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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 OSTI2021

Organic Iodine Capture from Vessel Off-gas

The Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply Chain Program Material Recovery and Waste Form Development (MRWFD) Campaign Off-gas Sigma Team has performed research and development on iodine control and iodine waste forms for the past several years. This research and development has included iodine adsorption tests using a laboratory-scale test system containing multiple-segmented fixed beds of iodine adsorbents. Iodine capture performance has been tested using non-radioactive synthetic gas mixtures blended from air, nitrogen, NO, NO2, water, and the target iodine compounds diatomic iodine (I2), representing likely inorganic iodides, and methyl iodide (iodomethane, CH3I) and 1-iodobutane (butyl iodide) a surrogates for potential organic iodides, that could exist in dissolver off-gas (DOG) and vessel off-gas (VOG) streams from used nuclear fuel aqueous reprocessing.

12 - MGMT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microbial production of fuels, commodity chemicals, and materials from sustainable sources of carbon and energy

Anthropogenic carbon emissions are driving rapid changes to the earth's climate, disrupting whole ecosystems and endangering the stability of human society. Innovations in engineered microbial fermentation enable the fossil resource-free production of fuels, commodity chemicals, and materials, thereby reducing the carbon emissions associated with these products. Microorganisms have been engineered to catabolize sustainable sources of carbon and energy (i.e., plant biomass, plastic waste, and one-carbon feedstocks) and biosynthesize carbon-neutral or carbon-negative products. These engineering efforts exploit and optimize natural biological pathways or generate unnatural pathways which can biosynthesize chemicals that have not yet been accessed using synthetic chemistry. Further, recent advances in microbial fermentation seek not only to maximize the titer, rate, and yield of desired products, but also to tailor microbial catabolism to utilize inexpensive feedstocks. Ultimately, these advances aim to lower the cost of bioproduction so that microorganism-derived chemicals can be economically competitive with fossil-derived chemicals.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of the NASA Earth Action Strategies Wildland Fire Initiative

As part of NASA’s new Earth Action strategy, the Wildland Fire initiative was established, which includes both the NASA Wildland Fire Program (WFP) and the FireSense project. NASA has over 50 years of experience generating data and technology to enhance fire science and operational management. The WFP’s mission is threefold: 1) assemble communities of practice through collaborative efforts with government, academia, and the private sector; 2) co-develop knowledge and applications with relevant partners and stakeholders in the wildfire community; and 3) improve wildland fire management through the transitioning of NASA data, technology, tools, and science to stakeholder organizations. The WFP is focusing on supporting proactive fire management, including situational awareness, preparedness, and risk mitigation. This will be accomplished through selected projects that identify management challenges, relevant to partners and end users, and the NASA data that will be utilized to deliver innovative solutions to enhance the management of wildland fires. Examples include: i) investigation of evaporative stress from OpenET to help predict the risk of wildfire occurrence in watersheds; ii) incorporation of space based LiDAR for the generation of 3-dimensional forest fuel metrics, used to improve wildfire risk and behavior models; iii) integration of global, multi-platform geostationary active-fire data in near-real-time into NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS); and iv) identification of post-fire ecohydrological conditions using thermal, multispectral, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and hyperspectral remotely-sensed data to improve flood hazard forecast models. The FireSense project is a US-focused 5-year project that will focus on delivering NASA’s unique Earth science and technological capabilities to operational agencies, striving towards enhancing fire fighting and air quality management. The project will include airborne campaigns and new technology that will likely have global implications. Initial stakeholder engagement led FireSense to focus on four use-cases focused on the characterization and measurement of: (i) pre-fire fuels conditions, (ii) active fire-dynamics; (iii) post-fire impact and threats; and iv) air quality impacts and forecasting, each-developed with identified stakeholders.

