Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Mechanical Power”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

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

Operational space for lower hybrid heating scenarios in the full tungsten environment of WEST

In tungsten—W—Environment in Steady-state Tokamak (WEST), the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system is key for achieving long pulse operation by providing most of the non-inductive plasma current, as well as a crucial source of electron heating. Therefore, determining the operational space for its application is fundamental. In the present study, the LHCD operational space is deeply analyzed for 0.5 MA pulses. This space is bounded by three limits: (i) the ratio of the LHCD power over density must be above a threshold to compensate tungsten radiation with enough core heating, (ii) the line-averaged density must be high enough to allow good coupling of the hybrid wave with the plasma, and (iii) fast electron ripple losses must be below a limit to avoid reaching a thermal threshold on plasma-facing components. If the tungsten radiation peak or burn-through phase is not safely overcome, a maximum electron temperature of 1.5 keV is obtained, confinement is degraded, and magnetohydrodynamic activity is frequently triggered, potentially causing a disruption. From experimental measurements and interpretative simulations, we highlight the main mechanisms that prevent the plasma from heating up during LHCD power ramp-up. Three parameters play a major role: plasma density, tungsten concentration and LHCD power deposition. A strategy to overcome this limitation is found: a precise density ramp-up performed simultaneously with the increase in LHCD power. Additionally, we show that boronization greatly facilitates the burn-through of tungsten by lowering its content during the heating phase. Finally, taking into account the three constraints given above, the LHCD operational space is determined at power ramp-up and during constant heating phases.

lower hybrid heating and current drive↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design and optimization of flexible decoupled high-temperature gas-cooled reactor plants with thermal energy storage

Advanced nuclear power plants are well-positioned for future zero-carbon grids, however, the need for flexible power generation will be required over the traditional emphasis on baseload generation for meeting historical demands. To achieve such flexibility, this work examines viable configurations for coupling nuclear energy production with thermal energy storage. Previous designs on nuclear-thermal energy storage configurations for advanced reactor designs, which utilized reactor steam as the heat source for charging the thermal energy storage, are restricted by the heat diversion ratio and efficiency losses, thus their impacts can be limited. In this context, this study proposes configurations for fully decoupling the nuclear reactor from the power cycle and positioning the storage as an intermediate loop, thereby achieving an unconstrained heat diversion ratio and improved efficiency. Compared with a standard high-temperature gas-cooled reactor’s power cycle, steady-state thermodynamic modeling and dispatch optimizations quantify the benefits of a steam reheat cycle within the fully decoupled thermal energy system to separate the plant cycle from the high-pressure primary side. These benefits are further detailed, compatible with required high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, through (1) open-source dynamic transient models that examine the impact of off-design operation on the systems, (2) the investigation of components design and costing and finally (3) sizing and dispatch optimization. The fully-decoupled design achieves a cycle efficiency of 43.1%, an enhancement over the vendor’s standard efficiency of 42.2% (Xe-100 design). Here, the proposed design offers strengthened physical barriers from the nuclear island as well as superior operational flexibility and power boosting. Dispatch optimization and market analysis reveal that thermal energy storage size is highly dependent on the peak patterns of electricity prices and the minimum generation level constraint imposed on the balance of plant. Evaluation of off-design operation demonstrates that the full decoupling design with the suggested fail-safe control mechanisms ensures a minimal impact on reactor parameters, even during rapid power ramping.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cracked Gridline Wear Out Follows a Power Law

Cracks can form in Silicon solar cells in photovoltaic modules due to mechanical stresses arising from various extrinsic factors like handling and weather. While the immediate performance degradation may be minor, continuous loading overtime will degrade module performance. One probable reason is gridline surface wear across the cracked silicon with increased cyclic loading. In this work we propose a method to correlate gridline wear to module electrical degradation. We begin by conducting cyclic four-point bending tests on laminated silicon solar cells with a single crack and 22 intact gridlines for 10,000 cycles. We measure the progressive change in resistance during each loading cycle. We correlate it to a length scale called critical crack opening displacement (CCOD) that signifies failure of individual gridlines. By employing Weibull analysis, we determine the characteristic CCOD for all cycles and fit this data to a modified version of a wear power law. We observe that this i ts the data well. We also propose to study the effect of individual parameters in the power law equation and extend the equation to include material properties.

