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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Reanalysis of NOAA H 2 observations: implications for the H 2 budget

Abstract. Hydrogen (H2) is a promising low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels for many applications. However, significant gaps in our understanding of the atmospheric H2 budget limit our ability to predict the impacts of greater H2 usage. Here we use NOAA H2 dry air mole fraction observations from air samples collected from ground-based and ship platforms during 2010–2019 to evaluate the representation of H2 in the NOAA GFDL-AM4.1 atmospheric chemistry-climate model. We find that the base model configuration captures the observed interhemispheric gradient well but underestimates the surface concentration of H2 by about 10 ppb. Additionally, the model fails to reproduce the 1–2 ppb yr−1 mean increase in surface H2 observed at background stations. We show that the cause is most likely an underestimation of current anthropogenic emissions, including potential leakages from H2-producing facilities. We also show that changes in soil moisture, soil temperature, and snow cover have most likely caused an increase in the magnitude of the soil sink, the most important removal mechanism for atmospheric H2, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. However, there remains uncertainty due to fundamental gaps in our understanding of H2 soil removal, such as the minimum moisture required for H2 soil uptake, for which we performed extensive sensitivity analyses. Finally, we show that the observed meridional gradient of the H2 mixing ratio and its seasonality can provide important constraints to test and refine parameterizations of the H2 soil sink.

Paulot, Fabien (ORCID:0000000175344922)↗
NASA NTRS1982

Methane-Powered Vehicles

Liquid methane is beginning to become an energy alternative to expensive oil as a power source for automotive vehicles. Methane is the principal component of natural gas, costs less than half as much as gasoline, and its emissions are a lot cleaner than from gasoline or diesel engines. Beech Aircraft Corporation's Boulder Division has designed and is producing a system for converting cars and trucks to liquid methane operation. Liquid methane (LM) is a cryogenic fuel which must be stored at a temperature of 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. The LM system includes an 18 gallon fuel tank in the trunk and simple "under the hood" carburetor conversion equipment. Optional twin-fuel system allows operator to use either LM or gasoline fuel. Boulder Division has started deliveries for 25 vehicle conversions and is furnishing a liquid methane refueling station. Beech is providing instruction for Northwest Natural Gas, for conversion of methane to liquid state.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1979

Poultry Industry Energy Research

The poultry industry, a multi-billion dollar business in the United States, uses great amounts of energy in such operations as broiler growing, feed manufacturing, poultry processing and packing. Higher costs and limited supply of fuels common to the industry are predicted, so poultry producers are seeking ways to reduce energy expenditure. NASA is providing assistance to Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., an association of some 4,000 growers and suppliers in one of the nation's largest poultry production areas. Delmarva is the East Coast peninsula that includes Delaware and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The upper right photo shows a weather station in the Delmarva area (wind indicator on the pole, other instruments in the elevated box). The station is located at the University of Maryland's Broiler Sub-station, Salisbury; Maryland, where the university conducts research on poultry production and processing. The sub-station is investigating ways of conserving energy in broiler production and also exploring the potential of solar collectors as an alternative energy source. For these studies, it is essential that researchers have continuous data on temperature, pressure, wind speed and direction, solar intensity and cloud cover. Equipment to acquire such data was loaned and installed by NASA's Wallops Flight Center, Wallops Island, Virginia.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling of hydrogen liquefaction using magnetocaloric cycles with permanent magnets

