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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Strategic styles of hardware product development could accelerate commercialization in cleantech startups

Hardware-based startups risk having longer times-to-market, deterring investment in the clean technologies that are critical to a sustainable future. We interviewed 55 leaders at hardware startups, 20 of which are cleantech, mapped their development timelines, and found prototyping to be the longest development step (median of 19 weeks per prototype) regardless of prototype complexity or iteration. Qualitative interview analysis reveals the prototyping team’s choice of development style is a major factor affecting timeline. We define two development styles: natural and structured, typified by free-form exploration and rule-based execution, respectively. On average, natural development takes 35% less time than structured, and is thus preferred for early iterations, but adopting structure at strategic points is needed for timely commercialization. Critical points of transition to a structured style include adding new team members or engaging external partners, which demand clear communication and expectations. When pivoting to a new product or market, returning to a natural style is beneficial.

Looney, Erin (ORCID:0000000168959312)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Foam Fracturing Study for Stimulation Development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems

This is a final technical report for the project: Foam Fracturing Study for Stimulation Development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). The goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of foam fracturing in EGS applications. The project, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), was conducted in collaboration with Temple University. The report describes the research activities with Task 1 at ORNL: foam fracturing testing system development and experimental study on foam fracturing, and Task 2 at Temple University: foam testing and foam characterization. Main findings are: 1. A foam fracturing test system has been developed at ORNL, which can be used to perform foam fracturing under pressure up to 6,000 psi. The system monitors foam density during fracturing online and is capable of testing materials in both monotonic and cyclic (up to 50 Hz) injections. 2. Foam fracturing tests were carried out on Charcoal black granite specimens with a blind borehole to the middle length. Two diameters of blind borehole were tested; G2 series: 9.53 mm and G3 series: 4.76 mm. N2-in-water foam was used with AOS as a surfactant. 3. There was a hole-size effect on fracture initiation pressure. The effect is smaller in the case of foam, which was influenced by the high penetrability of gas in foam. Breakdown pressure showed a behavior just as that of fracture pressure; namely an increased value for small hole samples, while the effect in water fracture was more impressive than in foam fracture. 4. Water mass was reduced in foam fracturing within similar range of breakdown pressures. In G2 series, it was decreased from 10.44 g for water fracturing to 5.17 g, representing more than 50% water reduction. Therefore, there is the potential to reduce water use in EGS stimulation through foam fracturing. 5. Use of cyclic injection has the potential to reduce the breakdown pressure and seismicity in EGS application. Experiments using 4-s cycle period found that specimens can be fractured with a low number of cycles. The fatigue pressure was approximately 64 - 77% of monotonic breakdown pressure for water fracturing and 58 - 94% of the breakdown pressure for foam fracturing. 6. A foam stability testing system has been developed that can test foam at 220 Deg C to 2,000 psi. Tested components of candidate foams included two gases: N2 and CO2; 4 surfactants: AOS, SDS, NP-40 and CTAC; 5 stabilizing agents: guar, bentonite clay, borate salt, silica NPs, and GO. 7. N2 and AOS provided the most stable performance over the tested ranges. Furthermore, the AOS foam with stabilizing agents of guar and borate salt (crosslinker) offered the highest half-life of 20 minutes at 200 Deg C and 1,000 psi. 8. Arrhenius equation and modified power law have been demonstrated to fit well the half-time vs. temperature and pressure data, respectively. These relations can be useful to provide the suggestion for future foam stability study. This submission contains the supporting data developed during the project: 1) A final technical report 2) Granite fracturing data in monotonic and cyclic injections with water and N2 foam Foam performance data in various temperatures and pressures, including half-time, is submitted separately.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Kölliker's Organ Functions as a Developmental Hub in Mouse Cochlea Regulating Spiral Limbus and Tectorial Membrane Development

