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At least 505 records · Page 28

2022 GETEM Geothermal Drilling Cost Curve Update

The Geothermal Electricity Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM) is an essential tool for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) to understand the performance and cost of technologies it is seeking to improve. This detailed model is used for supply curve analyses, assessing the current economic feasibility and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of hydrothermal geothermal systems and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), and evaluating the potential impact of advanced geothermal technologies. GETEM can be used to estimate the performance and costs of currently available U.S. geothermal power systems. It is also used to estimate the costs of technologies 5 to 20 years in the future, given the direction of potential research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects. The model is intended to help GTO determine which proposed RD&D programs and projects might offer the most efficient improvement when using taxpayer funding. The model requires annual updates as well as revisions to reflect the current state of the art. Drilling costs are a significant portion of total geothermal development costs. The current GETEM drilling cost inputs rely on drilling data from 2009 and require an updated analysis of more recent data to ensure they remain representative of current technologies. An updated, more accurate understanding of costs could help the geothermal industry secure project development financing and investment funding and better allow the oil and gas (O&G) industry (both operators and service companies) to weigh potential geothermal market participation and customization. This report details recent drilling improvements from the Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) and the O&G sector, comparing drilling performance and costs with values in GETEM, particularly the baseline drilling cost curves. Although drilling performance at FORGE has improved significantly, we did not find associated cost decreases that would justify lowering the GETEM baseline cost curves at this time.

API↗

First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe(WMAP)Observations: The Angular Power Spectrum

We present the angular power spectrum derived from the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) sky maps. We study a variety of power spectrum estimation methods and data combinations and demonstrate that the results are robust. The data are modestly contaminated by diffuse Galactic foreground emission, but we show that a simple Galactic template model is sufficient to remove the signal. Point sources produce a modest contamination in the low frequency data. After masking approximately 700 known bright sources from the maps, we estimate residual sources contribute approximately 3500 mu sq Kappa at 41 GHz, and approximately 130 mu sq Kappa at 94 GHz, to the power spectrum [iota(iota + 1)C(sub iota)/2pi] at iota = 1000. Systematic errors are negligible compared to the (modest) level of foreground emission. Our best estimate of the power spectrum is derived from 28 cross-power spectra of statistically independent channels. The final spectrum is essentially independent of the noise properties of an individual radiometer. The resulting spectrum provides a definitive measurement of the CMB power spectrum, with uncertainties limited by cosmic variance, up to iota approximately 350. The spectrum clearly exhibits a first acoustic peak at iota = 220 and a second acoustic peak at iota approximately 540, and it provides strong support for adiabatic initial conditions. Researchers have analyzed the CT(sup Epsilon) power spectrum, and present evidence for a relatively high optical depth, and an early period of cosmic reionization. Among other things, this implies that the temperature power spectrum has been suppressed by approximately 30% on degree angular scales, due to secondary scattering.

Hinshaw, G.↗

Photovoltaic (PV) System Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) Evaluation with Grid Support Function Valuation and Service Lifetime Estimation

Photovoltaic (PV) systems play a critical role in renewable energy resource grid integration, and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is commonly used to evaluate PV system feasibility in modern power grids. In this work, a revised PV system LCOE calculation model is derived to quantify the potential of LCOE reduction. Particularly, the grid support functions are valuated to offset the investment and operation costs of PV systems, which thereby reduces the LCOE. Meanwhile, PV system service lifetime is also estimated with the derived PV inverter reliability model, considering the critical components (i.e., semiconductor devices and capacitors). The case studies with field datasets are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the developed LCOE calculation model.

