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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

An assessment of existing barriers to market adoption of thermal energy storage in buildings based on interviews with stakeholders

The United States administration recently established a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by half below 2005 levels by 2030 and becoming a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The transition to renewable energy sources may be significantly aided by energy storage. Energy storage could smooth the delivery of variable or intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, and sun by storing excess renewable energy when it’s available and delivering it back when renewable energy production is low. Thermal energy storage (TES) is a way that stores thermal energy by heating or cooling a storage medium, which is then used for space heating and cooling, industrial processes, or power generation purposes later. This TES operation could lessen the demand for electricity in both the winter's and the summer's peak hours of electricity. While there are various studies that focus on the advancements and successes of TES technology, less attention is placed on its market adoption. Therefore, the current study undertakes survey-based interview research to understand the existing market barriers hindering TES application in buildings. A series of interviews were performed in this study with individuals from various backgrounds, ranging from homeowners to market specialists who work for TES manufacturers and utility companies. According to the responses obtained during the interviews, they strongly believe that TES has a high potential to contribute to the nation's grid stability and decarbonization goals, however, there are several barriers that prevent homeowners and heat pump manufacturers from investing in TES applications. The current study divided the responses from various background groups into categories to better understand the current challenges for TES applications in buildings. These responses range from payback concerns from homeowners to the need to develop a new metric to represent the benefits of TES from the heat pump and TES manufacturers. The findings from this study can be used by policymakers, utility companies, and manufacturers to better understand present obstacles and develop strategies to overcome them.

Prem Anand Jayaprabha, Jyothis Anand↗
DOE OSTI2025

Grid Value Analysis of Geothermal Systems for End-Use Applications

Fuel based end-uses for residential, commercial, and industrial consumers require a technology change to achieve economy-wide decarbonization. Space heating accounts for 42% of residential and 32% of commercial energy demand, much of which is currently met through carbon emitting fuels. Industrial energy use is heavily fuel based with electricity currently representing 13% of energy demand. Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) and geothermal direct use can eliminate the need for CO2 emitting and simultaneously allow for more efficient electrification of end uses. Past work has assessed the impact on total energy costs and generation investments but did not identify specific grid services benefited. Energy usage in residential and commercial structures was assessed by leveraging data from ComStock and ResStock models. These models utilize housing attributes, occupancy patterns, weather data, and sophisticated energy simulations to generate hourly load profiles for individual buildings identified by unique IDs associated with their locations. Industrial sector energy use was evaluated using information from the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS) as well as plant utilization data from the US Census to estimate hourly plant operations. The change in end-use demand for electricity, natural gas, and other fuels was calculated for different technologies that could meet this need. Using the ReEDS capacity expansion model, we produce regional price profiles that capture the grid benefit associated with the amount and timing of energy shifts in the power system from the adoption of geothermal systems relative to other technologies that could meet space heating, space cooling, and process heat requirements. We find that geothermal systems for meeting end-use demand add value to the energy system. In buildings where geothermal systems increase grid costs, these values are offset by reduced fuel costs and benefits to externalities, including emissions and health impacts.

decarbonization↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hybrid Manufacturing of Conformal Cooling Channels for Tooling

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) techniques for hybrid manufacturing have led to new application areas in the manufacturing industry. In the tooling industry, cooling channels are used to enable specific heating and cooling cycles to improve the performance of the process. These internal cooling channels have been designed with limited manufacturing processes in mind, so, until recently, they were often straight in shape for cross-drilling operations and manufactured from a cast billet. To show a novel application of this common technology, a tool with integrated conformal cooling channels was manufactured using hybrid manufacturing (blown-powder DED and CNC machining) techniques. The computer-aided manufacturing strategy used, and the lessons learned are presented and discussed to enable future work in this industrial application space.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Circumventing the phonon bottleneck by multiphonon-mediated hot exciton cooling at the nanoscale