Kölliker's organ is a transient developmental structure in the mouse cochlea that undergoes significant remodeling postnatally. Utilizing an epithelial-specific conditional deletion mouse model of Prdm16 (marker and regulator of Kölliker's organ), we show that Prdm16 is required for interdental cell development, and thereby the development of the limbal domain of the tectorial membrane and its medial anchorage to the spiral limbus. Additionally, we show that Kölliker's organ is involved in normal tectorial membrane collagen fibril development and maturation. Interestingly, mesenchymal cells of the spiral limbus underneath Prdm16 -deficient Kölliker's organ failed to produce interstitial matrix proteins, resulting in a hypoplastic and truncated spiral limbus, indicating a non-cell autonomous role of Prdm16 in regulating spiral mesenchymal matrix development. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified differentially expressed genes in Prdm16 -deficient Kölliker's organ suggesting a role for connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) downstream Prdm16 in epithelial-mesenchymal signaling involved in spiral limbus matrix deposition. Prdm16 -deficient mice showed a hearing deficit, as indicated by elevated auditory brainstem response thresholds at most frequencies, consistent with the cochlear structural defects. Both sexes were studied. This work establishes Prdm16 as a deafness gene in mice through its role in regulating Kölliker's organ development. Such understanding recognizes Kölliker's organ as a developmental hub regulating multiple surrounding cochlear structures.

Zhang, Hongji↗
DOE OSTI2019

Easing the Control System Application Development for CMS Detector Control System with Automatic Production Environment Reproduction

The Detector Control System (DCS) is one of the main pieces involved in the operation of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the LHC. The system is built using WinCC Open Architecture (WinCC OA) and the Joint Controls Project (JCOP) framework which was developed on top of WinCC at CERN. Following the JCOP paradigm, CMS has developed its own framework which is structured as a collection of more than 200 individual installable components each providing a different feature. Everyone of the systems that the CMS DCS consists of is created by installing a different set of these components. By automating this process, we are able to quickly and efficiently create new systems in production or recreate problematic ones, but also, to create development environments that are identical to the production ones. This latter one results in smoother development and integration processes, as the new/reworked components are developed and tested in production-like environments. Moreover, it allows the central DCS support team to easily reproduce systems that the users/developers report as being problematic, reducing the response time for bug fixing and improving the support quality.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

What's in a Name? Developing a Standardized Taxonomy for HVAC System Faults

Faults occurring in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems have significantly negative impacts on building energy consumption, occupant comfort, and indoor air quality. In the past thirty years, extensive research has been conducted on fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) methods, and there are now dozens of commercially available FDD software tools. Growing adoption of FDD tools has the potential to generate a massive and useful data set on fault characteristics. However, the lack of a unifying taxonomy is a significant barrier to efficient analysis and evaluation of FDD outputs. Therefore, there is a strong need to develop a robust taxonomy which can better represent and interpret FDD output data. This paper documents the development of a unifying taxonomy for HVAC system faults in commercial buildings, with initial focus on air handling units, variable air volume terminal units, and roof top unit systems. The developed fault taxonomy employs both a physical hierarchy of HVAC equipment and a cause-effect relationship model as tools to better understand and support root cause analysis for HVAC faults. A variable air volume terminal unit is used as an example to demonstrate the application of the developed fault taxonomy. The taxonomy has short-term application in a major U.S. study on fault prevalence, and promises longer term benefits to FDD software developers and building operators by creating a foundation for improved approaches to identifying and resolving HVAC faults.

Chen, Yimin↗
DOE OSTI2012

National Energy Audit Tool for Multifamily Buildings — Development Plan

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to reduce their energy costs by providing funds to make their homes more energy efficient. In addition, the program funds Weatherization Training and Technical Assistance (T and TA) activities to support a range of program operations. These activities include measuring and documenting performance, monitoring programs, promoting advanced techniques and collaborations to further improve program effectiveness, and training, including developing tools and information resources. The T and TA plan outlines the tasks, activities, and milestones to support the weatherization network with the program implementation ramp up efforts. Weatherization of multifamily buildings has been recognized as an effective way to ramp up weatherization efforts. To support this effort, the 2009 National Weatherization T and TA plan includes the task of expanding the functionality of the Weatherization Assistant, a DOE-sponsored family of energy audit computer programs, to perform audits for large and small multifamily buildings This report describes the planning effort for a new multifamily energy audit tool for DOE's WAP. The functionality of the Weatherization Assistant is being expanded to also perform energy audits of small multifamily and large multifamily buildings. The process covers an assessment of needs that includes input from national experts during two national Web conferences. The assessment of needs is then translated into capability and performance descriptions for the proposed new multifamily energy audit, with some description of what might or should be provided in the new tool. The assessment of needs is combined with our best judgment to lay out a strategy for development of the multifamily tool that proceeds in stages, with features of an initial tool (version 1) and a more capable version 2 handled with currently available resources. Additional development in the future is expected to be needed if more capabilities are to be added. A rough schedule for development of the version 1 tool is presented. The components and capabilities described in this plan will serve as the starting point for development of the proposed new multifamily energy audit tool for WAP.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Cooperation Reliability Testing of the Clipper Windpower Liberty 2.5 MW Turbine: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

