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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Final Report – Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Solar Turbines Incorporated

The National Energy Technology Laboratory is developing the Raman Gas Analyzer (RGA) to be a fast, non-destructive instrument for on-line measurement of gas composition. The RGA prototype has been demonstrated to have an extremely fast response (<1 second) multi-gas analysis capability. All but the noble gases are Raman active, but Raman interaction is weak with gas phase substances. The RGA uses a reflectively lined capillary as the optical cell in a patented configuration, providing both a small sample volume for fast gas exchange, and a much greater Raman signal collection than traditional instrument configurations. This allows very fast measurement of fuel gases (hydrogen, methane, ethane, propane) as well as other common industrial gases (including CO, CO2, N2, O2, H2O). The RGA provides a new enabling technology for faster, smarter process control based on the chemical composition of the gases in the process, such as improving fuel flexibility and efficiency for power generation systems. NETL has constructed a field prototype of the RGA to test the instrument performance in various applications in fossil energy. Through this CRADA, the RGA prototype operation was tested using hydrocarbon mixtures and hydrogen on a combustor test rig for potential use in gas turbine engine testing. The testing was performed at the Solar Turbines Incorporated Harbor Drive facility in downtown San Diego, CA on December 3-7, 2018. The RGA was installed outside a combustor test bay, with a ¼" sample line connected from a point shortly upstream of the test combustor. The combustion test building online gas chromatograph reported analysis of a sample every 6 minutes. During testing, seven test conditions of pure gas or gas mixtures were supplied to a pressurized combustion test rig. A sample of the fuel gas was continuously analyzed using the RGA with a 1 second measurement and reporting time. For each test condition, once the steady condition was reached, the composition of the gas from the RGA measurements is reported, along with the expected composition from the flow meters, and the composition reported by the online gas chromatograph (GC). During this testing, the real-time measurement capability of the RGA was readily apparent. The composition changes occurring in real-time could be followed and observed to correspond to combustion behavior changes on the video monitor at the operator station. The largest concentration species were tracked well through the tests; however, from comparison of the RGA one-second data with the GC steady-state points, it appears the RGA had some difficulty with quantifying hydrocarbon mixtures, especially when some of the hydrocarbons were at low concentration. The difficulty was particularly noted for ethane and butane in these tests. The NETL team intends to address this in 2019. Moderate concentrations of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen (>10%) were readily observed in the spectral data and quantified closely to the GC measurements. While calibration data for propylene was collected in preparation for this testing, it was not observed during the testing, even when the test conditions had high concentrations of propane.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cooperative Development of NETL Electrode Engineering Process for SOFC Commercialization (Final Report)

The objectives of the proposed work are to mature the NETL electrode engineering technique to enhance the activity and stability of tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathode electrodes in a cost-effective way and to demonstrate its commercial viability through SOFC stack testing. These overall objectives were realized through the following goals: 1) Reduction of baseline area-specific resistance (ASR) of tubular SOFC cathodes; 2) Mitigation of the long-term (>2000 h) degradation rate of tubular SOFC cathodes; 3) Demonstration of SOFC stack operation for commercially acceptable efficiency and performance.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2016

HySafe research priorities workshop report: Summary of the workshop organized in cooperation with US DOE and supported by EC JRC in Washington DC November 10-11, 2014

