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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 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Data-Driven Cyber-Attack Detection for PV Farms via Time-Frequency Domain Features

The internetworking of grid-connected power electronics converters (PECs) in photovoltaic (PV) farms has inevitably expanded the cyber-attack surfaces. Here this paper presents a comprehensive study on cyber-attack detection and diagnosis for PEC-enabled PV farms via single waveform sensor to distinguish between normal conditions, open-circuit faults, short-circuit faults, and cyber-attacks. To our knowledge, this has not been attempted before. Firstly, we propose frequency-domain magnitude-based residuals to identify short-circuit faults and a time-domain mean current vector-based feature to distinguish open-circuit faults from other threats. These features can fully reflect the specific physical characteristics of PV farms during threat duration. Secondly, unlike micro phasor measurement units (µPMU) and raw electric waveform-based methods, the proposed innovative features can address novel cyber-attacks that are excluded from the training process. Thirdly, an online hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed using the OPAL-RT real-time digital simulator has verified the effectiveness. The monitoring system runs in real-time while using HIL as an operational solar farm and a National Instruments (NI) data acquisition card as the electric waveform sensor at the point of coupling.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cyber Physical Grid-Interactive Distributed Energy Resources Control for VPP Dispatch and Regulation

This paper presents a cyber-physical algorithm for grid-interactive Distributed Energy Resource (DER) control to enable two features of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) dispatch and grid voltage regulation, considering the communication and security impacts. We first formulate the DER dispatch problem as a real-time, iterative, and grid-interactive DER control problem. Thereafter, we consider a probabilistic traffic model to characterize packet delays and loss in a communication network, and study how the delays enter the process of information exchange among the grid measurement units, local DER controllers and the grid control center that coordinately execute this dispatch algorithm. Finally, a strategy combining delay threshold and modified message update rules is proposed to immune the asynchrony resulting from the communications network traffic and it avoids possible numerical instabilities and sensitivities of the tracking and regulation capabilities of this DER control algorithm. By implementing the proposed cyber-physical algorithm on the modified IEEE 37-node system, our preliminary results exhibit that the uncertainties of the underlying communications infrastructure must be considered for the VPP tracking and regulation capabilities of any DER in a generic Cyber-Physical System (CPS), because the delayed voltage measurements in the uplink/bi-link cases result in the off-track in VPP dispatch and jittery in voltage regulation.

cyber-physical algorithm↗
DOE OSTI2024

Maximum Switching Throughput Density Estimator

SAND2024-11125O The Maximum Switching Throughput Density Estimator software performs a simple analysis that estimates the maximum logic switching throughput density that’s achieved in various CMOS technology nodes on the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems. This software utilizes simple device models and optimization techniques, performing a simple sweep over a range of possible logic supply voltages, and analytically calculating the maximum switching frequency for the given logic voltage that meets the power density constraint. It does this by using simple models of power dissipation in conventional and fully adiabatic switching. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Frank, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2023

Plant-specific Model and Data Analysis using Dynamic Security Modeling and Simulation

The requirements for U.S. nuclear power plants to maintain a large on-site physical security force contribute to their high operational costs. The cost of maintaining the current physical security posture is approximately 10% of the overall operation and maintenance budget for commercial nuclear power plants. The goal of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program’s physical security pathway is to develop tools, methods, and technologies and provide the technical basis for an optimized physical security posture. The conservatisms built into current security postures may be analyzed and minimized in order to reduce security costs while still ensuring adequate security and operational safety. The research performed at Idaho National Laboratory within LWRS program’s physical security pathway has successfully developed a dynamic force-on-force modeling framework using various computer simulation tools and integrating them with the dynamic assessment Event Modeling Risk Assessment using Linked Diagrams (EMRALD) tool. This document provides an update on the progress in applying a dynamic computational framework that links results from a commercially available force-on-force simulation tool, a commercially available thermal-hydraulic tool, and EMRALD to an operating commercial nuclear power plant. This report is only a summary of the progress and does not contain specific modeling results as those contain sensitive security information. This process of including plant procedures and multiple analysis results is being called Modeling and Analysis for Safety Security using Dynamic EMRALD Framework or MASS-DEF. Previous reports described how a user could integrate their plant-specific force-on-force models with the dynamic simulation tool EMRALD, model operator actions, integrate with probabilistic risk assessment tools, such as CAFTA (Computer Aided Fault Tree Analysis System) or SAPHIRE (Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations), and with thermal-hydraulic tools, such as RELAP-5. Previous reports applied various combinations of available simulations codes with EMRALD using generic plant models to demonstrate how to perform the analysis. This report documents the results of applying the dynamic computational framework to an actual nuclear facility using their security scenarios and timelines. This report does not contain any plant's sensitive information and/or Safeguards Information. The purpose of this study was to verify that results achieved using generic models are similar to actual plant results and to refine our guidance on the use of the framework. This assessment enables further analysis, such as what-if scenarios and staff-reduction evaluation, thereby optimizing physical security at plants.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Residential Vehicle-to-Home Backup Power Capabilities: Key Findings from a ComEd Beneficial Electrification R&D Pilot