Zhao, Shijia↗

Oxygen production System Models for Lunar ISRU

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) seeks to make human space exploration feasible; by using available resources from a planet or the moon to produce consumables, parts, and structures that otherwise would be brought from Earth. Producing these in situ reduces the mass of such that must be launched and doing so allows more payload mass' for each mission. The production of oxygen from lunar regolith, for life support and propellant, is one of the tasks being studied under ISRU. NASA is currently funding three processes that have shown technical merit for the production of oxygen from regolith: Molten Salt Electrolysis, Hydrogen Reduction of Ilmenite, and Carbothermal Reduction. The ISRU program is currently developing system models of, the , abovementioned processes to: (1) help NASA in the evaluation process to select the most cost-effective and efficient process for further prototype development, (2) identify key parameters, (3) optimize the oxygen production process, (4) provide estimates on energy and power requirements, mass and volume.of the system, oxygen production rate, mass of regolith required, mass of consumables, and other important parameters, and (5) integrate into the overall end-to-end ISRU system model, which could be integrated with mission architecture models. The oxygen production system model is divided into modules that represent unit operations (e.g., reactor, water electrolyzer, heat exchanger). Each module is modeled theoretically using Excel and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and will be validated using experimental data from on-going laboratory work. This modularity (plug-n-play) feature of each unit operation allows the use of the same model on different oxygen production systems simulations resulting in comparable results. In this presentation, preliminary results for mass, power, volume will be presented along with brief description of the oxygen production system model.

Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo↗

Hazard and risk analysis framework for nuclear power plant–based integrated energy systems

Employing integrated energy systems (IESs) with nuclear power plants (NPPs) can improve NPP utilization by leveraging dedicated thermal and electric power delivery, but it may also increase operational safety risks. This paper presents a framework to identify and quantify hazards and risks for such IESs. The framework combines accidentology to review past industrial accidents with failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) to identify potential future incidents. Hydrogen explosion and toxic chemical release hazards are of particular concern. Explosion consequences are quantified using the Bauwens-Dorofeev (Bauwens) and trinitrotoluene equivalent mass (TNT-EM) methods, while chemical release consequences are computed using the Gaussian atmospheric dispersion method. Operational disturbances from direct electrical and thermal integration that may affect NPP safety are modeled using probabilistic risk analysis (PRA). Hazards and risks are then evaluated for regulatory compliance. The framework is applied to IESs comprising pressurized or boiling water reactors supplying three levels of thermal and electrical power to industrial customers. Case studies include high-temperature steam electrolysis hydrogen plants of varying capacities and a synthetic fuel production plant. Sensitivity analysis examines piping component failures in the PRA model as a precursor to cost estimation for thermal extraction line design. Additionally, Fussel-Vessely (FV) and risk increase importance (RII) measures identify risk-informed design improvements for the thermal extraction system. FMEA highlights hazards such as loss of offsite power, prompt loss of electrical load, loss of thermal output, and immediate steam diversion, in addition to hydrogen explosions and toxic chemical releases. Both Bauwens and TNT-EM methods suggest maintaining several hundred meters of separation between the NPP and hydrogen facility to mitigate explosion risks. PRA results show a maximum initiating event frequency increase of 1.15% and an overall risk increase of 0.28%. Importance measure analysis identifies upstream pipe leak isolation components as critical. Evaluating the results against safety regulations, it is concluded that hazards and risks can be managed to comply with regulations through risk-informed thermal and electrical connection designs, component selection, maintenance programs, and safe separation distances between NPPs and integrated industrial facilities.

08 - HYDROGEN↗

Making Better Use of On-Site PV Generation: Direct Distribution of DC Power in Buildings

With the increasing availability of Direct Current (DC) power from on-site solar systems, building designers now have the option of direct distribution of DC power to energy storage systems and end-use loads such as lighting, electronics, and motors. Research shows that direct-DC can reduce building distribution losses by 5-15%, while improving power reliability. A readily available way to implement direct-DC distribution is Power over Ethernet (PoE), which typically has provided low-voltage DC to power office equipment such as WiFi access points. With recent updates to the PoE standard, equipment such as network-controlled LED lighting, thin client and computer workstations, HVAC controllers, fans, motors, and actuators can now be powered by PoE and are commercially available. This paper presents results from a DOE-funded project that is demonstrating PoE technologies and describes a DC modeling and design tool that is intended to help building designers properly evaluate and design DC distribution systems in buildings. The tool provides designers of DC power systems with estimates of both power system losses and indirect effects on building heating and cooling. The results of this research demonstrate that the design methods and products are available to implement DC power in buildings today.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