Clipper Windpower (CWP) has developed the Liberty 2.5 MW wind turbine. The development, manufacturing, and certification process depends heavily on being able to validate the full-scale system design and performance under load in both an accredited structural test facility and through accredited field testing. CWP requested that DOE/ NREL upgrade blade test capabilities to perform a scope of workincluding structural testing of the C-96 blade used on the CWP Liberty turbine. This funds-in CRADA was developed to upgrade NREL blade test capability, while enabling certification testing of the C-96 blade through the facility and equipment upgrades. NREL shared resource funds were used to develop hardware necessary to structurally attach a large wind turbine to the test stand at the NWTC.Participant funds-in monies were used for developing the test program.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Nuclear Concrete Materials Database Phase I Development

The FY 2011 accomplishments in Phase I development of the Nuclear Concrete Materials Database to support the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program are summarized. The database has been developed using the ORNL materials database infrastructure established for the Gen IV Materials Handbook to achieve cost reduction and development efficiency. In this Phase I development, the database has been successfully designed and constructed to manage documents in the Portable Document Format generated from the Structural Materials Handbook that contains nuclear concrete materials data and related information. The completion of the Phase I database has established a solid foundation for Phase II development, in which a digital database will be designed and constructed to manage nuclear concrete materials data in various digitized formats to facilitate electronic and mathematical processing for analysis, modeling, and design applications.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Solid-State Fault Current Limiter Development: Design and Testing Update of a 15kV SSCL Power Stack

The Solid-State Fault Current Limiter (SSCL) is a promising technology that can be applied to utility power delivery systems to address the problem of increasing fault currents associated with load growth. As demand continues to grow, more power is added to utility system either by increasing generator capacity or by adding distributed generators, resulting in higher available fault currents, often beyond the capabilities of the present infrastructure. The SSCL is power-electronics based equipment designed to work with the present utility system to address this problem. The SSCL monitors the line current and dynamically inserts additional impedance into the line in the event of a fault being detected. The SSCL is based on a modular design and can be configured for 5kV through 69kV systems at nominal current ratings of 1000A to 4000A. Results and Findings This report provides the final test results on the development of 15kV class SSCL single phase power stack. The scope of work included the design of the modular standard building block sub-assemblies, the design and manufacture of the power stack and the testing of the power stack for the key functional tests of continuous current capability and fault current limiting action. Challenges and Objectives Solid-State Current Limiter technology impacts a wide spectrum of utility engineering and operating personnel. It addresses the problems associated with load growth both at Transmission and Distribution class networks. The design concept is pioneering in terms of developing the most efficient and compact power electronics equipment for utility use. The initial test results of the standard building blocks are promising. The independent laboratory tests of the power stack are promising. However the complete 3 phase system needs rigorous testing for performance and reliability. Applications, Values, and Use The SSCL is an intelligent power-electronics device which is modular in design and can provide current limiting or current interrupting capabilities. It can be applied to variety of applications from distribution class to transmission class power delivery grids and networks. It can also be applied to single major commercial and industrial loads and distributed generator supplies. The active switching of devices can be further utilized for protection of substation transformers. The stress on the system can be reduced substantially improving the life of the power system. It minimizes the voltage sag by speedy elimination of heavy fault currents and promises to be an important element of the utility power system. DOE Perspective This development effort is now focused on a 15kV system. This project will help mitigate the challenges of increasing available fault current. DOE has made a major contribution in providing a cost effective SSCL designed to integrate seamlessly into the Transmission and Distribution networks of today and the future. Approach SSCL development program for a 69kV SSCL was initiated which included the use of the Super GTO advanced semiconductor device which won the 2007 R&D100 Award. In the beginning, steps were identified to accomplish the economically viable design of a 69kV class Solid State Current Limiter that is extremely reliable, cost effective, and compact enough to be applied in urban transmission. The prime thrust in design and development was to encompass the 1000A and the 3000A ratings and provide a modular design to cover the wide range of applications. The focus of the project was then shifted to a 15kV class SSCL. The specifications for the 15kV power stack are reviewed. The design changes integrated into the 15kV power stack are discussed. In this Technical Update the complete project is summarized followed by a detailed test report. The power stack independent high voltage laboratory test requirements and results are presented. Keywords Solid State Current Limiter, SSCL, Fault Current Limiter, Fault Current Controller, Power electronics controller, Intelligent power-electronics Device, IED

