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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Recycled graphite enabled superior performance for lithium ion batteries

Recycling graphite attracts growing attention since cumulative amount of spent Li-ion batteries and the shortage of graphite supply chain. Although various recycling methods have been reported, the recycled graphite cannot reach the strict commercial standards of purity, scalability, efficiency, and capacity, preventing it from battery manufacturing. Herein, the important roles of defects and functional groups on the graphite surface are deeply studied, and a closed-loop graphite recycling process with the surface recovery and modification for the graphite from the end-of-life batteries is demonstrated. The recovered graphite delivers a purity of over 99.9 % and an average initial coulombic efficiency of 91.5 %. Compared with commercial graphite in industrial standard battery testing parameters, full cells with recovered graphite possess enhanced rate reversibility, doubled cycle life, over 10 % higher capacity along with half anode material cost. In conclusion, these impressive results not only underscore the transformative potential of surface reconstruction and modification in graphite recycling, but also present economic feasibility and sustainable pathway for significantly improving battery performance and addressing global resource challenges via integration with the hydrometallurgical recycling process.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cool GTL for the Conversion of Biogas to Jet Fuel

Cool GTL is a new process under development for conversion of biogas from digestors or CO2 +H2 to high quality drop in jet fuel. Cool GTL is designed to be a streamlined simplified low cost process which can be cost effective for small scale biogas applications. Cool GTL has the advantage that it uses a high activity bi-reforming catalyst, in a streamlined electric reformer design, to make the synthesis gas for a high conversion slurry fischer Tropsch process followed by a trailing wax cracking reactor. In this way high quality jet fuel can be directly produced. Recent experimental test data will be presented showing product quality. The life cycle analysis LCA will also be presented as well.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Maintainable Fusion Pilot Plant

The US fusion community has coalesced around the goal of building an FPP as described by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). In addition to demonstrating the viability of the technologies necessary to operate such a plant, including demonstration of net energy and electricity production, NASEM found that a “fusion pilot plant will need to demonstrate the ability to efficiently perform remote maintenance and replacement in support of the design of a power plant, taking into account details of the consequences of the fusion environment, such as material activation and tritium retention in components.” Current designs of fusion demonstration reactors do usually foresee a regular exchange of their first wall modules, including the tritium breeding blankets. In the European Power Plant Conceptual Studies, it is assumed that a fusion reactor will need to change its divertor every 2 years and its first wall blanket module every 5 to 6 years to reach acceptable availability. Underlying this capability are remote-handling technologies to keep the outage for the exchange of these components short. There are many uncertainties in the remote-handling schemes, and most schemes are at a preconceptual level at best. In addition, the exchange of these components would either produce an enormous rad-waste stream or would require an enormous refurbishment activity with huge cost-prohibitive hot-cells. Past Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) preconceptual studies have led to hot cell dimensions of an unbelievable size, likely costing tens of billions of dollars. Already at The Way (previously International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER), hot-cells have become cost-prohibitive, demanding redesigns of the ITER first wall to reduce the toxic rad-waste/inventory. In this in-situ PFC repair project, a concept for a long-life, maintainable first wall module concept is developed and tested. This first wall concept relies on innovative remote handling to repair the first wall modules in-situ, avoiding costly refurbishments outside of the tokamak vessel. This approach was highlighted in the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) report on Transformative Enabling Capabilities for Efficient Advance Toward Fusion Energy. In general, the damage of the first wall armor is due to particle and radiation exposures. Load conditions vary from one fusion reactor design to another. In tokamaks, first wall Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) are exposed to far-Scrape-Off-Layer plasma fluxes, electromagnetic radiation, energetic CX neutrals, and potentially runaway electron beams. Protecting the first wall to the worst-case load conditions would require the design of a very thick first wall armor. Transient heat and particle fluxes due to disruptions or edge localized modes can lead to excessive heat loads resulting potentially in melting PFCs down to the cooling channel. Catastrophic events like these need to be avoided by appropriate disruption mitigation systems. However, failure of these systems will still put a first wall at an unacceptable risk. Hence, a first wall design needs to accommodate the occasional transient heat loads by introducing sacrificial limiters, which will absorb these transients.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

