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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

On the optimal sizing of power take-off systems for wave energy converters

The power take-off (PTO) system in a wave energy converter (WEC) is the means by which the energy in an ocean wave is converted into useful energy. There has been a general lack of technology convergence in the wave energy industry and PTO design has been largely device-specific with the design process determined by the WEC developer. An optimized PTO design can significantly affect the efficiency, reliability, performance, and overall cost and viability of a device. There remains a need in the marine energy industry for best practices and efficient design processes to be identified as it could greatly benefit developers and researchers in designing an optimal WEC PTO. This research utilizes the open-source Matlab-Simulink based software, WEC-Sim, which was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Eagle, a high-performance computing system, to model and optimize two WECs of different archetypes and then investigates if any trends exist that can be exploited for greater efficiency in optimal PTO design. The results from this research indicate that there may be an optimal sizing for WEC PTOs for both power and PTO force rating and that substantial reductions can be made in the cost of a device without significant loss in the energy produced. Furthermore this optimal sizing may be independent of WEC type and deployment location. With an optimal, or near optimal, approach to WEC PTO sizing demonstrated, a methodology is proposed to address the challenge of nameplate ratings in the wave energy industry.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Description of FY25 Theory and Simulation Performance Target: Development of an integrated modeling framework for fusion reactor design and assessment

The urgency to deliver fusion power is growing now more than ever, with increasing pressure for both public programs and private companies to meet milestones timelines and overcome significant remaining technical challenges to ensure growth of a nascent fusion industry in time to meet rapidly growing clean energy demands. With incredible advancements in computation and years of investment in fusion model development and validation, integrated modeling is poised to fill a key role in accelerating the timeline to a fusion pilot plant (FPP). Future fusion pilot plants will operate in regimes far beyond current experience, and device design will rely on physics-based prediction and extrapolation. Many concepts will also rely on simulation to assess safety (shielding, tritium management, materials activation and lifetimes), economics and scalability before the decision to build. Importantly, integrated simulation can be used to reveal and solve the complexities of system integration that may otherwise not be apparent in physical components or models developed in isolation. New experimental test facilities that produce relevant conditions to validate and resolve key technical challenges for various subsystems (materials, blankets, fuel cycle, etc.) have been repeatedly called for by the fusion community but are not yet realized. Integrated modeling has an important role in identifying realistic load conditions (thermal, electromagnetic, plasma, neutron and photon loads, etc.) and defining the components and experiments for these test facilities in order to ensure meaningful validation that sufficiently reduces modeling uncertainties and technical risk for the full integrated reactor. The Fusion REactor Design and Assessment (FREDA) SciDAC project is building a component-based integrated modeling framework & data structure to enable self-consistent, multi-fidelity, iterative optimization workflows for the fusion reactor design process. FREDA aims to shorten the time to viable designs by providing a set of flexible workflows to support the various stages of the design process using an integrated model hierarchy, ranging from the simple analytic descriptions to the highest fidelity, theory-based plasma and engineering modeling developed by the fusion and fission communities. These tools are expected to be needed for timely support of FPP design in the milestone program and in the FIRE collaboratives. The plasma simulation backbone of FREDA is IPS-FASTRAN with newly developed coupled Core-Edge Pedestal-SOL (CESOL) workflows, which is being extended to the far-SOL region up to the plasma facing components. FREDA incorporates the FERMI engineering modeling suite and will enable self-consistent evaluation of the thermal shields, limiters, blanket, magnets, and other surrounding structures with predictions of temperatures, erosion, dpa, activation, tritium generation and transport, creep, corrosion, material degradation, etc. Parametric generation of 3D CAD enables rapid iteration of component geometry in response to plasma and loading specifications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design of Defensive Cybersecurity Architectures for High Temperature, Gas-Cooled Reactors

