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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 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Nuclear—thermal energy storage configurations for industrial combined heat and power supply—conceptual and thermodynamic study with high temperature gas-cooled reactor

Nuclear systems are promising candidates for delivering resilient heat and power for future energy security and independence. Traditionally, nuclear plants have been used for baseload electricity production and cogeneration of heat has seen relatively limited application utilizing typically only small portion of a reactor's thermal output. This paradigm may shift due to the increasing penetration of intermittent renewables and need for resource flexibility, various decarbonization efforts aimed at both electricity and heat demands, along with the perspective of small modular nuclear reactor applications, which can be sized based on local industrial needs. Here, this study provides a comprehensive guide for the nuclear and industrial sectors, emphasizing controllability in the combined heat and power configuration options for high temperature gas-cooled reactor and process steam supply. It investigates the integration of thermal energy storage to improve nuclear energy's responsiveness to varying industrial demands. The study emphasizes placing thermal energy storage between the nuclear primary loop and steam cycle to achieve greater efficiency and flexibility in power and heat output, surpassing traditional combined heat and power systems and avoiding efficiency losses seen in other thermal energy storage integration approaches.

combined heat and power (CHP)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Drought Impacts on Hydroelectric Power Generation in the Western United States

The Western United States experiences large fluctuations in rain and snowfall from year to year, affecting river flows and reservoir levels throughout the region. This interannual variability in water resources leaves a strong signature on total annual energy generated by the region’s fleet of hydroelectric dams. In a wet year, like 2011, hydroelectric power can meet 30 percent of annual western electricity demand. That contribution can drop below 20 percent during severe drought years. Characterizing the contribution of hydroelectric power to the western generation portfolio during drought is crucial to understanding the resilience of the hydropower sector to climate-related risk, both now and in the future. This report analyzes the impacts of historical western droughts on hydroelectric power production by combining two decades’ worth of annual generation—recorded at more than 600 hydroelectric power plants—with historical climate data developed for distinct hydropower subregions of the West. The most extreme impacts of drought on hydroelectric power are found at individual dams where reservoir levels are so low that released water and thus generation becomes severely restricted. These isolated cases often receive widespread media attention, leading to a common misconception that hydroelectric power is an unreliable technology whose role will diminish over time as the western climate produces longer and more severe droughts. Yet, when aggregated to the scale of the West, the observational records of hydropower generation reveal a different story. Even during the most severe droughts experienced since the turn of the century, the western hydropower fleet sustained more than 80% of its typical annual generation. Observational data indicate that drought in 2021 led to the worst year for hydropower generation in the West since 2001, with total generation approximately 16 percent below the 21st century two-decade average. The year 2021 was particularly severe in California (second worst hydro year of last two decades, ~48 percent below average) and Oregon (worst hydro year of last two decades), while generation in Washington and Idaho was affected to a lesser degree (~12 percent below average for combined region). The year 2001 remains the year of lowest western hydropower generation of the twenty-first century so far, owing to extreme drought in the Pacific Northwest, where about two-thirds of western hydropower capacity is located. The primary reason for this relative stability is the diversity of weather across the West; drought rarely impairs hydroelectric power across all river basins at the same time.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Online Monitoring Applications Enabled by Phasor Measurement Units: Technical Assistance to the Power Sectors of Southeast Asia

In this report, an overview of several online applications enabled by PMU measurements is provided. Besides a brief technical background for each application, the report also discusses control room displays and alarming methodologies used by North American organizations, and applicable standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The five applications discussed herein are inertia monitoring, linear state estimation, voltage stability monitoring, small-signal stability monitoring, and forced oscillation monitoring.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Technology Innovation Opportunities for the U.S. Buildings Sector [Slides]

Technology innovation can improve the competitiveness of American companies and the lives of American families. This report identifies promising building technology innovation opportunities to: • Make buildings more affordable, efficient, healthy, and resilient for all Americans. • Increase the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses. • Improve the integration of buildings with the electric grid to reduce consumer and grid system costs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Forecasting Commercial Building Electricity Consumption, Zone Airflow and Zone Temperature: Update - Development of a Generalized Machine Learning Approach

