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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Special Issue of IJGGC: Nexus of Water and Carbon Capture and Storage

The mission of the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Water Working Group (WWG) is to address stakeholder concerns regarding emerging carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and potential interactions with local and regional water resources. As part of that mission, the WWG has been working with the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (IJGGC) to develop a Special Issue dedicated to the nexus of water and CCS. Research papers were solicited, edited, and subsequently published in IJGGC. These articles were then submitted to IJGGC on December, 29, 2016, to be published online in a virtual special issue. The articles published in the virtual special issue build upon the research that has been published in IJGGC over the previous 4 years to complete a more comprehensive understanding of water issues associated with CCS.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building Energy Modeling Enhancements to Identify Least-Cost Pathways to Net-Zero Carbon Homes: Preprint

Residential grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) can utilize high levels of energy efficiency and demand flexibility to deliver value to occupants, the grid, and society. However, without the ability to analyze, design, and optimize residential GEBs there is a risk that homes will not realize their full potential value as efficient and dynamic resources, which could ultimately lead to higher than necessary energy costs for U.S. households and lower realization of potential energy efficiency and demand flexibility benefits such as increased convenience/automation, thermal comfort, durability, indoor air quality, and resilience. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Residential Modeling Team developed a vision for an open source Residential GEB Analytics Platform built within DOE's EnergyPlus and OpenStudio modeling environment that would enable the design and optimization of residential GEBs, including the identification of least-cost pathways to highly energy-efficient and energy-flexible homes (e.g., net zero carbon homes). We created a detailed workplan for the development of new and enhanced residential GEB component-level models for EnergyPlus and OpenStudio needed to progress toward the vision for the analytics platform while delivering near-term benefits to industry. This paper 1) presents the vision for the platform, summarizing the workplan for residential GEB modeling enhancements; 2) highlights significant advancements that have been achieved between 2018 and 2022, including stochastic residential occupancy modeling, flexible water heater modeling, detailed lithium-ion stationary battery modeling, and realistic residential HVAC modeling; and 3) outlines ongoing efforts and next steps toward the full vision for the platform.

building energy modeling↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-resolution Hindcasts for U.S. Wave Energy Resource Characterization

The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) industry is at an early stage of development and has the potential to play a significant role in diversifying the U.S. energy portfolio and reducing the U.S. carbon footprint. Wave energy is the largest among all the U.S. MHK energy resources, which include wave energy, ocean current, tidal-instream, ocean thermal energy conversion, and river-instream. Wave resource characterization is an essential step for regional wave energy assessments, Wave Energy Converter (WEC) project development, site selection and WEC design. The present paper provides an overview of a joint modelling effort by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories on high-resolution wave hindcasts to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office’s program of wave resource characterization, assessment and classifications in all US coastal regions. Topics covered include the modelling approach, model input requirements, model validation strategies, high performance computing resource requirements, model outputs and data management strategies. Examples of model setup and validation for different regions are provided along with application to development of classification systems, and analysis of regional wave climates. Lessons learned and technical challenges of the long-term, high-resolution regional wave hindcast are discussed.

Yang, Zhaoqing↗
DOE OSTI2023

A hybrid method to evaluate the life cycle climate performance of heat pumps

Heat pumps have a significant impact on the climate, and numerous studies exist discussing the environmental impact of heat pumps quantitatively. Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) is a widely accepted metric and can evaluate the carbon footprint of heat pumps from cradle to grave. LCCP calculation typically requires inputs like annual energy consumption, the material used, refrigerant type, and charge level, which are usually the intermediate or final results from heat pump simulation tools. Thus, a platform linking the heat pump simulation software, local weather conditions, and LCCP evaluation tool can simplify the heat pump design process, especially for complicated systems. This paper presents an LCCP evaluation tool accessing the outputs from the DOE Heat Pump Design Model and the building loads and temperature bin data from AHRI standard 210/240. As for case studies, this paper investigates the LCCP values and life cycle electricity costs (LCEC) of a given cooling-based heat pump with R410A in five typical US cities. In conclusion, this cooling-based heat pump has the highest LCCP value at Chicago and lowest LCCP value at Seattle. In contrast, the heat pump has the highest LCEC at Seattle and the lowest LCEC at Miami. As a future work, a more comprehensive carbon emission and cost analysis of heat pump systems will be conducted through all major cities around the world.

