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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

UVO to Far-IR Mirror Technology Development: Year 2 Status

UVO to Far-IR (UVO-FIR) mirror technology development project is a multiyear effort initiated in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 to mature the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of critical technologies required to enable ultra-stable telescope of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) mission. 2023/24 accomplishments include: continued investigations into gravity sag by comparing rotation test vs flip test, quantifying gravity sag as a function of temperature and designing mount for mirror whose G-sag with elevation angle is only coma. Significant progress in developing a methodology for specify optical surface microstructure, contamination cleanliness level and allowable micrometeoroid impacts. Support of HWO. And, a parametric cost model for x-ray telescopes and a parametric volume cost model for normal incidence telescopes.

H. Philip Stahl↗
DOE OSTI2020

Infrastructure and DFLAW Support at Hanford - 20443

Manhattan Project era infrastructure systems are degrading at an accelerated pace across the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management complex. Revitalizing, rejuvenating and right-sizing these systems to ensure reliability for ongoing cleanup missions is a major focus at the 580-square- mile Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The push to complete construction, commissioning, startup, and operation of facilities and systems in the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program at Hanford by 2023 requires considerable coordination among site contractors and a significant investment in infrastructure. The passage of time also poses a challenge. It has been about 75 years since facilities were first operated at the site, and approximately 40 years of plutonium production created a legacy of unidentified active and abandoned underground obstacles and waste sites that must be avoided when building and upgrading the infrastructure. Converting infrastructure systems originally built to support plutonium production from the 1940's to the 1980's and upgrading those systems to optimize technology is an ever-changing balance of funding profiles, available resources and execution strategies. The DOE Richland Operations Office (RL) has long recognized the need for increased investment in Hanford Site infrastructure to support the future processing of approximately 56 million gallons of waste currently stored in large underground tanks. When DFLAW is fully operational, safe and reliable infrastructure systems will be needed to ensure continuity of operations around the clock, 365 days a year. These include roadways, water, power, sewer, information technology systems and facilities. To ensure the readiness of Hanford's infrastructure to support treating tank waste in the next three years, 15 projects were identified with a combined value of $133.8 million. Through calendar year 2019, 7 infrastructure projects have been substantially completed and the remaining 8 projects, with a remaining value of $103.8 million, are scheduled to be completed by December 2023. RL and its site services/infrastructure contractor, Mission Support Alliance (MSA), regularly evaluate the needs of the DFLAW program and other Hanford Site missions to ensure the highest priority systems are addressed. In addition to a fast-approaching deadline for round-the-clock treatment operations, RL and MSA face another significant infrastructure challenge. As cleanup is being completed in a 220-square-mile area called the River Corridor, most of the cleanup operations going forward will occur in a 20-square-mile area in the center of the Hanford Site, known as the Central Plateau. Infrastructure systems are becoming more congested in an already overcrowded area. This paper/presentation will outline some of the challenges Hanford faces while executing infrastructure reliability projects. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Phase II Field Demonstration at Lansing Smith Generating Plant, Southport, Florida (Final Report)

The Final Technical Report: Field Test Design and Pressure Management Strategies for Phase II Field Demonstration of Optimal Pressure Control, Plume Management, and Produced Water Strategies presents the culmination of multi-year efforts under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brine Extraction and Storage Test (BEST) program, led by EPRI in partnership with Gulf Power at the Plant Smith site near Panama City, Florida. The project was designed to evaluate and demonstrate the technical feasibility of managing subsurface pressures and fluid movement associated with large-scale CO₂ injection, using low-salinity water as a proxy fluid. Through a combination of field injection testing, reservoir modeling, and optimization studies, the research team developed and refined active and passive brine extraction strategies aimed at controlling injection-induced pressure buildup, mitigating risks of fault activation, and managing plume migration. The field demonstration incorporated a new injection well (TIW-2), a new monitoring/extraction well (TEMW-A), and an existing well (TIW-1) repurposed for passive pressure relief. Complementary geophysical monitoring was designed to track plume development and evaluate the effectiveness of pressure management strategies. The report details the integrated workflow encompassing wellfield development, regulatory permitting, model calibration, and survey design. It includes a comprehensive electromagnetic (EM) modeling and inversion study used to develop a cost-effective, time-lapse geophysical monitoring plan capable of imaging the evolving low-salinity plume within the highly saline Lower Tuscaloosa formation. Reservoir simulation results guided the design of the 17-month injection program and the timing of active extraction to maintain formation pressures below a hypothetical fault reactivation threshold. Supporting analyses evaluated potential injectivity risks related to clay fines migration and geochemical incompatibility, identifying practical mitigation measures such as salinity and pH control. The final design recommends a series of crosswell EM surveys—conducted before, during, and after injection—as the most effective and economical approach for plume imaging, supplemented by continuous downhole pressure and flow monitoring. Collectively, the study provides a field-ready framework for cost-effective pressure management and monitoring in support of future CO₂ storage projects.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2024

