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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2026

Submodule-Level Decentralized Control for Cascaded Quadruple Active Bridge-Based Medium-Voltage Converters

High-power, low-voltage DC (LVDC) loads, such as AI data centers, electric vehicle fast-charging hubs, and hydrogen electrolyzers, are accelerating the deployment of solid-state transformers (SSTs) that directly interface medium-voltage AC (MVAC) to LVDC, streamlining power delivery. This paper proposes a submodule-level decentralized control strategy for an SST comprising a cascaded H-bridge (CHB) active rectifier on the MVAC side and per-module quadruple-active-bridge (QAB) converters on the LVDC side with local controllers. The proposed strategy eliminates the need for high-fidelity, real-time cross-isolation communication by synchronizing all active bridges to a common heartbeat signal and enabling the primary- and secondary-side controllers to generate independent local control signals (phase shifts). The resultant phase shifts naturally govern average and double-line frequency power transfer between active bridges, enabling each side to meet its control objectives using only local measurements. Detailed controller design considerations are presented based on a stability analysis. Comprehensive electromagnetic-transient simulations demonstrate tight DC-link voltage regulation, high-quality grid currents, and robust operation under load transients and grid disturbances, without real-time communication among the submodule controllers. These results indicate that the proposed scheme can significantly enhance the reliability, scalability, and flexibility of cascaded bridge-based medium-voltage converters.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2024

The Integrated Reference Region Analysis for Parallel DFIGs’ Interfacing Inductors

Although the traditional design of doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs)’ interfacing inductors consider the peak ripple of the grid-side converter (GSC)’s output current, it does not consider the inductors’ impact on DFIGs’ smallsignal stability. Located in series between the GSC and the stator, the inappropriate selection of the interfacing inductor can easily result to system instability. Therefore, this paper first proposes the integrated reference region analysis for small wind farm's interfacing inductors to improve the traditional design method. Firstly, a new detailed parallel DFIGs’ smallsignal model that considers output currents’ coupling is built in d-q coordinate system with state-space approach. The model focuses on representing the operating states of parallel DFIGs in wind farm. Secondly, the linearized state-space matrix of parallel DFIGs is decomposed into nominal-value matrix and location matrix. Considering the traditional design requirements, the integrated reference region for interfacing inductor is proposed through spectral radius and bialternate matrix sum (BMS). Furthermore, it can provide better guidance for parameter selecting and stabilization method researches. Finally, the simulation and experimental results show that the proposed integrated reference region for parallel DFIGs’ interfacing inductors is accurate and instructive.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2012

CoCoMANS Ocean App [Slides]

Thermohaline circulation is that part of ocean circulation which is driven by density gradients. It is widely believed that changes in the ocean thermohaline circulation on the 10 to 100 year time scale can instigate rapid climate change. Scientists world wide are currently using simulation tools based on semi-implicit and split methods that are first-order in time. From a numerical error perspective, the quality of such simulations is suspect. As a result of numerical stability issues resulting from semi-implicit and split methods they are forced to use low resolution grids; ie high resolution grids will require prohibitive numbers of timesteps. Having the ability to perform such simulation with reduced splitting errors, using high resolution grids, and using second-order accurate time integration methods will be a quantum leap forward in predictive ocean simulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2018

On The Management Of Radiographic Noise Sources

The numerous types of noise in a typical radiograph include: quantum noise, read noise, thermal noise, scatter, etc. The character of these noise sources can be non-stationary, non-linear, Gaussian, Poisson, white, pink, additive, multiplicative, point, random and/or systematic. Furthermore these noise sources impact radiographic factors including: conjugates, exposure duration, filtration, detector type, Swank & Fano factors, Bucky grids, energy, collection optics, charge leakage, digitizer type, dynamic range, detector temperature, pixel size, calibration technique, system stability etc. In short, the “noise” in a radiograph is a very complex subject with many real-world tradeoffs. We delineate the noise sources in a typical silicon detector (e.g. CCD, CMOS, or AmSi, TFT) to illustrate the character of those sources and statistics behind some of the choices required to readout and calibrate those detectors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2017