Shen, Bo↗
DOE OSTI2024

Model code and data: biomass allocation adjustments induced by elevated CO2 and warming in a C3 brackish marsh, 2017-2022, Maryland

This dataset and R script accompany the published paper Bruns et al. (2024) in Geophysical Research Letters. The data are from the first six years of a field manipulation of whole-ecosystem warming and elevated CO2 experiment (Salt Marsh Accretion Response to Temperature eXperiment, or SMARTX) in the Smithsonian's Global Change Research Wetland (GCReW), a brackish, microtidal wetland site on a subestuary of the Chesapeake Bay. These data were generated to understand how warming and elevated CO2 interact to structure ecosystem-level responses to global change, particularly in terms of carbon sequestration. The dataset covers 2017-2022 and includes peak annual above ground biomass, annual belowground fine root productivity, and porewater NH4 for each experimental plot. The overall experiment is replicated in two locations on the marsh, a lower elevation zone dominated the C3 sedge S. Americanus and a higher elevation plot dominated by the C4 species. This paper and its data release is only for the C3 plot. Variable descriptions for data file is available in variable_descriptions.pdf. The R script Bruns_et_al_2024_GRL_make_figures.Rmd contains model code and other scripts used to generate all paper figures.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2008

Satellite Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Pollution: the Far-Reaching Impact of Burning in Southern Africa

When the first observations of a tropospheric trace gas were obtained in the 1980s, carbon monoxide enhancements from tropical biomass burning dominated the observed features. In 2005, an active remote-sensing system to provide detailed information on the vertical distribution of aerosols and clouds was launched, and again, one of the most imposing features observed was the presence of emissions from tropical biomass burning. This paper presents a brief overview of space-borne observations of the distribution of trace gases and aerosols and how tropical biomass burning, primarily in the Southern Hemisphere, has provided an initially surprising picture of the distribution of these species and how they have evolved from prevailing transport patterns in that hemisphere. We also show how interpretation of these observations has improved significantly as a result of the improved capability of trajectory modeling in recent years and how information from this capability has provided additional insight into previous measurements form satellites. Key words: pollution; biomass burning; aerosols; tropical trace gas emissions; Southern Hemisphere; carbon monoxide.

Fishman, Jack↗
NASA NTRS1994

Light Weight Ceramic Ablators for Mars Follow-on Mission Vehicle Thermal Protection System

New Light Weight Ceramic Ablators (LCA) were produced by using ceramic and carbon fibrous substrates, impregnated with silicone and phenolic resins. The special infiltration techniques (patent pending) were developed to control the amount of organic resins in the highly porous fiber matrices so that the final densities of LCA's range from 0.22 to 0.24 g/cc. This paper presents the thermal and ablative performance of the Silicone Impregnated Reusable Ceramic Ablators (SIRCA) in simulated entry conditions for Mars-Pathfinder in the Ames 60 MW Interaction Heating Facility (I HF). Arc jet test results yielded no evidence of char erosion and mass loss at high stagnation pressures to 0.25 atm. Minimal silica melt was detected on surface char at a stagnation pressure of 0.31 atm. Four ceramic substrates were used in the production of SIRCA's to obtain the effective of boron oxide present in substrate so the thermal performance of SIRCA's. A sample of SIRCA was also exposed to the same heating condition for five cycles and no significant mass loss or recession was observed. Tensile testing established that the SIRCA tensile strength is about a factor of two higher than that of the virgin substrates. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) of the char in nitrogen and air showed no evidence of free carbon in the char. Scanning Electron Microscopy of the post test sample showed that the char surface consists of a fibrous structure that was sealed with a thin layer of silicon oxide melt.

Tran, Huy K.↗
DOE OSTI2021

A restructured and updated global soil respiration database (SRDB-V5)

Field-measured soil respiration (R S , the soil-to-atmosphere CO 2 flux) observations were compiled into a global soil respiration database (SRDB) a decade ago, a resource that has been widely used by the biogeochemistry community to advance our understanding of R S dynamics. Novel carbon cycle science questions require updated and augmented global information with better interoperability among datasets. Here, we restructured and updated the global R S database to version SRDB-V5. The updated version has all previous fields revised for consistency and simplicity, and it has several new fields to include ancillary information (e.g., R S measurement time, collar insertion depth, collar area). The new SRDB-V5 includes published papers through 2017 (800 independent studies), where total observations increased from 6633 in SRDB-V4 to 10 366 in SRDB-V5. The SRDB-V5 features more R S data published in the Russian and Chinese scientific literature and has an improved global spatio-temporal coverage and improved global climate space representation. We also restructured the database so that it has stronger interoperability with other datasets related to carbon cycle science. For instance, linking SRDB-V5 with an hourly timescale global soil respiration database (HGRsD) and a community database for continuous soil respiration (COSORE) enables researchers to explore new questions. The updated SRDB-V5 aims to be a data framework for the scientific community to share seasonal to annual field R S measurements, and it provides opportunities for the biogeochemistry community to better understand the spatial and temporal variability in R S , its components, and the overall carbon cycle.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

