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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 1,171 records · Page 65

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NASA NTRS2013

Vehicle Integrated Prognostic Reasoner (VIPR) Final Report

A systems view is necessary to detect, diagnose, predict, and mitigate adverse events during the flight of an aircraft. While most aircraft subsystems look for simple threshold exceedances and report them to a central maintenance computer, the vehicle integrated prognostic reasoner (VIPR) proactively generates evidence and takes an active role in aircraft-level health assessment. Establishing the technical feasibility and a design trade-space for this next-generation vehicle-level reasoning system (VLRS) is the focus of our work.

Bharadwaj, Raj↗

NASA NTRS2016

Dynamic Characterization of Galfenol (Fe81.6Ga18.4)

Galfenol has the potential to transform the smart materials industry by allowing for the development of multifunctional, load-bearing devices. One of the primary technical challenges faced by this development is the very limited experimental data on Galfenol's frequency-dependent response to dynamic stress, which is critically important for the design of such devices. This report details a novel and precise characterization of the constitutive behavior of polycrystalline Galfenol (Fe81.6Ga18.4) under quasi-static (1 Hz) and dynamic (4 to 1000 Hz) stress loadings. Mechanical loads are applied using a high-frequency load frame. Quasi-static minor and major hysteresis loop measurements of magnetic flux density and strain are presented for constant electromagnet currents (0 to 1.1 A) and constant magnetic fields 0 to 14 kA/m (0 to 180 Oe). The dynamic stress amplitude for minor and major loops is 2.88 and 31.4 MPa (418 and 4550 psi), respectively. Quasi-static material properties closely match published values for similar Galfenol materials. Quasi-static actuation responses are also measured and compared to quasi-static sensing responses; the high degree of reversibility seen in the comparison is consistent with published measurements and modeling results. Dynamic major and minor loops are measured for dynamic stresses up to 31 MPa (4496 psi) and 1 kHz, and the bias condition resulting in maximum, quasi-static sensitivity. Eddy current effects are quantified by considering solid and laminated Galfenol rods. Three key sources of error in the dynamic measurements are accounted for: (1) electromagnetic noise in strain signals due to Galfenol's magnetic response, (2) error in load signals due to the inertial force of fixturing, and (3) phase misalignment between signals due to conditioning electronics. For dynamic characterization, strain error is kept below 1.2 percent of full scale by wiring two collocated gauges in series (noise cancellation) and through leadwire weaving. Inertial force error is kept below 0.41 percent by measuring the dynamic force in the specimen using a nearly collocated piezoelectric load washer. The phase response of all conditioning electronics is explicitly measured and corrected for. In general, as frequency is increased, the sensing response becomes more linear because of an increase in eddy currents. As frequency increases above approximately 100 Hz, the elbow in the strain-versus-stress response disappears as the active (soft) regime stiffens toward the passive (hard) regime. Under constant-field conditions, the loss factors of the solid rod peak between 200 and 600 Hz, rather than exhibiting a monotonic increase. Compared to the solid rod, the laminated rod exhibits much slower increases in hysteresis with frequency, and its quasi-static behavior extends to higher frequencies. The elastic modulus of the laminated rod decreases between 100 and 300 Hz; this trend is currently unexplained.

Dynamic sensing↗

DOE OSTI2025

High Efficiency Reversible Solid Oxide System (Final Technical Report)

This report was generated based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, H2@Scale Initiative, Award Number DE-EE0008847. In this project, FuelCell Energy studied the design and performance of a system rated for 15kWe Charge/3 kWe Discharge energy storage system based on reversible solid-oxide technology.

08 HYDROGEN↗

NASA NTRS1972

Technical engineering services in support of the Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket vehicle system

Task assignments in support of the Nike-Tomahawk vehicles, which were completed from May, 1970 through November 1972 are reported. The services reported include: analytical, design and drafting, fabrication and modification, and field engineering.

Source record↗

DOE OSTI2022

Innovative, Versatile and Cost-Effective Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Concept

This report summarizes the work performed for the U. S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) under Cooperative Agreement DE-FE0026211 entitled “Innovative, Versatile and Cost-Effective Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Concept”. The overall objective of this project was to develop and evaluate a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack configuration based on a novel prime-surface interconnect design for a broad range of power generation applications. The prime-surface is a one-piece metallic interconnect that incorporates both fuel and oxidant flow fields with peaks on one side of the interconnect serving as flow channels (valleys) on the other side. (One example is the egg-carton shaped interconnect design.) This stack technology has several attractive features including reduced stack weight and volume, decreased performance losses in stacking, improved sealing, versatility in incorporation of different types of cell construction (thin-film cells or sintered cells) and flexibility in gas flow configuration (cross-flow, co-flow or counter-flow). These features lead to lower cost, better performance, and enhanced reliability for the stack. The R&D work of this project focused on demonstrating fabrication, operability and cost effectiveness of the stack design and was conducted by University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in conjunction with OxEon Energy (OxEon). The key technical activities of this project involved prime-surface interconnect design and fabrication development; supported thin-film cell structure development; stack development; stack operation demonstration; and stack cost assessment. The results of these activities are summarized in this report.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

