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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Non-catalytic pyrolysis of associated gas to zero CO 2 hydrogen and high value carbon black

The overall objective of this work is to perform a pre-Front End Engineering Design (pre-FEED) study of the conversion of associated gas produced at an active oil pad of a Bakken oil field producer, to high value carbon black and hydrogen using the Microwave Plasma Pyrolysis of Associated Gas (MPP-AG) process developed by H Quest Vanguard, Inc (HQV). The University of North Dakota’s Center for Process Engineering Research (CPER) collaborated with HQV to complete a design and techno-economic analysis for the MPP-AG deployed at an active Bakken well site flaring an average of 54,000 standard cubic feet per day of AG. The proposed design consists of: • A Microwave Pyrolysis Unit (MPU) which consists of H Quest’s proprietary MPP technology • A patent-pending Gas Conditioning Unit (GCU) designed by the University of North Dakota to condition intermittent and variable flow gas prior to pyrolysis. • An auxiliary unit running on the associated gas to power the GCU and MPU in an “island mode” configuration.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implementing Fuel Cladding Bonding and Assessing its Impact on Axial Gas Communication

Fuel rods irradiated in light-water reactors to burnup values above 45 MWd/kgU are subject to the formation of a chemical and mechanical bond between the fuel and cladding upon gap closure. The formation of the bond subsequently inhibits the ability of fission gases released from the fuel to flow freely to the plenum of the rod. The flowing of gases within fuel rods is referred to as axial gas communication. During transients, such as loss of coolant accidents, the bond may influence cladding deformation prior to breaking. Upon bond breakage, gases are able to more freely communicate to the lower pressure regions of the rod. The impact of bonding on gas communication and the ballooning behavior of the cladding during a loss of coolant accident is of interest to the nuclear industry in support of burnup extension for the existing light-water reactor fleet. In this report, a model to capture the effects of fuel cladding bonding in the BISON fuel performance code is presented. The theory of the model along with implementation testing is provided. A summary of a previously developed axial gas communication is given to set the stage for how the two models may be coupled together. A full-length pressurized-water reactor fuel rod demonstration is highlighted to evaluate the impact of including bonding on axial gas communication calculations using a preliminary coupling methodology. An overview of the next steps regarding the modeling of bonding, axial gas communication, and a more tightly coupled framework is also provided.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Abatement of radioiodine in aqueous reprocessing off-gas

The reprocessing used nuclear fuel (UNF) releases volatile fission and activation products, including 129 I, into the off-gas of a processing plant. Mitigation of the release of vapor phase radionuclides is necessary for meeting regulatory requirements in the United States and other countries. In an aqueous reprocessing plant, volatile radioiodine could be present in several forms, depending on the chemistry of the process used. Inorganic iodine will be the predominate species in any shearing or voloxidation pretreatment off-gas and dissolver off-gas (DOG). Organic iodides such as CH 3 I, C 4 H 9 I, and C 12 H 25 I have been proposed to be generated during solvent extraction; thus, these species must be captured from the vessel off-gas (VOG). The abatement of inorganic and organic iodide species to meet United States regulatory requirements has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments using Ag-based solid sorbents. The data presented in this paper includes the effect of gas composition (e.g., the presence of water vapor and NO x ), iodine speciation (I 2 , CH 3 I, C 4 H 9 I, C 12 H 25 I), and sorbent bed parameters (e.g., temperature, sorbent age) on complete iodine capture on Ag-mordenite in an aqueous reprocessing plant.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Convex Relaxations of Maximal Load Delivery for Multi-Contingency Analysis of Joint Electric Power and Natural Gas Transmission Networks

