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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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NASA NTRS1996

Research Laboratory for Engineering and Tehnology (ReLEnT)-Summer Program

During the fiscal years 1994-1995 students at Central State University (CSU) have worked diligently under the supervision of the PI and associates to plan, design and conduct a four-week hands on summer program for high school students in grades 9 to 12. These workshops consists of experiments and computer aided design and manufacturing, designed to constructively stimulate interests in engineering and technology, and promote enrollment at CSU after they matriculate from high school. The experience gained in two years will be utilized to realize one of the deliverables for CSU engineering program during 1996. In FY-96 a new total of 30 students are now being interviewed for the 1996 program. This grant also provides resource for students enrolled in CSU's engineering program to work as undergraduate research assistants and ReLEnT tuition scholarship awards. These students are involved in the development of research, design projects, workshop procedures, laboratory exercises and seminars. Undergraduate students receiving tuition scholarships are required to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Finally, the ReLEnT award has made it possible for CSU to acquire some experimental and CFD capability which now provides us with the opportunity to compete and respond to RFP's on a competitive basis and a timely manner.

Okhio, Cyril B.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Maximally Expressive Modeling of Operations Tasks

Planning and scheduling systems organize "tasks" into a timeline or schedule. The tasks are defined within the scheduling system in logical containers called models. The dictionary might define a model of this type as "a system of things and relations satisfying a set of rules that, when applied to the things and relations, produce certainty about the tasks that are being modeled." One challenging domain for a planning and scheduling system is the operation of on-board experiments for the International Space Station. In these experiments, the equipment used is among the most complex hardware ever developed, the information sought is at the cutting edge of scientific endeavor, and the procedures are intricate and exacting. Scheduling is made more difficult by a scarcity of station resources. The models to be fed into the scheduler must describe both the complexity of the experiments and procedures (to ensure a valid schedule) and the flexibilities of the procedures and the equipment (to effectively utilize available resources). Clearly, scheduling International Space Station experiment operations calls for a "maximally expressive" modeling schema.

Jaap, John↗

NASA NTRS2004

Maximally Expressive Modeling

Planning and scheduling systems organize tasks into a timeline or schedule. Tasks are logically grouped into containers called models. Models are a collection of related tasks, along with their dependencies and requirements, that when met will produce the desired result. One challenging domain for a planning and scheduling system is the operation of on-board experiments for the International Space Station. In these experiments, the equipment used is among the most complex hardware ever developed; the information sought is at the cutting edge of scientific endeavor; and the procedures are intricate and exacting. Scheduling is made more difficult by a scarcity of station resources. The models to be fed into the scheduler must describe both the complexity of the experiments and procedures (to ensure a valid schedule) and the flexibilities of the procedures and the equipment (to effectively utilize available resources). Clearly, scheduling International Space Station experiment operations calls for a maximally expressive modeling schema.

Jaap, John↗

NASA NTRS2011

Use of Hawaii Analog Sites for Lunar Science and In-Situ Resource Utilization

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and lunar science share similar objectives with respect to analyzing and characterizing the physical, mineral, and volatile materials and resources at sites of robotic and human exploration. To help mature and stress instruments, technologies, and hardware and to evaluate operations and procedures, space agencies have utilized demonstrations at analog sites on Earth before use in future missions. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the German Space Agency (DLR) have utilized an analog site on the slope of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii to test ISRU and lunar science hardware and operations in two previously held analog field tests. NASA and CSA are currently planning on a 3rd analog field test to be held in June, 2012 in Hawaii that will expand upon the successes from the previous two field tests.

Sanders, G. B.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Robust VAR Capability Curve of DER with Uncertain Renewable Generation

Active distribution system with high penetration of inverter based distributed energy resources(DER), can be utilized for var-related ancillary services at the transmission side interface. In order to utilize the DER flexibility, transmission system operator must be presented the aggregated DER flexibility of distribution system. However, the uncertainty in renewable generation, questions the credibility of aggregated capability curve in practice. In this paper, we incorporate the uncertainty into aggregation process to develop capability curve while preserving the real physics (unbalance and lossy nature) of distribution system. The Resulting capability curve with the associated probability can be harnessed by the TSO for decision making for both planning and operation.