OSCILLATING FILAMENTS. I. OSCILLATION AND GEOMETRICAL FRAGMENTATION

We study the stability of filaments in equilibrium between gravity and internal as well as external pressure using the grid-based AMR code RAMSES. A homogeneous, straight cylinder below a critical line mass is marginally stable. However, if the cylinder is bent, such as with a slight sinusoidal perturbation, an otherwise stable configuration starts to oscillate, is triggered into fragmentation, and collapses. This previously unstudied behavior allows a filament to fragment at any given scale, as long as it has slight bends. We call this process “geometrical fragmentation.” In our realization, the spacing between the cores matches the wavelength of the sinusoidal perturbation, whereas up to now, filaments were thought to be only fragmenting on the characteristic scale set by the mass-to-line ratio. Using first principles, we derive the oscillation period as well as the collapse timescale analytically. To enable a direct comparison with observations, we study the line-of-sight velocity for different inclinations. We show that the overall oscillation pattern can hide the infall signature of cores.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Open-Source PSCAD Grid-Following and Grid-Forming Inverters and a Benchmark for Zero-Inertia Power System Simulations: Preprint

This paper presents open-source, flexible, and easily-scalable models of grid following and grid forming inverters for the PSCAD software platform. The models are intended for system integration studies, particularly stability analyses of power systems with high penetration of inverter-based generation. To verify the model functionality, they are implemented in a IEEE9-bus system in a zero-inertia operational scenario of 100% inverter-based generation. The models have been made available open source at the PyPSCAD NREL GitHub page.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

DOE OSTI2022

Developing a PSCAD Model of the Reduced 240-Bus WECC Test System: Preprint

Fast-acting controls of inverter-based resources (IBR) introduce unprecedented dynamics to bulk power systems and island power grids, especially the high-frequency dynamics ranging from $>5$ Hz to hundreds of Hz. These oscillatory stability problems cannot be captured by the phasor domain simulations, e.g., in PSS/E, Powerworld and TSAT, due to insufficient modeling. Instead, they should be studied by electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations by using proper EMT dynamic models. This paper develops and validates the PSCAD model of the reduced 240-bus Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) test system. The PSCAD model will be released to the public, which can be used by both academia and power industry practitioners for studying the fast dynamic problems without any Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII).

240-bus WECC test system↗

DOE OSTI2024

Spectral Analysis of Regular Material Point Method and its Application to Study High Pressure Reverse Osmosis Membrane Compaction and Embossing

Material Point Method (MPM) is gaining widespread interest in applied continuum mechanics. The fact that all the continuum properties are stored on the particles (or material points) and the governing equations are solved on these material points makes MPM extremely suited to problems involving severe material deformations, such as crack propagation, soil movement, and fluid flows. Despite its popularity, only a few studies have focused on the numerical properties of MPM. This presentation introduces a global spectral analysis of the regular material point method. Contrary to previous studies, the analysis focuses on the numerical properties of the method in the spectral space. The amplification factor is derived as a function of the non- dimensional wave numbers. It provides insights into the stability and dissipative properties of the method for various CFL and Fourier numbers. The effect of the grid shape functions, number of particles per cell and their locations inside the grid cell are also analyzed. The EXAGOOP MPM solver (https://github.com/NREL/Exagoop.git) is developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a part of the NAWI UHPRO project and is based on the AMReX framework. A single-level, uniform cartesian grid is used as the background mesh, while the particle class in AMReX is used to manage the material point operations. Linear hat and B-splines are used as grid shape functions, while the time integration is performed using explicit Euler time integration. EXAGOOP is both CPU and GPU compatible and has been demonstrated to work well on multiple compute architectures. The performance of EXAGOOP on various computing architectures is presented along with its application to study compaction and embossing of high-pressure reverse osmosis membranes. The MPM solution accurately reproduces the membrane deformation. The deformed pore size and structure simulated using MPM also agree well with experimental SEM images.

material point method↗

DOE OSTI2026

Submodule-Level Decentralized Control for Cascaded Quadruple Active Bridge-Based Medium-Voltage Converters: Preprint

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2026

Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop Experiments of a Microgrid with a Grid-Forming Battery Inverter

