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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 937 records · Page 52
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Uncovering the active sites and demonstrating stable catalyst for the cost-effective conversion of ethanol to 1-butanol

We report the recent emergence of a robust renewable ethanol industry has provided a sustainable platform molecule toward the production of value-added chemicals and fuels; what is lacking now are viable conversion processes from ethanol that can displace the current production pathways from non-renewable pathways. Here in the work, we demonstrate the highly selective conversion of ethanol to higher alcohols over low copper loaded MgAl mixed oxide catalysts, with 50% improvement in higher alcohol yields over the current state of the art. At these copper concentrations, atomically dispersed Cu +1 were found to be stable even at highly reductive conditions and highly active towards higher alcohol products (e.g. butanol, hexanol) while suppressing side reaction pathways and leading to extended lifetimes of over 150 hours time on stream. Technoeconomic analysis conducted based on these experimental results demonstrate that this catalytic system is cost-competitive with the conventional process. This marks significant progress in the development of Guerbet coupling of ethanol as a viable renewable process and offers a pathway toward sustainable chemical and fuel production.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Regulating Li Nucleation and Growth Heterogeneities via Near-Surface Lithium-Ion Irrigation for Stable Anode-Less Lithium Metal Batteries

The inhomogeneous nucleation and growth of Li dendrite combined with the spontaneous side reactions with the electrolytes dramatically challenge the stability and safety of Li metal anode (LMA). Despite tremendous endeavors, current success relies on the use of significant excess of Li to compensate the loss of active Li during cycling. Herein, a near-surface Li + irrigation strategy is developed to regulate the inhomogeneous Li deposition behavior and suppress the consequent side reactions under limited Li excess condition. The conformal polypyrrole (PPy) coating layer on Cu surface via oxidative chemical vapor deposition technique can induce the migration of Li + to the interregional space between PPy and Cu, creating a near-surface Li + -rich region to smooth diffusion of ion flux and uniform the deposition. Moreover, as evidenced by multiscale characterizations including synchrotron high-energy X-ray diffraction scanning, a robust N-rich solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) is formed on the PPy skeleton to effectively suppress the undesired SEI formation/dissolution process. Strikingly, stable Li metal cycling performance under a high areal capacity of 10 mAh cm -2 at 2.0 mA cm -2 with merely 0.5 × Li excess is achieved. The findings not only resolve the long-standing poor LMA stability/safety issues, but also deepen the mechanism understanding of Li deposition process.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ultrathin silicon oxide prepared by in-line plasma-assisted N 2 O oxidation (PANO) and the application for n-type polysilicon passivated contact

We develop a plasma-assisted nitrous-oxide (N 2 O) gas oxidation (PANO) method to prepare the ultrathin silicon oxide (SiO x ) for polysilicon (poly-Si) passivated contact. The effects of preparation conditions, including the substrate temperature, processing time, and plasma power, are studied. Afterwards, we integrate the PANO SiO x into the polysilicon passivated contact and optimize the passivation and contact performances. Excellent surface passivation with the n-type poly-Si and PANO SiO x on the n-type c-Si wafer is achieved by 880 °C annealing, which shows competitive passivation quality to the one with NASO SiO x . Champion implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc ) and single-sided recombination saturated current (J 0 ) reach 730 mV and 4.3 fA/cm 2 after crystallization; and they are further improved to 747 mV and 2.0 fA/cm 2 (3 × 10 15 cm -3 ) after subsequent AlO x /SiN x hydrogenation. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we find that the thickness of PANO SiO x ranges 1.1–2.4 nm and the controlled nitric acid oxidized SiO x (NAOS) ranges 1.3–1.8 nm. The contact resistivity (ρ c ) is typically <10 mΩ cm 2 with the annealing temperature of >820 °C. Also, the crystallinity, phosphorous in-diffusion profile, and current-leaking density of the passivated contacts are investigated. In general, the PANO SiO x and in-situ doping amorphous silicon precursor can be fabricated in one PECVD system without additional equipment or transfer procedures, which is favorable for the high-efficiency, low-cost industrial manufacture.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Status of the development and testing of in-vessel and ECH-protection components for the ITER low-field side reflectometer

The ITER Low-Field Side Reflectometer (LFSR) is a critical diagnostic system designed to measure edge electron density profiles, fluctuations, and plasma rotation in ITER. This paper presents the latest developments in the design, testing, and validation of key in-vessel and Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) protection components. The LFSR antenna array has been optimized to provide robust coverage over expected plasma vertical displacements and a Doppler measurement for plasma rotation. Further, a comprehensive assessment of a 170-GHz diffraction grating and a novel stray-ECH power monitor demonstrates effectiveness in mitigating the impact of stray ECH power on sensitive microwave electronics. Additionally, an advancement in anti-reflective technology for millimeter waves significantly improves transmission of LFSR's vacuum window while meeting ITER's stringent safety and operational requirements. These results support the continued integration of LFSR into ITER, ensuring its diagnostic capabilities remain resilient under reactor-relevant conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Hybrid DC Fault Primary Protection Algorithm for Multi-Terminal HVdc Systems

