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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 955 records · Page 53
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Uncovering novel sources of anthracnose resistance in populations of genetically diverse sorghums Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench

Anthracnose (Colletotrichum sublineolum P. Henn., in Kabat and Bubák) is the major disease of sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench ] in the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean, where the acreage of sorghum has been expanding rapidly in the past decade. The causal pathogen of anthracnose is a hemibiotrophic fungus: after an initial invasion of live plant cells, the fungus kills the plant tissue and obtains its nutrients from the necrotic tissue. Anthracnose resistance is the most effective and sustainable solution to ensuring sorghum biomass yield and biomass quality. During the past few years, multiple research efforts have been directed to identify new sources of resistance in the Sorghum Association Panel (SAP) and tropical germplasm, and to delimit genomic regions associated with the observed anthracnose resistant response. Nevertheless, these resistance loci only explained a limited portion of the observed variation indicating the existence of other resistance loci. This research project was directed to uncover anthracnose resistance loci present in the SAP and to validate previously identified resistance loci via introgression into susceptible sweet sorghums. In addition, U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) tropical sorghum germplasm was evaluated to identify new sources of anthracnose resistance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development and Commercialization of Heavy-Duty Battery Electric Trucks Under Diverse Climate Conditions (DTNA EMG Innovation eCascadia 2.0 Final Technical Report)

During this project DTNA advanced heavy-duty transportation technologies to produce the eCascadia 2.0, a fully commercialized Class 7/8 electric tractor with the range and durability to meet the needs of 70% of freight movement in the United States. The eCascadia2.0 provides flexibility, operational performance, efficiency, and maintenance cost savings to the end user. The most direct outcome of this project is a commercially viable zero-emission heavy duty option with a 250-mile daily range and sufficient payload for regional haul duty cycles. The larger outcome is an acceleration of the market transformation away from petroleum-based fuels. DTNA’s comprehensive sales team, dealer network, customer network and maintenance and support teams will ensure that this is not a standalone zero-emission truck, but rather one that can be produced, marketed, and operated at scale to realize vast greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions reductions, while also bringing zero emission vehicles closer to cost parity.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Organisation of Diverse Mechanisms of Secondary Ice Production among Basic Convective and Stratiform Cloud-types

This 3-year DoE-funded joint project had the over-arching aim of understanding how ice is initiated in clouds of various types. Focus was given to processes of fragmentation of pre-existing ice, which can occur in positive feedback loops (‘ice multiplication’). A basic question to address was which fragmentation processes prevail in which basic cloud-types. The approach was to use cloud models and field observations, while pioneering our own lab observations of ice initiation to break the deadlock from the past lack of lab observations. Historically, the tendency of the cloud physics community to avoid doing lab observations has allowed a vast gap in knowledge about ice initiation to persist for decades. During the first part of the project, new formulations were created to treat two overlooked types of fragmentation of ice. First, sublimational breakup of ice was treated based on a theoretical formula that we fitted to a pooled dataset of lab observations published previously in the literature. Second, a new mode of fragmentation of freezing raindrops was treated, which involves a supercooled drop being hit by a more massive ice particle. Some of the secondary droplets from the impact freeze. This work was done at Manchester University by Co-I Connolly. Then during the second part, both formulations were implemented in our ‘aerosol-cloud model’ (AC). AC has a hybrid bin/bulk microphysics scheme, and now represents four processes of SIP. The accuracy of AC was evaluated for four cases typifying four basic cloud-types: slightly cold-based stratiform cloud and cold-, warm- and very warm-based convective clouds. We discovered that the warmth of cloud-base, especially in the tropics, promotes SIP processes of raindrop-freezing fragmentation and rime-splintering, and surprisingly, sublimational breakup too. It was found that breakup in ice-ice collisions is ubiquitous. Finally, a portable laboratory chamber was constructed at Lund and deployed in northern Sweden to observe breakup in graupel-snow collisions outdoors. This was seen to be even more prolific than treated in our 2018 formulation. Papers describing results are either published or soon to be published.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Flexible Integration of Diverse HVAC Technologies in EnergyPlus via Python-Enabled Workflows

Analysis of advanced controls and novel system types is often not directly feasible in building energy simulation tools. Various techniques extend building energy simulation tool capabilities to allow the use of user-defined scripts and programs, but these approaches have limitations. The EnergyPlus Python plugin offers users new flexibility to use EnergyPlus to call an external Python module at specific points in the simulation, as well as to use Python to call EnergyPlus functionality through an application programming interface (API). This paper presents four case studies leveraging the EnergyPlus Python plugin to facilitate analysis of advanced controls and system types. The use of the Python plugin offers greater modularity and flexibility relative to previous approaches, is less error prone, and is simpler for users to adopt. The Python plugin allows EnergyPlus to be used in a more flexible manner and to accommodate the expanding realm of energy modeling applications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Develop an efficient and cost-effective novel anaerobic digestion system producing high purity of methane from diverse waste biomass