This report summarizes key findings from a collaborative technical study of residential, non-grid-tied vehicle-to-home (V2H) backup power systems in Commonwealth Edison’s (ComEd’s) service territory. The work integrates (1) a feeder-level technoeconomic analysis (TEA) using historical outage-event data and simulated electric-vehicle (EV) driving/charging profiles to estimate potential reliability and customer interruption-cost impacts under V2H and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) adoption scenarios; (2) controlled laboratory performance testing of a representative V2H backup ecosystem to characterize transfer-to-backup behavior, sustained power delivery, efficiency trends, and repeatable reliability limitations; and (3) a cybersecurity assessment aligned with NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 and ISO/SAE 21434 to evaluate interface-level risk drivers and identify program-relevant mitigations. Results indicate that V2H can provide measurable resilience value, but outcomes are strongly context dependent on outage patterns and the share of events that are “V2H-applicable.” Typical transfer-to-backup behavior clustered on the order of minutes, but rare long-delay edge cases were observed (including an event approaching 30 minutes) and should be treated as a reliability risk. High-power testing showed that peak-rated output is not necessarily continuously deliverable; stable operation may require operation below nameplate ratings and attention to thermal and installation constraints. The cybersecurity assessment highlights a broad attack surface spanning commissioning, home networks, embedded services, and cloud/OTA pathways, motivating minimum controls for secure onboarding, signed updates, patch cadence, and coordinated vulnerability response for any scaled deployment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cybersecurity for Distributed Wind: What Operators Need to Know

Few resources exist to address a growing need to secure distributed wind systems. Idaho National Laboratory recently published the Cybersecurity Guide for Distributed Wind, a richly detailed resource outlining a distributed wind system's possible architecture, relevant standards, risk management strategies, and key recommendations for stakeholders. This document highlights key actionable insights from the Guide that operators can use to execute an effective cybersecurity strategy.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Combustion-Pele: An Exascale Capability for Improving Engine Design

Combustion, the complex chemical reaction made possible by igniting a mixture of fuel and oxygen to produce heat and light, serves as the nation’s primary source of power generation and the linchpin of the transportation industry. For more than 100 years, internal combustion engines (ICEs) have been converting energy from the burning of fuel—gasoline, for example—into a mechanical process that makes vehicles move. Recently, ICEs have come under heavy scrutiny for their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, yet combustion-based systems are projected to dominate the marketplace for decades. Exascale systems are helping researchers design new high-efficiency, low-emission combustion engines that operate at much lower temperatures to maintain the nation’s energy security and limit negative environmental impacts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Probabilistic Zonal Reserve Requirements for Improved Energy Deliverability with Wind Power

In power systems with high penetration of renewable energy resources, uncertainty and variability of these stochastic resources introduce additional challenges for the operation of power systems. To improve the power system's reliability in the face of uncertainty, reserves are required as additional generation capacity to rebalance the power system following random disturbances. However, reserve deliverability is not guaranteed, because it may encounter potential transmission line congestion. Zonal reserve requirements can address this issue, but operators lack efficient ways to allocate reserves to zones while accounting for wind power forecast uncertainty. Herein we propose a methodology for probabilistic zonal reserve requirements to address wind power forecast uncertainties. This method estimates the probability distribution of line flows based on the system generation margin and injection shift factor. This estimate is then used to construct pre-defined and post-zonal reserve requirements. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed method efficiently schedules energy and reserves to balance energy and manage deliverability with wind power forecast uncertainty.We also discuss operational implications of the proposed method.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mental Models for Managing Grid Cybersecurity Risk - ARC Industry Forum, Cybersecurity and Energy Transition

A proper mental model of the concepts of cyber risk and its components of threat and exploitability and consequence is necessary to allocate limited resources to different security activities, especially when considered alongside reliability and regulatory and economic risks. Understanding the consequence and frequency different risks are realized also helps align the right mitigations to the right risks. Cyber-informed engineering (CIE) is an emerging method to “engineer out” cyber risk across product and system lifecycles, and INL has a portfolio of programs operationalizing CIE’s principles for the energy sector.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2011

