Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “unit testing”

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 OSTI2025

New particle pusher with hadronic interactions for modeling multimessenger emission from compact objects

We propose novel numerical schemes based on the Boris method in curved spacetime, incorporating both hadronic and radiative interactions for the first time. Once the proton has lost significant energy due to radiative and hadronic losses, and its gyroradius has decreased below typical scales on which the electromagnetic field varies, we apply a guiding center approximation (GCA). We fundamentally simulate collision processes either with a Monte-Carlo method or, where applicable, as a continuous energy loss, contingent on the local optical depth. To test our algorithm for the first time combining the effects of electromagnetic, gravitational, and radiation fields including hadronic interactions, we simulate highly relativistic protons traveling through various electromagnetic fields and proton backgrounds. We provide unit tests in various spatially dependent electromagnetic and gravitational fields and background photon and proton distributions, comparing the trajectory against analytic results. We propose that our method can be used to analyze hadronic interactions in black hole accretion disks, jets, and coronae to study the neutrino abundance from active galactic nuclei.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

NCSP Analytical Methods Subtask 3, AMPX Development and Maintenance, and NCSP Nuclear Data Subtask 6, SAMMY Modernization

The modernization of SAMMY continued with the removal of all container array access for the main program. The container array was used due to the computer limitations at the time of the initial writing of SAMMY, but it prevented the use of some modern code testing options. Additionally, the authors continued to make the code more modular by shifting the storage of the energy grid and the covariance information to C++ storage, thus allowing for better unit testing and the elimination of scratch files. For AMPX, the authors continued to implement the new Evaluated Nuclear Data File format to allow AMPX to read new evaluations as they become available.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Viscous Gubser flow with conserved charges to benchmark fluid simulations

We present semi-analytical solutions for the evolution of both the temperature and chemical potentials for viscous Gubser flow with conserved charges. Such a solution can be especially useful in testing numerical codes intended to simulate relativistic fluids with large chemical potentials. The freeze-out hypersurface profiles for constant energy density are calculated, along with the corresponding normal vectors, and presented as a new unit test for numerical codes. We also compare the influence of the equation of state on the semi-analytical solutions. We benchmark the newly developed smoothed particle hydrodynamics code ccake that includes both shear viscosity and three conserved charges. Here, the numerical solutions are in excellent agreement with the semi-analytical solution and are also able to accurately reproduce the hypersurface at freeze-out.

Hydrodynamic models↗
DOE OSTI2023

Supplemental Structural Analyses Used in Support of Certification of the Defense Programs Package 3

The Defense Programs Package (DPP)-3 is to be certified by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Packaging and Transportation Division (PTD). Certification is based on successful physical testing of the package, and six certification test units (CTUs) have been subjected to the normal conditions of transport (NCT) and hypothetical accident conditions (HAC) outlined in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 71 (10 CFR 71). During regulatory testing of one of the CTUs, the drum lid closure bolt closest to the impact surface failed during the HAC 30-ft side drop. One of the testing goals for this CTU was to minimize the thermal pathway from the drum exterior shell to the containment vessel (CV) flange and O-rings, leading to the maximum damage scenario in preparation for thermal testing at 1475 °F. Therefore, the puncture bar impact proceeded as originally planned by striking the side wall of the package exterior closest to the location of the CV flange. This puncture bar impact did not attempt to exploit the region of the failed drum lid closure bolt to potentially cause more damage to the package. After the conclusion of regulatory testing, the DPP-3 package finite element model was used to numerically evaluate the effects of puncture bar impacts to the drum exterior in the vicinity of the failed drum lid closure bolt to further demonstrate the robustness of the DPP-3 design. Three alternate puncture bar impact locations and orientations were evaluated to demonstrate that these puncture bar impacts would not substantially reduce the effectiveness of the DPP-3 packaging. This paper describes the supplemental finite element models performed and structural analysis results that demonstrate the alternate HAC 40-in. puncture bar impact tests would have no deleterious effect on the performance of the DPP-3.