DOE OSTI2017

Sighten Final Technical Report DEEE0006690 Deploying an integrated and comprehensive solar financing software platform

Over the project, Sighten built a comprehensive software-as-a-service (Saas) platform to automate and streamline the residential solar financing workflow. Before the project period, significant time and money was spent by companies on front-end tools related to system design and proposal creation, but comparatively few resources were available to support the many back-end calculations and data management processes that underpin third party financing. Without a tool like Sighten, the solar financing processes involved passing information from the homeowner prospect into separate tools for system design, financing, and then later to reporting tools including Microsoft Excel, CRM software, in-house software, outside software, and offline, manual processes. Passing data between tools and attempting to connect disparate systems results in inefficiency and inaccuracy for the industry. Sighten was built to consolidate all financial and solar-related calculations in a single software platform. It significantly improves upon the accuracy of these calculations and exposes sophisticated new analysis tools resulting in a rigorous, efficient and cost-effective toolset for scaling residential solar. Widely deploying a platform like Sighten’s significantly and immediately impacts the residential solar space in several important ways: 1) standardizing and improving the quality of all quantitative calculations involved in the residential financing process, most notably project finance, system production and reporting calculations; 2) representing a true step change in terms of reporting and analysis capabilities by maintaining more accurate data and exposing sophisticated tools around simulation, tranching, and financial reporting, among others, to all stakeholders in the space; 3) allowing a broader group of developers/installers/finance companies to access the capital markets by providing an out-of-the-box toolset that handles the execution of running investor capital through a rooftop solar financing program. Standardizing and improving all calculations, improving data quality, and exposing new analysis tools previously unavailable affects investment in the residential space in several important ways: 1) lowering the cost of capital for existing capital providers by mitigating uncertainty and de-risking the solar asset class; 2) attracting new, lower cost investors to the solar asset class as reporting and data quality resemble standards of more mature asset classes; 3) increasing the prevalence of liquidity options for investors through back leverage, securitization, or secondary sale by providing the tools necessary for lenders, ratings agencies, etc. to properly understand a portfolio of residential solar assets. During the project period, Sighten successfully built and scaled a commercially ready tool for the residential solar market. The software solution built by Sighten has been deployed with key target customer segments identified in the award deliverables: solar installers, solar developers/channel managers, and solar financiers, including lenders. Each of these segments greatly benefits from the availability of the Sighten toolset.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

SBIR Phase I Final Technical Report

The main purpose of this program, a Phase I SBIR effort, was to demonstrate the feasibility of constructing a fast void detector that can detect and localize voids with a quantifiable detection limit superior to a capacitive void sensor. The project used modeling and simulation of the radio- frequency (RF) sensor and environment, designed RF elements for the harsh environment, and fabricated the devices for temperature and pressure requirements. The project concluded with a demonstration of the system and feasibility of approach. First, the project performed theoretical work to simulate the system capabilities. Second, the project refined the RF sensor designs. Third, the effort fabricated devices. Fourth, the project demonstrated feasibility with a demonstration of the technology, individual components, and integrated elements. We assess that the project ended at Technology Readiness Level 3 (TRL-3) and demonstrated the feasibility of our concept.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Quantum-Inspired Bayesian Sampling for Uncertainty Quantification and Machine Learning (Final Technical Report)