Applying Web-Based Tools for Research, Engineering, and Operations

Personnel in the NASA Glenn Research Center Network and Architectures branch have performed a variety of research related to space-based sensor webs, network centric operations, security and delay tolerant networking (DTN). Quality documentation and communications, real-time monitoring and information dissemination are critical in order to perform quality research while maintaining low cost and utilizing multiple remote systems. This has been accomplished using a variety of Internet technologies often operating simultaneously. This paper describes important features of various technologies and provides a number of real-world examples of how combining Internet technologies can enable a virtual team to act efficiently as one unit to perform advanced research in operational systems. Finally, real and potential abuses of power and manipulation of information and information access is addressed.

Ivancic, William D.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Navigating United States Standards and Regulation for Digital Energy Systems

This report provides an analysis of the U.S. standards and regulatory landscape for digital energy systems, focusing on cybersecurity, safety, and reliability requirements. It examines the interplay between federal mandates, state regulations, voluntary industry standards, and utility-specific policies, highlighting critical gaps between compliance and real-world risk mitigation. While NERC CIP standards enforce cybersecurity for Bulk Electric System assets, distribution-level infrastructure and emerging technologies often fall outside mandatory oversight, creating vulnerabilities. The report identifies systemic challenges such as reliance on self-attestation, uneven state adoption of safety codes, and lagging standards for advanced technologies like battery energy storage and inverter-based resources. Through a detailed gap analysis, it underscores the urgency of proactive risk-based approaches, independent verification, and strategic engagement with state and federal entities. Recommendations include adopting tiered security frameworks, strengthening procurement practices, and addressing emerging technology risks to ensure resilient and secure digital energy infrastructure. This guidance is intended for utilities, regulators, and stakeholders navigating compliance obligations and seeking to enhance cybersecurity and safety beyond minimum standards.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Autonomous Energy Systems

Energy systems are increasingly complicated by the proliferation of clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, storage, electric vehicles, and building automations. Future energy systems will require secure, autonomous, and reliable communications, control, and interoperability among millions of distributed generation points and billions of buildings, vehicles, and more. To enable effective management of the anticipated growth of distributed devices and the deluge of data and extensive metering that will follow, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed the concept of autonomous energy systems (AES).

autonomous↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Safety, Reliability, and Mission Assurance Digital Future

The evolution from “document-centric” to “data-centric” and “model-centric” information leveraging structured data and model-based approaches is at the heart of digital engineering transformational efforts underway across industry and government. It is these approaches that pave the way for data lakes, Authoritative Sources of Truth (ASOTs), and systems- of-systems interoperability and the corresponding transformational benefits thereof. Such benefits include increased data availability, data access equity, data traceability, real-time analytics, batch analytics, and (most importantly) acceleration of the time-to-value and time-to-insights associated with engineering products and analyses. The longer-term benefits of reusability, customization and traceability are even more promising. For Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA), and Mission Success (SMS) activities; realization of such benefits is essential to provide engineers and analysts alike vital information when needed to support critical decision making throughout the entire life cycle. The SMA community often operate in parallel with engineering activities, for which information exchange with relevant context is paramount. Far too often, such information lags key decision points and/or is absent of the robust, integrated, knowledge needed, given inherent barriers associated with traditional document-centric means to data sharing, analysis, and reporting. This paper provides an overview of how NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) is evolving its policies, standards, guidance, and training to transform to eliminate such barriers, thus realizing the benefits emerging in this new digital era. A roadmap for achieving this digital future is presented along with key building blocks involving use and implementation of concepts such as: Objectives-Hierarchies, Objective-Driven Requirements, Accepted Standards, Safety and Assurance Cases, data digitization (i.e., ontologies, structured data, and model-centric data), FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, & Reusable) and/or FAIRUST (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable, Understandable, Secure, and Trusted) principles [1]. This paper also describes how OSMA, leveraging the Agency’s overall commitment to Digital Transformation (DT), is using the power of Policy, “Digital” Domain representation, Product Evolution, and Community Outreach and Engagement as part of a strategic vision and roadmap to evolve and transform its SMA organizations to become better able to serve its stakeholders and customers. Future publications will elaborate on these building blocks and deeper concepts.