1D Magnetic MX 3 Single-Chains (M = Cr, V and X = Cl, Br, I)

Magnetic materials in reduced dimensions are not only excellent platforms for fundamental studies of magnetism, but they play crucial roles in technological advances. The discovery of intrinsic magnetism in monolayer 2D van der Waals systems has sparked enormous interest, but the single-chain limit of 1D magnetic van der Waals materials has been largely unexplored. This paper reports on a family of 1D magnetic van der Waals materials with composition MX 3 (M = Cr, V, and X = Cl, Br, I), prepared in fully-isolated fashion within the protective cores of carbon nanotubes. Atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy identifies unique structures that differ from the well-known 2D honeycomb lattice MX 3 structure. Density functional theory calculations reveal charge-driven reversible magnetic phase transitions.

1D materials↗
DOE OSTI2023

Paragenetic controls on CO 2 -fluid-rock interaction and weakening in a macroporous-dominated sandstone

The injection and storage of anthropogenic CO 2 in the subsurface is being deployed as a climate change mitigation tool; however, diagenetic-paragenetic heterogeneity in sandstone reservoirs often contributes to interval specific chemomechanical changes that affect injection and can increase leakage risk.In this paper we address reservoir heterogeneities’ impact on chemomechanical changes in a macroporous-dominated lithofacies of Morrow B sandstone, a formation containing several diagenetically-distinct hydraulic facies while undergoing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration. We performed three flow-through experiments using a CO 2 -charged or uncharged formation water combined with four indirect tensile strength tests per post-test sample. We then used the microstructure and paragenetic sequence to understand chemomechanical weakening with key observations as follows: dissolution of carbonates and feldspars changed porosity; increased permeability led to reclassifying each sample in a different hydraulic flow unit; decreased ultrasonic velocity; and did not lead to a loss of tensile strength. Tensile strength maintenance occurred due to the low abundance and minor dissolution of siderite, the stability of quartz, and the relative position of diagenetic ankerite within feldspar. This macroporous-dominated lithofacies is the primary reservoir for the Morrow B Sandstone, and is analogous to other porous sandstone reservoirs. It represents an end-member of a chemomechanically low-risk siliceous CO 2 sequestration and CO 2 -EOR reservoir.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessing pore network heterogeneity across multiple scales to inform CO2 injection models

Geologic heterogeneity is a key feature that must be considered when translations of scaled data are performed. This paper presents the assessment of geologic heterogeneity using a multiscale workflow that includes image analysis-based methods coupled with well log analysis to provide data in which fractals and machine learning methods estimate the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage resource potential of a reservoir. The heterogeneity of rock properties of the complex Bell Creek reservoir in Montana, USA, was explored at the pore scale (~nm to mm), core scale (~mm to m), and well scale (~cm to m). The data used in this study included advanced image analysis of micro-CT (computed tomography) images (pore scale), thin sections (pore scale), plugs and core images (core scale) and well logs (well scale). The micro-CT images were segmented using a U-net segmentation approach into objects of pores and grains. Further, the segmented images were reconstructed into subvolumes of different sizes. Physical properties (porosity and permeability) and fractal dimensions were calculated for the various subvolumes, and Lorenz coefficient (Lc) values, a single parameter to describe the degree of heterogeneity within a pay zone section, were calculated from thin-section images and well logs. Porosity and fractal dimension values were used to estimate the 188-µm threshold of representative elementary volume (REV) in this study. Both the Lc and fractal dimension values were found to be negatively correlated. When these two parameters are combined, it is possible to discern differences in the complex porous networks of the samples analyzed in this study.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ce stabilized Ni–SrO as a catalytic phase transition sorbent for integrated CO 2 capture and CH 4 reforming