This report presents the design of defensive cybersecurity architectures (DCSAs) for High Temperature, Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs). A DCSA is a cybersecurity design feature that places systems into security zones in a graded approach according to the importance of the functions performed by the systems. DCSA design efforts for advanced reactors may commence as early as the system-level design phase. This design approach is consistent with the draft regulatory guide for advanced reactor cybersecurity programs (DG-5075) and enables advanced reactor designers to consider the effects of security-by-design (SeBD) features on their DCSAs. Integration of DCSA design and other cybersecurity activities with the traditional design process as part of a SeBD framework may enable advanced reactor designers to improve the security posture of their plants while reducing implementation and operating costs. This report provides a DCSA template for an exemplar HTGR and describes a DCSA design process using event tree analysis so that the template may be optimized for a given HTGR design.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

High-Temperature Ceramic-Carbonate Dual-Phase Membrane Reactor for Pre-combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

Arizona State University, in collaboration with University of South Carolina, worked on a project aimed at development of a new high temperature, high pressure CO 2 perm-selective membrane reactor for water-gas-shift reaction (WGS) with simulated gasifier syngas to produce a high concentration H 2 stream with CO 2 capture. The membrane reactor is made of a CO 2 semi-permeable ceramic-carbonate dual-phase (CCDP) membrane with high CO 2 perm-selectivity/permeance and thermal/mechanical stability for application in WGS reaction. The objectives of this project were to (1) synthesize the chemically/thermally stable tubular CCDP membranes with CO 2 permeance and selectivity (with respect to H 2 , CO or H 2 O) larger than 6.5×10-7 mol/m2·s·Pa and 500, respectively; (2) establish CCDP membrane reactor setup and study high pressure CO 2 permeation and WGS reaction with CO 2 capture using the setup; and (3) identify conditions for WGS in the CCDP membrane reactor that produce CO 2 and H 2 streams with purity of >99% and >90% respectively at CO conversion >95% and overall carbon capture >90%. The work in this project included both membrane development and membrane reactor process study. The membrane development efforts were focused on investigating a H 2 S resistant and highly oxygen-ionic conducting metal oxide material and membrane for CO 2 separation, fabrication of tubular samaria-doped-ceria/molten-carbonate CCDP membrane with high mechanical strength, and experimental and modeling study of high-pressure CO 2 permeation of the CCDP membranes. Mathematical models were developed to describe WGS in the CCDP membrane reactor without a catalyst or packed with a commercial high temperature WGS catalyst. Experiments on WGS in the CCDP membrane reactor with the commercial WGS catalyst, guided by the model analysis, were performed to identify optimum conditions for achieving the CO conversion, carbon capture, and the purity of the H 2 and CO 2 streams mentioned above. At 30 atm feed pressure, 750°C operation temperature, space velocity of 250 h-1, and with steam sweep, a single-stage CCDP membrane reactor with average CO 2 permeation flux of 0.5 cm3(STP)/min.cm2 can achieve CO 2 conversion of 95% and overall carbon capture of 94%, and produce CO 2 and H 2 streams with dry-based purity of >99% and 92% respectively. The project also included process design and techno-economic analysis (TEA) for a CCDP membrane reactor process for WGS reaction with CO 2 capture for a 550 MW coal-fired IGCC power plant, and its comparison with the conventional fixed-bed reactor system for WGS with follow-up CO 2 capture by an amine absorption process. The target performance for the reactor for WGS with CO 2 capture includes CO conversion >95%, hydrogen stream purity >90%, CO 2 stream purity >95%, and total carbon capture >90%. The CCDP membrane developed in this project can achieve the performance target, without subsequent CO 2 capture process at the optimum conditions identified in this project. The outcome of the process design and TEA analysis shows that the membrane reactor for WGS with in-situ CO 2 capture has an operating cost about 40% lower than that for the conventional fixed-bed reactor with a separate amine absorption process for CO 2 capture. However, the capital cost of the membrane reactor process is about twice that of the conventional process because of the higher cost of the CCDP membrane. Modeling analysis shows that a membrane reactor using a CCDP membrane with higher CO 2 permeance (about three times the current value) can deliver the targeted performance for WGS reaction with CO 2 capture at a much higher space velocity and lower membrane surface area to catalyst volume ratio, leading to a smaller catalyst amount and/or membrane area and hence significantly reduced membrane reactor capital costs.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Conceptual design of inverted core lead bismuth eutectic fast reactor for marine applications

