Technical Study Addresses a Key Challenge to Harmonizing U.S. and International PV Module Standards (Fact Sheet)
NREL builds community and industry support by addressing concerns voiced by key standards organizations.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
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Results for “KEYING”
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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Expert Meeting Report: Key Innovations for Adding Energy Efficiency to Maintenance Projects
This report describes an expert meeting hosted by the Building America research team NAHB Research Center, which was held on February 8, 2012, in Orlando, Florida. The topic, Key Innovations for Adding Energy Efficiency to Maintenance Projects, was intended to provide direction to more focused efforts to increase the efficiency of existing homes; in this meeting, the focus was specifically for re-roofing and the opportunities for adding energy efficiency upgrades during this major home repair activity.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
A Statistical Methodology for Quantifying Improvement in Predictive Capability: Key Features and Benefits
In References [1, 2, 3], we proposed a statistical methodology for quanti fying improvement in predictive capability. In this note, we summarize the key features and benefits of our approach. We begin with a brief summary of our methodology. Broadly speaking, our approach models the predictive process statistically at a high level. Ac cordingly, we assume the existence of a body of experiments, the results of which have been (or will be) predicted. We can then treat the discrepancy between a prediction and the corresponding experimental result as a datum and the collection of such data informs us about the statistics of the prediction process.
Engineering(42)↗
Transportation Energy Futures: Key Opportunities and Tools for Decision Makers (Brochure)
The Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project examines underexplored greenhouse gas-abatement and oil-savings opportunities by consolidating transportation energy knowledge, conducting advanced analysis, and exploring additional opportunities for sound strategic action. Led by NREL, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory, the project's primary goal is to provide analysis to accompany DOE-EERE's long-term transportation energy planning by addressing high-priority questions, informing domestic decisions about transportation energy strategies, priorities, and investments. Research and analysis were conducted with an eye toward short-term actions that support long-term energy goals The project looks beyond technology to examine each key question in the context of the marketplace, consumer behavior, industry capabilities, and infrastructure. This updated fact sheet includes a new section on initial project findings.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Key Results from SB8 Simulant Flowsheet Studies
Key technically reviewed results are presented here in support of the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) acceptance of Sludge Batch 8 (SB8). This report summarizes results from simulant flowsheet studies of the DWPF Chemical Process Cell (CPC). Results include: • Hydrogen generation rate for the Sludge Receipt and Adjustment Tank (SRAT) and Slurry Mix Evaporator (SME) cycles of the CPC on a 6,000 gallon basis; • Volume percent of nitrous oxide, N 2 O, produced during the SRAT cycle; • Ammonium ion concentrations recovered from the SRAT and SME off-gas; and, • Dried weight percent solids (insoluble, soluble, and total) measurements and density.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Key performance metrics for clean energy application centers: fiscal year 2011
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds nine Clean Energy Application Centers (CEACs) that promote and assist in transforming the market for Combined Heat and Power (CHP), waste heat to power, and district energy (DE) technologies and concepts throughout the United States. The key services provided by the CEACs are market assessments, education and outreach, and technical assistance. There are eight regional centers that serve specific areas of the country and a separate center operated by the International District Energy Association (IDEA) which supports the regional centers with technical assistance related to district energy and provides education, training, publicity, and outreach about that technology.
Clean Energy Application Centers↗
NGNP: High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Key Definitions, Plant Capabilities, and Assumptions
This document provides key definitions, plant capabilities, and inputs and assumptions related to the Next Generation Nuclear Plant to be used in ongoing efforts related to the licensing and deployment of a high temperature gas-cooled reactor. These definitions, capabilities, and assumptions were extracted from a number of NGNP Project sources such as licensing related white papers, previously issued requirement documents, and preapplication interactions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
42 ENGINEERING↗
Laboratory Report on Performance Evaluation of Key Constituents during Pre-Treatment of High Level Waste Direct Feed
The analytical capabilities of the 222-S Laboratory are tested against the requirements for an optional start up scenario of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant on the Hanford Site. In this case, washed and in-tank leached sludge would be sent directly to the High Level Melter, bypassing Pretreatment. The sludge samples would need to be analyzed for certain key constituents in terms identifying melter-related issues and adjustment needs. The analyses on original tank waste as well as on washed and leached material were performed using five sludge samples from tanks 241-AY-102, 241-AZ-102, 241-AN-106, 241-AW-105, and 241-SY-102. Additionally, solid phase characterization was applied to determine the changes in mineralogy throughout the pre-treatment steps.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
First-Principles Flocculation as the Key to Low Energy Algal Biofuels Processing
This document summarizes a three year Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program effort to improve our understanding of algal flocculation with a key to overcoming harvesting as a techno-economic barrier to algal biofuels. Flocculation is limited by the concentrations of deprotonated functional groups on the algal cell surface. Favorable charged groups on the surfaces of precipitates that form in solution and the interaction of both with ions in the water can favor flocculation. Measurements of algae cell-surface functional groups are reported and related to the quantity of flocculant required. Deprotonation of surface groups and complexation of surface groups with ions from the growth media are predicted in the context of PHREEQC. The understanding of surface chemistry is linked to boundaries of effective flocculation. We show that the phase-space of effective flocculation can be expanded by more frequent alga-alga or floc-floc collisions. The collision frequency is dependent on the floc structure, described in the fractal sense. The fractal floc structure is shown to depend on the rate of shear mixing. We present both experimental measurements of the floc structure variation and simulations using LAMMPS (Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator). Both show a densification of the flocs with increasing shear. The LAMMPS results show a combined change in the fractal dimension and a change in the coordination number leading to stronger flocs.
