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DOE OSTI2021

Disaggregating Future Retail Electricity Rate Growth [Slides]

Recent Berkeley Lab research found that modest retail rate increases over the past 10 years were mostly driven by large increases in capital expenditures (CapEx) that were offset in part by substantial wholesale price reductions. Decision-makers are increasingly concerned about the potential future rate impacts of a number of policies and industry trends that support rapid decarbonization, electrification, and grid modernization. Using historical FERC Form 1 data and the existing literature on policies and industry trends that are likely to affect utility-incurred costs and retail sales, Berkeley Lab researchers developed ranges of forecasted growth rates for cost-related rate drivers (i.e., fuel and purchased power; transmission, distribution, generation, and other categories of both non-fuel operations & maintenance and CapEx) and non-cost related rate drivers (i.e., retail sales, peak demand, and customers). These were then used as inputs to a pro-forma utility financial model (FINDER) that estimated the growth in retail electric rates between 2020 and 2030 for a prototypical vertically-integrated investor-owned utility in the United States. The analysis produced the following results: 1. Assuming average growth rates in all rate drivers, future retail rate growth is driven by sizable increases in all CapEx costs, where fuel and purchased power costs are replaced by generation CapEx as the largest rate component between 2020 and 2030. 2. Growth in sales/peak demand/customers, generation CapEx costs, and fuel and purchased power (FPP) costs, in isolation, produce the most uncertainty in rate growth. Specifically, a 1% increase in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of retail sales, coincident peak demand (CP), and customers (Sales-CP-Cust) results in a 0.88-0.93% decrease in the CAGR of rates, in isolation. However, a 1% increase in the CAGR of generation CapEx budgets results in a 0.07-0.14% increase in the CAGR of rates, while a 1% increase in the CAGR of FPP costs causes a 0.10-0.14% increase in the CAGR of rates, all else being equal. 3. Taking into account the correlation and variability of the growth in all rate drivers jointly, generation CapEx is expected to be both the largest and most uncertain rate component by 2030 (20-25% share of the retail rate). Transmission and distribution CapEx, along with fuel and purchased power costs are each expected to comprise between 12% and 17% of retail rates.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Autonomous Discovery in Science and Engineering

The Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications (CAMERA) is an integrated, cross-disciplinary center aimed at inventing, developing, and delivering the fundamental new mathematics required to capitalize on experimental investigations at scientific facilities. Jointly funded by the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) within the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science, CAMERA identifies areas in experimental science that can be aided by new mathematical insights, develops the needed algorithmic tools, and delivers them as user-friendly software to the experimental community.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Primer on the Cost of Marine Fuels Compliant with IMO 2020 Rule

This report aims to provide information for owners and operators of U.S. ocean-going marine cargo vessels on the cost of different approaches to compliance with the IMO mandate to reduce the sulfur content of marine fuels (outside emission control areas) to no more than 0.5%. The IMO 2020 rule came into effect on January 1, 2020. The report discusses a suite of options for compliance including low-sulfur petroleum-based fuels and alternative fuels. Since fuel prices are a primary factor in determining the cost of the various alternatives, the document also includes a discussion of the main drivers of marine fuel prices. The cost analysis compares the average annual costs (capital and fuel) out to 2050 of each compliance approach under alternative scenarios regarding fuel prices, policy, and technology innovation. The cost calculations focus on representative U.S. fleet vessels for containership and tanker types. Even though the analysis focuses on average cost of approaches to comply with IMO 2020, the comparison of approaches also acknowledges other benefits or risks including fuel price risk and the contribution of the approach to achieving other potential environmental performance objectives or regulations.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2022

Converter-Interfaced CHP Plant for Improved Grid-Integration, Flexibility and Resiliency

