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DOE OSTI2020

Gen3 CSP Materials: Critical Review of Limited Existing and New Survey Data

Abstract Novel high temperature (≥ 700°C) Heat Transfer Medias (HTMs, e.g., molten salts) and corrosion-resistant Containment Materials (CMs, e.g., metal alloys or ceramics) are necessary for concentrated solar power (CSP) given the emphasis on higher temperatures and high cycle efficiency in the 3rd generation CSP (Gen3 CSP) technologies. In early 2019, we sent out an online survey to the Gen3 CSP community to fully assess the communal needs for thermophysical properties measurements of which HTMs and CMs, and what temperature range and other testing environments would be ideal for those materials. Based on the recorded responses, seven unique HTMs and twenty-six unique CMs were identified. Since then the list has been constantly updated, following our interactions and inputs from the Gen3 CSP community, with some new materials substituting their older counterparts. Currently, there are total of ten unique HTMs and twenty-nine unique CMs that are under consideration by the Gen3 CSP community. By analyzing the available body of research to date and combining it with our survey data from within the Gen3 CSP community, this paper presents trends of what people in the CSP world are thinking regarding materials worth investigating and suggests which thermophysical property measurements are critical to advance high-temperature CSP systems.

Gunawan, Andrey↗

DOE OSTI2023

High-performance multimode elastocaloric cooling system

Developing zero–global warming potential refrigerants has emerged as one area that helps address global climate change concerns. Various high-efficiency caloric cooling techniques meet this goal, but scaling them up to technologically meaningful performance remains challenging. We have developed an elastocaloric cooling system with a maximum cooling power of 260 watts and a maximum temperature span of 22.5 kelvin. These values are among the highest reported for any caloric cooling system. Its key feature is the compression of fatigue-resistant elastocaloric nitinol (NiTi) tubes configured in a versatile multimode heat exchange architecture, which allows the harnessing of both high delivered cooling power and large temperature spans. Our system shows that elastocaloric cooling, which only emerged 8 years ago, is a promising direction for commercializing caloric cooling.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

DOE OSTI2022

Length and Seed Current Scaling of a Mark X HG driven, 8 inch PBX9501 RancheroS FCG system: II

This report is intended to examine the ultimate operating limits of the combined Pt. 88 capacitor bank (CB) + MarkX Helical Generator (HG) driving a RancheroS Flux Compression Generator (FCG) with various physics experiment load inductances. As such, many degradation mechanisms are neglected in this study. In actual use, degradation of the HG output current delivered to the FCG will probably occur. Internal changes in the HG can occur due to both Ohmic heating in the generator leading to a time varying series resistance [R(t)] such as that seen in the first trial (Shot 0) of the MarkX, as well as any misbehavior, such HG internal turn to turn shorts such as seem to have occurred in subsequent MarkX tests. Both reduce the output current from the HG that is used to seed the FCG. The results discussed here are intended to probe the limits of the RancheroS driving various loads, in an ideal situation in which none of the HG or system degradation mechanisms prior to the FCG armature first motion (FM) reduce the seed current. The HG is modeled simply as a time varying inductance [L(t), as measured in Shot 0], with a constant internal resistance [R(t) = 0.2mOhm]. The RancheroS itself is fully modeled, including all FCG and load degradation mechanisms, thus probing the ultimate capabilities of the full system, independent of problems upstream of the FCG.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2021

High-Entropy Ceramic Coatings: Transformative New Materials for Environmentally-Compatible Thin-Film Insulators against High-T Molten Salts