Sakalaukus Jr., Peter J.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Arvia Organics Destruction: An Innovative Treatment Approach for Dioxins, Furans and Other Problematic (Orphan) Organic Wastes - 16262

The safe and efficient disposal of radionuclide-contaminated organic wastes is a key component in the lifecycle of a nuclear power plant. Technologies are available for the processing of some of these wastes although there are a number of waste streams for which the disposition path is not clear or does not exist at all. For example, waste streams such as dioxin, furan and PCB-laden oils and aqueous organic matrices pose an issue for the US Dept. of Energy complex. These wastes present a challenge as they cannot be readily treated using existing treatment technologies because of legislative and material constraints such as gaseous phase radioactivity discharge limits, waste elemental content, by-product generation and waste resistance to thermal decomposition. Alternate methods of organics destruction can circumvent some of these issues by using different mechanisms of organics oxidation. One such innovative method, known as the Arvia organics destruction process, combines adsorption with electrochemical combustion and offers such an alternative. This technology, based on a patented material, Nyex{sup TM} that is able to act as both an adsorbent and as an electrode, allows the electrochemical combustion of adsorbed organics to occur on the material's surface. The result is the destruction of organics whilst the bulk of inorganic and radionuclide components remain in the aqueous phase. These components can subsequently be treated using existing waste processing technologies. This paper outlines recent work conducted on demonstrating the Arvia process against the destruction of dioxin, furan and PCB-laden wastes that demonstrates that the technology successfully removes these target species to below discharge standards in the aqueous phase. Based on these successful trials a test unit has been designed to demonstrate the process on actual radioactive wastes at the DOE Oak Ridge facility. During commissioning at Arvia's facility the unit achieved a destruction rate of over 1.5 ml of 100% organic waste per hour. The unit is currently at a partner laboratory facility based at Oak Ridge National Laboratories and has recently completed a further suite of simulant trials which are reported here. The above work showcases the development, testing and initial application of an innovative technology, first presented to the industry at the Waste Management 2012, as another option for the treatment of challenging wastes with expensive, complex or no current disposal routes. Over the years the technology has gone through a number of proving stages culminating in the testing on real orphan wastes based at the Oak Ridge Facility. The Arvia Organics Destruction Cell technology adds to the portfolio of available treatment technologies and will help facilitate the decommissioning and waste disposal responsibilities of the nuclear industry. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Bench-Scale Development of a Novel Direct Air Capture Technology Using High-Capacity Structured Sorbents

The work performed under this project has resulted into development of a DAC technology utilizing a structured sorbent to capture CO 2 from ambient air with a key innovation of direct Joule heating of the sorbent for CO 2 desorption. A working SMA, fully integrated with an electrically resistive heating layer, high surface area support, and high CO 2 capacity sorbent coated onto a commercial ceramic monolithic substrate, was successfully developed and demonstrated over >200 adsorption-desorption cycles in a high-fidelity bench test unit directly using ambient air. A cordierite-based monolith was selected as a substrate owing to its high surface area, low bulk density, low heat capacity, and commercial availability. Reaction kinetics study conducted during this project led to development of a promoter for the base Na 2 CO 3 sorbent that could be incorporated into the sorbent to enhance to achieve higher CO 2 adsorption/desorption rates, greater working capacity, and reduced regeneration temperature. An accelerated aging study was conducted in a TGA to determine sorbent stability and no degradation in the sorbent performance was observed even after 250 adsorption-desorption cycles. An electrically resistive heating layer was developed with tunable electrical properties. The heating layer was coated onto the selected cordierite substrate. Aging studies performed showed the electrical properties and heating performance was stable after 500 heating and cooling cycles. The collective findings on the selected cordierite substrate, robust heating layer, promoter and sorbent selection were used to synthesize a full, 6”x6” SMA for bench-scale testing. The bench-scale DAC system was constructed to test full size SMAs using real ambient air for adsorption and joule heating for regeneration. After completing shakedown and commissioning of the 1 kg/day of CO 2 capacity DAC bench unit, an extended operation was performed to complete over 230 cycles with the full size SMA. This testing showed no observable degradation in sorbent performance. A detailed process model, TEA and LCA were developed for a conceptual 100,000 TPY CO 2 removal DAC facility. The LCA results show the net CO 2 e emissions from the DAC system are highly dependent on the electricity source. All other factors, including SMA manufacturing, materials for facility enclosure, etc., are minor cost contributors compared to the energy consumption required for CO 2 removal. With the successful development and validation of the SMA for the sustained performance for CO 2 removal from ambient air with joule heated regeneration in this project, a fully integrated 1 TPY bench-scale DAC system is currently in development with the support of DOE/FECM (DE-FE0032243). The project objective is to demonstrate the engineering design of the DAC system to produce a continuous, high purity CO 2 stream from ambient air. This project will address and validate key engineering features of the DAC system including the gas sealing mechanism and panels, enclosure and air contactor design, and automation sequence to achieve continuous CO 2 production.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ground Motion Inputs for the Seismic Shake Table Test