GE Research and its partner GE Renewables have proposed the use of an interface converter solution to increase the penetration of small to medium-sized CHP (1MWe to 20MWe) into distribution grids and improve their flexibility and grid support capability. Indeed, the proposed interface converter solution thanks to presence of the grid-ready inverter, allows to streamline the compliance to grid codes requirements, reduce the interconnection delays and costs and ultimately one of the main barriers for CHP adoption by commercial and industrial facilities. An additional benefit provided by the interface converter is the use of the grid-ready inverter for reactive power which eliminates the need of sizing the generator for that capability. These two benefits highly favor the economic feasibility of converter-interfaced CHP. Five user cases, each in one of the leading U.S states for CHP potential reported by the DOE in its estimation of the U.S Technical Potential of CHP, were selected to compare the economic performances of converter-interfaced CHP as compared with directly-coupled. They include a college campus in California, a hospital in New York, a water reclamation plant in Texas, a hotel in Minnesota, and a large office building in Pennsylvania. Results showed that, the presence of the interface converter allows to increase the return on investment (ROI) by 0.5 to 2 percentage points in most of the cases (4 of 5). Indeed, the interface converter by shortening the interconnection process allows to accelerate revenues while reducing interconnection costs. Added to the reduced cost of the required generator these savings trade favorably the capital cost of the converter. The analysis also showed that the profitability of the converter-interfaced CHP is highly sensitive to the energy price, interconnection delay, and converter cost. However, it appears that if the interface converter can shorten the interconnection process by at least 6 months, adopting this solution will be more economically viable than directly-coupled configuration in almost all the +23,000 sites of the U.S Technical Potential CHP. The evaluation of the benefits of a converter-interfaced CHP also showed that it enables higher ROI when coupled with other distributed energy resources (DER) such as battery energy systems (BESS) or solar photovoltaic (PV). Indeed, in those scenario, the grid-ready inverter included in the interface converter eliminates the need of separate inverters if DC-coupling is used. On the technical performance, it has been verified that the presence of the interface converter allows to reduce by 70% to 80% the CHP short-circuit contribution to grid faults. This not only reduces the mechanical and thermal stresses exposed to the CHP electrical components but also increases the grid hosting capacity which ultimately enables higher penetrations CHP. Another key benefit of the interface converter validated with hardware-in-the-loop simulations and testing is its superior capability for reactive power support. Indeed, using a power hardware testbed with two +700kW inverters configured in back-to-back, a microgrid controller and actual facilities loads it was demonstrated that the presence of the interface converter can help maintain a power factor near ~1 or regulate the voltage to ~1.0pu at the point of common coupling. This benefit can be highly valuable if in the future, due to higher penetration of renewable distributed energy resources (DER), utilities start billing demand charge based on kVA instead of kW as currently. It was also validated that converter-interfaced CHP can dispatch heat and power commands and seamlessly switch between the two modes while consistently controlling the power factor or voltage at PCC. Indeed, the power hardware testing showed that grid-connected converter-interfaced CHP can follow either the power or heat demand while maintaining a unity power factor at converter output. This research proved that the adoption of an interface converter as the solution for interconnection of CHP system into the distribution grid can greatly improve the economic feasibility of small to medium-sized CHP as well as the plant power quality, flexibility and resiliency. Additionally, it allows increased penetrations of CHP into the distribution grid, extends their grid support capability, and facilitates the integration of BESS and PV DER by streamlining their collocation within the same facilities. This ultimately provides an opportunity for commercial and small industrial facilities in the U.S to accelerate their energy transition thanks to the high energy efficiency of CHP systems and its reliable, flexible, and resilient microgrid operation when interconnected with an interface converter.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Safeguards by Design Projects (Final Report FY2021)

This University Engagement project challenged engineering students at universities, that do not have Bachelor degrees in nuclear engineering but do have research reactors and some nuclear engineering coursework, to incorporate Safeguards by Design concepts into their Senior Capstone Design Project. This University Engagement project was part of the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Office of International Nuclear Safeguards, Next Generation Safeguards Initiative, Human Capital Development: University Engagement Program. This program exposed university students with Mechanical Engineering majors and Nuclear Engineering minors to the concepts of international nuclear safeguards.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Small-Scale Engineered High Flexibility Gasifier