The U.S. power grid is being transformed to make it smarter, more efficient, and cleaner. This transformation is leading to the addition of a significant of energy generated by distributed, variable, and renewable resources. Because of the variable nature of renewable generation, the short- and long-term supply and demand imbalances are less predictable, and conventional approaches to mitigating the imbalances will be less efficient or cost effective. To address this challenge and to support the mission and the vision of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Building Technologies Office has developed a Grid-Interactive Efficient Building Strategy. The strategy focuses on simultaneously improving building energy efficiency and supporting reliability and resilience of the electric grid more efficiently and at a lower cost. In addition, EERE and DOE’s Office of Electricity created an initiative led by DOE and supported by the national laboratories under the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium structure to enhance grid modernization. The work reported in this document is part of the first set of projects funded under the initiative to design, develop, and validate scalable transactive control technologies for the commercial buildings sector. Transactive controls requires the ability of individual end-use loads to express flexibility as a function of a transactive signal (e.g., price). Empirical grey- and black-box models have been widely used to express flexibility. Although this approach is generally easy to construct and simple to use, it does not capture non-linear behavior that some end-use loads represent. Therefore, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with support from Western Washington University conducted this research to explore the use of deep machine learning (ML) techniques. The work reported in this document is limited to forecasting whole building electricity consumption, the zone airflow and the zone temperature predictions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Roles and Impacts of PV-Battery Hybrids in a Decarbonized U.S. Electricity Supply

In this paper, we explore the potential impacts of growing industry interest in hybrid systems comprising PV and battery technologies on the results and findings of the Solar Futures Study (DOE 2021). We employ similar scenario definitions in the same ReEDS capacity expansion model, but we perform two versions of each scenario: one in which PV and battery technologies must be deployed separately (No Hybrids), and one in which the model has the option of deploying them together as PVB hybrids (With Hybrids). By comparing the No Hybrids and With Hybrids versions of each scenario, we isolate the impacts of hybridization on the outcomes and findings of the Solar Futures Study. We find that PVB hybrid configurations capture a sizable share of PV deployment, and the highest-net-value PVB hybrid configuration depends strongly on policy conditions. A power sector decarbonization policy generally increases the value proposition of a more forward-looking PVB hybrid configuration that involves significant oversizing of the PV arrays, a larger battery (which facilitates greater recovery and utilization of otherwise clipped energy), and a higher capacity factor. The growing deployment of PVB hybrid configurations primarily displaces standalone PV capacity, such that total installed PV capacity is largely unaffected by the availability of PVB hybrid configurations. However, the higher capacity factors associated with PVB hybrid configurations drive a modest (1-2 percentage point) increase in PV's share of U.S. electricity supply in 2050. Finally, introducing the PVB hybrid configurations influences the future role and makeup of battery storage technologies, and it reduces the required transmission expansion, particularly under scenarios that involve a power sector decarbonization policy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Abstract for CRADA between National Energy Technology Laboratory and OCO Chem

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and OCO Chem (Participant) will collaborate in the development and scaling of electrochemical technologies that convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into formic acid. This CO 2 -derived product is an industrially relevant chemical with various agricultural and industrial applications, as well as an emerging liquid hydrogen carrier 53 g of H 2 per liter. The use of formic acid as a liquid hydrogen carrier eliminates the challenges of long-distance H 2 transport and storage, which could lead to additional use as a precursor in the “green” energy and chemical sectors. Conventional formic acid production relies on carbon-intensive processes that use fossil fuel-derived starting materials. The collaboration will facilitate the deployment of technologies that convert captured CO 2 , water, and excess renewable electricity into carbon-neutral formic acid. The anticipated results will reduce the carbon footprint of conventional industrial processes, allow more sustainable use of our Nation’s fossil energy resources, and advance NETL’s ongoing CO 2 utilization efforts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

