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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 919 records · Page 51

Applying equity principles leads to higher carbon removal obligations in Canada

Despite net-zero pledges, consensus on national responsibilities for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies is lacking. Here, we use integrated assessment modeling to examine equity-informed estimates of Canada’s remaining carbon budgets, exploring CDR’s role at net-zero and beyond. Gigaton-scale CDR efforts post-2050 are needed to address Canada’s carbon debt under various burden-sharing principles. Cumulative negative emissions (2050-2100) could increase from 7.5 GtCO 2 in the Net-Zero scenario to 20.3 GtCO 2 in equity-informed scenarios. By 2100, a CDR portfolio, including bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, and enhanced weathering could contribute up to ~500 MtCO 2 /year of removals. The projected average CDR growth rates, 2.8%-16%/year, align with the historical adoption rates of ammonia synthesis and biomass consumption in Canada, underscoring the importance of drawing lessons from past successes. Socio-economic and technological sensitivity analysis highlights that, despite variations in the role of individual CDR technologies, CDR remains essential for Canada’s post-net-zero commitments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Targeted proteomic assays for quantitation of proteins identified by proteogenomic analysis of ovarian cancer

Here, mass spectrometry (MS) based targeted proteomic methods such as selected reaction monitoring (SRM) are becoming the method of choice for preclinical verification of candidate protein biomarkers. The Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) of the National Cancer Institute has investigated the standardization and analytical validation of the SRM assays and demonstrated robust analytical performance on different instruments across different laboratories. An Assay Portal has also been established by CPTAC to provide the research community a resource consisting of large set of targeted MS-based assays, and a depository to share assays publicly, providing that assays meet the guidelines proposed by CPTAC. Herein, we report 98 SRM assays covering 70 candidate protein biomarkers previously reported as associated with ovarian cancer that have been thoroughly characterized according to the CPTAC Assay Characterization Guidance Document. The experiments, methods and results for characterizing these SRM assays for their MS response, repeatability, selectivity, stability, and reproducible detection of endogenous analytes are described in detail.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Performance study of a 3×1×1 m 3 dual phase liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber exposed to cosmic rays

We report the results of the analyses of the cosmic ray data collected with a 4 tonne (3×1×1 m 3 ) active mass (volume) Liquid Argon Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) operated in a dual-phase mode. We present a detailed study of the TPC's response, its main detector parameters and performance. The results are important for the understanding and further developments of the dual-phase technology, thanks to the verification of key aspects, such as the extraction of electrons from liquid to gas and their amplification through the entire one square metre readout plain, gain stability, purity and charge sharing between readout views.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Comparison of Virtual Oscillator and Droop Control: Preprint

Virtual oscillator control and droop control are two techniques that can be used to ensure synchronization and power sharing of parallel inverters in islanded operation. VOC relies on the implementation of non-linear Van der Pol oscillator equations in the control system of the inverter, acting upon the time-domain instantaneous inverter current and terminal voltage. On the other hand, DC explicitly computes active and reactive power produced by the inverter and relies on limited bandwidth low-pass filters. Even though both methods can be engineered to produce the same steady-state characteristics, their dynamic performances are significantly different. This paper presents analytical and experimental results that aim to compare both methods. It is shown that VOC is inherently faster and enables minimizing the circulating currents. The results are verified using three 120V, 1kW inverters.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Activities of human RRP6 and structure of the human RRP6 catalytic domain