Kar, Aditya Shankar↗

NASA NTRS2004

Preserving the Finger Lakes for the Future: A Prototype Decision Support System for Water Resource Management, Open Space, and Agricultural Protection

This report summarizes the activity conducted under NASA Grant NAG13-02059 entitled "Preserving the Finger Lakes for the Future" A Prototype Decision Support System for Water Resources Management, Open Space and Agricultural Protection, for the period of September 26, 2003 to September 25, 2004. The RACNE continues to utilize the services of its affiliate, the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology at Cayuga Community College, Inc. (IAGT), for the purposes of this project under its permanent operating agreement with IAGT. IAGT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Corporation created by the RACNE for the purpose of carrying out its programmatic and administrative mission. The "Preserving the Finger Lakes for the Future" project has progressed and evolved as planned, with the continuation or initiation of a number of program facets at programmatic, technical, and inter-agency levels. The project has grown, starting with the well received core concept of the Virtual Management Operations Center (VMOC), to the functional Watershed Virtual Management Operations Center (W-VMOC) prototype, to the more advanced Finger Lakes Decision Support System (FLDSS) prototype, deployed for evaluation and assessment to a wide variety of agencies and organizations in the Finger Lakes region and beyond. This suite of tools offers the advanced, compelling functionality of interactive 3D visualization interfaced with 2D mapping, all accessed via Internet or virtually any kind of distributed computer network.

Brower, Robert↗

NASA NTRS2014

Using AUTORAD for Cassini File Uplinks: Incorporating Automated Commanding into Mission Operations

As the Cassini spacecraft embarked on the Solstice Mission in October 2010, the flight operations team faced a significant challenge in planning and executing the continuing tour of the Saturnian system. Faced with budget cuts that reduced the science and engineering staff by over a third in size, new and streamlined processes had to be developed to allow the Cassini mission to maintain a high level of science data return with a lower amount of available resources while still minimizing the risk. Automation was deemed an important key in enabling mission operations with reduced workforce and the Cassini flight team has made this goal a priority for the Solstice Mission. The operations team learned about a utility called AUTORAD which would give the flight operations team the ability to program selected command files for radiation up to seven days in advance and help minimize the need for off-shift support that could deplete available staffing during the prime shift hours. This paper will describe how AUTORAD is being utilized by the Cassini flight operations team and the processes that were developed or modified to ensure that proper oversight and verification is maintained in the generation and execution of radiated command files.

Goo, Sherwin↗

NASA NTRS2015

Rover Traverse Planning to Support a Lunar Polar Volatiles Mission

Studies of lunar polar volatile depositsare of interest for scientific purposes to understandthe nature and evolution of the volatiles, and alsofor exploration reasons as a possible in situ resource toenable long term exploration and settlement of theMoon. Both theoretical and observational studies havesuggested that significant quantities of volatiles exist inthe polar regions, although the lateral and horizontaldistribution remains unknown at the km scale and finerresolution. A lunar polar rover mission is required tofurther characterize the distribution, quantity, andcharacter of lunar polar volatile deposits at thesehigher spatial resolutions. Here we present two casestudies for NASA’s Resource Prospector (RP) missionconcept for a lunar polar rover and utilize this missionarchitecture and associated constraints to evaluatewhether a suitable landing site exists to support an RPflight mission.

NASAaEuro(TM)s Resource Prospector (RP) mission↗

DOE OSTI2024

Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals: Standard Work Specifications (SWS) Maintenance Charter and Procedures

The SWS were built by industry, for industry, and DOE and NREL facilitated the process to create them. The goal of the SWS maintenance process is to continue the consensus-based engagement to ensure the SWS content remains a relevant resource for promoting industry- accepted practices and maintaining consistency throughout the industry. This SWS Maintenance Charter and Procedures document defines the SWS maintenance process to provide transparency to stakeholders in how the SWS are maintained.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Powering Data Centers with Clean Energy: A Techno-Economic Case Study of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Dependability

