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At least 955 records · Page 53

Residential Façade Upgrades: Market Assessment and Recommendations

In support of DOE’s move toward transformational whole-building upgrades and enclosure solutions, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are partnering and collaborating with leading building science researchers and home-performance entities to identify and characterize technical and economic barriers to façade retrofits in an effort to identify market-viable façade solutions and opportunities for an actionable plan to transform the market. The project includes partnerships with Building Science Corporation (BSC) and a combination of strategic implementation partners with home-performance and retrofit expertise and industry contacts. The project will include expert advisory and review consultation from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL’s) Residential Windows & Attachments team and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Building Envelope team. The project consists of three parts: 1. a market analysis that captures the current state of the façade retrofit market and includes housing characteristics and retrofit costs, façade retrofit approaches and materials, contractor business models and workforce requirements to support advanced façade approaches; 2. an economic analysis focused on the viability of advanced façade retrofit approaches and materials; and 3. field demonstration of façade retrofits that include enhanced insulation/air-sealing and window technologies in multiple climate zones. This report represents the market analysis, as outlined in item 1 above. The goal of this analysis is to provide a techno-economic study that supports comprehensive retrofits of residential enclosures that include traditional approaches, and integrated wall assemblies and windows that result in durable, energy efficient, and marketable strategies. This study will provide a better knowledge base regarding the viable market for façade retrofit strategies, identify the barriers to uptake, analyze economic opportunities, and develop documentation specifically aimed to overcome technical and market barriers associated with installation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

LANL Fuel Cell Program [Slides]

Fuel Cell R&D programs are the longest running non-weapons programs at LANL, running since 1977. The current DOE HFTO program grew out of the Los Alamos program. It is primarily polymer electrolyte membrame (PEM) technology. The cost and durability are the biggest barriers to commercialization. The program focus is on obtaining fundamental understanding to enable "knowledge-based innovation," and subsequent materials and process development.

08 HYDROGEN↗

International Collaboration Activities in Geologic Disposal Research: FY2021 Progress

This report describes the FY21 status of international collaboration regarding geologic disposal research in the Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition (SFWD) Campaign. Since 2012, in an effort coordinated by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SFWD has advanced active collaboration with several international geologic disposal programs across the world. Such collaboration has allowed the SFWD Campaign to benefit from a deep knowledge base in regards to alternative repository environments developed over decades and has provided a framework for active peer-to-peer research participation in international groups which conduct, analyze, and model performance-relevant processes. Via international collaboration, the SFWD Campaign also benefits from substantial international investments in research facilities (such as underground research laboratory testing and modeling) and achieves cost savings via joint funding of expensive field experiments. To date, SFWD’s International Disposal R&D Program has established formal collaboration agreements with multiple international initiatives and various international partners, and national lab scientists associated with SFWD have conducted a large number of specific collaborative R&D activities that align well with its R&D priorities.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Criticality Safety and Fuel Performance Considerations for Enrichment Above 5 Weight Percent in the Uranium Dioxide Fuel Cycle

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is preparing for anticipated licensing applications requesting fuel enrichments of UO 2 ceramic fuels enriched in excess of 5 weight percent (w/o) 235 U for commercial light-water reactors (LWRs). PNNL has been tasked with providing technical assistance to the NRC related to the review and approval of requests for enrichment increases above the current 5 w/o 235 U enrichment limit. This report will provide the agency with technical assistance to enhance the staff’s knowledge base and to identify developmental needs required to support the licensing of greater than 5 w/o UO 2 ceramic fuels. This report provides a background on increasing enrichment of UO 2 LWR fuel beyond 5 w/o 235 U. The primary concern of increasing enrichment is the impacts to criticality safety. This report will focus on criticality safety as it relates to enrichment, conversion of uranium hexafluoride to UO 2 , fuel assembly fabrication, transportation of fresh/spent fuel assemblies, reactor operations, and storage of fresh/spent fuel assemblies. The report provides a general summary of each of the steps in the UO 2 fuel cycle starting from transportation of enriched UF 6 through dry cask storage of spent fuel assemblies. This report also discusses other impacts of increased enrichment during reactor operation and the surrounding fuel cycle activities. Current needs regarding both data and analytical codes to support the increase above 5 w/o 235 U are identified and discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Fusion Materials Semiannual Progress Report for the Period Ending December 31, 2022