bending↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Double-side Cooled SiC MOSFET Power Module with Sintered-silver Interposers: I. Design, Simulation, Fabrication, and Performance Characterization

Planar, double-side cooled power modules are emerging in electric-drive inverters because of their low profile, better heat extraction, and lower package parasitic inductances. However, there is still concern about their reliability due to the rigid interconnection between the device chips and two substrates of the power module. In this paper, a porous interposer made of low-temperature sintered silver is introduced to reduce the thermo-mechanical stresses in the module. A double-side cooled half-bridge module consisting of two 1200 V, 149 A SiC MOSFETs was designed, fabricated, and characterized. By using the sintered-Ag instead of solid copper interposers, our simulation results showed that at a total power loss of 200 W, the thermo-mechanical stress at the most vulnerable interfaces (interposer-attach layer) was reduced by 42 % and in the SiC MOSFET by 50 % with a trade-off of only 3.6 % increase in junction temperature. The sintered-Ag interposers were readily fabricated into desired dimensions without post-machining and did not require any surface finishing for die-bonding and substrate interconnection by silver sintering. Here, the porous interposers were also deformable under a low force or pressure, which helped to accommodate chip thickness and/or substrate-to-substrate gap variations in the planar module structure, thus simplifying module fabrication. Experimental results on the electrical performance of the fabricated SiC modules validated the success of using the porous silver interposers for fabricating planar, double-side cooled power modules.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Observation of second harmonic electron cyclotron resonance heating and current-drive transition during non-inductive plasma start-up experiment in QUEST

Here, noninductive plasma current start-up using 2nd harmonic electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) with oblique radio frequency (RF) injection is demonstrated in a Q-shu University experiment with steady-state spherical tokamak. A strong transition was observed in the heating and plasma current ramp-up. The initial bulk electron heating regime exhibits T ebulk ~ 140 eV and no hard x-ray (HXR) emission with a low I p of ~15 kA; it abruptly transitions to a regime that exhibits a low T ebulk of ~10 eV and a strong HXR emission with a high I p of ~50 kA. This behavior is distinctly different from that observed in previous fundamental ECRH experiments. The mechanism of the heating and current drive transition are investigated considering wave power absorption and plasma power balance. The results indicate that the transition is caused by the favorable heating of tail electrons where the RF power absorption at the 2nd harmonic increases nearly linearly with T etail , while the power transfer from the tail electrons to the bulk electrons decreases with 1/T etail 0.5 . This causes a rapid transition to a state with high T etail while reducing T ebulk towards colder ion temperature. The understanding of the transition mechanism helps to consider plasma current start-up using 2nd harmonic ECRH for tokamak reactors such as JT-60 SA and ITER.

QUEST↗
DOE OSTI2024

Numerical simulations of laser-driven experiments of ion acceleration in stochastic magnetic fields

