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At least 919 records · Page 51

Hybrid Powered Command Trailers Cost-Benefit Analysis Tool: User Guide and Examples

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) wildfire base camps use portable power for electrical needs, including yurts and trailers from which logistics staff work during the incident. These yurts and trailers are conventionally powered by portable diesel generators. Hybrid portable power systems consisting of a combination of solar photovoltaics (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and/or backup diesel generators have been used in recent years and were piloted by the National Technology and Development Program (NTDP) on incidents in fall 2024 as part of NTDP's Portable Power Project. As part of that project, this work included the development of two Excel-based tools and two reports explaining the tools. The first tool, the Incident Energy Systems Model, is an Excel-based tool that models the power output of hybrid portable power systems powering yurts and/or trailers at fire camps over a typical day. The associated report (published separately) outlines a user guide for the model and walks through two scenarios. The two scenarios are 1) trailers powered by rooftop solar PV, batteries, and a back-up diesel generator, and 2) trailers powered by ground mount solar PV, batteries, and a back-up diesel generator. The second tool is a high-level cost-benefit analysis of the same two types of portable power systems, and is location independent.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

AssessCCUS: An Integrated Approach for Aggregating Resources to Enable Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Management Technologies

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) - also sometimes known as carbon management - technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of the portfolio of technologies necessary to mitigate climate change and defossilize industrial production systems (Sick, 2021). These technologies capture carbon dioxide from industrial point sources or from the atmosphere directly and then either sequester it or use it as a carbon source in valuable products. Potential utilization pathways include, but are not limited to, concrete, fuels, and certain commodity chemicals, and sequestration pathways can include permanent geological storage or temporary storage in natural sinks ranging from forests to agricultural soil. Regardless of the pathway, assessment of the economic and environmental performance of the technologies is important for understanding their potential scalability and impact as well as developing plans to minimize life cycle costs and potential environmental trade-offs. A full discussion of potential trade-offs associated with CCUS is outside the scope of this article, but promoting assessment broadly helps to stimulate important conversations about the benefits and drawbacks of any particular technological choice.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Electrical Systems of Pumped Storage Hydropower Plants: Electrical Generation, Machines, Power Electronics, and Power Systems

Adjustable-speed (AS) pumped storage hydropower (PSH) technology has the potential to become a large, consistent contributor to grid stability enabling higher penetrations of wind and solar energy on the future U.S. power system. AS-PSH has high-value characteristics, such as fast response to provide ancillary services to the grid, because it is a power converter interface with the grid (like battery storage), but at the same time it has the energy content large enough to supply both short-term (seconds-to-minutes) and long-term (minutes-to-hours) of energy needs, like more conventional power plants. However, designs must be optimized to lower the capital expenditure (CapEx) and to provide a high-quality grid interface capability (e.g. power quality, ancillary service provider, fault-tolerant or fault ride-through capability), which is a primary factor in the acceptance of AS-PSH into a utility’s generation mix. This CapEx will be greatly affected by the cost savings associated with the civil structure, turbine design, power electronics, control systems, or unique generator designs. A holistic design must be considered to get a full picture of the benefits of the technology proposed. The AS-PSH can be controlled to reduce the impact of transient disturbance on a power system and at the same time can be controlled to minimized subsequent component fatigue and potential oscillation modes within the plant, with the overall impact in reducing the operational expenditures (OpEx).Generating clean power to meet standards such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 519 and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 1000-3-2 will be a continuing challenge. For many technology developers, however, improved AS-PSH technologies will become a key component of generator-storage systems of the future given the prospects of increased performance and decreasing costs, and the ever-increasing penetration of renewables (e.g wind power and solar power).

