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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 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Electric-vehicle battery second-life and recycling pathways: How economics depend on chemistry, processing, and application

We assess the economics of repurposing and recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries by estimating the maximum acquisition price repurposers and recyclers could pay for used EV packs across cathode chemistries, first-life conditions, second-life applications, and recycling processes. We develop a novel open-source process-based cost model of a UL-1974-certified repurposing facility and leverage battery degradation models to estimate the maximum acquisition price repurposers could pay for used EV batteries while producing second-life battery energy storage systems with life-adjusted costs equivalent to new systems. We compare these maximum price estimates to maximum prices for recyclers based on cost and revenue estimates from the EverBatt model. We find that repurposing is more economical than recycling for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, due to their relatively long life and low value materials; recycling is generally more economical than repurposing for lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) batteries, due to their shorter life and higher value materials; and the economics for lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) batteries depend more heavily on first life retirement conditions and second life application intensity. These results suggest an overall strategy: reuse LFP, recycle NCA, and sort NMC into recycling or repurposing pathways based on state of health and second-life application.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cummins Electric Truck with Range-Extending Engine (ETREE) Project (Final Technical Report)

The Cummins Electric Truck with Range Extending Engine (ETREE) program designed, developed, and demonstrated a range extending electric vehicle that employs an electrified propulsion system installed in a class 6 commercial vehicle (Peterbilt 220). This project was relevant to industry and the greater public because at the time of the project there were two keys to widespread electrified commercial vehicle adoption yet to be realize: 1) For pure electrified vehicle adoption, battery improvements are needed: Cost must decrease, and energy density must increase. 2) Electric vehicles must overcome fleet operator risks such as: operations in cold climates, hilly terrain, or where majority of conventional trucks are replaced with electrified vehicles. In the near to medium term these adoption hurdles were address by the objectives of this project. A plug-in hybrid vehicle that could be operated in all electric mode for most of its workday optimizing the use of grid energy with the ability to supplement energy demand with the onboard range extending engine. This project’s architecture provided ability to match a conventional class 6 commercial vehicle range and performance characteristics prior to the ubiquitous adoption of battery electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well. Additionally, the vehicles produced as part of this project can be considered a prototype for a commercially viable heavily electrified commercial vehicle because most of the physical hardware used for the project is commercially available in the market today. The ETREE program met its main objectives and demonstrated 65% fuel consumption reduction as compared to a conventional class 6 vehicle while meeting performance and range expectations. This was achieved by drawing upon the strengths of the assembled team: Cummins, PACCAR, the Ohio State University, Argonne National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Numerical and experimental analysis of mechanically induced failure in electric vehicle battery modules

Mitigating thermal runaway and cell-to-cell propagation is essential for improving the safety of electric and hybrid vehicles. Enhancing digital twin capabilities to predict battery mechanical abuse is particularly critical for automotive and aerospace applications, where crashworthiness is a key concern. Understanding failure conditions and propagation in battery modules during mechanical abuse is complex due to interactions between structural deformation, heat transfer, electrochemical processes, exothermic reactions and mechanical fracture. While prior studies have focused on modeling cell-level behavior, extending these models to module or pack level is necessary for a system level understating of electric vehicle safety. This study develops coupled large deformation finite element models that simultaneously solve for electrochemistry, material failure, internal short circuit and thermal runaway propagation. The models account for mechanical and thermal interactions between lithium-ion cells and other battery components while the contact interfaces are evolving with time. Model-predicted voltage, temperature and force responses are compared with experimental data for validation. The results demonstrate that the approach captures key failure mechanisms, including thermal propagation through heat transfer, electrical propagation from short circuits in parallel-connected cells, and mechanical propagation via penetration and crack formation. These findings show that computational models are valuable tools for understanding battery module failure and providing insight that can reduce the need for extensive experimental testing.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Perspectives on Potential Advanced Construction Technologies for Nuclear Energy

