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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 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Deep Borehole Laboratory and Borehole Testing Strategy: Generic Drilling and Testing Plan

This report presents a generic (i.e., site-independent) preliminary plan for drilling, testing, sampling, and analyzing data for a deep characterization borehole drilled into crystalline basement for the purposes of assessing the suitability of a site for deep borehole disposal (DBD). This research was performed as part of the deep borehole field test (DBFT). Based on revised U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priorities in mid-2017, the DBFT and other research related to a DBD option was discontinued; ongoing work and documentation were closed out by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017. This report was initiated as part of the DBFT and documented as an incomplete draft at the end of FY 2017. The report was finalized by Sandia National Laboratories in FY2018 without DOE funding, subsequent to the termination of the DBFT, and published in FY2019. This report presents a possible sampling, testing, and analysis campaign that could be carried out as part of a future project to quantify geochemical, geomechanical, geothermal, and geohydrologic conditions encountered at depths up to 5 km in crystalline basement.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Deep Borehole Disposal Safety Case

This report describes the current status of the safety case for the deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept. It builds on the safety case presented in Freeze et al. (2016), presenting new information and identifying additional information needs for specific safety case elements. At this preliminary phase of development, the DBD safety case focuses on the generic feasibility of the DBD concept. It is based on potential system designs, waste forms, engineering, and geologic conditions; however, no specific site or regulatory framework exists. Updated information is provided for the following safety case elements: (1) pre-closure basis and safety analysis, (2) post-closure basis and performance assessment, and (3) confidence enhancement. This research was performed as part of the deep borehole field test (DBFT). Based on revised U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priorities in mid-2017, the DBFT and other research related to a DBD option was discontinued; ongoing work and documentation were closed out by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017. This report was initiated as part of the DBFT and documented as an incomplete draft at the end of FY 2017. The report was finalized by Sandia National Laboratories in FY2018 without DOE funding, subsequent to the termination of the DBFT, and published in FY2019.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Integrated Approach to Fluoride High Temperature Reactor Technology and Licensing Challenges (FHR-IRP)

This document constitutes progress made on this project by the Georgia Tech led Integrated Approach to Fluoride High Temperature Reactor Technology and Licensing Challenges (FHR-IRP). This is the first draft of the project final report. Chapter 3 is focused on Tritium management. Tritium management in Fluoride-salt High-temperature Reactors (FHRs) presents a major operational concern and a significant challenge. Tritium is generated via multiple pathways including various interactions in fuel and structural materials, as well as coolant (primarily interaction with lithium and beryllium), leading to a complex evolution and spatial distribution of tritium generation rate. FHR generates orders of magnitude more tritium than in LWRs, and has potential for a significant release, via permeation through structural materials (due to high temperature), and through heat exchanger(s). Therefore, accurate estimate is necessary. For that purpose relevant tritium production pathways were identified. A methodology to obtain space-time dependent tritium generation rate was developed and implemented, employing SCALE and MCNP codes. Detailed models of the reference Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR) design were developed. A multi-parametric metrics was introduced to capture relevant tritium production indicators, including the instantaneous tritium production rate, total tritium production (neglecting subsequent decay), and accumulated tritium production (accounting for the decay). The obtained results will inform tritium management, including the sizing of the components, and to gain insight on the impact of the core design parameters on tritium generation rates. Research effort on Liquid Salt Impurity Removal, Redox and Corrosion Control is discussed in Chapter 4. Section 4.1 is an introduction chapter. Based on the current available knowledge and operation experience on previous MSRs and other types of nuclear reactors, the report identifies the major impurities that are related to either material compatibility, salt properties or radioactive source terms, and the potential contamination sources of these impurities, their transport in the primary coolant loop and available cleanup methodologies for a particular group of impurity. In section 4.2, the available purification methods were discussed, including the liquid/liquid extraction using liquid Bi-Li which has been applied in MSBR and electrochemical purification which is developed based on Pyroprocessing. In this section, the new multi-stage and multi-salt-component was developed and discussed. Section 4.3 discussed the redox potential control for salt chemistry and corrosion mitigation, including the control theory and the soluble/soluble buffer control method. The section also developed method on how to analyze soluble/soluble redox reaction in a molten salt system and designed an electrochemical sensor for redox potential control. Corrosion models were also reported in this section. Section 4.4 focused on how to measure the fundamental properties in a molten salt. As an example, the section focused on La fluoride in the molten salt. The section developed methods on how analyze electrochemical measurement data to obtain the fundamental properties including the redox potential, diffusion coefficient and exchange current density. All these fundamental information is important for salt purification system development. Section 4.5 focused on measurements of corrosion products in the salts. Because of the different behaviors between Cr and La in the salt, new analysis method for Cr fluorides in the salt was developed. Some results for Fe fluoride in the salt and corrosion measurements were also reported. Section 4.6 demonstrated the separation of oxide from the salt. This section also measured the solubility of La 2 O 3 in the salt as function of temperature. Section 4.7 focused on the separation of La and Ce from the molten salt. These two elements were selected because La was found to be separated by using inert electrode, while for separation of Ce, reactive electrode must be selected. Section 4.8 demonstrated the separation iodine ions from the molten salt. Two kinds of working electrode materials (metal W and graphite) were investigated. Section 4.9 focused on the fundamental data of fission products and actinides in liquid Bi. The chapter reviewed the available data, then based a CALPHAD model, the available data were broadened to the concentration-dependent cases.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Investment Grade Audit for Service Performance Contracting: First Steps Toward Developing Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency on Tribal Lands