Carbon Capture from ArcelorMittal Hot Briquetted Iron Plant Using Air Liquide Cryocap™ FG Technology – FEED Study

The process of steel production is energy and carbon intensive with global average energy consumption of 5.5 MWh/tonne of steel and CO2 emission intensity of 1.83 tonne CO2/tonne of steel. The steel making process has inherent CO2 emissions from mineral conversion and is considered major contributors to the global carbon emissions. The steel industry is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions. The main objective of this research project is to execute and complete a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for a commercial-scale, carbon capture project that separates 95% of the total CO2 emissions at the ArcelorMittal’s Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) plant in Portland, TX (Figure 1). The HBI is an ore-based metallic that is used as high-grade feedstock for high-quality steel via an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route. The HBI plant produces 2.0 million metric tonnes of high-quality HBI and emits approximately 1 million tonnes CO2/yr. The capture system is a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) system assisted Cryocap™ FG technology (Figure 2). The captured CO2 will be pipeline grade and will be geologically stored in a facility within 10 miles of the CO2 source. The Host Site location in Corpus Christi, TX, is near hydrocarbon processing facilities and near Environmental Justice (EJ) and Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) communities. Due to the location of the Host Site, the retrofit project offers the ability to demonstrate how a workforce focused on the fossil energy sector can be redirected to the clean- energy sector. The Air Liquide Cryocap™ capture technology is a proven technology and has been extensively examined for large industrial applications. It has been shown to be applicable to a variety of industrial applications including the steel industry. Cryocap™ FG (specific setup for Flue Gas application) consists of a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit coupled with a Cryogenic System. The PSA pre-concentrates the CO2 from the flue gas, while the cryogenic unit enables the CO2 purity to be increased to the desired level. The scope of this study incorporates completing FEED study of the CO2 capture system which includes point-source CO2 capture and balance-of-plant; Business Case Analysis (BCA) outlining the current and projected volumes of the steel plant’s point sources of CO2 and the potential utilization of tax credits, including its projected revenue and duration; Life Cycle Analysis (LCA); Environmental Justice Analysis; Economic Revitalization and Job Creation Outcomes Analysis; and Workforce Readiness Plan. The plant design work was divided into two components: Inside Battery Limits (ISBL) and Outside Battery Limits (OSBL). The ISBL focuses on the capture system, while the OSBL focuses on the utility feeds and ducting from the plant to the capture system. Various design and engineering deliverables will be developed to define commodity quantities, equipment specifications, and labour effort required to execute the project. These FEED study deliverables will be prepared with the intent to develop an overall project capital cost estimate consistent with an AACE Class 3 estimate. The modular approach for the Cryocap™ FG that is being designed for this study integrates compression, PSA, and cryogenic “bricks” to achieve the desired CO2 capture rates. This carbon capture system integrates easily with the existing plant, thus reducing project costs and risks. It is also capable of managing impurities such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), mercury, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. The capture system has a smaller footprint than amine-based systems. The two-step process uses PSA to preconcentrate the CO2 in the feedstream and then uses the cryogenic portion to purify and compress the resulting high purity CO2 product. This combination of purification and compression (i.e., process intensification) significantly reduces the CAPEX associated with use of a separate compressor commonly utilized for amine solvent-based systems. Successful completion of the FEED study will provide DOE with a detailed understanding of the costs for scaling up this proven capture technology for commercial applications at industrial facilities.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Final Technical Report

