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At least 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Winding Down: End of Service and Recycling for Wind Energy [Slides]

In this webinar hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's WINDExchange initiative, experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory introduce attendees to key concepts in end-of-service processes for wind energy technologies and infrastructure, including decommissioning, repowering, and recycling. As wind energy projects across the United States become older, decisions about end-of-service options and component processing are of growing importance to project owners and operators, state and local decision-makers, and neighboring communities. There is also concern about the blade waste that must be processed, with a number of recycling solutions being developed to meet this need. This webinar introduces the processes and activities involved at the end of a wind energy project's lifespan; discusses the impacts these activities have on communities, landowners, the wind energy industry, and other stakeholders; explains different blade recycling methods; and discusses the future of recycling in the wind energy industry.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Protein engineering for critical metal recovery beyond REEs

Achieving decarbonization and electrification goals will require expanded production of critical minerals (CM), including Li, Co, Cu, rare earths, Ni, and graphite, whose supply chains are geopolitically vulnerable. Problematically, current extraction and separation processes pose severe environmental burdens that impede the development of a diversified domestic supply chain and undercut the environmental benefits of energy technologies [1, 2]. The development of efficient, economical, and environmentally sustainable processing technologies is thus important for meeting the CM demand of the emerging energy technology market. To this end, we have recently developed an all-aqueous protein-based process for rare earth element (REE) extraction and separation. To extend our protein-based approach to critical metals beyond REEs, the goal of this project was to develop a protein discovery and engineering pipeline to generate a panel of proteins that selectively bind target critical metals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Organ-delimited gene regulatory networks provide high accuracy in candidate transcription factor selection across diverse processes

Organ-specific gene expression datasets that include hundreds to thousands of experiments allow the reconstruction of organ-level gene regulatory networks (GRNs). However, creating such datasets is greatly hampered by the requirements of extensive and tedious manual curation. Here, we trained a supervised classification model that can accurately classify the organ-of-origin for a plant transcriptome. This K-Nearest Neighbor-based multiclass classifier was used to create organ-specific gene expression datasets for the leaf, root, shoot, flower, and seed in Arabidopsis thaliana . A GRN inference approach was used to determine the: i. influential transcription factors (TFs) in each organ and, ii. most influential TFs for specific biological processes in that organ. These genome-wide, organ-delimited GRNs (OD-GRNs), recalled many known regulators of organ development and processes operating in those organs. Importantly, many previously unknown TF regulators were uncovered as potential regulators of these processes. As a proof-of-concept, we focused on experimentally validating the predicted TF regulators of lipid biosynthesis in seeds, an important food and biofuel trait. Of the top 20 predicted TFs, eight are known regulators of seed oil content, e.g., WRI1, LEC1, FUS3. Importantly, we validated our prediction of MybS2, TGA4, SPL12, AGL18, and DiV2 as regulators of seed lipid biosynthesis. We elucidated the molecular mechanism of MybS2 and show that it induces purple acid phosphatase family genes and lipid synthesis genes to enhance seed lipid content. This general approach has the potential to be extended to any species with sufficiently large gene expression datasets to find unique regulators of any trait-of-interest.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Pilot Plant Reliability Metrics for Grinding and Fast Pyrolysis of Woody Residues