GEOPHIRES v2.0

GEOPHIRES v2.0 is a geothermal techno-economic simulation tool upgraded from GEOPHIRES v1.2. The name stands for "GEOthermal energy for Production of Heat and electricity (“IR”) Economically Simulated". GEOPHIRES combines reservoir, wellbore, and surface plant technical models with cost correlations and levelized cost models to estimate the capital and operation and maintenance costs, instantaneous and lifetime energy production, and overall levelized cost of energy of a geothermal plant. In addition to electricity generation, direct-use heat applications and combined heat and power or cogeneration can be modeled. Various upgrades have been implemented to develop GEOPHIRES v2.0, including: updating the built-in cost correlations, coupling to the external reservoir simulator TOUGH2, enhancing the built-in wellbore simulator, converting the programming language to Python, and making the code open-source. Users are encouraged to build upon the tool, e.g. by implementing their own correlations or coupling to other simulators.

Beckers, Koenraad↗

EVI-EnSitePy (Electric Vehicle Infrastructure – Energy Estimation and Site Optimization Tool in Python) [EVI-X Modeling Suite] [SWR-25-07]

EVI-EnSitePy is a comprehensive agent-based tool designed for the analysis and design of high-power charging sites, encompassing a wide array of site agents including Electric Vehicles (EVs), chargers, energy storage units (ESS), renewable energy resources (DER), and loads. This versatile tool offers diverse functionalities and a modular modeling approach, allowing detailed configuration of agents based on power ratings, port numbers, energy capacities, demand requirements, charger interfaces, and flexibility to customize the tool for project specific goals. By simulating agent interactions and employing various metrics, EVI-EnSitePy enables the assessment of site performance, exploration of energy management systems (EMS), and implementation of innovative EV charging policies. Utilizing EV charge schedules and arrival states, the tool performs thorough charging site simulations, with outputs consisting of agent and site-level power profiles and statistical metrics. Employing a tree graph structure, EVI-EnSitePy supports nested site structures and power distribution modeling. The tool's ability to generate charging schedules deterministically or via stochastic analysis further enhances its versatility. Through its features and capabilities, EVI-EnSitePy offers a powerful platform for informed decision-making in the realm of high-power charging site design and operation.

Jackson, Derek [National Renewable Energy Laborato↗

Tax Credits for Clean Electricity: The Distributional Impacts of Supply-Push Policies in the Power Sector

We evaluate distributional and efficiency consequences of the bulk power clean electricity tax credits authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. To do so, we link detailed electricity capacity expansion, computable general equilibrium, data-rich microsimulation, and air pollution models to estimate the policy incidence in terms of economic welfare and health impacts across a wide range of demographic groups. We evaluate the tradeoff between policy efficiency and income progressivity by comparing the tax credits to cap-and-trade policies that vary revenue recycling approaches. Under the scenarios analyzed the bulk power tax credits lead to increased clean electricity technology deployment resulting in a reallocation of capital from elsewhere in the economy, higher prices for capital and other goods, lower power prices, and lower emissions. The tax credits yield progressive outcomes for both economic welfare and health impacts. The health benefits exceed total policy costs and provide greater benefits for low-income and historically-marginalized households given the coincidence of household and emission source locations.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Gradient-Based Multi-Area Distribution System State Estimation

The increasing distributed and renewable energy resources and controllable devices in distribution systems make fast distribution system state estimation (DSSE) crucial in system monitoring and control. We consider a large multi-phase distribution system and formulate DSSE as a weighted least squares (WLS) problem. We divide the large distribution system into smaller areas of subtree structure, and by jointly exploring the linearized power flow model and the network topology, we propose a gradient-based multi-area algorithm to exactly and efficiently solve the WLS problem. The proposed algorithm enables distributed and parallel computation of the state estimation problem without compromising any performance. Numerical results on a 4,521-node test feeder show that the designed algorithm features fast convergence and accurate estimation results. Comparison with traditional Gauss-Newton method shows that the proposed method has much better performance in distribution systems with a limited amount of reliable measurement. The real-time implementation of the algorithm tracks time-varying system states with high accuracy.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