This project focuses on developing an advanced, intensified anaerobic digestion system aimed at transforming the treatment and conversion of organic wastes into valuable products, specifically renewable natural gas. The motivation for this research stems from the limitations of conventional anaerobic digestion technologies, which often face challenges such as long retention times, high operational costs, and incomplete organic material degradation. The new technology called Intensified Versatile Anaerobic Digestion (IVAD), is developed to address these challenges by incorporating innovative reactors and processes that enhance the overall efficiency and output of anaerobic digestion. The significance of this project lies in its potential to revolutionize waste management practices and waste biomass utilization. The IVAD system integrates a hyperthermophilic anaerobic acidification reactor, a hydrothermal treatment (HTT) unit, and both thermophilic and mesophilic methanogenic reactors. This combination enables a higher rate of organic breakdown and energy recovery, resulting in faster processing times, reduced reactor sizes, and lower operational costs compared to traditional systems. Key data include an increase in methane productivity to 1.18 m 3 /m 3 /day, a significant improvement compared to the baseline technology’s 0.64 m 3 /m 3 /day. Additionally, the IVAD system achieves a 45% reduction in levelized cost of energy (LCOE), down to $\$$10.04/MMBTU, and an energy return on investment (EROI) of 3.19, representing an 87% increase over baseline levels. Technical and economic analyses highlight that the IVAD system significantly reduces hydraulic retention time (HRT) and solid retention time (SRT). The HRT for the HTT reactor can be reduced from 1 hour to 0.5 hours, while decoupling SRT from HRT in the anaerobic acidification reactor (AAR) allows for further reductions. These design optimizations lead to smaller reactor volumes, cutting down equipment and construction costs. Despite these advancements, energy consumption remains comparable to conventional methods due to a novel heat recovery strategy, enhancing overall process productivity. The system also achieves in-situ CO 2 removal and ammonia stripping features, resulting in biogas with a methane purity level of 75%, and produces high-quality nitrogen fertilizer as an additional by-product. Public benefits of the IVAD system are substantial, contributing to sustainable waste management and renewable energy production. By providing a scalable solution that can be adopted by dairy farms and similar agricultural operations, the IVAD system helps reduce waste, produce renewable natural gas (RNG) suitable for transportation fuel, and generate fertilizer, supporting a circular economy. This project plays a role in achieving broader environmental objectives by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy independence. Additionally, it offers a pathway for farmers to lower operational costs while adopting practices that are both environmentally sustainable and economically advantageous.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-Cost Identification and Monitoring of Diverse MELs in Residential and Commercial Buildings with PowerBlade (Final Technical Report)

This report describes our progress in developing a scalable wireless metering system that integrates plug-load energy meters that measure real, reactive, and apparent power along with load monitoring based on extracting high-fidelity electrical waveform features collected at every load to capture power profiles and automatically identify and categorize MELs, and make this technology available to the research, commercial, and government sectors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluation of DNA Extraction Efficiency in Diverse Algae Strains Using Commercial Kits and Lysis Approaches

Efficient DNA extraction is essential for accurately monitoring microalgae communities in large-scale cultivation systems such as raceway ponds and wastewater ponds. Traditional phenol chloroform extracts are a staple in microbiology but are obsolete for routine sampling due to its high toxicity reagents and time intensive setups. Commercial DNA extraction kits are more favorable for the microbes found in these ponds, but lack specific kits made for these communities. Little is known about which kits perform the best, leading researchers to use a variety of different kits with inconsistent results. This project compared one precipitation based commercial kit (Lucigen Masterpure) and five wash based kits (Monarch, Zymo Quick-DNA, and three Qiagen DNeasy kits) using four brackish algae strains to determine which methods yield the greatest quantity and quality of genomic DNA. Extractions were evaluated using the manufacturers protocol, and additional pretreatment options were administered before a single kit to compare its potential in being added routinely before extractions. Pretreatment options included both cryogenic freeze-thawing and heat incubation using enzymes. DNA was quantified using Qubit fluorometry and NanoDrop purity ratios. Overall, the Qiagen PowerWater kit provided the highest DNA yield and purity, but at a significantly higher cost then the precipitation-based kit (MasterPure). It was also noted that while the precipitation-based kit was significantly cheaper, provided similar results, it took significantly more time to complete a single run. Cryogenic pretreatment (6x cycles) increased average DNA yields by up to 80%, whereas enzymatic pretreatment most improved purity ratios without substantially improving quantity. The results suggest that it may be more cost and time efficient to use Qiagen kits with the addition of lysis pretreatments to procure better results. Future works includes developing a better system to efficiently collect multi variable data, and to upscale to artificial polycultures using similar methodologies alongside sequencing to confirm kit results.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

