Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “supply”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A Low-Profile Gate Power Supply for a SiC Phase Leg with Reduced Isolation Capacitance

Gate driver power supply (GDPS) for SiC devices needs power to 5 W as the switching frequency increases to hundreds of kHz. Resonant converters with planar magnetics demand GDPS with a lower profile. Also, the isolation capacitance (Cp) needs to be minimized for SiC devices with high dv/dt. This paper proposed a planar 5 W*2, 20 V isolated gate power supply for a SiC phase leg in the EV traction inverter. Air-core magnetics with PCB windings are applied for low profile. A single-switch resonant Class-E topology is proposed with zero-voltage switching at 6.78 MHz to minimize the magnetics footprint for a 6 pF Cp. Compared with commercial power supplies with similar power, the proposed power supply reduced the profile and Cp by more than half without sacrificing its efficiency and power density.

Li, Bo↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Upgrade of the SNS Extraction Kicker Power Supplies for the Proton Power Upgrade

The Proton Power Upgrade (PPU) project at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) aims to enhance the linear accelerator's power output from 1.4 to 2.8 megawatts. A critical focus lies on upgrading the Extraction Kicker Power Supplies to handle the amplified beam power. The existing capacitor charging power supplies lacked the capability to charge the Blumlein-type Pulse Forming Network (PFN) to the required 40 kV at a repetition rate of 60 Hz. To address this limitation, an initial solution involving the use of a resonant charging circuit was proposed. However, a challenge arose with a self-firing issue in the thyristor switch, which proved unsolvable within the given timeframe. Facing a critical decision point in the project, an alternative approach was explored: integrating a supplementary power supply to enhance the overall power capacity. This solution was tested and ultimately chosen as the path forward. To accommodate the additional power supply, the power distribution system had to undergo upgrades. Throughout this endeavor, a comprehensive examination of the system took place, with meticulous identification of key components. This paper delves into the technical challenges encountered during the process and the corresponding solutions that were implemented.

Tan, Yugang [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000155968252)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multiport Converter based Auxiliary Power Supply for Heavy Duty Fuel Cell Power Train

This paper presents a multiport converter (MPC) based power supply to charge the 12 V and 24 V auxiliary batteries in heavy duty (HD) fuel cell (FC) electric vehicle (EV) power train. Compared to conventional auxiliary power supply architectures, the proposed architecture shares the power electronic components of the main power train yet preserves the isolation and all other desirable features of auxiliary power supplies. The proposed auxiliary power supply architecture reduces the requirements of the devices, gate drivers and thermal requirements thereby having potential benefits towards improving the power density, cost and weight of the overall power train. The topology, design parameters and control methodology are discussed, and results are presented to validate the proposed architecture.

Mukherjee, Subho↗
DOE OSTI2022

Food And Agriculture Supply Chain Model

This model is part of an LDRD effort to investigate the connection of food and agriculture supply chain and the critical infrastructure. The model was built for a small number of farmers, shippers, processing companies and retailers as proof of concept to illustrate supply chain impacts. In this model, the emphasis is on understanding the climate change impacts on the food supply chain. The model uses agent-based modeling method in combination with machine learning. It also connects logistic simulation with economic principles such as price change caused by supply and demand, and consumer substitution effect based on price comparisons of two substitutable commodities.

Nguyen, Thuy↗
DOE OSTI2025

Platinum Group Metals Global Economics Market Supply

Due to uncertainty in the transition away from internal combustion engines (and more importantly, the catalytic convertors these automobiles use), there is large uncertainty in the future of the PGM market. However, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers could be a new demand application for PGMs. Therefore, a model was developed which utilizes the system dynamics approach to predict supply and prices for specific demand scenarios. Results indicated that the total PGM market value sees a decline in the late 2020s due to changing automotive application demand. Market decline was due to decreasing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle demand resulting in less PGMs supplied for automotive applications. Compounding market decline was an increase in secondary supply of PGMs as more ICE automotives reach their EOL pushing PGM prices down as secondary supply increases while demand simultaneously decreases. Following the market decline, an increase in market value in the early 2030s was observed due to deployment of hydrogen fuel cell technologies and subsequent increase in PGM demand

Kulkarni, Sameer (0000000227573592)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Industry Partnerships & Their Role In Reducing Natural Gas Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Phase 2