The eukaryotic RNA exosome is a highly conserved multi-subunit complex that catalyzes degradation and processing of coding and noncoding RNA. A noncatalytic nine-subunit exosome core interacts with Rrp44 and Rrp6, two subunits that possess processive and distributive 3'-to-5' exoribonuclease activity, respectively. While both Rrp6 and Rrp44 are responsible for RNA processing in budding yeast, Rrp6 may play a more prominent role in processing, as it has been demonstrated to be inhibited by stable RNA secondary structure in vitro and because the null allele in budding yeast leads to the buildup of specific structured RNA substrates. Human RRP6, otherwise known as PM/SCL-100 or EXOSC10, shares sequence similarity to budding yeast Rrp6 and is proposed to catalyze 3'-to-5' exoribonuclease activity on a variety of nuclear transcripts including ribosomal RNA subunits, RNA that has been poly-adenylated by TRAMP, as well as other nuclear RNA transcripts destined for processing and/or destruction. To characterize human RRP6, we expressed the full-length enzyme as well as truncation mutants that retain catalytic activity, compared their activities to analogous constructs for Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rrp6, and determined the X-ray structure of a human construct containing the exoribonuclease and HRDC domains that retains catalytic activity. Structural data show that the human active site is more exposed when compared to the yeast structure, and biochemical data suggest that this feature may play a role in the ability of human RRP6 to productively engage and degrade structured RNA substrates more effectively than the analogous budding yeast enzyme.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Fundamental Mechanisms Controlling Dislocation-Obstacle Interactions in Metals and Alloys

This project combined modeling and experimentation across micro-meso-macro length scales to investigate the role of long-range internal stresses associated with obstacles and dislocation populations, in the deformation response of cubic metals. In addition to unique insights into the physical behavior of metals, advances were also made in modeling techniques and tools at the meso and atomistic level, and new characterization methods were developed and disseminated to the scientific community. Twenty eight journal papers, two dissertations and three theses have served as vehicles to share the gained scientific knowledge, and two open-source software packages have been developed, maintained and distributed. Additional publications are in progress.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Fundamental Mechanisms Controlling Dislocation-Obstacle Interactions in Metals and Alloys

This project combined modeling and experimentation across micro-meso-macro length scales to investigate the role of long-range internal stresses associated with obstacles and dislocation populations, in the deformation response of cubic metals. In addition to unique insights into the physical behavior of metals, advances were also made in modeling techniques and tools at the meso and atomistic level, and new characterization methods were developed and disseminated to the scientific community. Twenty eight journal papers, two dissertations and three theses have served as vehicles to share the gained scientific knowledge, and two opensource software packages have been developed, maintained and distributed. Additional publications are in progress.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Human System Risk Communication: Directed Acyclic Graphs

- The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) is responsible for the management of a portfolio of 30 human system risks that NASA tracks and configuration manages to mitigate for future crewed exploration missions. - The HSRB has been exploring the concept of causal diagrams (in the form of Directed Acyclic Graphs or DAGs) as an approach to creating knowledge graphs for each risk to enable shared mental models of causal flow from spaceflight hazards to mission outcomes among HSRB Stakeholders. - These diagrams are intended to improve insight and communication of risk across the myriad subject matter experts and management interested in human system risk reduction. This includes program managers, systems engineers, and operators in addition to the Human Health and Performance Directorate. - The DAG project was intended to create the foundation for composition of the 30 baselined DAGs into a single risk network and software is being developed in parallel to enable this forward work.

directed acrylic graph↗

Performance of ePix10K, a high dynamic range, gain auto-ranging pixel detector for FELs

ePix10K is a hybrid pixel detector developed at SLAC for demanding free-electron laser (FEL) applications, providing an ultrahigh dynamic range (245 eV to 88 MeV) through gain auto-ranging. It has three gain modes (high, medium and low) and two auto-ranging modes (high-to-low and medium-to-low). The first ePix10K cameras are built around modules consisting of a sensor flip-chip bonded to 4 ASICs, resulting in 352 × 384 pixels of 100 µm x 100 µm each. We present results from extensive testing of three ePix10K cameras with FEL beams at LCLS, resulting in a measured noise floor of 245 eV rms, or 67 e - equivalent noise charge (ENC), and a range of 11 000 photons at 8 keV. We demonstrate the linearity of the response in various gain combinations: fixed high, fixed medium, fixed low, auto-ranging high to low, and auto-ranging medium-to-low, while maintaining a low noise (well within the counting statistics), a very low cross-talk, perfect saturation response at fluxes up to 900 times the maximum range, and acquisition rates of up to 480 Hz. Finally, we present examples of high dynamic range x-ray imaging spanning more than 4 orders of magnitude dynamic range (from a single photon to 11 000 photons/pixel/pulse at 8 keV). Achieving this high performance with only one auto-ranging switch leads to relatively simple calibration and reconstruction procedures. The low noise levels allow usage with long integration times at non-FEL sources. ePix10K cameras leverage the advantages of hybrid pixel detectors with high production yield and good availability, minimize development complexity through sharing the hardware, software and DAQ development with all other versions of ePix cameras, while providing an upgrade path to 5 kHz, 25 kHz and 100 kHz in three steps over the next few years, matching the LCLS-II requirements.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Nuclear Energy Response in the EMF27 Study

