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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 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A hierarchical framework for aggregating grid-interactive buildings with thermal and battery energy storage

The behind-the-meter (BTM) thermal and battery energy storage can help improve energy efficiency, reduce energy costs, and enhance energy resilience, particularly in rural areas and for disadvantaged communities. Aggregating numerous BTM energy storage systems can act as a price influencer with a significant source of load shifting and peak demand reduction. An integrated and scalable control mechanism is required to effectively utilize energy storage systems and flexible building loads to maximize the economic benefits, considering various distribution system constraints. Here, this paper presents an innovative hierarchical coordination framework for energy storage and flexible load in buildings, considering various factors such as electricity prices, thermal comfort, and distribution system modeling and constraints. At the upper level, a distribution system operator optimizes the power flow to minimize its power procurement costs from the electricity wholesale market, while at the lower level, aggregators determine the optimal dispatch of battery and thermal energy storage systems in multiple buildings on behalf of end-users to minimize operating costs according to the power prices. These problems are solved using a game-theoretic approach through negotiations between the distribution system operator and aggregators as a bi-level decision model. Simulation case studies have been performed for a test distribution network with a number of building end-users using energy storage systems to quantify the performance of aggregators. The results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can reduce peak load for a reliable electricity distribution network while saving electricity bills for customers.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Blackstart Capability and Survivability of Wind Turbines with Fully Rated Converters

We report the blackstart capability of wind turbines is critical for the recovery of wind-dominant power systems from blackouts. If wind power plants are not able to restore a power system, the incorporation of wind resources into electric grids could be limited by blackstart capability. This paper tackles this problem by setting forth a grid-forming controller for Type 4 wind turbines which employ fully rated power converters. To this end, we engineer two-axis anti-windup proportional-integral regulators that serve to ride through restoration disturbances. We also design an active protection system to prevent wind turbines from stalling during recovery from blackouts. We demonstrate in a high-fidelity simulation environment that Type 4 wind turbines with the developed controllers and protection subsystem can: (i) re-energize a notional wind-dominant grid; (ii) ride through asymmetrical faults; and (iii) survive low wind speed events.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Open Source High Fidelity Modeling of a Type-5 Wind Turbine Drivetrain

The increasing integration of renewable energy resources in evolving bulk power system (BPS) is impacting the system inertia. Type-5 wind turbine generation has the potential to behave like a traditional synchronous generator and can help mitigate the impact on system inertia. A hydraulic torque converter (TC) and gearbox with torque limiting feature are integral parts of a Type-5 wind turbine unit. A high fidelity model of Type-5 wind turbine drivetrain is not openly and widely available for grid integration and transient stability studies. This hinders appropriate assessment of Type-5 wind power plant’s contribution to bulk grid resilience. This work develops and validates a TC model based on those generally used in automobile’s transmission system. Moreover, the concept of torsional coupling is leveraged to integrate the TC and gearbox system dynamics. The entire integrated model will be open sourced and publicly available for grid integration studies.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data for Solar Energy Applications: Fourth Edition

As the world increasingly seeks low-carbon energy solutions, solar power emerges as the most abundant resource on our planet. However, the challenge of effectively harnessing this energy is crucial in the coming years. Solar energy applications such as photovoltaics, solar heating and cooling, and concentrating solar power use different technologies to capitalize on sunlight. Each system has unique capabilities and requirements, underscoring the need for reliable information about solar resources across diverse installations, from residential rooftops to large-scale power plants. This is especially important for substantial projects, often exceeding $1 billion in construction costs. Before embarking on such ventures, it is imperative to obtain accurate data concerning solar resource quality and reliability at specific sites. Developers require detailed historical information, including seasonal, daily, hourly, and, ideally, subhourly variability to effectively predict a power plant's annual performance. Without these vital data, financial analyses fall short. Moreover, with the growing adoption of distributed photovoltaics, integrating these generation sources becomes critical to maintaining grid reliability and stability. By accurately forecasting generation patterns, utilities and system operators can facilitate greater integration of solar energy, thus ensuring the operational stability of the grid. The complexity and importance of these issues have prompted the foremost experts in the field to collaborate under the auspices of the International Energy Agency's (IEA's) Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) Task 16 to publish this handbook, which summarizes state-of-the-art information about all these topics. The efforts focus on providing reliable data and insights that can help shape our investments in solar energy and drive a sustainable future.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Decoding the energy inputs that drive the upper atmosphere with NASA’s Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC)

