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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

High Temperature Sodium Submersible Flowmeter Design and Analysis

This work details the design and analysis of a permanent magnet flowmeter designed to be submerged in a pool type sodium fast reactor environment. Recently developed Samarium Cobalt rare earth magnets were utilized that have demonstrated resilience to temperature and neutron flux up to 550 °C and 10 18 n/cm 2 , respectively. This paper will discuss the theory, design, calibration and uncertainty quantification of the flowmeter. The flowmeter was calibrated over a flowrate range of 11.4 - 90.9 LPM at temperatures of 220 and 400 °C, yielding an uncertainty in calibration of 2-3.6%. Here, a finite element model was developed and validated experimentally, yielding <; 3.2% error.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Real-Time Federated Cyber-Transmission-Distribution Testbed Architecture for the Resiliency Analysis

With the ongoing automation driven by the push toward the smart electric grid and the advancement in associated cyber infrastructure, the interaction between physical [electric transmission and distribution (T&D) systems], cyber (communication, automation, and control), and human (grid operators and decision-makers) is increasingly becoming more complex. This creates the requirement of analyzing the effect of the transmission system on the distribution system and vice versa with consideration of the additional complexity of the cyber infrastructure. Such an integrated testbed will also help with resiliency analysis, where resiliency refers to the ability of the system to continue serving energy to the critical loads even with limited extreme contingencies. Interaction of the physical power grid with the cyber layer can be effectively modeled using real-time (RT) simulator for developing and validating various operational and control algorithms. Testbeds using RT simulators with multiple capabilities have been developed at different institutions. Still, no single existing testbed can offer full scalability while simultaneously meeting high fidelity requirements for resiliency experimentation. Co-simulating federated testbed assets can provide a scalable experimentation platform that can be leveraged for verification and validation. In this article, an architecture is developed for federated cyber-physical testbed. A local federation with two real-time simulators is developed: real-time digital simulator (RTDS) and OPAL-RT have been interfaced using VILLAS framework for end-to-end testing. Also, a real-time linear predictor is developed and integrated here to address the communication latency impact on geographically allocated federated RT simulation. Finally, resiliency analysis tools are formulated and utilized for T&D systems. Finally as an illustrative use case, the resiliency of a T&D test system is simulated, and the results are analyzed. A 179-bus Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) transmission system is developed using OPAL-RT/ HYPERSIM, and a modified IEEE 13 node feeder system is modeled in RTDS/RSCAD and interfaced for resiliency analysis.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

ComEd Climate Risk and Adaptation Outlook, Phase 1: Temperature, Heat Index, and Average Wind

This Climate Risk and Adaptation Outlook report presents the research and findings of a joint venture between Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) to evaluate future climate risks to ComEd’s infrastructure and operations. ComEd recognizes that its position as the state of Illinois’ largest electric utility, serving roughly 70% of the state’s population, underscores the importance for communities across Illinois to consider climate risk as they plan for future conditions. Climate impacts, such as more severe heatwaves or more frequent flood events, can disrupt the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and create public health challenges. Taking a proactive approach to adapt to climate risks will help ensure that ComEd continues to serve its growing customer-base reliably and efficiently. This Climate Risk and Adaptation Outlook serves as an important first step to inform ComEd’s grid planning efforts, but Argonne and ComEd recognize that additional research beyond this report will be necessary to characterize future climate conditions more comprehensively throughout northern Illinois, to assess their impacts to grid assets and system operations, and to index effective adaptation options at an asset-level.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Inventory of AI-ready Benchmark Data for US Fires, Heatwaves, and Droughts

