Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “AWARD”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 829 records · Page 46

Claudio Pellegrini and the World’s First Hard X-ray Free-Electron Laser

President Obama welcomed SLAC's Claudio Pellegrini inside the Oval Office on Tuesday morning as a recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award, one of the highest honors the U.S. government can give to a scientist. Pellegrini, a visiting scientist and consulting professor at SLAC and distinguished professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles, received the award for research that aided in the development of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) including SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), a DOE Office of Science User Facility that started up in 2009. Here, Pellegrini describes his efforts that contributed to the realization of SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source, the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Distributed Wind Competitiveness Improvement Project

The Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) is a periodic solicitation through the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Manufacturers of small and medium wind turbines are awarded cost-shared grants via a competitive process to optimize their designs, develop advanced manufacturing processes, and perform turbine testing. The goals of the CIP are to make wind energy cost competitive with other distributed generation technology and increase the number of wind turbine designs certified to national testing standards. This fact sheet describes the CIP and funding awarded as part of the project.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Expanding geothermal resource utilization through directed research, education, and public outreach: Final Technical Report

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) conducts research and outreach activities that will lead to increased utilization of geothermal resources in the western US. The Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy (GBCGE) is working in partnership with US industry to establish geothermal energy as a sustainable, environmentally sound, economically competitive contributor to energy supply in the western US. Task 1 involves conducting geoscience and engineering research and developing technology to improve the assessment, exploration, and stimulation of geothermal resources. Subtask projects were selected based on peer review of proposals submitted to the GBCGE from Nevada System of High Education (NSHE) institutions for short project development and seed awards intended to develop background and establish viability of approaches for future activities. Task 2 includes project management and organization of workshops periodically requested by DOE and others to satisfy other mission goals of the GBCGE and the DOE geothermal program. GBCGE supports interaction with national and international geothermal organizations, with brochures, presentations, and materials describing GBCGE accomplishments and current research. We continue to maintain and develop an internet-based information system that makes geothermal data and information available to industry, government, and academic stakeholders for exploration and development of geothermal resources. This award also partially supported post-doctoral scholar Drew Siler and research scientist Betsy Littlefield Pace whose effort is included under developing future research projects. Task 2 also focuses on education and outreach through a competitive graduate fellowship program. The budget is for two-year stipends for three graduate students to work collaboratively with GBCGE faculty on Master’s or PhD degrees in geoscience and engineering fields. This grant supported three MS students in full for two years toward the degree and contributed bridge money for four other students to finish their degrees. In total, eight graduate degrees were supported by this grant, either through the faculty seed grants or the fellowship program.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Energy Frontier Research Centers: Impact Report, January 2017

Since its inception in 2009, the U. S. Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program has become an important research modality in the Department’s portfolio, enabling high impact research that addresses key scientific challenges for energy technologies. Funded by the Office of Science’s Basic Energy Sciences program, the EFRCs are located across the United States and are led by universities, national laboratories, and private research institutions. These multi-investigator, multidisciplinary centers bring together world-class teams of researchers, often from multiple institutions, to tackle the toughest scientific challenges preventing advances in energy technologies. The EFRCs’ fundamental scientific advances are having a significant impact that is being translated to industry. In 2009 five-year awards were made to 46 EFRCs, including 16 that were fully funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). An open recompetition of the program in 2014 resulted in fouryear awards to 32 centers, 22 of which are renewals of existing EFRCs and 10 of which are new EFRCs. In 2016, DOE added four new centers to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to support the Department’s environmental management and nuclear cleanup mission, bringing the total number of active EFRCs to 36. The impact reports in this document describe some of the many scientific accomplishments and greater impacts of the class of 2009 – 2018 EFRCs and early outcomes from a few of the class of 2014 – 2018 EFRCs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

The US DOE Office of Environmental Management International Program Collaboration - 11526

The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) carries out international collaboration activities in support of U.S. policies and objectives regarding the accelerated risk reduction and remediation of environmental legacy of the nations’ nuclear weapons program and government sponsored nuclear energy research. The International Collaboration Program supported out of the EM Office of Technology Innovation and Development (OTID) pursues collaborations with foreign government organizations, educational institutions and private industry to assist in identifying technologies and promote international collaborations that leverage resources and link international experience and expertise. In FY 2010, the program embarked on an expansion into the primary Office of Technology Innovation and Development R&D Program areas. Through OTID generated proposals and reviews, the International Collaboration Program awarded six contracts for work scope spanning waste processing, groundwater and soil remediation, deactivation and decommissioning and nuclear materials disposition initiatives to six foreign organizations. This paper will present an overview of the on-going tasks awarded in FY 2010 and an update of plans for FY 2011 and beyond.