Statement of the problem or situation that is being addressed in your application. The DOE and its national laboratories developed the Home Energy Score™ (HES) to encourage homeowners to improve their energy performance, lower costs and to share energy information through the MLS listing, appraisal, and financing channels. While the HES is an instrumental tool, it is currently underutilized and consists of technical, structural and sector barriers which need to be addressed in order to scale and many energy efficiency contractors are understandably overwhelmed by the added time and effort and lack of incentive to sell and deliver deep retrofit projects while simultaneously meeting the DOE HES program requirements; consequently, contractors may decide to forgo participation. Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Raters have the opportunity to play the critical Assessor role in producing a Home Energy Score (HES); this role has immense potential but currently is unfulfilled. Lastly, while utilities are interested in their customer base achieving greater energy efficiency, especially to help offset growing residential loads in states like California that are accelerating electrification, utilities do not have access to the market actors who are on the front line of influence to homeowners or review and approve their permits: HERS Raters, assessors, contractors and building departments. General statement of how this problem is being addressed: ConSol will integrate the Home Energy Score™ (HES) to its State of California, approved home energy rating services (HERS) platform (CHEERS) to develop a single tool for contractors nationwide to assess, record and install recommended cost, energy, and emissions saving measures to the 140 million single-family homes throughout the U.S. and 14 million homes in California (CHEERS+HES). The CHEERS high fidelity energy code permitting data will be integrated with HES for simple, accurate, easy-to-use home energy estimation and analysis and will directly gain access to the retrofit and renovations markets with the same upgraded platform. This innovative project will assist the utilities in supporting existing homes in their jurisdictions with HES and develop measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. How is this problem being addressed? What is the overall project approach? In effort to expand the Home Energy Score™ (HES) by increasing the use of aggregable home energy asset data, ConSol proposes to integrate the DOE HES via Application Programming Interface (API) to its State of California approved home energy rating services platform (CHEERS). Once the CHEERS platform and HES are integrated (CHEERS+HES), this enhanced platform will be instantly available and actively deployed via Phase 1 pilot to HERS Raters, assessors and contractors in California to market-test the solution, understand the rate of adoption and identify opportunities for improvement prior to scaling nationally. The CHEERS high fidelity energy code permitting data will be integrated with HES for simple, accurate, easy-to-use home energy estimation and analysis and will directly gain access to the retrofit and renovations markets with the same upgraded platform. This innovative project will assist the building industry and homeowners with an easy-to-use assessment if energy and carbon impacts of existing homes, and assist the utilities in supporting existing homes in their jurisdictions with HES to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. What is to be done in Phase I? During Phase I of this proposed project, ConSol will (1) design software architecture that links CHEERS to the Home Energy ScoreTM via API, (2) solicit partnership from one or more California utilities for a regional pilot, (3) test the new software with its HERS Raters and contractor network in the partnership utility jurisdiction, (4) launch a pilot version of the newly developed software with HERS Raters and contractors in the utility territory, and (5) explore California’s GoGreen energy efficiency homeowner lending program in parallel with the pilot. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits. Summarize the future applications or public benefits if the project is carried over into Phase II or Phase III and beyond. The CHEERS+HES commercialized product will be ready for national market scale following a successful Phase 1 performance. The CHEERS+HES adoption is estimated to reach a 5% adoption growth rate versus the 110,000 baseline, starting in Year 1 after Phase I completion, and continuing each year. As a direct benefit to the DOE, CHEERS will set a goal of 100,000 Home Energy Score assessments for existing home alterations within the first 10 years following Phase 1 performance. The technical benefits of this proposed project include the harmonized, automated, and seamless integration of the DOE HES into the widely used and market leading California energy registry, CHEERS. The social benefits include the aggregate energy, cost and GHG savings by allowing the broader public streamlined access to the CHEERS+HES measurement and the energy efficiency recommended measures that may result. Key Words: Home Energy ScoreTM (HES); Application Programming Interface (API); Home Energy Rating Services (HERS); HERS Raters; contractors; assessors; existing homes, energy asset data; cost, energy, and emissions saving measures; energy code (Title 24) compliance; document repository; utilities; pilot; newly developed software; energy efficiency; homeowner. Summary for Members of Congress: The DOE Home Energy Score™ (HES) is a tool to encourage homeowners to improve their energy performance, lower costs and share energy information but is underutilized and consists of barriers which need to be addressed in order to scale. In effort to expand the HES, CHEERS, Inc. will integrate the HES to its State of California, approved home energy rating services (HERS) platform (CHEERS) to develop a single tool for contractors nationwide to assess, record and install recommended cost, energy, and emissions saving measures to the 140 million single-family homes throughout the U.S. and 14 million homes in California.