NASA’s Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) mission will study the effect of space weather phenomena on Earth’s upper atmosphere ion and neutral gases and, in turn, their impact on human assets. GDC will provide multi-point observations to determine how the Earth’s upper atmosphere is driven to dynamic changes and extremes by the solar wind. Magnetospheric energy input, both kinetic and electromagnetic, will be captured by the Comprehensive Auroral Precipitation Experiment (CAPE), the Thermal Plasma Sensor (TPS), and the Near Earth Magnetometer Instrument in a Small Integrated System (NEMISIS). CAPE captures the complete kinetic energy inputs with observations of the precipitating and upgoing electrons and precipitating ions. TPS captures part of the electromagnetic energy inputs with observations of the thermal plasma velocity that map E-field inputs, and NEMISIS captures the other part of the electromagnetic energy input with measurements of magnetic field variations due to field aligned currents. We use similar observations from the Defense Meteorological Space Platform (DMSP) satellites to demonstrate the balance between the different energy inputs (electron and ion Joule heating and Poynting flux) during the different phases of storms. We explore the local time and spatial structure and the impact they have on atmospheric density and winds with simulations of the Global Ionosphere and Thermosphere Model (GITM) and demonstrate how GDC will enable us to reconstruct those energy inputs locally and regionally

Eftyhia Zesta↗
DOE OSTI2024

Minimizing grid energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants: Towards green energy solutions, water sustainability, and cleaner environment

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) consume significant amount of energy to sustain their operation. From this point, the current study aims to enhance the capacity of these facilities to meet their energy needs by integrating renewable energy sources. The study focused on the investigation of two primary solar energy systems in As Samra WWTP in Jordan. The first system combines parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) with thermal energy storage (TES). This system primarily serves to fulfill the thermal energy demands of the plant by reducing the demands from boiler units, which allows more biogas for electricity generation. The second system is a photovoltaic (PV) system with Lithium-Ion batteries, which directly produces electricity that will be used to cover part of the electrical energy demands of plant. To assess the optimal configuration, two distinct scenarios have been formulated and compared to the current case scenario (SC#1). The first scenario focuses on maximizing the net present value (NPV) and minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The second scenario is centred on minimizing the levelized cost of heat (LCOH). The findings indicate that both scenarios succeeded in reducing the reliance on the grid to a value that reach 1 %. Moreover, they both reduced biogas percentage in energy production from 88 % to approximately 65 % through the integration of the PV system. In terms of thermal demand, SC#2 reduced the reliance on biogas boiler units from 100 % to 25 %, while SC#3 achieved an even more impressive reduction to just 8 %. The best LCOE value was attained in SC#2, at 0.0895 USD/kWh, with an NPV of 10.54 million USD. Conversely, SC# 3 yielded an LCOH value of 0.0432 USD/kWh th compared to 0.0534 USD/kWh th USD for SC#2. In conclusion, despite their relatively high capital and operating costs, SC#2 and SC#3 managed to substantially decrease the annual electricity expenditure from approximately 2 million USD to 86,000 USD and 0 USD, respectively.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

The action-integral and energy to explode short gold wires in ambient air

This paper is about electrically induced explosions of short (1 mm) and thin (38 μm diameter) gold bridgewires in ambient air and contrasts this behavior with that observed for longer wires in a vacuum used in applications such as Z-pinch systems. The action-integral (the time integral of the wire current squared) and energy-to-burst are measured using high current discharge systems. It is found that in contrast to some reports, the action-integral to burst is not a constant for a specific wire geometry and material but, instead, is a function of the rate of current change in the wire around the time of burst and the related metric of the current flux at burst. Furthermore, it is found that the accuracy of the constant action-integral to burst approximation is dependent on the discharge system used. Short gold wires such as these have relevancy to exploding bridgewire detonators.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework Best Practices

Current cybersecurity challenges for distributed energy resources (DERs) stem from the integration of various systems and the cyber-physical security concerns they bring. Although frameworks exist for industrial control systems and other energy systems, a simple guided tool that can prioritize recommended actions for controls specific to DERs is lacking. Additionally, the novelty of the field has made it difficult to create a standardized procedure for DERs with cybersecurity in mind. In response to this critical need to address cybersecurity risk management, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a framework and accompanying web application known as the Distributed Energy Resources Cybersecurity Framework (DERCF) (Powell, 2019). A brief overview of the DERCF can be found in Section 1.2. This document provides a guide to cybersecurity best practices identified by technical research and site visits where the framework was used to assess the cybersecurity posture of DER systems.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Simulation of Direct-Drive Hybrid Using Two Opposed Beams for Inertial Fusion Energy

Xcimer Energy is working to deliver high levels of laser light at the costs required for applications in fusion energy. The architecture of their integrated laser system is unique, in that it naturally supports a target which is illuminated by two opposed beams, and in a manner that can readily complement a reactor. This INFUSE proposal was submitted to investigate a target concept termed the Direct-Drive Hybrid or DDH, and make special use of radiation hydrodynamic simulations and expertise available to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The associated capabilities are unique to the field, and take great advantage of investments and advances made by the DOE and DOD over many decades. The primary goals were to stand up the DDH design in calculations for the first time, study and refine the concept, and provide the scientific basis for understanding and projecting proposals by Xcimer Energy. The main accomplishments have been summarized below.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advanced control sequences and FDD technology. Just shiny objects, or ready for scale?