An emerging new class of promising materials, High-Entropy Ceramics (HECs) or Compositionally-Complex Ceramics (CCCs), have been successfully fabricated in the last three years. This project evaluates HECs/CCCs in the concentrated solar power (CSP) context. In this project, we have identified a couple of simple, and key descriptors governing thermal conductivity in HECs. Size disorder among the cations was found to have a strong influence on the thermal conductivity across multiple systems and throughout a vast compositional space. Since identifying this, we have optimized previous compositions to achieve low thermal conductivities of $k$~$1-1.4Wm{-1}K{-1}$. We have further reduced our selection of promising compositions based on project guidelines and applied a theory that can potentially predict reactivity with molten salts to identify a small set of HECs that are suitable for further molten salt heat transfer media (HTM) stability testing. Many compositions reveal poor resistance to molten chloride salt after being exposed for 24 h compared to the reference structural alloy, Haynes 230. However, after 100 h, a few HECs/CCCs show strong parabolic rate constant effects and provide greater resistance to chloride salt compared to Haynes 230 alloy, which shows more linear kinetics. Postmortem characterization of the microstructure reveals the parabolic rate constant originates from a dense reaction layer form at the interface. This feature is absent in Haynes 230, which only shows grain boundary infiltration. The HECs/CCCs were also put in contact with the metal alloy under Ar for 800 h at 800°C and show negligible interaction. Lastly, parabolic rate constant HECs/CCCs also have low thermal conductivity $(<2 Wm^{-1} K^{-1})$ at 800°C. These specimens satisfy all project requirements and demonstrate their promising application in next-generation CSP.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Physical properties of YbFe 5 P 3 with a quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure

We report basic physical properties of the quasi-one-dimensional heavy-fermion compound Yb Fe 5 P 3 . Its magnetic susceptibility follows a modified Curie-Weiss behavior at high temperatures with a Weiss temperature between - 5 and - 21 K depending on the direction of the applied magnetic field. Our single crystals of Yb Fe 5 P 3 are good metals with a room-temperature resistivity of ~ 140 μ Ω cm and a residual resistivity of less than 2 μ Ω cm. Below ~ 2 K the resistivity reflects the presence of strong quantum fluctuations, which is supported by specific heat measurements that show a similar strong enhancement in C / T at low temperatures reaching 1.5 J/mol K 2 below T = 0.5 K. No magnetic ordering is observed down to 80 mK. Magnetic fields up to 8 T rapidly suppress the magnetic fluctuations, while resistivity measurements under pressures up to 2.54 GPa indicate the enhancement of quantum fluctuations, although still no order is observed down to 0.3 K. Density functional theory calculations suggest the presence of electronically quasi-one-dimensional (1D) Fermi surface sheets together with three-dimensional electronic pockets. We suggest that the quasi-1D nature of this compound leads to an extended regime of large quantum fluctuations within the paramagnetic state prior to reaching a magnetic instability.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Linear in temperature resistivity in the limit of zero temperature from the time reparameterization soft mode

The most puzzling aspect of the ‘strange metal’ behavior of correlated electron compounds is that the linear in temperature resistivity often extends down to low temperatures, lower than natural microscopic energy scales. We consider recently proposed deconfined critical points (or phases) in models of electrons in large dimension lattices with random nearest-neighbor exchange interactions. The criticality is in the class of Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev models, and exhibits a time reparameterization soft mode representing gravity in dual holographic theories. We compute the low temperature resistivity in a large M limit of models with SU(M) spin symmetry, and find that the dominant temperature dependence arises from this soft mode. The resistivity is linear in temperature down to zero temperature at the critical point, with a co-efficient universally proportional to the product of the residual resistivity and the co-efficient of the linear in temperature specific heat. We argue that the time reparameterization soft mode offers a promising and generic mechanism for resolving the strange metal puzzle.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2022

Temperature-Following Thermal Barrier Coatings for High Efficiency Engines (Final Report)

HRL Laboratories and General Motors (GM), pursued this effort to increase the efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICEs) by developing and implementing temperature-following thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) to decrease heat loss from the combustion chamber. HRL developed microsphere TBCs based on hollow high-temperature alloy spheres with average diameter of 50 μm and wall thickness ~1 μm (microspheres) that achieve unprecedented low thermal conductivity and heat capacity (10X lower than the state of the art) while offering exceptional environmental and mechanical resistance.> In current ICEs, approximately 29% of the fuel’s energy is lost to the cooling system and about 22% goes into moving the car. By limiting heat losses from the combustion chamber with insulating coatings, fuel energy can be redirected into additional piston work and into the exhaust stream. The additional energy that goes into the exhaust stream can be turned into useful work through the use of an exhaust energy recovery device, such as turbocompounding and/or through driving a turbocharger to increase the power density of the engine allowing downsizing. Insulating coatings for piston crowns have been pursued in the past, but previous materials—typically ceramics—exhibited low thermal conductivity but retained high heat capacity. Such materials reduce heat losses but stabilize at a high surface temperature. The high surface temperature heats the incoming gases, which lowers volumetric efficiency and increases propensity for knock, resulting in degraded engine performance. This program developed an innovative new material that combines low thermal conductivity with low heat capacity. These unique properties allow it to follow rapid changes in gas temperature during each combustion cycle. A metallic microsphere TBC has been demonstrated that exhibits increased surface temperature during the combustion period, resulting in reduced heat transfer losses, while still returning to a low surface temperature during the gas exchange period. A 10X lower thermal conductivity and heat capacity than state-of-the-art thermal barrier coatings has been demonstrated. These unprecedented thermal properties are achieved through the coating architecture, which consists of closed pores on the microscale and exhibits a total porosity of 90% to 95%. By selecting a high-temperature nickel alloy as the coating material, the ductility and strength of metals can be harnessed to achieve much better durability and damage tolerance than brittle ceramic coatings can achieve.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2022