The development of an inverted core fast reactor aims to generate 60 MWth for about 30 Effective Full Power Years without refueling. The reactor design is a transportable reactor using UO{sub 2} fuel and lead-bismuth-eutectic cooled designed for marine applications and is intended to improve the reactor performances compared to the normal core design: better condition for passive cooling system capability by lower core pressure drop, taking advantage of potential power uprate from the lower maximum fuel temperature. Systematic design processes are presented in this work: fuel pin geometry selection, fuel assembly (FA) design, and core design. A relationship between pressure drops, coolant velocity, maximum fuel temperature, coolant channel diameter, and fuel volume fraction was introduced in a single graph used as a tool to select fuel pin geometry. Fuel fabrication capability also took place in consideration of FA design which led to 7 holes per FA, and two-dimensional temperature distribution studies were also carried out. Core design processes including radial zoning, axial zoning, and core optimization were conducted using Monte Carlo code MCS, which is UNIST CORE laboratory in-house code. The current core design uses 3 fuel enrichment levels and 3 FA types to control the local power distribution and power shift during its lifetime. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Conceptual Design of a Tension Leg Platform With 22.3 MW Vertical Axis Turbine

Here, this paper presents the conceptual design of a tension leg platform (TLP) for the ARCUS “towerless” vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT). VAWTs are ideal for floating offshore sites and have several advantages over horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) including reduced top mass, lower center of gravity, increased energy capture, and in turn lower cost. The towerless ARCUS VAWT drives these advantages further through increased structural efficiency and by enabling more optimized TLP designs with simplified installation procedures. For hull sizing, we have studied three turbine sizes with corresponding power ratings of 5.1 MW, 10.4 MW and 22.3 MW. The largest turbine was identified as having the greatest potential to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and is the reference size used for the further detailed design process. The conceptual design of the VAWT TLP has been awarded with an ABS Approval in Principle Certificate. This paper contains brief analysis results and design findings for a TLP designed to house a VAWT, including the following topics: • Applicable Design Codes • Metocean Conditions • ARCUS Turbine Loads • Design Load Cases and Requirements - Pre-service TLP Stability - In-place TLP Global Performance • Platform Configurations, Hull Structure Scantling Design, Weight and CG Estimation, and General Arrangement Drawings • Hull Ballast Plan for both Pre-service and In-place Conditions • Pre-service Quayside Integration, Transportation and Wet Tow Stability Analysis • Global Performance Analysis for Motions and Tendon tensions • Summary of cost components and system levelized cost of energy

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advanced Energy Approaches for Mixed-Use Developments in the Front Range Urban Corridor

The primary objective of the document is to present example technical approaches and strategies that planners and developers can reference for all-electric mixed-use developments in the Rocky Mountain Front Range urban corridor that are considering advanced energy performance goals such as high levels of energy efficiency and renewable integration. The strategies are tailored toward the vision for a zero energy, all-electric, district thermal system-connected starter district. In this example, on-site solar generation is emphasized as a strategy that can be combined with electrical and thermal energy storage for enhanced community resilience and demand flexibility. Opportunities for utilizing or adapting these strategies include: sharing with vertical developers for potential integration of strategies into vertical design guidelines; incorporation into Owner Project Requirements (OPRs); providing example strategies to design teams as a starting point for design; informing structure of agenda for a building design charrette; comparing building designs to example strategies at various points in the design process to evaluate design progression. While the technical strategies outlined in this document can help inform the development of guidelines for projects in the Front Range urban corridor, this document does not set requirements for any rating, certification, program, or policy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Low Regeneration Temperature Sorbents for Direct Air Capture of CO 2