7-8 GHz Point-to-Point Testing

Wireless spectrum is a limiting resource for continued economic growth in the United States. As discussed in the recent National Spectrum Strategy (NSS), wireless spectrum underpins several aspects of the U.S. economy and the demand for additional spectrum is driving the need for realizing spectrum sharing to enable continued development. At the same time, wireless spectrum is an essential foundation of critical energy infrastructure, including electric, oil, and natural gas resources. In particular, wireless point-to-point (P2P) links are the backbone of vast infrastructure networks that enable the flow of sensor and control information needed to manage critical energy sector infrastructure in the United States. These links will only become more important as the energy sector incorporates more diverse sensing and more efficient control mechanisms, which increases system complexity and data volume requiring more resilient communications. Therefore, the continued economic development of the U.S. depends on determining novel approaches to spectrum management that balance both broad access for advanced wireless technologies and resilience for critical infrastructure.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1973

Universal obturator shutter

The construction and electrical circuit of a rotating photoshutter are described. The photoshutter can operate, using both stationary and expeditional astronomical instruments under one of three conditions: (1) short exposures from 0.01 to 0.06 sec, controlled by a mobile sector; (2) exposures from 1 sec and more, fixed by hand; and (3) exposures fixed by an electronic or electromechanical timer. The working aperture of the shutter is 150 x 150 mm.

Skorik, K. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Manufacturing process applications team (MATeam)

Progress in the transfer of aerospace technology to solve key problems in the manufacturing sector of the economy is reported. Potential RTOP programs are summarized along with dissemination activities. The impact of transferred NASA manufacturing technology is discussed. Specific areas covered include aircraft production, robot technology, machining of alloys, and electrical switching systems.

Bangs, E. R.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Grid-Integrated Production of Fischer-Tropsch Synfuels from Nuclear Power

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) investigates the relative economic profitability of an integrated energy system (IES) coupling an NPP with a synfuel production process at selected case study locations across the United States. In the synfuel IES, a high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) plant is thermally and electrically coupled with an NPP to produce zero-carbon hydrogen. The synthetic fuel is produced from this H 2 combined with a CO 2 supply using the reverse water gas shift process followed by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction. This analysis considers a system in which the CO 2 is sourced from regional CO 2 emitters via the construction and operation of pipeline-based CO 2 supply networks. Locating the FT plant at the same site as the NPP and HTSE plants enables the NPP to provide zero-carbon heat and power to the HTSE plant and zero-carbon power to the FT plant as well as avoid the requirement for long-distance H 2 product transport from the HTSE plant to the FT plant. Hydrogen storage is used to enable the NPP to dispatch power to the electrical grid (instead of the HTSE plant) when grid demand increases, thus enabling the FT plant to continue to operate in a steady-state production mode. The ability to cease hydrogen production for several hours within each day enables the NPP to provide power to the grid to balance the electricity market during peak periods and maximize revenues for the nuclear synfuel IES. The FT process design considered has a 99% carbon conversion efficiency. The use of nuclear energy and nuclear energy-derived hydrogen enables synfuel production to achieve this high level of carbon utilization. Additionally, the life-cycle carbon emissions of the nuclear-based synfuel production process are very low, with WTW emissions of approximately 25 gCO 2 e/MJ, including steam credits (generated from FT process excess heat), and approximately 7 gCO 2 e/MJ, if steam credits are excluded. This compares favorably with the WTW emissions of 90.5 gCO 2 e/MJ for a compression-ignition, direct injection (CIDI) vehicle with a fuel economy of 31.6 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGGE), using low-sulfur diesel produced using conventional petroleum production and refining processes. Several NPPs in various regions of the U.S. are considered as case study analyses. Supply locations and transportation via pipeline of the CO 2 feedstock to the NPP site are analyzed through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) CO 2 Transport Cost model. The team finds that the amount of CO 2 generated by different sectors is sufficient for the synfuel production process at all locations considered. The CO 2 transportation costs are functions of the distance of the source to the NPP location, the CO 2 capture cost at the source, and the quantity of CO 2 transported. Historical electricity prices for the NPP case study locations are collected and analyzed. Monthly average prices, price range, and duration of negative-price periods vary among these locations. For each location, an auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) model is trained on historical electricity price data. ARMA validation is done to ensure the synthetic price distributions represent one of historical prices with high fidelity. Synthetic time series from these ARMA models are used in a coupled dispatch and system optimization in the Holistic Energy Resource Optimization Network (HERON) to compute the differential net present value (NPV) of the IES. The team finds that this econometric is positive, ranging from $14M–1.3bn (2020) depending on the location. The optimal synfuel IES configuration to obtain this increase in NPV often maximizes the size of the synfuel production process with regards to the size of the NPP. However, the team shows that the NPP still plays a stabilizing role for the grid: In periods of high prices and high loads, more electricity from the NPP is sent to the grid. A high variability of electricity prices and extreme maximum prices tend to drive up electricity production. While it requires significant investment, the synfuel IES could increase the economic profitability for the existing fleet of LWRs across the country while still maintaining the grid stabilizer role of NPPs. During its lifetime, the main costs for the nuclear synfuel IES are the carbon feedstock transportation costs, followed by the capital expenses (CAPEX) and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs while the revenue comes first from the IRA H 2 production tax credit (PTC) and then from the sales of synfuel products. The profitability of the synfuel IES is most sensitive to the value of the hydrogen PTC and the synfuel products as well as the cost of the carbon feedstock, highlighting the importance of governmental incentives regarding hydrogen, carbon emissions, and synfuel in driving the deployment of future nuclear synfuel IESs.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Total cost of ownership of vehicle electrification and fuel switching options for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles

Projecting the transition from combustion engines to battery-based powertrains is complex becuase it involves numerous interdependent decisions. This study estimates total cost of ownership (TCO) to assess the economic viability of powertrain electrification, focusing exclusively on advances in vehicle and fuel technologies. Under two bounding technology-progress scenarios, we develop vehicle designs and fuel cost trajectories, which serve as inputs to TCO projections for selected classes from 2021 to 2050. We analyzed a small sport utility vehicle (SUV) to represent the light-duty vehicle (LDV) sector, and four medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) classes: Class 6 box delivery, Class 8 drayage, Class 8 long-haul, and Class 8 transit bus. For each class, we compared the TCO of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEVs) against conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The results show that modern ICEVs generally have lower TCO; however, BEVs and FCHEVs could match or have lower TCOs than ICEVs over time, depending on technological progress. In LDVs, BEV300 is projected to deliver the lowest TCO by 2050, particularly under the high-progress scenario. In MHDVs, both BEVs and FCHEVs could become more cost-competitive than ICEVs by 2050 in the high-progress case. Beyond these results, the findings suggest further investigation is warranted for BEV charging infrastructure, FCHEV hydrogen refueling infrastructure, and MHDV charging strategies. In conclusion, these factors could reduce the fuel-cost share of TCO and enhance the competitiveness of BEVs and FCHEVs relative to ICEVs.

Battery electric vehicle↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dynamical properties of a driven dissipative dimerized $S$ =1/2 chain

We consider the dynamical properties of a gapped quantum spin system coupled to the electric field of a laser, which drives the resonant excitation of specific phonon modes that modulate the magnetic interactions. Here, we deduce the quantum master equations governing the time-evolution of both the lattice and spin sectors, by developing a Lindblad formalism with bath operators providing an explicit description of their respective phonon-mediated damping terms. We investigate the nonequilibrium steady states (NESS) of the spin system established by a continuous driving, delineating parameter regimes in driving frequency, damping, and spin-phonon coupling for the establishment of physically meaningful NESS and their related nontrivial properties. Focusing on the regime of generic weak spin-phonon coupling, we characterize the NESS by their frequency and wave-vector content, explore their transient and relaxation behavior, and discuss the energy flow, the system temperature, and the critical role of the type of bath adopted. Our study lays a foundation for the quantitative modeling of experiments currently being designed to control coherent many-body spin states in quantum magnetic materials.

1-dimensional spin chains↗
NASA NTRS1976

Prospects for pipeline delivery of hydrogen as a fuel and as a chemical feedstock

The possibility of using hydrogen for storing and carrying energy obtained from nonfossil sources such as nuclear and solar energy is examined. According to the method proposed, these nonfossil raw energy sources will be used to obtain hydrogen from water by three basically distinct routes: (1) electrical generation followed by electrolysis; (2) thermochemical decomposition; and (3) direct neutron or ultraviolet irradiation of hydrogen bearing molecules. The hydrogen obtained will be transmitted in long-distance pipelines, and distributed to all energy-consuming sectors. As a fuel gas, hydrogen has many qualities similar to natural gas and with only minor modifications, it can be transmitted and distributed in the same equipment, and can be burned in the same appliances as natural gas. Hydrogen can also be used as a clean fuel (water is the only combustion product) for automobiles, fleet vehicles, and aircraft.