SELF-HEALING PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR DIAPHRAGMS

In the oil and gas industry, damaged diaphragms in pneumatic actuators can lead to unintended methane leaks, increasing emissions. In this work, replacement self-healing diaphragms are manufactured for a commercial pneumatic actuator. To enable self-healing, hollow microvascular networks are created within the diaphragms using sacrificial 3D printed PLA w/ tin(II) oxalate. These microvascular networks are filled with healing chemistries and, upon damage, rupture. After rupturing, the healing chemistries mix and cure to “heal” the damage and reduce leaks. Separate actuator test stands using nitrogen gas and using natural gas were developed to assess the healing performance of diaphragms. A fatigue stand was also developed to evaluate the effects of the different microvascular network geometries on the fatigue life of diaphragms. Our results demonstrate self-healing in diaphragms subjected to damage and tested for leaks. In fatigue testing, our results indicate that the introduction of microvascular networks does not influence the fatigue life.

Self-healing, pneumatic actuator↗
DOE OSTI2024

Noble Metals Testing on the DM1200 Pilot Melter System with AZ-101 HLW Simulants, VSL-03R3740-2, Rev. 0

This report documents the results obtained with respect to the behavior of noble metals in tests on the DM1200 HLW Pilot Melter during processing of simulated HLW AZ-101 feed. The principal objective of these tests was to collect data to determine the extent of retention of noble metals in the melter since that is an important uncertainty in determining the expected life of the WTP HLW melter. The present results constitute one part of an integrated testing strategy that has been developed to address this risk.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Summary of Gas Generation Behavior Observed in 3013 Surveillance and Monitoring Program Shelf-Life Experiments

Gas generation experiments have been conducted in small- and full-scale test containers at Los Alamos National Laboratory on samples of plutonium oxide material collected from plutonium processes across the DOE complex and tested at the bounding conditions for the Department of Energy 3013 Standard. The gas composition and pressures in the sealed experimental containers were measured over periods of months to years. These experiments have provided results for the formation and consumption of hydrogen and other gases. The conditions supporting the formation of flammable gas mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen in flammable gas mixtures were also determined. Different behaviors were observed between the materials tested based on their compositions, the stabilization performed on the material, and the post stabilization handling of the material. Many of the experiments are still ongoing. This report summarizes the results obtained for the gas generation behavior for high-purity plutonium oxides and salt-bearing impure plutonium oxides in sealed containers.

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

VitriEdge: Repairable & Durable Vitrimer Coatings for Wind Turbine Blade Leading Edges

The primary goal of this Level 1b incubator project was to explore the use of vitrimer coatings for repair of leading-edge erosion on end-of-life wind turbine blade surfaces, beyond coating strength of adhesion which has previously been demonstrated in the Level 1a project. Uniform vitrimer coatings (thickness: 400 µm) were applied to two end-of-life wind turbine blades for flexural, fatigue, and laminate tensile testing where the addition of the coating did not produce any statistical variation in tensile properties with minor drops in flexural strength for some laminate formulations. However, a <2% variation in storage modulus was measured for laminate structures (i.e., blade samples with vitrimer coatings) across 100,000 flexural cycles and upon laminate tensile failure, the vitrimer coatings displayed no visible signs of delamination. In addition, three methods to heal vitrimer coating damage was displayed: oven heating, addition of hot water, and a forced convection heat gun. All three heating and healing mechanisms demonstrated significant healing with scratch depths decreasing between 79-91% at healing times ranging between 1-min and 10-minutes. Finally, a water jet machine was used to simulate rain erosion for both the blade surfaces and vitrimer-coated blade surfaces where the diameter and depth of the damage was recorded as a function of exposure time, water pressure, height of exposure, and angle of exposure. Of interest, while the vitrimer coating did not significantly lessen the damage experienced during rain erosion, the addition of vitrimer composite coatings(5 wt.% mica addition) did result in a crack-resistant, durable coating capable of self-healing behavior and in all cases the angle of rain exposure was the most critical parameter explored. It is crucial to continue exploring this space where vitrimer coatings are of interest for both their self-healing properties and potential use as reversible adhesives.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Sustainable Ethylene via Chemical Looping – Oxidative Dehydrogenation