Susteon Inc., in partnership with University of Wyoming and SoCalGas, successfully met all major technical objectives to (1) scale up the ionic liquid catalyst for amine-based sorbents for improved desorption and absorption kinetics, (2) evaluate the catalyzed amine-based sorbents for direct CO 2 capture process to determine CO 2 adsorption and desorption rates and energy requirements, and (3) based on the experimental results, develop a conceptual process design to perform a preliminary economic assessment to evaluate the potential for DAC process cost reduction using the catalyzed sorbents. Amine doped solid sorbents are effective for DAC applications and can be regenerated by heat or by a combination of heat, steam, and vacuum. The best sorbent composition identified was polyethyleneimine (PEI) on fumed silica with 200 ppm ionic liquid catalyst. This sorbent formulation was shown to have a CO 2 breakthrough capacity twice that of the non-catalyzed sorbent, in laboratory tests with air at 75% relative humidity (RH). The CO 2 adsorption rate was also 40% higher than that of the non-catalyzed sorbent. This type of sorbents has the attributes required for lowering the overall cost of DAC with high CO 2 capacity and high rate of adsorption. The combination of an industrially utilized amine-based sorbent with a highly active catalyst to form a new class of materials for DAC provides a technically viable pathway for reducing the cost of DAC to <$100/tonne of CO 2 . Laboratory measurements show that the silica/PEI (polyethyleneimine) sorbents with 100 ppm of ionic liquid catalyst have almost 100% higher CO 2 cyclic capacity and 40% higher adsorption rate. Generally, CO 2 desorption occurred at higher temperatures with a rate of desorption 10 times faster than adsorption (which occurred at ambient conditions). Therefore, adsorption rate is a much more important factor in the cost of DAC because it is directly linked to the CAPEX of the total system and the cycle time (i.e., sorbent productivity in ton/day of CO 2 captured per unit volume of the air contactor). An initial process design, coupled with techno-economic analysis, based on optimal experimental results and preliminary resulting from structured sorbent testing, showed a path to lower the DAC cost from the current cost of over $200/tonne CO 2 to less than $100/tonne with a scale-up, mature state of the technology, with projected material and process improvements. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the catalyst in silica/PEI sorbents in enhancing sorbents’ CO 2 working capacity, in (a) increasing the rate of adsorption and desorption, and (b) in lowering the CAPEX and OPEX of the DAC system employing the ionic liquid catalyzed sorbents.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2021

Maintaining a Flat Li Surface during the Li Stripping Process via Interface Design

Electroplating has been the main focus in mitigating the dendrite growth on the Li-metal electrode; however, the stripping process is equally critical, since the nonsmooth Li surface during stripping will lead to nonuniform local current density, planting the seeds for dendrite growth. In this paper, density functional theory (DFT) and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) techniques were combined to investigate the vacancy evolution in Li interfaced with different solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) materials. It was found that the lithiophilic interface, such as Li/Li 2 O, repels vacancies into the bulk Li, so Li atoms can quickly fill the Li vacancies near the Li/Li 2 O interface and maintain a smooth Li surface. In contrast, the lithiophobic interface, such as Li/LiF, traps Li vacancies toward the interface, and the accumulated Li vacancies form voids and roughen the surface. The predicted critical stripping current density, below which a smooth Li surface will be maintained, is therefore much faster at the lithiophilic interface than that at the lithiophobic interface. It was further revealed that the lithiophilicity at different SEI or coating materials can be ranked as Li/Li 2 O > Li/LiPON > Li/Li 2 CO 3 > Li/LiF based on the calculated interfacial adhesion and accumulation of electron density at the interface. Furthermore, this suggests that interface and coating design at nanoscale can be effective for maintaining a smooth Li surface during the stripping process, solving another challenge to achieving a dendrite-free Li-metal electrode in both liquid and solid electrolytes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Example Evaluation of a Representative Heat Pipe Test Article Design for Structural Acceptability using ASME Design Rules

This report describes a design analysis of a test article mimicking a core block of a heat-pipe mi-croreactor using the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, Subpart B rules. These rules cover the design and construction of elevated temperature nu-clear reactor structural components, like the core block of a heat-pipe microreactor emulated by the test article. The purposes of the report are to: (1) provide a step-by-step example of applying the ASME rules to a reasonable core block geometry and corresponding loading conditions, (2) to provide design feedback on the test article, and (3) to evaluate the ASME rules for use in the design of complex heat-pipe microreactor components. The test article design has a relatively short ASME design life, limited by high thermal stresses. The current ASME rules are adequate for evaluating the core block component designs, though they could be optimized to increase the design efficiency and reduce the amount of designer/analyst time required to execute the design process. The report covers both the current, 2019 edition ASME rules and modified, currently unapproved, rules designed to improve the design process for components with complex geometries and high secondary stresses, like the core block test article.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Simulating Buildings While the Design is Still in the Architect's Imagination