Application Programming Interface (API)↗
NASA NTRS2011

NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Science Overview

NPP Instruments are: (1) well understood thanks to instrument comprehensive test, characterization and calibration programs. (2) Government team ready for October 25 launch followed by instrument activation and Intensive Calibration/Validation (ICV). NPP Data Products preliminary work includes: (1) JPSS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) team ready to support NPP ICV and operational data products. (2) NASA NPP science team ready to support NPP ICV and EOS data continuity.

Butler, James J.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Super Hot EGS and the Newberry Deep Drilling Project

A productive geothermal well drilled into super-hot rock (SHR) with a temperature above 400°C will produce super-critical fluid. At a flow rate of 60 kg/s, a SHR well could produce 50 MWe compared to 5-7 MWe for the same flow at 200°C. Even though these deeper, super-hot wells will cost more, the high energy density means power produced by engineered geothermal systems (EGS) can meet the market ($46 MW-hr) by directly tapping the heat source. We propose a proof of concept where hot rock is close to the surface (~5 km), and the cost of drilling and EGS stimulation will be lowest. A suitable, ready-to-go SHR site is on Newberry Volcano, Oregon, one of the largest geothermal heat reservoirs in the USA, extensively studied for the last 40 years. Millions of dollars have already been invested in the site by private geothermal developers and the US Department of Energy (DOE), resulting in a ready-to-use facility with the necessary infrastructure, environmental permits, land commitments, and monitoring plans. The Newberry Deep Drilling Project (NDDP) will be located at an idle geothermal exploration well, NWG 46-16, drilled in 2008, 3500 m deep and 320°C at bottom, which will be deepened another 1000 to 1300 m to reach 500 °C. The original well was drilled with few lost circulation zones and the temperature profile indicates conductive heat flow. Compared to other SHR projects world-wide, this well would return more materials (cuttings, core and fluids) with more predictable drilling conditions, thus providing a suite of data near and across the brittle-ductile transition in silicarich rocks. After drilling, a hydraulic well stimulation will both change the pore pressure in fractures and cool the fracture walls resulting in permeability enhancement through both thermal fracturing, and hydro-shearing. The first step for the NDDP was an International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) sponsored workshop held at the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend from Sept. 10-14, 2017. The workshop concluded by setting ambitious goals for NDDP: 1) test EGS above the critical point of water, 2) collect samples of rocks within the brittle-ductile transition, 3) investigate volcanic hazards, 4) study magmatic geomechanics, 5) calibrate geophysical imaging techniques, and 6) test technology for drilling, well completion, and geophysical monitoring in a very high temperature environment. The second step, completed January 15, 2018, was submitting a proposal to ICDP for 46-16 deepening. The next steps will be to continue building a team with project, technology, and investment partners to make NDDP a reality.

EGS, Geothermal, Newberry↗
NASA NTRS2008

Technology Readiness of the NEXT Ion Propulsion System

The NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system has been in advanced technology development under the NASA In-Space Propulsion Technology project. The highest fidelity hardware planned has now been completed by the government/industry team, including: a flight prototype model (PM) thruster, an engineering model (EM) power processing unit, EM propellant management assemblies, a breadboard gimbal, and control unit simulators. Subsystem and system level technology validation testing is in progress. To achieve the objective Technology Readiness Level 6, environmental testing is being conducted to qualification levels in ground facilities simulating the space environment. Additional tests have been conducted to characterize the performance range and life capability of the NEXT thruster. This paper presents the status and results of technology validation testing accomplished to date, the validated subsystem and system capabilities, and the plans for completion of this phase of NEXT development. The next round of competed planetary science mission announcements of opportunity, and directed mission decisions, are anticipated to occur in 2008 and 2009. Progress to date, and the success of on-going technology validation, indicate that the NEXT ion propulsion system will be a primary candidate for mission consideration in these upcoming opportunities.