Currently, spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is stored in on-site independent spent-fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) at seventythree (73) nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the US. Because a site for geologic repository for permanent disposal of SNF has not been constructed, the SNF will remain in dry storage significantly longer than planned. During this time, the ISFSIs, and potentially consolidated storage facilities, will experience earthquakes of different magnitudes. The dry storage systems are designed and licensed to withstand large seismic loads. When dry storage systems experience seismic loads, there are little data on the response of SNF assemblies contained within them. The Spent Fuel Waste Disposition (SFWD) program is planning to conduct a full-scale seismic shake table test to close the gap related to the seismic loads on the fuel assemblies in dry storage systems. This test will allow for quantifying the strains and accelerations on surrogate fuel assembly hardware and cladding during earthquakes of different magnitudes and frequency content. The main component of the test unit will be the full-scale NUHOMS 32 PTH2 dry storage canister. The canister will be loaded with three surrogate fuel assemblies and twenty-nine dummy assemblies. Two dry storage configurations will be tested – horizontal and vertical above-ground concrete overpacks. These configurations cover 91% of the current dry storage configurations. The major input into the shake table test are the seismic excitations or the earthquake ground motions – acceleration time histories in two horizontal and one vertical direction that will be applied to the shake table surface during the tests. The shake table surface represents the top of the concrete pad on which a dry storage system is placed. The goal of the ground motion task is to develop the ground motions that would be representative of the range of seismotectonic and other conditions that any site in the Western US (WUS) or Central Eastern US (CEUS) might entail. This task is challenging because of the large number of the ISFSI sites, variety of seismotectonic and site conditions, and effects that soil amplification, soil-structure interaction, and pad flexibility may have on the ground motions.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Low-pressure

This final technical progress report describes work conducted by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) for the Department of Energy (DOE NETL) on development of low-pressure membrane contactors for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture from power plant flue gas (award number DE-FE0007553). The work was conducted from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2014. The overall goal of this three-year project was to build and operate a prototype 500 m 2 low-pressure sweep membrane module specifically designed to separate CO 2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas. MTR was assisted in this project by a research group at the University of Toledo, which contributed to the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of module design and process simulation. This report details the work conducted to develop a new type of membrane contactor specifically designed for the high-gas-flow, low-pressure, countercurrent sweep operation required for affordable membrane-based CO 2 capture at coal power plants. Work for this project included module development and testing, design and assembly of a large membrane module test unit at MTR, CFD comparative analysis of cross-flow, countercurrent, and novel partial-countercurrent sweep membrane module designs, CFD analysis of membrane spacers, design and fabrication of a 500 m 2 membrane module skid for field tests, a detailed performance and cost analysis of the MTR CO 2 capture process with low-pressure sweep modules, and a process design analysis of a membrane-hybrid separation process for CO 2 removal from coal-fired flue gas. Key results for each major task are discussed in the report.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Advanced Low Energy Enzyme Catalyzed Solvent for CO 2 Capture