Very early in the design process, prior to drawing a single line, architects get information from their client or prospective client trying to understand the nature and requirements of the building that needs to be designed. The design of the building is completely fluid, as the architect considers many options in their imagination. The overall massing of the building, the general shape and form, are being considered during this early step. Even for a simple box-shaped building, the aspect ratio between the east-west and the north-south dimensions of the building can greatly impact energy consumption due to daylighting availability. The prevailing winds and building orientation can impact natural ventilation. The locations of high and low population density spaces can also impact energy use. Deciding the floor area per office workstation or the size of the auditorium will impact energy use. Does making a building two stories instead of one reduce energy impacts by reducing roof area or does the additional volume for stairs and elevators result in more energy use. Since certain types of spaces require more windows for occupants than others, the locations of those spaces will determine how much glazing each building orientation has impacting daylighting as well as heating and cooling energy. The project was an attempted first step toward creating a system tailored toward architects for this very early stage in the design process to help them understand the energy impacts of design options. The approach was not to be based on drawing the building, and instead, the main inputs would have been the size of each type of space in the building. This report describes information gathered during the development that might be of use to others developing similar software as well as some of the software that was developed during the project. Phase II funding to continue this work was not pursued due to intellectual property issues discovered during the development of the commercialization plan.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Transforming Aeration Energy in Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs) through Suboxic Nitrogen Removal (Final Report)

The objective of this project was to advance two key technological components—aeration control strategies and process design methodologies—to support the development and broader adoption of suboxic biological nitrogen removal (SBNR). The project focused on achieving the following three goals: • Enhance Model Predictive Control (MPC) Technology: Advance the DO/Nmaster MPC platform from its initial 2018 pilot deployment at the Chico Water Resource Recovery Facility in California to full-scale integration. This included partnering with a blower technology commercialization partner and incorporating machine learning (ML) capabilities to enable nationwide deployment. • Bridge Knowledge Gaps in SBNR Process Design: Address fundamental gaps in SBNR process understanding through controlled pilot-scale testing at a dedicated pilot facility. These efforts supported the development of robust kinetic models to inform reliable SBNR control, operational strategies, and design frameworks. • Demonstrate Full-Scale Implementation of Low DO/SBNR with ML: Transition low dissolved oxygen (DO)/SBNR coupled with ML from pilot-scale trials to full-scale demonstration in flow-through biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems, with the goal of enabling scalable, nationwide adoption in activated sludge treatment processes. The project included demonstration of SBNR at the pilot scale as performed by Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) and at the full-scale as performed by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts' (LACSD) Pomona Water Reclamation Plant (POWRP).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

ML-ACCEPT: Machine-Learning-enhanced Automated Circuit Configuration and Evaluation of Power Converters

This project, ML-ACCEPT, took a significant step toward achieving the first objective of the DIFFERENTIATE program: to help engineers to more rapidly and cost-effectively consider a wider range of more novel concepts before selecting an engineering-optimal architecture for high-fidelity detailed design and evaluation. Compared to existing methods, the ML-ACCEPT project investigated innovative technologies to make the design of power converters more cost-effective and time-efficient by i) integrating recent breakthroughs in ML, power electronics, simulation software, and optimization to research, develop, and developed a suite of ML-enhanced hypothesis generation tools for power converter design; and ii) facilitating the integration of the proposed software tools into existing power-converter design work-flows. Some existing tools for power-converter design have a certain level of intelligence to aid the design process, but to our knowledge none of them has ML-enhanced capability of automating the electrical circuit design process by selecting, configuring, and tailoring the individual components that enable available resources (e.g., high-voltage DC power) to be converted to the desired output (e.g., lower-voltage DC power with a desired voltage ripple), subject to application-specific (e.g., plasma generation and automotive applications) thermal and packaging considerations. The state-of-the-art circuit design of power converters is still heavily reliant on human experts to select the optimal topology and search for design parameters with human’s experience and intuitions, which can be very time-consuming, inefficient, and labor intensive. The team is composed of University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-Dearborn), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Modelon Inc., and lighthouse customers.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Magnetic Gears: The Key to Robust, Cost-Effective Hydropower Drivetrains