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2012

Great Plains Wind Energy Transmission Development Project

In fiscal year 2005, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to undertake a broad array of tasks to either directly or indirectly address the barriers that faced much of the Great Plains states and their efforts to produce and transmit wind energy at the time. This program, entitled Great Plains Wind Energy Transmission Development Project, was focused on the central goal of stimulating wind energy development through expansion of new transmission capacity or development of new wind energy capacity through alternative market development. The original task structure was as follows: Task 1 - Regional Renewable Credit Tracking System (later rescoped to Small Wind Turbine Training Center); Task 2 - Multistate Transmission Collaborative; Task 3 - Wind Energy Forecasting System; and Task 4 - Analysis of the Long-Term Role of Hydrogen in the Region. As carried out, Task 1 involved the creation of the Small Wind Turbine Training Center (SWTTC). The SWTTC, located Grand Forks, North Dakota, consists of a single wind turbine, the Endurance S-250, on a 105-foot tilt-up guyed tower. The S-250 is connected to the electrical grid on the 'load side' of the electric meter, and the power produced by the wind turbine is consumed locally on the property. Establishment of the SWTTC will allow EERC personnel to provide educational opportunities to a wide range of participants, including grade school through college-level students and the general public. In addition, the facility will allow the EERC to provide technical training workshops related to the installation, operation, and maintenance of small wind turbines. In addition, under Task 1, the EERC hosted two small wind turbine workshops on May 18, 2010, and March 8, 2011, at the EERC in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Task 2 involved the EERC cosponsoring and aiding in the planning of three transmission workshops in the midwest and western regions. Under Task 3, the EERC, in collaboration with Meridian Environmental Services, developed and demonstrated the efficacy of a wind energy forecasting system for use in scheduling energy output from wind farms for a regional electrical generation and transmission utility. With the increased interest at the time of project award in the production of hydrogen as a critical future energy source, many viewed hydrogen produced from wind-generated electricity as an attractive option. In addition, many of the hydrogen production-related concepts involve utilization of energy resources without the need for additional electrical transmission. For this reason, under Task 4, the EERC provided a summary of end uses for hydrogen in the region and focused on one end product in particular (fertilizer), including several process options and related economic analyses.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2011