Protection against dc faults is one of the main technical hurdles faced when operating converter-based HVdc systems. Protection becomes even more challenging for multi-terminal dc (MTdc) systems with more than two terminals/converter stations. In this paper, a hybrid primary fault detection algorithm for MTdc systems is proposed to detect a broad range of failures. Sensor measurements, i.e., line currents and dc reactor voltages measured at local terminals, are first processed by a top-level context clustering algorithm. For each cluster, the best fault detector is selected among a detector pool according to a rule resulting from a learning algorithm. The detector pool consists of several existing detection algorithms, each performing differently across fault scenarios. The proposed hybrid primary detection algorithm: i) offers superior performance compared to an individual detector through a data-driven approach; ii) detects all major fault types including pole-to-pole (P2P), pole-to-ground (P2G), and external dc faults; iii) identifies faults with various fault locations and impedances; iv) is more robust to noisy sensor measurements compared to existing methods; v) does not require exhaustive simulation and sampling for training the model. Performance and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are evaluated and verified based on time-domain simulations in the PSCAD/EMTDC software environment. The results confirm satisfactory operation, accuracy, and detection speed of the proposed algorithm under various fault scenarios.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Twin Proliferation and Prolongation under Kinetic Control: Pd–Au Janus Icosahedra versus Pd@Au Core–Shell Starfishes

Heterogeneous bimetallic nanocrystals featuring explicit spatial configurations and abundant twin defects can simultaneously enable geometric and ligand effects to enhance catalytic and photonic applications. Herein, we report two growth patterns of Au atoms on penta-twinned Pd decahedra, involving twin proliferation to generate asymmetric Pd–Au Janus icosahedra and twin elongation to produce anisotropic Pd@Au core–shell starfishes, respectively. Mechanistic analysis indicates that the injection rate determines the lower-limit number (n low ) of Au(III) ions in the steady state and thus controls the growth pattern. When n low ≤ 5.5, the kinetic rate is slow enough to initiate asymmetrical one-side growth but fast enough to outpace surface diffusion; Au tetrahedral subunits are successively proliferated along the axial $\langle$110$\rangle$ direction of Pd decahedra to form Pd–Au Janus icosahedra. Composed of five Pd and 15 Au tetrahedral subunits, such a heterogeneous icosahedron supports high (2.2 GPa) tensile strain and high strain difference up to +21.9%. In contrast, when n low > 5.5, the fast reduction kinetics promotes symmetric growth with inadequate surface diffusion. As such, Au atoms are laterally deposited along five high-indexed $\langle$211$\rangle$ ridges of Pd decahedra to generate concave Pd@Au core–shell starfishes with tunable sizes (28–40 nm), twin elongation ratios (33.82–162.08%), and lattice expansion ratios (8.82–20.10%).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mitigating Battery Cell Failure: Role of Ag‐Nanoparticle Fillers in Solid Electrolyte Dendrite Suppression

Abstract The development of solid‐state batteries (SSBs) with lithium Li metal anodes holds significant promise for enhancing the energy density and safety of next‐generation energy storage systems. However, their commercialization is hindered by challenges related to Li dendrite formation, which can lead to short circuits and battery failure. In this study, the role of Ag nanoparticles embedded within solid electrolytes (SE) is investigated in suppressing dendrite propagation. The results demonstrate that Ag nanoparticles effectively mitigate two key failure mechanisms: (1) dendrite growth within porous networks at low current densities and (2) stress intensification‐induced SE fracture at higher current densities (12 mA cm −2 ). Ex situ characterization using focused‐ion beam – scanning electron microscopy (FIB–SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS,) reveals that Ag nanoparticles migrate alongside advancing Li dendrites, promoting homogeneous dendrite growth and reducing the likelihood of localized stress concentrations. Additionally, the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles is shown to facilitate a more uniform Li distribution toward the anode side, which can potentially enable the use of higher charging rates in SSBs. This study provides a new perspective on Li dendrite suppression and presents new opportunities for enhancing the performance and safety of SSBs.