The nuclear energy response for mitigating global climate change across eighteen participating models of the EMF27 study is investigated. Diverse perspectives on the future role of nuclear power in the global energy system are evident in the broad range of nuclear power contributions from participating models of the study. In the Baseline scenario without climate policy, nuclear electricity generation and shares span 0 – 66 EJ/ year and 0 - 25% in 2100 for all models, with a median nuclear electricity generation of 39 EJ/year (1,389 GWe at 90% capacity factor) and median share of 9%. The role of nuclear energy increased under the climate policy scenarios. The median of nuclear energy use across all models doubled in the 450 ppm CO2e scenario with a nuclear electricity generation of 67 EJ/year (2,352 GWe at 90% capacity factor) and share of 17% in 2100. The broad range of nuclear electricity generation (11 – 214 EJ/year) and shares (2 - 38%) in 2100 of the 450 ppm CO2e scenario reflect differences in the technology choice behavior, technology assumptions and competitiveness of low carbon technologies. Greater clarification of nuclear fuel cycle issues and risk factors associated with nuclear energy use are necessary for understanding the nuclear deployment constraints imposed in models and for improving the assessment of the nuclear energy potential in addressing climate change.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Anticipating Change - A Means to Save Time and Rethink the Implementation of the 10 Code of Federal Regulations 770 Real Property Transfer Process - 15662

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 770 in 2000 for the 'Transfer of Real Property at Defense Nuclear Facilities for Economic Development'. The rule was issued in order to 'offset negative impacts on communities caused by unemployment from related DOE down-sizing, facility close-outs and workforce restructuring'. There is a sense of urgency implied in efforts designed to address economic conditions, especially in communities that have hosted DOE facilities and are experiencing negative impacts of mission changes. Despite the urgency, the transfer of real property from DOE or any federal agency is a lengthy, complex, iterative, but necessarily diligent effort. After all, the aim of the process is to be able to demonstrate that the property proposed for transfer is protective of human health and the environment for the intended use. Notwithstanding the efforts of the economic development organization to market, recruit, and prepare a robust proposal to request property, and the efforts of DOE to perform the many due diligence activities in response to that request, the actual results of the evaluations are an unknown until a major portion of the process is completed. Will the property be determined to be suitable for transfer? Will there be deed restrictions? Is indemnification available? Has a mission need for the property arisen while working through the reviews? There are many points along the way that can sidetrack or delay progress and, in the interim, the economic viability of the proposal can collapse. Even without the unforeseen events, the process in and of itself is lengthy. It is often heard (loudly) that it takes far too long to obtain a piece of property once a request is made; that observation/criticism is worthy of serious attention. Rather than revisit old debates, why not learn from them? Why not look at the transfer process from a different point of view and ameliorate it so it can be more responsive to community needs? Why not anticipate change, anticipate requests, and make property available before a request as well as responding to requests to make property available? There are several ways to rethink and modify the way the transfer process is implemented to reduce the time following a request. The modifications would arise from both internal information sharing, integrated and timely up-front planning and, in particular, by varying how and when certain elements of the process to enable transfer are performed. This paper will address: 1. How a unified overall vision can be created from the cleanup input of Site-Specific Advisory Boards with the Community Reuse Organizations' planning for economic development and can help inform site cleanup to end state to future use; 2. Why DOE is in the best position to know its site conditions and could determine ahead of a transfer request what property is indeed available and notify of that determination; 3. How a range of disposition paths for real property are available to DOE; and 4. Why broadening the understanding of 'best interest of the government' to one that is clearly able to recognize non-monetary benefits is in the best interest of the government. Anticipating change helps prepare DOE and their host communities for the future. It creates opportunities for flexibility and time savings. The sooner DOE's unneeded and under-utilized real property can be made available to the communities that need it most, the sooner those communities can work to moderate the adverse effects of DOE mission changes. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Integrated Smart Distribution RD&D Project Final Technical Report

Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), tasked OE with accelerating the commercialization, deployment and integration of advanced digital systems that are needed to modernize the nation’s electricity delivery network for enhanced interoperability and cyber security. To support this mandated task, a goal of the SGR&D Program is to develop technology with the ability to dynamically optimize grid operations and resources and incorporate demand response and consumer participation. The majority of historical research and development in the domain of distribution management systems (DMS) had focused on classical, radial and passive networks with one-way power flow from transmission to distribution systems and thus to the end customer. With the focus on customers, a bottom-up approach required a completely new thinking in real-time operations, and automation, of smart distribution systems. Thus, the GE team embarked on a project with a plan of two distinct phases. Work during the first phase concentrated on research and development (R&D) for the first three years. The second phase, lasting approximately two years, accomplished the demonstration of the use cases developed during the first phase, with further sharing and dissemination of the research at industry events. The consolidated technical scope of the project can be summarized into the following six areas: Advanced distribution modeling capability to accurately simulate/model smart grid operations. Accurate representation of the distribution system in real- or near real-time (capture real-time topology). Interoperability with, and seamless communication between, other management systems and databases used by the utility Simulation of distribution systems based on real-time operational planning to analyze the benefits of smart grid assets. Integration of network, market, and renewable resource models for next generation DMS. Management and forecasting of DER (Distributed Generation, Storage, Demand Response).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Second harmonic generation response of the cubic chalcogenides Ba( 6-x )Sr x [Ag( 4-y )Sn( y/4 )](SnS 4 ) 4

We synthesized the barium/strontium solid solution sequence Ba 6-x Sr x [Ag( 4-y )Sn( y/4 )](SnS 4 ) 4 for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications in the infrared (IR) via a flux synthesis route. All title compounds are isotypic, crystallizing in the cubic space group I$\bar{_4}$ 3d and are composed of a three-dimensional (3D) anionic framework of alternating corner-sharing SnS 4 and AgS 4 tetrahedra charge balanced by Ba and Sr. The shrinkage of Ba/Sr-S bond lengths causes the tetrahedra in the anionic framework to become more distorted, which results in a tunable band gap from 1.58 to 1.38 eV with increasing x values. The performance of the barium limit (x=0) is also superior to that of Sr (x=6), but surprisingly second harmonic generation (SHG) of the solid solution remains strong and is insensitive to the value of x over the range 0-3.8. Results show that the non-type-I phase-matched SHG produced by these cubic chalcogenides display intensities higher than the benchmark AgGaSe 2 from 600 to 1000 nm.

Haynes, Alyssa S.↗

Resident Tolerance to Transitional Temperature Deviation in Smart Communities

Choosing the right HVAC system or the right algorithm of implementing demand response may create significant energy and environmental gains while maintaining resident comfort. But these questions are closely related to the concept of user comfort, which in turn requires a reasonable fit between user preferences and temperature setpoints. While setting the temperature right is a well-researched question, systems in transition from one setpoint to another are currently not thoroughly addressed in research. But how tolerant the residents really are if a system spends a large share of time outside of the comfort setpoint. This study gives some early insights on how the deviation of temperature from the setpoint affect perceived resident comfort. We use two weeks of data for a smart neighborhood located in Atlanta, GA. We find that the system spends 20% - 50% of time deviating from the setpoint by more than 1℉. However, we do not find that increasing deviations cause resident complaints or increasing overrides.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

On the Role of Interfacial Water Dynamics for Electrochemical Stability of RuO 2 and IrO 2