FY2011 Status Report on SN2ND Neutronics Solver Development

A change in focus of NEAMS to a broader set of reactor types necessitated significant effort being diverted away from SN2ND development in FY2011. Nevertheless, significant gains were made with regard to building the new preconditioner and meeting the objectives of 1) parallelism in energy, 2) a spatial multigrid concept, 3) using SN vector spaces to accommodate the adjoint and time dependent functionalities needed for NEAMS work, and 4) complete manuals and documentation. While the desired goal of an exportable SN2ND solver usable within the NEAMS community for neutronics analysis was not completed, we can be confident that this year’s work puts the SN2ND solver well on its way to meeting that objective. It is important to note that SN2ND is just as capable as any other methodology for doing thermal reactor analysis, but the motivation to execute on smaller scale machines has initiated focused development on simplified treatments such as those proposed in the MOCARV tool. All of the cited coding tasks were completed but not all are fully working (i.e. debugged). The spatial multigrid technique was by far the most time consuming part of the SN2ND development process. It required multiple new data structure concepts along with identifying the necessary changes in the vectors and their associated functions. Combining the spatial multigrid as part of a GMRES preconditioner operating on the full vector space, necessary for parallelization in energy, increased the complexity of that development. Research into spatial multigrid techniques for unstructured meshes, void treatments, and code optimization and acceleration are key development needs for SN2ND. Similar to previous years, a considerable amount of effort was spent on validation work. Again we focused on fast reactor problems such as ZPR experiments and the MONJU reactor in Japan. Conventional drawer homogenized models and partially heterogeneous models were used on the ZPR calculations. The drawer homogenized models produced excellent results for both eigenvalue and foil measurements on four loadings of ZPR-6/7. The partially heterogeneous models of ZPR-6/7 also produced good results, but additional work is necessary to generate consistent effective cross section data. Calculations for MONJU were homogeneous and also gave excellent results. Finally, mock-up heterogeneous calculations were setup and attempted to scope out the performance limitations of SN2ND on whole core heterogeneous calculations. Specifically, heterogeneous models of a PWR, a VHTR, and the MONJU reactor were created using anywhere from 2 group to 33 group cross section data. Meshes with greater than 100,000,000 vertices are necessary for accuracy and a specific non-scaling memory issue in PETSc restricted the SN2ND modeling (VHTR and PWR could not be solved). All of the calculations performed this year indicate that significant computational resources beyond those available today are required to obtain a high fidelity solution possible with SN2ND. The future goals for SN2ND are to get the new version fully working, reliable in execution, and to have comparable performance to the old solver such that it can be released within the NEAMS community. After its export to RSICC, we will rely upon further preconditioner research to be done in collaboration with university partners and through the exascale hub activities. Some of that research will focus on making SN2ND applicable to thermal reactor problems, spatial multigrid, and void treatments.

Smith, M. A.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Development of non-invasive acoustic characterization techniques for the oil and gas industry [Slides]

The production of crude oil and other liquid fuels in the US has been steadily rising since 2007 and according the International Energy Agency, the US will be entirely self-sufficient by 2030. This forecast is based on advancing new extraction methods and also developing smaller and more marginal reservoirs in a cost effective way. This requires highly efficient monitoring technology that can provide an accurate and realtime estimate of oil production from each and every well. The technologies currently used in oil-fields are either decades old, not very accurate, expensive to maintain and operate, and often incapable of delivering real-time information. Therefore, the oil and gas industry is looking for technology that can monitor multiphase (oil/water/gas) production fluids to address all these challenges and ensure energy security for the future. In this talk, I will discuss the development of an ultrasound-based noninvasive technique for the simultaneous and real-time measurement of both the composition (“water-cut”) and flow rate of crude oil and process water as these are pumped out from the ground. This technique relies on the accurate ultrasound propagation characterization of a flowing multiphase fluid through a thick-walled pipe. Time-dependent ultrasound transmission and its spatial coherence were used to determine several important physical parameters of the fluid mixture, such as sound speed, sound attenuation, and flow velocity. Different algorithms were developed to derive appropriate composition values from this data. The composition algorithm originates from the fundamental behavior of sound propagation in composite materials. A remotely-controllable portable instrument was built and tested extensively on location at various oil fields in the US. The technology developed has been licensed to industry and the final product is currently being manufactured. Upon deployment, the instrument is expected to positively impact reservoir management schemes and be applicable to various process control industries. I will conclude with brief descriptions of additional ultrasonic techniques currently being developed by the Acoustics and Sensors Team to address future challenges in the oil industry.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2012