Hydrogen (H 2 ) is promising alternative to replace fossil fuels, but its transport and storage has been challenging. As H 2 fuel cell vehicles are gaining traction, the infrastructure for storing large amounts of liquid H 2 is needed. However, liquid H 2 would suffer from boil-off loss, and traditional vapor compression refrigeration systems would not be able to economically recover the lost H 2 due to the low efficiencies at cryogenic temperature. Magnetocaloric (MC) refrigeration systems could possess much higher coefficient of performance (COP) at cryogenic temperature compared to the vapor compression ones. Previous work on cryogenic MC systems, however, have only focused on large scale applications which use superconducting magnets to provide a large magnetic field but are prohibitively expensive to operate for small scale applications, such as that of a H 2 refilling station. In this work, we model the performance of a MC refrigeration cycle using 1-Tesla permanent magnets for H 2 liquefaction, with the objective of cooling H 2 from 80 K (using liquid nitrogen as the heat sink) to 20 K (boiling point of hydrogen). We evaluate main performance metrics including the total work input to the refrigeration system, COP, total MCM mass in the system, and total volume of the permanent magnets, etc. Our modeling results indicate that such a permanent magnet-based MC cooling system is feasible for small-scale H 2 liquefaction, with projected COP values significantly higher than those of vapor compression systems. In conclusion, this work provides design guidelines for future experimental efforts on permanent magnet MC cooling systems for cryogenic cooling.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Federal Home-to-Work Electric Vehicle Program Guide

This document serves as a comprehensive resource for Federal agencies in developing their own program resources that promote the efficient and effective use of electric vehicles (EVs) for home-to-work travel while ensuring compliance with Federal regulations and sustainability objectives. One mission of the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Fleet program is to help federal fleet managers meet or exceed statutory requirements related to energy and environmental performance while improving overall fleet efficiency, reducing costs, and meeting mission requirements. To further this mission, FEMP provides resources to support Federal agencies with increasing alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) acquisitions and reducing petroleum use. EVs are AFVs and help agencies meet federal fleet requirements. Federal fleets include government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The purpose of this document is to serve as a guide for Federal agencies in developing their own internal program documents to manage government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. Federal agencies should consult their counsel and consider their own policies and authorities in the implementation of any policies or best practices regarding government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The guide provides key considerations for agencies, including launching a pilot program to fine-tune best practices, conducting a cost-benefit analysis to compare home versus public charging, and exploring cost-effective solutions, such as installing standard outlets instead of dedicated charging stations. The guide underscores the importance of legal and financial considerations, such as verifying agency authority to install home charging infrastructure at an employee's home, ensuring the availability and appropriateness of using agency funds for home charging infrastructure, and understanding the tax implications of reimbursements.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hydrogen Leak Modeling for Development of Smart Distributed Monitoring Under Unintended Releases

Hydrogen is a versatile and clean energy carrier that can be produced from various renewable sources such as wind, solar, and hydropower. Hydrogen has the potential to play a crucial role in decarbonizing industrial processes that are currently reliant on fossil fuels and provide long-duration and/or seasonal energy storage to enable electricity decarbonization. Hydrogen can also be used as a fuel for fuel cell vehicles, providing a zero-emission alternative to traditional internal combustion engines. DOE launched the Hydrogen Energy Earthshot (Hydrogen Shot) in June 2021 to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per 1 kilogram in 1 decade ("1 1 1"). While promising, Hydrogen is highly-flammable, and in the presence of oxygen, it can form explosive mixtures. . Therefore, understanding leak scenarios is essential to evaluate and mitigate the safety risks associated with potential hydrogen leaks. An increased understanding of leak behavior, and having tools to model leaks, can help assess how hydrogen would disperse in different environments, influencing emergency response plans and safety measures, and identify potential issues with materials and design systems that can withstand the challenges posed by hydrogen. Recently, researchers have attempted to study hydrogen leaks for development of risk management strategies. However, the focus has been on closed or semi-closed spaces like storage rooms, vehicles, garages, and fueling stations - all promising locations for future hydrogen infrastructure. In this presentation, the modeling environment extends the span of research further by modeling hydrogen leak in an outdoor, open space. We will present the key challenges with modeling hydrogen leaks in an uncontrollable environment, how they were handled, and how modeling results informed sensor selection and placement. A Hydrogen research facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was used as a case study to model hydrogen leaks. In the future, Hydrogen wide area detection methodologies will be developed and tested at this site to monitor for unintended and operational hydrogen releases. The data generated from modeling will be used to develop a predictive model to detect hydrogen leak location based on concentration measured by sensors in this open space. Furthermore, the facility was also chosen because controlled hydrogen releases can be performed. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based modeling approach was taken to model hydrogen leak. The full-scale hydrogen facility was modeled with a large ambient domain. The electrolyzer at the facility can produce a controlled release rate of 27 kg-H2/hr. Site-specific atmospheric and weather condition data such as wind direction, wind speed at various altitudes, and temperature were used as inputs to the model. To capture the variability of weather conditions, a subset of the weather conditions experienced during daytime hours without precipitation over the course of three months was generated; using established data clustering techniques, a total of 100 condition sets were chosen. The results show statistical distributions and ranges of hydrogen concentrations at locations throughout the domain. These distributions are compared to experimental data from a constant mass flow, controlled hydrogen release at the facility. The stochastic wind conditions of the release make direct validation difficult, therefore, statistical comparison approaches were used. Wind conditions are found to significantly impact the release behavior, including direction and concentration. Sensor selection and placement is proposed for the facility and is now based on release behavior predicted for the facility given its weather patterns; this is much more informed than without the modeling results. The methodology and analysis procedure can be translated to other facilities using modified geometries and site-specific weather conditions. Hydrogen holds great promise as a renewable energy fuel, but ensuring safety in its production, storage, and use is paramount. Studying potential leak scenarios in an open space will help develop sensors to detect hydrogen on a large spectrum of concentration and eventually build a smart distributed monitoring system.