Extreme weather events, including fires, heatwaves, and droughts, have significant impacts on earth, environmental, and energy systems. Mechanistic and predictive understanding, as well as probabilistic risk assessment of these extreme weather events, are crucial for detecting, planning for, and responding to these extremes. Records of extreme weather events provide an important data source for understanding present and future extremes, but the existing data needs preprocessing before it can be used for analysis. Moreover, there are many nonstandard metrics defining the levels of severity or impacts of extremes. In this study, we compile a comprehensive benchmark data inventory of extreme weather events, including fires, heatwaves, and droughts. The dataset covers the period from 2001 to 2020 with a daily temporal resolution and a spatial resolution of 0.5°×0.5° (~55km×55km) over the continental United States (CONUS), and a spatial resolution of 1km × 1km over the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region, together with the co-located and relevant meteorological variables. By exploring and summarizing the spatial and temporal patterns of these extremes in various forms of marginal, conditional, and joint probability distributions, we gain a better understanding of the characteristics of climate extremes. The resulting AI/ML-ready data products can be readily applied to ML-based research, fostering and encouraging AI/ML research in the field of extreme weather. This study can contribute significantly to the advancement of extreme weather research, aiding researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in developing improved preparedness and response strategies to protect communities and ecosystems from the adverse impacts of extreme weather events. Usage Notes We presented a long term (2001-2020) and comprehensive data inventory of historical extreme events with daily temporal resolution covering the separate spatial extents of CONUS (0.5°×0.5°) and PNW(1km×1km) for various applications and studies. The dataset with 0.5°×0.5° resolution for CONUS can be used to help build more accurate climate models for the entire CONUS, which can help in understanding long-term climate trends, including changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme events, predicting future extreme events as well as understanding the implications of extreme events on society and the environment. The data can also be applied for risk accessment of the extremes. For example, ML/AI models can be developed to predict wildfire risk or forecast HWs by analyzing historical weather data, and past fires or heateave , allowing for early warnings and risk mitigation strategies. Using this dataset, AI-driven risk assessment models can also be built to identify vulnerable energy and utilities infrastructure, imrpove grid resilience and suggest adaptations to withstand extreme weather events. The high-resolution 1km×1km dataset ove PNW are advantageous for real-time, localized and detailed applications. It can enhance the accuracy of early warning systems for extreme weather events, helping authorities and communities prepare for and respond to disasters more effectively. For example, ML models can be developed to provide localized HW predictions for specific neighborhoods or cities, enabling residents and local emergency services to take targeted actions; the assessment of drought severity in specific communities or watersheds within the PNW can help local authorities manage water resources more effectively.

Lin, Xinming↗
NASA NTRS2017

Secure Network-Centric Aviation Communication (SNAC)

The existing National Airspace System (NAS) communications capabilities are largely unsecured, are not designed for efficient use of spectrum and collectively are not capable of servicing the future needs of the NAS with the inclusion of new operators in Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS) or On Demand Mobility (ODM). SNAC will provide a ubiquitous secure, network-based communications architecture that will provide new service capabilities and allow for the migration of current communications to SNAC over time. The necessary change in communication technologies to digital domains will allow for the adoption of security mechanisms, sharing of link technologies, large increase in spectrum utilization, new forms of resilience and redundancy and the possibly of spectrum reuse. SNAC consists of a long term open architectural approach with increasingly capable designs used to steer research and development and enable operating capabilities that run in parallel with current NAS systems.

Communications↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transforming Buildings Around the World

Buildings are where we live, work, go to school, gather as a community, and so much more. Globally, buildings are responsible for 30% of energy consumption and 26% of energy-related emissions. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is committed to adapting tools and capabilities to support emerging economies and improve the energy efficiency and flexibility of their buildings.

building technology innovation↗
DOE OSTI2021

Microgrid's Role in Enhancing the Security and Flexibility of City Energy Systems

Smart cities depend on flexible and secure energy systems to ensure resilient power for critical infrastructure; however, recent weather-related events and cyberattacks have highlighted weaknesses in our energy systems, with the potential for widespread economic and security impacts. As stated by the Executive Office of the President, "the resilience of the US electric grid is a key part of the nation's defense against severe weather." To address the energy delivery security challenge, microgrids are rising as a viable solution that enhances the flexibility and resilience of the distribution grid and boosts the reliability of the local supply for the end-user. Traditionally, high capital investment has been a barrier to large-scale adoption of microgrid technology. Understanding the flexibility and resilience benefits of microgrids and accounting for the associated value streams can make the microgrid's proposition economically viable. In this chapter, microgrids' utility and their potential to serve as a flexible and resilient resource for the utility grid by providing capabilities such as peak shaving, demand response, and frequency regulation is presented. Moreover, other value streams, such as (1) their ability to island during a disaster and sustain critical loads which makes them a robust resilience solution for end-users, in the event of the utility grid outage and (2) microgrids also provide a flexible platform for integrating distributed energy resources in conjunction with storage and conventional generation technologies, strengthen microgrid's role in reducing the over-arching goal of emission reduction. Given the myriad of benefits associated with microgrids, we present strategies which can be employed for making microgrid itself resilient against physical and cyberthreats by employing hardware, software, and personnel training solutions to operate the microgrid before, during, and after a potential disaster. This chapter, thus, provides a holistic study of the microgrid as a resilience resource, for the utility grid, and a self-contained end-user for the end-user.

cyber-physical system↗
DOE OSTI2024

Self-Assembling Microgrids for Resilient Distribution Systems of the Future: Implementation in a Commercial DERMS Platform