Rising data demands from artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) generating images, videos, and text have prompted increased need for larger and more robust data centers in the United States. Major companies interested in these larger data centers face the choice of linking them to existing regional grids, building stand-alone power supplies onsite, or a combination of both. The request, review, and approval process for new transmission lines to grids in the United States, however, has grown in recent years to times spans rivaling those of new construction for nuclear power plants. Building an islanded power supply for each data center is therefore becoming a prominent option. In this case study, several technologies are modeled in techno-economic simulations for long-term system costs subject to fixed electricity demand from a singular data center. A 250 MWe data center is assumed with additional 50 MWe for resiliency. Techno-economic simulations are conducted using the Holistic Energy Resource Optimization Network (HERON) software, which is a part of the Framework for Optimization of Resources and Economics (FORCE) tool suite. Technologies considered include solar, wind, lithium-ion batteries, and several types of nuclear reactors: large-scale reactors, small modular reactors, and microreactors. A low- and high-cost estimate for each technology is assumed to develop a range of expected economic performance. Low-cost estimates included several clean energy production tax credits. Different combinations of renewable energy generators with nuclear reactors are considered, ranging from a fully renewable-powered data center to a fully nuclear-powered data center. Historic time series of wind and solar availability from the Texas grid are used to train a reduced order model; this model then generates unique time series with similar characteristics of the training dataset. Multiple scenarios of weather and subsequent operations are simulated for each renewable-nuclear combination to determine total costs throughout the project lifetime. Fully renewable-powered configurations required large amounts of installed capacity (GW scale) in the simulations to meet the fixed demand of the data center. This is due to some scenarios in the historical dataset which captured low-wind and low-solar days, requiring over-building of these technologies as well as batteries to compensate for the low amounts of electricity generation. Fully nuclear-powered configurations outperformed the fully renewable and mixed renewable-nuclear configurations in terms of cost, with ranges between $1B and $10B in 2023 USDs compared to $40B+ for fully renewable configurations. Of the nuclear technologies, small modular reactors performed better economically than large-scale nuclear models due to lower projected capital costs, and both performed better than the microreactor models. These results demonstrate the applicability of firm, dispatchable electricity resources from baseload generators like nuclear power plants for operating facilities that run at constant power without daily variability.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS1963

Utilization of Extraterrestrial Resources

Eight state-of-the-art briefings intended to bring members of the Working Group up to date in technical areas relating to future manned expeditions to the Moon and planets were presented at the Meeting of the Working Group on Extraterrestrial Resources held in Washington, D. C., September 25-26, 1962 by recognized authorities in their respective fields. Since it was felt that the material presented at the meeting would be useful for reference purposes, most of the speakers submitted summaries of their remarks for publication. This document is a collection of the material submitted. Contents: Status of Designs of Lunar Surface Vehicles; Hydroponics or Soilless Culture; Processing of Water on the Moon; Lunar Base Construction; Lunar Rocks as a Source of Oxygen; Water in Lunar Materials; Summary of Apollo and Lunar Logistics System Plans.

Source record↗

DOE OSTI2023

Power Supply Options for the Marpi Landfill, Saipan: Feasibility Study

The Marpi Landfill, located on the northern end of the island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is powered by an on-site diesel generator that only operates when the landfill is open and staffed. The CNMI Office of Planning and Development (OPD) aspires to provide the Marpi Landfill with 24-hour power availability despite its remote location and to increase the use of sustainable energy within the CNMI. CNMI has a 20% target for renewable energy consumption, as documented in Sustainable Development Goal #7 in the Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan (OPD 2021) and the renewable portfolio standard (GPO 2014). To accomplish these goals, the U.S. Department of Energy, through its Interagency Reimbursable Work Agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, funded this feasibility study to assess and prioritize power supply options for the landfill. The availability of solar and wind resources varies seasonally, as does the load. A BESS can help to balance mismatches between generation and load on short (hourly or daily) timescales, but not across seasons. The microgrid scenarios evaluated for Marpi consider options for technology combinations that will both meet the load and utilize available resources, despite the challenge presented by higher loads and lower solar and wind availability during the rainy season, depicted in Figure ES-2. The seven scenarios evaluated are summarized in Table ES-1. Each scenario’s configuration was optimized to include component capacities that reduce capital and operating costs, meet the load, and minimize carbon emissions, as feasible. The costs and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) shown do not assume the use of any grant funding or incentives, although these options were also evaluated. To assist with decision-making, a prioritization matrix (Table ES-3) was created to compare the microgrid scenarios evaluated in this feasibility study according to various stakeholder priorities. The prioritization metrics were chosen based on discussions with OPD and will be finalized through stakeholder feedback. The scenarios were given a score between 1 and 7 for each prioritization metric (the lower the score, the higher the priority), and total scores were calculated using assigned weights based on the relative priority of each metric. The total scores were then ranked to produce a prioritized list of microgrid scenarios based on the metrics most important to the project stakeholders. As shown, scenario 4 (100 kW of solar PV, a 75 kW/300 kWh BESS, and 160 kW of diesel generation) ranks highest.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Hillsborough County Clear Sky Assessment Process: Prioritizing Solar + Storage for Resilient Facilities & Communities