Innovations in commercial building control sequences (ASHRAE guideline 36) and fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) technology have the potential to transform existing building operational efficiency by realizing whole-building level savings on the order of 15% and higher. However, several technical and market barriers related to up-front estimation of achievable savings, verifying implementation, and ensuring persistence are slowing down their adoption as a core offering through diverse owner-funded initiatives and rate-payer funded programs. This paper describes a suite of solutions to overcome these barriers to program delivery of advanced HVAC controls integrated with FDD energy management and information system (EMIS) technology. First, the Guideline 36 conformance test offers an automated method to confirm correct sequence implementation by the manufacturer, before field deployment. A successful test of a controller was conducted using a new manufacturer-independent hardware-in-the-loop testbed demonstrating the viability and scalability of this approach. Second, the Guideline 36 energy savings calculator uses modeling paired with high-level user inputs to estimate building-specific savings potential, target cost effective implementation and minimize uncertainty. Initial results indicate the baseline control sequences significantly impact energy savings, however, as much as 50% savings may be possible for the worst-case baseline scenario. Third, a functional specification provides minimum recommended EMIS-FDD capabilities, and best practices to integrate the technology into organizational practice and ensure that advanced control sequences provide persistent savings.

Pritoni, Marco↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Integrated Transmission-Distribution Co-Simulation for a Distribution System with High Renewable Penetration

Traditionally, transmission and distribution system dynamic simulations are performed independently. However, dynamic co-simulation of transmission-distribution systems can be beneficial in analyzing distribution systems with high penetration of distributed renewable resources. The authors describe a framework for conducting transmission-distribution dynamic co-simulation (TDDS). A model of a real network including detailed models of solar photovoltaic units in the distribution system is constructed. The initial operating point of the network is validated against field measurements. The TDDS tool is used to simulate a single line-to-ground fault on the distribution system, highlighting the need for conducting transmission-distribution co-simulations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Deer Park Energy Center Natural Gas Combined Cycle Carbon Capture System Front-End Engineering Design Study (Final Scientific/Technical Report – Unlimited)

Calpine Texas CCUS Holdings, LLC (Calpine), Shell Catalysts & Technologies (SCT), Technip Energies (TEN), and Sargent & Lundy, LLC (S&L) have conducted a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study to integrate a new carbon capture system at Calpine’s Deer Park Energy Center (DKEC). The DKEC facility is a nominal 1200 MW gas-fired co-generation power plant situated at the Shell Chemical Manufacturing (Shell) Facility located in Deer Park, Texas. Steam is produced for use by the adjacent Shell Chemical Manufacturing Facility as well as by the onsite steam turbine for electrical generation. The power output from DKEC is provided to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operated power grid. DKEC provides power to industrial and commercial customers via this interconnection.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A forecast-driven decision-making model for long-term operation of a hydro-wind-photovoltaic hybrid system

Hydro-wind-photovoltaic (PV) hybrid system has the potential to increase the integration of renewable energy sources into an existing grid. For the long-term operation of the system, due to the non-storable nature of wind and PV power, it is essentially to decide the optimal long-term carryover storage of cascade reservoirs. However, it remains a challenge due to high uncertainties of long-term forecasts and complicated hydraulic/electrical relationships between cascade reservoirs. Here in this study, a forecast-driven decision-making model is proposed for the hybrid system, which converts the multi-stage long-term operation process into a two-stage operation problem (including current stage and carryover stage) to avoid using longer-horizon forecast information with lower accuracy. First, the carryover stage energy surfaces (CESs) considering the forecast uncertainties of wind, solar and hydro resources are proposed to characterize carryover stage benefit quantitatively. Then a CESs-based forward decision-making optimization model is developed to guide the long-term operation of a hydro-wind-photovoltaic hybrid system. The applications in a hydro-wind-PV hybrid system of Yalong River basin results show that: compared with conventional operation, 1) power generation increases 9.03%; 2) in terms of the carryover storages control, the reservoir impounding and drawdown timing are delayed, and the drawdown depth is increased, which can be used to formulate better reservoir operation rules.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2015