Wildland Fire program↗
DOE OSTI2022

Strategies for breaking molecular scaling relationships for the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction

The electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is a promising strategy for converting CO 2 to fuels and value-added chemicals using renewable energy sources. Molecular electrocatalysts show promise for the selective conversion of CO 2 to single products with catalytic activity that can be tuned through synthetic structure modifications. However, for the CO 2 RR by traditional molecular catalysts, beneficial decreases in overpotentials are usually correlated with detrimental decreases in catalytic activity. This correlation is sometimes referred to as a “molecular scaling relationship”. Overcoming this inverse correlation between activity and effective overpotential remains a challenge when designing new, efficient molecular catalyst systems. Here, in this perspective, we discuss some of the concepts that give rise to the molecular scaling relationships in the CO 2 RR by molecular catalysts. We then provide an overview of some reported strategies from the last decade for breaking these scaling relationships. We end by discussing strategies and progress in our own research designing efficient molecular catalysts with redox-active ligands that show high activity at low effective overpotentials for the CO 2 RR.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Engineering custom morpho- and chemotypes of Populus for sustainable production of biofuels, bioproducts, and biomaterials

Humans have been modifying plant traits for thousands of years, first through selection (i.e., domestication) then modern breeding, and in the last 30 years, through biotechnology. These modifications have resulted in increased yield, more efficient agronomic practices, and enhanced quality traits. Precision knowledge of gene regulation and function through high-resolution single-cell omics technologies, coupled with the ability to engineer plant genomes at the DNA sequence, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression levels, can enable engineering of complex and complementary traits at the biosystem level. Populus spp., the primary genetic model system for woody perennials, are among the fastest growing trees in temperate zones and are important for both carbon sequestration and global carbon cycling. Ample genomic and transcriptomic resources for poplar are available including emerging single-cell omics datasets. To expand use of poplar outside of valorization of woody biomass, chassis with novel morphotypes in which stem branching and tree height are modified can be fabricated thereby leading to trees with altered leaf to wood ratios. These morphotypes can then be engineered into customized chemotypes that produce high value biofuels, bioproducts, and biomaterials not only in specific organs but also in a cell-type-specific manner. For example, the recent discovery of triterpene production in poplar leaf trichomes can be exploited using cell-type specific regulatory sequences to synthesize high value terpenes such as the jet fuel precursor bisabolene specifically in the trichomes. By spatially and temporally controlling expression, not only can pools of abundant precursors be exploited but engineered molecules can be sequestered in discrete cell structures in the leaf. The structural diversity of the hemicellulose xylan is a barrier to fully utilizing lignocellulose in biomaterial production and by leveraging cell-type-specific omics data, cell wall composition can be modified in a tailored and targeted specific manner to generate poplar wood with novel chemical features that are amenable for processing or advanced manufacturing. Precision engineering poplar as a multi-purpose sustainable feedstock highlights how genome engineering can be used to re-imagine a crop species.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Renewable Thermal Hybridization Framework for Industrial Process Heat Applications

Solar industrial process heat (SIPH) technologies, such as concentrating solar power collectors, could economically replace the steam or heat needs at many industrial sites by providing high-temperature heat transfer fluids (HTFs) such as pressurized water, synthetic-oil, or direct steam. Renewable thermal energy systems (RTES) could be hybridized with different renewable options e.g., flat plate collectors with parabolic trough collectors, or combined with existing heat supplies (e.g., fossil fuels), to give options for targeted SIPH applications, industrial decarbonization and the reduction of fuel consumption. Hybrid solutions and thermal energy storage will be important for the dispatch of heat at optimal times needed by the demand side of the buildings and industrial applications. At present, there is no integrated modeling tool for hybrid RTES, and this paper highlights the development of a renewable thermal hybridization framework for IPH use that is built from existing tools like System Advisor Model. The long-term vision for the framework (through significant further research) is to develop a coupled hybrid energy generation and cost analysis tool, where the tool could help the user in determining the most suitable and cost-effective technologies for their applications. Ongoing work will look to add costs for RTES options and further refinement on the selection of suitable technologies. This future tool could calculate the levelized cost of heat of various RTES hybrid options, by taking the user's solar resource, fuel costs, industrial heat demand profile, available land, and other factors into account to determine the applicability into their process.

concentrating solar power↗
DOE OSTI2023

A comparison of past and present computational methods for shape analysis of double-shell x-ray radiographs