This project advances a small-scale gasification unit as the first step in syngas-based hydrogen, chemicals, and synthetic fuels production. This unit is associated with an enhanced flexibility to different carbonaceous feedstocks including different types of coals, biomass, and plastics. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate feasibility and efficiency of coal pyrolysis in an auger reactor (pyrolyzer); supplemental methane and pyrolysis gas conversion into syngas in a proprietary non-catalytic converter; combined performance of pyrolyzer and non-catalytic converter to convert coal into syngas The proposed technology is based on an application of an intermediate speed pyrolysis at the temperature range 400-600°C as the first stage of biomass processing. At an industrial scale, an incorporation of coal pyrolysis into a feeding machine – auger-reactor allows to decrease its capital cost. At a pilot scale, it permits to employ electricity to build a compact device for testing of downstream equipment. The auger-reactor (pyrolyzer) generates pyrolysis gas and char practically from any carbonaceous feedstocks but their compositions and quantities are determined by their types. Pyrolysis gas is converted into syngas (mix of H 2 and CO) in a novel, proprietary hydrogen flame assisted non-catalytic converter which employs O 2 instead of air as an oxidizer. This reactor (converter) allows an easy adjustment to different pyrolysis gas compositions and tolerates a presence of sulfur and nitrogen contaminants. Our technology assumes carbonaceous feedstocks gasification with oxygen to allow the products H 2 , CO or CO 2 to be not diluted in N 2 and ready for the following synthesis of chemicals and fuels. Due to the same reason, it permits a more efficient CO 2 capture for its transport and storage. An implementation of our small-scale gasification process may overcome economic constrains by a flexible acceptance of coal, biomass, and plastics as well as their unsorted mixtures to make syngas for the following production of pure hydrogen, chemical and/or synthetic fuels.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Low Cost HIP Fabrication of Advanced Power Cycle Components and PM/Wrought Inconel 740H Weld Development (Final Technical Report)

The objective of this Phase 1 project is to demonstrate the feasibility of structures and components for advanced fossil energy power cycle by fusion welding powder metallurgy (PM) based near net shape (NNS) hot isostatic pressing (HIP) Nickel superalloy Inconel 740H (IN740H) components to wrought IN740H components. The outcome of the project includes a prototype pipe elbow demonstration of the NNS HIP process using IN740H powder, an initial assessment of IN740H PM/wrought weldability, and a manufacturing and capital cost analysis of IN740H NNS HIP components for advanced ultra-super critical steam (AUSC) power plants. The anticipated value proposition of NNS HIP manufacturing is ~50% cost reduction of large complex components in AUSC or super-critical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles. This document is a final technical report for the project, covering efforts conducted from October 2019 to June 2021.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Practices for Demonstrating Energy Savings from Commercial PACE Projects

Nearly three-fourths of U.S. states have authorized local governments to use voluntary special assessments on commercial properties to finance energy improvements that boost economic development, create jobs, increase property values and advance energy goals. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing allows building owners to repay the borrowed capital — from private or public sources — over time using their property as security. Berkeley Lab is supporting the Department of Energy’s Commercial PACE Working Group by developing a series of C-PACE issue briefs. The second brief in this series, Practices for Demonstrating Energy Savings from Commercial PACE Projects, looks at common practices for demonstrating energy savings to support state and local governments that sponsor C-PACE programs and want to track their energy impacts. This brief reviews: -The value proposition and trade-offs of conducting energy impact assessments for C-PACE programs; -Methods to quantify energy savings impacts from energy efficiency building improvements; and -Available resources and tools to support energy impact assessments. C-PACE programs may benefit from energy impact assessments for many reasons, including: -Validating the public benefits of the programs -Demonstrating that C-PACE can deliver participant benefits -Illustrating program impacts on public policy goals -Generating data to help improve program performance Many C-PACE programs are collecting data on project energy savings impacts, and these data can be leveraged to further support decision making and program implementation. Potential drawbacks to energy impact assessments may include added cost and burdens on property owners (e.g., the need to collect building energy consumption data). Where these burdens are considerable, they might slow program uptake. State and local governments can balance the benefits of energy impact assessments with the range of costs and accuracy inherent to available assessment methodologies. Additionally, depending on the policy context in the state or local government, a C-PACE program may be able to leverage existing efforts (e.g., building energy benchmarking programs) to reduce impact assessment costs, align with building owner practices and expectations, and efficiently assess program impact.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Opportunities for Industry to Provide Flexibility While Increasing Profitability