The HySafe research priorities workshop is held on the even years between the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) which is held on the odd years. The research priorities workshop is intended to identify the state-of-the-art in understanding of the physical behavior of hydrogen and hydrogen systems with a focus on safety. Typical issues addressed include behavior of unintended hydrogen releases, transient combustion phenomena, effectiveness of mitigation measures, and hydrogen effects in materials. In the workshop critical knowledge gaps are identified. Areas of research and coordinated actions for the near and medium term are derived and prioritized from these knowledge gaps. The stimulated research helps pave the way for the rapid and safe deployment of hydrogen technologies on a global scale. To support the idea of delivering globally accepted research priorities for hydrogen safety the workshop is organized as an internationally open meeting. In attendance are stakeholders from the academic community (universities, national laboratories), funding agencies, and industry. The industry participation is critically important to ensure that the research priorities align with the current needs of the industry responsible for the deployment of hydrogen technologies. This report presents the results of the HySafe Research Priorities Workshop held in Washing ton, D.C. on November 10-11, 2014. At the workshop the participants presented updates (since the previous workshop organized two years before in Berlin, Germany) of their research and development work on hydrogen safety. Following the workshop, participants were asked to provide feedback on high-priority topics for each of the research areas discussed and to rank research area categories and individual research topics within these categories.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2019

High Efficiency Concentrating Photovoltaic Power System (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-07-229)

Using NREL's characterization capabilities, NREL will conduct electrical, optical, and materials characterization on semiconductor samples for concentrator solar cells, grown by both NREL and Boeing-Spectrolab. NREL will also apply its solar cell fabrication expertise to develop advanced, potentially low-cost concentrator solar cell fabrication processes, e.g. improved etching, metallization, coating deposition, isolation, and other processes. NREL will extend its experience with transparent conductive coatings (TCC) to develop terrestrial concentrator cell contacts using these materials. As required, NREL will carry out metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth development of inverted metamorphic multi-junction solar cells and compare with Boeing-Spectrolab's MOVPE growth processes.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Abengoa/Acciona Power Plant Hydrogen Mitigation Project (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-15-583)

Several Gigawatts (GW) of solar concentrating parabolic trough generating capacity have been installed in the U.S. and internationally in the past five years. Many of these power plants include thermal energy storage, which allows the plants to generate electricity during off-sun hours. The U.S. now has about 1 GW of solar-to-electric generating capacity using concentrating parabolic trough technology. Parabolic trough power plants have a long-standing performance issue relating to the build-up of trace quantities of hydrogen gas in the receiver tubes. Hydrogen is a byproduct of the very slow breakdown of the heat transfer fluid. Accumulation of hydrogen in the receivers causes a loss in the thermal efficiency of the receivers and an overall decrease in the power plant annual electricity output. Since a typical plant contains 50,000 receivers, addressing this issue by individual receiver is not practical. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conceived and developed a method to remove or purge hydrogen from the power plant receivers by removing hydrogen from a single location within the plant. Hydrogen gas is purged from the heat transfer fluid that resides in the power plant expansion tanks. Modeling shows that quantitative removal of hydrogen from the expansion tanks will reverse build-up of hydrogen in the receiver tubes and restore the power plant to its full performance and annual energy output. This method is documented in U.S. Patent 8,568,582, which issued in October 2013. Two companies, Abengoa Solar and Acciona Solar Power, Inc. contacted NREL to discuss solutions to the eventual build-up of hydrogen in their commercial parabolic trough power plants. NREL proposed to implement its method at Acciona's Nevada Solar One (NSO) parabolic trough power plant in Boulder City, Nevada. The first year will consist of laboratory testing at the NREL Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) along with process specification, design, and costing. The second year will be the full-scale implementation of the hydrogen mitigation process at the NSO power plant in Nevada.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

M3 Wave System Modeling: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-17-697

M3 Wave is a leader in submerged pressure differential wave energy harvesting technology. M3 Wave's approach to developing technology is focused on simplicity and survivability. The company has been working on wave energy devices since 1991 and has produced a number of successes during that time. During testing as part of DOE's Wave Prize finals, M3 Wave encountered an unexpected phenomenon that increased power production by over 25% in their NEXUS system. The problem to be explored by this project is how to accurately model and characterize this phenomenon to better take advantage of the potential benefits. This will be accomplished by: 1) developing and validating a system-hydrodynamics model of M3 Wave's NEXUS system; 2) performing a parameter study to identify possible mechanisms for improved energy capture, and 3) providing M3 Wave with a working, adaptable, model of their system, such that M3 Wave is able to incorporate the study's findings and optimize their system for improved LCOE.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2020