A proof-of-concept biocatalyst enhanced solvent process was developed and demonstrated in an integrated bench-scale system using coal post combustion flue gas. The biocatalyst was deployed as a coating on M500X structured packing. Rate enhancement was evaluated using a non-volatile and non-toxic 20 wt% potassium carbonate solution. Greater than 500-fold volumetric scale-up from laboratory to bench scale was demonstrated in this project. Key technical achievements included: 10-fold mass transfer enhancement demonstrated in laboratory testing relative to blank potassium carbonate at 45°C; ~ 7-fold enhancement over blank in bench-scale field testing at National Carbon Capture Center; aerosol emissions were below detection limits (< 0.8 ppm); 90% capture was demonstrated at ~19.5 Nm 3 /hr (dry basis); and ~ 80% CO 2 capture was demonstrated at ~ 30 Nm 3 /hr (dry basis) for more than 2800-hrs on flue gas with minimal detectible decline in activity. The regeneration energy requirement was 3.5 GJ/t CO 2 for this solvent, which was below the target of <2.1 GJ/t CO 2 . Bench unit testing revealed kinetic limitations in the un-catalyzed stripper at around 85°C, but process modeling based on bench unit data showed that equivalent work of less than 300 kWh/t CO 2 including all CO 2 compression can be achieved at lower temperature stripping conditions. Cost analysis showed that 20% potassium carbonate in a basic solvent flow sheet with biocatalyst coated packing has economic performance comparable to the reference NETL Case-12, 30% MEA. A detailed techno-economic analysis indicated that addition of catalyst in the stripper could reduce the cost of capture by ~6% and cost of avoided CO 2 by ~10% below reference NETL Case-12. Based on these results, a directional plan was identified to reduce the cost of CO 2 capture in future work.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of Control System Functional Capabilities within the IES Plug-and-Play Simulation Environment

The concept of an Integrated Energy System (IES) is meant to combine different energy technologies in synergistic ways to achieve a more secure and economical energy supply. The RAVEN-based HYBRID framework is used to find the optimal installed capacity and the optimal economical dispatch of each component of the IES. A new RAVEN (Risk Analysis Virtual ENvironment) plugin for grid and capacity optimization (HERON) has been developed for optimizing the production variables of the IES given the demand profile. Currently, only the limits that affect the production variables and their corresponding time rates of change are considered (explicit constraints). However, other variables are additionally subject to constraints, but the associated limits are not accounted for (implicit constraints). In particular, for the power dispatch problem, the optimization algorithm takes into account the limits on the electrical power output and the corresponding hourly power variations but does not consider other constraints on process variables whose response effects the service life of the IES. This report describes a scheme that allows accounting for implicit constraints without increasing the size of the optimization problem. The Reference Governor (RG) algorithm is traditionally used for enforcing state and control constraints by modifying the set-point trajectories supplied to the feedback regulators. In our application, the RG is coupled within an iterative loop with the HERON-power dispatcher to generate optimal trajectories that ensure the operational constraints are met. A data-driven procedure to derive a representation of the dynamics of the controlled system was developed. First, the variables that represented the state of the system are selected (PCA-based approach), and then state-space representation matrices are derived from the collected measurements (DMDc algorithm). A preliminary version of the developed workflow based on Linear Time Invariant matrices was assessed by adopting a two-unit test case. More sophisticated versions of this workflow foreseeing the on-line derivation of system matrices will be deployed in FY 2021. Finally, a “plug-and-play” library of controllers and state observers was developed in Dymola. Some aspects of the current configuration of the IES unit components, e.g., the encapsulation of the control schemes into dedicated blocks, are consistent with the “plug-and-play” philosophy. Other features, e.g., the system buses collecting the input and the output variables, are not. For this reason, once listed and described the limits of the current configuration, necessary modifications to the plant model interface are presented. As a test-case, the interfaces of the SES model in the RAVEN-based HYBRID framework were reworked accordingly, and two different control schemes were applied to the same plant model.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Static characterization of a highly optimized streak tube design incorporating a steering slot anode and an aberration-corrected Einzel lens