2011↗

US DOE In-Plant Trainings to Develop Expertise and Replicate Success

In-Plant Trainings (INPLTs) offered by the US Department of Energy Better Buildings, Better Plants (Better Plants) program are multi-day workshops performed by industry-recognized experts. INPLTs include both classroom- and field-based sessions that train attendees to identify energy conservation opportunities, quantify savings from these opportunities, and implement projects to realize the savings. These training workshops enhance the attendees’ understanding of working principles, knowledge of best practices, and capability to analyze the energy performance of industrial energy systems. INPLTs are competitively awarded and focus on a wide range of topics, including traditional industrial systems such as steam, process heating and motor-driven systems, and processes such as energy treasure hunts and municipal water and wastewater treatment. Partners that are awarded INPLTs can invite external stakeholders, such as employees of other manufacturers, utility representatives, and vendors. The Better Plants program had delivered 123 INPLTs as of spring 2019, trained more than 2,000 participants, and identified more than $37 million in energy cost savings. This paper provides an overview of INPLTs, some key statistics, the top identified energy savings opportunities, and success stories from INPLTs delivered from 2011 to 2018. Finally, the vision for future INPLTs is discussed based on participants’ feedback and the long-term and strategic goals of the Better Plants program.

Guo, Wei↗

EFRC 10@10: Developing the Next Generation of Scientific Talent: Michael Naguib

This is a biography of Michael Naguib, winner of the Workforce Development Award at the EFRC 10@10 Awards Ceremony in 2019. Michael Naguib was born in Egypt and completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Cairo University. He wanted to study advanced materials, but there was no place to do so in Egypt. Instead he enrolled in a PhD program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. There he was assigned to explore whether certain materials that have a layered structure (with three layers, each having a different chemical composition) could be used to make better electrodes for lithium ion batteries. Michael found that the materials were not useful as electrodes because lithium ions (the charge carriers in modern batteries) could not penetrate the material. To address this, he tried to modify the material by removing the middle layer with acid. The unexpected result was the discovery of a completely new nano-material: a titanium-carbon compound in the form of a two-dimensional sheet less than a nanometer thick. He and his advisors at Drexel immediately recognized the new material’s potential for energy storage. Publication of that discovery—of what soon became clear was a whole family of two-dimensional materials now called MXenes—triggered a world-wide surge of research. To explore MXenes and related phenomena in more detail, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science funded an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) on Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport. The research team included computational modelers, university experts in materials synthesis and thermodynamic analysis, and scientists at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) who could probe the material’s structure with neutrons and powerful microscopes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

2020 Component Innovation Awardee: Carter Wind Turbines

With support from the Competitiveness Improvement Project's Component Innovation Award, Carter Wind Energy aims to address the need for lower-cost, more-reliable distributed wind energy generation. The company plans to increase efficiency and improve the energy capture of its Carter Model 300 midsize, self-erecting wind turbine. This fact sheet provides an overview of Carter Wind Energy's project, how the company will achieve the goals of the award, and how the project fits within the overall Competitiveness Improvement Project.

CIP↗

2020 System Optimization Awardee: Pecos Wind Power

With support from the Competitiveness Improvement Project's System Optimization Award, Pecos Wind Power will help lower the cost of distributed wind technology and expand deployment. To do so, the company will optimize their PW85 distributed wind turbine to achieve a production levelized cost of energy of $0.099 per kilowatt hour, which is a 48% cost reduction in distributed wind energy costs. This reduction is a critical step toward Pecos Wind Power's ultimate target of $0.089 per kilowatt-hour. This fact sheet provides an overview of Pecos Wind Power's project, how the company will achieve the goals of the award, and how the project fits within the overall Competitiveness Improvement Project.

CIP↗

2020 System Optimization Awardee: Carter Wind Turbines

With support from the Competitiveness Improvement Project's System Optimization Award, Carter Wind Energy aims to lower the cost of distributed wind technology and expand deployment. To do so, the company will improve the cost-effectiveness and reliability of midsize wind turbines for remote, off-grid power applications, creating new wind energy deployment opportunities worldwide. This fact sheet provides an overview of Carter Wind Energy's project, how the company will achieve the goals of the award, and how the project fits within the overall Competitiveness Improvement Project.