The reliability of biomass size reduction, feeding, and conversion processes remains a critical technical hurdle and important cost driver for biomass conversion systems. While Biorefinery projects have typically focused on scaling up conversion technologies that maximize yield of desired products, e.g. fuels and chemicals, solids handling and reactor feeding systems are often considered secondarily. These are frequently scaled down or adapted from other industries, without a full appreciation of how biomass heterogeneity and variability impact process reliability. Here we present the effects of feedstock variability on relative throughput, mass loss, plant uptime, operator intervention, product yield, and product quality for grinding and fast pyrolysis operations at the pilot scale. Loblolly pine residues were sourced and collected using commercial harvesting techniques. Grinding and pyrolysis experiments were performed at INL's Biomass Feedstock National User Facility and NREL's Thermal and Catalytic Process Development Unit, respectively. Preprocessing throughput using a hammer mill varied between 31-48% of nameplate capacity (5 tons/hr), and fast pyrolysis throughput varied between 57-72% of nameplate capacity (20 kg/hr) for an overall system throughput of 18-35% of nameplate capacity across biomass preprocessing and conversion to pyrolysis oil. Pyrolysis oil yields varied between 46-53% (feedstock carbon to oil, dry basis). Grinder overloads in the size reduction step were more prevalent for lower ash and higher moisture materials. During fast pyrolysis operations, downtime was caused by bridging in the feed and char removal systems and plugging in the condensation system, and significant variation in the type and frequency of operator intervention was observed between feedstocks. Cohesion of solids (feedstock and char) leading to system plugging appeared less problematic for higher ash feedstocks, and differences in condenser plugging behavior between high and low ash feedstocks indicates the composition and physical nature of the deposited material is important for process reliability and is feedstock dependent.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Catalysis Driven by Confined Hot Carriers at the Liquid/Metal/Zeolite Interface

In chemical industry controlling the activity and selectivity of a chemical conversion process is of immense importance. Traditionally, dissipation of thermal energy drives transformation of reactants, which may lead to formation of a variety of products; it remains a key challenge to design a process that dissociation and formation of specific chemical bonds can be triggered to form certain desirable products with very high selectivity, preferably at low temperatures. Introduction of light-sensitive solid materials into catalysis provides a powerful, alternate strategy for this purpose.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Changes in Precipitation and Air Temperature Contribute Comparably to Permafrost Degradation in a Warmer Climate: Modeling Archive

The dataset contains "ecosys" model outputs reported in Mekonnen et al. (2021) to examine the importance of heat transfer from precipitation on permafrost degradation. The study highlighted the importance of mechanistically representing this process in earth system models (ESMs) and demonstrated that precipitation is as important an environmental control on permafrost degradation as surface air temperature. Included are (1) the modeled spatially averaged annual active layer depth (ALD) and daily maximum soil temperature across the North Slope of Alaska from 1980 to 2100, and (2) 25 km resolution modeled ALD for averaged for two time intervals, 2006 - 2010 and 2096 - 2100. The results are provided for two "ecosys" simulations: S1 with precipitation heat transfer and S2 without precipitation heat transfer across the North Slope of Alaska. These data are available in a NetCDF and csv data formats. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cumulative $\chi^2$ Metric for VALID for ENDF/B-VII.1 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 in SCALE 6.3b9

Nuclear data testing is generally performed in a manner similar to validation: a series of critical benchmark experiments is modeled, and the differences between calculated and expected results are examined to understand the performance of a code and cross section set. This process is repeated for multiple sets of experiments with different transport codes and sometimes with different datasets. Occasionally, data processing differences are also important in understanding the differences in calculated results. Relevant experts then meet periodically to compare results and set priorities for improvement in the next round of data updates. This process has been largely effective, despite the confounding factors of different benchmark sets, application areas, sponsors, nationalities, and the resulting different priorities.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Models For Automated Screening Of Condition Report

As part of the corrective action program (CAP) at nuclear power plants, employees are given the opportunity and responsibility to identify issues and conditions present at the plant that may have an effect on the function of plant systems. When an employee identifies a potential issue, they create a condition report which is submitted to the CAP system. This condition report then goes through a screening process to determine the importance of the condition and thus the priority that must be placed on correcting it and/or preventing future issues. The purpose of this software is to assist with the screening process in an automated way using machine learning models. This software covers both the training of a machine learning model as well as applying the model to records.