Microgrids continue to proliferate, and they are transitioning away from using conventional generating resources to increasingly relying on inverter-based resources (IBRs) as the voltage and frequency leaders. It is crucial to evaluate the capability of IBRs to provide microgrid stability and resilience. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiments were conducted to de-risk the field deployment of the San Diego Gas & Electric Company Borrego Springs Microgrid, where a battery inverter was upgraded with grid-forming (GFM) capability to serve as the island leader. This paper presents the HIL experimental results from an HIL test bed that uses a power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) interface with a power inductor that was previously developed for PHIL simulations of microgrids where the inverters need to switch modes, i.e., between grid-following and GFM as the microgrid transitions between grid-connected and islanded operation. This paper presents more details on the interface and HIL simulation results of the planned islanding and load steps in islanded operation to show the effectiveness of the inverters in managing the voltage and frequency.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Release strategies: The CMS approach for development and quality assurance

Now that CMS has started data taking there is a balance to be struck between software release stability for operations and the need to improve the physics and technical performance of the code. In addition new code may need to be developed to correct for unforeseen data taking conditions, and has to be integrated into the mainstream releases with a minimum risk. To keep the process under control, CMS uses regular (twice a day) Integration Builds. A complex set of validation steps is used to verify the software at various stages, from the regular Integration Builds to running a full software and physics validation suite on the grid for major releases. CMS has adopted a development model that tries to strike the correct balance between the needs of stability and a constant improvement, this paper will describe our experience with this model, and tell the story of how the commissioning of the CMS offline has proceeded through the perspective of the past year's releases.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2021

Dynamic Interaction of Grid-Forming and Grid-Following Inverters with Synchronous Generators in Hybrid Power Plants

As the integration of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar generation continues to grow, the use of hybrid power plants with both synchronous machines and power electronic inverters operating in parallel becomes more common. This paper studies the impact on small-signal stability for these pairs of devices, first as an isolated two-device system and then as part of a 9-bus test system. Each operational scenario was studied with both a grid-following inverter and a grid-forming inverter. In each scenario, the state variables associated with the synchronous generator's excitation system were found to be responsible for the inception of instability. These results underscore the importance of accurate modeling of excitation systems when modeling power systems with hybrid power plants.

hybrid power plant↗

DOE OSTI2023

Microgrid Modeling for Stability Analysis

Here this document is a summary of a report prepared by the IEEE PES Task Force (TF) on Microgrid (MG) Dynamic Modeling, IEEE Power and Energy Society, Tech. Rep. PES-TR106, 2023. In this paper, the major issues and challenges in microgrid modeling for stability analysis are discussed, and a review of state-of-the-art modeling approaches and trends is presented. In the context of the IEEE 1547 standard, the document covers issues associated with component models for MG dynamic studies and simulations, including generator and grid modeling, full and average converter models, unbalanced and balanced system conditions, dynamic and static loads, protection requirements, and detailed and simplified controls considering communications delays, packet losses, and security issues. Considering the future integration of grids and MGs to form broad integrated networks, a discussion is presented of the use of phasor vis-à-vis electromagnetic transient simulation tools for MG dynamic stability studies, as well as modeling scale-up issues and MG equivalent models. Specifically white-, grey-, and black-box models, are presented. This TF paper and companion report constitute a modeling guide for R&D groups working on developments and standards of MGs with a focus on stability issues.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2017

A stable and accurate partitioned algorithm for conjugate heat transfer

We describe a new partitioned approach for solving conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problems where the governing temperature equations in different material domains are time-stepped in a implicit manner, but where the interface coupling is explicit. The new approach, called the CHAMP scheme (Conjugate Heat transfer Advanced Multi-domain Partitioned), is based on a discretization of the interface coupling conditions using a generalized Robin (mixed) condition. The weights in the Robin condition are determined from the optimization of a condition derived from a local stability analysis of the coupling scheme. The interface treatment combines ideas from optimized-Schwarz methods for domain-decomposition problems together with the interface jump conditions and additional compatibility jump conditions derived from the governing equations. For many problems (i.e. for a wide range of material properties, grid-spacings and time-steps) the CHAMP algorithm is stable and second-order accurate using no sub-time-step iterations (i.e. a single implicit solve of the temperature equation in each domain). In extreme cases (e.g. very fine grids with very large time-steps) it may be necessary to perform one or more sub-iterations. Each sub-iteration generally increases the range of stability substantially and thus one sub-iteration is likely sufficient for the vast majority of practical problems. The CHAMP algorithm is developed first for a model problem and analyzed using normal-mode the- ory. The theory provides a mechanism for choosing optimal parameters in the mixed interface condition. A comparison is made to the classical Dirichlet-Neumann (DN) method and, where applicable, to the optimized- Schwarz (OS) domain-decomposition method. For problems with different thermal conductivities and dif- fusivities, the CHAMP algorithm outperforms the DN scheme. For domain-decomposition problems with uniform conductivities and diffusivities, the CHAMP algorithm performs better than the typical OS scheme with one grid-cell overlap. Lastly, the CHAMP scheme is also developed for general curvilinear grids and CHT ex- amples are presented using composite overset grids that confirm the theory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2026