CFD↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cryogenic Carbon Capture™ Technoeconomic Analysis

The Cryogenic Carbon Capture™ (CCC) process significantly decreases cost and energy demands for CO 2 separation and pressurization to 150 bar compared to alternatives. The process is a post-combustion technology that cools CO 2 -laden flue gas to desublimation temperatures (-100 to -135 °C), separates solid CO 2 —that forms from the flue gas—from the light gases, uses the cold products to cool incoming gases in a recuperative heat exchanger, compresses the solid/liquid CO 2 to final pressures (100–200 bar), and delivers a compressed CO 2 stream separated from an atmospheric pressure light-gas stream. The overall energy and economic costs are about 30-50% lower than most competing processes that involve air separation units (ASUs), solvents, or similar technologies. In addition, the CCC process enjoys several ancillary benefits, including (a) it is a minimally invasive Bolton technology, (b) it provides highly efficient removal of most pollutants (Hg, SOx, NO 2 , HCl, etc.), and (c) possible energy storage capacity. This report outlines the process details and economic and energy comparisons relative to other well-documented alternatives. This paper presents the results of a detailed techno-economic comparison of CCC with amine-based systems. The comparison uses identical financial and economic assumptions similar process assumptions as the detailed analyses published by US DOE in the greenfield analysis. Specifically, the comparison assumes power plants that produce the same net output, one equipped with and a second without carbon capture. Separately, the paper compares similar analyses for retrofitting existing systems using typical plant characteristics in the US (initial capital costs have been paid, high plant utilization), though there are no DOE estimates available for direct comparison. Financial and technical assumptions for all comparisons are maintained as close to the DOE reference studies as possible. The results demonstrate about 30-50% lower costs and energy demands for capture from greenfield coal plants. Natural gas plants produce substantially lower CO 2 concentrations which makes the cost of capturing a ton of CO 2 at the same capture rate as the coal plant higher for all processes while the cost of CO 2 capture per unit of power generation is lower. However, CCC maintains about the same absolute energy and cost advantages for NG as for coal compared to amine systems. Finally, the costs of retrofitting a station are compared to those of building a new station with and without capture. The retrofit costs are comparable to (slightly lower than) new plant costs without capture. In all cases operating and capital cost comparisons show that the CCC process can be retrofitted to a variety of plants to cost effectively reduce CO 2 emissions. Further process integration into the upstream processes and unique process features like water recovery, and integrated energy storage bring the effective cost of carbon capture using the CCC process down further and increase its advantages over alternatives. This technoeconomic analysis shows that the CCC process has the potential to the be lowest cost carbon capture technology under development today.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dispersion of cryogenic hydrogen through high-aspect ratio nozzles