Krome, Cameron↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hypervelocity impact in stellar media: heat shielding, shock fronts and ablation clouds

The Frontier Plasma Science experiments proposed by our team will model the processes occurring during spacecraft atmospheric entries and meteorite planetary collisions by inserting material targets into the Scrape off Layer (SOL) and edge plasma of a tokamak. This project will investigate important plasma-material processes during high-enthalpy atmospheric entries, including heat flux generation and material ablation. Of particular interest is to explore heat and particle flux detachment in front of the sample using concepts and techniques developed in the latest studies of divertor detachment. Exploration missions to the Solar System’s gaseous giants and hyperbolic re-entries into the Earth’s atmosphere require spacecraft that can withstand high velocity (>10 km/s), high heat fluxes (>10 MW/m2), and corresponding enthalpies. Ablative materials have been used as thermal shields to protect the spacecraft from severe heating during entry. However, developing high enthalpy ablating materials is challenging due to the lack of adequate ground testing facilities. Our team stated that the performance of candidate shielding materials could be assessed in a laboratory environment with multiple in-situ diagnostics, which was enabled by the progress in the tokamak research. Modern machines feature relatively long discharges (~10 s) with well-controlled stable plasma conditions at the edge where the heat flux and the flow speed are similar to those experienced during atmospheric entries. The experiments were carried out at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, CA, operated by General Atomics (GA) for the DoE.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

The underappreciated importance of solar radiation in constraining spring phenology of temperate ecosystems in the Northern and Eastern United States

Spring phenology of temperate ecosystems is highly sensitive to climate change, generating various impacts on many important terrestrial surface biophysical processes. Although various prognostic models relying on environmental variables of temperature and photoperiod have been developed for spring phenology, comprehensive ecosystem-scale evaluations over large landscapes and long-time periods remain lacking. Further, environmental variables other than temperature and photoperiod might also importantly constrain spring phenology modelling but remain under-investigation. To address these issues, we leveraged around 20-years datasets of environmental variables (from Daymet and GLDAS products) and the spring phenology metric (i.e., the greenup date) respectively derived from MODIS and PhenoCams across 108 sites in the Northern and Eastern United States. We firstly cross-compared MODIS-derived greenup date with official PhenoCams product with high accuracy (R 2 = 0.70). Then, we evaluated the three prognostic models (i.e., Growing Degree Date (GDD), Sequential (SEQ) and optimality-based (OPT)) with MODIS-derived spring phenology, assessed the model residuals and their associations with soil moisture, rainfall, and solar radiation, and revised the two photoperiod-relevant models (SEQ, OPT) by replacing the daylength variable with solar radiation, which was found to contribute the most to model residuals. We found that 1) all models demonstrated good capability in characterizing spring phenology, with OPT performing the best (RMSE = 8.04 ± 5.05 days), followed by SEQ (RMSE = 10.57 ± 7.77 days) and GDD (RMSE = 10.84 ± 8.42 days), 2) all models displayed high model residuals showing tight correlation with solar radiation (r = 0.45–0.75), and 3) the revised models that included solar radiation significantly performed better with an RMSE reduction by 22.08%. Such results are likely because solar radiation better constrains early growing season plant photosynthesis than photoperiod, supporting the hypothesis of spring phenology as an adaptive strategy to maximize photosynthetic carbon gain (approximated by solar radiation) while minimizing frost damage risk (captured by temperature). Collectively, our study here reveals the underappreciated importance of solar radiation in constraining spring phenology of temperate ecosystems, and suggests ways to improve spring phenology modelling and other phenology-related ecological processes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multi-Dimensional Scaling on Groups

Leveraging the intrinsic symmetries in data for clear and efficient analysis is an important theme in signal processing and other data-driven sciences. A basic example of this is the ubiquity of the discrete Fourier transform which arises from translational symmetry (i.e. time-delay/phase-shift). Particularly important in this area is understanding how symmetries inform the algorithms that we apply to our data. In this paper we explore the behavior of the dimensionality reduction algorithm multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) in the presence of symmetry. We show that understanding the properties of the underlying symmetry group allows us to make strong statements about the output of MDS even before applying the algorithm itself. In analogy to Fourier theory, we show that in some cases only a handful of fundamental ``frequencies'' (irreducible representations derived from the corresponding group) contribute information for the MDS Euclidean embedding.