Diallo, Mouhamad Said↗
DOE OSTI2020

Structure and Interface Design Enable Stable Li-Rich Cathode

Li-rich layered-oxide cathodes have the highest theoretical energy density among all the intercalated cathodes, which have attracted intense interests for high energy Li-ion batteries. However, O3-structured layered-oxide cathodes suffer from a low initial Coulombic efficiency (CE), severe voltage fade, and poor cycling stability because of the continuous oxygen release, structural rearrangements due to irreversible transition-metal migration, and serious side reactions between the delithiated cathode and electrolyte. In this work, we report that these challenges are migrated by using a stable O2-structured Li 1.2 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 Mn 0.54 O 2 (O2-LR-NCM) and all-fluorinated electrolyte. The O2-LR-NCM can restrict the transition metals migrating into the Li layer and the in situ formed fluorinated cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) on the surface of the O2-LR-NCM from the decomposition of all-fluorinated electrolyte during initial cycles effectively restrains the structure transition, suppresses the O2 release, and thereby safeguards the transition metal redox couples, enabling a highly reversible and stable oxygen redox reaction. O2-LR-NCM in all fluorinated electrolytes achieves a high initial CE of 99.82 % and cycling CE of and cycling CE of >99.9%, high reversible capacity of 278 mAh/g, and high capacity retention of 83.3% after 100 cycles. The synergic design of electrolyte and cathode structure represents a promising direction to stabilize high-energy cathodes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of DIII-D plasmas for Future Measurements of the Driven Current Density in the DIII-D High Field Side Lower Hybrid Experiment

High field side (HFS) lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is a promising method for efficiently driving off-axis current in steady state tokamak power plants. The first test of this technology is underway at the DIII-D tokamak. The initial physics goal is to measure the LH-driven current density profile in order to validate the ray-tracing/Fokker-Plank codes GENRAY/CQL3D and gain confidence in their ability to predict LH deposition in future DIII-D experiments and fusion power plants. DIII-D’s motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic will be used to constrain the magnetic equilibrium reconstructions. From these reconstructions, the ohmic, bootstrap, and driven non-inductive components of the current density profile can be extracted. Several recent DIII-D plasmas have been identified in which GENRAY/CQL3D predict measurable amounts of current with only 100 kW of coupled power.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Robust Medium-Voltage Distribution System State Estimation using Multi-Source Data

Due to the lack of sufficient online measurements for distribution system observability, pseudo-measurements from short-term load or distributed renewable energy resources (DERs) forecasting are used. However, the accuracy of them is low and thus significantly limits the performance of distribution system state estimation (DSSE). In this paper, a robust DSSE that integrates multi-source measurement data is proposed. Specifically, the historical low-voltage (LV) side smart meters are used to forecast load and DERs injections via the support vector machine (SVM) with optimally tuned parameters. By contrast, the online smart meters at LV side are utilized to derive equivalent power injections at the MV/LV transformers, yielding more accurate pseudo-measurements compared to the forecasted injections. Furthermore, to deal with bad data caused by communication loss, instrumental errors and cyber attacks, robust DSSE that relies on generalized maximum-likelihood (GM)-estimation criterion is developed. The projection statistics are developed to adjust the weights of each measurement, leading to better balance between pseudo- and real-time measurements. Numerical results conducted on modified IEEE 33-bus system with DG integration demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

distribution system state estimation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Device Voltage Stress from Ground Leakage Current in Medium-Voltage Solid-State Transformer

Grounding related issues are critical for safe and reliable operation of solid-state transformer (SST) in medium-voltage (MV) applications, e.g., solar photovoltaic and energy storage integration, date center, electric vehicle fast charging, etc. This article presents for the first time the issue of additional device voltage stress due to grounding-loop current in current-source SST, using the soft-switching solid-state transformer (S4T) as an example. The S4T features single-stage isolated AC-AC, AC-DC, or DC-DC conversion with full-range ZVS, derived from flyback converter or current-source converter (CSC). However, the flyback operation for CSC-based SST means that magnetizing current flows through the reverse-blocking devices on only one side of the medium-frequency transformer (MFT) at a time. Then, the voltages across the devices, especially those on the other side of the MFT, can be influenced by parasitic current. A parasitic model of a modular S4T (M-S4T) prototype is developed from direct measurements and datasheets. Using the developed parasitic model and equivalent circuits, the causes of the voltage stress are analyzed. A voltage-stress mitigation scheme of connecting additional grounding capacitors is proposed. Damping resistors are also installed to damp out the grounding-loop resonance. A robust parameter design of the proposed scheme is given. The existence of the voltage stress issue and the effectiveness of the proposed scheme are verified experimentally on an MV SiC M-S4T prototype with inherent parameter variations among the five modules in the prototype. Here, both single-module and stacked-module operation are demonstrated during steady state and dynamic conditions up to 4 kV peak.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hybrid PDES Simulation of HPC Networks Using Zombie Packets