The BHx streak tube, under development at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, incorporates a series of novel electron-optics elements to enable high fidelity measurements for high-energy-density physics experiments. The system is engineered to support a 25-mm active photocathode region compatible with sub-picosecond temporal resolution and with 70% internal photoelectron throughput. It exhibits negligible geometric distortion on a flat output screen, making it well suited for variety of measurements, such as ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy. Here, this paper presents characterization data from a prototype unit tested with an ultraviolet laser in a static deflection (non-swept) mode and shows good agreement with the predictions from numerical modeling, including focusing performance and geometric distortion measurements. Key design elements have been demonstrated and de-risked, laying the foundation for dynamic deflection testing. The anticipated improvements in data fidelity are expected to impact the fields as diverse as inertial confinement fusion, laboratory astrophysics, and materials science.

High energy density physics↗
DOE OSTI2020

pnnl/OpenCGRA

OpenCGRA is an open-source framework for modeling, testing, and evaluating CGRAs. The first open-source integrated framework able to support the full top-to-bottom design flow for specializing and implementing CGRAs: modeling at different abstraction levels (functional level, cycle level, register-transfer level) with compiler support, verification at different granularities (unit testing, integration testing, property-based testing), simulation, generation of synthesizable Verilog, and characterization (area, power, and timing).

Cheng, Tan↗
DOE OSTI2019

Carbon Capture utilizing Hybrids: Membrane and Liquefaction

Air Liquide is developing a next generation polyimide membrane material (PI-2) for application in our cold membrane hybrid process for CO 2 capture. Combining the PI-2 membrane operation with an integrated CO 2 compression and purification unit significantly reduces the overall cost of CO 2 capture. The current work is aimed at developing the PI-2 material to a commercial scale, then validating its performance under real flue gas conditions. Previous work showed promising results for the cold membrane hybrid process utilizing the commercially available Air Liquide PI-1 membrane bundles. The cold membrane technology was demonstrated at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) with a 0.3 MWe field-test unit incorporating 12” diameter PI-1 commercial bundle. The cost of 90% CO 2 capture from a 550 MWe net coal power plant was estimated to be between 40 and $45/tonne. The novel PI-2 membrane was tested at a smaller scale (1” modules) and exhibited up to 10 times the CO 2 permeance and similar CO 2 /N 2 selectivity as the PI-1 membrane. This corresponds to a potential cost reduction of $3/tonne for CO 2 capture. The current project seeks to develop this next generation PI-2 material to a technology readiness level of 5 via manufacturing scale-up and testing with 600 - 1,000 Nm3/h of real flue gas, 0.2 - 0.3 MWe equivalents. 6” diameter commercial membrane bundles have been fabricated and tested at NCCC. These bundles met the project success criteria with a productivity of over 640 Nm3/hr and permeate purity in excess of 60%, at 90% CO 2 recovery. An advanced bundle formation technique, which further lowers the bundle cost and CO 2 capture cost, is also being developed under the scope of this project. Further manufacturing scale-up is underway to verify the technique. A final techno-economic analysis (TEA) for a 550 MWe net power plant has been initiated.

Hasse, Dave↗
DOE OSTI2013

LLNL HEPA Filter Support of Nuclear Facility Safety R&D (FY12)

