set of edge bars using 22 Na and 90 Sr, respectively, reporting an average resolution of 12.07±0.03mm for energy depositions between 900keVee and 1000keVee. We further demonstrate a position calibration method for the internal bars of the matrix using cosmic-ray muons as an alternative to emission sources that cannot easily access these bars, with an average measured resolution of 14.86+-0.29mm for depositions between 900keVee and 1000keVee. The coincident time resolution reported between pairs of bars measured up to 400ps from muon acquisitions. Energy and position calibration values measured with muons are consistent with those obtained using particle emission sources.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Designing Antifouling and Antimicrobial Interfaces: Structural Characterization using CryoEM, Automated Microscopy, and AI Image Segmentation

The design of functionalized surfaces for interactions with biological systems is critical across sectors such as healthcare, energy, and agriculture. Tailoring materials for specific applications, such as antifouling and antimicrobial surfaces, demands a comprehensive understanding of topology and chemistry across multiple length and time scales on both biological and materials systems. This work presents the development and characterization of nanostructured surfaces with controlled topographies and chemistries that enhance bacterial membrane disruption, reduce biofilm formation, and improve antimicrobial and antifouling capabilities. Two specific use cases will be presented - the use of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) for bacterial growth inhibition and the development of antifouling surfaces to prevent protein and bacterial adsorption [1-4]. By leveraging large language models (LLMs) for image segmentation and training [5], we enable automated analysis of terabyte-scale cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) datasets. This analysis provides statistical insights into the biotic/abiotic interface and facilitates automated electron microscopy experiments to mitigate time and dose. The integration of cryogenic electron tomography (cryoET) and cryogenic focused ion beam (cryoFIB) milling enables high-resolution, near-native-state imaging and 3D reconstructions of bio/material interfaces [6]. Orthogonal characterization techniques and computational modeling further enhances our understanding, offering a robust platform for the design and optimization of next-generation functional surfaces [7].

Williams, Alexis [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000252835822)↗
DOE OSTI2022

GOOML - Finding Optimization Opportunities for Geothermal Operations: Preprint

Geothermal Operational Optimization with Machine Learning (GOOML) is a transferable and extensible component-based geothermal asset modeling framework that considers complex steamfield relationships and identifies optimization prospects using a data-driven approach. We have used this framework to develop digital twins that provide steamfield operators with an operational environment to analyze and understand historical and forecasted power production, explore new steamfield configuration possibilities, and seek optimal asset management for real world applications. The GOOML modeling software is built on a generic component-based systems framework that allows for both historical and forecast analysis. A GOOML model can perform historical data-assimilation using first-principal thermodynamics to create a meaningful data model. Historical production data can then be coupled with a forecast framework to train machine-learning models of steamfield components to predict future outputs. This modeling environment enables digital exploration of steamfield design configurations and operational scenarios. GOOML digital twins have been developed for steamfields in New Zealand and the United States representing differing power generation and field conditions. These digital twins have been validated by comparing hindcast predictions against historical production data. Reinforcement learning experiments were conducted to demonstrate the ability to programmatically explore the operations space using machine learning agents. Our initial results are compelling; two to five percent increases in annual energy production were demonstrated by the GOOML models with no additional infrastructure build required. GOOML offers a new approach to geothermal operations by applying state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms, comprehensive data analytics, and interaction with digital twins. Through application of these tools, operators will realize greater availability and higher net generation which will increase the cost effectiveness of geothermal energy projects.

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