Dimensionality reduction, Representation theory, D↗
DOE OSTI2024

SAIL Supermicron Bioaerosol (SSB) Field Campaign Report

The Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL) Supermicron Bioaerosol (SSB) study was designed to complement the larger Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) SAIL science goals to understand aerosol processes and aerosol-cloud interactions in the Colorado River’s East River Watershed Basin. Supermicron aerosol, particles larger than one micron in diameter, and bioaerosols, primary particles containing biological material, are important for understanding atmospheric processes and sources within high mountainous terrain. For example, they can interact with clouds and the water cycle such as by serving as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals that can eventually result in precipitation events. These particles can also be recycled back to the surface via wet and dry deposition, where they can alter plant and microbial growth and/or be reemitted again, forming a positive feedback loop within the Earth system known as bioprecipitation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

One-Parameter Analytical Derivation in Modified Budyko Framework for Unsteady-State Streamflow Elasticity in Humid Catchments

The changes in climate and catchment properties have altered the hydrological processes significantly at different spatiotemporal scales around the world. In particular for finer time scales, changes in water storage, which has been commonly neglected for long-term temporal scales, may play an important role on hydrological processes. Nevertheless, few studies addressed this question in modifying the Budyko framework, with most of them remaining a steady-state assumption on catchment characteristics. Here, in this work, we derive new analytical formulas of unsteady-state streamflow elasticity in a modified Budyko framework, incorporating both storage change and one specific parameter for catchment properties. We study 78 humid catchments in the USA with simulation data of daily hydrological processes from a probability-distribution-based hydrological model (the modified HyMOD). As indicated by results, the annual storage change ratio is linearly correlated with the annual aridity index, and this relationship can be used to estimate elasticity coefficients with our formulas. The estimated elasticity coefficients perform well in simulating the annual streamflow with the power-law model. For different catchments, variability of the unsteady-state elasticity is higher than that of the steady-state elasticity. Unsteady-state streamflow coefficients show significant linear correlation with catchment properties, such as the average slope, average elevation, and catchment area. This study provides a new analytical approach to investigate the interannual stability of catchments with varying climate and catchment properties.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-Resolution Frequency-Domain Spectroscopic and Modeling Studies of Photosystem I (PSI), PSI Mutants and PSI Supercomplexes

Photosystem I (PSI) is one of the two main pigment–protein complexes where the primary steps of oxygenic photosynthesis take place. This review describes low-temperature frequency-domain experiments (absorption, emission, circular dichroism, resonant and non-resonant hole-burned spectra) and modeling efforts reported for PSI in recent years. In particular, we focus on the spectral hole-burning studies, which are not as common in photosynthesis research as the time-domain spectroscopies. Experimental and modeling data obtained for trimeric cyanobacterial Photosystem I (PSI 3 ), PSI 3 mutants, and PSI 3 –IsiA 18 supercomplexes are analyzed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their excitonic structure and excitation energy transfer (EET) processes. Detailed information on the excitonic structure of photosynthetic complexes is essential to determine the structure–function relationship. We will focus on the so-called “red antenna states” of cyanobacterial PSI, as these states play an important role in photochemical processes and EET pathways. The high-resolution data and modeling studies presented here provide additional information on the energetics of the lowest energy states and their chlorophyll (Chl) compositions, as well as the EET pathways and how they are altered by mutations. We present evidence that the low-energy traps observed in PSI are excitonically coupled states with significant charge-transfer (CT) character. The analysis presented for various optical spectra of PSI 3 and PSI 3 -IsiA 18 supercomplexes allowed us to make inferences about EET from the IsiA 18 ring to the PSI 3 core and demonstrate that the number of entry points varies between sample preparations studied by different groups. In our most recent samples, there most likely are three entry points for EET from the IsiA 18 ring per the PSI core monomer, with two of these entry points likely being located next to each other. Therefore, there are nine entry points from the IsiA 18 ring to the PSI 3 trimer. We anticipate that the data discussed below will stimulate further research in this area, providing even more insight into the structure-based models of these important cyanobacterial photosystems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Spin–orbit effects on the electronic and optical properties of lead iodide