Supply and demand flexibility will both be needed to ensure the electricity system functions properly as the share from variable renewable generation continues to grow. Industrial manufacturing currently consumes about a third of primary energy worldwide, and electricity is projected to supply an increasing share of this demand as the global economy decarbonizes. Therefore, the ability for industry to flex demand poses an enticing opportunity to enable grid flexibility. However, large capital outlays prevent industry from voluntarily altering demand. Here we show that as battery costs continue to fall, industry will soon be able to profitably alter demand in accordance with electricity price variations. Focusing on two established industries– chlor-alkali and electric arc furnaces – and two industries with large future potential – methane pyrolysis and atmospheric CO 2 capture, we use a linear program (LP) optimization to assess the technoeconomic feasibility of flexible industrial demand across both historical and future-looking wholesale day-ahead marginal prices for the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). We find positive net present values (NPV) from $\$$400K to $\$$50M using projected 2050 battery prices for industrial purchase of behind-the-meter batteries, using only arbitrage as a source of value. These results indicate that, with projected battery prices, profit-seeking industrial players could voluntarily play a future role in stabilizing a high-renewables grid where electricity prices act as accurate signals of grid needs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of a Reconstruction Methodology Based on X-Ray Computed Tomography to Generate Realistic 3D Concrete Microstructures in MOSAIC

Despite being passive components, concrete structures represent a major capital investment in nuclear power plants. However, some concrete components are critical for the safety and long-term operation of the reactors: the concrete containment building protects the reactors from external aggression. The concrete biological shield (CBS) contains the radiation exiting the reactor to protect equipment and personnel. Depending on the design, the CBS also has a function for supporting the reactor’s systems. This function needs to be ensured in-service and during accident scenarios. After several decades of use, the CBS is exposed to high-energy irradiation over an extended operation time, exceeding the fluence level currently considered detrimental for the concrete’s structural properties. Such conditions occur at different times depending on the reactor’s operation and design. Nevertheless, from the perspective of subsequent license application, it is mandatory to assess the potential effects of prolonged irradiation on concrete. Unlike steel components, concrete structures are built with local constituents (cement, sand, and coarse aggregates) to avoid prohibitive transportation costs. Thus, concrete performance is determined by the tolerance or the susceptibility of its constituents against any aging mechanism. The tolerance against irradiation of the CBSs may vary greatly among the 56 nuclear power plants and 93 nuclear power reactors that form the current US light-water reactor fleet. Irradiation-induced degradation is mainly a result of amorphization-induced expansions of the silicated minerals present in the aggregates. The neutron irradiation–induced expansion varies from one rock-forming mineral to another: well framework–structured silicates (e.g., quartz and feldspars) exhibit higher swelling than chained (e.g., pyroxene) or isolated silicates (e.g., garnet). Silicates make up nearly 90% of the Earth’s crust. Other common minerals present in construction aggregates are carbonates found, for example, in limestone. Irradiated carbonates exhibit only very minor expansions.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Characterizing Heat Transfer in sCO 2 Cycle Coolers Utilizing the Wilson Plot Technique