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (Band) performed an investment grade audit (IGA) to identify energy conservation measures to increase energy efficiency in 22 of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s worst performing government buildings. With this IGA the Band identified energy control measures to reduce our energy use by 2,728,278 kW/year. The funding also provided for the drafting and printing of the Band’s Sustainability Energy Portfolio.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Grid Modernization Approach for Community Resilience: Application to New Orleans, LA

This report describes the application of an approach for determining grid modernization investments that can best improve the resilience of communities. Under the direction of the US Department of Energy's Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium, Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos) collaborated with community stakeholders in New Orleans, Louisiana on grid modernization strategies for resilience. Past disruptions to the electric grid in New Orleans have contributed to an inability to provide citizens with adequate access to a wide range of infrastructure services. Using a performance-based resilience metric, Sandia and Los Alamos performed analysis on how to improve access to infrastructure services across New Orleans after a major disruption using a system of resilience nodes. Resilience nodes rely on a combination of urban planning with grid investment planning for resilience in order to design clustered infrastructure assets with highly resilient electrical supply. Results of the analysis led to suggestion of 22 draft resilience node locations that can provide a wide range of infrastructure services equitably to New Orleans citizens. This report serves as a proof-of-concept for the Urban Resilience Planning Process, and describes several gaps that should be overcome in order to integrate resilience planning between electric utilities and local governments.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Furnace and Water Heater Venting Field Demonstration

A field demonstration was performed to evaluate the venting performance of the M&G DuraVent FasNSeal 80/90 venting system. The venting system uses a unique pipe within a pipe design to vent a condensing furnace and an natural-draft water heater, and can enable a condensing furnace to be installed in a home in which a condensing furnace could not otherwise be installed due to venting constraints. The field demonstration found that the FasNSeal 80/90 venting system successfully vented the orphaned water heater in each of the 16 demonstration homes and that the venting performance of the FasNSeal 80/90 venting system is generally comparable to the performance of venting systems initially installed in the 16 homes.

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DOE OSTI2018

2018 fourth quarter report to NA-22 on Particle Classifier

This was the final quarter of the third and final year of this project. The team prepared and submitted this project’s final report to NA-22. Work during this quarter included responding to reviewer requests for the unsupervised statistical model paper for the American Statistical Association journal, and completing and submitting the paper about the semi-supervised statistical model to NIMA. We received the report from our North Carolina State University collaborators from the NA-22-sponsored CNEC Consortium, Professor Wilson and student Allen. The report describes their investigation of Dirichlet Process (DP) Gaussian Mixture Models based on pulse shape data from this project. The report is an appendix to this project’s final report, and may be converted into a journal paper in the coming year. Work was performed on the user interface to the Struck firmware. The project team submitted a draft workplan to NA-22 regarding additional work to diffuse improved PSD methods through the NA-22 fast neutron detection community.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