A Numerical Modelling Study on Submerged Condensers for Heat Pump Water Heaters Using Low-GWP Refrigerants

Challenges to global warming require reduction of GHG emissions, and increased use of renewable energy. Heat pumps extract energy from renewable sources and convert them to more useable forms for space conditioning, space heating and for water heating. They can be powered by renewable sources of electricity and must be engineered to use low global warming potentials (GWP) refrigerants (e.g., propane, GWP = 3) for a sustainable economy. Therefore, an electric heat pump water heaters (HPWH) using propane as refrigerant are developed in Oak Ridge National Laboratory to replace water heaters using all electric resistance and natural gas. A submerged condenser directly contacting with water is employed in the HPWH, which eliminates heat transfer barrier of the tank wall, and also prevents heat loss from the condenser tubes to the surrounding air. In present work, a numerical model is developed to model the submerged condenser. A dynamic temperature distribution on the condenser tubes from experimental data is applied to the model to enhance the accuracy of the numerical model. The model is essential to guide the design of the submerged condenser to achieve the performance required by the HPWH.

Zhang, Mingkan↗

DOE OSTI2024

Stabilization of Ni-YSZ Anodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells using an ALD-Grown Aluminum Titanate Interlayer

The effect of an Al 2 TiO 5 (ALT) interlayer between Ni and YSZ on enhancing the thermal stability of Ni-YSZ solid oxide fuel cell was examined. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to provide precise control of the structure and thickness of the ALT interlayer. The study's findings demonstrate that a 2 nm thick ALT interlayer deposited by ALD does not adversely affect the cell's ohmic resistance and effectively prevents Ni sintering and the loss of active area during high-temperature heat treatments. ALT layers thicker than 2 nm, although they enhanced Ni stability, were found to impede oxygen ion transport in the electrode and significantly increase the ohmic resistance of the cell, leading to a decline in performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Experimental Evaluation of a High-Performance Cold-Climate Heat Pump Using Tandem Vapor-Injection Compressors

A high-performance cold-climate heat pump (CCHP) was developed and experimentally validated through comprehensive laboratory and field testing. The system utilized two equal-size tandem vapor-injection (VI) compressors with an inter-stage flash tank to improve efficiency and capacity retention under subfreezing conditions. Laboratory testing was conducted on a 3-ton prototype in a controlled environmental chamber equipped with calibrated thermocouples, refrigerant-side mass flow and pressure transducers, and precision airflow measurement for energy balance verification. The prototype achieved heating coefficients of performance (COPs) of 4.4 at 47 °F, 3.1 at 17 °F, and 2.0 at –13 °F, while maintaining 88% of its rated heating capacity at –13°F. These results confirm strong low-temperature performance and indicate the potential for significant reductions in electric resistance backup use. A field prototype was installed and monitored in a residential building in Fairbanks, Alaska, during a heating season. Instrumentation included real-time power, temperature, and refrigerant state measurements to evaluate performance under dynamic outdoor conditions. The heat pump operated reliably down to –30 °F, delivering 75% of its rated heating capacity with a COP of 1.8, while maintaining stable operation, effective defrost control, and indoor comfort without auxiliary heating. The combined laboratory and field results demonstrate that the tandem VI compressor configuration provides a practical and energy-efficient approach for residential heat pumps designed for cold and very cold climate regions.