Implosion symmetry is a key requirement in achieving a robust burning plasma in inertial confinement fusion experiments. In double-shell capsule implosions, we are interested in the shape of the inner shell as it pushes on the fuel. Shape analysis is a popular technique for studying said symmetry during implosion. Combinations of filtering and contour-finding algorithms are studied for their promise in reliably recovering Legendre shape coefficients from synthetic radiographs of double-shell capsules with applied levels of noise. A radial lineout max(slope) method when used on an image pre-filtered with non-local means and a variant of the marching squares algorithm are able to recover p 0 , p 2 , and p 4 maxslope Legendre shape coefficients with mean pixel discrepancy errors of 2.81 and 3.06, respectively, for the noisy synthetic radiographs we consider. Here, this improves upon prior radial lineout methods paired with Gaussian filtering, which we show to be unreliable and whose performance is dependent on input parameters that are difficult to estimate.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Structure of the D1-Val185Asn mutated photosystem II complex with slow O–O bond formation reveals changes in the Cl1 water channel

During photosynthesis, the photosystem II (PSII) enzyme catalyzes the light-driven oxidation of water, fueling life on Earth by storing light energy and releasing O 2 as a byproduct. Determining the molecular mechanism for this water oxidation reaction has been of significant interest for the development of synthetic catalysts, but many details remain elusive. One of the open questions is how protons are strategically removed from the active site, a Mn 4 CaO 5 cluster called the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), during the reaction cycle via conserved water channels, and how proton transfer contributes to O–O bond formation energetics. Site-directed mutagenesis studies have investigated the role of conserved amino acid side chains in facilitating proton transfer. One of the most influential mutations is the Val185Asn substitution on the D1 subunit, which substantially slows O 2 release kinetics without abolishing catalytic activity. Forming a molecular understanding of how this mutation affects the active site will provide insight into the water oxidation reaction mechanism. Here, we investigated the structural basis of the Val185Asn substitution by determining a 1.99 Å-resolution cryo-EM structure. We observed that Asn185 orients away from the OEC and donates a H-bond to Cl1, a conserved chloride ion. We furthermore observed an alternative D2-Glu312-facing conformation of the D2-Lys317 side chain in the Cl1 water channel, a conformation that is consistent with recent models for proton transfer. These changes also produce perturbations to the hydrogen-bonding network. Overall, these finding provide insight into proton transfer in the Cl1 channel and its effect on the water oxidation reaction mechanism.

cryo-EM↗
DOE OSTI2026

From Pyrolysis Oil to Advanced Biographite Anode: Unravelling Biocoke Structural Evolution and Delayed Coking Effects

Catalytic graphitization of biomass-derived carbon offers a promising route to produce biographite as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic graphite for lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes. This study investigates the physicochemical properties of biocokes produced from pyrolysis oil at carbonization temperatures ranging from 150 degrees C to 500 degrees C. Using an iron (Fe) catalyst, graphitization was performed at 1500 degrees C, significantly lower than the ~3000 degrees C required for conventional synthetic graphite. The effects of introducing an intermediate-temperature hold (400 degrees C-600 degrees C) prior to graphitization were evaluated, simulating a "delayed coking" process to enable the coproduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). Chemical structure evolution during biocoke formation was analyzed, and proposed mechanisms are presented. Biographites produced via the delayed coking pathway exhibited high crystallinity and excellent electrochemical performance in both half-cell and full-cell LIB configurations. The full cells exhibited an initial discharge capacity close to the theoretical capacity of the NMC622 cathode (175 mAh/g at 4.2 V), and high capacity retention (~88%) after 150 cycles. Notably, the graphitic and electrochemical properties remained stable across the range of intermediate hold temperatures. These findings provide a foundation for optimizing temperature parameters in delayed coking systems to enable scalable, integrated production of biographite and SAFs from pyrolysis oil.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Chemical Kinetic Method for Active-Site Quantification in Fe-N-C Catalysts and Correlation with Molecular Probe and Spectroscopic Site-Counting Methods

Mononuclear Fe ions ligated by nitrogen (FeN x ) dispersed on nitrogen-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) serve as active centers for electrocatalytic O 2 reduction and thermocatalytic aerobic oxidations. Despite their promise as replacements for precious metals in a variety of practical applications, such as fuel cells, the discovery of new Fe-N-C catalysts has relied primarily on empirical approaches. In this context, the development of quantitative structure–reactivity relationships and benchmarking of catalysts prepared by different synthetic routes and by different laboratories would be facilitated by the broader adoption of methods to quantify atomically dispersed FeN x active centers. In the present study, we develop a kinetic probe reaction method that uses the aerobic oxidation of a model hydroquinone substrate to quantify the density of FeN x centers in Fe- N-C catalysts. The kinetic method is compared with low-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy, CO pulse chemisorption, and electrochemical reductive stripping of NO derived from NO 2 – on a suite of Fe-N-C catalysts prepared by diverse routes and featuring either the exclusive presence of Fe as FeN x sites or the coexistence of aggregated Fe species in addition to FeN x . The FeN x site densities derived from the kinetic method correlate well with those obtained from CO pulse chemisorption and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The broad survey of Fe-N-C materials also reveals the presence of outliers and challenges associated with each site quantification approach. Furthermore, the kinetic method developed here does not require pretreatments that may alter active-site distributions nor specialized equipment beyond reaction vessels and analytical instrumentation (e.g., NMR).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2020