Gregory, D. P.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Conceptual Design of Pulverized Coal Electricity Generating Units for Flexible Operation

This National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) study addresses the conceptual design of greenfield pulverized coal (PC) plants intended for flexible rather than high capacity factor baseload operation. The United States has plentiful, low-cost natural gas resources - studies of aggressive decarbonization scenarios of the US energy sector suggest that the variability of carbon-free power can be economically addressed using dispatchable natural gas-fueled generation. Globally, natural gas resources are not as plentiful or low cost; consequently, some regions of the world are anticipated to continue to rely upon coal generation, even as they pursue decarbonization efforts. To support the increased utilization of variable renewable generation in these coal-dependent regions, plant designs must target low-capacity factor coal plants with increased emphasis on flexibility attributes such as start-up times, ramp rates, minimum load, and part-load heat rates. While much work has been performed on the improvement of the flexibility for existing coal plants originally designed for baseload service, little public literature exists on clean sheet design for flexible operation. This conceptual design study aims to define the features, performance characteristics, and costs for greenfield coal plants intended for flexible operation. Quantifying these characteristics provides critical information required by utility owners, grid planners, energy market modelers, and energy policy decision makers in coal-dependent regions of the world to better understand how coal-fired power plants can support a transition to low carbon generation.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Offline Power Systems Applications Enabled by Phasor Measurement Units: Technical Assistance to the Power Sectors of Southeast Asia

This report provides a brief overview of several offline (non-real-time) applications facilitated by high-resolution time-synchronized measurements recorded by phasor measurement units (PMUs). The high reporting rate and time-synchronization of PMU records provide a detailed view of power system dynamics, enabling electric utilities to obtain a better understanding of their systems. In this report, the following applications have been reviewed: Power plant model validation, System model validation, Ringdown oscillation analysis, Frequency response analysis, Postmortem analysis of disturbance events Along with a brief technical background of the applications above, applicable North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards have been discussed, and examples of implementation in North American organizations have been provided. Implementing several of the discussed applications may need a preliminary stage of data gathering from multiple entities, and several frameworks and process flows have been formulated by organizations around the world for this purpose. However, the data-gathering stage has not been considered in the scope of the present report.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chapter Ten - Power, Buildings, and Other Critical Networks: Integrated Multisystem Operation

The electrifying transportation sector, the increasing grid interactivity of the built environment, the rapidly expanding number of devices within the Internet-of-Things, and the overall trend toward highly connected systems and interdependent networks is revolutionizing the operation of the electric power grid. While these changes are presenting grid operators with new challenges to ensure an efficient, reliable, and sustainable operation of the grid, they also enable a new suite of resources that can be utilized for assisting the grid in times of need. In this chapter, we explore how these recent changes and trends are affecting modern power systems and discuss the benefits and challenges of an increasingly electrified and interconnected world. We will observe how various critical infrastructure, that is, buildings, water and gas, transportation, and telecommunication networks are highly dependent on power network operations but, with improved coordination and control, can also provide valuable assets to the grid in times of need.

electricity markets↗
DOE OSTI2021

Adhesion of Titanium Coatings on Additively Manufactured Stainless Steel

The ongoing global climate change crisis has brought attention to the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by providing alternative zero-emission fueling technologies. Prevailing vehicles are dependent on fossil fuels and contribute to climate change by creating emissions of carbon dioxide. In 2019, transportation was the largest contributing economic sector to the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions total at 29% [1]. By converting vehicle fueling to an alternative method, major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved. Hydrogen fuel cells are one potential alternative capable of generating electricity from hydrogen while emitting only water. Several obstacles hinder the development of hydrogen fuel cells as a viable alternative, including the manufacturability of bipolar plates.

08 HYDROGEN↗