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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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This report summarizes the project objectives and the progress made toward reaching those objectives. We also indicate manuscripts, datasets, and training that resulted from the award.
Final technical report for DOE-HEP early career award "Lattice Calculation of the QED Corrections to Meson Leptonic Decay" (DE-SC0021147)
The goal of this project was to develop a fundamental understanding of helium and hydrogen behavior in lithium, both in bulk and at interfaces with tungsten, in order to inform the design of lithium based plasma facing components for fusion devices. Over the course of the award, the project produced the first comprehensive, peer reviewed dataset describing helium energetics, migration behaviors, and defect interactions in lithium. The research demonstrated that helium behaves in ways not previously observed in any other body centered cubic (BCC) metal: its interstitial configurations are more stable than substitutional ones, and its migration barriers are extraordinarily low, in some cases more than an order of magnitude below those in tungsten or iron. These discoveries reveal that helium in lithium diffuses so rapidly that its transport may be dominated by translational motion rather than the vibrationally activated mechanisms that underpin conventional solid state diffusion. This work lays a scientific foundation for understanding gas retention, bubble formation, and wall evolution in lithium based fusion environments and provides new computational tools, most notably a newly developed Li–He interatomic potential, for advancing future modeling efforts.
This report documents the successful completion of DOE award DE-EE0009255: Ground- Truthing: Exploratory Borehole Characterization and Modeling to Verify and Expand Techno- Economic Evaluation of Earth Source Heat at Cornell University . Cornell University is evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of using deep direct-use (DDU) geothermal energy, referred to locally as Earth Source Heat (ESH), to serve as a renewable energy source for campus heating. To meet this objective, Cornell drilled an approximately 3-kilometer-deep exploratory borehole: the Cornell University Borehole Observatory (CUBO), or ESH-1. The team conducted an extensive suite of geophysical, hydrologic, thermal, mechanical, and geochemical measurements to evaluate subsurface conditions and geothermal development potential. This report summarizes the well drilling and testing tasks, findings, and conclusions.
The objective of this project, Highly Recyclable Thermosets for Lightweight Composites (DOE Award DE-EE0009297), was to develop recyclable carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites that are more energy efficient to produce than existing technologies while achieving superior mechanical performance and enabling closed-loop material recovery. Specifically, the project targeted vitrimer-based composites with tensile strength at least 20% higher than baseline recyclable polypropylene composites, retention of greater than 95% of tensile strength after multiple recycling and reprocessing cycles, recovery of carbonate monomers through depolymerization, and recovery of greater than 95% of carbon fibers of reusable quality. The project was carried out by The University of Akron in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Raytheon Technologies Research Center.
This report summarizes work performed under DOE Award DE-EE00010149 to support the reliable operation of a community-scale biochar reactor system in Kivalina, Alaska. The project focused on improving sanitation and waste management in a remote community by assessing the installed system, identifying spare parts, defining key performance indicators (KPIs), preparing operator and maintenance manuals, and developing mobile reporting tools for operational data and KPI tracking. The team also produced training materials and recorded videos to support operator onboarding and continuity. The project demonstrated progress in system readiness, documentation, and digital reporting, while also identifying challenges common to remote deployments, including travel constraints, upstream system failures, and local resource limitations. This work provides a practical framework for improving the operation, monitoring, and future replication of biomass reactor systems in remote communities.
This report summarizes key findings from DOE Award DE‑SC0007004 – Singlet Fission, documenting more than a decade of research led by Professor Josef Michl. The project advanced foundational understanding of singlet fission (SF) through integrated synthetic, spectroscopic, crystallographic, and computational studies. Across a diverse set of chromophores—including tetracenes, cibalackrot derivatives, BODIPY dimers, TDPPs, and fluorinated isobenzofurans—the team identified structural and packing features that enable or inhibit SF, clarified the roles of charge‑transfer intermediates and excimer formation, and developed simplified theoretical models and computational screening tools for predicting optimal geometries and excited‑state-energetics. The work significantly broadened design principles for SF‑active materials and provided insights relevant to next‑generation solar energy conversion and molecular photophysics.
Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office, US Department of Energy, GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR). We report the results of our study of the effective heat transfer characteristic of several candidate structure motifs, or feature geometries, made of SiC via additive manufacturing in a simulative laboratory test. The SiC structure motifs studied include different permutations of three-dimensional periodic lattices and defined shapes. The solar-thermal simulating laboratory test setup is constructed using a 4kW CO2 laser system with beam shaping optics to apply radiative heating power on one face of 2”-diameter cylindrical feature specimens representing the structure motifs of interest for receiver element design. Using the test setup, simulative test conditions representative of a concentrated solar flux of up to ~2000 suns could be achieved in the lab tests under varying air flow through the test structure. A numerical analysis scheme is developed to extract an effective or compound heat transfer coefficient representative of the test structure under steady-state heat flow conditions.
Increasing operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Owing to its high temperature stability combined with excellent thermal and optical properties, SiC has been the material of choice for application in high-temperature solar receivers. The state-of-the-art SiC volumetric concentrating solar air receivers such as honeycomb design have been demonstrated in field tests to achieve exit air temperatures approaching 800oC. However, successful application of CST systems for decarbonization requires significant increase in temperature capability of SiC receiver technology. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to design and to demonstrate a techno-economically viable SiC air receiver technology to achieve exit air temperature of 1100oC for CST applications. This report summarizes the learnings of a computational study on additively manufactured SiC lattice structures subjected to laser heating. The results from this study aim to help guide the design of a SiC receiver through a better understanding of lattice structure geometric parameters and their implications on the cracking response of the structure. In the study, a heat flux was applied to the surface of a 2”-diameter cylindrical lattice structure to simulate a 4kW CO2 laser. The resulting temperature distribution was applied to a structural model to approximate the stress distribution within the lattice structure and a Weibull analysis was performed to gain insight into the probability of failure and to evaluate the cracking response of the structure. With this approach, the influence of lattice density on temperature, stress, and probability of failure was explored for two different lattice beam spacings. A discussion on modeling assumptions, a comparison with experimental results, and an evaluation of the lattice cracking response is provided.
Increasing the operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Owing to its high temperature stability combined with excellent thermal and optical properties, SiC has been the material of choice for application in high-temperature solar receivers. State-of-the-art SiC volumetric concentrating solar air receivers such as the honeycomb design have successfully demonstrated in field exit air temperatures approaching 800oC. However, a successful application of CST systems for the decarbonization of heat reliant industrial sectors requires significant increases in the temperature capability of SiC receiver technology. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of an ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to design and demonstrate a techno-economically viable SiC air receiver technology that can achieve exit air temperatures up to 1100oC for CST applications. We report and discuss the results of our testing and evaluation of thermal and mechanical properties of reaction-bonded SiC fabricated via binder jet printing to support the receiver component design, development, and analyses.
Increasing operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Successful development of CST systems to generate heat for industrial applications requires significant increase in temperature capability and techno-economically viability of the receiver systems. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc and Sandia National Lab, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to demonstrate SiC receiver with air exit temperatures up to 1100 oC and high thermal efficiencies. We report design, fabrication and on-sun test results of SiC components of a prototype 50kW (thermal) HOTSSTAR module. The receiver module architecture is based on a radial airflow design and consists of a series of radial SiC receiver sectors organized around a SiC center absorber. The SiC components are fabricated using binder-jet printed SiC followed by melt-infiltration reaction bonding process. To enhance the reliability and to minimize the risk of cracking damage of SiC test articles in thermal gradient and thermal shock environment of the application, the components were laminated with GE’s MI SiC-SiC CMC. Following extensive design and lab test analyses, selected SiC component designs are tested at Heliogen Lancaster Solar field under highly concentrated solar fluxes around 2000 suns to assess the thermal performance characteristics under realistic field conditions. We report on the test results and compare the thermal performances of different HOTSSTAR SiC absorbers. Finally, we discuss fabrication and initial assembly of a 50kW prototype test module in preparation of on-sun field tests to assess the performance of our final design.
Awarded a Congressionally Directed Spend (CDS) in 2023, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has successfully executed the Meadowview Neighborhood Electrification Project designed to demonstrate the efficacy of residential energy efficiency and weatherization upgrades for under-resourced communities positively impacting energy use reductions, financial metrics, and indoor air quality. Initially, the project sought to electrify and upgrade 300 homes in Sacramento’s Meadowview neighborhood. However, as interest and momentum grew, the project team proved increasingly efficient and was able to retrofit 374 homes. The project built on SMUD’s years of effort increasing energy efficiency, weatherization, and electrification for low-income residential customers—moving beyond incremental improvements toward full home electrification where it was both feasible and cost-effective.