TTR Sub-Area Plan: Overview & Summary

The TTR Sub-Area Plan is currently under development and is significantly influenced by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) decisions about permitting and environmental regulatory compliance issues. The sub-area plan will build upon previous draft master plans, F&I revitalization plans, and building studies. Planning concepts under consideration are: Continue to use and preserve large tracts of land for large-scale mission-related testing; Identify investments to protect, sustain, and recapitalize infrastructure, facilities, and equipment assets; Identify opportunities to dispose of obsolete facilities and consolidate common functions in order to reduce operating costs.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Thermal Analysis of Simulated Nitrate Salt and sWheat Scoop ® Mixtures

The Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) is examining options for managing its transuranic (TRU) waste currently in interim storage at the Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) facility located near Andrews, Texas. As part of this examination, a Draft Engineering Evaluation and Initial Feasibility Study, collectively referred to as the Feasibility Study, is being implemented to investigate the feasibility of different options and methodologies for preparing the waste for transport and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). To support the needs identified in the Feasibility Study, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been requested to pursue the characterization and assess the classification of inappropriately treated Remediated Nitrate Salt (RNS) wastes generated at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Previous results from experimentation conducted at SRNL showed that both reaction time and water content had an observable effect on the exothermicity of a remediated waste surrogate under conditions mimicking the SW-846 Method 1050 test for spontaneous combustion. To further elucidate parameters that may contribute to the propensity for spontaneous combustion, SRNL designed and performed additional benchscale testing on simulated wastes targeting the compositions of six remediated drums of similar material previously sampled and characterized at LANL. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis displayed a general decrease in reactivity with increasing age and triethanolamine addition. Review of heat generation data versus analyzed compositions indicate that regardless of salt composition, water content, or age, no substantial combustion was witnessed for any mixture tested that contained at least 50 wt% of organic material.

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DOE OSTI2020

W.A. Parish Post-Combustion CO 2 Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project (Final Technical Report)

The Petra Nova Project (Project) is a commercial scale post-combustion carbon capture project developed by a joint venture between NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and JX Nippon Oil Exploration (EOR) Limited (JX). The Project is designed to separate and capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from an existing coal-fired unit’s flue gas slipstream at NRG’s W.A. Parish Electric Generating Station (WAP) located southwest of Houston, Texas. The captured CO2 is dried, compressed, and transported via an 81-mile pipeline to the West Ranch oilfield (West Ranch) in Jackson County, Texas, where it is injected to boost oil production. The Project, which is partially funded by a grant (Grant) from the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) Round 3, uses the Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery advanced amine-based CO 2 absorption technology (KM-CDR Process®), which was jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and the Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc., to treat and capture at least ninety percent (90%) of the CO 2 from a 240-megawatt equivalent (MWe) flue gas slipstream off of Unit 8 at WAP. When operating at full capacity, the Project captures approximately 5,200 short tons of CO 2 per day, which would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere, representing the largest commercial scale deployment of post-combustion CO2 capture technology at a coal power plant to date. Under the Grant, the Project was managed in 3 phases: (1) Phase 1: Project Definition / Front End Engineering Design (FEED) (2) Phase 2: Detailed Engineering, Procurement & Construction (3) Phase 3: Demonstration and Monitoring. On December 29, 2016, commercial operation of the Project was achieved, ending Phase 2 and starting Phase 3, a 3-year demonstration period running from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019. The key objectives of Phase 3 were to (a) demonstrate the specific advanced technologies constructed during Phase 2 and (b) monitor the injected CO 2 at West Ranch to demonstrate technologies and protocols for monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA). As of the end of Phase 3, Petra Nova captured 3,904,978 short tons of CO 2 (3,542,537 metric tons) that was transported to West Ranch. To support the DOE obligation to monitor, verify, and account for the sequestered CO 2 at West Ranch, Petra Nova contracted with the Bureau of Economic Geology (in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin) to (a) design a monitoring program, (b) draft an MVA Plan for DOE review and approval, and (c) working with Petra Nova and the operator of West Ranch to manage and report on the MVA activity. This report discussed the technical aspects of the project during each of the 3 phases of the project as identified above.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2020

Access Innovation (Final)

Over the past two years, with the support of the Department of Energy, Powerhouse developed and launched Access Innovation, a partnership program to better connect clean energy startups with industry and investors for partnership. The program has successfully exceeded the objectives of the grant to pilot and validate successful methods of facilitating partnerships between early stage clean energy companies and industry and investors, secure follow on partnerships for early stage clean energy startups in the form of investment, pilot projects, new advisors, customer agreements, and joint development agreements and to track metrics, analyze, draft findings and distribute lessons on what models are most effective in forming partnerships to inform other organizational best practices.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