This Phase I final report evaluates chemical looping–oxidative dehydrogenation as a lower-energy and cost-competitive alternative to conventional ethane steam cracking for ethylene production. The project combined catalyst development and experimental testing with process modeling, techno-economic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. Results indicate that the proposed process could improve olefin production, reduce energy use, and lower production costs, particularly when integrated with carbon capture and renewable electricity. The report also identifies remaining technical, environmental, and safety considerations and presents a technology maturation plan focused on longer-term catalyst evaluation and advancement toward pilot-scale demonstration.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Latent Pitfalls in Microstructure-Based Modeling for Thermally Aged 9Cr-1Mo-V Steel (Grade 91)

A case study was conducted on a mechanistic model development that predicted tensile strength deterioration with thermal aging of 9Cr-1Mo-V steel in supporting the 60-year design life expected for advanced nuclear reactors. For property prediction beyond practical testing times, mechanistic modeling is highly desired, as it taps into the physics of structure–property relationships and therefore can generate reliable results for extrapolation. Meanwhile, as mechanistic models are often complicated, reflecting the intricacy of microstructure and strengthening mechanisms, pitfalls that are difficult to detect often exist. Here, this paper discusses latent pitfalls that are common in mechanistic modeling or specific in this 9Cr-1Mo-V case development through using the American Society of Mechanical Engineers verification and validation in computational solid mechanics (ASME V&V 10) standard for evaluating credibility of modeling in materials engineering. Suggestions are also made for enhancing reliability of microstructure-based modeling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Design for Remanufacturing Framework Incorporating Identification, Evaluation, and Validation: A Case Study of Hydraulic Manifold

In recent years, academic researchers and engineers in the industry have widely recognized the necessity of integrating remanufacturing considerations into product design iterations to advance sustainability objectives. Acknowledging the importance of design for remanufacturing (DfRem), efforts were made to develop tools and guidelines that could be implemented in practice. However, such methods largely rely upon experiential insights and qualitative assessments, leaving a gap in the ability to quantitatively assess the economic and environmental impacts of design choices. To bridge this gap, we investigate existing efforts and present a framework for DfRem that integrates established design and remanufacturing practices into a cohesive workflow with quantitative assessments. To demonstrate its efficacy for making practical design changes for remanufacturing, we apply the framework to a hydraulic manifold in a transmission system for heavy-duty tractors. Through this industry-relevant case study, we focus on showcasing the practical utility of our framework. Based on the identified design modifications from remanufacturability analysis, we estimate the reductions in life cycle costs, energy consumption, and emissions. Afterward, the modifications are tested using physical experiments with plans for integration into future iterations of the hydraulic manifold design and production. Here, we anticipate this framework can illustrate the process of remanufacturing that ensures improvements in sustainability while maintaining performance and reliability standards.

design for X↗
DOE OSTI2024

Maximizing Efficiency and Quality: Leveraging Automated Testing for Laboratory Commissioning