Although high-fidelity network simulations have proven to be reliable and cost-effective tools to peer into architectural questions for high-performance computing (HPC) networks, they incur a high resource cost. The time spent in simulating a single millisecond of network traffic in the highest detail can take hours, even for static, well-behaved traffic patterns such as uniform random. Surrogate models offer a significant reduction in runtime, yet they cannot serve as complete replacements and should only be used when appropriate. Thus, there is a need for hybrid modeling, where high-fidelity simulation and surrogates run side-by-side. Here, we present a surrogate model for HPC networks in which: packets bypass the network, while the network state is left untouched, i.e., suspended. To bypass the network, we use historical data to estimate the arrival time at which every packet should be scheduled at; to suspend the network, all in-flight packets are scheduled to arrive at their destinations, and are kept in the system to awaken as zombies when switching back to high-fidelity. Speedup for a hybrid model is relative to the proportion of surrogate to high-fidelity. This light-weight surrogate obtained up to 76× speedup. Keeping the zombies in the network showed an increase in the accuracy of the high-fidelity simulation on restart when compared to restarting the network from an empty state.

HPC networks↗
DOE OSTI2023

Extending quantum key distribution through proxy re-encryption

Modern quantum key distribution (QKD) network designs are based on sending photons from one node to another and require free-space or dedicated fiber optic cables between nodes. The purpose of this is to co-generate secret key material on both sides of the quantum channel. In addition to this quantum link, there are several insecure classical channels that allow QKD algorithms to exchange book-keeping information and send symmetrically encrypted data. The attenuation of photons transmitted through fiber becomes too high to practically generate key material over fiber at distances of more than 100 km. Free-space transmission through the atmosphere or the vacuum of space can reduce attenuation, but at the cost of system complexity and sensitivity to other impairments, such as weather. To extend the effective range of QKD networks, we present a method that combines QKD algorithms with post-quantum, homomorphic key-switching to allow multiple parties to effectively share secret key material over longer distances through semi-trusted relay nodes. We define how such a system should work for arbitrary network topologies and provide proofs that our scheme is both correct and secure. We assess the feasibility of this solution by building and evaluating two implementations based on lattice-based cryptography: learning with errors.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Surface Roughness Effects on Heat Transfer in Additively Manufactured sCO 2 Cycle Heat Exchangers

An experimental study was performed to consider the impact of surface roughness on heat transfer and pressure drop to supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) in additively manufactured channels. All tests were performed in the Heat Exchange and Experimental Testing (HEET) rig at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia. Four test articles were considered. The first was a hydrodynamically smooth, drawn tube. The other three were additively manufactured channels with square and rectangular cross sections, which were characterized by sand-grain roughness to hydraulic diameter ratios spanning 0.0029 to 0.0073. Friction factors were determined by measuring the tube mass flow rate and pressure drop. The tube side heat transfer coefficient was measured using the Wilson plot technique. It was found that the friction factor results were 8% greater than the Colebrook correlation. Greater deviation was observed between the heat transfer results and the correlations. The Gnielinski correlation overpredicted the experimental points by nominally 30% and the Norris correlation overpredicting the experimental points by nominally 25%. A thermal performance factor was formed from the friction factor augmentation and Nusselt number augmentation results. These results indicated a 10% improvement in heat duty for a heat exchanger constructed utilizing a tube with ϵ/D_h =0.0073 relative to a heat exchanger utilizing a smooth, conventional tube.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electrostatic Interactions Control the Nanostructure of Conjugated Polyelectrolyte–Polymeric Ionic Liquid Blends

Polyelectrolyte complexation offers unique opportunities to compatibilize polymers with very different backbone chemistries and to control the morphology of the resulting blend via electrostatic manipulation. In this study, we demonstrate the ability to formulate homogeneous complexes of a conjugated polyelectrolyte with a polymeric ionic liquid, utilizing the electrostatic attraction among their oppositely charged side chains. Variation of electrostatic parameters, such as counterion concentration or polymer charge fraction, tunes the morphology of these polymer complexes from homogeneously disordered blend to weakly structured microemulsion where the local ordering arises from backbone-immiscibility-induced microphase segregation. Our experimental observations are in qualitative agreement with both field-theoretic simulation and random-phase approximation calculations. Simulated morphology snapshots suggest and experimental evidence also indicates that the microphase-segregated complex likely takes on a cocontinuous microemulsion structure. Our findings show that ionic interactions are an effective pathway to compatibilize polymers at macroscopic length scales while achieving controlled nanostructures in these ionic blends. Such systems have great potential for engineering the nanostructure of polymers to tailor applications such as nanofiltration, catalysis, and energy storage, where local ordering can enhance the physical properties of an otherwise macroscopically homogeneous structure.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nanomechanical and Fluorescence Characterizations of Weathered PV Module Encapsulation