WANDA: AI/ML for Nuclear Data

A draft summary of the Workshop on Applied Nuclear Data Activities 2020 is presented.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Initial development and verification of a primary load design method based on elastic-perfectly plastic analysis

This report describes a new primary load design method to supplement the current design-by-elastic-analysis rules in Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, Subpart B of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, covering the design and construction of Class A high temperature nuclear structural components. The main objectives for the new design method are to provide a procedure that can be applied to components with complicated geometries and to simplify the primary load design process by providing rules more compatible with modern finite element analysis. The report includes a complete set of design rules, presented as a draft ASME Code Case, as well as a commentary on the rules and a set of verification problems. The verification design problems demonstrate the new primary load design rules produce safe, efficient components when compared to the current Division 5 approach, while greatly simplifying the design analysis process.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Quantum Nature and Mass of the Neutrino. FY20 Annual Laboratory Continuation Progress Report

Over the last 100 years we have learned a much about the neutrino, but there remain interesting questions about this weakly interacting particle. In particular, at LLNL we are developing experiments to measure the mass and the quantum nature of the neutrino. The 2015 long range plan recommended tonne-scale neutrinoless double beta decay experiments as the top new project priority and this experiment will target the quantum nature of the neutrino. The LLNL team is motivated and focused on developing the best technology for this experiment which is a liquid xenon time project chamber called nEXO. On a longer time scale, LLNL is also developing technology to measure the neutrino mass with tritium decay experiments. Work on nEXO at LLNL started in 2015 with an LDRD and program development funds to develop the nEXO concept, publish sensitivity predictions, explore alternatives and risks, and to build a credible project team and this effort is on going. In addition, we received research funding from DOE-SC NP and LLNL manages pre-conceptual R&D for the nEXO collaboration a portion of which is executed at LLNL. The Project 8 effort is solely funded by LLNL LDRD, and ends this year. A second LDRD effort is focused on repurposing cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy for eV-scale X-ray detection. This second effort, while separated from Project 8, still has scientific and technical commonalities with Project 8. The funding for this X-ray detection effort will continue for one more year. LLNL has a long history of building large projects, science projects and time projection chambers, but nEXO is in fact the first project of this scale that LLNL is prepared to lead for DOE-SC NP.We have the tools, skills, people and motivation to make nEXO a reality. The current program development dollars are used to prepare the nEXO concept for down select and CD1. These internal LLNL dollars pay for a number of things including project staff to organize the nEXO collaboration for the various reviews that lie ahead, to develop the draft plans and structure to manage the project as well as setting up an external advisory committee. The current LDRD is exploring alternatives that effect the risk profile as well as possible performance improvements. The DOE-SC NP base funding is targeted at simulation and analysis of the nEXO concept in preparation for the down select and refinement of the understanding of the detector as well as scientific effort on the large xenon test stand (LXTS) that will burn down one of the largest risks to the nEXO project. Lastly, LLNL is leading the pre-conceptual R&D effort and managing the funds for the nEXO collaboration. The results of this effort are reported elsewhere, but the scope of this executed at LLNL will be reported here and is primarily the engineering and construction of the LXTS experiment. The primary technical contribution of LLNL to the Project 8 concept is the formation and study of atomic tritium. Atomic tritium is necessary for Project 8 to reach the ultimate sensitivity. LLNL has considerable experience with tritium and is well suited for this crucial work. Although the focus of this work is strictly fundamental science, there has already been one significant spinoff to develop a new means to measure radio xenon in the air