Recent increases in gas-fired power generation have engendered increased interdependencies between natural gas and power transmission systems. These interdependencies have amplified existing vulnerabilities in gas and power grids, where disruptions can require the curtailment of load in one or both systems. Although typically operated independently, coordination of these systems during severe disruptions can allow for targeted delivery to lifeline services, including gas delivery for residential heating and power delivery for critical facilities. To address the challenge of estimating maximum joint network capacities under such disruptions, we consider the task of determining feasible steady-state operating points for severely damaged systems while ensuring the maximal delivery of gas and power loads simultaneously, represented mathematically as the nonconvex joint Maximal Load Delivery (MLD) problem. To increase its tractability, we present a mixed-integer convex relaxation of the MLD problem. Then, to demonstrate the relaxation’s effectiveness in determining bounds on network capacities, exact and relaxed MLD formulations are compared across various multi-contingency scenarios on nine joint networks ranging in size from 25 to 1191 nodes. The relaxation-based methodology is observed to accurately and efficiently estimate the impacts of severe joint network disruptions, often converging to the relaxed MLD problem’s globally optimal solution within ten seconds.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dissecting Nearby Galaxies with piXedfit. I. Spatially Resolved Properties of Stars, Dust, and Gas as Revealed by Panchromatic SED Fitting

We study spatially resolved properties (on spatial scales of ~1–2 kpc out to at least 3 effective radii) of the stars, dust, and gas in 10 nearby spiral galaxies. The properties of the stellar population and dust are derived by fitting the spatially resolved spectral energy distribution (SED) with more than 20 photometric bands ranging from far-ultraviolet to far-infrared. Our newly developed software piXedfit performs point-spread function matching of images, pixel binning, and models the stellar light, dust attenuation, dust emission, and emission from a dusty torus heated by an active galactic nucleus simultaneously through the energy-balance approach. With this self-consistent analysis, we present the spatially resolved version of the IRX–βrelation, finding that it is consistent with the relationship from the integrated photometry. We show that the old stellar populations contribute to the dust heating, which causes an overestimation of the star formation rate (SFR) derived from the total ultraviolet and infrared luminosities on kiloparsec scales. With archival high-resolution maps of atomic and molecular gas, we study the radial variation of the properties of the stellar populations (including stellar mass, age, metallicity, and SFR), dust (including dust mass, dust temperature, and abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon), and gas, as well as dust-to-stellar mass and dust-to-gas mass ratios. We observe a depletion of the molecular gas mass fraction in the central region of the majority of the galaxies, suggesting that the lack of available fuel is an important factor in suppressing the specific SFR at the center.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Opportunities for Clean Energy in Natural Gas Well Operations: Preprint

The oil and gas industry is increasingly seeking operational improvements to reduce both costs and emissions. Currently, oil and gas directly and indirectly contributes forty-two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with over twenty percent of the industry’s emissions coming from operations. Given the opportunity for emissions reductions, this study describes techno-economic analysis evaluating opportunities for distributed energy generation and storage technologies – including solar photovoltaics (PV), distributed wind energy, and battery energy storage – to support companies’ energy cost savings targets, clean energy goals, and energy resiliency needs at hypothetical upstream well sites in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, both grid-connected and off-grid. These technologies reduce the site’s consumption of grid electricity and natural gas and thus help reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions associated with electricity and natural gas. For each scenario, a cost of avoided emissions was calculated; these values can be compared to internal organizational value placed on emissions reductions, compared to other emissions reduction strategies such as energy efficiency, reducing flaring, and direct carbon capture and sequestration, and compared to existing (albeit limited) U.S. carbon markets such as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The study also explores the ability of these electric clean energy technologies to support site resiliency against utility outages.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Milestone 2.7: Evaluation of Techniques for the Measurement of Molecular Hydrogen Gas in Helium Matrices

Published data by Task 2 (Oxyhydroxide Layer Radiolytic Gas Generation Resolution) for Technical Considerations and Challenges for Extended (>50 yrs) Dry Storage of Aluminum Cladded Spent Nuclear Fuel (ASNF), demonstrated that radiolytic molecular hydrogen (H2) production from gamma irradiated aluminum alloy 1100 (Al-1100) coupons exhibited significant dependence on backfill gaseous environment conditions: air, due to the presence of oxygen, completely inhibited H2 production; nitrogen promoted H2 production; and argon yielded more H2 than nitrogen environments. The concern here is that helium has been proposed as the backfill gas for extended storage and is more inert than argon, which may translate into significantly more H2 production than current Task 3 argon-based models predict. However, the measurement of H2 in helium media was not possible using the previously establish gas chromatography (GC) flame ionization detector, due to similarities in thermal conductivity. This milestone was initiated to evaluate an alternative GC approach that employed a mercuric oxide (HgO) reduction gas detector (RGD). Using the HgO RGD setup, H2 was successfully calibrated in the presence of a helium carrier gas, and then subsequently measured in control and irradiated crush-tube sample vials, consistent with previous sample measurements. Overall, the HgO RGD approach was found to be sufficient for future helium environment irradiations.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2022