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Mitigation of Molten Salt Corrosion

The desire to increase the peak operational temperature of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants to lower the levelized cost of CSP-derived electricity, has led to consideration of an earth-abundant, low-cost, thermally-stable, molten MgCl 2 -KCl-NaCl (40-40-20 mole%) salt for high-temperature thermal energy storage and heat transfer. The reliable, long-term containment of such a molten salt is challenging, however, due to the corrosion of cost-effective, high-temperature structural metal alloys in this salt (particularly if this salt is contaminated with oxygen-bearing species). This project has been focused on: i) development of equipment for evaluating corrosion kinetics in molten chlorides under well-controlled thermal, fluid dynamic, and atmospheric conditions at CSP-relevant temperatures, ii) use of such equipment to evaluate the influence of forced convection on corrosion kinetics (to determine the role of liquid phase diffusion on such corrosion), and iii) identifying a corrosion-mitigation strategy that can be industrially applied to achieve a projected annual corrosion ≤30 μm at CSP-relevant temperatures. The overall goals of this project have been: i) to understand the rate-limiting step(s) and associated kinetic laws governing corrosion in molten chlorides at 750°C, ii) to determine key operational parameters affecting the corrosion kinetics in molten salts, and iii) to demonstrate the tailoring of such parameters to appreciably reduce such corrosion.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Modeling of ATR Fuel in DOE Standard Canisters with Helium Backfill

One pathway for road-ready and final disposition packaging configurations for the aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ANSF) fuel is storage within helium backfilled sealed Department of Energy (DOE) standard canisters. The typical packaging configuration for the 15-foot DOE standard canisters places 10 advance test reactor (ATR) elements a basket, and three baskets are loaded within each DOE canister. During in-reactor operations and cooling pond storage conditions, oxyhydroxide layers form on the surface of the aluminum clad fuel. These layers produce hydrogen gas over time due to the fuel’s radiation field. As part of the packing procedure, the ATR fuel should be dried to remove any residual physio-/chemi- sorbed water bound to the surface. A 50-year CFD model of the DOE canister packaged with fuel was developed to provide a temperature profile for coupled chemical modeling of the conditions within the canister. The results of this modeling include results at fully saturated and fully dried fuel cladding conditions. In the associated experimental work, radiolysis experiments tests were completed in a helium environment, and G-values for the radiolytic production of hydrogen from the oxyhydroxide layers were provided. That reaction was coupled with the thermal profiles and gas-phase reactions to develop a 50-year model of the conditions within a sealed DOE canister with ATR fuel. For a nominal scenario of stored ATR fuel, after 50 years the model results give a 1.36 atm total pressure, 7% mole percent hydrogen, for the upper decay heat, 1.51 atm total pressure, 16% mole percent hydrogen, and for upper decay heat with undried fuel 2.6 atm total pressure, 15% mole percent hydrogen. No case modeled yields significant oxygen, and for the lower decay heat case that is modeled, hydrogen concentrations are under the 4% flammability limit after 50 years of storage. The modeled pressures for all cases modeled are below the pressure limit for the DOE standard sealed canister.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Structural modeling and dynamic analysis of condensate storage tanks in nuclear power plants

Condensate storage tanks (CSTs) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) are classified as critical equipment capable of surviving strong shaking in a design basis earthquake to assure the ability to subsequently provide cooling water. Structural modeling and dynamic analysis of CSTs are complicated due to fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and coupling issues, which could have significant effects on seismic response. The capability of a number of approximate models to capture seismic response is investigated using dynamic analysis results from detailed finite element models. Modal analyses and time history analyses are carried out using both 2D and 3D models to predict the dynamic behavior of CSTs as a function of ground motion intensity. Although 2D simplified models can be used to quickly evaluate the dynamic response of CSTs when there is substantial margin to failure, a detailed 3D model is required when it is necessary to examine a limit state associated with the failure mode of the tank. The findings show good agreement between the natural frequencies of convective modes determined from the 2D and 3D CST models. The difference between the frequencies of impulsive modes were found to be equal to or less than 25%.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Plant litter traits control microbial decomposition and drive soil carbon stabilization