Integrated Vehicle and Trajectory Design of Small Spacecraft with Electric Propulsion for Earth and Interplanetary Missions

This paper investigates the feasibility of Earth-transfer and interplanetary mission architectures for miniaturized spacecraft using emerging small solar electric propulsion technologies. Emerging small SEP thrusters offer significant advantages relative to existing technologies and will enable U-class systems to perform trajectory maneuvers with significant Delta V requirements. The approach in this paper is unique because it integrates trajectory design with vehicle sizing and accounts for the system and operational constraints of small U-class missions. The modeling framework includes integrated propulsion, orbit, energy, and external environment dynamics and systems-level power, energy, mass, and volume constraints. The trajectory simulation environment models orbit boosts in Earth orbit and flyby and capture trajectories to interplanetary destinations. A family of small spacecraft mission architectures are studied, including altitude and inclination transfers in Earth orbit and trajectories that escape Earth orbit and travel to interplanetary destinations such as Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Results are presented visually to show the trade-offs between competing performance objectives such as maximizing available mass and volume for payloads and minimizing transfer time. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using small spacecraft to perform significant Earth and interplanetary orbit transfers in less than one year with reasonable U-class mass, power, volume, and mission durations.

Spangelo, Sara↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optical Design of Multi-field Integral Field Unit Spectrograph for the ORCAS Keck Instrument Development II (ORKID II) Instrument

We have designed an Integral Field Unit for the ORCAS Keck Instrument Development II (ORKID II) Instrument. Building on the success of the ORKID camera which achieved 15.2 masec PSF FWHM visible light imaging, ORKID II will add Integral Field Spectroscopy to analyze Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), supernovae redshift and brightness, and other observations. Several design options have been explored based on image slicers manufactured by the Canon Corporation’s machining process. Field layouts can include up to three disparate spatial sampling, with a lower limit of 6.7 masec. Spectral resolutions are considered from R 100 to R 10,000.

Space Instrumentation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Wind Energy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan Fiscal Years 2021—2025

WETO's Multi-Year Program Plan outlines the Office’s research priorities and plans through the year 2025. With the objectives of reducing the cost of wind energy, enabling the integration of substantial amounts of wind energy into the evolving national energy system, and creating siting and environmental solutions to reduce environmental impacts, the Plan provides insight into DOE’s wind energy research priorities, and will guide planning and execution of future R&D activities. It is organized in six sections: offshore wind, land-based wind, distributed wind, systems integration, modeling and analysis, and crosscutting initiatives.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Micro-grid for Future Planetary Surface Needs

Under the current Artemis Program, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send its next set of astronauts (first woman and next man) to the Moon by 2024 and establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface by 2028. The challenge of creating a sustained lunar surface presence is significantly different than previous efforts. Lunar surface operations will require access to continuous and highly reliable power to support mission needs, such as to support ISRU operations. Adding to this challenge, the lunar surface operations are not going to be established over a single effort, rather the system and operations will evolve and grow over time (years). The first initial loads that arrive on the lunar surface will be integrated to their own dedicated power sources. As the lunar surface operations grow, so will the demand for power and at some point these individual loads will require more power than can be generated with any single power device. This power demand drives the need for inter-connecting the loads and power devices to share power between them, resulting in a micro-grid. One of the advantages of developing a lunar surface micro-grid is that allows lunar surface operations to resemble electrical utility operations on Earth; it allows power to be generated where it is convenient and allows power to be consumed where it is convenient, rather than negotiating between generation and consumption. The micro-grid concept also provides another benefit of affording the ability to increase overall system reliability by integrating dissimilar power generation and energy storage devices together, for example modifying the power generation strategy to include both solar arrays and nuclear. Creating a lunar surface micro-grid has its advantages, however there are significant challenges associated with an evolvable micro-grid concept. The challenges include how to efficiently transmit large amounts of power (10kW+) long distances (1kW+), how to effectively integrate dissimilar power generation and energy storage devices to maximize power consumption and minimize downtime, and how to physically connect these devices together with a connector that can survive the lunar environment (dust, extreme cold temperatures) and is capable of both astronaut and robotic operation. The basic components of the micro-grid have to be designed to ensure the system is sustainable, modular, and reconfigurable. An interface to the micro-grid has to be designed that allows for additional technologies, some of which may not yet be fully designed, to easily integrate into the micro-grid concept. This presentation discusses these lunar challenges in some more depth and offers a path forward in designing an evolvable micro-grid to meet the needs of the lunar surface operations and proposes a Universal Micro-grid Interface Converter to connect these dissimilar power sources and mission loads to the micro-grid.

Jeffrey Csank↗