The Clear Sky Tampa Bay project was a 15-month collaborative research effort to support solar + storage deployment for community resilience in Florida. The Clear Sky Decision Support Toolkit is a collection of resources designed to support users in conducting solar + storage prioritization and feasibility screening assessments at critical facilities. The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council worked with four local governments in the region to test and apply the Toolkit. This case study series describes how each partner government used the Toolkit and highlights key insights and lessons learned that other users could follow to replicate the process. Hillsborough County used the Clear Sky Decision Support Toolkit to analyze solar + storage as an additional resiliency feature at its Brandon Support Operation Complex (BSOC). During normal operations, the BSOC houses water utility administration services and workspaces for water and wastewater engineers, facilities maintenance, and environmental management staff. During emergency management activation, the BSOC serves as an emergency hub for Emergency Support Function 3 (ESF-3), which includes public utilities, public works, and engineering staff support members. The BSOC is designated as a critical facility by the County.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Enhancing Cloud Cybersecurity: Prescriptive Controls for Operational Technology

This whitepaper provides strategic insights and recommendations into security cloud-based solutions for electric utilities, encompassing operational technology (OT), virtual power plants (VPP), distributed energy resources (DERs), applications, networks, and data storage as they transition to and leverage cloud infrastructure through managed service providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers (CSPs). Principles derived from established frameworks serve as a foundation for best practices across cybersecurity projects and remove the constraints of settling on a single framework. For organizations that prefer not to integrate a specific framework altogether, elements of the proposed approach could be adopted or tailored to best fit defined requirements and expected functionalities. The Cirrus assessment, a utility cloud feasibility tool, and the roadmap it provides serve as a precursor to this paper, which seeks to be a valuable resource for defining next steps following cloud technology integration feasibility appraisal. With its comprehensive approach to adoption, the Cirrus framework offers strategic guidance on responsibly preparing for or deploying a utility cloud solution. The previously published whitepaper, “Use Case-Informed Framework for Utility Cloud Migration,” details the guiding strategy, research, and deployment of cloud solutions within electric and interconnected grid systems. Before implementing the controls suggested in this document, it is recommended that stakeholders complete Cirrus's cloud integration assessment and pair the results with their unique cybersecurity controls to form a comprehensive cloud-based utility cybersecurity plan. The Cirrus outcome will consider a series of future architectures for the grid before and after the energy transition and evaluate the arguments for and against cloud applications for each electric and interconnected grid layer. This document is a companion to the original whitepaper, "Use Case-Informed Framework for Utility Cloud Migration" to further identify and recommend security controls based on Cirrus’s cloud integration assessment output. The following whitepaper outlines the cybersecurity controls that secure cloud-service models pertinent to the electric sector using the predefined categories identify, protect, detect, and respond and recover. The objective is to outline prescriptive security controls based on the type of architecture and data stored in the cloud. The focus includes dissecting the shared responsibility model and elucidating what on-premises Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) entail. A pivotal consideration in this context is allocating responsibility for foundational cybersecurity aspects—having used Cirrus for the cloud integration assessment. The ensuing controls detailed herein also represent a checklist of controls necessary for a secure cloud transition, equipping utilities with the knowledge to navigate this digital transformation with confidence and strategic foresight in a safe and responsible manner.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

GMLC Technical Assistance to States: DER Interconnection Workshop #2 [Slides]

NREL hosted this workshops to help state public utility commissions (PUCs) understand the materials and support available to assist in distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection activities. This workshop focused on "Modern DER Capabilities and Deployment Concerns" and included four speakers, whose material will be posted at https://www.nrel.gov/grid/ieee-standard-1547/workshops.html. The slides in this deck were for the facilitator to provide context to the attendees, as well as additional resources on the topics discussed.