Effective design of coolers can decrease the capital expense of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) power plants. Improved datasets reporting heat transfer from the CO 2 in the cycle cooler allow design engineers to calculate the required length of heat exchanger streams more accurately, thus reducing cooler material and heat exchanger cost. This study considered a shell-and-tube heat exchanger with non-condensing CO 2 on the tube side and water flow on the shell side. The average Nusselt number on the tube side was measured employing the Wilson plot technique for a flow at a Reynolds number, Re, equal to 1×10 5 and for a heat flux to mass flux ratio, Q"/G, ranging from 50 to 350 J/kg. The results indicate that the Nusselt number, Nu, increases as the CO 2 pressure decreases towards the critical point. The results also indicate that Nu increases to maximum at Q"/G = 215 J/kg and then decreases with further increases in Q"/G. The difference in Nu measured between the horizontal and vertical heat exchanger with downward flowing CO 2 is less than the experimental error.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wind Plant Performance Prediction Benchmark Phase 1 (Technical Report)

Financial risk resulting from the uncertainty associated with developing, owning, and operating wind power plants remains a barrier to reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). On average, modern wind power plants in the U.S. underperform their expected annual energy output by 3.5-4.5% , with many underperforming by over 10%. To compensate for this uncertainty, investors require a larger return on investment (ROI) and apply "knock-down" factors that mask much of the underlying sources of uncertainty. Wind energy projects thus have reduced access to low-cost capital. Furthermore, operating wind plants often take a simple approach to estimating operations & maintenance (O&M) costs (e.g. straight-line estimates based on similar plants), which can eat into profits. To overcome these issues, the wind industry must improve the models they use for estimating wind plant performance and operations. An industry consortium (IC) requested that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) lead a Department of Energy (DOE) working group to benchmark the accuracy of wind power plant energy predictions against real operational data. The IC was also motivated by DOE and NREL's potential to characterize systematic energy underperformance, identify sources of uncertainty, and explore root causes. The Wind Plant Performance Prediction (WP3) project was created out of this request, and this report represents the successful completion of Phase 1 of the WP3 project. During the project, wind plant owners provided both pre-construction and operational data to NREL. The pre-construction data was provided to wind resource assessment (WRA) consultants so they could conduct energy yield assessments (EYA). NREL took all of the completed EYAs, along with the operational data, and conducted an operational assessment to benchmark the EYA results against actual operational data. Given the large amounts of sensitive data required for this effort, as well as historical opposition to sharing data within industry, successful completion of Phase 1 represents an unprecedented milestone for industry data sharing. To improve the accuracy and confidence of pre-construction EYAs, wind plant owners and investors need better, more certain, energy yield predictions. The WP3 Benchmark Project is an industry-driven response to this reality. For the first time, industry has taken the important step of working together at scale, sharing valuable operational data with DOE and NREL in order to investigate the sources of bias and uncertainty in these energy estimates. This IC provides wind plant preconstruction and operational data to NREL in an organized and documented fashion and provides guidance and feedback as needed. The IC also provides introspection of the design of experiment, key metrics of success, data challenges, analysis best practices, and quality of results.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Analytic Framework for Optimal Sizing of Hydrogen Fueling Stations for Heavy Duty Vehicles at Ports (CRADA 512)

This CRADA presents the strategy that PNNL and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) will take to support Seattle City Light (SCL) in properly sizing a hydrogen station for class 8 drayage trucks at the Port of Seattle (Port), as part of a coordinated plan of mixed uses for hydrogen. The proper sizing for the fueling station is unique from past experiences because it will be part of a coordinated plan for a multi-use scheme for the hydrogen, and not a stand-alone fueling station. The multiple use-streams, and their relative values, will impact all facets of station sizing and design, including fueling rates, storage technology and size, equipment selection, and safety considerations. The future deployment of this fueling station, and its proper sizing, is seen as a critical first step in the larger vision of utilizing hydrogen to address a range of issues for SCL and the Port. These include, but are not limited to, large scale fueling of medium duty (MD) and heavy duty (HD) vehicles to reduce emissions, support of adjacent light duty (LD) vehicles, support of critical port operation during extreme events (e.g. resiliency), mitigation of capital intensive electrical distribution system upgrades to support evolving port operations, a market resource that can be used by SCL to generate revenue, and support of planned future maritime operations that currently require heavy use of shipboard hydrogen. While the broader use of hydrogen by SCL and the Port is not the focus of this CRADA, how its use impacts the design of the initial vehicle fueling station, and the modular approach, are the central work. As such, this project will develop the framework and process for developing a modular station design that considers the broader range of coordinate uses of hydrogen as an energy resource.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Perovskite on Silicon Tandem Solar Cells