This analysis is the product of collaboration between Our Nation’s Energy Future (ONE Future) and the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). This analysis is an update to Phase 1 of the collaboration between ONE Future and NETL. Phase 1 had three objectives: 1. Calculate a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission profile representative of ONE Future’s supply chain, including methane (CH 4 ) emission rates. 2. Compare ONE Future’s emission profile to the emission profile for the U.S. natural gas supply chain. 3. Evaluate specific emission reduction opportunities. Phase 2 has two key enhancements over Phase 1: 1. The reporting year of the data is updated from 2016 to 2017. 2. The emission profiles and the specific emission reduction opportunities are regionalized for the ONE Future supply chain. The ONE Future supply chain is based on data provided by ONE Future members for all their U.S. onshore assets. ONE Future’s data are mostly representative of their participation in the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is supplemented by ONE Future facilities that are not required to report to GHGRP. The U.S. scenario is based on NETL’s life cycle analysis (LCA) of natural gas extraction and power generation, which also uses data from the GHGRP (but does not include non-GHGRP facilities). In addition to the data from these sources, NETL accounted for uncertainty due to data variability, data limitations, and variability in liquids unloading frequency and event duration. This report is a re-issue of the 2020 study (published on July 28, 2020). It revises the device count in the mitigation strategy “pipeline pump-down before maintenance” in the Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC) Analysis section of the report (Section 7). Please see the addendum for more details on this revision and resultant changes. This revision does not change most of our conclusions and recommendations. It only changes the total methane reduced from all the mitigation opportunities (low cost and high cost) from 6.5 Bcf CH 4 /yr to 4.8 Bcf CH 4 /yr.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Security Evaluation of Smart Cards and Secure Tokens: Benefits and Drawbacks for Reducing Supply Chain Risks of Nuclear Power Plants

The supply chain attack pathway is being increasingly used by adversaries to bypass security controls and gain unauthorized access to sensitive networks and equipment (e.g., Critical Digital Assets). Cyber-attacks targeting supply chain generally aim to compromise the environments, products, or services of vendors and suppliers to inject, add, or substitute authentic software and hardware with malicious elements. These malicious elements are deemed to be authentic as they arise from the vendor or supplier (i.e., the supply chain). This research aims to leverage findings and assumptions made from the previous report to determine the security benefits and drawbacks of a smart card- based hardware root of trust. Smart cards can provide devices inside Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) with a secure environment to store keys in and perform sensitive operations such as digital signature generation. These abilities can be leveraged to increase supply chain cybersecurity by autonomously providing NPP Licensees with reports on device integrity, authenticity and measurements of executable and non-executable data.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mapping and Synthesis of International Biomass Supply Assessments

This report, Mapping and Synthesis of International Biomass Supply Assessments (or Global Biomass Resource Assessment) is the first step in a long-term process to assemble data from around the globe into a virtual repository that can be updated and provide user-friendly access to the data. The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Biofuture Platform Initiative recommended that research be completed to “address the need for internationally accepted benchmarks quantifying sustainable biomass feedstock supplies.” To act upon the CEM Biofuture recommendation, in 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) commissioned Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to prepare this report as the primary deliverable for a one-year assignment to assemble data into a citable form that could help resolve the persistent question presented related to bioenergy policy, “Is there enough sustainable biomass?” In response to that query, this report includes information received by August 2024 from national CEM representatives, collaborators, and public sources on current and future sustainable biomass supplies in 62 nations,and subsequently documents (a) the approach used by ORNL to analyze and categorize the information received in a manner that enables aggregation and comparability; and (b) recommendations for next steps and guidelines to help others update and harmonize future assessments of global sustainable biomass supplies.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Vind: A Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Provenance Framework for Energy Delivery Systems

Enterprise-level energy delivery systems (EDSs) depend on different software or hardware vendors to achieve operational efficiency. Critical components of these systems are typically manufactured and integrated by overseas suppliers, which expands the attack surface to adversaries with additional opportunities to infiltrate into EDSs. Due to this reason, the risk management of the EDS supply chain is crucial to ensure that we are knowledgeable about the vulnerabilities in software and hardware components that comprise any critical part, quantifiable risk metrics to assess the severity and exploitability of the attack, and provide remediation solutions that can influence a prioritized mitigation plan. There is a need to realize cyber supply chain risk management for industrial control systems’ hardware, software, and computing and networking services associated with bulk electric system (BES) operations. This article proposes a blockchain-based cyber supply chain provenance platform (“Vind”) for EDSs to realize data provenance in a cyber supply chain ecosystem.

Bandara, Eranga↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of steam supply performance: Steamer vs. bubbler

Water/steam electrolysis is a key enabling technology for clean, low-carbon and sustainable production of hydrogen and will play a crucial role in future hydrogen economy. For high temperature solid oxide electrolytic cells, steam is the chemical feedstock. A stable and accurate supply of steam to solid oxide electrolytic cells is of vital importance to smooth production of hydrogen. In this study, we compare steam supply performance of two commonly used steam generators: steamer and bubbler. Our results show that bubbler with proper volume and fritted inlet gas tubing can provide more stable and accurate steam supply than steamer for laboratory use. We also provide the explanation for the unstable steam supply observed in steamer. Overall, we conclude that bubbler is generally a better choice for small-scale laboratory use (e.g., ≤50%H 2 O, ≤100 sccm carrier gas flow) to produce stable and accurate steam and steamer might be a better choice for higher steam contents and flow rates (e.g., >60% H 2 O and >200) encountered in large-scale testing and/or aggressive high steam conditions.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