This project advanced quantum algorithms, quantum information theory, strongly correlated electronic structure methods, molecular quantum materials, and exciton transport imaging in coherent condensed phase systems. Across the award period, the team developed new methods for open-quantum-system simulation, Hamiltonian learning, state tomography, reduced-density-matrix and contracted-quantum eigensolver approaches, and quantum diagnostics for device capability and openness.
This final report describes research conducted under DOE Award DE-SC0021132, "High-Efficiency, High-Current Laser-Driven Electron Injector," during the period 09/01/2020–08/31/2023. The project investigates a largely unexplored regime of short-pulse laser–plasma interaction near the quarter-critical density in ultrathin gas targets as a novel electron injection mechanism for laser–wakefield acceleration (LWFA). The overarching goal is to develop high-efficiency, high-current electron sources driven by modest peak-intensity lasers at high repetition rate, suitable as compact injectors or front-ends for future laser-based accelerators.
WH-Power Final Technical Report — Low-Cost All-Temperature Zinc-Pulp Battery This is the final scientific/technical report for ARPA-E CREATE program award DE-AR0001796, covering work from September 2023 through September 2025. The WHP–UMD–Yale team set out to develop a safe, low-cost, wide-temperature zinc battery for grid-scale stationary storage. What was built: A zinc-pulp (Zn/CNF) battery system pairing an aqueous high-entropy electrolyte (HEE) with a cellulose-derived ion-conducting membrane.
General Motors LLC (GM) was awarded a project to develop and implement technologies for manufacturing 20,000 units of Fuel Cell Stacks per year on two shifts per day basis. GM leveraged prior in-house expertise in designing the Fuel Cells, deploying the manufacturing process steps in the laboratory environment as well as the deployment in the industrial environment on a smaller scale. The project focus was to design, build, and deploy a manufacturing line consisting of an anode and cathode electrode processing, unitized electrode assembly, fuel cell stacking, compression, testing, and final assembly of the fuel cell stack. The project was terminated in the first budget period.
This document contains the final scientific and technical report for award DE-SC0021315 "Investigating the Structure and Decay Properties of Unstable Nuclei".
Overview This project focused on developing a high-fidelity numerical framework to simulate the multiphysics environment within Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detectors. The primary objective was to characterize the complex interplay between ion transport, background fluid dynamics, and electric field distortions—a critical factor for the calibration and sensitivity of next-generation High Energy Physics experiments, such as DUNE. Technical Achievements The research successfully yielded a hybrid numerical space-charge solver utilizing a Cell-Centered Finite Volume Method (FVM) for ion transport coupled with a Finite Element Method (FEM) for electric potential. Key accomplishments include: • Verification & Validation: The 3-D solver was rigorously verified against 1-D analytical solutions, demonstrating high numerical accuracy in predicting space-charge-induced field deviations. • Field Distortion Analysis: 3D simulations revealed that space charge effects introduce significant non-uniformities in the electric field. Critically, the research identified that background LAr flow velocities, when comparable to ion drift velocities, markedly exacerbate these distortions. • Technology Transfer: The resulting source code and comprehensive user manuals were successfully transferred to collaborators at Fermilab, providing a portable computational tool for the broader scientific community. Challenges and Future Directions While the space-charge solver achieved all performance metrics, the integrated fluid dynamics modeling encountered convergence challenges stemming from the extreme 200-fold disparity in length scales between the detector's 37 mm inlet pipes and the 8-meter global domain. To address this, the project has identified a clear technical pivot toward Hierarchical Geometric Adaptive Mesh Refinement (HG-AMR). By implementing an h-type refinement strategy with hanging nodes, future iterations of this solver will be capable of resolving localized high-gradient inlet flows without the prohibitive computational costs of regular grids. This advancement, combined with data-driven uncertainty quantification based on MicroBooNE-style calibration, will enable the precise modeling of detector responses in large-scale cryogenic environments where direct measurement remains difficult. Impact The computational tools developed under this award provide a foundation for enhancing the energy resolution and spatial reconstruction of noble liquid detectors. By bridging the gap between theoretical fluid dynamics and experimental field calibration, this work supports the DOE’s mission to advance the frontiers of neutrino physics and dark matter detection.