Hewson, John C.↗
Experimental Study and Computational Simulations of Key Pebble Bed Thermo-mechanics Issues for Design and Safety
An experimental and computational study, consisting of modeling and simulation (M&S), of key thermal-mechanical issues affecting the design and safety of pebble-bed (PB) reactors was conducted. The objective was to broaden understanding and experimentally validate thermal-mechanic phenomena of nuclear grade graphite, specifically, spheres in frictional contact as anticipated in the bed under reactor relevant pressures and temperatures. The contact generates graphite dust particulates that can subsequently be transported into the flowing gaseous coolent. Under postulated depressurization transients and with the potential for leaked fission products to be adsorbed onto graphite 'dust', there is the potential for fission products to escape from the primary volume. This is a design safety concern. Furthermore, earlier safety assessment identified the distinct possibility for the dispersed dust to combust in contact with air if sufficient conditions are met. Both of these phenomena were noted as important to design review and containing uncertainty to warrant study. The team designed and conducted two separate effects tests to study and benchmark the potential dust-generation rate, as well as study the conditions under which a dust explosion may occure in a standardized, instrumented explosion chamber.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Technical Approach for Determining Key Parameters Needed for Modeling the Performance of Cast Stone for the Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment
Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and its contractors at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) are conducting a development program to develop / refine the cementitious waste form for the wastes treated at the ETF and to provide the data needed to support the IDF PA. This technical approach document is intended to provide guidance to the cementitious waste form development program with respect to the waste form characterization and testing information needed to support the IDF PA. At the time of the preparation of this technical approach document, the IDF PA effort is just getting started and the approach to analyze the performance of the cementitious waste form has not been determined. Therefore, this document looks at a number of different approaches for evaluating the waste form performance and describes the testing needed to provide data for each approach. Though the approach addresses a cementitious secondary aqueous waste form, it is applicable to other waste forms such as Cast Stone for supplemental immobilization of Hanford LAW. The performance of Cast Stone as a physical and chemical barrier to the release of contaminants of concern (COCs) from solidification of Hanford liquid low activity waste (LAW) and secondary wastes processed through the Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is of critical importance to the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) total system performance assessment (TSPA). The effectiveness of cementitious waste forms as a barrier to COC release is expected to evolve with time. PA modeling must therefore anticipate and address processes, properties, and conditions that alter the physical and chemical controls on COC transport in the cementitious waste forms over time. Most organizations responsible for disposal facility operation and their regulators support an iterative hierarchical safety/performance assessment approach with a general philosophy that modeling provides the critical link between the short-term understanding from laboratory and field tests, and the prediction of repository performance over repository time frames and scales. One common recommendation is that experiments be designed to permit the appropriate scaling in the models. There is a large contrast in the physical and chemical properties between the Cast Stone waste package and the IDF backfill and surrounding sediments. Cast Stone exhibits low permeability, high tortuosity, low carbonate, high pH, and low Eh whereas the backfill and native sediments have high permeability, low tortuosity, high carbonate, circumneutral pH, and high Eh. These contrasts have important implications for flow, transport, and reactions across the Cast Stone – backfill interface. Over time with transport across the interface and subsequent reactions, the sharp geochemical contrast will blur and there will be a range of spatially-distributed conditions. In general, COC mobility and transport will be sensitive to these geochemical variations, which also include physical changes in porosity and permeability from mineral reactions. Therefore, PA modeling must address processes, properties, and conditions that alter the physical and chemical controls on COC transport in the cementitious waste forms over time. Section 2 of this document reviews past Hanford PAs and SRS Saltstone PAs, which to date have mostly relied on the lumped parameter COC release conceptual models for TSPA predictions, and provides some details on the chosen values for the lumped parameters. Section 3 provides more details on the hierarchical modeling strategy and processes and mechanisms that control COC release. Section 4 summarizes and lists the key parameters for which numerical values are needed to perform PAs. Section 5 provides brief summaries of the methods used to measure the needed parameters and references to get more details.