Three-Dimensional Grid Visualization for Planning Activities: A Dubai Case Study

National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), in collaboration with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Infra-X, has undertaken the Energy Visualization Analysis Project. The aim of this project is to enhance analytical and 3D visualization capabilities for distribution network planning and renewable energy integration. As modern grid continues to evolve with large-scale solar PV deployment and emerging distributed energy resources (DERs), the ability to effectively analyze, visualize, and communicate complex grid behaviors has become increasingly critical. The project focuses on developing empirical use cases based on real distribution feeder data and engineering workflows, ensuring the outcomes are directly aligned with operational environment. Through time-series power flow simulations and nodal hosting capacity analysis, the study quantifies the impacts of high PV penetration on voltage and thermal limits within representative 11 kV feeders. These analyses identify specific nodes and conditions where DER integration challenges arise. Furthermore, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) optimization algorithm was applied to determine the optimal size and placement of storage systems that can mitigate network constraints and enhance hosting capacity. The comparative results between base-case and BESS-augmented scenarios clearly demonstrate improvements in network stability and load management efficiency. In parallel, the NLR team developed an immersive 3D visualization framework, enabling interactive exploration of grid simulations using commodity head-mounted display (HMD) systems. This framework transforms conventional 2D simulation data into spatially intuitive visual environments - allowing engineers to analyze feeder conditions, PV hosting potential, and BESS effects in real time. This report represents the first foundational phase in establishing a visualization-driven analytical ecosystem. It provides a methodological foundation for data integration, visualization architecture, and simulation-based decision support, paving the way for large-scale adoption of immersive visualization across DEWA's Smart Grid Initiative, R&D activities, and future network resilience studies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop Experiments of a Microgrid With a Grid-Forming Battery Inverter: Preprint

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2022

Optimal operational controls for power grid

Power grid operation is facing increased penetration of renewables and distributed energy resources at both transmission and distribution levels. This presents an increased level of randomness and uncertainty for its operational quality, where the challenges are mainly how controls and optimizations can be performed so that the operational quality of the power grid can be maintained. An interesting feature is also that we need to make a good use of uncertainties embedded in the swing equation from the renewable contributions rather than simply trying to minimize the impact of uncertainties. Furthermore, this requires effective solutions on system estimation, control, and optimization. Indeed, in past decades, work has been carried out on the development of advanced controls and optimization for such complicated dynamic systems. Examples are optimal operational control for both performance and stability enhancement considering random renewables penetration, frequency, and active power control for microgrids and parameter estimation for various parts of the power grid.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2015

Power grid reliability and security

This project has led to the development of a real-time simulation platform for electric power grids called Grid Simulator or GridSim for simulating the dynamic and information network interactions of large- scale power systems. The platform consists of physical models of power system components including synchronous generators, loads and control, which are simulated using a modified commercial power simulator namely Transient Stability Analysis Tool (TSAT) [1] together with data cleanup components, as well as an emulated substation level and wide-area power analysis components. The platform also includes realistic representations of communication network middleware that can emulate the real-time information flow back and forth between substations and control centers in wide-area power systems. The platform has been validated on a realistic 6000-bus model of the western American power system. The simulator GridSim developed in this project is the first of its kind in its ability to simulate real-time response of large-scale power grids, and serves as a cost effective real-time stability and control simulation platform for power industry.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