Integration of carbon dioxide capture from flue gas with dry reforming of CH 4 represents an attractive approach for CO 2 utilization. The selection of a suitable bifunctional material serving as a catalyst/sorbent is the key. This paper reports Ni decorated and CeO x -stabilized SrO (SrCe 0.5 Ni 0.5 ) as a multi-functional, phase transition catalytic sorbent material. The effect of CeO x on the morphology, structure, decarbonation reactivity, and cycling stability of the catalytic sorbent was determined with TEM-EDX, XRD, in situ XRD, CH 4 -TPR and TGA. Here, cyclic process tests were conducted in a packed bed reactor. The results indicate that large Ni clusters were present on the surface of the SrNi sorbent, and the addition of CeO 2 promoted even distribution of Ni on the surface. Moreover, the Ce–Sr interaction promoted a complex carbonation/decarbonation phase-transition, i.e. SrCO 3 + CeO 2 ↔ Sr 2 CeO 4 + CO 2 as opposed to the conventional, simple carbonation/decarbonation cycles (e.g. SrCO 3 ↔ SrO + CO 2 ). This double replacement crystalline phase transition mechanism not only adjusts the carbonation/calcination thermodynamics to facilitate SrCO 3 decomposition at relatively low temperatures but also inhibits sorbent sintering. As a result, excellent activity and stability were observed with up to 91% CH 4 conversion, >72% CO 2 capture efficiency and ~100% residual O 2 capture efficiency from flue gas by utilizing the CeO 2 ↔ Ce 2 O 3 redox transition. This renders an intensified process with zero coke deposition. Moreover, the SLDRM with SrCe 0.5 Ni 0.5 has the flexibility to produce concentrated CO via CO 2 -splitting while co-producing a syngas with tunable H 2 /CO ratios.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Carbon–Nutrient Economy of the Rhizosphere: Improving Biogeochemical Prediction and Scaling Feedbacks from Ecosystem to Regional Scales

Our project has advanced the science of plant-soil-microbial dynamics across these areas: i) nutrient cycling and plant uptake; ii) root exudation and priming; and, iii) mycorrhizal dynamics. Our project has accomplished 5 main developments: 1) Incorporation of phosphorus cycling into the Fixation & Uptake of Nutrients (FUN 3.0) model. 2) Coupling of FUN 3.0 into the E3SM Land Model (ELM). 3) Data collection across a large mycorrhizal gradient in the US, as well data in the tropics, to parameterize, test, and validate the model. 4)Scaling up mycorrhizal association measurements across landscapes using airborne hyperspectral remote sensing data. 5) Evaluation of global carbon and nutrient cycle impacts in the Community Land Model (CLM5.0) from a suite of new global mycorrhizal association maps. Over 25 publications resulted from this project, with more continuing past the project funded lifetime. Paper highlights from most of these publications have already been submitted to the DOE paper submission online system. These publications include journals such as Science and PNAS, as well as top disciplinary journals from the Nature journals, Global Change Biology, New Phytologist, and Ecology Letters, for example. Our project also contributed to improving the process representation, capabilities, and accuracy of the DOE ELM. Overall, this project significantly advanced the science of belowground plant-soil-microbial interactions as well as technical capabilities from remote sensing to modeling.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1992

Determining the potential productivity of food crops in controlled environments

The quest to determine the maximum potential productivity of food crops is greatly benefitted by crop growth models. Many models have been developed to analyze and predict crop growth in the field, but it is difficult to predict biological responses to stress conditions. Crop growth models for the optimal environments of a Controlled Environment Life Support System (CELSS) can be highly predictive. This paper discusses the application of a crop growth model to CELSS; the model is used to evaluate factors limiting growth. The model separately evaluates the following four physiological processes: absorption of PPF by photosynthetic tissue, carbon fixation (photosynthesis), carbon use (respiration), and carbon partitioning (harvest index). These constituent processes determine potentially achievable productivity. An analysis of each process suggests that low harvest index is the factor most limiting to yield. PPF absorption by plant canopies and respiration efficiency are also of major importance. Research concerning productivity in a CELSS should emphasize: (1) the development of gas exchange techniques to continuously monitor plant growth rates and (2) environmental techniques to reduce plant height in communities.

Bugbee, Bruce↗
NASA NTRS1997

Atomic Oxygen Treatment Technique for Removal of Smoke Damage from Paintings

Soot deposits that can accumulate on surfaces of a painting during a fire can be difficult to clean from some types of paintings without damaging the underlying paint layers. A non-contact technique has been developed which can remove the soot by allowing a gas containing atomic oxygen to flow over the surface and chemically react with the soot to form carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The reaction is limited to the surface, so the underlying paint is not touched. The process can be controlled so that the cleaning can be stopped once the paint surface is reached. This paper describes the smoke exposure and cleaning of untreated canvas, acrylic gesso, and sections of an oil painting using this technique. The samples were characterized by optical microscopy and reflectance spectroscopy.