Value of Geothermal Energy Storage for Supply-Side and Demand-Side Applications

This report presents the results of a study examining the value potential for geothermal energy storage (GES), a long-duration energy storage resource that stores thermal and/or geomechanical energy in the subsurface. GES could benefit the overall U.S. power system by temporally shifting electricity generation (supply-side) or meeting building heating and cooling load (demand-side). This report analyzes supply-side and demand-side opportunities independently because of differences in applications and models. Currently there is significant uncertainty about the development costs for GES, with only a limited number of demonstration plants for electric energy storage and building heating and cooling storage developments. In this report, we estimate the value of supply-side and demand-side GES to the bulk power system in the contiguous United States. Because of the significant uncertainty about GES development costs, this analysis does not consider GES deployment costs but instead focuses on the value of GES to the U.S. electricity system. The estimated values of GES provide reference points for economically competitive commercial cost targets. Supply-side GES is modeled as part of an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) generation plant in NREL's Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model (Ho et al. 2021). In contrast to conventional geothermal plants, which generate constant power, EGS plants have unique features that may allow for in-reservoir energy storage for flexible generation. Demand-side GES for heating and cooling, including seasonal hot and cold storage and short-duration heat pump storage, is incorporated into a price-taker model using Cambium electricity marginal cost projections. To establish an upper bound for the value of GES, analysis focused on favorable scenarios for storage with high generation from zero marginal cost, variable renewable energy resources. High penetrations of variable renewable energy generation can increase hourly electricity price variability, which increases the value of temporal energy arbitrage for storage technologies like GES.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Analyzing Next-Generation Supply Chains Using the Materials Flows through Industry Tool

The Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) tool is a supply chain modeling tool developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding from the Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. MFI was created to identify and analyze opportunities to reduce the energy and carbon intensities of the U.S. industrial sector (Hanes and Carpenter 2017). In this work, we present an overview of the MFI tool's structure and capabilities, as well as the results of using MFI to analyze a novel NREL-developed process to 'upcycle' PET plastic into higher-value composite materials (Rorrer et al. 2019). This process combines recycled PET (rPET) plastic with inputs that can be derived from biomass, including muconic acid, acrylic acid, and ethylene glycol, to chemically break down the plastic back to its monomers in a process called glycolization. Then, repolymerization and the application of fiberglass yields the valuable glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composite, a performance material used in the manufacture of wind turbine blades, boat hulls, and other applications. This rPET-derived GFRP was found to have superior strength and fiberglass adhesion compared to conventional GFRP formulations. Our findings indicate that this GFRP production process, were it to be widely commercialized beyond its current lab-scale, could potentially reduce the fossil energy intensity of the GFRP supply chain by between 37% and 58% compared to the conventional method of GFRP manufacture from fossil-derived inputs. We also estimate potential supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions between 30% and 40% from this process. Scaling these GHG offset estimates up to annual GFRP production in the U.S. would be roughly equivalent to removing between 150,000 and 200,000 vehicles from U.S. roads. These ranges of impact estimates represent the range of differences associated with the various economic allocation methods we have assumed for the intensity contributions from the first life of the PET plastic. Following Shen et al. (2010), we derive economic allocation factors from the current price ratios of clear- and green-colored recycled PET plastic to virgin PET resin ('waste-valuation' approach) or assume them to be zero in a more simplistic allocation ('cutoff' approach). Future work involving the MFI modeling tool will also be discussed, including preliminary results comparing the energy intensity of conventional and bio-based nylons manufacturing. Attendees will also be encouraged to conduct MFI supply chain modeling of their own by requesting a user account on the MFI web application, which is freely available to the public at the following address: https://mfitool.nrel.gov.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Supply-noise-rejecting current source

Various technologies pertaining to a high-impedance current source are described herein. The current source outputs a substantially constant current by way of a first transistor that draws current from a supply. The current source is configured to feed-back noise from the supply to a feedback resistor at an input of an operational amplifier (op-amp) by way of a second transistor. The feedback resistor and the op-amp are configured such that responsive to receiving the supply noise feedback, the op-amp drives a gate voltage of the first transistor to cause the first transistor to reject the supply noise and cause the output of the current source to remain substantially constant.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Management and Product Sustainability Standards – A Key Link to Sustainable Supply Chains