We present numerical simulations used to interpret laser-driven plasma experiments at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. The mechanisms by which non-thermal particles are accelerated in astrophysical environments, e.g., the solar wind, supernova remnants, and gamma ray bursts, is a topic of intense study. When shocks are present, the primary acceleration mechanism is believed to be first-order Fermi, which accelerates particles as they cross a shock. Second-order Fermi acceleration can also contribute, utilizing magnetic mirrors for particle energization. Despite this mechanism being less efficient, the ubiquity of magnetized turbulence in the universe necessitates its consideration. Another acceleration mechanism is the lower-hybrid drift instability, arising from gradients of both density and magnetic field, which produce lower-hybrid waves with an electric field that energizes particles as they cross these waves. With the combination of high-powered laser systems and particle accelerators, it is possible to study the mechanisms behind cosmic-ray acceleration in the laboratory. In this work, we combine experimental results and high-fidelity three-dimensional simulations to estimate the efficiency of ion acceleration in a weakly magnetized interaction region. We validate the FLASH magneto-hydrodynamic code with experimental results and use OSIRIS particle-in-cell code to verify the initial formation of the interaction region, showing good agreement between codes and experimental results. We find that the plasma conditions in the experiment are conducive to the lower-hybrid drift instability, yielding an increase in energy ΔE of ~ 264 keV for 242 MeV calcium ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Distribution Network Capacity Market Design: Marginal Distribution Capacity Pricing Mechanism for Efficient Investment and Cost Allocation

As electricity markets begin to shift from reliance on large, centralized power plants and towards distributed energy resources (DERs), there is a growing acknowledgement that more efficient planning, operations, and oversight is needed in the distribution system. This paper addresses one step in that direction by proposing an auction mechanism that uses a detailed distribution system planning model that allocates permits to end-used customers who request capacity to install new devices at their location and network upgrade contracts to utilities or 3rd-party companies who offer to upgrade system components. The resulting plan maximizes market surplus, that is, maximizes the total benefit to consumers minus the cost of network upgrades. We apply a marginal pricing scheme to the auction’s results such that the cost of each permits or contracts is differentiated by time and location, based on the Lagrangian multipliers of binding network constraints. These prices are shown to be no greater than the bid price of any awarded contract and no less than the offered cost of any awarded upgrade contract. Furthermore, the nonlinearity of power flows in the planning model result in an additional surplus that would be collected by the entity that hosts the auction, which could then be refunded to market participants or used to cover overhead costs of running the market. We provide four example auction results in a simple three-node distribution feeder to demonstrate the properties of the design. Results suggest that larger or more realistic case studies could be a promising next step.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Conclusions from 3 years of continuous capture plant operation without exchange of the AMP/PZ-based solvent at Niederaussem – insights into solvent degradation management

A many times heard mantra of solvent degradation management in amine-based post combustion capture is “keep the solvent clean” to minimize solvent consumption. It is assumed that the amine losses would decrease by the removal of metals, degradation products, and reactive trace components which are captured from the flue gas, like NO 2 (as potentially driving components of the amine degradation besides dissolved O 2 ). However, this theoretical hypothesis – based on results from laboratory experiments typically generated with fresh amines – disregards the complexity of the solvent matrix, interaction of potential metal catalysts with degradation products and oxidizing agents, and specific chemical requirements which must be fulfilled before a degradation mechanism can proceed. Degradation of the solvent CESAR1 (aqueous solution of 3.0 molar 2-amino-2-methylpropan-1-ol (AMP) and 1.5 molar piperazine (PZ)) is investigated in a unique long-time test campaign (testing time up to now 40 months; 24/7 operation) without replacement of the solvent inventory at the capture pilot plant at the lignite-fired power plant in Niederaussem. Three solvent management strategies with different effect mechanisms are investigated and evaluated: (a) removal of only anionic compounds and trace elements (within 75 days solvent inventory treated two times) and anionic as well as cationic compounds and trace elements (114 days, inventory treated four times) from the solvent by ion exchange, (b) adsorptive removal of trace elements from the solvent by active carbon in 35% of the operating time, and (c) removal of >80% NO 2 by flue gas pretreatment with thiosulfate/sulfite solution (dosing for 2,000 h). The results of the testing program clearly show that “solvent cleanliness” is not a well-defined parameter and that results from laboratory tests, tests without fully representative industrial flue gasses, and short-term testing of monoethanolamine cannot be generalized for other solvents and industrial application. Furthermore, these results showcase that specific degradation management considering solvent, capture plant and flue gas quality is reasonable. Overshooting efforts for solvent management are contra-productive and produce unnecessary waste streams, efficiency losses and costs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhanced stimulated Raman scattering during intense laser propagation