Based on previous demonstrated success at fabricating 5 and 10 kW scale magnetic gearbox (MGB) prototypes, Emrgy and its partners (the project team) proposed to design and construct a 100 kW scale MGB with a 30:1 gear ratio for the low-head hydro applications. The Statement of Project Objectives included tasks covering: 1) Market Applicability; 2) Technical Metrics; 3) Design (initial); 4) Electromagnetic (EM) Load and Structural Analysis; 5) Modal Analysis; 6) Sealing Design and 7) Final Design during Budget Period 1. Budget Period 2 included tasks covering: 1) Materials Procurement and Test Plan Development; 2) Assembly; and 3) Testing. The Market Applicability study (Task 1) led to a clear conclusion and recommendation toward “Low Head” technologies for maximum market share of both New Stream Reach development as well as powering Non-Powered Dams. The findings of this study also identified the opportunity for a larger scale magnetic gearbox-based drive train as a function of increased torque, as opposed to increased speed. The Technical Metrics Study (Task 2) concluded a horizontal orientation was preferred, examined potential loss mechanisms, concluded that a Halbach Array magnetic design was preferred, established a 30:1 gear ratio as optimal, and established a power rating of 100 kW as optimal. The subsequent initial and final detailed design process included electro-magnetic (EM) load and structural analysis (Task 4), a Modal analysis (for vibration) (Task 5), and a sealing design (Task 6) to assure water impermeability. The final design package (Task 7) included 729 individual parts, 117 unique part numbers, and 15 assemblies. In order to facilitate procurement, the full bill of materials was broken down into several sub-components: 1) custom magnetic parts; 2) custom machined parts; 3) custom casted parts; and 4) commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts. The casted parts were fabricated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Emrgy and funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). The procurement effort (Task 8) ultimately covered three time periods based on challenges encountered in meeting the budgeted cost for the prototype. Following the first effort in the early stages of Budget Period 2 in 2017, a no-cost time extension was granted to seek alternative fabrication and procurement options. The project was re-booted in 2020 based on the new ORNL CRADA that would focus on five (5) of the more difficult and expensive parts using their advanced manufacturing expertise. Procurement efforts for the other custom machined parts resulted in quotations that still exceeded the budget by more than $\$$100k. This was, in part, also due to the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic that caused both supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. As the project continued, pricing and availability degraded further. In Q2 FY’22, it was decided to not proceed with the fabrication of the prototype (Task 9) based on budgetary limitations. Outcomes included a full and detailed design of a 100 kW magnetic gearbox and associated indented bill of materials (BOM) and CAD drawings, a full assembly instruction manual with an associated BOM for materials necessary to support assembly, the fabrication of the double Halbach magnetic array for the rotor/stator system, fabrication of five (5) sand-casted/machined parts (via CRADA with ORNL) and an initial draft of a comprehensive testing plan. The most significant non-outcome was the actual fabrication and testing of the prototype gearbox based on budget limitations. Lessons learned included the need for an Application / Design / Cost trade analysis to better elucidate the cost potential of the MGB in the projected volumes anticipated for future demand. This would better establish the efficacy of the original cost target ($\$$0.80/Watt) and/or the need for reconsideration of designs and applications. Likewise, additional consideration of the prototype nature of the gearbox – single use, short lifetime, etc. - either as a separate exercise or in place of the design process completed, to reduce the cost of the demonstration prototype device. Additionally, project continuity was cited as a significant risk based on the loss of the primary design engineering firm after Budget Period 1. A design analysis exercise was conducted at the conclusion of the project to identify potential areas for cost reduction. One concept considered was the removal of the inner ring of magnets (with associated changes in the outer ring magnets) to enable a horizontal collapse of the design. It was estimated this could reduce cost by 10-25% without impacting performance.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quarterly Technical Progress Report Piperazine Advanced Stripper (PZAS™) Front End Engineering Design