Reducing supplier energy consumption can be critical to creating more sustainable and resilient supply chains, and can be achieved by embedding criteria for energy management systems into product sustainability standards. Manufacturers across the globe are taking steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become more sustainable. Large industrial corporations rightly tout their efforts and successes. However, their upstream emissions, that is, the emissions from companies supplying components, are more difficult to address. These supplier companies are often smaller manufacturers with limited awareness or incentives to reduce emissions. Within the electronics industry, a diverse group of stakeholders is seeking to make the electronics sector more sustainable and resilient through product sustainability standards. The U.S. Department of Energy is engaged in these endeavors, including efforts to reduce supplier energy consumption by incorporating criteria into these sustainability standards that encourage the adoption of energy management systems and practices. Such activity within the electronics sector can be a significant component of a broader resilience roadmap for the sector’s supply chain. This paper highlights the efforts to embed energy management practices into electronics products supply chains to build resilience, and presents a business case using examples from U.S. manufacturers that can be replicable to other manufacturing sectors.

Tutterow, Vestal↗
DOE OSTI2022

Achieving American Leadership in the Rare Earth Magnets Supply Chain Factsheet

Rare earth permanent magnets are a critical technology for the clean energy transition and electrified transport revolution. The global supply chain for rare earth metals and magnets is almost completely dominated by China, which controlled 58% of rare earth mining and 92% of magnet manufacturing in 2020. The United States produces only 15% of the global supply of raw materials for these magnets, and while the nation has several nascent downstream processing and manufacturing efforts, current domestic production is limited. Investments and incentives to boost the domestic supply chain, especially in the separation and refining phases, point the way to securing stable supplies of these critical clean energy components.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Achieving American Leadership in the Nuclear Energy Supply Chain Factsheet

The United States is committed to achieving a 50 to 52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, and achieving net zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050. Nuclear energy is essential to meeting those goals. That includes the existing fleet and advanced reactors that are moving forward for deployment and under development. Nuclear power plants produce 20 percent of the total electricity supply in the United States today and are the largest source of carbon-free energy. However, we have an opportunity to expand significantly nuclear energy’s percentage of electricity generated in the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) report - developed in response to President Biden’s Executive Order “America’s Supply Chains” signed in 2021 - describes the nuclear supply chain and investigates challenges for continued operation of today’s 93 reactors and construction of advanced reactors. The supply chain is critical for successfully enabling the continued operation of the existing domestic fleet of light-water reactors as well as supporting deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2023

THE POTENTIAL FOR REUSE OF PRODUCED WATER IN THE CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN IN THE POWDER RIVER BASIN OF WYOMING AND MONTANA

The Powder River Basin (PRB) Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) project is part of the Department of Energy sponsored CORE-CM initiative focused on domestic production of critical minerals and promoting economic development in traditionally fossil fuel producing basins. An important part of this project is regional assessment of waste streams and development of basinal strategies for waste stream reuse within the critical minerals (CM) supply chain. The availability of water for all parts of the CM supply chain is of particular concern in the arid mountain west. In the Wyoming PRB, average annual production of produced water (PW) by the oil and gas industry is more than 16 billion gallons (2015-2022). Through published data and engagement with industry partners, we conducted a preliminary investigation of PW in the PRB to understand volumes, quality, and the potential for use in the CM supply chain. PW was assessed for potential as a direct feedstock and for use in CM processing of a variety of conventional and unconventional feedstocks, including ore from the Bear Lodge Alkaline Complex, coal, and coal byproducts. Preliminary findings suggest that PRB PW contains significantly lower concentrations of rare earth elements (REE) and lithium than would be considered economic at this time. For example, concentrations of REE+Sc measured in PRB PW are <1 ppb (DE-EE0007603), and only seven PRB PW samples reported in the USGS PW database had lithium concentrations ≥50 ppm. However, enrichment of CM in residual brine and sludge from PW evaporation and solidification treatment ponds may yield concentrations of interest over a pond lifetime and should be considered in future studies. Coal bed methane (CBM) PW accounted for 42% of all PW in the Wyoming PRB in 2022. Compared to non-CBM PW, PRB CBM water quality generally meets standards allowing surface discharge and reuse in local industries such as livestock. CBM PW may help to fill water needs within the CM supply chain. Understanding the distribution of CBM PW that is discharged versus reused will help develop basinal reuse strategies.

Jackson, Lily↗
DOE OSTI2024

Securing Digital Energy Infrastructure: Procurement, Contracting, and Supply Chain Risk Management Guidance

Recognizing the scale of this industry challenge, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and Cybersecurity Energy Security & Emergency Response office have launched a multi-year BESS supply chain security initiative to identify consequence-driven approaches to addressing BESS supply chain security and provide resources to support prioritization of supply chain security efforts associated with the procurement of BESS equipment and services. This guide is one element of the supporting resources to be provided and sets forth a framework and guidance for procurement bidding, selection, risk analysis, and agreements stakeholders can implement to mitigate cybersecurity risks across the entirety of battery system component ecosystem, including the interconnected software and hardware required for control and monitoring BESSs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