Advanced reactor technologies have attracted considerable financial support, catalyzing innovation in the nuclear energy landscape. These next generation reactors are designed with enhanced passive safety systems and the potential for cost reductions. As these advanced reactors approach technological maturity, their commercial success also requires focused examination and essential support. Economic assessments in the nuclear energy sector often emphasize construction costs and the risk of scheduling delays as primary contributors to deployment expenditures. Traditionally, vital elements of nuclear energy deployment including civil/structural engineering, design sophistication and automation have been either undervalued or postponed in the development cycles. Additionally, the nuclear industry’s collective experience in nuclear project execution has diminished over the past several decades due to the infrequency of new plant constructions. Hence, the National Reactor Innovation Center’s (NRIC) Advanced Construction Technology Initiative (ACTI) aims to reduce cost overruns and schedule slippages that have plagued the construction of nuclear power plant projects. With this initiative, NRIC is facilitating the development of advanced nuclear plant construction technologies and approaches through partnerships that would provide game-changing benefits to the construction of advanced nuclear power plants.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (ACTI)

Advanced reactor technologies have attracted considerable financial support, catalyzing innovation in the nuclear energy landscape. These next generation reactors are designed with enhanced passive safety systems and the potential for cost reductions. As these advanced reactors approach technological maturity, their commercial success also requires focused examination and essential support. Economic assessments in the nuclear energy sector often emphasize construction costs and the risk of scheduling delays as primary contributors to deployment expenditures. Traditionally, vital elements of nuclear energy deployment including civil/structural engineering, design sophistication and automation have been either undervalued or postponed in the development cycles. Additionally, the nuclear industry’s collective experience in nuclear project execution has diminished over the past several decades due to the infrequency of new plant constructions. Hence, The National Reactor Innovation Center’s (NRIC) Advanced Construction Technology Initiative (ACTI) program aims to reduce cost overruns and schedule slippages that have plagued the construction of nuclear power plant projects. With this initiative, NRIC is facilitating the development of advanced nuclear plant construction technologies and approaches through partnerships that would provide game-changing benefits to the construction of advanced nuclear power plants.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

CyberMESA: Evaluation Procedures and Metrics for Charging Infrastructure Cybersecurity

A report detailing the cybersecurity evaluation and assessment procedures for EV charging infrastructure. This report is authored by three national lab contributors. INL, PNNL, NRL. The grid integration of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) is a large and complex system of systems (SoS) made up of components from many manufacturers and integrated by various companies responsible for their operation and maintenance. This complexity makes it challenging to implement security standards like IEC 62443 across the entire infrastructure. This document aims to aid in the vulnerability assessments of individual devices, such as Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE), to support vendors in adopting and implementing security standards such as UL 2900, NIST SP 800-53 and Common Criteria (CC) (ISO/IEC 15408). This document serves as a guide to help evaluate the cybersecurity posture of EVCI assets. It aims to provide a consistent method for evaluating EVCI, enabling cybersecurity research teams to systematically test a wide range of electric vehicle (EV) assets. The target audiences include cybersecurity research teams, vendor development teams, automotive OEMs, and third-party evaluators.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lighting controls: not just for lighting anymore!

For the last few years, networked lighting controls (NLCs) have promised significant energy savings beyond what is achieved through a basic LED retrofit. At the same time, NLCs can substantially increase the cost and complexity of the lighting retrofit. And as lighting system wattage declines because of the increasing efficiency of LEDs, advanced controls have less lighting energy to save and the cost-effectiveness of the NLC investment decreases. But NLCs can be leveraged to achieve significant energy savings and value by enhancing control of other building systems. Integrating NLC with control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), plug load control, space utilization, and grid services all enhance the value of your NLC investment. There are already a few NLC products on the market that are capable of providing these enhanced benefits. Manufacturers and entrepreneurs are working hard to expand the impact of these products. But does system interoperability work? Can it be deployed at scale? Slipstream, NEEA and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have all been attempting to answer these questions in recent pilot projects and describe the outcomes in this paper.