Efforts to manage soils for carbon (C) sequestration remain limited by our understanding of how differences in plant traits and microbial traits mechanistically drive soil organic C (SOC) storage. Addressing this uncertainty is particularly critical in bioenergy agriculture, due to its potential to enhance soil C and provide a C neutral fuel. As such, we examined differences between two contrasting feedstocks, Zea mays (corn) and Miscanthus x giganteus (miscanthus), in the ability of their litter to form new chemically resistant particulate SOC vs. physically protected mineral associated SOC and used this data to improve the parameterization of a microbial SOC model. We tested a hypothesized conceptual model whereby easy to decompose corn litters drive greater microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) and the formation of more mineral associated SOC over particulate SOC than more complex miscanthus litters. To do this, we performed a soil microcosm experiment where we added 13 C enriched aboveground and belowground litters to soils and traced the fate of the 13 C into microbial respiration and SOC pools. We found that corn litters promoted higher microbial CUE (0.37) than miscanthus litters (0.24). In turn, corn litter formed approximately 50% more mineral associated SOC than miscanthus litters. Similarly, structurally complex root litters promoted a lower CUE and formed less mineral associated SOC than leaf and shoot litters for both crops. When we used our data to parameterize the SOC model, we found that modelling microbial trait differences uniquely allowed the model to capture the fate of litter C in SOC. Collectively, we found a robust link between litter quality, microbial efficiency, and the formation of SOC. This link bridges the empirical uncertainty in how different crops can form new soil C and provides an empirical basis for modelling SOC transformations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

U.S. national water and energy land dataset for integrated multisector dynamics research

Abstract Understanding resource demands and tradeoffs among energy, water, and land socioeconomic sectors requires an explicit consideration of spatial scale. However, incorporation of land dynamics within the energy-water nexus has been limited due inconsistent spatial units of observation from disparate data sources. Herein we describe the development of a National Water and Energy Land Dataset (NWELD) for the conterminous United States. NWELD is a 30-m, 86-layer rasterized dataset depicting the land use of mappable components of the United States energy sector life cycles (and related water used for energy), specifically the extraction, development, production, storage, distribution, and operation of eight renewable and non-renewable technologies. Through geospatial processing and programming, the final products were assembled using four different methodologies, each depending upon the nature and availability of raw data sources. For validation, NWELD provided a relatively accurate portrayal of the spatial extent of energy life cycles yet displayed low measures of association with mainstream land cover and land use datasets, indicating the provision of new land use information for the energy-water nexus.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

BrzostekEcologyLab/CORPSE-soil-jars

Efforts to manage soils for carbon (C) sequestration remain limited by our understanding of how differences in plant traits and microbial traits mechanistically drive soil organic C (SOC) storage. Addressing this uncertainty is particularly critical in bioenergy agriculture, due to its potential to enhance soil C and provide a C neutral fuel. As such, we examined differences between two contrasting feedstocks, Zea mays (corn) and Miscanthus x giganteus (miscanthus), in the ability of their litter to form new chemically resistant particulate SOC vs. physically protected mineral associated SOC and used this data to improve the parameterization of a microbial SOC model. We tested a hypothesized conceptual model whereby easy to decompose corn litters drive greater microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) and the formation of more mineral associated SOC over particulate SOC than more complex miscanthus litters. To do this, we performed a soil microcosm experiment where we added 13C enriched aboveground and belowground litters to soils and traced the fate of the 13C into microbial respiration and SOC pools. We found that corn litters promoted higher microbial CUE (0.37) than miscanthus litters (0.24). In turn, corn litter formed approximately 50% more mineral associated SOC than miscanthus litters. Similarly, structurally complex root litters promoted a lower CUE and formed less mineral associated SOC than leaf and shoot litters for both crops. When we used our data to parameterize the SOC model, we found that modeling microbial trait differences uniquely allowed the model to capture the fate of litter C in SOC. Collectively, we found a robust link between litter quality, microbial efficiency, and the formation of SOC. This link bridges the empirical uncertainty in how different crops can form new soil C and provides an empirical basis for modeling SOC transformations.