JISEA Annual Meeting: Clean Energy for Oil and Gas Topic Table

Presentation on clean energy for oil and gas topic discussion table at the 2022 JISEA annual meeting. Many refineries may have wind and solar resources and clean energy technology costs are declining. JISEA created an oil and gas consortium including Baker Hughes, Conoco Phillips, Extraction Oil & Gas, INGAA Foundation, and Kinder Morgan to explore potential pathways for integrating clean energy into oil and gas operations. This presentation goes over JISEA case studies that demonstrate reliable and affordable clean power for oil and gas operations. JISEA used the REopt Energy Planning Platform and evaluated several potential future scenarios.

clean energy↗
DOE OSTI2023

Methane Emissions Produced by Pneumatic Devices and Produced Water Tanks on Natural Gas Wellsites

In recent years, more scrutiny has been placed on the release of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) by the oil and gas industry in North America as climate concerns increase. In the coming years, stricter regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the release of GHGs will further direct attention to GHG emissions quantification, modeling, and overall reduction. Active natural gas wellsites employ production equipment that routinely emits methane during normal operation. Production equipment often includes, but is not limited to, gas production units (GPUs), pneumatic controllers (PCs) and actuators powered by produced natural gas, and produced water storage tanks. This work details direct methane emission measurements taken at active natural gas wellsites originating from intermittent pneumatic controllers and produced water storage tanks. Efforts to model methane flows originating from these sources are also detailed, and those results are compared to direct measurement. The direct methane emissions measurement campaign collected flow data from two active dry wellsites in the Marcellus shale region. These measurement campaigns captured, in total, several weeks of continuous data from these sites. Data included multiple pneumatic device vent flowrate channels, a single channel monitoring total emissions vented from the produced water storage tanks, and corresponding site weather data. Periodic composition measurements were taken from flows vented from produced water tanks. Computational modeling efforts attempted to mimic a given site’s methane emissions behavior given limited input parameters. Direct measurement data and simulation data yielded, through reduction and analysis, apparent methane emissions factors, statistics on pneumatic device actuation events, important relationships between GPU parameters and pneumatic device actuation events, produced water storage tank vent flows and flow compositions, and parameters most contributing to the magnitude and frequency of these fugitive methane emissions. Measurements, considering data from a 72hr period, produced PC emissions factors from 0.008 to 0.03 SCFH per device with an average device emitting 0.026 SCFH at the first site. The second site produced PC emissions factors spanning from 0.05 to 25.47 SCFH with an average device emitting 1.93 SCFH not including the 25.47 SCFH device, which was assumed to be malfunctioning. Two unique water tank emission measurements were made, 618 g CH4 per hour and 32.6 g CH4 per hour. On a water basis, the water tank emissions factors were 0.66 and 0.042 kg CH4 per bbl of water, respectively.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-resolution national mapping of natural gas composition substantially updates methane leakage impacts

Methane is emitted from oil and gas operations alongside heavier hydrocarbons and non-hydrocarbon gases, shaping emissions management decision-making, including air quality impacts. Yet, most assessments assume fixed gas composition, overlooking significant spatial and temporal variations. Here, we generate a high-resolution, data-driven map of natural gas composition across the United States, reconstructing methane, heavier hydrocarbons, and non-hydrocarbon species using spatio-temporal interpolation and oil-and-gas production patterns. Our approach is able to reduce composition prediction errors by 39% in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE) compared to standard techniques and reveals that methane loss rates have been underestimated by more than 50% in some regions. Beyond methane, we uncover substantial variability in co-emitted gases, exposing blind spots in current emissions inventories and emissions management frameworks. Our work enables more accurate emissions assessments, guides targeted measurement strategies, and informs emissions management decision-making. It also provides a general framework for prediction in environmental applications that integrate sparse measurements with auxiliary variables.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Operation of Natural Gas Pipeline Networks With Storage Under Transient Flow Conditions