Authoritative Source of Truth (ASOT),↗
DOE OSTI2020

Certification and prediction of post-disturbance states in dynamic security assessment

Dynamic security assessment usually involves the simulation of system dynamics under large disturbances. The instant large disturbance occurs, the post-disturbance state of the system could deviate significantly from the pre-disturbance one. It is desirable and necessary to develop an efficient method to certify the existence of state and predict the approximate post-disturbance state because: (1) faster warning can be made in online assessment; and (2) the dynamic simulator can be given better initial values to calculate precise solutions, which prevents convergence failure brought on by poor initial values. We propose a novel approach for efficiently certifying and predicting the post-disturbance states in dynamic security assessment. Based on the fixed-point power flow mapping approach applied to salient pole generator models, the criterion for determining the existence and uniqueness of the post-disturbance solution is derived, and the bounds of post-disturbance solution can be rigorously characterized.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2012

Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging System

A document discusses a hyperspectral imaging instrument package designed to be carried aboard a helicopter. It was developed to map the depths of Greenland's supraglacial lakes. The instrument is capable of telescoping to twice its original length, allowing it to be retracted with the door closed during takeoff and landing, and manually extended in mid-flight. While extended, the instrument platform provides the attached hyperspectral imager a nadir-centered and unobstructed view of the ground. Before flight, the instrument mount is retracted and securely strapped down to existing anchor points on the floor of the helicopter. When the helicopter reaches the destination lake, the door is opened and the instrument mount is manually extended. Power to the instrument package is turned on, and the data acquisition computer is commanded via a serial cable from an onboard user-operated laptop to begin data collection. After data collection is complete, the instrument package is powered down and the mount retracted, allowing the door to be closed in preparation for landing. The present design for the instrument mount consists of a three-segment telescoping cantilever to allow for a sufficient extended length to see around the landing struts and provide a nadir-centered and unobstructed field of view for the hyperspectral imager. This instrument works on the premise that water preferentially absorbs light with longer wavelengths on the red side of the visible spectrum. This property can be exploited in order to remotely determine the depths of bodies of pure freshwater. An imager flying over such a lake receives light scattered from the surface, the bulk of the water column, and from the lake bottom. The strength of absorption of longer-wavelength light depends on the depth of the water column. Through calibration with in situ measurements of the water depths, a depth-determining algorithm may be developed to determine lake depth from these spectral properties of the reflected sunlight.

Behar, Alberto E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Privacy-preserving Information Security for the Energy Grid of Things

Smart grid infrastructure relies on information exchange between multiple actors in order to ensure system reliability. These actors include but are not limited to smart loads, grid control, and energy management technologies. Further, as information exchange between these actors is susceptible to cyber-attacks, security and privacy issues are indispensable to ensure a reliable and stable grid. This position paper proposes a privacy-preserving, trust-augmented secure scheme for a smart grid implementation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microgrid Modeling for Stability Analysis

Here this document is a summary of a report prepared by the IEEE PES Task Force (TF) on Microgrid (MG) Dynamic Modeling, IEEE Power and Energy Society, Tech. Rep. PES-TR106, 2023. In this paper, the major issues and challenges in microgrid modeling for stability analysis are discussed, and a review of state-of-the-art modeling approaches and trends is presented. In the context of the IEEE 1547 standard, the document covers issues associated with component models for MG dynamic studies and simulations, including generator and grid modeling, full and average converter models, unbalanced and balanced system conditions, dynamic and static loads, protection requirements, and detailed and simplified controls considering communications delays, packet losses, and security issues. Considering the future integration of grids and MGs to form broad integrated networks, a discussion is presented of the use of phasor vis-à-vis electromagnetic transient simulation tools for MG dynamic stability studies, as well as modeling scale-up issues and MG equivalent models. Specifically white-, grey-, and black-box models, are presented. This TF paper and companion report constitute a modeling guide for R&D groups working on developments and standards of MGs with a focus on stability issues.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Machine Learning-based Intrusion Detection for Smart Grid Computing: A Survey

Machine learning (ML)-based intrusion detection system (IDS) approaches have been significantly applied and advanced the state-of-the-art system security and defense mechanisms. In smart grid computing environments, security threats have been significantly increased as shared networks are commonly used, along with the associated vulnerabilities. However, compared to other network environments, ML-based IDS research in a smart grid is relatively unexplored, although the smart grid environment is facing serious security threats due to its unique environmental vulnerabilities. In this article, we conducted an extensive survey on ML-based IDS in smart grids based on the following key aspects: (1) The applications of the ML-based IDS in transmission and distribution side power components of a smart power grid by addressing its security vulnerabilities; (2) dataset generation process and its usage in applying ML-based IDSs in the smart grid; (3) a wide range of ML-based IDSs used by the surveyed papers in the smart grid environment; (4) metrics, complexity analysis, and evaluation testbeds of the IDSs applied in the smart grid; and (5) lessons learned, insights, and future research directions.

SCADA↗