California Bridge to the EIC: Building a Diverse Workforce for Nuclear Physics Research at the Electron Ion Collider

The California Bridge to the Electron Ion Collider traineeship program established an integrated workforce development effort connecting University of California campuses, California State University Minority Serving Institutions, and DOE national laboratories. The program expanded participation in nuclear physics research among students from underrepresented and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds while strengthening collaborative activities aligned with the future Electron Ion Collider. During the award period, trainees conducted experimental, theoretical, and computational research, participated in consortium meetings and national laboratory collaborations, and received structured mentoring and professional development. The program achieved strong outcomes in graduate school placement, STEM career transitions, and sustained engagement with DOE Nuclear Physics research.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Robust Explanations using Diverse Adversarially Trained Ensembles, Multi-Modal Contrastive Learning, and Attribution-based Confidence Metrics

The primary objective of this project is to strengthen the trustworthiness of AI systems by designing algorithms that make their internal decision-making processes more understandable to human users. This involves creating clear, interpretable explanations for AI decisions and developing metrics to assess these explanations' validity and reliability. Significant progress has been achieved through (i) developing symbolic explanations, (ii) generating meaningful interpretive insights, (iii) establishing accuracy and confidence metrics, and (iv) devising methods to evaluate the knowledge boundaries of AI models. To date, the research findings have been shared in peer-reviewed publications, with accompanying scientific and technical information (STI) detailed below.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) – electro assisted fermentation platform for total resource recovery from diverse wastewaters

The overall objective of the project was to demonstrate a successful wastewater resource recovery platform comprising an Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) to achieve >50% Carbon sequestration efficiency as Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) or as methane gas from agricultural (animal feeding operations) wastewater along with the generation of final water exceeding Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) standards for indirect potable reuse by coupling with constructed wetlands has been successfully accomplished. The AnMBR achieved stable performance over 350 days, removing 80–90% of COD and BOD₅ and recovering methane (0.17±0.07 L CH4/g COD at 66.5±0.03% v/v) at 3-5 LMH flux and 5-9 days HRT with 3-5% w/v total solids. Phosphorus recovery via CaO addition in an 80-L coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation unit ranged from 40.6% to 99.7%, yielding products with 11.4–13.6% P content and citric acid solubility of 32–38.6% P, comparable to rock phosphate mineral. Ammonium adsorption achieved ~94.5% recovery with exchange capacity of 10 – 16 g NH4-N/kg clinoptilolite. The CW polishing step met Kansas discharge standards for BOD5 and TN (<30 and <10 mg /L,) and approached the TP standard (~2.5 – 4 mg P/L). These findings have either already resulted in two peer reviewed publications, two patent applications, and one publication in conference proceedings.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Collaborative Approach to Identify Degradation Mechanisms and Validate Aging Protocols for a Diverse Set of DAC Materials (TCF Base Technology-Specific Final Report)

This work supports the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy to promote American energy leadership, technological innovation, and economic growth through the development of technologies for cost effective carbon capture. While capture technologies can provide carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery, many capture materials suffer from oxidative, hydrolytic and/or thermal degradation which leads to capacity loss and unwanted emissions such as ammonia. Short lifetimes increase operational costs and cost studies suffer from uncertainty because the true lifetimes of many capture materials are unknown. In this study, a suite of capture materials were studied to quantify their degradation, provide insight into the mechanisms that lead to their uptake loss and provide validated accelerated aging protocols for industry.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

MassIVE MSV000100641 - Multilayered regulation by RNA thermometers enables precise control of Cas9 expression in E. coli: Cas9-based genome editing technologies can rapidly generate mutations to probe a diverse array of mutant genotypes. However, aberrant Cas9 nuclease translation and activity can occur despite the use of inducible promoters to control expression, leading to extensive cell death. This background killing caused by promoter leakiness severely limits the application of Cas9 for generating mutant libraries because of the potential for population skew. We demonstrate the utility of temperature sensitive RNA elements as a layer of post-transcriptional regulation to reduce the impact of promoter leak. We observe significant temperature-dependent increases in cell survival when certain RNA thermometers (RNATs) are placed upstream of the cas9 coding sequence. We also show that the most highly repressing RNAT, hsp17rep, significantly reduces population skew with a library of characterized guide RNAs in Escherichia coli. This strategy should be applicable to all bacterial Cas9-based methods and technologies.

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Alexander, William G. [Oak Ridge National Laborato↗