Liquid hydrogen is increasingly being used as a delivery and storage medium for stations that provide compressed gaseous hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles. In efforts to provide scientific justification for separation distances for liquid hydrogen infrastructure in fire codes, the dispersion characteristics of cryogenic hydrogen jets (50–64 K) from high aspect ratio nozzles have been measured at 3 and 5 bar abs stagnation pressures. These nozzles are more characteristic of unintended leaks, which would be expected to be cracks, rather than conventional round nozzles. Spontaneous Raman scattering was used to measure the concentration and temperature field along the major and minor axes. Within the field of interrogation, the axis-switching phenomena was not observed, but rather a self-similar Gaussian-profile flow regime similar to room temperature or cryogenic hydrogen releases through round nozzles. The concentration decay rate and half-widths for the planar cryogenic jets were found to be nominally equivalent to that of round nozzle cryogenic hydrogen jets indicating a similar flammable envelope. The results from these experiments will be used to validate models for cryogenic hydrogen dispersion that will be used for simulations of alternative scenarios and quantitative risk assessment.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1978

Waterway Ice Thickness Measurements

The ship on the opposite page is a U. S. Steel Corporation tanker cruising through the ice-covered waters of the Great Lakes in the dead of winter. The ship's crew is able to navigate safely by plotting courses through open water or thin ice, a technique made possible by a multi-agency technology demonstration program in which NASA is a leading participant. Traditionally, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System is closed to shipping for more than three months of winter season because of ice blockage, particularly fluctuations in the thickness and location of ice cover due to storms, wind, currents and variable temperatures. Shippers have long sought a system of navigation that would allow year-round operation on the Lakes and produce enormous economic and fuel conservation benefits. Interrupted operations require that industrial firms stockpile materials to carry them through the impassable months, which is costly. Alternatively, they must haul cargos by more expensive overland transportation. Studies estimate the economic benefits of year-round Great Lakes shipping in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually and fuel consumption savings in the tens of millions of gallons. Under Project Icewarn, NASA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration collaborated in development and demonstration of a system that permits safe year-round operations. It employs airborne radars, satellite communications relay and facsimile transmission to provide shippers and ships' masters up-to-date ice charts. Lewis Research Center contributed an accurate methods of measuring ice thickness by means of a special "short-pulse" type of radar. In a three-year demonstration program, Coast Guard aircraft equipped with Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) flew over the Great Lakes three or four times a week. The SLAR, which can penetrate clouds, provided large area readings of the type and distribution of ice cover. The information was supplemented by short-pulse radar measurements of ice thickness. The radar data was relayed by a NOAA satellite to a ground station where NOAA analyzed it and created picture maps, such as the one shown at lower left, showing where icebreakers can cut paths easily or where shipping can move through thin ice without the aid of icebreakers. The ice charts were then relayed directly to the wheelhouses of ships operating on the Lakes. Following up the success of the Great Lakes program, the icewarn team applied its system in another demonstration, this one a similarly successful application designed to aid Arctic coast shipping along the Alaskan North Slope. Further improvement of the ice-monitoring system is planned. Although aircraft-mounted radar is effective, satellites could provide more frequent data. After the launch this year of Seasat, an ocean-monitoring satellite, NASA will conduct tests to determine the ice-mapping capability and accuracy of satellite radar images.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2023

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Usage and Owner Demographics in New York State