The traditional commissioning process uses sampling to select equipment for functional acceptance testing when large quantities of equipment are present. Although this approach is generally effective in identifying wide-spread issues, it has several shortcomings: it fails to evaluate equipment not included in the sample, provides only a one-time validation of equipment operation, and the standard documentation is a simple checklist of pass/fail questions. During the construction and commissioning process of the new Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL) in Golden, CO, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory team engaged Group14 Engineering to implement a Connected Commissioning process using fault detection and diagnostic software for automated functional acceptance testing. This presentation highlights the advantages offered by automated functional testing in this critical laboratory setting: (1) sampling 100% of BAS-connected equipment during functional testing, (2) testing results backed by data beyond the traditional pass/fail checklist, and (3) an automated test process that can be regularly executed by the building management team for ongoing commissioning throughout the life of the building. The presentation will also cover technical challenges associated with Connected Commissioning and the important conversations with key stakeholders that need to occur well before functional acceptance testing in order to successfully implement the automated testing processes.

automated testing↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of a Robust Reference Electrode in Aggressive Chemical and Radiation Environments in the Hanford Waste Tanks

The Hanford site stores more than 200 million liters of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes from the production of weapons materials. The wastes are stored in 177 underground carbon-steel storage tanks, separated between 149 single shell tanks (SSTs) and 28 double shell tanks (DSTs). The DSTs provide critical retrieval and interim storage before the waste is vitrified in the Waste Treatment and Isolation Plant (WTP). The tanks will need to remain in-service far beyond the initial 40-year design life, and effective corrosion control practices must remain in force to extend the tanks’ lifespans. This effort includes direct measurements of corrosion rate (e.g., ultrasonic measurements and corrosion coupons) and electrochemical processes (e.g., linear polarization measurements and open circuit potential measurements). The Hanford site began monitoring the corrosion potential in select DSTs in 2008. Of the 45 reference electrodes that have been installed, 29 have failed and 6 others provided unreliable results. DOE-EM is supporting a 3-year program to develop a chemical and radiation resistant reference electrode for application in the Hanford tanks. The first year of the program focused on understanding the failure mechanism for the reference electrodes and identification of candidate construction materials that would mitigate degradation of the electrodes in the waste environment. During the second year of the program, the objectives were to: 1) test candidate materials under simulated waste conditions, 2) design components that will extend the service life of the electrode, 3) fabricate materials for prototype reference electrodes, and 4) assemble prototype reference electrodes for accelerated testing. The reference electrode is constructed of four principal parts: 1) junction, 2) casing, 3) inner chamber backfill materials, and 4) the sensing wire. Principally, improvements of the junction, casing, and inner chamber backfill materials are being pursued. The junction material at the interface between the waste and the inner chamber of the reference electrode was identified as a critical component in the failure of the reference electrodes. Nine candidate replacement junction materials were tested under simulated waste conditions to evaluate permeation rate. These materials included a variety of polymeric and ceramic materials, some of which were 3-D printed. Thus far, porous polyvinylidene fluoride materials have performed satisfactorily and are being considered for prototype development. The commercial electrode casing materials in general have performed well. Additionally, 3-D printing of chemically and mechanically stable materials is being investigated as a means for further improvement in fabrication consistency. SRNL has also investigated altering the reference electrode design to extend the service life. The new design of the interior of the reference electrode casing creates a longer, more tortuous path between the junction material and the electrode sensing wire. A finite element model was used to optimize the design without adversely impacting the circuit resistance of the electrode during the measurements, thus preserving the measurement accuracy while enhancing the service life. The inner chamber back fill materials are also critical to the performance of the reference electrode. Materials that are resistant to intruding tank waste and provide a conductive path to the sensing wire were investigated. Gel and powder materials that are interspersed with a conductive chloride bearing material were tested for their influence on diffusion and electrode resistance. All the investigated materials and components will be assembled, with collaboration from commercial vendors, to fabricate the initial prototypes. Accelerated testing of the prototypes will be initiated in Year 2 of the program and will be completed in Year 3. A recommendation on the materials of construction and the design of the new robust reference electrode will be presented to the Hanford tank farm facility.