With increasing simulation and measurement data, machine learning and artificial intelligence have been widely used in computational decision-making of complex engineering systems. The resulting tools, such as uncertainty quantification solvers, reinforcement learning, and physics-informed machine learning, have achieved great success in critical DOE tasks such as material discovery and design, energy system modeling and control, and numerical weather and climate prediction. A core topic in scientific machine learning and artificial intelligence is Bayesian inference: given an observed data set, people want to estimate the posterior distribution of a (possibly large) number of hidden parameters. Due to the flexibility and weak assumptions, Bayesian sampling has been the mainstream Bayesian inference solvers despite the rapid progress of approximate Bayesian inference. Classical Bayesian sampling methods such as Markov-chain Monte Carlo suffer from a low-acceptance rate due to the random walk nature, therefore state-of-the-art techniques use Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and its variants to efficiently draw posterior samples in a high dimension. The key idea of Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and its variants is to simulate the Hamiltonian dynamics of a classical particle with a fixed mass, and their performance significantly degrades when the posterior distribution is highly spiky or has multiple modes. Leveraging the idea of quantum physics, this project has investigated new theory, algorithms and applications of Bayesian inference (especially Bayesian sampling). The main results include: (1) novel quantum-inspired Bayesian sampling methods that can lead to better accuracy for challenging multi-modal or spiky distributions, (2) more scalable machine learning framework leveraging tensor-compressed Bayesian inference, and (3) Bayesian and sampling approaches for verifying the robustness of continuous and binary neural networks.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS1979

Technical assistance for law-enforcement communications: Case study report

Methods developed to improve police communications systems are described. Use of queueing analysis shows several ways of improving time of response to inquiries made from the field for license plate checks and for information on current wants and warrants, through a state multiple switcher network. Design criteria for more efficient centralized switching equipment are developed. A message load problem experienced in a dispatch center is analyzed, showing that communications could be improved by adding communications channels, not by adding people.

Reilly, N. B.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Initial Engineering and Design for CO 2 Capture from Ethanol Facilities

The Energy & Environmental Research Center, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and North Dakota ethanol producer Red Trail Energy, LLC (RTE) and with technical support from Trimeric Corporation and the KLJ engineering firm, completed an initial engineering design (IED) for a hybrid capture system to estimate associated costs for retrofitting the operational RTE ethanol plant. The project goal supports the DOE objective to achieve negative emissions using commercially available technologies to attain Technology Readiness Level 6+ from a facility emitting >100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) annually. The RTE CCS (carbon capture and storage) Project is currently operating a CO 2 capture facility, adjacent to the RTE ethanol facility in western North Dakota, and injecting the CO 2 more than a mile below RTE property for permanent storage. This novel hybrid capture system would process about 310,000 tonnes of CO 2 annually for the RTE host site and includes CO 2 capture and compression from bioprocessing as well as capturing CO 2 produced from natural gas boilers. The bioprocessing capture process, based on past RTE studies investigating ammonia liquefaction technology with CO 2 produced from natural gas boilers captured utilizing chemical absorption with amine, was shown to be technically feasible for the RTE site. Activities conducted to support the project goal included 1) designing a hybrid capture system using CO 2 emissions from both bioprocessing and heat production at the host site facility; 2) conducting a pre-front-end engineering and design analysis of the hybrid capture system to include environmental health and safety, a constructability report, identification of permits, and corporate approvals; and 3) performing a techno-economic assessment in accordance with DOE’s methodology, as demonstrated by the bituminous baseline study. In addition, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was completed for the RTE site to estimate the carbon life cycle for ethanol-CCS implementation using the designed hybrid capture system to determine potential for net-negative carbon emissions. Results of the IED showed the hybrid system to be technically viable, with a moderate estimated cost of $55/tonne CO 2 captured for the hybrid system. The cradle-to-gate LCA showed preliminary net-negative carbon emissions potential anticipated from implementing a hybrid CCS system at a commercial scale. Recommended next steps toward potential implementation include hybrid capture system demonstration testing for detailed engineering and LCA model comparisons with low-carbon fuel incentive programs for financial support.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2011

PG&E WaveConnect Program (Final Report)

The PG&E WaveConnect project was intended to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of wave power in the open ocean adjacent to PG&E's service territory. WaveConnect was conceived as a multi-stage development process leading to long-term megawatt-scale wave power production. The first-stage tasks consisted of site selection, permitting, pilot plant design, and assessment of technology and commercial readiness. The second stage would have included development of infrastructure, undersea cabling, and deployment of wave energy conversion devices (WECs). In the third stage, the most promising WEC devices would have been deployed in larger quantities and connected to the grid. This report documents the findings of Stage One. Site Selection: After studying the wave energy potential, grid interconnection and other project infrastructure along the California coast, PG&E selected two sites: one near Eureka, called the Humboldt WaveConnect (HWC) project, and another near Vandenberg Air Force Base, called the Central Coast WaveConnect project (CCWC).