Hackel, Scott↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dispatch Optimization, System Design and Cost Benefit Analysis of a Nuclear Reactor with Molten Salt Thermal Storage

Variable renewable energy availability has increased the volatility in energy prices in most markets. Nuclear power plants, with a large ratio of capital to variable costs, have historically operated as base load energy suppliers but the need for more flexible operation is increasing. We simulate the techno-economic performance of a 950 MWt nuclear power plant, based on the Westinghouse lead-cooled fast reactor, coupled with molten salt thermal storage as a method for flexible energy dispatch. We use the System Advisor Model to model the nuclear reactor thermal power input and power cycle operating modes. We combine this robust engineering model with a mixed-integer linear program model for optimized dispatch scheduling. We then simulate the coupled nuclear and thermal storage system under different market scenarios with varying price volatility. We find that the coupled plant outperforms the base plant under markets where energy price peaks fluctuate by a factor of two or more about the mean price. We show that a calculated power purchase agreement price for the plant improves by up to 10% when operating under California energy market conditions. Sensitivity analysis on the thermal storage cost shows that the optimal design remains unchanged even when doubling costs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Review—Fundamental Uranium Electrochemistry and Spectroscopy in Molten Salt Systems

Uranium is a key element used for nuclear energy production. Some advanced reactor designs, specifically molten salt reactors, will continue to use uranium as the fissile material for energy production. These new technologies require an intimate understanding of uranium chemistry during and after energy production. This review covers contemporary research on the coordination chemistry and behavior of uranium with the coolant and pyroprocessing salts as proposed for use in future reactor designs. Discussed topics include the nature of U redox reactions involving the reduction of U(III) to U metal and oxidation of U(III) to U(IV). These systems have been interrogated using cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, and optical and X-ray absorption spectroscopies. Insights obtained into the electrode potentials, the uranium species, and their diffusion coefficients in alkali halide melts from decades of research are summarized selectively. Further, perspectives are provided on the importance of unifying studies for comparison across multiple institutions. The application of synchrotron radiation research and multimodal approaches involving two (or more) probes, such as the widespread combination of UV–visible spectroscopy and electroanalysis known as spectroelectrochemistry, can provide new knowledge about the main process of uranium electrorefining—diffusion, as will be demonstrated in this review through the lack of comparable results.

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

Turbine-based Power System Tool

Advanced research tools are essential to illustrate the effects of turbine-based power system operations on the electric grid network. This paper presents the development of an open-source tool to visualize the operation of turbine-based electricity generation. The tool exposes power system models, control parameters, and corresponding values of the turbine model and its electrical system, allowing them to customize the simulation according to their needs. The developed tool enables users to simulate power profiles for different turbinebased energy generation such as wind, tidal, and gas turbines. It allows users to investigate the details of the generated profiles of various types of turbine systems at various scales. It can provide valuable insights into model development and facilitate the analysis of integrated power systems. By enabling access to turbine-based operations visualization, the tool aims to bridge the gap between advanced research tools and users, facilitating broader adoption of renewable energy technologies and aiding in developing sustainable power systems.

Kini, Roshan L.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enabling Extreme Fast-Charging: Challenges at the Cathode and Mitigation Strategies

We report charging lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) in 10 to 15 min via extreme fast-charging (XFC) is important for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Lately, the battery research community has focused on identifying XFC bottlenecks and determining novel design solutions. Like other LiB components, cathodes can present XFC bottlenecks, especially when considering long-term battery life. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive understanding of how XFC conditions degrade LiB cathodes. The present article reviews relevant cathode-focused studies and summarizes the current understanding regarding cathode performance and aging issues under XFC conditions. Dominant aging modes and mechanisms are identified at different length-scales with electrochemical correlations for LiNi x Mn y Co z O 2 (NMC)-based cathodes. A range of electrochemical techniques and models provide key insights into cathode performance and life issues. A suite of multimodal and multiscale microscopy and X-ray techniques is surveyed to quantify chemical, structural, and crystallographic NMC-cathode degradation. Cathode cycle-life is scaled to equivalent EV miles to illustrate how cathode degradation translates to real-world scenarios and quantifies cathode-related bottlenecks that hinder XFC adoption. Finally, the article discusses several cathode cycle-life aging mitigation strategies with example case studies and identifies remaining challenges.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Decarbonizing all-electric communities via carbon-responsive control of behind-the-meter resources