With mounting concerns over climate change and the environmental impact of fossil fuels, the United States has witnessed a growing interest in alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). In 2021, approximately 1.5 million battery EVs (BEVs), 0.8 million plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs), and 5.5 million hybrid EVs (HEVs) were registered in the United States. In the state of New York, a total of 51,900 BEVs, 44,600 PHEVs, and 221,600 HEVs were registered in 2021. The current report presents the results of an analysis of AFV adoption patterns in New York State and the rest of the United States based on data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Overall, the report reveals the demographics and mobility factors (e.g., household income, homeownership, and trip length) that contribute to the adoption of AFVs. This study provides insights that can inform policy decisions aimed at promoting sustainable transportation solutions.The 2017 NHTS data showed that the percentage of households owning at least one AFV is lower in New York City compared with that in other regions of New York State. From the NHTS samples, of the 25 households that owned at least one BEV in New York State, 15 households (60%) lived within a 5-mile radius, based on the great circle distance, of the nearest charging station, and 23 households (92%) lived within a 10-mile radius of the nearest charging station. Furthermore, among the 40 households in New York State that own at least one PHEV, 48% (19 households) lived within a 5-mile radius of the closest EV charging station, and 83% (33 households) lived within a 10-mile radius of the nearest charging station. The rest of the United States had a higher percentage of households that own at least one AFV compared with that of New York State. A comparison was made between EV adoption levels using NHTS and EValuateNY, which is a tool that gathers statistics on the electric car market in New York State. The estimates obtained from New York State household samples in NHTS were slightly lower than the data provided by EValuateNY. In New York State and the rest of the United States, households with higher incomes tended to have a higher proportion of AFV ownership compared with those with lower incomes. For example, households in New York State earning $\$ $150,000 or more had an approximately 6% share of owning at least one AFV, which was markedly higher than those earning less than $\$ $100,000 (less than 3%). Additionally, homeowners in New York State and the rest of the United States also exhibited a significantly higher share of AFV ownership compared with that of renters. In New York State, households that own at least one AFV tended to travel farther and had longer travel times compared with their counterparts without an AFV. In terms of households with at least one AFV, households with HEVs tended to have more person trips, longer person miles of travel, and more vehicle miles traveled, resulting in longer travel times than that of households with BEVs or PHEVs. Notably, households with AFVs had a slightly lower share of family and personal business trips but a higher share of social and recreational trips compared with households without AFVs. Additionally, households with at least one AFV tended to have a slightly higher share of walking trips than their counterparts without an AFV. However, the comparisons were not statistically significant. These travel patterns observed in New York State were consistent with those observed in other regions of the United States.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Application of Stuffed Whipple Shield to Robotic Spacecraft

Protection of human life onboard the International Space Station (ISS) requires reinforced shielding of crewed modules to prevent penetration of micro-meteoroid and orbital debris (MMOD), while optimizing the necessary mass for that application. An efficient way to achieve that protection consists in combining metal plates with ceramic and Kevlar fabrics in critical areas, a configuration known as the “Stuffed Whipple Shield”. In robotic spacecraft, fuel tanks are particularly vulnerable to MMOD impacts due to their pressurized contents and thin walls. Risk assessment of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft using the Bumper3-Sat hypervelocity impact simulation tool demonstrated that the risk of propulsion tank damage due to MMOD particles coming from the ram direction (Launch Vehicle Adapter side) violated NASA requirements to limit the generation of orbital debris and threatened mission success. To mitigate the risk and achieve compliance, the basic configuration of the ISS Stuffed Whipple shield was scaled down and adapted to become a tank shield in the spacecraft ram direction. This paper will describe the adaptation of the ISS Stuffed Shield to a robotic spacecraft, while also comparing the effectiveness of the proposed shield design with more traditional single-wall and double-wall alternatives used in robotic spacecraft under similar conditions.