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2025

Control Oriented Models for Co-Design: Technical Overview of MT HVDC, MVDC, and Solid State Transformer Building Blocks

The electric power system is shifting toward a power electronics–enabled grid, where converter based “building blocks” (e.g., high voltage direct current (HVDC) links, multi terminal HVDC (MT HVDC) networks, medium voltage DC (MVDC) links, and solid state transformers (SSTs)) provide fast, precise control of power flows, voltage, and frequency. This report develops and applies publicly shareable electromagnetic transient (EMT) and phasor models to examine how such building blocks can be composed and coordinated to support offshore wind integration, inter area transfers, feeder support, and resilience. Section 2 documents a modular multilevel converter (MMC)–based MT HVDC modeling framework and two use cases: a compact WSCC/IEEE 9 bus test system and a 240 bus “mini WECC” case with five offshore wind plants (OWFs). Phasor to EMT transfer, initialization, and sanity checks are summarized, and neutral demonstrations of normal and contingency operation are reported. Section 3 frames the problem of wind plant inertial frequency response (IFR): shaping energy release and recovery to improve nadir while avoiding aerodynamic stall; representative simulations illustrate the issues without disclosing proprietary control. Section 4 develops MVDC concepts through an IEEE 16 bus loop and an Olympic Peninsula case study that compares AC vs. MVDC corridors and shows how feeder headroom can be pooled via DC couplers. Section 5 surveys SST architectures and identifies a gap: scalable, communication free coordination of multiple SSTs for islanded feeder networks. Across the report, novel methods and configurations under separate publication and IP review are not disclosed; only topic oriented, replicable setups and non proprietary results are shown. These models and use cases are intended as foundations for future publications and co design studies on architecture, control, and coordination of PE enabled grids.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2017

State Performance-Based Regulation Using Multiyear Rate Plans for U.S. Electric Utilities

Electric utilities today must contain costs at a time when many need to modernize aging systems and all face major changes in technologies, customer preferences and competitive pressures.Most U.S. electric utility facilities are investor-owned, subject to rate and service regulation by state public utility commissions. Regulatory systems under which these utilities operate affect their performance and ability to meet these challenges. In this business environment, multiyear rate plans have some advantages over traditional rate regulation.The report focuses on key design issues and provides case studies of the multiyear rate plan approach, applicable to both vertically integrated and restructured states. Mark Newton Lowry and Matt Makos of Pacific Energy Group Research and Jeff Deason of Berkeley Lab authored the report; Lisa Schwartz, Berkeley Lab, was project manager and technical editor.The report is aimed primarily at state utility regulators and stakeholders in the state regulatory process. The multiyear rate approach also provides ideas on how to streamline oversight of public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives for their governing boards.Two key provisions of multiyear rate plans strengthen cost containment incentives and streamline regulation: 1. Reducing frequency of rate cases, typically to every four or five years 2. Using an attrition relief mechanism to escalate rates or revenue between rate cases to address cost pressures such as inflation and growth in number of customers, independently of the utility’s own cost Better utility performance can be achieved under well-designed multiyear rate plans while achieving lower regulatory costs. Benefits can be shared between utilities and their customers. But plans can be complex and involve significant changes in the regulatory system. Designing plans that stimulate utility performance without undue risk and share benefits fairly can be challenging.This report discusses the rationale for multiyear rate plans and their usefulness under modern business conditions. It then explains critical plan design issues and challenges and presents results from numerical research that considers the extra incentive power achieved under different plan provisions. Next, the report presents several case studies of utilities that have operated under formal multiyear rate plans or, for various reasons, have stayed out of rate cases for more than a decade. These studies consider the effect of multiyear rate plans and rate case frequency on utility cost, reliability and other performance dimensions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Development of a graphite polarization analyzer for resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) is a powerful technique for studying electronic excitations in correlated electron systems. Current RIXS spectrometers measure the changes in energy and momentum of the photons scattered by the sample. A powerful extension of the RIXS technique is the measurement of the polarization state of the scattered photons which contains information about the symmetry of the excitations. This long-desired addition has been elusive because of significant technical challenges. This paper reports the development of a new diffraction-based polarization analyzer which discriminates between linear polarization components of the scattered photons. The double concave surface of the polarization analyzer was designed as a good compromise between energy resolution and throughput. Such a device was fabricated using highly oriented pyrolytic graphite for measurements at the Cu K-edge incident energy. Preliminary measurements on a CuGeO{sub 3} sample are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2012

Simulation Framework for Regional Geologic CO 2 Storage Along Arches Province of Midwestern United States