Benson, Scott W.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Framework for Evaluating Grid Readiness for Integrating Electric Vehicles and Utility Scale Storage in India

Electric vehicles (EVs) and distributed solar are poised to grow substantially in India in the coming years following ambitious Government of India targets. The localized impact of these changes, both in terms of infrastructure investments and demand patterns, are not well understood, nor are tools for this type of analysis readily available. This paper describes the development of a framework that can analyze network readiness in terms of feeder impacts for distributed energy resources (DERs) including growing EV penetration, and the potential solutions introduced by utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESSs). The building blocks of the feeder analysis require multiple data sets to be compiled into a usable network model. The work is driven by feeder head and distribution transformer (DT) loading data along with all the technical specifications and schematics of distribution feeders. These measured data sets are conditioned to remove any afflictions, and the cleaned load profiles are used to perform multi-year quasi-static time-series power flow analyses on detailed three-phase feeder models. EVs translated to grid-tied loads are represented with aggregated EV demand profile estimates based on possible charging scenarios in residential sector, and in workplace and/or public charging stations. Finally, BESSs are evaluated for their cost-effectiveness in the framework through an initial screening that includes the benefits of grid service applications to mitigate present and future overloading scenarios. The outcomes from this framework are expected to help utilities gauge the readiness of their distribution grid for integrating an increasing number of EVs as well as load growth during a projected multi-year time horizon, where BESSs can contribute in making the grid more reliable.

electric vehicles↗
DOE OSTI2022

Physical and Mechano-Electrochemical Phenomena of Thin Film Lithium-Ceramic Electrolyte Constructs

While a small number of solid electrolytes exhibit high ionic conductivity (~1mS cm at 298K), few are stable against Li metal. The garnet-type solid electrolyte, based on the nominal formula Li 7 La 3 Zr 2 O 12 (LLZO), is unique in that it is a fast ion conductor and – as we demonstrated in our recent project (DE-EE-00006821) – is stable against Li. Moreover, our former project successfully demonstrated a decrease in Li-LLZO interface resistance from 12,000 to 2 Ohms cm 2 and stable cycling at 1 mA cm 2 for 100 cycles (+/- 15 µm Li per cycle). Although the past project (DE-EE-00006821) demonstrated LLZO is a viable solid electrolyte for enabling batteries using metallic Li, the studies used thick pellets (1mm) and thick anodes (~500 µm). We believe that to achieve a step increase in technology readiness level (TRL), the same performance characteristics previously shown should be demonstrated in technologically relevant cells, e.g. thin LLZO and thin Li. The goal of this project is to acquire a deep fundamental understanding of the physical and mechano-electrochemical phenomena that control the performance of cells consisting of thin LLZO (~10 µm), thin Li anodes (~20 µm) and thin solid-state composite cathodes. If successful, the knowledge gained in this project will guide closely related commercialization efforts to scale the production of LLZO-based solid-state batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Industrial Scale Demonstration of Smart Manufacturing, Achieving Transformational Energy Productivity Gains