Online State Estimation for Time-Varying Systems

The paper investigates the problem of estimating the state of a time-varying system with a linear measurement model; in particular, the paper considers the case where the number of measurements available can be smaller than the number of states. In lieu of a batch linear least-squares (LS) approach well-suited for static networks, where a sufficient number of measurements could be collected to obtain a full-rank design matrix the paper proposes an online algorithm to estimate the possibly time-varying state by processing measurements as and when available. The design of the algorithm hinges on a generalized LS cost augmented with a proximal-point-type regularization. With the solution of the regularized LS problem available in closed-form, the online algorithm is written as a linear dynamical system where the state is updated based on the previous estimate and based on the new available measurements. Conditions under which the algorithmic steps are in fact a contractive mapping are shown, and bounds on the estimation error are derived for different noise models. Numerical simulations are provided to corroborate the analytical findings.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Improved Upper Limit on Degree-scale CMB B -mode Polarization Power from the 670 Square-degree POLARBEAR Survey

We report an improved measurement of the degree-scale cosmic microwave background B-mode angular-power spectrum over 670 deg 2 sky area at 150 GHz with Polarbear. In the original analysis of the data, errors in the angle measurement of the continuously rotating half-wave plate, a polarization modulator, caused significant data loss. By introducing an angle-correction algorithm, the data volume is increased by a factor of 1.8. We report a new analysis using the larger data set. We find the measured B-mode spectrum is consistent with the ΛCDM model with Galactic dust foregrounds. We estimate the contamination of the foreground by cross-correlating our data and Planck 143, 217, and 353 GHz measurements, where its spectrum is modeled as a power law in angular scale and a modified blackbody in frequency. We place an upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r < 0.33 at 95% confidence level after marginalizing over the foreground parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Development of the ECLSS Sizing Analysis Tool and ARS Mass Balance Model Using Microsoft Excel

The development of a Microsoft Excel-compatible Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) sizing analysis "tool" for conceptual design of Mars human exploration missions makes it possible for a user to choose a certain technology in the corresponding subsystem. This tool estimates the mass, volume, and power requirements of every technology in a subsystem and the system as a whole. Furthermore, to verify that a design sized by the ECLSS Sizing Tool meets the mission requirements and integrates properly, mass balance models that solve for component throughputs of such ECLSS systems as the Water Recovery System (WRS) and Air Revitalization System (ARS) must be developed. The ARS Mass Balance Model will be discussed in this paper.

McGlothlin, E. P.↗

Long short-term memory embedded nudging schemes for nonlinear data assimilation of geophysical flows

Reduced rank nonlinear filters are increasingly utilized in data assimilation of geophysical flows, but often require a set of ensemble forward simulations to estimate forecast covariance. On the other hand, predictor-corrector type nudging approaches are still attractive due to their simplicity of implementation when more complex methods need to be avoided. However, optimal estimate of nudging gain matrix might be cumbersome. In this paper, we put forth a fully nonintrusive recurrent neural network approach based on a long short-term memory (LSTM) embedding architecture to estimate the nudging term, which plays a role not only to force the state trajectories to the observations but also acts as a stabilizer. Furthermore, our approach relies on the power of archival data and the trained model can be retrained effectively due to power of transfer learning in any neural network applications. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach, we perform twin experiments using Lorenz 96 system. Our results demonstrate that the proposed LSTM nudging approach yields more accurate estimates than both extended Kalman filter (EKF) and ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) when only sparse observations are available. With the availability of emerging AI-friendly and modular hardware technologies and heterogeneous computing platforms, we articulate that our simplistic nudging framework turns out to be computationally more efficient than either the EKF or EnKF approaches.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Effectiveness and nonlinear characterization of vibro-impact energy harvesting absorbers in controlling base-excited systems