Sykes, Kiana [Savannah River National Laboratory (↗
DOE OSTI2025

A polysulfide/ferricyanide redox flow battery with extended cycling

The inexpensive sulfur raw material is promising to enable cost-effective redox flow batteries for long duration energy storage. But the catastrophic through-membrane crossover of polysulfides remains a severe challenge resulting in irreversible performance degradation and short cycle life. In this work, we demonstrate that use of a permselective cation exchange membrane yields a two orders of magnitude enhancement in polysulfide retention compared to the benchmark Nafion membrane. Combined physico-chemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic analyses suggest more disordered sidechain structures, which lead to the more hydrophobic nature and smaller hydrophilic domains in the membrane. The microstructural features contribute to the effective mitigation of polysulfide crossover. As a result, the cycle life of polysulfide/ferricyanide flow cells is boosted over a substantially extended test time. This finding sheds light on the fundamental membrane factors that cause polysulfide permeation and can provide feasible directions in the development of permselective membranes for polysulfide flow batteries.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Creep and Creep Fracture Modeling with Surrogate Creep Models and the Extended Finite Element Method

Alloy components in advanced nuclear reactors will be subjected to environmental conditions that could include high temperatures, irradiation, and exposure to corrosive salts. These conditions could lead to the formation of crack-like defects, which could grow over time in a mechanism known as creep crack growth (CCG). Predicting growth rates of these defects is important for assessing the safe operating life of advanced reactors. This project documents progress toward developing and testing next-generation data-driven constitutive models for deformation creep. It also documents the application of the extended finite element method in conjunction with surrogate creep models to predict CCG parameters under a variety of conditions. These important incremental developments contribute to the longer-term objective of developing microstructure-aware constitutive models that can be used for predicting creep deformation and CCG at the component scale with improved accuracy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Operation at Reduced Atmospheric Pressure and Concept of Reliability Redundancy for Optimized Design of Insulation Systems

Electrified transportation is calling for insulation design criteria that is adequate to provide elevated levels of power density, power dynamics and reliability. Increasing voltage levels are expected to cause accelerated intrinsic and extrinsic aging effects which will not be easily predictable at the design stage due to a lack of suitable modeling. Designing reliable insulation systems would require finding solutions able to control accelerated aging due to an unpredictable increase of intrinsic stresses and the onset of extrinsic stresses as partial discharges. This paper proposes the concept of reliability redundancy for the insulation design of aerospace electrical asset components, which is also validated at lower-than-standard atmospheric pressure. The principle is that extrinsic-aging-free design might be achieved upon determining the aging stress or abnormal service stresses distribution and being sure that aging will not generate conditions that can incept extrinsic aging (partial discharges) during operation life. However, such information is never, in practice, fully available to insulation system designers. Hence, especially in critical applications such as electrified aircraft, aerospace, and combat ships a further level of reliability should be added to a partial-discharge-free design, which can consist of the use of corona-resistant materials and/or of life models able to consider the accelerated aging effect of partial discharges (or any other type of extrinsic-accelerated aging factor). Innovative life modeling considering both extrinsic and intrinsic aging stresses, insulating material testing to estimate model parameters, and a metric for quantifying the extent of corona (or partial discharge) resistance can lead to establishing feasibility and limit conditions for optimized or fully reliability-redundant design. It is shown in the paper that if an extrinsic-aging-free design is not feasible, and it is therefore replaced by a redundant design, a further level of reliability redundancy can be provided by effective condition monitoring plans.