CIP↗

2020 Small Wind Turbine Certification Awardee: Star Wind Turbines

With support from the Competitiveness Improvement Project's Small Turbine Certification Award, Star Wind Turbines aims to earn third-party certification for their small wind turbine model STAR74-6. Certification will help instill public confidence in the product's performance and safety standards. This fact sheet provides an overview of Star Wind's project, how the company will achieve the goals of the award, and how the project fits within the overall Competitiveness Improvement Project.

CIP↗

Technical Performance and Cost Optimization of Unobtrusive Multi-static Serial LiDAR Imager (UMSLI) for Wide-area Surveillance and Identification of Marine Life at Marine Energy Installations

Florida Atlantic University developed an underwater optical monitoring system prototype - Unobtrusive Multi-static Serial LiDAR Imager (UMSLI) - suitable for marine energy full project lifecycle observation (baseline, commissioning, and decommissioning), with an automated real-time classification of marine animals. With precursor 2014 DOE funding (award DE-EE0006787), a prototype UMSLI was demonstrated in a controlled laboratory environment and achieved a TRL 6. This EERE DE-EE0007828 award aimed to both increase the TRL of the UMSLI by improving the technology performance (e.g., increase distance of marine animal target detection capability, add additional species classification capabilities, improve the system performance during the day, etc.) and reduce the cost. The UMSLI presents a novel application of underwater distributed Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), an advanced remote sensing method that uses light in the form of laser pulses for an application, this paired with an algorithm provides 360 degrees underwater detection, imaging, and classification of marine life. This solution for underwater monitoring of biota preserves the advantages of traditional optical and acoustic solutions while overcoming many associated disadvantages for marine energy site environmental monitoring, such as difficulties in species detection and classification in low light or night and turbid environments. This new approach is a purposefully designed, reconfigurable adaptation of an existing class 3B laser technology into one UMSLI instrument that can be easily mounted on or around different classes of marine energy equipment, such as devices to capture ocean current energy or wave energy. The system uses relatively low average power, utilizes far-red (> 635nm) laser illumination to be invisible and eye-safe to marine animals, is compact, and cost-effective. The equipment is designed for long-term, maintenance-free operations (i.e., current design is targeting more than 7 days continuous operation), to inherently generate a sparse primary dataset that only includes detected anomalies, and to allow robust real-time automated animal classification and identification with a low data bandwidth requirement. The technology’s overarching goal for application, is a system that can be deployed to collect pre-installation baseline species observations at a proposed marine energy deployment site with minimal post-processing overhead. The envisioned system will also produce high-resolution imagery of marine animals through a wide range of conditions and support automated tracking and notification of the presence of managed animals within established perimeters of marine energy equipment to satisfy deployed marine energy projects’ endangered and threatened species monitoring requirements. Through the current project, we demonstrated the UMSLI prototype in an operational environment and increased the UMSLI’s Technology Readiness Level from 6 to 7. The project resulted in many novel technologies, including: 1) an eye-safe red laser based, low-cost LiDAR system that can detect targets up to 10 meters distance; 2) the GAN-based machine learning underwater LiDAR image enhancement technique (this is the first known application of GAN technique in underwater LiDAR); 3) LiDAR-based real-time automated detection capabilities; and 4) a template matching based automated classification tool. These technologies build a solid foundation for future efforts to develop an extended range electro-optical monitoring system suitable for marine energy deployments. In addition to technology development, a key lesson learned is that addressing regulatory and safety requirements must be front and center in any marine energy monitoring applications.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Design and License Application Development for TRISO-X (Final Scientific Technical Report)

This is the final progress report submitted by X-energy, LLC (XE) to the Department of Energy in support of cooperative agreement DE-NE0008745. This report provides a high-level summary of the work performed during the entire period of performance, running from August 24, 2018 – August 22, 2022. This span of time covers the original 3-year award and a one year no-cost extension. There were five tasks within this project: (1) project management, (2) systems engineering and studies, (3) TRISO-X Facility design, (4) facility license application development, and (5) support to application review. Detailed reporting during execution of the project was provided by a total of 16 quarterly reports, voluntary monthly update presentations, and annual summary presentations. Technical work products include 103 X-energy technical reports, 38 subcontractor (Centrus technical reports), 75 Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluations/Calculation reports, and 272 miscellaneous design documents (e.g., Engineering Service Orders, Engineering Component Specifications, Procedures, Guidelines/Policies, Design and Interface Requirements documents, and Drawings). All 29 of the X Energy milestones/deliverables were met early or on time and are archived in the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Program Information Control System: Nuclear Energy under Fiscal Year 2018, Work Breakdown Structure F.OA – Industry FOA FY 2018 Awards, F.03 – X-Energy TRISO-X Project. All other work products are available to DOE upon request.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