In this study, model derivations are carried out of a dynamical system under base excitations with a piezoelectric energy harvesting absorber as the tuned-mass-damper. Additionally, amplitude stoppers are included to the absorber in order to create a broadband resonant response, increasing the window of operational use for energy harvesting and system's control. This study is unique in the fact that the energy harvester is coupled to the source of its excitation. A nonlinear reduced-order model is developed using Euler–Lagrange principle and the Galerkin method to accurately estimate the energy harvesting absorber's displacement, harvested power, and the oscillating response of the primary structure. The nonlinear interaction of the energy harvesting absorber and the amplitude stoppers are the focus of this study, where an in-depth investigation of bifurcation points of the primary structure and energy harvesting absorber responses is performed. Due to a transfer of energy between the primary structure and the absorber, it is shown that a soft stopper with stiffness $5 \times {10^3}\,{\text{N}}\;{{\text{m}}^{ - 1}}\,$ has great control of the primary structure with 60% of the uncontrolled amplitude being reduced, as well as an increase of the harvested energy. Medium stoppers with small initial gaps size and hard stoppers do not control the primary structure and show a decrease in the energy harvesting capabilities due to the activation of the nonlinear contact-impact interactions. Finally, these stoppers also generate aperiodic regions due to the possible presence of grazing bifurcations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Searching for quasar candidates with periodic variations from the Zwicky Transient Facility: results and implications

ABSTRACT We conduct a systematic search for quasars with periodic variations from the archival photometric data of the Zwicky Transient Facility by cross-matching with the quasar catalogues of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Véron-Cetty and Véron. We first select out 184 primitive periodic candidates using the generalized Lomb–Scargle periodogram and autocorrelation function and then estimate their statistical significance of periodicity based on two red-noise models, i.e. damped random walk (DRW) and single power-law (SPL) models. As such, we finally identify 106 (DRW) and 86 (SPL) candidates with the most significant periodic variations out of 143 700 quasars. We further compare DRW and SPL models using Bayes factors, which indicate a relative preference of the SPL model for our primitive sample. We thus adopt the candidates identified with SPL as the final sample and summarize its basic properties. We extend the light curves of the selected candidates by supplying other archival survey data to verify their periodicity. However, only three candidates (with 6–8 cycles of periods) meet the selection criteria. This result clearly implies that, instead of being strictly periodic, the variability must be quasi-periodic or caused by stochastic red-noise. This exerts a challenge to the existing search approaches and calls for developing new effective methods.

Chen, Yong-Jie (ORCID:0000000342807673)↗

Dark matter microhalos from simplified models

Here, we introduce simplified models for enhancements in the matter power spectrum at small scales and study their implications for dark matter substructure and gravitational observables. These models capture the salient aspects of a variety of early Universe scenarios that predict enhanced small-scale structure, such as axionlike particle dark matter, light vector dark matter, and epochs of early matter domination. We use a model-independent, semianalytic treatment to map bumps in the matter power spectrum to early forming subsolar mass dark matter halos and estimate their evolution, disruption, and contribution to the substructure of clusters and galaxies at late times. We discuss the sensitivity of gravitational observables, including pulsar timing arrays and caustic microlensing, to both the presence of bumps in the power spectrum and variations in their basic properties.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A systematic decision-making methodology to formalize the selection of degree of realism in screening analysis of probabilistic risk assessment

In the nuclear power domain, Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is used to inform decision-making for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Recently, there has been an increase in the utilization of modeling and simulation (M&S) to support the estimation of PRA inputs. Risk analysts should carefully select the PRA items that require M&S and their degree of realism (DoR) with consideration of the required resources. To support this selection, this article formulates a systematic decision-making approach for the DoR selection. The DoR selection is made based on two predictive decision-making attributes: the predicted differences in safety risk estimate (ΔSaRi) and the cost of analysis (ΔCAN). This research also develops and quantifies causal models to estimate ΔSaRi and ΔCAN. The causal model-based prediction of ΔSaRi and ΔCAN helps reduce the trial-and-error nature of the DoR selection in the PRA screening analysis and provides insights for DoR selection and the gradual refinements of PRA realism. This approach is demonstrated for a case study on fire PRA of NPPs, where an adequate DoR is selected from two fire models: an engineering correlation and a zone model.

Alkhatib, Sari [Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and↗