Rutledge, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Compilation of a Global Emission Inventory from 1980 to 2000 for Global Model Simulations of the Long-term Trend of Tropospheric Aerosols

The approach to create a comprehensive emission inventory for the time period 1980 to 2000 is described in this paper. We have recently compiled an emission database, which we will use for a 21 year simulation of tropospheric aerosols with the GOCART model. Particular attention was paid to the time-dependent SO2, black carbon and organic carbon aerosol emissions. For the emission of SO2 from sporadically erupting volcanoes, we assembled emission data from the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution, using the VEI to derive the volcanic cloud height and the SO2 amount, and amended this dataset by the SO2 emission data from the TOMS instrument when available. 3-dimensional aircraft emission data was obtained for a number of years from the AEAP project, converted from burned fuel to SO2 and interpolated to each year, taking the sparsity of the flight patterns into account. Other anthropogenic SO2 emissions are based on gridded emissions from the EDGAR 2000 database (excluding sources from aircraft, biomass burning and international ship traffic), which were scaled to individual years with country/regional based emission inventories. Gridded SO2 emissions from international ship traffic for 2000 and the scaling factors for other years are from [Eyring et al., 2005]. We used gridded anthropogenic black and organic carbon emissions for 1996 [Bond et al., 2005], again excluding aircraft, biomass burning and ship sources. These emissions were scaled with regional based emission inventories from 1980 to 2000 to derive gridded emissions for each year. The biomass burning emissions are based on a climatology, which is scaled with regional scaling factors derived from the TOMS aerosol index and the AVHRR/ASTR fire counts to each year [Duncan et al., 2003]. Details on the integration of the information from the various sources will be provided and the distribution patterns and total emissions in the final product will be discussed.

Diehl, Thomas L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Compilation of a Global Emission Inventory from 1980 to 2000 for Global Model Simulations of the Long-term Trend of Tropospheric Aerosols

The approach to create a comprehensive emission inventory for the time period 1980 to 2000 is described in this paper. We have recently compiled an emission database, which we will use for a 21 year simulation of tropospheric aerosols with the GOCART model. Particular attention was paid to the time-dependent SO2, black carbon and organic carbon aerosol emissions. For the emission of SO2 from sporadically erupting volcanoes, we assembled emission data from the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution, using the VEI to derive the volcanic cloud height and the SO2 amount, and amended this dataset by the SO2 emission data from the TOMS instrument when available. 3-dimensional aircraft emission data was obtained for a number of years from the AEAP project, converted from burned fuel to SO2 and interpolated to each year, taking the sparsity of the flight patterns into account. Other anthopogenic SO2 emissions are based on gridded emissions from the EDGAR 2000 database (excluding sources from aircraft, biomass burning and international ship traffic), which were scaled to individual years with country/regional based emission inventories. Gridded SO2 emissions from international ship traffic for 2000 and the scaling factors for other years are from [Eyring et al., 2005]. We used gridded anthropogenic black and organic carbon emissions for 1996 [Bond et al., 2005], again excluding aircraft, biomass burning and ship sources. These emissions were scaled with regional based emission inventories from 1980 to 2000 to derive gridded emissions for each year. The biomass burning emissions are based on a climatology, which is scaled with regional scaling factors derived from the TOMS aerosol index and the AVHRR/ATSR fire counts to each year [Duncan et al., 2003]. Details on the integration of the information from the various sources will be provided and the distribution patterns and total emissions in the final product will be discussed.

Diehl, T. L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Overview of Umbilical Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Interfaces in Life Support Systems on Spacecraft Vehicles and Applications for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)

Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) for manned spacecraft vehicles have been performed for contingencies and nominal operations numerous times throughout history. This paper will investigate how previous U.S. manned spacecraft vehicles provided life support to crewmembers performing the EVA. Specifically defined are umbilical interfaces with respect to crewmember cooling, drinking water, air (or oxygen), humidity control, and carbon dioxide removal. As historical data is available, the need for planned versus contingency EVAs in previous vehicles as well as details for a nominal EVA day versus a contingency EVA day will be discussed. The hardware used to provide the cooling, drinking water, air (or oxygen), humidity control, and carbon dioxide removal, and the general functions of that hardware, will also be detailed, as information is available. The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV or Orion) EVA interfaces will be generically discussed to provide a glimpse of how similar they are to the EVA interfaces in previous vehicles. Conclusions on strategies that should be used for CEV based on previous spacecraft EVA interfaces will be made in the form of questions and recommendations.

Peterson, Laurie J.↗