While many U.S. manufacturing operations utilize optimization for individual unit processes, smart manufacturing (SM) systems that integrate manufacturing intelligence in real time across an entire production operation are rare in large companies and virtually nonexistent in smaller organizations. One example of an area where SM systems can be applied is in the management of waste heat. A smart system that not only seeks to recover waste heat, but also to use energy more efficiently, is a more cost-effective approach because energy use, waste energy loss and product output are optimized together. The overall objective of this project was to develop an industry-accepted SM Platform that enables smart systems by accelerating and lowering the cost of development and implementation scales for use in diverse sets of manufacturing industry sectors, manufacturing operations and company sizes. Specifically, the project (1) designed and demonstrated the application of a prototype SM Platform for two diverse commercial test beds, (2) demonstrated at one and estimated for the other test bed the potential reduction in waste heat generation, and (3) worked with leading automation vendors to catalyze low-cost commercialization of the technology developed. The Smart Manufacturing Application and Data Platform (SM Platform) developed during this project is an innovative approach that marries IT virtualization technologies with operational data and modeling system requirements to construct a ready-to-go platform for enabling sensor – data – modeling – actuation systems, driven by real-time plant data and performance metrics. This SM Platform allows manufacturing organizations, regardless of their industry or size, to assemble new operational systems at a much lower cost, optimizing process knowledge and improving energy productivity by integrating with existing process control and automation systems. Also developed during this project is a methodology for developing energy productivity metrics that use real-time process information and provide comparisons for potential, practical, and actual performance, as well as examples and the methodology for provisioning of an Energy Dashboard that displays alternatives to optimize energy use within specific business contexts aimed at helping improve energy productivity and reduce emissions in U.S. manufacturing. The SM Platform designed utilizes current manufacturing, operational and IT industry standards. The platform can be used to expedite sensor – data – model – actuation system development and deployment in a cloud-based environment using a novel end-to-end workflow as a service capability that is already integrated with data connection, ingestion, and contextualization services. In addition, the methodology for development of energy productivity metrics and reusable application templates called Toolkits have been defined so that they can be tailored to a specific business situation. The project’s two test beds, one in a hydrogen production plant and the other in a forging, heat treatment, and machining operation, utilize sensor-driven modeling, measurement, and simulation systems. In these two test beds, the implementation of these as a comprehensive system has made it possible for energy productivity to be managed in real-time throughout the plant and enterprise using an energy dashboard. The development pathway to direct machine actuation was articulated. During the first year, the project team developed the most highly instrumented steam-methane reformer (SMR) in the U.S. using infrared cameras and thermocouples. Real-time data are streamed to high fidelity and reduced-order models for analysis. A high fidelity CFD model, parallelized in the SM Platform cloud environment, was demonstrated for operational use. This is the first real-time operational productivity system of a steam methane reformer using both high fidelity and data-driven models together in a real time situation to balance natural gas flow to the reformer tubes. An infrared camera system was developed and shown to outperform thermocouples in coverage, accuracy, reliability, and cost effectiveness for use in a high temperature, harsh environment. A forging, heat-treating, machining line operation test bed includes new instrumentation for data capture analysis, modeling, and simulation and will be integrated into SM Platform workflows so that business performance can be managed in real-time. Composable metrics were developed using the SM Platform to drive improvements in energy productivity, environmental performance, safety, asset management, costs, and overall operations. A major focus of the SM systems developed was optimization of energy productivity at the enterprise level, which resulted in reductions in waste heat generation for the two project test beds. Reductions in the waste heat generated will result in greater energy savings than will waste heat recovery due to inefficiencies in the heat transfer process. For the SMR test bed an efficiency improvement of 1 – 2% with a corresponding waste heat reduction of 5% were demonstrated. It should be noted that the test bed SMR unit had an efficiency of more than 90% as compared to 70 to 80% efficiencies of most SMR units. So implementation of similar SM systems at typical SMR units could yield more than 15 to 25% waste heat reductions. Similarly the forging, heat-treating, machining line operation test bed is a DOE AMO Platinum Level Superior Energy Performance plant with a much higher than typical overall operating efficiency. For this test bed heat integration using recuperators is estimated to result in fuel savings of 15.9% due to waste heat recovery compared to the base case without recuperators with negligible changes in part exit conditions. This results in an 18.9% energy efficiency improvement. The project team estimates that broad multi-sector adoption of the developed technology could reduce waste heat generation by an amount equivalent to 1.3% of total U.S. energy use. This waste heat reduction is associated with 69 million tons reduction in annual carbon dioxide emissions. Other potential benefits include reducing process times, solid and liquid wastes, environmental impacts, and water use. It is estimated that this investment has an anticipated payback period of less than one year in energy-intensive applications. The SM Platform could also reduce the costs of deploying SM systems by 50% in manufacturing operations. Commercialization of the SM Platform will require significant cross-industry collaboration and technology provider market changes. Steps taken toward commercialization included 1) analyzing savings from deployment of the SM Platform and 2) holding SM Platform workshops, webinars, and conferences with targeted individual industry segments, with a focus on small and medium-sized organizations. An upgraded community website has been established as a portal for accessing and distributing information. Most importantly, the SM platform enabling technology developed during this project and its commercialization will continue, evolve and expand under the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ahtna Tribal Energy Planning and Technical Assistance Project (Final Report)

Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission (AITRC) provided technical assistance and capacity building activities for eight (8) tribal communities in the Ahtna region to: 1. reduce energy costs; 2. improve community wildfire readiness and biomass utilization; 3. provide local food security; and 4. reduce unemployment, poverty and outmigration in the Ahtna villages. AITRC provided community education on energy needs, conservation and efficiency, issues and options, assisted the tribes in identifying appropriate renewable energy systems, and increased their capacity to implement successful energy projects that employed local tribal members. AITRC also successfully assisted the member Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations in pursuing additional funding to advance their energy goals and projects, including Tribal Resiliency Planning, community biomass heating and wood resource assessment projects, and hydroelectric.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2012

DRAGONS - A Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Impact Sensor

The Debris Resistive/Acoustic Grid Orbital Navy Sensor (DRAGONS) is intended to be a large area impact sensor for in-situ measurements of micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) in the approx.0.2 to 1 mm size regime. These MMOD particles are too small to be detected by groundbased radars and optical telescopes, but still large enough to be a safety concern for human space activities and robotic missions in the low Earth orbit (LEO) region. The nominal detection area of DRAGONS is 1 sq m, consisting of four 0.5 m x 0.5 m independently operated panels. The concept of the DRAGONS design is to combine three different detection technologies to maximize information extracted from each detected impact. The first technology is a resistive grid consisting of 62.5-microns-wide resistive lines, coated in parallel and separated by 62.5 micron gaps on a Kapton film. When a particle a few hundred micrometers or larger strikes the grid, it world penetrate the film and sever some resistive lines. The size of the damage area can be estimated from the increased resistance. The second technology employs a dual-layer, 25-microns-thick Kapton film with a 10 cm separation. By measuring the time difference between impacts on the two films, the impact speed can be calculated. The third technology is based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) acoustic impact sensors. Multiple PVDF sensors are attached to the backside of both Kapton films to provide impact timing measurements. The impact location on each film can be identified from the triangulation of signals received at different PVDF sensors and provides an estimate of the impact direction. The development of DRAGONS is supported by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. The project is led by the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), with additional collaboration from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the University of Kent at Canterbury in Great Britain, and Virginia Tech (VT). The short-term goal of DRAGONS is to advance its Technology Readiness Level to 9 and to demonstrate the system capabilities of detecting and characterizing submillimeter MMOD impacts. The long-term goal is to deploy a large detection area (>1 sq m) DRAGONS to 700-1000 km altitude and collect sufficient data for better environment definition of MMOD in the 0.2- to 1-mm size regime. The Preliminary Design Review (PRD) of DRAGONS was held at the USNA in June 2012. The Critical Design Review (CDR) is scheduled for early 2013. A flight-ready unit with a 0.25 sq m detection area will be completed and tested by the end of September 2013. The biggest challenge for the project, however, is to identify a demonstration opportunity on the International Space Station in the coming years.

Liou, J. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Monthly hydropower generation data for Western Canada to support Western-US interconnect power system studies

Hydroelectric power generation in Western Canada significantly contributes to power grid operations of the North American Western Interconnection through substantial generation, some of which is exported to the United States (U.S.). However, the lack of publicly available hydropower generation datasets poses challenges for future market projections and resource adequacy evaluations. We present a simulation-based monthly power system model-ready hydropower generation dataset for 110 facilities in British Columbia and Alberta from 1981 to 2019. These monthly hydropower generation estimates are developed from integrated hydrologic model simulations of runoff and reservoir-operated streamflow, followed by scaling that considers diversion inflow constraints based on hydropower water license information. To address the lack of comparable hydropower generation records, we conduct step-by-step evaluations for simulated runoff, regulated streamflow, and hydropower generation using available observations or estimates. The presented hydropower dataset aims to enhance the representation of hydropower resources in Western Canada, supporting power grid system studies for the Western Interconnection of the U.S. and Canada.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transformational Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Technology