This is the seventy-third in a series of semiannual technical progress reports on fusion materials science activity supported by the Fusion Energy Sciences Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. It covers the period ending December 31, 2022. This report focuses on research addressing the effects on materials properties and performance of exposure to the neutronic, thermal and chemical environments anticipated in the chambers of fusion experiments and energy systems. This research is a major element of the national effort to establish the materials knowledge base for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. Research activities on issues related to the interaction of materials with plasmas are reported separately. The results reported are the products of a national effort involving a number of national laboratories and universities. A large fraction of this work, particularly in relation to fission reactor irradiations, is carried out collaboratively with partners in Japan, Russia, and the European Union. The purpose of this series of reports is to provide a working technical record for the use of program participants, and to provide a means of communicating the efforts of fusion materials scientists to the broader fusion community, both nationally and worldwide. This report has been compiled by Stephanie Melton, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her efforts, and the efforts of the many persons who made technical contributions, are gratefully acknowledged.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Charting the unknown: A dive into the world of standards mapping

When you hear standards mapping what do you think about? For the Secure Software Central (SSC) project this means comparing our process to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) security control catalog. So how is it done? The project completed this summer can be broken down into three simple phases. Phase one consists of mapping the SSC process to the NIST’s security control catalog. While phase two entails mapping mitigations from a threat profile to NIST. Lastly phase three requires the creation of a knowledge base allowing for the reuse of controls across numerous projects This project presented a few different challenges: locating the correct control within the NIST catalog while correctly matching the proposed mitigations from the SSC team, accurately leveling the mitigation to the security level of the system, creating a toolbox to showcase a dataset of mitigations and standards to be used in current and future projects. each challenge allowed for opportunities in growth and understanding of how security controls can map to a governing set of standards. These standards maps are a crucial element to support the insights provided by the SSC team and allow the client to have confidence in the work being completed. My internship has allowed me to set and achieve many goals such as coming to understand that the field of cybersecurity truly is the right place for me. I have also learned that it’s ok to be wrong if you learn something from it. For significant accomplishments I have helped integrate standards mapping into the fabric of SSC. The field experience that I have gained such as interacting with the SSC team along with other senior staff and building a good rapport are crucial skills to. This time at PNNL has been an irreplaceable experience.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Comparative Evaluation and Selection of High-Temperature Heat Exchangers for Application to Integrated Energy Systems

The following report aims to create a refined and well-structured method for comparatively evaluating heat exchanger technologies for integrated energy systems that caters customers’ specific needs while meeting engineering requirements. For the evaluation, this study elevates previous evaluation metrics, enhances the knowledge base via literature and market surveys, and identifies the figures of merit with robust rationales to enhance the quality of decisions made throughout the proposed heat exchanger evaluation process. The heat exchanger designs evaluated as part of the case study are shell and tube heat exchangers, printed circuit heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, spiral heat exchangers, and heat pipe heat exchangers. The information presented in this report is meant for industries interested in making a preliminary screening process to identify the most suitable heat exchanger design for their application of interest.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Fusion Materials Semiannual Progress Report for the Period Ending June 30, 2023

This is the seventy-fourth in a series of semiannual technical progress reports on fusion materials science activity supported by the Fusion Energy Sciences Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. It covers the period ending June 30, 2023. This report focuses on research addressing the effects on materials properties and performance of exposure to the neutronic, thermal and chemical environments anticipated in the chambers of fusion experiments and energy systems. This research is a major element of the national effort to establish the materials knowledge base for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. Research activities on issues related to the interaction of materials with plasmas are reported separately. The results reported are the products of a national effort involving a number of national laboratories and universities. A large fraction of this work, particularly in relation to fission reactor irradiations, is carried out collaboratively with partners in Japan, Russia, and the European Union. The purpose of this series of reports is to provide a working technical record for the use of program participants, and to provide a means of communicating the efforts of fusion materials scientists to the broader fusion community, both nationally and worldwide.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Non-Rare Earth Magnesium Bumper Beams