2022 Prototype Installation and Testing Awardee: Windward Engineering

The 60-kilowatt (kW) Zephyr 21/60 wind turbine from Windward Engineering uses a low-cost, full-span independent pitch system that can act as a redundant aerodynamic braking system. This design uses a relatively simple pneumatic rotary vane actuator, allowing each of the turbine's three blades to be pitched independently and any single blade to activate emergency braking for the entire turbine. A previous Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) funding award enabled Windward Engineering to design and develop the Zephyr 21/60 wind turbine's aeroelastic model and pitch system. At the end of this current Competitiveness Improvement Project award, a fully validated aeroelastic model will make it possible to certify Windward Engineering's Zephyr 21/60 design and quantify the technology's levelized cost of energy in preparation for certification and entry into the distributed wind market. The Zephyr 21/60 will feature an attractive levelized cost of energy, improved reliability, and a full-span pitch system for safe and redundant protection against rotor overspeed (which occurs when the rotor turns beyond its design limit).

CIP↗

Training and Mentoring the Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers to Secure Continuity and Successes of the US DOE's Environmental Remediation Efforts - 13387

The DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) oversees one of the largest and most technically challenging cleanup programs in the world. The mission of DOE-EM is to complete the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. Since 1995, Florida International University's Applied Research Center (FIU-ARC) has supported the DOE-EM mission and provided unique research capabilities to address some of these highly technical and difficult challenges. This partnership has allowed FIU-ARC to create a unique infrastructure that is critical for the training and mentoring of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students and has exposed many STEM students to 'hands-on' DOE-EM applied research, supervised by the scientists and engineers at ARC. As a result of this successful partnership between DOE and FIU, DOE requested FIU-ARC to create the DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative in 2007. This innovative program was established to create a 'pipeline' of minority STEM students trained and mentored to enter DOE's environmental cleanup workforce. The program was designed to help address DOE's future workforce needs by partnering with academic, government and private companies (DOE contractors) to mentor future minority scientists and engineers in the research, development, and deployment of new technologies and processes addressing DOE's environmental cleanup challenges. Since its inception in 2007, the program has trained and mentored 78 FIU STEM minority students. Although, the program has been in existence for only five years, a total of 75 internships have been conducted at DOE National Laboratories, DOE sites, DOE Headquarters and field offices, and DOE contractors. Over 85 DOE Fellows have participated in the Waste Management Symposia since 2008 with a total of 68 student posters and 7 oral presentations given at WM. The DOE Fellows participation at WM has resulted in three Best Student Poster Awards (WM09, WM10, and WM11) and one Best Professional Poster Award (WM09). DOE Fellows have also presented their research at ANS DD and R and ANS Robotics Topical meetings. Moreover, several of our DOE Fellows have already obtained employment with DOE-EM, other federal agencies, DOE contractors. This paper will discuss how DOE Fellows program is training and mentoring FIU STEM students in Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management technical challenges and research. This training and mentoring has resulted in the development of well trained and polished young scientists and engineers that will become the future workforce in charge of carrying on DOE-EM's environmental cleanup mission. The paper will showcase FIU's DOE Fellows model and highlight some of the applied research the DOE Fellows have conducted at FIU's Applied Research Center and across the Complex by participating in summer internship assignments. This paper will also present and highlight other Fellowships and internships programs sponsored by National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA), DOE-EM, NRC, Energy (NE), and other federal agencies targeting workforce development. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

The US DOE-EM International Program - 13004

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) conducts international collaboration activities in support of U.S. policies and objectives regarding the accelerated risk reduction and remediation of environmental legacy of the nations' nuclear weapons program and government sponsored nuclear energy research. The EM International Program supported out of the EM Office of the Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary pursues collaborations with foreign government organizations, educational institutions and private industry to assist in identifying technologies and promote international collaborations that leverage resources and link international experience and expertise. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, the International Program awarded eight international collaborative projects for work scope spanning waste processing, groundwater and soil remediation, deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) and nuclear materials disposition initiatives to seven foreign organizations. Additionally, the International Program's scope and collaboration opportunities were expanded to include technical as well as non-technical areas. This paper will present an overview of the on-going tasks awarded in FY 2012 and an update of upcoming international activities and opportunities for expansion into FY 2013 and beyond. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