Ivonne M. Rodriguez↗
NASA NTRS2013

Aerospace Fuels from Nonpetroleum Raw Materials

Recycling human metabolic and plastic wastes minimizes cost and increases efficiency by reducing the need to transport consumables and return trash, respectively, from orbit to support a space station crew. If the much larger costs of transporting consumables to the Moon and beyond are taken into account, developing waste recycling technologies becomes imperative and possibly mission enabling. Reduction of terrestrial waste streams while producing energy and/or valuable raw materials is an opportunity being realized by a new generation of visionary entrepreneurs; several relevant technologies are briefly compared, contrasted and assessed for space applications. A two-step approach to nonpetroleum raw materials utilization is presented; the first step involves production of supply or producer gas. This is akin to synthesis gas containing carbon oxides, hydrogen, and simple hydrocarbons. The second step involves production of fuel via the Sabatier process, a methanation reaction, or another gas-to-liquid technology, typically Fischer- Tropsch processing. Optimization to enhance the fraction of product stream relevant to transportation fuels via catalytic (process) development at NASA GRC is described. Energy utilization is a concern for production of fuels whether for operation on the lunar or Martian surface, or beyond. The term "green" relates to not only mitigating excess carbon release but also to the efficiency of energy usage. For space, energy usage can be an essential concern. Other issues of great concern include minimizing impurities in the product stream(s), especially those that are potential health risks and/or could de-grade operations through catalyst poisoning or equipment damage; technologies being developed to remove heteroatom impurities are discussed. Alternative technologies to utilize waste fluids, such as a propulsion option called the resistojet, are discussed. The resistojet is an electric propulsion technology with a powered thruster to vaporize and heat a propellant to high temperature, hot gases are subsequently passed through a converging-diverging nozzle expanding gases to supersonic velocities. A resistojet can accommodate many different fluids, including various reaction chamber (by-)products.

Palaszewski, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Aerospace Fuels From Nonpetroleum Raw Materials

Recycling human metabolic and plastic wastes minimizes cost and increases efficiency by reducing the need to transport consumables and return trash, respectively, from orbit to support a space station crew. If the much larger costs of transporting consumables to the Moon and beyond are taken into account, developing waste recycling technologies becomes imperative and possibly mission enabling. Reduction of terrestrial waste streams while producing energy and/or valuable raw materials is an opportunity being realized by a new generation of visionary entrepreneurs; several relevant technologies are briefly compared, contrasted and assessed for space applications. A two-step approach to nonpetroleum raw materials utilization is presented; the first step involves production of supply or producer gas. This is akin to synthesis gas containing carbon oxides, hydrogen, and simple hydrocarbons. The second step involves production of fuel via the Sabatier process, a methanation reaction, or another gas-to-liquid technology, typically Fischer-Tropsch processing. Optimization to enhance the fraction of product stream relevant to transportation fuels via catalytic (process) development at NASA Glenn Research Center is described. Energy utilization is a concern for production of fuels whether for operation on the lunar or Martian surface, or beyond. The term green relates to not only mitigating excess carbon release but also to the efficiency of energy usage. For space, energy usage can be an essential concern. Another issue of great concern is minimizing impurities in the product stream(s), especially those that are potential health risks and/or could degrade operations through catalyst poisoning or equipment damage; technologies being developed to remove heteroatom impurities are discussed. Alternative technologies to utilize waste fluids, such as a propulsion option called the resistojet, are discussed. The resistojet is an electric propulsion technology with a powered thruster to vaporize and heat a propellant to high temperature, hot gases are subsequently passed through a converging-diverging nozzle expanding gases to supersonic velocities. A resistojet can accommodate many different fluids, including various reaction chamber (by-)products.

Palaszewski, Bryan A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Hypergolic Propellant Destruction Evaluation Cost Benefit Analysis

At space vehicle launch sites such as Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and Kennedy Space Center (KSC), toxic vapors and hazardous liquid wastes result from the handling of commodities (hypergolic fuels and oxidizers), most notably from transfer operations where fuel and oxidizer are transferred from bulk storage tanks or transfer tankers to space launch vehicles. During commodity transfer at CCAFS and KSC, wet chemical scrubbers (typically containing four scrubbing towers) are used to neutralize fuel saturated vapors from vent systems on tanks and tanker trailers. For fuel vapors, a citric acid solution is used to scrub out most of the hydrazine. Operation of both the hypergolic fuel and oxidizer vapor scrubbers generates waste scrubber liquor. Currently, scrubber liquor from the fuel vapor scrubber is considered non-hazardous. The scrubber liquor is defined as spent citric acid scrubber solution; the solution contains complexed hydrazine I methylhydrazine and is used to neutralize nonspecification hypergolic fuel generated by CCAFS and KSC. This project is a collaborative effort between Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), Space and Missile Center (SMC), the CCAFS, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to evaluate microwave destruction technology for the treatment of non-specification hypergolic fuel generated at CCAFS and KSC. The project will capitalize on knowledge gained from microwave treatment work being accomplished by AFSPC and SMC at V AFB. This report focuses on the costs associated with the current non-specification hypergolic fuel neutralization process (Section 2.0) as well as the estimated costs of operating a mobile microwave unit to treat non-specification hypergolic fuel (Section 3.0), and compares the costs for each (Section 4.0).The purpose of this document is to assess the costs associated with waste hypergolic fuel. This document will report the costs associated with the current fuel neutralization process and also examine the costs of an alternative technology, microwave destruction of waste hypergolic fuel. The microwave destruction system is being designed as a mobile unit to treat non-specification hypergolic fuel at CCAFS and KSC.