Ridgeway, Joanna↗

Hybrid Natural Gas Geothermal Combined Cycle Power Plant Analysis

Low temperature geothermal resources, including those associated with oil and gas production, are an underutilized source of low carbon energy. The present work investigates coupling of low-temperature geothermal resources with concentrating solar and/or natural gas energy sources to increase the number of locations at which power generation from low temperature geothermal resources would be technically and economically viable. Stand-alone and hybrid geothermal power cycles are simulated using SimTech IPSEpro process modeling software. Design point strategies for a hybrid power cycle that may operate with either a single heat source or two simultaneous heat input sources are considered. Additionally, off-design power plant operation is investigated to consider the impacts of the heat source availability and ambient temperature variations. The off-design analysis utilizes a modeling tool that predicts power plant performance at each time step as a function of topping cycle heat input (from gas or solar), bottoming cycle heat input (from geothermal), and ambient temperature. Addition of a steam topping cycle to an organic Rankine cycle geothermal power plant provides opportunities to increase the efficiency and power output relative to a stand-alone geothermal power plant. Additionally, use of the waste heat from gas turbine power generation in a geothermal bottoming cycle provides opportunities to increase the amount of power generation associated with each unit of carbon dioxide emitted. This paper will describe the hybrid plant configuration evaluated, discuss the predicted power cycle performance, and compare with stand-alone natural gas and geothermal power generation cases. The power cycle investigated is expected to be applicable for use with conventional hydrothermal resources as well as with geologic thermal energy storage applications and/or enhanced geothermal systems. The steam topping cycle could use a concentrated solar heat source for fully renewable hybrid plant configuration. A plant initially constructed with a natural gas topping cycle heat source could be converted to a solar heat source part way though the power cycle operational life to achieve life cycle carbon emission reductions.

concentrating solar power↗

Paving the way for Stakeholder use of Carbon Storage & Transport Digital Resources

This online resource is intended to provide a comprehensive “one-stop-shop” for understanding the availability of tools, data, and models developed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) as they relate to supporting stakeholders’ Carbon Storage and Transport needs. To support accessibility of these BIL products, supplemental information regarding project life-cycle relevance, update history, release dates, input and output formats, and example use-cases will be integrated into consistent and accessible Story Map formats. This presentation is to update on the progress of this effort and detail anticipated next steps associated with ongoing development.

Martin, Abigail↗

Decarbonization of the power sector with CCS: Case study in two regions in the U.S. and lessons for Latin America

This work consists of estimates of potential changes in the total systems cost (TSC) of two RTOs of the United States (U.S.), MISO-N and SPP RTO West, under the traditional decarbonization pathway of replacement of fossil-power plants with variable renewable energy (VRE) and the less traditional pathway of retrofitting fossil fuel units with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Although the power mixes of MISO-N and SPP RTO West are particular to these regions, results can apply to other regions, including Latin American countries that are planning to decarbonize their power sectors. This case study serves to highlight lessons on differences in technology costs between these two pathways, as well as the cost associated with decarbonization rates close to 100%.

Pena-Cabra, Ivonne A.↗

2021 Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Buildings Workshop: Priorities and Pathways to Widespread Deployment of Thermal Energy Storage in Buildings

The 2021 U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) "Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Buildings Workshop: Priorities and Pathways to Widespread Deployment of Thermal Energy Storage in Buildings" was hosted virtually on May 11 and 12, 2021. This report provides an overview of the workshop proceedings. Organized by DOE's Building Technologies Office (BTO), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the workshop convened more than 600 stakeholders from around the world to discuss the need for advancing the deployment of thermal energy storage (TES) in buildings. This workshop was designed to build on BTO's webinar series and 2019 workshop. The goals of this workshop were to promote discussion on TES related to: 1. Market adoption and deployment barriers, 2. Key applications and value drivers, 3. System cost, performance, and market requirements, and 4. End-use specific needs. The workshop took place over two days and consisted of keynote presentations, moderated panels, breakout sessions, and open discussion forums. The keynote presentations introduced opportunities for building TES, barriers to widespread deployment, and future visions. Moderated panel discussions presented diverse perspectives, breakout sessions provided opportunities for more intimate conversations, and open discussions captured feedback from the entire workshop group. Over the course of the two days, attendees exchanged experiences and ideas surrounding multiple aspects of TES in buildings. The first section of this report provides background on the motivations behind advancing TES for residential and commercial buildings and elaborates on the workshop objectives. The second section details the workshop structure and participant demographics. The third section provides key findings of the discussions that took place during the breakout sessions. Finally, this report details recommendations and actions to increase the TES deployment. Several recommendations from workshop attendees are presented in Table ES-1. TES holds significant potential to help increase building efficiency, grid-interactivity, and energy resilience, as well as reduce associated carbon emissions. The outputs generated from this workshop will aid stakeholders in advancing TES in buildings through a deeper understanding of the opportunities and barriers surrounding widespread deployment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Lithium ion battery with thermal runaway protection