The progression of electrification in the building and transportation sectors brings new opportunities for energy decarbonization. With higher dependence on the grid power supply, the variation of the grid carbon emission intensity can be utilized to reduce the carbon emissions from the two sectors. Existing coordinated control methods for buildings with distributed energy resources (DERs) either consider electricity price or renewable energy generation as the input signal, or adopt optimization in the decision-making, which is difficult to implement in the real-world environment. This paper aims to propose and validate an easy-to-deploy rule-based carbon responsive control framework that facilitates coordination between all-electric buildings and electric vehicles (EVs). The signals of the grid carbon emission intensity and the local photovoltaics (PV) generation are used for shifting the controllable loads. Extensive simulations were conducted using a model of an all-electric mixed-use community in a cold climate to validate the control performance with metrics such as emissions, energy consumption, peak demand, and EV end-of-day state-of-charge (SOC). Our study identifies that 4.5% to 27.1% of annual emission reduction can be achieved with limited impact on energy costs, peak demand, and thermal comfort. Additionally, up to 32.7% of EV emission reduction can be obtained if the EV owners reduce the target SOC by less than 21.2%.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Durability of PGM catalyst MEAs of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for heavy-duty vehicles

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are promising power sources for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) owing to cleanliness and efficiency. However, the degradation of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) under HDV conditions remains a huge challenge. Here, this work investigated MEA durability under HDV conditions using a US Department of Energy standard accelerated stress test for 180,000 cycles (equivalent to 1 million miles of HDV operation). Effects of catalyst Pt content on MEA durability were examined using homemade 30% Pt/C (H-Pt/C) and commercial 46% Pt/C (C-Pt/C) catalysts. Both MEAs experienced H 2 /air and H 2 /O 2 performance loss over cycles. Analysis with scanning transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and mercury intrusion porosimetry revealed severe degradation of Pt nanoparticles (NPs), support structures, and the catalyst layer. Two degradation stages for NPs were proposed: Ostwald ripening dominated the initial 60,000 cycles, followed by combined Ostwald ripening and particle migration. Measurements with ion chromatography, high-frequency resistance, and oxygen-diffusion resistance revealed degradation of membrane and ionomer, respectively.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

A comprehensive experimental and kinetic modeling study of di-isobutylene isomers: Part 2

A wide variety of high temperature experimental data obtained in this study complement the data on the oxidation of the two di-isobutylene isomers presented in Part I and offers a basis for an extensive validation of the kinetic model developed in this study. Due to the increasing importance of unimolecular decomposition reactions in high-temperature combustion, we have investigated the di-isobutylene isomers in high dilution utilizing a pyrolysis microflow reactor and detected radical intermediates and stable products using vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation and photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy. Additional speciation data at oxidative conditions were also recorded utilizing a plug flow reactor at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range 725-1150 K at equivalence ratios of 1.0 and 3.0 and at residence times of 0.35 s and 0.22 s, respectively. Combustion products were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). Ignition delay time measurements for di-isobutylene were performed at pressures of 15 and 30 bar at equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 diluted in 'air' in the temperature range 900-1400 K using a high-pressure shock-tube facility. New measurements of the laminar burning velocities of di-isobutylene/air flames are also presented. The experiments were performed using the heat flux method at atmospheric pressure and initial temperatures of 298-358 K. Moreover, data consistency was assessed with the help of analysis of the temperature and pressure dependencies of laminar burning velocity measurements, which was interpreted using an empirical power-law expression. Electronic structure calculations were performed to compute the energy barriers to the formation of many of the product species formed. The predictions of the present mechanism were found to be in adequate agreement with the wide variety of experimental measurements performed.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Plasma-based global pathway analysis to understand the chemical kinetics of plasma-assisted combustion and fuel reforming