Magna will team with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE™) of rectangular and multi-zoned extrusion profiles using non-RE Mg. It is envisioned that the ShAPE™ process, developed during this project for non-circular profiles, will serve as the foundation for fabrication of full-scale bumper beams of the future where near net-shapes are extruded directly from castings in a single step, without the need for costly rare earth additives. In this project, the ShAPE™ process will be developed for a rectangular profile measuring 1” x 2” with a 0.06” wall thickness. Successful extrusion of rectangular cross sections is a critical step along the path toward profiles with multiple zones. With the process established for a rectangular profile, the project will then make advancements toward multi-zoned cross sections. A magnesium alloy bumper beam offers a 35% weight savings compared to aluminum alloys and 60% compared to high strength steels. The bumper beam was chosen as the first component to target because the geometry can have a fairly simple 0.6-0.12 inch wall/web thickness, generally compatible with PNNL’s knowledge base and equipment capability surrounding ShAPE™. The bumper component offers commercial value by providing mass reduction in the front of the vehicle along with ride and handling benefit. PNNL has demonstrated the ability to ShAPE™ process non-RE Mg tubing with high strength, ductility and energy absorption. It has been shown that ShAPE™ extruded ZK60 and Mg2Si tubing with 0.30 inch diameter and 0.03 inch wall thickness have similar energy absorption to AA6061-T6. This is due to significant grain refinement, breakdown and dispersion of second phases, and the ability to eliminate anisotropy in compressive/tensile strength by aligning texture 45 degrees to the extrusion axis. Scalability of the ShAPE™ process has been demonstrated in ZK60 by fabricating 2.0 inch diameter tubing with 0.06 and 0.12 inch wall thicknesses having concentricity as tight as 1.3%. These tubes exhibit an ultimate tensile strength of 260-300 MPa and room temperature ductility of >20% parallel, perpendicular and 45 degrees to the extrusion axis. Aluminum bumpers represent approximately 54% of the NA light vehicle market. If the research effort is successful, providing a 30% mass reduction at equal cost relative to aluminum bumpers, it is anticipated that 25% market penetration would be realized over the next 5 year and 50% market share by 2030. 100% of the aluminum automotive bumpers are sourced from the tier network, providing resourcing opportunity based on equal performance, reduced mass and cost equivalent lower than aluminum bumpers. Due to the relatively low vehicle content, magnesium components are currently shredded and 100% recycled with aluminum content in the US, presenting a positive life cycle impact.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Industrial Assessment Center

Established in 1990, San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) is proud of its years of service. During this period, it has served over 620 small and medium-sized manufacturing plants in Southern California. SDSU/IAC’s efforts to transfer state-of-the-art technologies to industry have increased revenues, cultivated creativity, improved energy efficiencies, and benefited the environment. The Center has contributed to the region's economic growth and stability by assisting small and medium size companies to better compete in the global market. It has helped mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. IAC activities have fostered productive relationships between the University and local industry, assisted industrial sectors to improve their energy efficiency and enhance their manufacturing productivity, in turn impacting the material and working conditions of their employees. In addition to financial savings and environmental benefits, we have trained tens of students who became energy specialists in various companies. Thus, a substantial benefit of the IAC has been the ongoing training of engineering faculty and students. All IAC graduates were offered jobs before or within weeks of their graduation. The activities of the SDSU/IAC have expanded the institutional expertise of the College and improved the knowledge base of the faculties involved leading to several related publications, master’s theses, and senior student projects. Significant number of peer-reviewed publications of the IAC director at SDSU have greatly benefitted from the experience of the Center. As a result of this extensive exposure to manufacturing processes, the SDSU/IAC has grown to be an integral component of SDSU’s engineering research and training. We have successfully built upon these established achievements and academic excellence. IAC service to industry is particularly vital in Southern California, a region with one of the highest manufacturing concentrations in the country. SDSU/IAC has understood and implemented the overall objectives of DOE’s IAC program and guidelines except for the pandemic years when the country’s manufacturing sector was put in dire stress. In addition to student training and service to industry, IAC’s contribution to state and local governments as well as utility companies to assess energy policies and design rebate and incentive strategies cannot be undermined.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Surface Modified Fly Ash for Value Added Products (SuMo Fly Ash)