Regenerative Fuel Cell System (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-16-635)

Grid energy storage is required to maintain reliable electricity delivery from energy producers to their customers. As electrical loads on the grid change throughout the day, stored energy supplies electricity during increased power demand periods. Further, as more renewable and alternative energy sources are added, energy storage will maximize the usefulness of these technologies. Currently, the United States has over 24.6 GW of grid storage, about 2% of the total electrical production capacity. About 95% of energy storage comes from pumped hydro. However, pumped hydro energy storage is dependent on existing geographic features, making it difficult to integrate with widespread renewable energy sources. As energy demands continue to expand, and more renewable energy (i.e. wind and solar) is added to the grid, new energy storage technologies will be needed that are not dependent on geographic features. Battery technologies can provide energy storage for some applications, but are not economically well-suited for long duration charge/discharges, such as load-leveling of renewable energy. Consequently, development of new energy storage devices will augment the existing grid and reduce the capital investment in construction upgrades. As ever-increasing mandates for renewable energy are implemented, lower-cost energy storage solutions for renewable energy will be necessary to keep electricity costs low for consumers.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scalable Electrolytic Systems for Renewable Hydrogen Production (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-747)

The project focuses on offshore wind energy which is an emergent renewable energy source in the United States. Onsite hydrogen production for this sector is not available. The overall goal of GTA's work is development of scalable multi-megawatt water electrolysis systems that exclude platinum group metals, are constructed from readily available commodity materials and are mass produced using advanced manufacturing and robotics. They fabricated and successfully tested a scalable TRL 4 laboratory prototype that demonstrated promising results for achieving the goal. They further performed calculations and prepared scale drawings for an envisioned onsite TRL 8 electrolytic hydrogen production system at an offshore 8 MW wind turbine. The work plan of the CRADA proposal between NREL and GTA focuses on validation of the current TRL 4 prototype with potential development and refinement for advancement to a TRL 5 system. GTA, Inc. proposes joining the H2@Scale consortium to leverage DOE funds, benefit from and contribute to the common knowledge-base and work with NREL as a CRADA partner.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Peña Station NEXT Energy District Master Plan (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-17-681)

The objective of the project is to work in close collaboration with Panasonic, Xcel Energy (Public Service), and their partners L.C. Fulenwider, and Denver International Airport to examine different design and technology options in creating an energy master plan for the 400 acre Pena Station NEXT district in Denver, Colorado. To accomplish this, NREL will conduct a solar power/battery storage/grid integration study using the OpenDSS platform linked to UrbanOPT software.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improvement in Power Output for CNT Polymer Hybrid Film and Accompanying Thermoelectric Generator: Cooperative Research and Development (CRADA CRD-15-596 Final Report)

NREL personnel will enhance International ThermoDyne's (ITD) understanding of the controlling factors for power output within a process for the manufacturing of high-performance carbon nanotube (CNT) thermoelectric generator (TEG) structure (alternative areas of p and n type semiconductor) and provide ITD with samples ('Deliverables') demonstrating these advances in power output that can used. The Deliverables will have performance characteristics outlined in Table 1, for use in ITD's PowerFelt product. The initial goals of this project are to achieve thermoelectric p and n films with power factors of at least 600uW/mK2 made through NREL's process for TEG paper manufacture with high conductivity and low thermal conductivity and eventually achieving higher performance of > 900 uW/mK2.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Report – Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Oxergy, Inc.