Lithium ion batteries are provided that include materials that provide advantageous endothermic functionalities contributing to the safety and stability of the batteries. The endothermic materials may include a ceramic matrix incorporating an inorganic gas-generating endothermic material. If the temperature of the lithium ion battery rises above a predetermined level, the endothermic materials serve to provide one or more functions to prevent and/or minimize the potential for thermal runaway, e.g., thermal insulation (particularly at high temperatures); (ii) energy absorption; (iii) venting of gases produced, in whole or in part, from endothermic reaction(s) associated with the endothermic materials, (iv) raising total pressure within the battery structure; (v) removal of absorbed heat from the battery system via venting of gases produced during the endothermic reaction(s) associated with the endothermic materials, and/or (vi) dilution of toxic gases (if present) and their safe expulsion from the battery system.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Iron-iminopyridine complexes as charge carriers for non-aqueous redox flow battery applications

Non-aqueous redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been gaining increased attention in the energy storage arena. Some of their attractive features include the promise for high energy densities, wider voltage windows compared to aqueous systems, as well as wider operating temperature ranges. One of the major challenges in the development of these systems is the lack of electroactive materials that can undergo reversible redox events within the larger potential window of organic solvents. In this paper, we present the design, synthesis, and measurement of electrochemical properties of some iron-based imine- and iminopyridine complexes as promising candidates for RFB applications. Synthesized complexes afforded three reversible redox couples over a ~3 V range. The redox events were also computationally explored and are in good agreement with experimental data. Theoretical calculations show that the redox event at the positive potential can be characterized as metal-centered event corresponding to Fe 3+ → Fe 2+ reduction, while the two redox events at negative potentials are associated with the consecutive reductions of iminopyridine or diimine moieties. This work has led to the identification of a promising anolyte material, [tris(imino)pyridine)Fe][OTf] 2 (1), which is soluble in acetonitrile and is synthesized in two simple steps. This species shows outstanding performance when cycled between 1.0 V and 2.35 V, with 93% coulombic efficiency, 84% energy efficiency, and a capacity decay rate of 0.61% per cycle at 5 mA cm –2 . Further modifications to this kind of charge carrier may lead to the development of high energy density materials for grid scale energy storage applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Spent Nuclear Fuel and Reprocessing Waste Inventory

This report provides information on the inventory of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the United States located at Nuclear Power Reactor (NPR) and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) sites, as well as SNF and reprocessing waste located at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites and other research and development (R&D) centers. Actual or estimated quantitative values for current inventories are provided along with inventory forecasts derived from examining different future nuclear power generation scenarios. The report also includes select information on the characteristics associated with the wastes examined (e.g., type, packaging, heat generation rate, decay curves).

Peters, Shan↗

Spent Nuclear Fuel and Reprocessing Waste Inventory

This report provides information on the inventory of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the United States located at Nuclear Power Reactor (NPR) and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) sites, as well as SNF and reprocessing waste located at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites and other research and development (R&D) centers. Actual or estimated quantitative values for current inventories are provided along with inventory forecasts derived from examining different future nuclear power generation scenarios. The report also includes select information on the characteristics associated with the wastes examined (e.g., type, packaging, heat generation rate, decay curves).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Considerations for Developing a Regulatory Roadmap for Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Integration in Colombia

The USAID-NREL Partnership in Colombia, in conjunction with SURE and USEA, selected four action plan teams from the Young Professionals Leadership Program to receive tailored NREL technical assistance to support action plan implementation. The four plans selected represent various aspects associated with planning for the efficient integration of DERs, including electric mobility, residential and commercial energy applications, distributed generation modeling, and regulatory considerations. In response to national grid modernization, decentralization, digitalization, and electrification trends, CREG is looking to update Colombia's electric distribution code, with an emphasis on the integration of electric vehicles and charging stations, but also energy storage systems, non-conventional sources of renewable energy, and other distributed energy resources (DERs). CREG aims to establish the general steps that must be carried out to update the distribution code for the integration of DERs, with a view to the design and development of new markets. The objective of the TA provided to CREG was to support them in identifying and outlining the general processes and approaches to consider when updating Colombia's distribution code for the integration of electric vehicles, distributed renewable energy systems, and energy storage systems, with a view to the design and development of new markets.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