The objective of this project is to develop a technology to encapsulate coal fly ash particles in sulfurized vegetable oil, enhancing physical and mechanical properties of the fly ash as a filler material when applied in commercial products. This project significantly advances the knowledge base and technology for synthesizing coated fly ash particles for application in different polymer matrices to increase cross-linking, compatibility, air-entrainment and to decrease the leaching potential of metals of concern. Specifically, the project focuses on (a) collection, and characterization of fly ash material from coal power plants; (b) development of Sulfurized Vegetable Oil (SVO) modified (SuMo) fly ash and their detailed characterization; (c) evaluation of the mechanical properties of the SuMo fly ash incorporated plastic and rubber composites for potential replacement of CaCO 3 or carbon black as filler materials with SuMo fly ash in plastic and rubber composites; (d) leaching potential of SuMo fly ash and SuMo fly ash-incorporated plastic and rubber composites to determine the rate of release of trace metals. The major findings of this project are: i) Sulfurized Vegetable Oil coated fly ash (SuMo fly ash) was successfully prepared with a particle size of ≤ 45 micron which exhibited hydrophobicity of contact angle > 90°; ii) the coating reduces leaching of metals (e.g., B, Cr) from fly ash when exposed to water; iii) incorporation of SuMo fly ash increases thermal stability and yield strength of plastics; iv) SuMo coating helps disperse fly ash particles into cured rubbers, natural rubber; (v) SuMo fly ash-incorporated plastic/cured rubbers compounds protects against leaching of toxic elements.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Fusion Materials Semiannual Progress Report for the Period Ending December 31, 2023

This is the seventy-fifth in a series of semiannual technical progress reports on fusion materials science activity supported by the Fusion Energy Sciences Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. It covers the period ending December 31, 2023. This report focuses on research addressing the effects on materials properties and performance of exposure to the neutronic, thermal and chemical environments anticipated in the chambers of fusion experiments and energy systems. This research is a major element of the national effort to establish the materials knowledge base for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. Research activities on issues related to the interaction of materials with plasmas are reported separately. The results reported are the products of a national effort involving a number of national laboratories and universities. A large fraction of this work, particularly in relation to fission reactor irradiations, is carried out collaboratively with partners in Japan, Russia, and the European Union. The purpose of this series of reports is to provide a working technical record for the use of program participants, and to provide a means of communicating the efforts of fusion materials scientists to the broader fusion community, both nationally and worldwide.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Lab Collaboration Project (LCP) for Marine Energy: Quantifying Collision Risk for Fish and Turbines Final Technical Report (Task 10)

A persistent environmental concern for the widespread deployment of tidal turbines is the potential for fish and marine mammals to collide with rotating blades (Copping et al. 2016, Copping and Hemery 2020). This is a consequence of well-documented bird and bat mortalities around wind turbines (Smallwood 2007, Thompson et al. 2017), as well as fish mortality at conventional hydropower dams (Pracheil et al. 2016) and tidal barrages (Dadswell and Rulifson 1994). However, unlike hydropower dams or barrages, tidal turbines do not involve structures that channel all flow through the turbines. Similarly, while functionally similar to wind turbines, tidal turbines often operate at lower relative velocities and, depending on the end-use application, may be significantly smaller than utility-scale wind turbines. Both of these factors reduce the likelihood and severity of collision, but the knowledge base on this topic remains limited.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Bainbridge Island, Washington: Cohort 2 Technical Assistance: Improving Resilience