Kessel, Kurt↗
DOE OSTI2023

Safety-Related Instrumentation and Control Pilot Upgrade: Conceptual - Detailed Design Phase Report and Lessons Learned

Historically, regulatory barriers have precluded nuclear plant safety-related (SR) Instrumentation and Control (I&C) system modernizations. These barriers have been largely addressed by industry and United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) efforts, including development of the License Amendment Request (LAR) Alternate Review (AR) process for digital I&C upgrades. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are supporting a SR I&C pilot upgrade at the Limerick Generating Station (LGS) to demonstrate this process and capturing associated lessons learned for the benefit of industry. In 2021, a paper summarizing lessons learned as captured in INL/EXT-20-59809, Safety Related Instrumentation & Control Pilot Upgrade Initial Scoping Phase Implementation Report and Lessons Learned was presented at the 12th NPIC & HMIT conference. It is recommended that readers of this paper review reference 1 or the associated Nuclear Journal paper for context. This paper summarizes activities performed and lessons learned for the conceptual design phase and portions of the detailed design phase as captured in INL/RPT-23-XXXX, “Safety-Related Instrumentation and Control Pilot Upgrade: Conceptual - Detailed Design Phase Report and Lessons Learned.” The portions of the effort covered by reference 2 include conceptual design phase activities from December 2020, through completion in November 2021, and detailed design activities through September 2022. These efforts and associated detailed documentation in reference 3 are intended to support similar industry upgrades as a foundation stone for a Digital Transformation that will improve plant safety, reliability, and operational performance while lowering plant total cost of ownership.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Arbitrage: Comparison of Options for use with LWR Nuclear Power Plants

Arbitrage is the opportunistic buying and selling of a commodity during local pricing valleys and peaks respectively to maximize economic value. This report evaluates options for energy arbitrage integrated with existing light water reactor (LWR) nuclear power plants (NPPs) where nuclear energy could be stored in a variety of forms and later recovered to generate electrical power during periods when grid electricity demand and pricing are high. The forms of energy storage examined in this report include the potential value of batteries, hydrogen, and thermal energy storage for coupling with nuclear power. Various large demand response options are also analyzed, including the production of liquid nitrogen via air separation and liquefaction, liquefaction of hydrogen, compressed hydrogen, and the cryogenic capture of CO2. Demand response refers to dispatchable loads that can cycle up or down depending on-grid electricity demand to aid in balancing the grid. Large demand response options could dispatch to aid nuclear power stations in avoiding power turndowns by providing an alternate disposition for electrical energy by producing marketable products (e.g., liquid nitrogen, hydrogen, or captured CO2). Static conditions were chosen and analyzed in this report for each option. Dynamic operation or optimization of energy arbitrage or demand response are out of scope for this report. The analysis is based on storage systems with discharge capacities of 500 MW for which various durations of storage and costs of charging (electricity cost) are examined. While the value of thermal energy to an industrial user for flexible plant operations has been previously proven as a business case, this report evaluates costs of hydrogen energy storage and leading thermal energy storage options, and large demand response loads that could be integrated with LWRs in comparison to utility-scale battery storage for use of off-peak nuclear energy. Compilation of this information will be used by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) RAVEN/HERON systems integration and economics tool to evaluate thermal energy dispatch to industrial users. Relative ranking of energy storage options was done using a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) metric which calculates a rough breakeven cost for the system, taking into account the capital and operating costs as well as the revenue from arbitrage. Table ES1 below shows the LCOS for each of the energy storage options considered. First, in the table, lithium iron (Fe) phosphate batteries are listed as the base case for comparison against the other options. Next is hydrogen storage where most of the hydrogen analyses assumed the hydrogen to be produced using solid oxide electrolytic cell (SOEC) high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE). The others used existing models of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) low temperature electrolysis to produce hydrogen. HTSE performance parameters and costs were taken from existing INL models. Various means were assumed to convert the hydrogen to electricity, including PEM fuel cells (FCs) and a gas turbine mixed in a 30 vol% mixture with natural gas. Physical storage (pressure vessels) and geological storage (natural underground features) were used to store the hydrogen as noted. Geological storage is more economical, but the locations are limited because of the requirement for pre-existing geological formations that will support storage. Thermal energy storage (TES) options were also analyzed including electro-thermal energy storage (ETES) and four different liquid sensible heat TES storage media as noted (Hitec, Hitec XL, Therminol-66, and Dowtherm A). The ETES process considered was modified using existing public documentation on an Echogen process and uses a separate supercritical CO2 charge and discharge cycle with sand as the heat storage media.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Geologic hydrogen: a review of resource potential, subsurface dynamics, exploration, production, transportation, and research opportunities