Since installing solar panels costs more than the panels themselves, it is critically important to improve the efficiency of the panels so that fewer panels need to be installed. More than 90% of all panels being manufactured are made with silicon solar cells. The most promising approach to reach 27% is to upgrade the panels by adding a second set of cells with a larger band gap that can harvest the higher energy photons in the visible spectrum and generate a higher voltage than silicon is capable of generating. Perovskite semiconductors are very promising for low-cost tandems because they have high band gaps, can be rapidly printed from solutions and have been used to make 25% efficient cells by themselves. If we show that it is possible to make stable tandems with 30% efficiency using materials that could be deposited at low cost and that the energy yield will not be compromised, then private companies would be able to raise the capital needed to manufacture this technology. The main metrics for this project are the power conversion efficiency of a lab-scale perovskite/silicon tandem and the ability to maintain a high power conversion efficiency in perovskite solar cells after accelerated operational stability testing under maximum power point at elevated temperature and 1 sun illumination. In short, this project demonstrates improvements to the perovskite absorber layer, contacts for the perovskite solar cell, and transparent oxide layers for window electrodes to achieve tandem efficiencies of 25% after one year and 27% after two years. By the end of the project, we identify strategies to further improve light management in the tandem devices and outline a pathway to reach 30%.In parallel, stability testing is conducted to evaluate said absorber and contact layers in the perovskite top cell, demonstrating 1000 hours of operation with less than 10% degradation at 1 sun. Our work on this project has made a leading impact on the development of perovskite/silicon tandems. The triple halide perovskite that we developed using iodide, bromide, and chloride and published in Science in March 2020 has received significant interest from other experts in the field at conferences. We took a silicon bottom cell with 21% efficiency, a technology that is responsible for a $30 billion market, and improved it by 30% relative. In addition, we have demonstrated impressive stability of our perovskite semitransparent top cells used in the tandems, showing for the first time packaged devices that pass a variety of IEC stability tests including damp heat, temperature cycling, and UV exposure tests.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

LANL Meteorological Program Self-Assessment 2021 Update

This self-assessment, documented in Table 1, has shown that there has been continued significant progress achieved in meeting the intent of the 21 recommendations from the 2015 DMCC Assist Visit. Every year after the Assist Visit, the LANL Met Program has improved, mainly by addressing the recommendations in the Assist Visit report. The Met Program management should continue to strive to apply its limited resources and seek to acquire additional human capital and physical resources to meet the dynamic needs of its growing sitewide customer base. This includes additional upgrading of the hardware and software elements of the Met Program and implementation of its operational procedures and QAPP to ensure it will consistently meet important present program requirements, as well as anticipated future requirements. These improvements have been summarized in the “present improvements and future initiatives” column in Table 1.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

SoW: Energy-Dependent Fission Product Yields

The purpose of this LLNL subcontract is to capitalize on our already established long-term relationship with Duke University and Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) to study fission observables like Fission Product Yields (FPY), fission cross-section and other data relevant to our programmatic needs. LLNL with Duke university partnership, wants to further develop new experimental capabilities to measure critical nuclear data important for LLNL stakeholders. The new FPY data will provide important benchmarks for nuclear theory and evaluation currently developed by the nuclear data and theory group. The improved FPY data is of interest to many major laboratory programs, including nuclear chemistry, nuclear forensics, safeguard, and nonproliferation communities. The impact of new FPY data, obtained by a graduate student from Duke (Aitor Bracho), will result in the U.S. Nuclear Data Program.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Depowering of Batteries to Reduce Cost of Ownership

