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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 1,261 records · Page 70

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NASA NTRS2003

Requirements UML Tool (RUT) Expanded for Extreme Programming (CI02)

A procedure for capturing and managing system requirements that incorporates XP user stories. Because costs associated with identifying problems in requirements increase dramatically over the lifecycle of a project, a method for identifying sources of software risks in user stories is urgently needed. This initiative aims to determine a set of guide-lines for user stories that will result in high-quality requirement. To further this initiative, a tool is needed to analyze user stories that can assess the quality of individual user stories, detect sources cf software risk's, produce software metrics, and identify areas in user stories that can be improved.

McCoy, James R.↗

NASA NTRS2009

NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM2008 (Beta Version)

This is an interim document intended to accompany the beta-release of the ORDEM2008 model. As such it provides the user with a guide for its use, a list of its capabilities, a brief summary of model development, and appendices included to educate the user as to typical runtimes for different orbit configurations. More detailed documentation will be delivered with the final product. ORDEM2008 supersedes NASA's previous model - ORDEM2000. The availability of new sensor and in situ data, the re-analysis of older data, and the development of new analytical techniques, has enabled the construction of this more comprehensive and sophisticated model. Integrated with the software is an upgraded graphical user interface (GUI), which uses project-oriented organization and provides the user with graphical representations of numerous output data products. These range from the conventional average debris size vs. flux magnitude for chosen analysis orbits, to the more complex color-contoured two-dimensional (2-D) directional flux diagrams in terms of local spacecraft pitch and yaw.

Stansbery, Eugene G.↗

DOE OSTI2025

RELAP5-3D Capabilities for High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Analysis

RELAP5-3D is the premier systems thermal-hydraulic code in the world. The code has been used significantly for high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) analyses over the last 10 years, but there has not been a comprehensive summary of RELAP5-3D capabilities and methods for HTGR modeling. In this paper, we provide a guide for how novice users can build models for prismatic HTGRs. This guide includes best practices for developing heat structures and setting up radiation and conduction heat transfer. We also provide a summary of relevant validation studies. These studies are divided into three categories: separate effects tests, integral effects tests, and nuclear reactor studies. We present a comprehensive review of RELAP5-3D HTGR applications for reactor modeling over the last 10 years. These applications include work for the Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor benchmark, design activities for a prismatic HTGR as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Demonstration and Test Reactor Options Study, and studies performed to design gas-cooled microreactors. Following the comprehensive literature review, we present a gap analysis highlighting capabilities of RELAP5-3D that are available and missing for a complete analysis of HTGR thermal hydraulics. We also discuss the limitations of existing code capabilities and potential improvements that could improve analyses. Current research efforts have yet to fully validate RELAP5-3D for a prismatic HTGR analysis; however, some of this is attributable to confounding factors in the available experimental data as opposed to code capabilities. In conclusion, this paper presents the most comprehensive review to date on RELAP5-3D capabilities, limitations, and applications for HTGR analysis.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

CO 2 Storage prospeCtive Resource Estimation Excel aNalysis (CO 2 -SCREEN) User’s Manual: Python_V4.1

This user’s manual guides the use of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) CO 2 Storage prospeCtive Resource Estimation Excel aNalysis (CO 2 -SCREEN) tool, which was developed to aid users in screening geologic formations for prospective CO 2 storage resources. This manual is specific to the CO 2 -SCREEN 4.1 version which is based in Python. The 4.1 version of CO 2 -SCREEN adds in newly updated storage efficiency factors for saline formations. CO 2 -SCREEN applies U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) methods and equations for estimating prospective CO 2 storage resources for saline formations, shale formations, and residual oil zones (ROZ). CO 2 -SCREEN was developed to be substantive and user-friendly and provide a consistent method for calculating prospective CO 2 storage resources. CO 2 -SCREEN uses a Java- based graphical user interface (GUI) for data inputs and uses Python to calculate prospective CO 2 storage resources.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

CO 2 Storage prospeCtive Resource Estimation Excel aNalysis (CO 2 -SCREEN) User’s Manual: Python_V5.0