Montanari, Gian Carlo↗
DOE OSTI2026

Coalition for Community-Supported Affordable Geothermal Energy Systems (C2SAGES)

The C2SAGES project evaluated the feasibility of a community geothermal system for the planned Windy Ridge affordable housing development in Hinesburg, Vermont. Led by GTI Energy with Vermont Gas Systems, LN Consulting, NREL, and Frontier Energy, the work assessed technical design, energy performance, costs, business models, community engagement, maintenance, workforce development, and permitting. The proposed system was designed to serve 100% of the development’s heating, cooling, and domestic hot water loads. Compared with a baseline using air-source heat pumps and natural gas water heating, the geothermal system was estimated to reduce HVAC and domestic hot water energy use by about 45% to 48%, lower operating and maintenance costs, and reduce 30-year life-cycle costs by 37% for Phase 1 and 10% for Phase 2. Technical testing and modeling indicated that the Windy Ridge site is suitable for a community-scale geothermal system. The project also developed borehole field layouts, piping concepts, pump house designs, controls, maintenance plans, and supporting engineering drawings. The business model analysis found that first cost, ownership structure, and customer affordability remain major deployment challenges. Utility-led maintenance and operation were viewed favorably, but traditional utility cost-recovery models may require subsidy or revised financing structures to be practical for affordable housing. Community engagement highlighted the need for clear public education, transparent financing, reliable long-term maintenance, trained technicians, and the potential to pair geothermal systems with weatherization. Overall, the report concludes that community geothermal is technically feasible and offers meaningful energy, emissions, and life-cycle cost benefits, but broader deployment will depend on workable financing models and workforce readiness.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modeling-Based Design and Optimization of a Gradient Composite Transition Joint

An innovative additively manufactured gradient composite transition joint (AM-GCTJ) has been designed to join dissimilar metals, to address the pressing issue of premature failure observed in conventional dissimilar metal welds (DMWs) when subjected to increased cyclic operating conditions of fossil fuel power plants. The transition design, guided by computational modeling, developed a gradient composite material distribution, facilitating a smooth transition in material volume fraction and physical properties between different alloys. This innovative design seeks to alleviate structural challenges arising from distinct material properties, including high thermal stress and potential cracking issues resulting from the thermal expansion mismatch typically observed in conventional DMWs. In this study, we investigated the creep properties of transition joints comprising Grade 91 steel and 304 stainless steel through a combination of simulations and creep testing experiments. The implementation of a gradient composite design in the plate transition joint resulted in a significant enhancement of creep resistance when compared to the baseline conventional DMW. For instance, the creep rupture life of the transition joint was improved by > 400% in a wide range of temperature and stress testing conditions. Meanwhile, the failure location shifted to the base material of Grade 91 steel. Such enhancement can be primarily attributed to the strong mechanical constraint facilitated by the gradient composite design, which effectively reduced the stresses on the less creep-resistant alloy in the transition zone. Beyond examining plate joints, it is crucial to assess the deformation response of tubular transition joints under pressure loading and transient temperature conditions to substantiate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the design. The simulation results affirm that the tubular transition joint demonstrates superior resistance compared to its counterpart DMW when subjected to multiaxial stresses in tubular structures. In addition, optimization of the transition joint’s geometry dimensions has been conducted to diminish the accumulated deformation and enhance the service life. Lastly, the scalability and potential of the innovative transition joints for large-diameter pipe applications are addressed.

Zhang, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design of a first-of-A-kind instrumented advanced test reactor irradiation Capsule experiment for In situ thermal conductivity measurements of metallic fuel

Metallic fuel undergoes dramatic microstructural changes early in life due to fission gas swelling until ~2–3 at% burnup which affects the conductivity of the material, however the evolution of metallic fuel thermal conductivity during this early phase burnup has never been successfully measured in situ. The Irradiated Material Properties Accelerated Characterization Test (IMPACT) experiment will be the first in a series of experiments to irradiate advanced nuclear metallic fuel specimens with novel embedded thermal conductivity probes in ATR. In the current work the IMPACT experiment final design and supporting analysis is reported in detail. Results are evaluated for various reactor operational conditions to meet the functional requirements of the experiment. Finally, the first iteration of this IMPACT experiment will provide data regarding thermal properties evolution in uranium-zirconium (U10Zr) fuel, but this experiment vehicle is envisioned for future advanced fuels and structural materials irradiations in ATR.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