This report presents final technical results for the project Simulation Framework for Regional Geologic CO 2 Storage Infrastructure along Arches Province of the Midwest United States . The Arches Simulation project was a three year effort designed to develop a simulation framework for regional geologic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage infrastructure along the Arches Province through development of a geologic model and advanced reservoir simulations of large-scale CO 2 storage. The project included five major technical tasks: (1) compilation of geologic, hydraulic and injection data on Mount Simon, (2) development of model framework and parameters, (3) preliminary variable density flow simulations, (4) multi-phase model runs of regional storage scenarios, and (5) implications for regional storage feasibility. The Arches Province is an informal region in northeastern Indiana, northern Kentucky, western Ohio, and southern Michigan where sedimentary rock formations form broad arch and platform structures. In the province, the Mount Simon sandstone is an appealing deep saline formation for CO 2 storage because of the intersection of reservoir thickness and permeability. Many CO 2 sources are located in proximity to the Arches Province, and the area is adjacent to coal fired power plants along the Ohio River Valley corridor. Geophysical well logs, rock samples, drilling logs, and geotechnical tests were evaluated for a 500,000 km2 study area centered on the Arches Province. Hydraulic parameters and historical operational information was also compiled from Mount Simon wastewater injection wells in the region. This information was integrated into a geocellular model that depicts the parameters and conditions in a numerical array. The geologic and hydraulic data were integrated into a three-dimensional grid of porosity and permeability, which are key parameters regarding fluid flow and pressure buildup due to CO 2 injection. Permeability data were corrected in locations where reservoir tests have been performed in Mount Simon injection wells. The geocellular model was used to develop a series of numerical simulations designed to support CO 2 storage applications in the Arches Province. Variable density fluid flow simulations were initially run to evaluate model sensitivity to input parameters. Two dimensional, multiple-phase simulations were completed to evaluate issues related to arranging injection fields in the study area. A basin-scale, multiple-phase model was developed to evaluate large scale injection effects across the region. Finally, local scale simulations were also completed with more detailed depiction of the Eau Claire formation to investigate to the potential for upward migration of CO 2 . Overall, the technical work on the project concluded that injection large-scale injection may be achieved with proper field design, operation, siting, and monitoring. Records from Mount Simon injection wells were compiled, documenting more than 20 billion gallons of injection into the Mount Simon formation in the Arches Province over the past 40 years, equivalent to approximately 60 million metric tons CO 2 . The multi-state team effort was useful in delineating the geographic variability in the Mount Simon reservoir properties. Simulations better defined potential well fields, well field arrangement, CO 2 pipeline distribution system, and operational parameters for large-scale injection in the Arches Province. Multiphase scoping level simulations suggest that injection fields with arrays of 9 to 50+ wells may be used to accommodate large injection volumes. Individual wells may need to be separated by 3 to 10 km. Injection fields may require spacing of 25 to 40 km to limit pressure and saturation front interference. Basin-scale multiple-phase simulations in STOMP reflect variability in the Mount Simon. While simulations suggest a total injection rate of 100 million metric tons per year (approximately to a 40% reduction of CO 2 emissions from large point sources across the Arches Province) may be feasible, some areas are more suitable due to favorable geology. Sustainable injection rates were higher in areas where there was higher thickness and reservoir permeability. Distribution of injection across well fields is an effective method to reduce pressure and CO 2 saturation front interference.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2012

Simulation Framework For Regional Geologic Co 2 Storage Along Arches Province Of Midwestern United States

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

Accident Tolerant Fuel Analysis

Safety is central to the design, licensing, operation, and economics of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Consequently, the ability to better characterize and quantify safety margin holds the key to improved decision making about light water reactor design, operation, and plant life extension. A systematic approach to characterization of safety margins and the subsequent margins management options represents a vital input to the licensee and regulatory analysis and decision making that will be involved. The purpose of the Risk Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) Pathway research and development (R&D) is to support plant decisions for risk-informed margins management by improving economics and reliability, and sustaining safety, of current NPPs. Goals of the RISMC Pathway are twofold: (1) Develop and demonstrate a risk-assessment method coupled to safety margin quantification that can be used by NPP decision makers as part of their margin recovery strategies. (2) Create an advanced “RISMC toolkit” that enables more accurate representation of NPP safety margin. In order to carry out the R&D needed for the Pathway, the Idaho National Laboratory is performing a series of case studies that will explore methods- and tools-development issues, in addition to being of current interest in their own right. One such study is a comparative analysis of safety margins of plants using different fuel cladding types: specifically, a comparison between current-technology Zircaloy cladding and a notional “accident-tolerant” (e.g., SiC-based) cladding. The present report begins the process of applying capabilities that are still under development to the problem of assessing new fuel designs. The approach and lessons learned from this case study will be included in future Technical Basis Guides produced by the RISMC Pathway. These guides will be the mechanism for developing the specifications for RISMC tools and for defining how plant decision makers should propose and evaluate margin recovery strategies.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Accident Tolerant Fuel Analysis

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