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Ducted Assembly Steady-State Heat Transfer Software (DASSH)

The Ducted Assembly Steady-State Heat transfer software (DASSH) is being developed at Argonne National Laboratory to perform a steady-state thermal fluids calculation to determine the coolant flow and temperature distribution for a hexagonal reactor core configuration with ducted assemblies. DASSH is intended to be used in the early stages of the reactor design process when assembly components can be undefined or are undergoing considerable design changes. DASSH provides a rapid assessment of the temperature and flow distribution to allow quick characterization of the system and identification of problem areas. This document is a guide for DASSH users. It summarizes the core capabilities of DASSH and highlights differences between DASSH and SE2-ANL. Instructions for obtaining and installing DASSH are provided along with some guidelines and recommendations for newer Python users. It covers the structure of the input file, provides directions for running DASSH, describes the various output files produced by the code, and provides instructions for visualizing data. Examples demonstrating various DASSH options are included. DASSH is under active development, so it is anticipated that this guide will grow and evolve as the code is updated.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS1997

Rapid Decimation for Direct Volume Rendering

An approach for eliminating unnecessary portions of a volume when producing a direct volume rendering is described. This reduction in volume size sacrifices some image quality in the interest of rendering speed. Since volume visualization is often used as an exploratory visualization technique, it is important to reduce rendering times, so the user can effectively explore the volume. The methods presented can speed up rendering by factors of 2 to 3 with minor image degradation. A family of decimation algorithms to reduce the number of primitives in the volume without altering the volume's grid in any way is introduced. This allows the decimation to be computed rapidly, making it easier to change decimation levels on the fly. Further, because very little extra space is required, this method is suitable for the very large volumes that are becoming common. The method is also grid-independent, so it is suitable for multiple overlapping curvilinear and unstructured, as well as regular, grids. The decimation process can proceed automatically, or can be guided by the user so that important regions of the volume are decimated less than unimportant regions. A formal error measure is described based on a three-dimensional analog of the Radon transform. Decimation methods are evaluated based on this metric and on direct comparison with reference images.

Gibbs, Jonathan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Interoperability and Other Aspects of Guiding Data Producers for the Benefit of End Users

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions and netCDF standard have influenced the recommendations and guidance provided to producers of data products based on NASA’s Earth observations. It has been long-recognized that interoperable datasets and use of standards and conventions are beneficial to the users of these datasets, especially those who make use of multiple datasets for their research and applications. The Dataset Interoperability Working Group (DIWG), one of NASA’s Earth Science Data System Working Groups (ESDSWGs), was established in 2013, and has developed and published many recommendations. The Data Product Development Guide (DPDG) Working Group, established in 2018 as another of the ESDSWGs, has published a DPDG for Data Producers and a Quick Start Guide, incorporating guidance from many sources, including the recommendations from the DIWG. The DPDG includes recommendations regarding data formats (prominently netCDF-4) and metadata based primarily on the CF Metadata Conventions and the Attribute Convention for Data Discovery (ACDD). In early 2023, it was decided that the Resource Center for Data Producers (RCDP) Working Group be established as another ESDSWG, with the goals of providing all the information relevant and helpful for data producers via an easily accessible website, and of recommending how the DPDG and QSG could be maintained as living documents, given the rapidly changing technologies, and the need for incorporating the experience and feedback from the users of these documents.

Data product development↗

DOE OSTI2024

Siting Lab [SWR-24-95]

Siting Lab contains a collection of user-friendly tutorials and guides for working with the Siting Lab (https://data.openei.org/siting_lab) data within the context of the reV model. The python code examples demonstrate the creation and transformation of Siting Lab data into reV compliant format as well as working with the reV model inputs and outputs. Specifically, Siting Lab provides a collection of Jupyter Notebooks that serve as guides for working with data from NREL's spatial analysis portfolio. These notebooks teach users how to create and interact with reV data in order to facilitate external use of the model. The guides in this repository reference NREL's Supply Curve data as well as Siting Lab spatial data available on OEDI.