The NETL Raman Gas Analyzer (RGA) has been demonstrated to have an extremely fast response (<1 second) multi-gas analysis capability. All but the noble gases are Raman active, although the Raman interaction is weak. The RGA uses a reflectively lined capillary as the optical cell, providing both a small sample volume for fast gas exchange, and a much greater Raman signal collection than traditional instrument configurations. This allows very fast measurement of fuel gases (hydrogen, methane, ethane, propane) as well as other common industrial gases (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, and water). This provides a new enabling technology for faster, smarter process control based on the chemical composition of the gases in the process – including improved fuel flexibility and efficiency for power generation systems. Research and development up to 2016 resulted in the construction of two field prototypes of the NETL RGA, which has been in applied to various laboratory applications for testing. The results of the testing have been used to improve the RGA design, with the intent to support technology transfer. The quality of the optical capillary used in the RGA is critical to its performance, and prior work at NETL produced a few optical capillaries superior to those commercially available. The production of high optical quality capillaries, however, was inconsistent in its results. With the support of the DOE Office of Technology Transitions, through the Technology Commercialization Fund program, this project was undertaken to address this commercialization barrier and to also evaluate the possible application of Raman gas analysis to a supercritical water gasification process being developed by Oxergy Inc. Oxergy, a small business located in Fairbanks, Alaska, is developing ultra-compact thermochemical reaction devices built with advanced manufacturing processes. Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Kamler holds the (pending) patent to Oxergy’s core reactor technology. Oxergy maintains wet-lab and combustion-lab space at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for Sustainable Living in Palmer, Alaska, where Mr. Kamler operates a pilot-scale, supercritical water gasification system designed and built by Oxergy. Mr. Kamler also operates an All Powers Labs Power Pallet gasifier coupled to a 10KW electrical generator as a dry biomass test platform at the Palmer facility. Both systems are suitable for real-world, collaborative testing of Raman gas analysis applications. The objectives of the CRADA include making the production of high-quality optical capillaries consistent and high yield, investigating other options for optical waveguides, and testing the capillaries for measurements in supercritical water gasification. Success on these objectives will support commercialization of both the RGA and supercritical water gasification technologies. Through the work performed on this project, a new apparatus was constructed and optimized to provide consistent production of high-quality optical capillaries. Several thick-walled capillaries were coated using this apparatus and shipped to Oxergy in September 2018 for testing in both dry gasification and supercritical water gasification process monitoring applications at University of Alaska Fairbanks facilities in Palmer. The strong earthquake near Anchorage and Palmer in November 2018 caused extensive damage and closure of the facilities used by Oxergy, preventing Oxergy from proceeding with experimental testing before the end of the project; the facility has been closed indefinitely. Earthquake damage prohibited the completion of all the project objectives prior to the end of the project. However, significant progress was made toward addressing a core technology commercialization barrier. The largest and most mature potential market for Raman gas analysis is its use in analytical instruments, which require sensitivity and low detection limits, and Oxergy’s market research found that market inertia is a barrier to commercial success in this market. Although NETL’s innovations in capillary coating have substantially improved Raman gas analysis capability, the likely market is expected to be niche applications that value the fast detection of real-time changes in gas composition.

Chorpening, Benjamin↗
DOE OSTI2020

Final Report – Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Praxair, Inc.

Praxair and DOE-NETL entered into a collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA) in March 2019 to evaluate economic viability of chemical looping processes for hydrogen, CO, and syngas production in comparison to state-of-the-art conventional processes. Praxair had developed process configurations for producing hydrogen and CO using chemical looping processes. NETL had modeling and system design experience for the chemical looping reactor system. The goal for NETL is to provide performance and design information regarding the chemical looping portion of a potential commercial plant. Praxair’s goal is to evaluate chemical looping processes and try to identify a process that can be commercially relevant within a few years. A key to success for the program will be to develop a chemical looping reactor system that enables significant capital cost reduction and performance improvement for the overall process. This report describes chemical looping-based CO production process, chemical looping reactor system and oxygen carrier material as well as summary of technoeconomic analysis results. Also included in the report are a list of assumptions that were used for designing the chemical looping plant and a list of areas for further study required to validate some of these assumptions in future efforts. The initial goal was to design two chemical looping plants. Case 1 would produce 1 MM scfd Hydrogen from NG, and Case 2 would co-produce hydrogen and 5 MM scfd CO from NG. However, later in the collaboration, it was decided to drop Case 1 as Case 2 process already included hydrogen production.