Abstract Nonradiative processes govern efficiencies of semiconductor nanocrystal (NC)-based devices. A central process is hot exciton cooling, or the nonradiative relaxation of a highly excited electron/hole pair to form a band-edge exciton. Due to quantum confinement effects, the timescale and mechanism of cooling are not well understood. A mismatch between electronic energy gaps and phonon frequencies has led to the hypothesis of a phonon bottleneck and extremely slow cooling, while enhanced electron-hole interactions have suggested ultrafast cooling. Experimental measurements of the cooling timescale range six orders of magnitude. Here, we develop an atomistic approach to describe phonon-mediated exciton dynamics and simulate cooling in NCs of experimentally relevant sizes. We find that cooling occurs on ~30 fs timescales in CdSe NCs, in agreement with the most recent measurements, and that the phonon bottleneck is circumvented through a cascade of multiphonon-mediated relaxation events. Furthermore, we identify NC handles for tuning the cooling timescale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Adiabatic cooling of planar motion in a Penning-trap ion crystal to sub-millikelvin temperatures

Two-dimensional planar ion crystals in a Penning trap are a platform for quantum information science experiments. However, the low-frequency planar modes of these crystals are not efficiently cooled by laser cooling, which can limit the utility of the drumhead modes for quantum information processing. Recently, it has been shown that nonlinear mode coupling can enhance the cooling of the low-frequency planar modes. Here, in this study, we demonstrate in numerical simulations that this coupling can be dynamically tuned by adiabatically changing the rotation frequency of the ion crystal during experiments. Furthermore, we show that this technique can, in addition, produce lower temperatures for the low-frequency planar modes via an adiabatic cooling process. This result allows cooling of the planar modes to sub-millikelvin temperatures, resulting in improved spectral resolution of the drumhead modes at experimentally relevant rotation frequencies, which is crucial for quantum information processing applications.

Johnson, Wes [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (Unit↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effects of Plume Targeted Cooling on Residual Stress in Controlled Atmosphere Plasma Sprayed Coatings

Thermal spray processes can benefit from cooling to maintain substrate temper, reduce processing times, and manage thermally induced residual stresses. “Plume quenching” is a plume-targeted cooling technique which has been shown to reduce substrate temperatures by redirection of hot plume gases using a lateral argon curtain injected into the plume, while limiting interaction with the substrate or affecting coating properties. Here, this study explores the use of this technique for residual stress management by reducing the thermally driven component in nickel and tantalum coatings on titanium and aluminum substrates. The in-situ residual stress profiles were measured for all substrate and coating pairings during spraying and cooling, and the deposition and thermal stresses recorded. For substrate and coating pairings where the predominant component of residual stress was thermal (driven by a large difference in coefficient of thermal expansion, Δα, between coating and substrate), plume quenching reduced both the thermal stress and the final stress state of the coating. This was seen primarily in tantalum on aluminum coatings where the Δα was -17 × 10 -6 /°C, and thermal stress was reduced by 7.5% and 22.4% for the plume quenching rates of 50 and 100 slpm, respectively.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Residual Strains in an Additively Processed Ni-based Superalloy Transpiration-Cooled Aerodynamic Leading Edge Structure using Neutron Diffraction

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a well-known additive manufacturing method based on a layer-by-layer building process that is capable of fabricating gas turbine Ni-based superalloy parts with complex and integrated cooling geometries that are typically not achievable using conventional casting methods. However, the impact of residual stress concentration on SLM component life is a concern. In this work, residual strains present at room temperature in an SLM Inconel 718 generic aerodynamic leading edge segment with transpiration cooling were investigated using neutron diffraction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This study reveals that areas of the part where complex cooling holes were printed exhibit residual tensile strains that can be detrimental to its integrity. The study paves the way for future studies of the design of cooling hole geometries and manufacturing parameters that achieve improved cooling while minimizing stress concentration effects.

Fouliard, Quentin↗
DOE OSTI2026

Process-driven roadmap for depositing super duplex stainless steel via wire Arc additive manufacturing