Here, we formulate a nonlinear optimal control problem for intraday operation of a natural gas pipeline network that includes storage reservoirs. The dynamics of compressible gas flow through pipes, compressors, reservoirs, and wells are considered. In particular, a reservoir is modeled as a rigid, hollow container that stores gas under isothermal conditions and uniform density, and a well is modeled as a vertical pipe. For each pipe, flow dynamics are described by a coupled partial differential equation (PDE) system in density and mass flux variables, with momentum dissipation modeled using the Darcy–Wiesbach friction approximation. Compressors are modeled as scaling up the pressure of gas between the inlet and outlet. The governing equations for all network components are spatially discretized and assembled into a nonlinear differential-algebraic equation (DAE) system, which synthesizes above-ground pipeline and subsurface reservoir dynamics into a single reduced-order model. We seek to maximize an objective function that quantifies economic profit and network efficiency subject to the flow equations and inequalities that represent operating limitations. The problem is solved using a primal–dual interior point solver, and the solutions are validated in computational experiments and simulations on several pipeline test networks to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analytical Study to Use the Excess Digester Gas of Wastewater Treatment Plants

This study presents an analytical method that can be used to enhance the power production rate and the energy-saving at wastewater treatment plants. The digester used at wastewater treatment plants produces digester gas by anaerobic digestion, with which biofuel production can be achieved. Biofuels can be used to meet some of the energy requirements of the wastewater treatment facility through combined heat and power (CHP) gas engines (cogeneration). Using micro gas turbine (MGT), a CHP technology can be introduced in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The combination of MGTs and absorption chillers is a promising technology as it produces electricity, heating, and cooling simultaneously. The study demonstrated how the waste heat of MGTs could be used to drive absorption chillers. In this analytical study, a detailed technical and economic analysis is provided on the trigeneration system, i.e., the integration of MGTs and absorption chillers driven by waste digester gas of the wastewater treatment plants. It can meet the heating and cooling demands of the plants, which promote the reduction of utility costs. The technology presented is also useful for other thermal energy users.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hydrogen Blending into Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure: Review of the State of Technology

Hydrogen is an energy carrier that could play an important role in reducing emissions associated with difficult-to-decarbonize sectors including peaking and load-following electricity and industrial heating. Blending hydrogen into the natural gas pipelines has been proposed as an approach for achieving near-term emissions reductions and early-market access for hydrogen technologies such as electrolyzers. Numerous challenges and uncertainties complicate this approach to natural gas decarbonization, however, and this review summarizes current research on the material, economic, and operational factors that must be considered for hydrogen blending. First, this review explores previous research regarding the effects of blending hydrogen on gas mixture fluid and thermodynamic properties, pipeline materials and equipment performance within transmission and distribution networks, and supporting facilities such as underground storage and end-use hydrogen separation. We also investigate and summarize studies that developed mathematical models of natural gas pipeline networks with hydrogen blending, and the operational and techno-economic findings of these network studies. Finally, we discuss notable hydrogen blending demonstrations and their key outcomes. Many blending demonstrations internationally have proven that low hydrogen percentage blending is feasible under very specific scenarios with limited end-usage applications on both high-pressure transmission lines and low-pressure distribution lines. This report summarizes findings from literature into key areas of consensus and disagreement. Research gaps and disagreements between the literature are highlighted to provide directions for future hydrogen blending research.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Creating Novel Gas Separation Constructs by Manipulating Free-Volume Distributions in Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles

Polymer membranes are critical to many sustainability applications that require gas separation primarily based on differences in the sizes of the constituent molecules (“sieving”). The important figures of merit in this context are the rate at which the gas permeates through the membrane (or flux) and the resulting gas purity (as characterized by its selectivity). The overall goal is to maximize both gas permeability and selectivity. Currently, the ability to a priori design polymeric materials (either pure polymers or mixed matrix membranes where polymers are mixed with inorganic nanoparticles) with required permeability and selectivity remains an open challenge.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Natural Gas Vehicle Basics

Natural gas powers about 175,000 U.S. vehicles and more than 23 million vehicles worldwide.1 Natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are a good choice for high-mileage (high fuel-use) fleets - such as buses, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and refuse vehicles - that are centrally fueled or operate within a limited area or along a route with natural gas fueling stations. The advantages of natural gas as an alternative fuel include its domestic production, established distribution network, relatively low cost, and emissions benefits.

alternative fuel↗
DOE OSTI2022

Generalization of thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm for mixed‐gas adsorption equilibria

Abstract This work presents a comprehensive thermodynamic model for both pure component isotherms and mixed‐gas adsorption equilibria. A generalization of thermodynamic Langmuir isotherm, the proposed model assumes competitive adsorption of multiple adsorbates on adsorbent surface for mixed‐gas adsorption equilibria, and it applies an area‐based adsorption nonrandom two‐liquid activity coefficient model in the activity coefficient calculations for the adsorbate phase. The resulting generalized Langmuir isotherm properly captures both surface loading dependence and adsorbate phase composition dependence for mixed‐gas adsorption equilibria. The model is validated with accurate representations of gas adsorption equilibrium data for varieties of unary, binary, and ternary gas systems. The model results are further compared with those calculated from extended Langmuir isotherm and Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory.

Hamid, Usman↗
DOE OSTI2020

Gas Transport in the Insensitive High Explosive PBX 9502

Small-scale laboratory experiments were performed to analyze gas transport mechanics in PBX 9502, an insensitive high explosive (IHE) composition. Two independent investigations are reported here. First, gas permeametry and dynamic pycnometry techniques were used to measure the molecular flow (Knudsen) coefficient and the internally interconnected void fraction of pristine and thermally damaged samples in two uniaxial pressing orientations. The permeability of PBX 9502 was found to be unmeasurably low (of the same order of magnitude as PTFE) with gas transport being diffusion-dominated. Secondly, a pressure vessel experiment was developed to measure quasi-static and dynamic gas generation as the explosive was heated to self-ignition (cookoff). The gas generation results and the permeability/diffusivity findings provide evidence that PBX 9502 remains impermeable until seconds prior to self-ignition. At ignition, internal void-pressure drives macro-scale cracking and the sample becomes uniformly incorporated in the following deconsolidating deflagration. These results are discussed within the context of previous observations of pressure-dependent cookoff behavior of PBX 9502 and provide a more complete description of thermal damage evolution in this explosive composition.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2020

Investigating the effect of different shielding gas mixtures on microstructure and mechanical properties of 410 stainless steel fabricated via large scale additive manufacturing

Metal Big Area Additive Manufacturing (mBAAM) offers the potential to fabricate large scale tools at high deposition rates (15 lb/h+). 410 martensitic steel is a potential tooling material, owing to its low cost, good machinability and reasonable printability. During the mBAAM process, the shielding gas can have a significant impact on the material properties as well as the process cost. Therefore, the current study aims to understand the effect of different shielding gas mixtures on large-scale additive manufacturing of 410 martensitic stainless steel. We show that an argon mixture with 3% nitrogen gas produced the best performance in terms of maximum hardness and tensile strength, with much less scatter in tensile strength. He-Ar-CO 2 or tri-mix shielded samples showed a low tensile strength with wide scatter, due to stabilized delta ferrite in microstructure during printing. Both tri-mix and Ar-CO 2 shielded samples showed slightly higher porosity. Thus, we recommend the use of argon-3% nitrogen as a shielding gas mixture for processing 410 steel for tool applications, based on the relatively low cost of this gas mixture and the resulting higher hardness, higher dimensional stability, and lower porosity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