Hu, Yifeng [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000242875185)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Comparative study of decay heat calculations with FLUKA and MCNP/CINDER2008

In designing a high-power tungsten target, decay heat driven temperature rise in the spallation volume is a safety concern during maintenance and in loss of coolant accidents. As tungsten hydrates and becomes volatile in steam at above 800 ◦C, it is important to keep the target temperature below this threshold when active cooling is unavailable. Decay heat in a target is calculated with particle transport simulation codes combined with transmutation codes. The calculated decay heat usually differs depending on the nuclear cross sections and the decay particle transport models built in the code architecture. In this paper, we calculated decay heat of a water-cooled tungsten target using popular particle transport codes, FLUKA and MCNP6® paired with CINDER2008 and compared the results. The target-moderator-reflector (TMR) system is modeled with a water-cooled solid tungsten target, water premoderators, liquid hydrogen cold moderators and beryllium reflectors. Water-cooled stainless-steel shielding is modeled around the TMR system. The tungsten volume is clad with a thin layer of erosion/corrosion resistant material. This study provides information about the uncertainty range in decay heat prediction of high-power spallation targets for hazard analysis.

Lee, Yong Joong↗

DOE OSTI2024

End-Use Savings Shapes: Measure Documentation: Add Exhaust Air Heat/Energy Recovery

This documentation focuses on a single end-use savings shape measure—Add Exhaust Air Heat/Energy Recovery. This measure adds exhaust air energy recovery or heat recovery to existing air handling units (AHU) with outdoor air. Systems that already have energy/heat recovery are not modified. Furthermore, food service building types are also not modified by this measure due to the added complication of integrating cooking hood exhaust that could cause heat exchanger fouling from kitchen exhaust. In total, this measure is applicable airloops serving ~70% of the floor area in ComStock. In practice, energy/heat recovery systems are retrofitted to existing air delivery systems either as separate systems that provide outdoor air to the AHUs or are directly integrated to an AHU; the modeling approach used in this study is agnostic of the energy recovery type and simply accounts recovery effectiveness, added static pressure, and other controls which are described further in this document. Energy recovery with sensible and latent exchange gets added in humid climate zones, while heat recovery with sensible-only exchange gets added in drier climate zones. Energy recovery is modeled as a fixed membrane plate counterflow heat exchanger, while heat recovery is modeled as a sensible-only fixed aluminum plate counterflow heat exchanger. Both systems include a bypass (for temperature control and economizer lockout) and electric resistance preheat coil for frost prevention.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pushing the Envelope-Moving Dynamic Building Envelope Thermal Energy Storage Systems Mainstream: Preprint

Buildings contribute to nearly 40% of the U.S. national energy consumption and a significant portion of CO2 emissions. More importantly, disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by energy burden and thermal discomfort in their homes. This paper will discuss two novel DOE's BTO supported thermal energy storage (TES) integrated dynamic building envelope technologies, their ability to harvest ambient energy, and improve energy efficiency by reducing HVAC loads and peak electricity demand while enhancing energy and thermal resilience in buildings. The paper will also discuss the recent advancements that have made these systems more affordable and easier to integrate into new and existing buildings. The first solution is a thermally anisotropic building envelope (TABE) system that can redirect ambient thermal energy (heat or coolness) from diurnal outdoor conditions, solar irradiance, and night sky radiation from the envelope to a hydronic loop. The redirected thermal energy can be stored in a TABE-integrated thermal energy storage system and use the stored energy to offset HVAC energy use and peak demand. The second solution is an innovative plug-and-play thermal switch in the form of insertable plugs integrated with a phase change material (PCM). The plug can vary its thermal resistance based on the indoor and outdoor conditions, thus allowing preferential directional heat flow, and enhancing utilization of free ambient cooling and heating to charge/discharge the PCM, much like a solid-state economizer. While the fist solution can be actively controlled, the second solution is passive, requiring no external power, and work solely based on the ambient temperature.

anisotropic envelope↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pushing the Envelope—Moving Dynamic Building Envelope Thermal Energy Storage Systems Mainstream

Shrestha, Som↗

DOE OSTI2026

Process control-enabled mitigation of microstructural and plastic heterogeneities in additively manufactured Grade 91 steel