Hydrogen is a versatile resource with critical roles in decarbonization, industrial manufacturing, and energy integration. However, most hydrogen today is produced from fossil fuels, resulting in high emissions and energy consumption. Although low-carbon hydrogen production methods, such as steam methane reforming with carbon capture and renewable-powered electrolysis, are advancing, their high costs hinder large-scale deployment. Identifying alternative pathways for producing low-cost, low-emission hydrogen is therefore essential. Geologic hydrogen, referring to natural and stimulated hydrogen generated in the Earth's subsurface, has attracted growing attention as a potential source of sustainable, economically viable, and environmentally favorable hydrogen. This paper provides a comprehensive review of geologic hydrogen, covering its resource potential, origins, migration and trapping mechanisms, exploration techniques, production strategies, and pipeline transportation. It also identifies key knowledge gaps and proposes a roadmap for future research. The review indicates that geologic hydrogen has vast resource potential and can leverage existing subsurface technologies and geophysical exploration methods. However, major challenges persist, including uncertain hydrogen generation rates, limited understanding and control of serpentinization processes, costly transportation infrastructure, the lack of validated techno-economic analysis, and potential social and environmental issues. As the field is still in its early stages, progress will require interdisciplinary collaboration spanning geoscience, engineering, economics, environmental science, and policy and regulation.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of an irradiated uranium sample for source attribution without chemical separation using microplasma ionization and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry

The use of element isotope ratios has great potential in not only determining the reactor type used to produce plutonium (Pu) but also in determining the burnup and the time since irradiation. While a powerful nuclear forensic technique, determining element isotope ratios is complicated by severe isobaric interferences when performed on typical inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers. Such analyses require extensive chemical separations prior to analysis to alleviate the inter-elemental isobars. Ultrahigh mass resolution spectrometry provides a potential alternative, greatly reducing the complexity of sample preparation and turnaround times for these critical measurements. To demonstrate the power of the approach, a sample of irradiated, depleted uranium was analyzed with the liquid sampling—atmospheric pressure glow discharge ion source coupled to an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. The Orbitrap is augmented with an external data acquisition system, Spectroswiss’s FTMS-Booster X2T, allowing collection of extended ion transients, providing higher mass resolution. In using this approach, the 150 Sm/ 149 Sm and 152 Sm/ 149 Sm isotope ratios were found to be within 20% of predicted values without any chemical separations and without mass bias corrections. In addition, the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu isotope ratio was determined, free from the 238 UH + interferences common to the ICP-MS platforms, while at the same time allowing for the determination of U isotopic signatures. While these demonstrative results are from a single sample, the advantages of the microplasma/ultrahigh mass resolution approach to intra-element isotope ratio determinations are clear.

Fuel burnup↗