Lopez, Anthony↗

DOE OSTI2021

NRAP-open-IAM: A flexible open-source integrated-assessment-model for geologic carbon storage risk assessment and management

Large-scale implementation of geologic carbon storage (GCS) to help reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions requires stakeholder confidence that injected CO2 will remain contained and that potential subsurface environmental risks are acceptably small and manageable. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) has developed an open-source integrated assessment model (NRAP-Open-IAM) to help address questions about a potential GCS site’s ability to effectively contain injected CO 2 and protect groundwater and other overlying environmentally sensitive receptors. NRAP-Open-IAM allows a user to: (1) incorporate relevant site geologic and injection scenario data; (2) characterize important site features and events;(3) couple fast prediction models of various system components of the engineered geologic system; and (4) execute stochastic, dynamic simulation of whole GCS system performance, leakage risk assessment, and uncertainty quantification. NRAP-Open-IAM is available on GitLab (https://gitlab.com/NRAP/OpenIAM), and is accompanied by multiple application examples and detailed user and developer guides.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Morphological descriptors of nanoparticles: The link between atomistic structures and x-ray absorption spectra

Understanding and quantifying the morphology of nanoparticles are essential for linking their atomic structure to diverse applications and verifying theoretical models. While experimental information on the structure of nanoparticles in the size range below ∼5 nm can be extracted from x-ray absorption spectroscopy using a small number of descriptors—most commonly coordination numbers—developing an understanding of morphology descriptors from experimental data remains a challenge. Here, in this study, we introduce NanoGene, a genetic algorithm-based method for generating structurally diverse nanoparticle models guided by user-defined descriptors. We establish correlations among structural, size-related, and morphological descriptors and demonstrate how experimentally accessible parameters, such as coordination numbers, can be leveraged to infer otherwise inaccessible ones, such as the generalized coordination number or particle oblateness. Principal component and clustering analyses reveal the relative importance of descriptors, with the number of atoms emerging as a key discriminant of the nanoparticle structure. By providing both the methodology and an extensive dataset of nanoparticle geometries, this work offers a practical foundation for descriptor-based analysis and interpretation of experimental observations, bridging the gap between local atomic coordinates and global morphological characterization.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Platform Agnostic Streaming Data Application Performance Models

The mapping of computational needs onto execution resources is, by and large, a manual task, and users are frequently guided simply by intuition and past experiences. We present a queueing theory based performance model for streaming data applications that takes steps towards a better understanding of resource mapping decisions, thereby assisting application developers to make good mapping choices. The performance model (and associated cost model) are agnostic to the specific properties of the compute resource and application, simply characterizing them by their achievable data throughput. We illustrate the model with a pair of applications, one chosen from the field of computational biology and the second is a classic machine learning problem.

Faber, Clayton↗

DOE OSTI2022

Drishti v0.3

Drishti is a command-line tool to guide end-users in optimizing I/O in their applications by detecting typical I/O performance pitfalls and providing a set of recommendations.

Bez, Jean Luca↗

DOE OSTI2023

Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies: Performing a Techno-Economic Analysis for Carbon Conversion Technologies (Final Report)

This document provides DOE-FECM specific guidance for conducting techno-economic analysis (TEA) on carbon conversion technologies using NETL's established TEA methodology. The intent is to provide guidance to develop a consistent methodology for evaluating carbon conversion technologies within the DOE-FECM portfolio. The document provides guidance on the analysis methodology, evaluation metrics including performance, cost, emissions, and market considerations, and ample references to guide the end user in the development of consistent TEA of carbon conversion technologies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

An Online Prototype Toolset for Predicting and Optimizing P&T Performance (FY23 Status Report)