Stimulated Raman scattering is ubiquitous in many high-intensity laser environments. Parametric four-wave mixing between the pump and Raman sidebands can affect the Raman gain, but stringent phase matching requirements and strongly nonlinear dynamics obscure clear understanding of its effects at high laser powers. Here we investigate four-wave mixing in the presence of strong self-focusing and weak ionization at laser powers above the Kerr critical power. Theoretical analysis shows that the plasma generated at focus naturally leads to phase matching conditions suitable for enhanced Raman gain, almost without regard to the initial phase mismatch. Multidimensional nonlinear optical simulations with multiphoton and collisional ionization confirm the enhancement and suggest that it may lead to significantly higher Raman losses in some high-intensity laser environments.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Shape Matters: Understanding the Effect of Electrode Geometry on Cell Resistance and Chemo-Mechanical Stress

Rechargeable batteries that incorporate shaped three-dimensional electrodes have been shown to have increased power and energy densities when compared to a conventional geometry, i.e. a planar cathode and anode that sandwich an electrolyte. Electrodes can be shaped to enable a higher active material loading, while keeping ion transport distances small. However, the relationship between electrical and mechanical performance of shaped electrodes remains poorly understood. Many electrode designs have been explored, where the electrodes are individually shaped or intertwined, and advances in manufacturing and shape/topology optimization have made such designs a reality. Here, we explore sinusoidal half cells and interdigitated full cells. First, we use a simple electrostatics model to understand the cell resistance as a function of shape. Here we focus on low-temperature conditions, where the electrolyte conductivity decreases relative to that of the electrode; here, LiPF 6 EC:DMC electrolyte and MnO 2 electrode are considered. Next, we use a chemo-mechanics model to examine the stress that arises due to intercalation-driven volume expansion. We show that shaped electrodes provide a significant reduction in resistance in low-temperature conditions, however, they exhibit unfavorable stress concentrations. Overall, we find that the fully interdigitated electrodes may provide the best balance with respect to this resistance-stress trade-off.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Solid-State Lighting Using Side-by-Side White Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

White organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) have become increasingly popular for use in solid-state illumination, where diffuse, large area light sources that achieve a high color rendering index and luminous power efficiency are desirable. Color-tunable emission, where the light source combines emission from multiple, separately addressed color elements, is conveniently provided by WOLEDs for the purpose of adapting the lighting source to a particular illumination requirement. In this work, we demonstrate a method for side-by-side positioning of monochromatic blue and yellow phosphorescent OLED stripes that are combined to create tunable white light, using a high resolution mechanical peel-off patterning method. We achieve a peak luminous power efficiency of 17.1 ± 0.3 lm W –1 and an external quantum efficiency of 11.8 ± 0.2% and demonstrate color tunability of the 1960 Commission Internationale d’Eclairage chromaticity coordinates from (u,v) = (0.33,0.36) to (0.12,0.32). This corresponds to a tuning rnge of the color rendering index from 74 ± 1 to 86 ± 1 and the correlated color temperature from 2000 to 8000 ± 500 K. Here, due to the nondestructive nature of the peel-off technique, patterned devices exhibit a lifetime comparable to conventional, shadow mask-patterned devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Developing a Distributed Trust Model for Distributed Energy Resources

Electric power system operators can manage distribution system reliability by coordinating end customer usage of distributed energy resources. The end customers in this regard are Service Provisioning Customers, who provide their energy resources to a Grid Service Provider, which in turn dispatches large aggregations of distributed energy resources to provide reliable service to the power system.The security of this system relies upon information protection mechanisms, as described in IEEE 2030.5. However, in addition to preventive security measures, a monitoring function is required to ensure trustworthiness. Trust models are a method to detect and respond to both expected and unexpected behavior. Different trust models are required for various types and characteristics of each situation. This paper will describe the topics that must be considered when developing a trust model as it applies to distributed energy resources. The major contribution of this paper is the creation and application of a Distributed Trust Model applied to distributed energy resources.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Glassoformer: A Query-Sparse Transformer for Post-Fault Power Grid Voltage Prediction