Lead iodide (PbI2) has gained much interest due to its direct electronic gap in the visible range and layered crystal structure. It has thereby been considered as a promising material for applications in atomically thin optoelectronic devices. In this work, we present a detailed investigation of the effect of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) that arises from the presence of heavy atoms on the electronic and optical properties of PbI2 using first-principles calculations based on density-functional theory and many-body perturbation theory. We find that SOC not only alters the bandgap but also induces the mixing of orbital characters, resulting in a significant change in the overall band structure and charge carrier effective masses. Moreover, the band orbital mixing caused by SOC results in the dramatic change in optical transition matrix elements and, correspondingly, the absorption spectrum. Our experimentally measured absorption spectra validate the calculation results and demonstrate the importance of SOC in the optical processes of PbI2. Our findings provide insights that are important for the potential use of PbI2 as a material platform for visible optoelectronic devices.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

W-4 W88 Systems Engineering Summer 2023 Project [Slides]

The purpose is to create a simple, streamlined process to produce reports on out of tolerance conditions with CMM data. The methods are to develop the code or process within MATLAB to import the data (import tool can be used) and to develop the code to be able to plot the data of interest. The end states are to use MATLAB to analyze CMM data from the PA and document the process for a user with some knowledge of MATLAB and an engineering background.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Exploring the Value of Nodes with Multicommunity Membership for Classification with Graph Convolutional Neural Networks

Sampling is an important step in the machine learning process because it prioritizes samples that help the model best summarize the important concepts required for the task at hand. The process of determining the best sampling method has been rarely studied in the context of graph neural networks. In this paper, we evaluate multiple sampling methods (i.e., ascending and descending) that sample based off different definitions of centrality (i.e., Voterank, Pagerank, degree) to observe its relation with network topology. We find that no sampling method is superior across all network topologies. Additionally, we find situations where ascending sampling provides better classification scores, showing the strength of weak ties. Two strategies are then created to predict the best sampling method, one that observes the homogeneous connectivity of the nodes, and one that observes the network topology. In both methods, we are able to evaluate the best sampling direction consistently.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

The importance of explicitly representing the streambed in watershed models

Abstract The streambed is the critical interface between the aquatic and terrestrial systems and hosts important biogeochemical hot spots within river corridors. Although the streambed characteristics are significantly different from those of its surrounding soil, the streambed itself has not been explicitly represented in watershed models. Here, we explicitly incorporated a streambed layer into an integrated hydrologic model through model parameterization and discretization. We examined the hydrological effects of streambed characteristics, including hydraulic conductivity ( K ), layer thickness, and resolution, on the exchange fluxes across the streambed as well as the streamflow at the watershed outlet. The numerical experiments were performed in the American River Watershed, a headwater, mountainous watershed within the Yakima River Basin in central Washington. Despite having a negligible effect on the watershed streamflow, an explicit representation of the streambed with distinctive properties dramatically changed the magnitude and variability of the exchange flux. In general, a larger streambed K along with a thicker streambed layer induced larger exchange fluxes. The exchange flux was most sensitive to the streambed resolution. A finer streambed resolution increased exchange fluxes per unit area while reducing the overall exchange volumes across the entire streambed. The amount of baseflow decreased by 6% as the streambed resolution increased from 250 to 50 m. This finding is important because these hydrological changes may, in turn, affect the exchange of nutrients and contaminants between surface water and groundwater and the associated biogeochemical processes. Our work demonstrated the importance of representing streambeds in fully distributed, process‐based watershed models to better capture the exchange flow dynamics in river corridors.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