The ceramic HEPA filter project has been a successful and innovative project. This report contains information from the work from FY12 funding, as well as remaining FY11 funding. Of note, a total of 12 patents for the ceramic HEPA filter program have been filed, and an additional record of invention has been prepared with a provisional patent to follow. This project supports development of a ceramic HEPA filter technology to benefit DOE nuclear facilities by providing lower life-cycle costs and reducing or eliminating costs associated with Safety Class and Safety Significant systems in nuclear facilities. The satisfactory performance of ceramic filters in a fire could significantly reduce costs of support systems associated with mitigating a release, such as fire suppression, fire detection and alarm, and internal building structure. In nuclear safety, the best way to provide protection to public, workers and the environment is to provide a barrier between the hazard and the receptors. A passive engineered design feature is the best barrier for that purpose. Advanced ceramic HEPA filters provide an excellent barrier between radioactive material in a nuclear facility and everything downwind. Both university (Cal Poly) student teams did very well. As summarized in this report, they successfully added and upgraded instrumentation and controls to the High Temperature Test Unit (HTTU) for the ceramic filter project. They also succeeded in adding viewing ports, remotely controlled closed circuit television, a flame impingement system and a helium filter gasket leak detection system. Details can be found in Ref. 3 - 6. The HTTU has flexible capabilities and can also be used to test other types of filters or filter components in the future, if so desired. At LLNL, research to improve filter media coating (Fig. 1) is being conducted to maintain filtration efficiency while improving performance (reducing pressure drop). Improvements in the individual filter element are necessary to maintain filtration efficiency while decreasing pressure drop. The path forward for an optimal ceramic HEPA filter meeting DOE’s needs is to improve the filtration media. This task utilized the LLNL/DOE developed innovations along with progress in previous activities to prepare multiple ceramic filter elements and refine the technical details for depositing advanced filtration materials to the ceramic filter to meet desired filter performance. The ceramics filter elements were tested for pressure drop at the required air flow rate using an air flow test system. The filtration efficiency and pressure drop of the ceramic filter elements will be measured as part of the development process.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Infrastructure for Multiphysics Software Integration in High Performance Computing-Aided Science and Engineering

The project described in this report constructed and exercised an innovative multiphysics coupling toolkit called the Illinois Rocstar MultiPhysics Application Coupling Toolkit (IMPACT). IMPACT is an open source, flexible, natively parallel infrastructure for coupling multiple uniphysics simulation codes into multiphysics computational systems. IMPACT works with codes written in several high-performance-computing (HPC) programming languages, and is designed from the beginning for HPC multiphysics code development. It is designed to be minimally invasive to the individual physics codes being integrated, and has few requirements on those physics codes for integration. The goal of IMPACT is to provide the support needed to enable coupling existing tools together in unique and innovative ways to produce powerful new multiphysics technologies without extensive modification and rewrite of the physics packages being integrated. There are three major outcomes from this project: 1) construction, testing, application, and open-source release of the IMPACT infrastructure, 2) production of example open-source multiphysics tools using IMPACT, and 3) identification and engagement of interested organizations in the tools and applications resulting from the project. This last outcome represents the incipient development of a user community and application echosystem being built using IMPACT. Multiphysics coupling standardization can only come from organizations working together to define needs and processes that span the space of necessary multiphysics outcomes, which Illinois Rocstar plans to continue driving toward. The IMPACT system, including source code, documentation, and test problems are all now available through the public gitHUB.org system to anyone interested in multiphysics code coupling. Many of the basic documents explaining use and architecture of IMPACT are also attached as appendices to this document. Online HTML documentation is available through the gitHUB site. There are over 100 unit tests provided that run through the Illinois Rocstar Application Development (IRAD) lightweight testing infrastructure that is also supplied along with IMPACT. The package as a whole provides an excellent base for developing high-quality multiphysics applications using modern software development practices. To facilitate understanding how to utilize IMPACT effectively, two multiphysics systems have been developed and are available open-source through gitHUB. The simpler of the two systems, named ElmerFoamFSI in the repository, is a multiphysics, fluid-structure-interaction (FSI) coupling of the solid mechanics package Elmer with a fluid dynamics module from OpenFOAM. This coupling illustrates how to combine software packages that are unrelated by either author or architecture and combine them into a robust, parallel multiphysics system. A more complex multiphysics tool is the Illinois Rocstar Rocstar Multiphysics code that was rebuilt during the project around IMPACT. Rocstar Multiphysics was already an HPC multiphysics tool, but now that it has been rearchitected around IMPACT, it can be readily expanded to capture new and different physics in the future. In fact, during this project, the Elmer and OpenFOAM tools were also coupled into Rocstar Multiphysics and demonstrated. The full Rocstar Multiphysics codebase is also available on gitHUB, and licensed for any organization to use as they wish. Finally, the new IMPACT product is already being used in several multiphysics code coupling projects for the Air Force, NASA and the Missile Defense Agency, and initial work on expansion of the IMPACT-enabled Rocstar Multiphysics has begun in support of a commercial company. These initiatives promise to expand the interest and reach of IMPACT and Rocstar Multiphysics, ultimately leading to the envisioned standardization and consortium of users that was one of the goals of this project.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of ITM Oxygen Technology for Integration in IGCC and Other Advanced Power Generation DECISION POINT 1 UNDER PHASE 3