Development and application of processing and process control for nano-composite materials for lithium ion batteries (CRADA Final Report)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and A123 Systems, Inc. collaborated on this project to develop a better understanding, quality control procedures, and safety testing for A123 System’s nanocomposite separator (NCS) technology which is a cell based patented technology and separator. NCS demonstrated excellent performance. x3450 prismatic cells were shown to survive >8000 cycles (1C/2C rate) at room temperature with greater than 80% capacity retention with only NCS present as an alternative to conventional polyolefin. However, for a successful commercialization, the coating conditions required to provide consistent and reliable product had not been optimized and QC techniques for being able to remove defective material before incorporation into a cell had not been developed. The work outlined in this report addresses these latter two points. First, experiments were conducted to understand temperature profiles during the different drying stages of the NCS coating when applied to both anode and cathode. One of the more interesting discoveries of this study was the observation of the large temperature decrease experienced by the wet coating between the end of the infrared (IR) drying stage and the beginning of the exposure to the convection drying oven. This is not a desirable situation as the temperature gradient could have a deleterious effect on coating quality. Based on this and other experimental data a radiative transfer model was developed for IR heating that also included a mass transfer module for drying. This will prove invaluable for battery coating optimization especially where IR drying is being employed. A stress model was also developed that predicts that under certain drying conditions tensile stresses are formed in the coating which could lead to cracking that is sometimes observed after drying is complete. Prediction of under what conditions these stresses form is vital to improving coating quality. In addition to understanding the drying process other parameters such as slurry quality and equipment optimization were examined. Removal of particles and gels by filtering, control of viscosity by %solids and mixing adjustments, removal of trapped gas in the slurry and modification of coater speed and slot die gap were all found to be important for producing uniform and flaw-free coatings. Second, an in-line Hi-Pot testing method has been developed specifically for NCS that will enable detection of coating flaws that could lead to soft or hard electrical shorts within the cell. In this way flawed material can be rejected before incorporation into the cell thus greatly reducing the amount of scrap that is generated. Improved battery safety is an extremely important benefit of NCS. Evaluation of battery safety is usually accomplished by conducting a variety of tests including nail penetration, hot box, over charge, etc. For these tests entire batteries must be built but the resultant temperature and voltage responses reveal little about the breakdown mechanism. In this report is described a pinch test which is used to evaluate NCS quality at various stages including coated anode and cathode as well as assembled cell. Coupled with post-microscopic examination of the damaged ‘pinch point’ test data can assist in the coating optimization from an improved end-use standpoint. As a result of this work two invention disclosures, one for optimizing drying methodology and the other for an in-line system for flaw detection, have been filed. In addition, 2 papers are being written for submission to peer-reviewed journals.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of Commercial Technology for Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells on Glass (CRADA Final Report)

NREL has conducted basic research relating to high efficiency, low cost, thin film silicon solar cell design and the method of making solar cells. Two patents have been issued to NREL in the above field. In addition, specific process and metrology tools have been developed by NREL. Applied Optical Sciences Corp. (AOS) has expertise in the manufacture of solar cells and has developed its own unique concentrator technology. AOS wants to complement its solar cell expertise and its concentrator technology by manufacturing flat panel thin film silicon solar cell panels. AOS wants to take NREL's research to the next level, using it to develop commercially viable flat pane, thin film silicon solar cell panels. Such a development in equipment, process, and metrology will likely produce the lowest cost solar cell technology for both commercial and residential use. NREL's fundamental research capability and AOS's technology and industrial background are complementary to achieve this product development.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory FACET & TEST BEAM FACILITIES PROPOSAL: Development of Electron Radiography for Material Science

The material science community is presently limited by diagnostics in both the fabrication of materials and measuring the resulting materials characteristics of these new fabrication techniques. Because of this limitation the community is forced into an empirical mode of material fabrication, where expert judgment is used to guide manufacturing processes and the resulting materials are inspected and tested for the desired characteristics. This development approach can be time consuming and costly. The solution to this problem is to improve our fundamental understanding of materials, which requires the development of new diagnostics capable of measurement at the micron length scale, during both processing and during testing. These new measurements will enable a fundamental understanding of material characteristics allowing the development of predictive models, which will in turn enable material engineering by design rather than today’s empirical approach. Solving this problem has become a grand challenge for the materials science community. Los Alamos plans to address this challenge through the development of new diagnostics capable of measurements at the smallest length scales through the Multi-Probe Diagnostic Hall (MPDH) at the planned MaRIE (Material and Radiation In Extremes) Facility. One of the probes will be a coherent photon beam generated by an FEL driven by a multi-GeV electron beam. The photons will be used for diffraction measurements as well as radiography of relatively thin samples (nearly single grains). The same multi-GeV electron beam can be used to directly radiograph thicker systems (many grains or “bulk” material), providing high resolution measurements of the density distribution of materials during both fabrication and dynamic testing. This technique, electron radiography or eRad, that has been identified by LANL as one of the probes required to meet this grand challenge has never been demonstrated with high energy electrons. We propose to begin development of this technique with the electron beam available at FACET.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2013