2022 Small Turbine Certification Awardee: Ryse Energy LLC - Americas

To meet the growing demands of the distributed wind market and comply with current U.S. standards, Ryse Energy LLC-Americas (Ryse Energy, formerly Primus Wind Power) plans to update all six products in its AIR Range family of micro wind turbines. A new, more cost-effective circuit board will be paired with other hardware upgrades, advanced control algorithms, and a Bluetooth function that allows users to more easily program and control the turbine. This Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) award will fund certification testing of the new circuit board to make sure it meets American National Standards Institute/American Clean Power Association (ANSI/ACP) and UL Federal Communications Commission (FCC) safety and quality standards. Primus Wind Power developed the prototype for the new circuit board with an earlier round of CIP funding, and Primus has received CIP awards supporting other certification and optimization projects.

CIP↗

Deep Borehole Disposal Research in the United States - 17427

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) manages a research and development (R and D) program for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States. Deep boreholes are being evaluated for disposal of some smaller DOE-managed waste as an alternative to disposal in a mined geologic repository. The deep borehole disposal concept consists of drilling borehole(s) to a total depth of about 5,000 m (16,400 ft - or greater than three miles) into crystalline basement rock, placing waste packages in the lower emplacement zone portion of the borehole, and sealing and plugging the upper portion of the borehole. The required bottom-hole diameter of the borehole(s) depends on the waste package configuration for the reference concept, but ranges from 22 to 43 cm (8.5 to 17 inches). Additional research and development is desired in several important areas for further consideration of deep borehole disposal of radioactive waste. A Deep Borehole Field Test (DBFT) will be conducted by DOE to further assess the viability of deep borehole disposal as an alternative for the disposal of smaller DOE-managed waste forms. The DBFT will be used to evaluate three main areas: 1) evaluation of the capability for drilling and construction of deep, large-diameter boreholes; 2) downhole scientific analyses to assess hydrogeochemical conditions that control waste stability and containment; and 3) engineering activities to assess the viability and safety of waste package emplacement and retrieval in deep boreholes. The DBFT will include first drilling a characterization borehole, followed by an optional field test borehole, to a total depth of about 5,000 m (16,400 feet) into crystalline basement rock in a geologically stable continental location. The initial smaller diameter characterization borehole will be drilled and completed to facilitate downhole scientific testing and analysis. If site conditions are found to be suitable, DOE intends to drill a larger-diameter field test borehole to evaluate emplacement activities using surrogate waste packages. The surrogate waste packages will not contain any radioactive waste, nor will any radioactive waste be used in these tests. One of the advantages of deep borehole disposal is that it would give DOE the flexibility to consider options for disposal of smaller waste forms. Deep borehole disposal also potentially offers earlier disposal of some wastes than might be possible in a mined repository, and could reduce costs associated with projected treatments of some wastes. In order to accomplish the DBFT, DOE will require the support of multiple national laboratories, along with a site contractor to acquire a suitable test site and to manage the site and the required testing activities. DOE issued a competitive solicitation via a request for proposal (RFP) in July, 2015, which requested proposals to provide a test site and site management services. The contract was awarded in January, 2016, to a team led by Battelle Memorial Institute which included a proposed test site in Pierce County, North Dakota. After efforts to acquire both the initial test site in North Dakota and an alternative proposed site in Spink County, South Dakota were unsuccessful, activities were suspended. The experiences in Pierce County, ND and Spink County, SD highlighted the importance of public engagement and support for the DBFT, and that relevant levels of government and other public stakeholders should be involved from the beginning. Using the lessons learned in North and South Dakota, DOE issued a new RFP on August 22, 2016 which emphasized local, state, and tribal (if applicable) government engagement, as well as public and other stakeholder involvement ahead of proposal submittals and throughout the contract execution phases. The new RFP allowed for multiple initial awards and multiple phases of contract execution. In December, 2016, DOE announced the selection of four companies - AECOM, ENERCON, RE/SPEC, and TerranearPMC - to begin exploring the possibility of conducting a DBFT under the terms of the new RFP. Ultimately, only one site will be chosen for the field test. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