(1) Executive Summary: End of life batteries (EOLBs) present a cost and safety liability for their owners and stakeholders. This is due flammability, energy, and power with EOLBs. Current approaches include cumbersome, expensive packaging, specialized shipping, regulated storage, and they are responsible for over half of the cost of recycling. They all expensively and inadequately address symptoms. OnTo has developed and proven a simple way to resolve the problem systemically, through depowering of lithium-ion batteries (and most any battery other than lead). The low-cost process removes flammability, power, and energy in EOLBs through non-toxic chemical processing. The opportunity for commerce of inert scrap is at least $5 billion greater than the commerce in hazardous scrap, all made possible through OnTo’s technology for efficiency and safety. (2) Depowering Improves Safety and Decreases Cost of Battery Ownership: OnTo’s depowering technology will remove half of the cost of EOLB management and recycling. Without this technology, EOLB recycling will always be a liability. EOLB is hazardous due to inherent flammability of electrolyte and lithium. The shipping and commerce of EOLBs is costly and dangerous all along the chain of custody from owner, dealership/shop, shipper, second-life sorter, (shipper again), and finally to the destination facility recycler. OnTo’s depowering service renders inert most any EOLB packs, modules, and cells. The technology uses a brief, non-toxic treatment applicable to most any chemistry. The industry needs a safe, simple, modular, and inexpensive method to render EOLBs as inert scrap. OnTo’s deactivation system is scalable to the needs of any customer along the EOLB chain of custody. (3) Evidence of Successful Depowering: Untreated batteries will catch fire and explode under abuse conditions such as heat or crush. Slide 2 below shows that untreated batteries will blow-up and expel their internal components with heating, after OnTo’s depowering treatment, the same battery is inert with the same heat treatment (Fig. 7 in the slide). Depowering also removes electrolyte reactivity, eliminating the production of HF and other toxins (Fig 6. in the slide) The depowering process is applicable to large, 26 Ah cells. Fig. 5 in the slide shows the removal of all the electrolyte from whole cells. Removal of flammable material from an EOLB contributes to the inert behavior. OnTo developed this technology through a project supported by the US Department of Energy EERE program, with partners including Seattle King County Metro Transit. While OnTo has generated evidence of successful depowering of batteries, in 2020, a follow-on voucher opportunity for third party analysis of depowered cells and materials was approved through CalTestBed. The expertise of the battery and materials research groups at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will characterize these depowered cells to provide better understanding of the materials level changes in depowering. (4) Pilot Plant for Depowering EOLBs: Making the spoke work in hub-and-spoke While other companies are marketing the hub-and-spoke approach for recycling EOLBs, they rely on dangerous, expensive shredding methods with flimsy IP protection. OnTo offers the only patented, proven ability to depower EOLBs from most any chemistry – at half of the capital cost required for shredding, while eliminating the liability, danger, and waste streams inherent with shredding. The proposed commercial pilot facility is (5) OnTo Technology LLC Company: OnTo develops advanced battery recycling innovations that produce manufacturing quality electrode materials from recycled batteries. Their patented Cathode-healing™ and Deactivation/Depowering processes improve safety and reduce the cost of recycling. OnTo’s breakthrough technologies produce advanced materials for manufacturing batteries useful in applications from portable power to electric vehicles. Contact: Steve Sloop OnTo Technology LLC, 63221 Service Road, STE F, Bend, OR 97703, ssloop@onto-technology.com , 541-389-7897