Here, this study systematically investigates the effects of shielding gas, bead spacing, weld mode, and travel speed on the phase balance, porosity, and hardness of wire arc additively manufactured (WAAM) super duplex stainless steel (ER2594). Robotic WAAM was employed to fabricate multilayer walls under systematically varied process conditions, followed by phase transformation simulations, X-ray computed tomography (XCT), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and microhardness evaluation. Thermodynamic simulations predicted rapid cooling of AM process can suppress the potential formation of deleterious precipitates which was later validated via cross-sectional microstructure analyses of printed samples. XCT revealed porosity levels below 0.2% for all deposits, with reduced travel speed significantly lowering defect volume. Microstructural analyses revealed the evolution of various austenite precipitates, including grain boundary austenite (GBA), Widmanstätten austenite (WA), and intergranular austenite (IGA), sequentially upon cooling of the ferrite phase. Among all process parameters, weld transfer mode exhibited the strongest influence on phase balance; pulsed mode promoted higher ferrite retention (~ 36%) compared to RapidX mode. No consistent relationship between stabilized phase fraction and captured microhardness was observed. This work provides critical insights for optimizing WAAM parameters to control phase balance and mechanical performance, which is essential for producing high-integrity super duplex stainless-steel components for nuclear and marine applications.

Grain orientation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation-based assessment on stochastic load scheduling for building cooling systems

Here, to fill knowledge gaps related to stochastic load scheduling, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the stochastic load scheduling for building cooling systems. Specifically, we studied the common uncertain variables in the load scheduling process for building cooling systems and categorized those variables based on their dynamic patterns. We then developed a generic stochastic load scheduling framework and applied it to building cooling systems that served a simulated community. This community consists of 100 heterogeneous houses and serves as a virtual testbed for evaluating the performance of stochastic load scheduling. In this evaluation, we considered representatives of uncertain variables with different dynamic patterns and included 100 realizations of the considered uncertainty in the evaluation to better catch the probability distribution of the control performance. The evaluation results suggest that deterministic load scheduling can reduce the operating energy cost by 18% but its performance can be affected by uncertainty. Stochastic load scheduling can further decrease the operating energy cost under uncertainty compared to deterministic load scheduling. We also found that the effectiveness of stochastic load scheduling in handling uncertainty is not directly associated with the number of uncertainty scenarios that are considered in its formulation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Extreme hydroclimates amplify the biophysical effects of advanced green-up in temperate China

Vegetation phenology modulates climate by altering energy and water exchange between the land and atmosphere. However, how extreme hydroclimatic conditions modify these phenology-climate feedbacks is still poorly understood. Here, in this study, we used a land–atmosphere-coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model to explore the impacts of advanced green-up on air temperature under different hydroclimate conditions across temperate China and to Mechanistic analysis elucidate the underlying biophysical mechanisms. By imposing a 14-day earlier green-up in line with recent satellite observations, we found that under mean climate conditions, an earlier leaf-out induces immediate surface cooling of 0.14 °C during green-up and a lagging 0.02 °C warming during senescence averaged for temperate China. Extremely humid conditions amplify the cooling effects to 0.18 °C during green-up, extending this cooling into the senescence period. Conversely, under extremely arid conditions, earlier green-up cools air temperature by 0.09 °C, and amplified senescence warming to 0.16 °C. Mechanism analysis revealed that evapotranspiration-dominated non-radiative processes drive immediate cooling during green-up while radiation and circulation process dominates the delayed but opposite warming/cooling effects during senescence in extremely arid/humid hydroclimates. Given the projected continuation of warming trends and increased frequency of extreme climatic events, it is imperative to incorporate the biophysical effects of vegetation phenology into local climate adaptation strategies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Performance evaluation of an air conditioning system based on quasi isothermal dehumidifcation

This work presents a first study of novel air conditioning system based on quasi isothermal dehumidification combined with dew-point evaporative cooling through the Maisotsenko cycle (M-Cycle). The dehumidification process is realized in desiccant coated heat exchanger with heat rejection system. The key idea behind the solution is to maximize the cooling effectiveness by creating favourable conditions for dehumidification and evaporative cooling process. This is achieved by rejecting the heat of sorption in the desiccant system and providing cold and dry air for M-Cycle air cooler, which allows the system to be powered by using low-grade heat energy at 50 °C. The analysis is performed on the basis of experimentally validated numerical models of each component combined in a unified model of the system. The goal of the study is to determine the performance of the solution under different operational conditions. In addition two types of M-Cycle air coolers (i.e. cross-flow and regenerative unit) are compared to establish which unit is more suitable as the source of cooling energy for the system. It was established that proposed system is able to provide comfortable room parameters (supply air temperature equal 17 °C and humidity ratio equal 0.010 kg/kg-da) for outdoor air temperatures ranging from 28 to 36 °C and outdoor air humidity ranging from 0.010 to 0.018 kg/kg-da. This means that the proposed solution is able to provide comfortable conditions in temperate and humid climates. Results also indicate that the system consisting of the regenerative M-Cycle HMX allows better cooling load management, offers higher thermal Coefficient of Performance (COP th ) and uses less water compared to the system with the cross-flow HMX. However, the system with cross-flow heat and mass exchanger (HMX) has a relatively greater electrical Coefficient of Performance (COP el ) in most cases.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