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document summarizes the status of Cooperative Agreement DE-FE0031844, “Piperazine Advanced Stripper (PZAS™) Front-End Engineering Design,” during the reporting period of January 1 through March 31, 2020. The objective of this project is to develop accurate installed costs by conducting a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) of PZAS™ at Golden Spread Electric Cooperative’s (GSEC) Mustang Station located in Denver City, TX. Complementary benefits include positioning the technology for a commercial project with the 45Q tax credits, qualifying PZAS™ for use on a Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) Cogen facility, and to provide cost detail to optimize PZAS™ and help guide R&D of second-generation solvent CO2 capture technologies. Results from the FEED will be used to evaluate the economic feasibility of the process at Mustang Station. This project is funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory under the aforementioned Cooperative Agreement. Exxon, Total, Chevron, UOP-Honeywell, and the University of Texas (UT) are project co-funders. AECOM and Trimeric are project team members; UT is the prime contractor. Summary of Progress Cooperative Agreement DE-FE0031844 was established in October 2019. The current reporting period, January 1 through March 31, 2020, is the second technical progress reporting period for the project. Several milestones were accomplished during this reporting period, including: • Kickoff Meeting with DOE on February 3, 2020. • Kickoff Meeting with GSEC on March 30, 2020. (Note: Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions and shelter-in-place guidelines, the kickoff meeting was conducted remotely via videoconferencing. See attached notes from that telecon.) • Updated Project Management Plan March 2020, submitted with this quarterly report Other activities during the quarter included progress on contracting and other legal agreements (e.g., non-disclosure agreements), internal kickoff meetings at both AECOM and Trimeric, and development of a Technical Implementation Plan (TIP). The TIP will help the team to make critical, early process decisions and, ultimately, to develop a project and process design basis. Note that all agreements between project team participants are complete as of this submittal, except the vendor agreement with Kiewit (steam cycle modeling). Plans for Next Reporting Period Activities during the next reporting period (April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020) include: the completion of the Project Design Basis and progress towards the Process Design Basis/Process Design Package (PDP). The Project Design Basis is due as a deliverable and milestone during the next reporting period.

Rochelle, Gary T.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies: Process Modeling Design Parameters

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) conducts systems analysis studies that require a large number of inputs, from ambient conditions to parameters for Aspen Plus ® (Aspen) process blocks. The sheer number of assumptions required makes it impractical to document all of them in each issued report. The purpose of the Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies (QGESS) is to document the assumptions most commonly used in system analysis studies and the basis for those assumptions. In order to develop the systems analysis models presented in various NETL reports, significant vendor data have been obtained, and these data enhance the model outputs. Much of the vendor data obtained are considered proprietary and not suitable for public release or attribution to a specific vendor. As such, several sub-systems common in NETL reports and their process parameter data are not reported in this document to protect proprietary vendor information. The values and ranges of values presented in this report represent assumptions that have been made in previous studies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Application of Machine Learning to Assist a Moisture Durability Tool

The design of moisture-durable building enclosures is complicated by the number of materials, exposure conditions, and performance requirements. Hygrothermal simulations are used to assess moisture durability, but these require in-depth knowledge to be properly implemented. Machine learning (ML) offers the opportunity to simplify the design process by eliminating the need to carry out hygrothermal simulations. ML was used to assess the moisture durability of a building enclosure design and simplify the design process. This work used ML to predict the mold index and maximum moisture content of layers in typical residential wall constructions. Results show that ML, within the constraints of the construction, including exposure conditions, does an excellent job in predicting performance compared to hygrothermal simulations with a coefficient of determination, R2, over 0.90. Furthermore, the results indicate that the material properties of the vapor barrier and continuous insulation layer are strongly correlated to performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