WTEC Panel Report on International Assessment of Research and Development in Simulation-Based Engineering and Science

This WTEC panel report assesses the international research and development activities in the field of Simulation- Based Engineering and Science (SBE&S). SBE&S involves the use of computer modeling and simulation to solve mathematical formulations of physical models of engineered and natural systems. SBE&S today has reached a level of predictive capability that it now firmly complements the traditional pillars of theory and experimentation/observation. As a result, computer simulation is more pervasive today – and having more impact – than at any other time in human history. Many critical technologies, including those to develop new energy sources and to shift the cost-benefit factors in healthcare, are on the horizon that cannot be understood, developed, or utilized without simulation. A panel of experts reviewed and assessed the state of the art in SBE&S as well as levels of activity overseas in the broad thematic areas of life sciences and medicine, materials, and energy and sustainability; and in the crosscutting issues of next generation hardware and algorithms; software development; engineering simulations; validation, verification, and uncertainty quantification; multiscale modeling and simulation; and SBE&S education. The panel hosted a U.S. baseline workshop, conducted a bibliometric analysis, consulted numerous experts and reports, and visited 59 institutions and companies throughout East Asia and Western Europe to explore the active research projects in those institutions, the computational infrastructure used for the projects, the funding schemes that enable the research, the collaborative interactions among universities, national laboratories, and corporate research centers, and workforce needs and development for SBE&S.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development Of Analytical Methods for Determining Suppressor Concentration in the MCU Next Generation Solvent (NGS)

Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was tasked with identifying and developing at least one, but preferably two methods for quantifying the suppressor in the Next Generation Solvent (NGS) system. The suppressor is a guanidine derivative, N,N',N"-tris(3,7-dimethyloctyl)guanidine (TiDG). A list of 10 possible methods was generated, and screening experiments were performed for 8 of the 10 methods. After completion of the screening experiments, the non-aqueous acid-base titration was determined to be the most promising, and was selected for further development as the primary method. 1 H NMR also showed promising results from the screening experiments, and this method was selected for further development as the secondary method. Other methods, including 36 Cl radiocounting and ion chromatography, also showed promise; however, due to the similarity to the primary method (titration) and the inability to differentiate between TiDG and TOA (tri-n-ocytlamine) in the blended solvent, 1 H NMR was selected over these methods. Analysis of radioactive samples obtained from real waste ESS (extraction, scrub, strip) testing using the titration method showed good results. Based on these results, the titration method was selected as the method of choice for TiDG measurement. 1 H NMR has been selected as the secondary (back-up) method, and additional work is planned to further develop this method and to verify the method using radioactive samples. Procedures for analyzing radioactive samples of both pure NGS and blended solvent were developed and issued for the both methods.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Precision Information Environment (PIE) for International Safeguards: Pre-Demonstration Development Use Cases

In FY2013, the PIE International Safeguards team demonstrated our development progress to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) staff from the Office of Nonproliferation and International Security (NA-24, our client) and the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (NA-22). Following the demonstration, the team was asked by our client to complete additional development prior to a planned demonstration at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), scheduled tentatively for January or spring of 2014. The team discussed four potential areas for development (in priority order), and will develop them as time and funding permit prior to an IAEA demonstration. The four capability areas are: 1. Addition of equipment manuals to PIE-accessible files 2. Optical character recognition (OCR) of photographed text 3. Barcode reader with information look-up from a database 4. Add Facilities to Data Model 5. Geospatial capabilities with information integration Each area will be described below in a use case.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