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Policies to Enable Bioenergy Deployment: Key Considerations and Good Practices
Bioenergy is renewable energy generated from biological source materials, and includes electricity, transportation fuels and heating. Source materials are varied types of biomass, including food crops such as corn and sugarcane, non-edible lignocellulosic materials such as agricultural and forestry waste and dedicated crops, and municipal and livestock wastes. Key aspects of policies for bioenergy deployment are presented in this brief as part of the Clean Energy Solutions Center's Clean Energy Policy Brief Series.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
Workshop Report: International Workshop to Explore Synergies between Nuclear and Renewable Energy Sources as a Key Component in Developing Pathways to Decarbonization of the Energy Sector
An international workshop was organized in June 2016 to explore synergies between nuclear and renewable energy sources. Synergies crossing electricity, transportation, and industrial sectors were the focus of the workshop, recognizing that deep decarbonization will require efforts that go far beyond the electricity sector alone. This report summarizes the key points made within each presentation and highlights outcomes that were arrived at in the discussions.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Keys to the House: Unlocking Residential Savings With Program Models for Home Energy Upgrades
After more than 40 years of effort, energy efficiency program administrators and associated contractors still find it challenging to penetrate the home retrofit market, especially at levels commensurate with state and federal goals for energy savings and emissions reductions. Residential retrofit programs further have not coalesced around a reliably successful model. They still vary in design, implementation and performance, and they remain among the more difficult and costly options for acquiring savings in the residential sector. If programs are to contribute fully to meeting resource and policy objectives, administrators need to understand what program elements are key to acquiring residential savings as cost effectively as possible. To that end, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored a comprehensive review and analysis of home energy upgrade programs with proven track records, focusing on those with robustly verified savings and constituting good examples for replication. The study team reviewed evaluations for the period 2010 to 2014 for 134 programs that are funded by customers of investor-owned utilities. All are programs that promote multi-measure retrofits or major system upgrades. We paid particular attention to useful design and implementation features, costs, and savings for nearly 30 programs with rigorous evaluations of performance. This meta-analysis describes program models and implementation strategies for (1) direct install retrofits; (2) heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) replacement and early retirement; and (3) comprehensive, whole-home retrofits. We analyze costs and impacts of these program models, in terms of both energy savings and emissions avoided. These program models can be useful guides as states consider expanding their strategies for acquiring energy savings as a resource and for emissions reductions. We also discuss the challenges of using evaluations to create program models that can be confidently applied in multiple jurisdictions.
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Milestone Completion Report WBS 1.3.5.05 ECP/VTK-m FY17Q4 [MS-17/03-06] Key Reduce / Spatial Division / Basic Advect / Normals STDA05-4.
The FY17Q4 milestone of the ECP/VTK-m project includes the completion of a key-reduce scheduling mechanism, a spatial division algorithm, an algorithm for basic particle advection, and the computation of smoothed surface normals. With the completion of this milestone, we are able to, respectively, more easily group like elements (a common visualization algorithm operation), provide the fundamentals for geometric search structures, provide the fundamentals for many flow visualization algorithms, and provide more realistic rendering of surfaces approximated with facets.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Catalytic Upgrading of Key Biorefining Building Blocks to Renewable Chemicals, Polymeric Materials, and Liquid Fuels
The central objective of this project is to develop efficient, selective, and cost-effective catalytic systems for upgrading of key biorefining building blocks derived from catalytic conversion of plant biomass into value-added chemicals, polymeric materials, and liquid fuels. More specifically, the proposed work for the current grant period seeks to accomplish the following three specific objectives: (a) developing cost-effective and recyclable catalysts for selective upgrading (direct coupling) of the C 6 biorefining building block 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) into C 12 intermediates and for integrating biomass conversion and upgrading processes; (b) transforming the upgraded C 12 intermediates into polyols, polyurethanes, polyesters, and diesel fuels; and (c) reforming the upgraded intermediates into premium C 12 centered liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels via selective hydrodeoxygenation catalysis.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
The Electron-Ion Collider: Assessing the Energy Dependence of Key Measurements
We provide an assessment of the energy dependence of key measurements within the scope of the machine parameters for a U.S. based Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) outlined in the EIC White Paper. We first examine the importance of the physics underlying these measurements in the context of the outstanding questions in nuclear science. We then demonstrate, through detailed simulations of the measurements, that the likelihood of transformational scientific insights is greatly enhanced by making the energy range and reach of the EIC as large as practically feasible.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Evaluation of High-Performance Rooftop HVAC Unit Naval Air Station Key West, Florida
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) collaborated on a project to measure the performance of two high performance rooftop HVAC units (RTUs) that were installed at the Navy Exchange at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL. These RTUs were manufactured by the Daikin Corporation and the Carrier Corporation as part of the Advanced RTU Campaign (http://www.advancedrtu.org) sponsored by DOE’s Commercial Building Energy Alliance. The goal of this campaign was to encourage development of a next-generation RTU that had an integrated energy efficiency rating (IEER) of 18.0 or greater. This threshold had heretofore not been achieved.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