Synergizing wire arc-directed energy deposition (WA-DED) additive manufacturing (AM) with particle-strengthened creep strength-enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels enables fabrication and repair of critical power-plant components. Investigations focused on fusion-welded particle-strengthened CSEF steels, such as Grade 91 steel, have linked microstructurally heterogeneous regions—forming due to heat affected zones (HAZ)—with premature failure during elevated temperature service. Fusion-based AM, including WA-DED, likewise generates microstructurally and plastically heterogeneous regions due to spatiotemporally varying thermokinetics during deposition. However, works investigating such microstructural heterogeneities, their implications for mechanical behavior, and strategies to mitigate their formation remain scarce. This work identifies microstructurally and plastically heterogeneous regions within the WA-DED-processed Grade 91 steel. Spatial microhardness variations in the as-fabricated specimen correlate with the variation in the attributes of grain, martensitic microstructure, and precipitates across the fusion zone and HAZ. Digital image correlation-enabled tensile tests performed at 500 °C revealed pronounced deformation localization and a wave-like strain distribution, with wavelength close to the melt pool depth, indicating susceptibility of the as-fabricated components to premature creep failure. Such heterogeneity in microstructural and mechanical behavior was attributed to recurring solid-state phase transformations. Subsequently, an interlayer temperature control strategy was implemented, wherein maintaining interlayer temperature above the martensitic start temperature mitigated the heterogeneous microstructural and plastic response in the as-fabricated condition. Findings open pathways to achieving deformation-localization- and creep-resistant microstructures in WA-DED fabricated particle-strengthened CSEF steel components, reducing reliance on post-welding heat treatments—conventionally required to enhance creep resistance—and enabling on-demand, short lead-time fabrication of next-generation power-plant components.

Heat affected zones↗

DOE OSTI2021

Increasing the Number of Installed Residential Heat Pump Water Heaters in the USA Through Improved Technology and Utility Programs

Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) offer an efficient alternative to electric resistance water heaters, but they suffer from limited market penetration. This paper reviews the current state of HPWHs in the USA, focusing on technology developments and programs to increase adoption. What technological improvements are needed to make HPWHs a good fit in more homes? Additionally, what are the best ways of promoting HPWHs to consumers? Improved communication and controls will allow HPWHs to provide demand response and follow dynamic utility rates. To enable fuel-switching, HPWHs are being developed that only need a standard 120V outlet. Split HPWHs can alleviate the cooling and noise that limit the use of HPWHs in small homes, multifamily buildings, and cold climates. Additionally, new utility programs aim to train installers and provide incentives to distributors to increase the number of HPWHs installed. Some utilities offer novel incentive programs that have led to increased customer uptake. Those advances, coupled with improved controls for load shifting and new products such as split HPWHs and HPWHs that can run on 120V power, may finally move the market forward.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2022

Carnot Analysis of Heat Pump Drying: Ideal Efficiency and Dry Time

Drying processes are important in appliances and in industry, and clothes drying accounts for approximately 3% of residential primary energy consumption in the US. Globally, heat pump tumble dryers (HPD) are increasing their market share against the ubiquitous electric resistance tumble dryer (ERD). In this work, efficiency and dry time limits are defined for ideal HPDs, for both closed air cycle (unvented) and open air cycle (vented). These limits are compared with the limits for ERD. The traditional Carnot efficiency limit for an ideal heat pump, operating between a hot and a cold thermal reservoir, does not apply directly to clothes dryers. One reason dryers require a novel analysis is the presence of additional degrees of freedom, since the hot and cold temperatures are floating, unfixed by ambient conditions. Furthermore, dryers can operate in a closed or open air cycle, and each requires a different analysis. In the closed (unvented) case, the hot and cold temperatures are coupled to each other; while in the open (vented) case, the hot and cold temperatures are both independent free variables. This paper provides an analysis of the fundamental efficiency limits of ERDs and HPDs, which can inform the design and performance limits of evaporative drying technology.

Gluesenkamp, Kyle↗

DOE OSTI2024

Spin-caloric resistance of Dirac plasma in a graphene Corbino device

The thermal resistance of a spin-polarized hydrodynamic Dirac plasma in graphene is considered. Here, a mechanism for the coupling of heat and spin flows is discussed, demonstrating that spin diffusion and spin thermocurrent modify viscous dissipation, leading to a significant enhancement of thermal resistance. Practical calculations are then presented for graphene devices in the Corbino geometry.

Graphene↗