β Decay of 61 V and its Role in Cooling Accreted Neutron Star Crusts

The interpretation of observations of cooling neutron star crusts in quasipersistent x-ray transients is affected by predictions of the strength of neutrino cooling via crust Urca processes. The strength of crust Urca neutrino cooling depends sensitively on the electron-capture and β -decay ground-state-to-ground-state transition strengths of neutron-rich rare isotopes. Nuclei with a mass number of A = 61 are predicted to be among the most abundant in accreted crusts, and the last remaining experimentally undetermined ground-state-to-ground-state transition strength was the β decay of 61 V. This Letter reports the first experimental determination of this transition strength, a ground-state branching of $8.1^{+4.0}_{- 3.1}%$, corresponding to a log ft value of $5.5^{+0.2}_{-0.2}$. This result was achieved through the measurement of the β -delayed γ rays using the total absorption spectrometer SuN and the measurement of the β -delayed neutron branch using the neutron long counter system NERO at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. This method helps to mitigate the impact of the pandemonium effect in extremely neutron-rich nuclei on experimental results. The result implies that A = 61 nuclei do not provide the strongest cooling in accreted neutron star crusts as expected by some predictions, but that their cooling is still larger compared to most other mass numbers. Finally, only nuclei with mass numbers 31, 33, and 55 are predicted to be cooling more strongly. However, the theoretical predictions for the transition strengths of these nuclei are not consistently accurate enough to draw conclusions on crust cooling. With the experimental approach developed in this work, all relevant transitions are within reach to be studied in the future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterization of compositional variation and solidification condition on rapid solidification behavior of beta stabilized titanium

Rapid solidification (RS) is a field of study that has increased in importance due to the rise of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. The breakdown of equilibrium at the solid-liquid interface results in an inability to use traditional solidification models that have been applied to great success in casting. As such, there is a current need for a high-throughput testing method to screen alloys at rapid solidification conditions without the significant cost for powder atomization. In this work, twin hammer splat quenching (SQ) is utilized and theoretically developed as a technique uniquely placed to test alloy systems for AM applications. Using analytical thermal spray models and numerical heat transfer simulations, the cooling rate and solidification conditions of splat quenching are compared across several parameters to evaluate the key parameters for generating cooling rates relevant to AM process. Once a framework for the cooling rates and relevancy of SQ are developed, SQ was used to process alloy compositions in the Ti5553 alloy space (AMS 7026) to study the formation of detrimental secondary phases occurring upon rapid quenching from the melt. A martensitic phase is found to occur at the lower end of the standard, but the composition listed in the standard were found to be safe. Finally, the rapid solidification behavior of Ti-5553 is evaluated by comparing splat quenching, laser welding, and plasma atomization that offer a wide window of solidification conditions. The segregation and solidification structure are analyzed and compared to models to provide a deeper understanding of the solidification behavior of beta stabilized titanium alloys.

Williamson, Christopher J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cooling outweighs warming across phenological transitions in the Northern Hemisphere