Here, we propose GLassoformer, a novel and efficient transformer architecture leveraging group Lasso regularization to reduce the number of queries of the standard self-attention mechanism. Due to the sparsified queries, GLassoformer is more computationally efficient than the standard transformers. On the power grid post-fault voltage prediction task, GLasso-former shows remarkably better prediction than many existing benchmark algorithms in terms of accuracy and stability.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Thermal and electric multidomain dynamic model for integration of power grid distribution with behind-the-meter devices

As renewable energy sources like solar and wind power become more integrated into the grid, coordinated control of behind-the-meter devices is crucial for enhancing grid flexibility and reliability and for meeting cost targets, with standardized models being developed to support this transition. The increasing flexibility and uncertainty of integrated renewable energy grids, along with interactions between various subsystems, make traditional steady-state modeling insufficient to capture transient and dynamic behaviors. Current models (e.g., composite load and battery equivalent models) focus on thermodynamic or electrical characteristics but overlook critical electromechanical interactions. This limits the ability to share performance information for grid services and hampers fast dynamic simulations. In addition, motor stalling is usually triggered by a fault event and attributed to the characteristics of the mechanical torque of the motor, resulting in absorption of a large amount of reactive power during the stalling period. Further, this significant withdrawal of reactive power will deteriorate the dynamic voltage stability of power grids and cause delayed voltage recovery. Therefore, an in-depth modeling of the thermodynamics or mechanical torque is essential to study the impacts of the realistic torque characteristics of those behind-the-meter devices on power system voltage stability. This study developed a dynamic multidomain model for building HVAC systems, such as air-source heat pumps, to simulate their thermal and electrical responses to grid transients. The model can accurately predict power metrics with a mean absolute percentage error of 10%, by validating against with power system computer-aided design performance data. Case studies demonstrate the model capability of capturing the transient response to sudden voltage changes, rapid load fluctuations, and system shutdowns respectively. During a sudden voltage drop (30% for 0.1s), a fully loaded heat pump’s motor speed dropped, continued declining, and shut down after 3.6s, with severe power oscillations and a torque spike. A partially loaded unit experienced temporary oscillations but stabilized. Under higher building loads, compressor speed increased from 64% to 100%, with power and torque rising before stabilizing. In safety-triggered shutdowns, power decreased after minor fluctuations, and torque briefly spiked before dropping to zero.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Additive manufacturing of amorphous metal soft magnetic composites

Soft magnet alloys are used as magnetic cores for electric motors, transformers, wind turbines and other power generation systems. Soft magnetic cores are expensive and time consuming to manufacture in the complex shapes required for next-generation devices using conventional press and sinter powder metallurgy. The objective of this effort is to additively manufacture high performance soft magnets, with reduced cost and reduced material waste and 10x lower energy (core) loss at the high operating frequencies of many electric machines. Laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing is used as the fabrication method. Electrical steel and amorphous alloys atomized powders are used as a feedstock materials. Magnetic cores are printed in topology optimized structures such as the Hilbert curve because this has been shown to reduce energy losses by minimizing the eddy currents that circulate within the magnet at high frequencies. In our project, we succeed in printing FeSi 3.5wt% and FeSi 6.5wt% electrical steels, and iron-based soft magnetic amorphous alloys in the shape of Hilbert and Peano curve topology optimized structures. We found that the Peano curve has a higher cut-off frequency than the Hilbert curve, and that amorphous alloys have high cut-off frequencies and higher mechanical hardness than electrical steels. Processing conditions such as laser power, scan speed, and hatching pattern were optimized to achieve high density prints, and optimize magnetic performance. We find that the printing of amorphous alloy soft magnetic cores may be technoeconomically feasible for large scale applications such as transformers, for which supply chain issues and the labor costs of manual fabrication of magnetic cores is prohibitive in some cases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrating 5G Technology for Improved Process Monitoring and Network Slicing in ICS