Scheduling Mission Reconfiguration for an Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

This paper presents a method to intelligently adapt the baseline of a synthetic aperture radar based on Deep Rein- forcement Learning to help create plans for missions that use formation flight for Earth observation purposes. The main contribution of this paper is the initial results we have found from applying the tool to a toy mission: measuring the ver- tical structure of forests by using a synthetic aperture radar mounted on a formation of 7 satellites orbiting the Earth in a Sun Synchronous Orbit. We have found that with a reward function based on expected science return over time and fuel usage, the Deep Reinforcement Learning planner is able to create plans with positive scientific returns while minimizing fuel usage. We also find that fuel usage and collision avoid- ance planning is better done with traditional methods, as Deep Reinforcement Learning does not converge to optimal solutions.

Viros-i-Martin, Antoni↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-throughput chemical imaging for optimizing biofuel synthesis using synthetic biology (Final Technical Report)

Fatty acids can be produced biosynthetically in microbes and these compounds can serve as precursors to biodiesels and other high value oleochemicals. However, progress on engineering fatty acid biosynthesis, and biofuel synthesis more generally, has been hindered by current quantification methods that are either indirect or not amenable to high-throughput or single-cell resolution screening. In this project, we assembled an interdisciplinary team with complimentary expertise in synthetic biology and microscopy, metabolic engineering, and chemical imaging to address these challenges. We used chemical imaging to directly measure lipid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli engineered to produce fatty acids, obtaining detailed single-cell resolution measurements. We deployed stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy in concert with multiplexed genome engineering and gene circuit design strategies from synthetic biology to optimize production of fatty acids. These results provided novel insight into cell-to-cell heterogeneity present in biofuel production strains. In addition, we introduced new chemical imaging methods which are label-free and do not require fluorescent reporters. These efforts were complemented by other studied developing foundational tools for regulation and control, which offer excellent potential for advancing researchers’ ability to rapidly design, build, and test strains for enhanced biofuel synthesis.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Building an expanded bio-based economy through synthetic biology

The field of synthetic biology is essential to the continued development of a bio-based economy, creating mechanisms to supply carbon needed in the economy by both converting existing end-of-life wastes as well as by creating novel, purpose-grown and sustainable feedstocks. Here, we first discuss the near- and long-term resources available for use as feedstocks for bioconversion as well as the output molecules needed for building the foundation of an expanded bio-based economy. We then outline the organisms and phenotypic traits that are needed for the performance-advantaged chassis organisms of the future. Furthermore, we detail the advances, challenges, and opportunities in both microbial and plant synthetic biology relevant to expanding the bio-based economy. Finally, we explore technologies that have and will further enable advances in synthetic biology and the greater bio-based economy.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cross-Feeding of a Toxic Metabolite in a Synthetic Lignocellulose-Degrading Microbial Community

The recalcitrance of complex organic polymers such as lignocellulose is one of the major obstacles to sustainable energy production from plant biomass, and the generation of toxic intermediates can negatively impact the efficiency of microbial lignocellulose degradation. Here, we describe the development of a model microbial consortium for studying lignocellulose degradation, with the specific goal of mitigating the production of the toxin formaldehyde during the breakdown of methoxylated aromatic compounds. Included are Pseudomonas putida, a lignin degrader; Cellulomonas fimi, a cellulose degrader; and sometimes Yarrowia lipolytica, an oleaginous yeast. Unique to our system is the inclusion of Methylorubrum extorquens, a methylotroph capable of using formaldehyde for growth. We developed a defined minimal “Model Lignocellulose” growth medium for reproducible coculture experiments. We demonstrated that the formaldehyde produced by P. putida growing on vanillic acid can exceed the minimum inhibitory concentration for C. fimi, and, furthermore, that the presence of M. extorquens lowers those concentrations. We also uncovered unexpected ecological dynamics, including resource competition, and interspecies differences in growth requirements and toxin sensitivities. Finally, we introduced the possibility for a mutualistic interaction between C. fimi and M. extorquens through metabolite exchange. This study lays the foundation to enable future work incorporating metabolomic analysis and modeling, genetic engineering, and laboratory evolution, on a model system that is appropriate both for fundamental eco-evolutionary studies and for the optimization of efficiency and yield in microbially-mediated biomass transformation.