1547↗

DOE OSTI2021

Energy Management Information Systems Technical Resources Report

This report illustrates how energy management information systems (EMIS) can enable federal agencies to improve energy performance, reduce costs, and meet energy goals. The guide discusses how to identify and implement needed EMIS functions and capabilities, covering the entire EMIS life cycle including system design, procurement, implementation, and ongoing maintenance.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Climate Influences on Capacity Expansion Planning with Application to the Western U.S

Electric power system planners utilize a variety of planning tools to inform decisions concerning generation and transmission additions to the electric grid, the need for operational changes, and to evaluate potential stressors on the system. Numerous factors contribute to the planning process including projected fuel and technology costs, policy and load profiles. There is also a growing recognition of the interdependency of the electric grid with other natural and engineered systems. Here we explore how future climate change and hydropower operability might influence decisions related to electricity capacity expansion planning and operations. To do so we assemble a multi-model framework. Specifically, water resource modeling is used to simulate climate impacts on future water supply for thermoelectric and hydropower generation. Separately, temperature impacts on electricity load are evaluated. Together, these climate factors spatially constrain a capacity expansion model that projects generation and transmission additions to the grid. The projected new capacity-builds are then evaluated on their operations, reliability, and cost under average and extreme climate conditions using production cost modeling. This coupled framework is demonstrated on the electric grid in the Western U.S., supporting capacity expansion planning by WECC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) regional entity responsible for reliability assurance of the Western Interconnection. This region was selected in part because the West is unique in that it has high potential for renewable penetrations and is experiencing large retirements/displacements of baseload resources, primarily coal, leading to possible operational challenges in terms of changing resource mix and the need for resource flexibility. Toward this challenge, planning scenarios encompass a range of alternative energy, climate and drought futures. In this context we explore answers to two strategic questions: 1) How does changing climate influence electricity expansion planning (generation and transmission) and future operations, including type and capacity of new builds, system reliability, cost and environmental impacts? 2) How does the representation of hydropower in the modeling framework influence the evaluation of bulk power system operations? Results indicate that climate has a measurable influence on recommendations concerning the capacity, type and location of new generation and transmission additions, with up to 17 GW additional capacity needed by 2038 to meet peak loads (~6.6% increase over capacity-builds based on historical climate). The extent of additional infrastructure needs is strongly influenced by future water availability for hydropower and the potential deployment of demand response technologies. Systems designed for future climate conditions were found to maintain high system reliability under a range of electricity and water availability scenarios (including significant drought), with minimal system curtailments. Additional capacity needs due to higher load tend to increase cumulative 20-year investment and operating costs by $\$$5-$\$$17 billion and generation costs increase by 9 to 19%. Finally, changing the representation of hydropower flexibility has a relatively small influence on capacity expansion in the Western Interconnection through 2038, but hydropower flexibility impacts generation costs to a similar extent as climate.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS2004

Evolution of the Baseline ISS ECLSS Technologies: The Next Logical Steps

The baseline Environmental Control and Life Support Systems which are currently deployed on the International Space Station or planned to be launched in Node 3 are based on technologies selected in the early 1990's. While they are generally meeting or exceeding requirements for supporting the ISS crew, lessons learned from years of on orbit and ground testing, new advances in technology state of the art, and requirements for future manned missions prompt consideration of the next logical step to enhance these systems to increase performance, robustness, reliability, and reduce on-orbit and logistical resource requirements. This paper discusses the current state of the art in ISS ECLSS technologies, and possible areas for enhancement/improvement. Potential utilization of the ISS as a testbed for on-orbit checkout of selected technology improvements is also addressed.

Carrasquillo, Robyn L.↗