This project was conducted under the Co-operative Agreement No. DE-FE0027584 with the US Department Energy to developed advanced Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Technologies. The overall objective of this project was to advance SOFC technology at the cell and stack level to enhance cell robustness and durability, increase performance, and reduce balance-of-plant (BOP) requirements. By reducing system complexity combined with the increases in power density and efficiency, the ultimate goal of the project was to increased reliability and to reduce capital and operating costs of installed systems. The project was focused on pathways that will reduce the cost of the SOFC cell and stack, including the following areas: Robust, redox tolerant cell technology Lower cost cell manufacturing through advances in cell design, which will reduce the amount of material, energy and time used in the fabrication of SOFCs High performance, low temperature electrolyte based on improvement of established materials Innovative SOFC stack architecture which truly integrates Balance of Plant functionality into the stack level design Thermal management of the fuel cell stack for increased durability and expanded window of operation Novel stack design amenable for use in sub-MW to multi-MW-scale power plants and having low replacement cost The incorporation of balance-of-plant (BOP) equipment into the stack platform increased the economic viability of smaller scale systems. The project objectives were met by a multi-prong approach, including new cell design complemented with modifications to existing cell technology, as well as a new stack design incorporating components typically included in the BOP, such as heat exchangers, oxidizer, fuel reformers, and recycle systems. The project culminated with demonstration of a stack test validating the viability of the cell and stack improvements. A cost model was also developed to estimate costs for the advanced stack technology at high volume manufacturing levels. The net outcome of the project is SOFC cell and stack technology with costs significantly below current DOE targets without compromising and, in some cases, improving on the performance and degradation rate demonstrated with the current state-of-the-art stack design. The results of this project advanced the reliability, robustness, and endurance of low-cost SOFC technology that ultimately are ready to be deployed in coal power systems with greater than 60 percent efficiency (based on higher heating value of fuel) and the capability for ≥97% CO 2 capture at a cost-of-electricity that is approximately 40 percent below presently available Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle systems.

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DOE OSTI2022

Micro-Environmental Control System (Final Report)

This project developed an innovative micro-environmental control system (µX) that enables office buildings to reduce energy used for heating and cooling by 15% or more. The µX is a compact, quiet, and ergonomic device that is designed to be installed under an office workstation; it is designed to maintain occupant comfort when room thermostat setpoints are incremented by 4°F or more (warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter) to save energy. When ambient room temperatures are outside of the usual comfort range, the µX maintains occupant comfort by delivering personalized cooling or heating locally to each office worker. The µX provides personalized cooling using a micro vapor compression system that includes a new high-performance micro-scroll compressor and a novel thermal storage unit. The vapor compression system operates at night to freeze a phase-change material (PCM). During the workday, the cooling stored in the PCM is released as a cool breeze of air to make occupants more comfortable. The micro-scroll compressor was developed specifically for this application; it is smaller than any of its type, minimizing the amount of power needed. In heating mode, the µX maintains occupant comfort using a foot heating mat with an infrared reflective box. The µX R&D project was conducted by Syracuse University in collaboration with United Technologies Research Center, Air Innovations, Bush Technical, and Cornell University. Over the course of the initial three-year project, the team developed and evaluated four versions of the unit, advancing the concept to Technology Readiness Level 6. The capabilities of individual proof-of-concept prototypes were verified in tests that were conducted with: 1) units in psychrometric chambers, 2) an instrumented manikin in a laboratory, and 3) human subjects in laboratories that simulate office environments. The tests verified that the µX prototypes met or exceeded all performance targets required to enable office buildings to reduce energy used for heating and cooling by 15% or more by maintaining occupant comfort when thermostat setpoints are incremented by 4°F or more.

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DOE OSTI2026

Systems-To-Atoms (S2A): enabling hydrogen for climate security

The project addresses a critical gap in hydrogen infrastructure by integrating system-level energy models with atomic-scale material simulations in a unified Systems-to-Atoms (S2A) framework. The motivation stems from the need to develop efficient, cost-effective, and durable hydrogen transport and utilization technologies to support decarbonization of hard-to-electrify sectors such as heavy-duty transportation. Current system models lack awareness of material performance mechanisms, while material-scale models do not account for system-level usage and variability. To bridge this divide, the team developed a co-simulation capability linking techno-economic analyses, reactor/process-flow modeling, and molecular-scale catalysis simulations. Applied to hydrogen delivery in California, the framework enabled comparative evaluations of compressed, cryogenic, and liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) pathways, highlighting how catalyst operation and unit process efficiency influence overall performance. The results demonstrate that no single material or transport mode is universally optimal; instead, heterogeneous solutions tuned to specific operational contexts deliver better performance. The project delivers a new capability for cross-scale material co-design, advancing hydrogen infrastructure readiness and informing DOE and LLNL missions in climate and energy resilience.

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