Air Products and the DOE have partnered over a number of years in the development of ITM Oxygen technology in support of gasification technology. Throughout this process, studies of application of the technology to IGCC and oxy-coal combustion have shown significant reduction in capital and operating costs compared to similar systems using conventional cryogenic air separation. Phase 3, the current phase of the program, focuses on the design, construction and operation of a 30- to 100-TPD pilot facility, the Intermediate Scale Test Unit (ISTU). Execution of this phase to date has resulted in significant advances in a number of areas including ceramic membrane material development, module design and production, ceramic-to-metal seal design, process control strategies, and engineering development of process cycles. Phase 3 will be complete upon successful operation of the ISTU in a series of tests making oxygen from ceramic membrane modules and producing power from a hot gas expander. Phase 3 work has extended beyond the planned schedule due to a delay in delivery of equipment from vendors. Air Products is currently managing the equipment delay by close involvement with the vendor to redesign the problematic equipment and oversee its fabrication. The result of these unforeseen challenges is that the ISTU project completion date has been delayed. Tight cost controls have been implemented both by DOE program management and APCI to meet budget constraints despite increased costs due to budget delays. Total project costs have increased in several areas. Increased costs in the ISTU project include purchased equipment, instruments, construction, and contractor engineering. Increased costs for other tasks include additional work in support of module production by Ceramatec, Inc, and increased Air Products labor for component testing. Air Products plans to complete testing as outlined in the SOPO and successfully complete all project objectives by the end of FY14.

Anderson, Lori↗
DOE OSTI2023

Community Geothermal: Final Thermal Conductivity Test Report and Data Logs - Carbondale, CO

Provided here are a final thermal conductivity test report, a drilling log, and a heat rejection log from Carbondale, CO. Also attached is a report made before drilling, which contains predictions on the hydrogeologic conditions of the drill site. The forty-eight (48.9) hour in-situ thermal conductivity test was performed on the 28th through the 30th, of November 2023. The test was performed at the borehole drilled on November 16th through the 20th, at the 3rd Street Center at 520 S. 3rd, Street in Carbondale, Colorado. Testing was done with a certified Ewbank portable test unit.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

KBKit: A Python Toolkit for Kirkwood–Buff Theory from Molecular Dynamics

Thermodynamic properties of liquid mixtures govern processes that range from drug delivery to energy storage, yet extracting these properties from molecular simulations remains challenging. Kirkwood–Buff (KB) theory offers a rigorous route by linking microscopic pair distribution functions to macroscopic free energies, but practical use of the theory has been hindered by two obstacles: (i) the long simulations needed to obtain well-converged Kirkwood-Buff integrals (KBIs) and (ii) the specialized corrections required to translate finite-size data to the thermodynamic limit. $\texttt{KBKit}$ is an open-source Python package that removes these barriers. It automatically computes KBIs and derived thermodynamic quantities from GROMACS input files, applies state-of-the-art finite-size corrections, and provides built-in diagnostic tools to quantify statistical uncertainty. Written with modern software-engineering practices—continuous integration, extensive unit testing, and thorough documentation—$\texttt{KBKit}$ is both reliable and easy to extend. By condensing complex KBI analysis into a few intuitive commands, $\texttt{KBKit}$ enables researchers to incorporate KB theory into routine simulation workflows and accelerate the discovery of solution-phase thermodynamics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