The City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) applied for and received technical assistance from the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program (ETIPP) in part to achieve their goal of 100% renewable electricity generation by 2040, five years ahead of the Washington State goal. Their second goal of increasing energy resilience is discussed in this report. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed the technical analysis aspects of the project, supported by the community partner Spark Northwest and the program administrator, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). PNNL worked with the Community Lead and stakeholders to ensure selection of hazards and energy infrastructure of highest priority and integration of existing expertise into the analysis. We have also worked to align analysis with current activities conducted by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and other efforts within the Bainbridge Island community around resilience. This report, conducted under the ETIPP project in partnership with COBI, aims to build on this existing knowledge base with a specific energy focus, to identify hazards and threats to critical energy infrastructure, summarize the risk, and identify and analyze remaining resilience gaps.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Fusion Materials Semiannual Progress Report for the Period Ending June 30, 2024

This is the seventy-sixth in a series of semiannual technical progress reports on fusion materials science activity supported by the Fusion Energy Sciences Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. It covers the period ending June 30, 2024. This report focuses on research addressing the effects on materials properties and performance of exposure to the neutronic, thermal and chemical environments anticipated in the chambers of fusion experiments and energy systems. This research is a major element of the national effort to establish the materials knowledge base for an economically and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. Research activities on issues related to the interaction of materials with plasmas are reported separately. The results reported are the products of a national effort involving a number of national laboratories and universities. A large fraction of this work, particularly in relation to fission reactor irradiations, is carried out collaboratively with partners in Japan, Russia, and the European Union. The purpose of this series of reports is to provide a working technical record for the use of program participants, and to provide a means of communicating the efforts of fusion materials scientists to the broader fusion community, both nationally and worldwide. This report has been compiled by Stephanie Melton, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her efforts, and the efforts of the many persons who made technical contributions, are gratefully acknowledged.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Establishing defect-property relationships for 2D-nanomaterials (Final technical report)

Studies of new families of two-dimensional nanomaterials (2DNMs) have established that they possess unique properties that diverge from those of their bulk counterparts. This project aimed to determine how tolerant 2DNMs are to extreme photon and particle fluxes and to identify the mechanisms governing their radiation response. Early work indicated that graphene is not as representative of other 2DNMs as previously assumed; however, the origin of this difference remained unclear. To address these knowledge gaps, this project investigated the physical processes occurring at multiple length scales in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and quantified their structural stability and property evolution under far-from-equilibrium conditions. In-situ and ex-situ ion and electron irradiations were performed to directly control and monitor defect formation in TMDs. Complementary density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to elucidate the mechanisms of defect generation and evolution. The outcomes of this work established mechanistic understanding of irradiation-induced defect formation in 2DNMs, quantified the radiation tolerance of TMDs, and built a fundamental knowledge base for correlating defect structures with material properties. Collectively, these results provide new insights into the stability of low-dimensional materials in extreme environments and enable the predictive design of radiation-tolerant 2DNMs.

2D materials↗

Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium Annual Review of Research – FY 2021

Led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) is a multi-lab collaboration that develops first-principles-based knowledge and tools to understand, quantify, and mitigate the effects of feedstock and process variability across the bioenergy value chain, from the field and forest through downstream conversion. The FCIC recently published its Annual Review of Research Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 report, which presents an overview of the research accomplishments of FCIC members in FY 2021, covering both the low- and high-temperature conversion pathways and all three process areas: Feedstock harvest and storage Preprocessing Conversion. The key research achievements of each task are presented, along with planned FY 2022 work that will build on the FY 2021 accomplishments.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

A Comparative Evaluation and Selection of High-Temperature Heat Exchangers for Application to Integrated Energy Systems

The following report aims to create a refined and well-structured method for comparatively evaluating heat exchanger technologies for integrated energy systems that caters customers’ specific needs while meeting engineering requirements. For the evaluation, this study elevates previous evaluation metrics, enhances the knowledge base via literature and market surveys, and identifies the figures of merit with robust rationales to enhance the quality of decisions made throughout the proposed heat exchanger evaluation process. The heat exchanger designs evaluated as part of the case study are shell and tube heat exchangers, printed circuit heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, spiral heat exchangers, and heat pipe heat exchangers. The information presented in this report is meant for industries interested in making a preliminary screening process to identify the most suitable heat exchanger design for their application of interest.

42 - ENGINEERING↗