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Challenges for and Pathways Toward Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state batteries utilizing lithium metal anodes have the potential to enable batteries with a specific energy of >500 Wh/kg and an energy density of >1,500 Wh/L for thousands of cycles. When optimized they will improve the energy efficiency, operating temperature range, sustainability, and safety at a lower cost compared to projections for advanced Li-ion batteries. This improved performance is critical for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and may enable future applications such as electric aviation. Expectations for solid-state batteries are high, there are significant materials and processing challenges that need to be overcome. Some of these challenges are well known; others are more subtle and are just becoming known. The challenges and their solutions must be clearly identified to realize high-energy solid-state Li metal batteries. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds the majority of energy storage research and development, including solid state battery research. Web of Science publication analysis shows that worldwide DOE is second largest funder. Work on solid state batteries is distributed across different arms of DOE and is coordinated at headquarters to ensure a broad national portfolio for advanced batteries, including lithium batteries and solid-state battery devices. We note that university and national laboratory researchers in the US with a long-standing interest in solid state batteries is a small, integrated community with recognized impact for publications, patents and startup companies. The opportunity for this group to engage for research with international colleagues is growing, fostered by periodic bilateral meetings supported by DOE and by the recent joint US German research program for lithium battery interface studies. These are valuable opportunities to speed solid-state battery development. The ORNL led virtual workshop, overviewed here, confirms the community’s shared vision of the exciting advances, opportunities, and challenges. Further, we are seeing that this workshop has spawned several new informal collaborations and draft proposals. This encourages us to propose future discussion. On May 11, 2020, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) hosted a 6-hour, on-line national workshop to discuss recent advances and most the prominent obstacles to realizing solid-state Li metal batteries. The workshop included more than 30+ experts from national laboratories, universities, and companies, all of whom have worked on solid-state batteries for multiple years. The participants shared recent advances, many not yet in print, illustrating that the community has gained significant new insights for solid-state Li battery materials over the last 5 years. In this report, the major outcomes of the workshop are organized to identify the gaps in our scientific knowledge for four core materials science areas: (1) Li metal anodes, (2) the solid electrolyte in contact with Li metal, (3) active cathode materials and solid-state composite cathodes, and (4) solid electrolytes. Illustrative examples and discussions are reported with the more comprehensive issues in the report. Discussion of additional challenges related to processing of solid-state battery materials and to the designs and architectures for mechanically robust, long-lived batteries received less attention due to time constraints. These are good themes for deeper discussion at a follow-on workshop, where a complete list of critical research topics can be identified.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Towards an IMEX Monolithic ALE Method with Integrated UQ for Multiphysics Shock-hydro

A number of critical science, engineering and advanced technology applications require predictive analysis of complex shock-hydrodynamics of fluid/solid materials with possible electromagnetic interaction. The physical mechanisms include wave-phenomena, material-transport, diffusion, chemical reactions, and electromagnetics. The highly nonlinear multiple-time and length-scale response of these mechanisms include discontinuities formed from shocks, contact surfaces, and complex tabular equations-of-state (EOS). Current dominant computational solution strategies use ad-hoc combinations of operator- splitting, semi-implicit, and explicit time-integration methods and decoupled nonlinear-solvers. While these approaches have enabled progress in forward simulation, the inherited mathematical structure has not provided stability, accuracy and efficiency to resolve all the dynamical time-scales of interest, nor has it enabled integrated fast sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification (UQ). This draft report describes initial progress towards developing a new multiphysics shock-hydro capability that is intended to be more robust, mathematically well-structured and can readily be combined with advanced higher-order implicit/explicit (IMEX) time integration and efficient adjoint-enhanced uncertainty quantification (UQ) techniques.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Utility of Big Area Additive Manufacturing for Part Production for Low-Head Hydropower (CRADA NFE-18-07280 Final Report)

ORNL worked with Cadens, LLC, to explore the use of additive manufacturing (AM) to produce low-cost parts for low-head hydropower systems. Cadens develops design optimization software that leverages the flexible, low-cost, high-strength benefits of AM and composite materials. Cadens also operates a micro-hydro lab to test AM components in controlled environments. Until now, Cadens’ tests have been limited to components of a size that they can cost-effectively manufacture using local commercial systems. This project provided an opportunity for Cadens to scale up their modular AM hydropower parts using the capabilities of Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM). This project was a success and resulted in the design and fabrication of several end-use parts of a hydropower system, using a Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) system. The fabricated parts include a draft tube, thimble, runner housing mold, PVC end fitting and two PVC pipe supports. In addition, a runner system was fabricated using fused deposition modeling on a 3D Platform Workbench 400 Series System.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Laser Spot Welding using an ALE Finite Element Method

This memo consists of a manuscript draft that was never published, but was prepared in 2002 at Sandia. It is used as a user-guide for running simulations of laser welding with Sandia's Goma 6.0 software.

42 ENGINEERING↗