Microgrids have long provided resilience to critical facilities such as hospitals and military installations, and they are now increasingly being looked at as a building block for future grids to support the energy resilience needs of the grid of the future. State-of-the-art technologies, such as blackstart algorithms using renewable distributed energy resources (DERs) to effectively and seamlessly form microgrids, have been produced by national labs over the years. Their adoption by the utility industry would be critical to reap the most benefits toward energy and climate resilience, and the pathway is via commercialization of these self-assembling microgrid algorithms by integrating them in a commercial product platform. This project brings a national labs team (LLNL, LANL) together with a vendor (Smarter Grid Solutions) to perform proof-of-concept integration of the algorithms into the vendor’s commercial Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS). The project provides a strong pathway to commercialization of the algorithms thereby promoting adoption of resilient microgrid technology by utilities to offer resilience benefits to all customers and especially to disadvantaged and underserved communities.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Looking Beyond Bill Savings to Equity in Renewable Energy Microgrid Deployment

Microgrids powered by renewable energy can provide backup power to critical infrastructure during grid outages. These systems can also play an important role in advancing energy justice by providing economic, environmental, health, and resilience benefits for underserved communities. The value of microgrids is often measured by the economic savings and resilience provided, but there are other energy justice factors that should be considered. This paper describes a methodology for quantifying broader costs and benefits including utility bill savings, value of resilience, social cost of carbon, public health costs, and jobs associated with the construction and operation of microgrids. We evaluate these factors at three case study sites and find that including energy justice values in the cost-benefit analysis of microgrids can change investment decisions. When climate, health, resilience, and job creation are considered, cost-optimal microgrids include more renewable generation, leading to a 52-82% reduction in emissions and diesel fuel use. The net present values of the microgrids grow from negative $626,000-843,000 in the diesel only case to $10-16 million in the hybrid microgrid case and $12-19 million in the renewable microgrid case, indicating potential for greater microgrid deployment if energy justice values are incorporated in decision making. However, we also see large increases in capital expenses, which could limit deployment unless accompanied by innovative financing measures. These findings may be useful to communities as they seek to strengthen resilience to natural disasters while also improving public health, meeting climate goals, and providing economic opportunity for residents.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Viable Economic Frameworks and Regulatory Barriers for Community Microgrids

Community microgrids – microgrids with more than one piece of customer- and utility-owned distribution equipment contained in the isolation boundary – are an option for providing resilience to meet targeted community and utility needs. Because multiple investors, including customers, are involved there is a lack of clarity around viable ownership models, roles and responsibilities, and compensation mechanisms. Together, these aspects describe an economic framework. To be viable, an economic framework not only needs to provide the possibility of all parties agreeing to the microgrid but also needs to meet regulatory guidelines. This report contains learnings from present-day community microgrid tariffs and programs, regulatory filings, and experiences shared within an interest group to highlight regulatory barriers to community microgrids and identify several viable economic frameworks for community microgrids.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

R3IT, Rapid Rural Resilient Interconnection Toolkit, Final Technical Report

Utilities nationwide are beginning to experience multiple solar interconnection requests per day. This request volume will soon overwhelm utility engineers, especially at smaller utilities which serve the majority of the landmass of the United States. In this project, we developed open-source software tool that automates the interconnection approval process and removes 80% of the time required to approve an interconnection and hence allow more solar to be quickly and safely integrated with the grid. This software is accompanied by a guidebook detailing interconnection best practices and utility lessons learned. Competing solar interconnection software is extremely expensive at ten times the cost of typical distribution engineering tools, it’s closed source which makes it hard to integrate into utility workflows, and it doesn’t address the hardest power flow modeling challenges of interconnection screening. Our solution was built built with our utility partners who are already experiencing multiple interconnection requests per day and integrates best practices from our past work with DOE and the cooperative community on solar integration. The resulting free and open-source solution has been disseminated through our media channels and conferences that engage over 1,900 utilities nationwide.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dynamics and Control of Microgrids as a Resiliency Source

Microgrids can be operated in a utility-connected mode with the neighboring distribution system or in an islanded mode in separation with the distribution system. As the major disasters occur more and more often, islanded microgrid is proposed as a possible solution to serve essential loads until the utility service is restored. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using microgrids as a resiliency resource by a field test. A control scheme, integrating droop control and feedback control, is applied on a modified IEEE 13-node test feeders. The simulation results validate the proposed control scheme and the transient stability