Bayham, Samuel↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and The Trustees of Princeton University (Final Report)

This research effort will develop a novel nanodischarge reactor loaded with nanotemplated catalysts to achieve high-efficiency plasma-enhanced conversion of CO2 and methane for the production of chemicals or fuels. The primary objective of this study is to demonstrate low temperature operation of a novel nanoplasma catalysis reactor that is characterized by a uniform discharge. Another objective is to address the most significant challenge in the plasma-catalysis hybrid system, which is to achieve the strongest synergistic interaction between the plasma and catalyst and to increase the selectivity for producing methanol and alkanes/alkenes. This enhanced synergy will be enabled by using bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized on nanorods present on surfaces of a nanotemplated oxide support.

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

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and The Pennsylvania State University (Final Report)

This project will use bipolar membranes to produce efficient vapor-phase electrolysis cells for splitting CO 2 to CO and oxygen. CO is a valuable chemical feedstock that can be combined catalytically with hydrogen in the Fischer-Tropsch process to make liquid fuels. CO is arguably the best target for CO 2 reduction since, as a gaseous product, it is easily collected and is relatively immune to membrane crossover losses. The keys to success in this project are to design and synthesize hydrophilic, low resistance bipolar membranes and to create optimized electrode/catalyst/electrolyte architectures based on these new membranes and advanced catalysts in order to achieve high current density at low overpotentials for CO 2 conversion. High current density is key to achieving industrially relevant throughput for the process and low overpotentials maintain high overall efficiency for the process.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Report – Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Applied Spectra, Inc.

Groundwater resources can be contaminated by a variety of surface and subsurface sources. For instance, metals can be leached from surface dumps (e.g. landfills, etc.) and reach groundwater supplies by percolation though the soil. Additionally, subsurface activities such as geologic carbon storage (GCS) could result in contamination. In the event of CO2 leakage, freshwater above the injection site can potentially be contaminated with metals either originating from the formation fluids or leached from formation rocks by CO2 acidification. Detection of these contaminating metals is critical for maintaining water safety and providing an early warning of a containment breach. Therefore, a compact, subsurface capable laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) based sensor has been developed for groundwater quality monitoring applications. LIBS sensor technology has been advanced from benchtop feasibility studies to a custom fabricated, watertight prototype. The all optical sensor head is built using a low cost passively Q-switched (PQSW) laser, which is fiber coupled to a control unit containing the pump laser and a gated spectrometer. Separating the LIBS excitation laser from the pump and spectrometer allows the expensive and fragile components to remain in a safe, central location while only the sensor head needs to enter the subsurface. Testing of the prototype sensors show Limits of Detection (LODs) comparable to benchtop, actively Q-switched systems and has verified that the fiber coupling and triggering schemes perform as desired.

McIntyre, Dustin↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between National Energy Technology Laboratory and Birla Carbon U.S.A., Inc. [Abstract]

NETL researchers will be collaborating with Birla Carbon, U.S.A., Inc. (Birla Carbon) to leverage NETL's patented catalyst work on methane decomposition to commercialize an efficient and a cost-effective process for production of hydrogen and valuable carbon from natural gas. This catalytic methane decomposition is a promising technology, however, finding an appropriate catalyst to perform all the functions has been a challenge. NETL has developed a suitable catalyst for the process which has shown promising results. The heat required for this endothermic catalytic decomposition process is provided by combustion of a portion of the hydrogen. This process is cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly with minimal CO 2 mitigation costs. The objectives of the project include evaluation of the effect of feed gas composition on the performance, reduction of the catalyst production cost, and conduction of an in-depth large-scale cost analysis for a process suitable for applications at Birla Carbon.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