Methylorubrum extorquens↗
DOE OSTI2023

Unique nanotechnology converts carbon dioxide to valuable products

Carbon capture and management are increasing challenges associated with global warming. Current commercial-scale carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture technologies are associated with a heavy economic penalty – they require at least one-third of the plant’s steam and power to operate. The objective of this project was to develop and test an innovative nanotechnology that can utilize CO 2 , from coal-based power systems or other industrial sources, as the primary feedstock to produce commercially valuable products to potentially offset the cost of CO 2 capture. The scope of this project includes conversion of CO 2 to nanomaterials using two unique amino acids in synthetic flue gases and the completion of a process design and techno-economic and lifecycle analyses to demonstrate the economic feasibility and environmental impact of the developed technology. The International Energy Agency predicts that fossil fuels will continue to play a significant role in meeting global energy demand. The goal of the research is to lead to an affordable and transformational CO 2 capture and reuse technology that will reduce the release of CO 2 thereby reducing global climate variability and its enormous impact on our daily lives.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2021

Diversity-oriented synthesis of polymer membranes with ion solvation cages

Microporous polymers feature shape-persistent free volume elements (FVEs), which are permeated by small molecules and ions when used as membranes for chemical separations, water purification, fuel cells, and batteries. It remains a significant challenge to identify FVEs with analyte specificity, due to difficulties in generating microporous polymer libraries with sufficient diversity for screening their properties. Here, we describe a diversity-oriented synthetic (DOS) strategy for microporous polymer membranes from which we identified those whose FVEs serve as solid solvation cages for lithium ions (Li + ). Furthermore, key elements of our strategy included diversification of bis(catechol)-type monomers via multi-component Mannich reactions to introduce Li+-coordinating functionality within individual FVEs, topology-enforcing polymerizations for generating macromolecular skeletal diversity for networking FVEs into different pore architectures, and several classes of on-polymer reactions for diversifying pore geometries and dielectric properties. Lead candidate polymer membranes featuring explicit ion solvation cages exhibited both higher ionic conductivity and higher cation transference number than control membranes where FVEs were aspecific, which indicates conventional bounds for membrane permeability and selectivity for ion transport can be overcome.4 These advantages are tied to enhanced Li + partitioning from the electrolyte when the cages are present, higher diffusion barriers for anions within the pores, and network-enforced restrictions on the number of solvent molecules bound to Li+ by comparison to the bulk electrolyte, which reduces the effective mass of the working ion. Such membranes show promise as anode-stabilizing interlayers in high-voltage lithium-metal batteries for electric mobility.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Proteomic approaches for advancing the understanding and application of oleaginous bacteria for bioconversion of lignin to lipid

Biological conversion of current cellulosic biorefinery lignin waste is important for complete valorization of all biomass carbons by biofuels and biochemical production. However, the deconstruction of lignin's complex polymeric framework into intermediates amenable to assimilation and subsequent lipid production for biofuels has proven challenging. Recent systems biology advances have shown promise in facilitating the bioconversion of lignin to lipids. Proteomics-guided synthetic biology approaches have proven to be effective tools for defining and designing new pathways. These pathways may help achieve optimal carbon conversion efficiency of biomass. Nevertheless, substantial challenges remain for the economic conversion of lignin to fuel. Herein, we review salient problems in the bacterial conversion of lignin to lipids with an emphasis on lignin depolymerization activities, in vivo aromatic degradation pathways, and recent advances in lipid production by oleaginous bacteria. Several mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies and their applications to oleaginous bacteria are highlighted in this review. Together, these studies will help establish a system-level understanding of lignin bioconversion and drive efforts to build a platform for the maximal conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to economical next generation biorefinery.

Li, Xiaolu↗