Lee, Lung-An↗
DOE OSTI2025

Guidance for Grid Resilience Decisions in Rural Minnesota

This report assesses the hazard landscape of the state of Minnesota, identifies weather hazards that are most impactful to the distribution system, includes a statewide assessment of household access to services dependent on reliable power, reviews resilience planning activities of electric utilities in Minnesota, and presents analysis of distribution grid performance in the face of extreme weather events with data from seven electric cooperatives dispersed throughout outstate Minnesota. This information is synthesized to provide considerations for resilience investment prioritization.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Resilience Service Framework Using Transactive Systems Valuation Methodology

Recent outage events have spurred national and international interest in improving grid resilience. Actions to make the grid more resilient must be valued against their costs and benefits. This is the goal of this report. We explore a resilience valuation framework, where the services procured by the utility are arranged such that the values associated with them are pinpointed. This is demonstrated by utilizing various diagrams developed in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Transactive System Program, called the Transactive Systems Valuation Methodology (TSVM). We show that TSVM can be utilized to guide traditional valuation methodologies such as integrated resource planning so that resilience considerations can be embedded. This report demonstrates this using a three-step procedure: (1) a use case is developed to define functional requirements, (2) value identification of the utility and the actors with which it interacts (both inside and outside its internal functions), and (3) value tracking of activity performed by actors interacting with the utility while services are procured to enable a resilient grid.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Case Studies in Leveraging Performance Contracts for Resilience Projects

The resilience of federal facilities has become increasingly important among lawmakers, agency leadership, and the American public as high impact natural hazards occur more frequently over time. Resilience is broadly defined as the ability of a federal facility to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions to maintain critical functions. The Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) was codified to facilitate the strengthening of federal energy and water efficiency and resilience. Performance contracting is one of the mechanisms through which federal agencies can finance projects at their facilities, but resilience improvement measures do not always result in utility cost savings, which are the primary driver behind performance contracts. This report provides example cases where performance contracts, specifically energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) or utility energy service contracts (UESCs), were used to implement a resilience measure at a federal facility.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Role of Renewables in Grid Resilience

This chapter focuses on revealing the impact of renewable energies, especially distributed energy resources, on modern power system resilience. It is widely recognized that the increasing adoption of renewable energy is bringing more uncertainty and variability, posing new challenges to grid resilience. However, both supply and demand are becoming more active in grid resilience management. The communities themselves would benefit from the utilization of local resources and flexible management to gain resilience during the extreme events.

grid resilience↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: Key Questions and Resources

This resource has two complementary parts: (1) A list of questions that offers an initial starting point for state public utility commissions (commissions) to frame how they review proposed utility investments and considerations that could offer resilience benefits; (2) A list of relevant resources to improve a regulator's ability to oversee resilience investments and obtain the best possible solutions for customers. The list of resources includes a synopsis of relevant topics covered in each resource. This document is not intended to offer a complete picture of resilience literature, but instead suggests strategies for state regulators to convene conversations and make decisions to achieve better resilience outcomes for customers. It is meant to serve as a starting point for commissions to understand and incorporate resilience into regulatory processes. The list of questions and resources will not be perfectly suited to the particular needs of each commission. As the resilience conversation advances, regulators will need to take advantage of available resources to build their capacity to assess resilience risks, compare investment options, and evaluate performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Is a Generator the Only Solution When the Grid Fails? Optimizing Systems for Resiliency and Carbon Reduction: Preprint

Traditionally, buildings are dependent on utility infrastructure, and when a grid failure happens, end users rely on the closest source of energy storage to sustain operation until power is restored. For buildings, that typically means using an electric generator. This electric generator either uses on-site energy storage such as fossil fuels in a tank or a gas connection which is, in turn, tied to gas wells—also a form of energy storage. Generators are popular for their ease of implementation and low capital costs; however, they have limited value outside of disruptions, and they are a source of scope 1 emissions, or direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources controlled by the building owner. In contrast, some power generation and storage systems, such as photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery energy storage systems (BESS), can serve the same purpose during grid disruptions while presenting advantages outside of power failure. This paper explores methods for storing and converting energy on-site to increase building resiliency, focusing on solutions that minimize scope 1 emissions. We analyze the cost and carbon impacts of energy efficiency measures, PV arrays, and BESS, with and without generators, in a simulation test case. We find significant benefits can be achieved both during and outside of power failure events when designing systems that integrate the on-demand capability of generators, the low carbon energy supplied by PV, and the storage capabilities of BESS. Specifically, adding even minimal BESS and PV can result in downsizing the generator, increasing generator efficiency and requiring less fuel.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