A new web-based toolset is being developed to support ongoing remediation optimization efforts and implementation of an adaptive site management strategy for the 200 West Area Pump-and-Treat (P&T) system at the Hanford Site. This toolset, comprising the well performance index tool and the well optimization pre-screening tool, will offer a user-friendly interface to predict and optimize the P&T well network’s performance at a preliminary level. Efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2023 focused on three main components: updating the existing deep learning model for predicting P&T performance, designing and developing a prototype of a web-based performance index tool, and initiating the conceptual design of the well optimization pre-screening tool. The well performance index tool is based on a pre-trained deep learning model that allows users to select a target contaminant and well screen length, then visualize the predicted performance of potential new wells across the site. The well optimization pre-screening tool includes two separate modules: the pre-computed scenario viewer, which organizes and visualizes offline optimization simulation results, and the quick analysis module, which provides real-time model prediction using user-specified well locations. In FY24, the plan is to add web-based applications to SOCRATES for both the well performance prediction tool and the optimization prescreening tool, with accompanying user and theory guides. These tools are intended to enable an accessible, easily applied, and transparent approach to remedy planning and decision-making.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2022

Design Philosophy for Accelerator Control Rooms

This report describes the foundational human factors principles needed to design user interfaces for accelerator control rooms. These principles are presented as recommendations for accelerator control system interface design and are illustrated with examples drawn from accelerator operations at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). These high-level principles are intended to serve as design objectives that apply generally across all control system interfaces developed for the accelerator complex. This design philosophy document is a high-level roadmap to approach the general interface design for the accelerator complex. This philosophy applies state-of-the-art human factors principles and evidence-based design standards to an accelerator environment, which will transform the next era of accelerator interfaces as outlined by the Accelerator Controls Operations Research Network (ACORN) Project. Further work will include mapping the general design principles included in this report to more specific guidance in the form of a user interface style guide.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

HBET V3.0 Installation Manual

The Hydropower Biological Evaluation Toolset (HBET) V3.0 now requires Python v3.11.0 to be installed, following the addition of the absolute fish injury rate prediction feature. This version introduces two new strike metrics—based on velocity and pressure—to provide a more precise understanding of the biological effects of fish collisions with rigid structures within the fish passage system. Additionally, SQL Server 2019 is the supported database for this release. This installation guide will walk users through the process of installing HBET V3.0 along with all necessary dependencies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Observations of surface energy fluxes and meteorology in the seasonally snow-covered high-elevation East River watershed during SPLASH, 2021–2023

Abstract. From autumn 2021 through summer 2023, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and partners conducted the Study of Precipitation, the Lower Atmosphere, and Surface for Hydrometeorology (SPLASH) campaign in the East River watershed of Colorado. One objective of SPLASH was to observe the transfer of energy between the atmosphere and the surface, which was done at several locations. Two remote sites were chosen that did not have access to power utilities. These were along the valley floor near the East River in the vicinity of the unincorporated town of Gothic, Colorado. Energy balance measurements were made at these locations using autonomous, single-level flux towers referred to as atmospheric surface flux stations (ASFSs). The ASFSs were deployed on 28 September 2021 at the Kettle Ponds Annex site and on 12 October 2021 at the Avery Picnic site and operated until 19 July and 21 June 2023, respectively. Measurements included basic meteorology; upward and downward longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes and subsurface conductive flux, each at 1 min resolution; 3-D winds from a sonic anemometer and H2O/CO2 from an open-path gas analyzer, both at 20 Hz from which sensible, latent heat, and CO2 fluxes were derived; and profiles of soil properties in the upper 0.5 m (both sites) and temperature profiles through the snow (at Avery Picnic), each reported between 10 min and 6 h. The system uptime was 97 % (Kettle Ponds) and 90 % (Avery Picnic), and collectively 1184 d of data was obtained between the stations. The purpose of this article is to document the ASFS deployment at SPLASH, to document the data acquisition and post-processing of measurements, and to serve as a guide for interested users of the data sets, which are archived at Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10313363, Cox et al., 2023b; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10327409, Cox et al., 2023c; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10313894, Cox et al., 2023d; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10307825, Cox et al., 2023e; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10310520, Cox et al., 2023f) with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Cox, Christopher J. (ORCID:0000000322037173)↗