Nanoindentation and fluorescence spectroscopy provide spatially resolved mechanical and chemical characterization for degradation of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) encapsulants aged under accelerated weathering and in field deployed photovoltaic (PV) modules. For the accelerated weathering tests, two different EVA formulations in the glass/EVA/glass-laminated coupons were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light for 180 days at three different temperatures (40, 60, and 80 °C) and UV intensities (0.4, 2.2, and 2.9 W/m2/nm at 340 nm). The fluorescence spectra and moduli were uniform through the cross section of both EVA formulations at the lowest temperature and UV intensity; however, under the highest temperature and UV intensity, the UV irradiated sides showed lower moduli and higher fluorescence compared to the opposite sides. For EVA obtained from PV modules deployed 27 years in Sacramento, CA, USA, changes in fluorescence intensity across the thickness were relatively greater than changes in modulus. On the other hand, for EVA obtained from the same type of module stored in the shed for 27 years, no fluorescence was observed, and a uniform modulus was seen through the EVA layer, but with substantially higher values than those obtained from the field-deployed modules. The different extent of changes between laboratory and field exposures suggests the importance of considering effects of temperature and UV intensity for designing a reliable accelerated testing. This study uniquely demonstrates the capability of microscale characterization using nanoindentation and fluorescence microscopy to monitor mechanical and chemical degradation of EVA encapsulants in PV modules.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Exploring the Use of Novel Spatial Accelerators in Scientific Applications

Driven by the need to find alternative accelerators which can viably replace GPUs in next-generation Supercomputing systems, this paper proposes a methodology to enable agile application/hardware co-design. The application-first methodology provides the ability to come up with design of accelerators while working with real-world workloads, available accelerators, and system software. The iterative design process targets a set of kernels in a workload for performance estimates that can prune the design space for later phases of detailed architectural evaluations. To this effect, in this paper, a novel data-parallel device model is introduced that simulates the latency of performance-sensitive operations in an accelerator including data transfers and kernel computation using multi-core CPUs. The use of off-the-shelf simulators, such as pre-RTL simulator Aladdin or multiple tools available for exploring the design of deep neural network accelerators (e.g., Timeloop) is demonstrated for evaluation of various accelerator designs using applications with realistic inputs. Examples of multiple device configurations that are instantiable in a system are explored to evaluate the performance benefit of deploying novel accelerators. The proposed device is integrated with a programming model and system software to potentially explore the impacts of high-level programming languages/compilers and low-level effects such as task scheduling on multiple accelerators. We analyze our methodology for a set of applications that represent high-performance computing (HPC) and graph analytics. The applications include a computational chemistry kernel realized using tensor contractions, triangle counting, GraphSAGE and Breadth-first Search. These applications include kernels such as dense matrix-dense matrix multiplication, sparse matrix-spare matrix multiplication, and sparse matrix-dense vector multiplication. Our results indicate potential performance benefits and insights for system design by including accelerators that realize these kernels along-side general purpose accelerators.

AI, codesign, Accelerated Computing, Modeling and ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigation into Na and Cs activity coefficients in high salt solutions to support Cs removal in Hanford tank waste

The treatment of Hanford tank waste is one of the most technically challenging environmental cleanup activities for the U.S. Department of Energy to date. To expedite the processing of liquid waste stored in underground tanks in southeastern Washington state, it is necessary to remove the significant dose contributor, 137 Cs. Toward this effort, ion exchange with crystalline silicotitanate (CST) has been employed as part of the Tank Side Cesium Removal system. The model used to predict Cs exchange onto CST was developed using activity coefficients calculated from the Bromley equation. A series of batch contact tests that varied in [Na] were conducted to look at the impact of Na concentration on Cs distribution. Experimental distribution ratios ( K d ) were compared to the distribution ratios predicted using three different activity coefficient models: (1) commercially available HSC software, (2) the Bromley equation, and (3) a simplified approach adapted from Marcos-Arroyo et al. Ultimately, the Bromley method underpredicted the effect of ionic strength on the Na activity coefficient ( γ Na+ ), HSC overestimated the impact of ionic strength on the expected performance due to the Cs activity coefficient ( γ Cs+ ), but the simplified approach predicted the experimental K d values quite well in a binary matrix. In conclusion, expansion of this approach in complex matrices is necessary for application to Hanford tank waste.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