The Global Pathway Analysis (GPA) algorithm helps analyze the chemical kinetics of complex combustion systems by identifying important global reaction pathways connecting a source species to a sink species through various important intermediate species (i.e., hub species). Here, the present work aims to extend GPA algorithm to plasma-assisted combustion and fuel reforming systems to identify the dominant global pathways in such systems at various conditions. In addition, the present study extends the ability of GPA algorithm to identify reaction cycles involving the excitation of high-concentration species (e.g., O 2 , N 2 , and fuel) to their vibrational and electronic states and the subsequent de excitation to their ground state, based on their significance on the reactivity of plasma-assisted systems in terms of gas heating and radical production. Provisions are made in the GPA algorithm to evaluate the reactivity of identified re action pathways and cycles based on the element-flux transfer (i.e., dominance), heat release, and radical production rate. The newly developed Plasma-based Global Pathway Analysis (PGPA) algorithm is then used to analyze the plasma assisted combustion of ammonia and reforming of methane. The PGPA analyses elucidated the significance of vibrational-translational cycles on the reactivity of NH 3 /air mixtures. Further, analyses on the production of NO ascribed the early reforming of NH 3 to N 2 and H 2 in impeding the production of NO during plasma-assisted NH 3 ignition. Lastly, the enhanced reforming of CH 4 /N 2 mixtures using plasma has been attributed to electron impact dissociation of CH 4 when compared to thermal reforming. In contrast, conventional path-Flux analysis (PFA) was found to require significant manual effort and pre-analysis intuitions from expert knowledge, making it arduous to provide valuable in sights into plasma chemistry. The user-friendly and automated nature of PGPA thus provides a valuable tool for assessing the kinetics of plasma-assisted systems helpful in analyzing and, further, a foundation in reducing plasma-assisted chemistry, without the needs of expert knowledge.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

What’s stopping electric vehicle batteries from having a second life?

We face the grand challenge of a growing number of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries over the upcoming years. A recent Cell Reports Sustainability article presents a model for effective end-of-life battery management in China for rural electrification. Here, we emphasize the need for incorporating various stakeholders early in the design phase to remove the barriers to the reuse of retired batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal design analysis for SuperTruck II lithium-titanate battery pack

Here, this paper presents a systematic thermal management analysis for a new lithium-titanate-oxide battery pack to be installed in a SuperTruck II, Class 8 hybrid truck. The authors investigate the feasibility of mounting the battery pack inside the vehicle and air-cooling it with fans supplying conditioned air from the cabin. Moreover, the cells within each module are to be immersed in a heat-transfer fluid to improve temperature homogeneity. A multi-stage thermal analysis is performed to ensure adequate thermal regulation of the battery under the proposed design, considering installation and operational constraints. The authors perform thermal and electrical characterization tests on a single cell. Results inform the development of computational fluid dynamics models of the cells, modules, and pack. Module-level analysis shows that the cell temperatures can be maintained below their upper operational limit of 55 °C with module wall-to-air heat transfer coefficients between 10 and 20 Wm -2 K -1 . Pack-level analysis of distinct configurations determines effective airflow paths for adequate heat transfer and delivers a final battery pack design that achieves sufficient cooling and temperature uniformity. A reduced-order electrothermal model is developed to rapidly predict the transient battery performance and to develop a temperature control strategy.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling strategy for progressive failure prediction in lithium-ion batteries under mechanical abuse

The prediction for the internal failure of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) under external mechanical abuse loading remains a challenge for safe design. This paper systematically studies the modeling approach for progressive failure simulation and short-circuit prediction. Hemispherical indentation experiments are conducted on a battery specimen containing 5 representative sandwich (RS) layers to examine the deformation and progressive failure behavior of battery components. Three different models, viz, a high-fidelity detailed model, an intermediate homogenized model and a fully homogenized model, are developed and employed to simulate the progressive failure in a multi-layer battery specimen. The simulation results obtained using the three models all correlate well with experimental phenomena, capturing the overall stress-strain response and ultimate failure of the battery structure. The numerical results can help us understand the failure behavior and the mechanism for mechanical abuse-induced short circuit in LIBs. The feasibility of the three models for use in progressive failure prediction is compared by analyzing the capability of the models in predicting the critical failure events, the computational efficiency of the models, and the feasibility to implement coupled mechanical-electrochemical-thermal simulations. The results of this work provide useful insights on practical choices for the modeling strategy and safety design of LIBs under mechanical abuse conditions.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