deactivation↗
DOE OSTI2021

IACMI Project 4.2: Thermoplastic Composite Development for Wind Turbine Blades

(Section 5.1) Composites made from Arkema’s Elium® thermoplastic resin and Johns Manville fiberglass were researched during this project for applications in wind blade manufacturing. A techno-economic model was developed to model this wind blade manufacturing process using these materials in place of traditional composites made with thermoset resin. This model was based on manufacturing a 61.5-meter wind blade, which showed a 4.7% reduction in wind blade cost as compared traditional thermoset materials. These cost savings were not from the thermoplastic material costing less than traditional thermoset materials, but rather from decreased capital costs, faster cycle times and reduced energy requirements and labor costs. (Section 5.2) An infusion and curing model was developed for thermoplastic composite wind blades using PAM-RTM. The primary goal was to demonstrate the infusion simulation for the Elium® resin system on a 13-meter wind blade. Additionally, the exotherm temperature was predicted and compared to measurements, which showed model results within 10% of actual measurements. (Section 5.3) Composite laminate panels and composite sandwich panels with a balsa core were produced; specimens were cut and characterized. Similar composite specimens were made with Elium® thermoplastic resin and Hexion thermoset epoxy (RIMR135/RIMH1366) to enable comparisons between these resin systems. The static test methods included: tensile, compression, in-plane shear, interlaminar shear, flexural, sandwich core shear flexure, and single cantilever beam tests for sandwich beams. Fatigue testing at room temperature was completed to composite laminate panels at a stress ratio of R=0.1 and R=10. In addition, fatigue testing to laminate panels was completed at -30°C, and at room temperature after conditioning specimens at 70°C and 90% relative humidity. Overall, mechanical test results from Elium® composites are similar to epoxy composites. (Section 5.4) Elium composite panels were produced with intentional defects such as voids and nonwetting of fibers to begin to understand performance sensitivity to defects. A thermal digital image correlation (TDIC) method provides high spatial resolution strain field at elevated temperatures and can be used to identify defective regions within composite panels. Flexural modulus differences of 21% were seen between defect and non-defect panels. Other Elium® composite panels were forced to be defective by boiling the resin after infusion, which created voids throughout the composite laminate. X-ray computed tomography scanning was used to view the internal structure of the defect panels. Defect panels had a significant reduction in fatigue life as compared to baseline panels produced without intentional defects. (Section 5.5) Lap shear specimens were fabricated to compare the lap shear strength of an off-the-shelf adhesive (Plexus MA590) and two new adhesives developed by Arkema (Bostik SAF30 90 and Bostik SAF30 120). ISO standard 4587:2003 was used to standardize the testing method and sample fabrication. Lap shear specimens were made at 1mm, 3mm, and 10mm thicknesses. The Bostik adhesive lap shear test results were similar to Plexus for all thicknesses. (Section 5.6) Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are typically used in high-performance applications (e.g., aerospace), and their expansion into high-volume industries (e.g. consumer automotive and wind turbine blade manufacturer or similar) is hindered by their cost and a lack of efficient manufacturing techniques. Monitoring the curing process of these composites during manufacturing can improve the efficiency of the process, and therefore reduce the manufacturing cost. Cure monitoring techniques were developed that use probabilistic estimation methods and surface temperature measurements made using infrared cameras. These techniques enable real-time monitoring of the infusion process to locate manufacturing flaws, and they can, potentially, estimate residual stresses in the part. Their commercialization will help facilitate expansion of FRP composites in high-volume industries. (Section 5.7) A 13-meter composite wind blade was produced with Elium® resin and Johns Manville fiberglass; this blade was made with VARTM processing similar to how megawatt-scale wind blades are currently manufactured, but no post-mold heating was used for this thermoplastic composite blade. The wind blade underwent full-scale validation for static loading (4-different load orientations) and flapwise fatigue loading to simulate 20-years of operational loads. The thermoplastic composite wind blade withstood the loading without any noted issues and performed similar to results from a previous full-scale validation to an equivalent epoxy composite wind blade produced with the same blade molds. (Section 5.8) A study was conducted to determine the feasibility of recycling composite wind turbine blade components fabricated with glass fiber reinforced Elium® thermoplastic resin. Dissolution, which is a process unique to thermoplastic matrices, allows recovery of both the polymer matrix and full-length glass fibers, while maintaining their stiffness and strength throughout the recovery process. The economics of recycling is favorable if 50% of the glass fiber is recovered and resold for a process of $\$$ 0.28/kg, and 90% of the resin is recovered and resold at a price of $\$$ 2.50/kg.(Section 10) Recommendations are outlined for commercializing thermoplastic resin for composite wind blade production, in addition to recommended areas for future research.

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