Vegetation phenology, i.e., seasonal biological events such as leaf-out and leaf-fall, regulates local climate through biophysical processes like evapotranspiration (ET) and albedo. However, the net surface temperature impact of these processes—whether ET cooling or albedo-induced warming predominates—and how the dominance changes across phenological transitions and regions remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of vegetation foliage on daytime land surface temperature (LST) following six phenological transitions, spanning from the start of season to end of season, in deciduous and mixed forests across the mid- to high-latitude Northern Hemisphere during 2013–2021 using multiple satellite products and ground observations. We quantified vegetation effect as the difference between observed LST and LST estimates from the Annual Temperature Cycle (ATC) model, representing a no-foliage scenario. We found that vegetation-induced cooling consistently outweighs warming following all phenological transitions except for the end of the season. Cooling intensity increased with vegetation greenness, ranging from 1.0 ± 0.5 °C (mean ± 0.15 SD) in 59% of forests after the start of the season (SOS) to 6.1 ± 0.8 °C in 89% of forests following the onset of maturity, before declining toward the end of the season. Over half of the regions experiencing cooling showed intensification of surface cooling with climate warming, suggesting an amplified vegetation-mediated cooling under future climate change. The findings provide a more precise understanding of the role of vegetation in modulating climate at the intraseasonal scale, highlighting the importance of integrating phenological impacts into climate adaptation strategies and Earth system modeling.

albedo↗
DOE OSTI2024

LES and RANS Spray Combustion Analysis of OME 3-5 and n-Dodecane

Clean-burning oxygenated and synthetic fuels derived from renewable power, so-called e-fuels, are a promising pathway to decarbonize compression–ignition engines. Polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (PODEs or OMEs) are one candidate of such fuels with good prospects. Their lack of carbon-to-carbon bonds and high concentration of chemically bound oxygen effectively negate the emergence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and even their precursors like acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), enabling soot-free combustion without the soot-NO x trade-off common for diesel engines. The differences in the spray combustion process for OMEs and diesel-like reference fuels like n-dodecane and their potential implications on engine applications include discrepancies in the observed ignition delay, the stabilized flame lift-off location, and significant deviations in high-temperature flame morphology. For CFD simulations, the accurate modeling and prediction of these differences between OMEs and n-dodecane proved challenging. This study investigates the spray combustion process of an OME 3 − 5 mixture and n-dodecane with advanced optical diagnostics, Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS), and Large-Eddy Simulations (LESs) within a constant-volume vessel. Cool-flame and high-temperature combustion were measured simultaneously via high-speed (50 kHz) imaging with formaldehyde (CH 2 O) planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) representing the former and line-of-sight OH* chemiluminescence the latter. Both RANS and LES simulations accurately describe the cool-flame development process with the formation of CH 2 O. However, CH 2 O consumption and the onset of high-temperature reactions, signaled by the rise of OH* levels, show significant deviations between RANS, LES, and experiments as well as between n-dodecane and OME. A focus is set on the quality of the simulated results compared to the experimentally observed spatial distribution of OH*, especially in OME fuel-rich regions. The influence of the turbulence modeling is investigated for the two distinct ambient temperatures of 900 K and 1200 K within the Engine Combustion Network Spray A setup. The capabilities and limitations of the RANS simulations are demonstrated with the initial cool-flame propagation and periodic oscillations of CH 2 O formation/consumption during the quasi-steady combustion period captured by the LES.

CFD↗
DOE OSTI2023

Laser heating and evaporation of a single droplet

The laser technology is being abundantly studied for controlled energy deposition for a range of applications in aerodynamic flow control, material processing, ignition, and combustion. The absorption of laser radiation by liquid droplets affects further propagation of laser in the atmosphere and causes bleaching of suspended droplets while the ignition and combustion characteristics in combustors are influenced by the evaporation rate of the sprayed fuel. In this work, we present a multi-dimensional mathematical model built on OpenFOAM for laser heating and evaporation of a single droplet in the diffusion dominated regime taking into account absorption of the laser radiation, evaporation process and vapor flow dynamics. The developed solver is validated against available experimental and numerical data for the ethanol and water droplet heating and evaporation. For continuous heating the peak temperature is established by the balance of cooling, evaporation and heating and results in high temperature for larger droplets. It has been shown that for heating by a single laser pulse the maximum temperature of droplets depends only on the peak intensity of the laser radiation. Furthermore, for the peak irradiance close to the transition to the boiling regime, temporal dynamics of the droplet temperature is independent of the droplet size. With proper normalization of time, the dynamics of the droplet shrinkage and cooling is shown to be independent of droplet sizes and peak laser intensities. The influence of cooling and evaporation processes on droplet heating was found to be controlled by the pulse repetition rate for repeated pulse operation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