Abstract Based on the coincident onsets of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and metal dissolution for many metal‐oxide catalysts it was suggested that OER triggers dissolution. It is believed that both processes share common intermediates, yet exact mechanistic details remain largely unknown. For example, there is still no clear understanding as to why rutile IrO 2 exhibits such an exquisite stability among water‐splitting electrocatalysts. Here, we employ density functional theory calculations to analyze interactions between water and the (110) surface of rutile RuO 2 and IrO 2 as a response to oxygen evolution involving lattice oxygen species. We observe that these oxides display qualitatively different interfacial behavior that should have important implications for their electrochemical stability. Specifically, it is found that IrO 2 (110) becomes further stabilized under OER conditions due to the tendency to form highly stable low oxidation state Ir(III) species. In contrast, Ru species at RuO 2 (110) are prone to facile reoxidation by solution water. This should facilitate the formation of high Ru oxidation state intermediates (>IV) accelerating surface restructuring and metal dissolution.

Evazzade, Iman↗

Comparative chemical genomic profiling across plant-based hydrolysate toxins reveals widespread antagonism in fitness contributions

Abstract The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used extensively in fermentative industrial processes, including biofuel production from sustainable plant-based hydrolysates. Myriad toxins and stressors found in hydrolysates inhibit microbial metabolism and product formation. Overcoming these stresses requires mitigation strategies that include strain engineering. To identify shared and divergent mechanisms of toxicity and to implicate gene targets for genetic engineering, we used a chemical genomic approach to study fitness effects across a library of S. cerevisiae deletion mutants cultured anaerobically in dozens of individual compounds found in different types of hydrolysates. Relationships in chemical genomic profiles identified classes of toxins that provoked similar cellular responses, spanning inhibitor relationships that were not expected from chemical classification. Our results also revealed widespread antagonistic effects across inhibitors, such that the same gene deletions were beneficial for surviving some toxins but detrimental for others. This work presents a rich dataset relating gene function to chemical compounds, which both expands our understanding of plant-based hydrolysates and provides a useful resource to identify engineering targets.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Optimization of Composite Cloud Service Processing with Virtual Machines

By leveraging virtual machine (VM) technology, we optimize cloud system performance based on refined resource allocation, in processing user requests with composite services. Our contribution is three-fold. (1) We devise a VM resource allocation scheme with a minimized processing overhead for task execution. (2) We comprehensively investigate the best-suited task scheduling policy with different design parameters. (3) We also explore the best-suited resource sharing scheme with adjusted divisible resource fractions on running tasks in terms of Proportional-share model (PSM), which can be split into absolute mode (called AAPSM) and relative mode (RAPSM). We implement a prototype system over a cluster environment deployed with 56 real VM instances, and summarized valuable experience from our evaluation. As the system runs in short supply, lightest workload first (LWF) is mostly recommended because it can minimize the overall response extension ratio (RER) for both sequential-mode tasks and parallel-mode tasks. In a competitive situation with over-commitment of resources, the best one is combining LWF with both AAPSM and RAPSM. It outperforms other solutions in the competitive situation, by 16 + % w.r.t. the worst-case response time and by 7.4 + % w.r.t. the fairness.

cloud resource allocation↗

Corrective Control to Handle Forecast Uncertainty: A Chance Constrained Optimal Power Flow

Higher shares of electricity generation from renewable energy sources and market liberalization is increasing uncertainty in power systems operation. At the same time, operation is becoming more flexible with improved control systems and new technology such as phase shifting transformers (PSTs) and high voltage direct current connections (HVDC). Previous studies have shown that the use of corrective control in response to outages contributes to a reduction in operating cost, while maintaining N-1 security. In this work, we propose a method to extend the use of corrective control of PSTs and HVDCs to react to uncertainty. We characterize the uncertainty as continuous random variables, and define the corrective control actions through affine control policies. This allows us to efficiently model control reactions to a large number of uncertainty sources. The control policies are then included in a chance constrained optimal power flow formulation, which guarantees that the system constraints are enforced with a desired probability. Lastly, by applying an analytical reformulation of the chance constraints, we obtain a second-order cone problem for which we develop an efficient solution algorithm. In a case study for the IEEE 118 bus system, we show that corrective control for uncertainty leads to a decrease in operational cost, while maintaining system security. Further, we demonstrate the scalability of the method by solving the problem for the IEEE 300 bus and the Polish system test cases.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