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are crucial for monitoring physical processes that support essential cyber-enabled services like power generation. The use of proprietary communication and lack of effective intrusion detection mechanisms pose constraints for efficient operation. Therefore, there is a need to modernize these systems with decentralized technologies like Edge Computing and 5G. However, integrating 5G and Edge Computing into large-scale ICS networks presents implementation and performance challenges. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an integrated ICS architecture that combines 5G and Edge Computing technologies with traditional ICS protocols. The objective is to minimize implementation and operational difficulties while improving the monitoring of physical processes and enabling robust intrusion detection. The proposed architecture outlines the necessary components, services, and communication protocols required for the integration of 5G and Edge Computing.

Aguayo, Jared M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Extracting energy from ocean thermal and salinity gradients to power unmanned underwater vehicles: State of the art, current limitations, and future outlook

Thermal gradient energy-generation technologies for powering unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) or autonomous sensing systems in the ocean are mainly in the research development phase or commercially available at a limited scale, and salinity-gradient energy-generation technologies have not been adequately researched yet. The demand for self-powered UUVs suitable for long-term deployments has been growing, and further research related to small-scale ocean gradient energy systems is needed. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive review about harvesting energy from ocean thermal or salinity gradients for powering UUVs, focusing on gliders and profiling floats. Thermal gradient energy systems for UUVs based on phase change materials (PCM) cannot provide the energy required for powering autonomous sensing systems because of the systems' low energy conversion efficiency. Besides reducing energy consumption by developing more efficient electrical-mechanical systems, enhancing the thermal conductivity of the PCMs may help address this challenge by increasing the power generation rate of the UUVs. Several other emerging technologies, such as thermoelectric generators, shape memory alloys, and small-scale thermodynamic cycle systems, have shown potential for powering UUVs, but they are still only at the laboratory testing or conceptual design phase. The most advanced power generation technologies based on salinity gradients, reverse electrodialysis and pressure-retarded osmosis, are still not economically viable for large-scale deployment, mainly because of the high cost of the components required to operate in harsh saline environments. Our feasibility evaluation showed that existing salinity gradient power generation technologies are not directly feasible for powering UUVs in the open ocean.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2020

Crystalline Structure-Dependent Mechanical and Thermoelectric Performance in Ag 2 Se 1–x S x System

Self-powered wearable electronics require thermoelectric materials simultaneously with a high dimensionless figure of merit (zT) and good flexibility to convert the heat discharged by the human body into electricity. Ag 2 (S,Se)-based semiconducting materials can well satisfy these requirements, and thus, they are attracting great attention in thermoelectric society recently. Ag 2 (S,Se) crystalizes in an orthorhombic structure or monoclinic structure, depending on the detailed S/Se atomic ratio, but the relationship between its crystalline structure and mechanical/thermoelectric performance is still unclear to date. In this study, a series of Ag 2 Se 1–x S x (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.45) samples were prepared and their mechanical and thermoelectric performance dependence on the crystalline structure was systematically investigated. x = 0.3 in the Ag 2 Se 1–x S x system was found to be the transition boundary between orthorhombic and monoclinic structures. Mechanical property measurement shows that the orthorhombic Ag 2 Se 1–x S x samples are brittle while the monoclinic Ag 2 Se 1–x S x samples are ductile and flexible. In addition, the orthorhombic Ag 2 Se 1–x S x samples show better electrical transport performance and higher zT than the monoclinic samples under a comparable carrier concentration, most likely due to their weaker electron-phonon interactions. This study sheds light on the further development of flexible inorganic TE materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