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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Hy-DAT: A Tool to Address Hydropower Modeling Gaps Using Interdependency, Efficiency Curves, and Unit Dispatch Models

As the power system continues to be flooded with intermittent resources, it becomes more important to accurately assess the role of hydro and its impact on the power grid. While hydropower generation has been studied for decades, dependency of power generation on water availability and constraints in hydro operation are not well represented in power system models used in the planning and operation of large-scale interconnection studies. There are still multiple modeling gaps that need to be addressed; if not, they can lead to inaccurate operation and planning reliability studies, and consequently to unintentional load shedding or even blackouts. As a result, it is very important thathydropower is represented correctly in both steady-state and dynamic power system studies. In this paper, we discuss the development and use of the Hydrological Dispatch and Analysis Tool (Hy-DAT) as an interactive graphical user interface (GUI), that uses a novel methodology to address the hydropower modeling gaps like water availability and inter-dependency using a database, and algorithms, to generate accurate representative models for power system simulation.

Wang, Dewei↗
DOE OSTI2024

Disruption of Commercial Solar Inverter System by TLS Proxy Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that encrypts communication data, providing end-to-end communication encryption and authentication. Currently, TLS is widely adopted for securing communication between servers and end devices, including solar inverter systems. Therefore, users/operators can securely access the solar inverters through a web user interface (WebUI) application programmable interface (API) on a PC or server over TLS-enabled Wi-Fi or Ethernet. However, the security of the TLS-based network becomes compromised if it is breached by a TLS proxy man-in-the-middle (MITM) exploit. This report explores potential vulnerabilities in a commercial solar inverter system that leverages a TLS proxy MITM and discusses the impacts through assume-breached penetration testing. Furthermore, the paper explores recommended mitigation methods against the TLS proxy MITM exploit in solar inverters.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Assessment of the Usability of Machine Learning Based Tools for the Security Operations Center

Gartner, a large research and advisory company, anticipates that by 2024 80% of security operation centers (SOCs) will use machine learning (ML) based solutions to enhance their operations. 1 1 https://www.ciodive.com/news/how-data-science-tools-can-lighten-the-load-for-cybersecurity-teams/572209/ In light of such widespread adoption, it is vital for the research community to identify and address usability concerns. This work presents the results of the first in situ usability assessment of ML-based tools. With the support of the US Navy, we leveraged the national cyber range-a large, air-gapped cyber testbed equipped with state-of-the-art network and user emulation capabilities-to study six US Naval SOC analysts' usage of two tools. Our analysis identified several serious usability issues, including multiple violations of established usability heuristics for user interface design. We also discovered that analysts lacked a clear mental model of how these tools generate scores, resulting in mistrust a and/or misuse of the tools themselves. Surprisingly, we found no correlation between analysts' level of education or years of experience and their performance with either tool, suggesting that other factors such as prior background knowledge or personality play a significant role in ML-based tool usage. Our findings demonstrate that ML-based security tool vendors must put a renewed focus on working with analysts, both experienced and inexperienced, to ensure that their systems are usable and useful in real-world security operations settings.

Oesch, T↗
DOE OSTI2024

Spatial-Temporal PV Hosting Capacity Estimation and Evaluation

Evaluating Photovoltaic Hosting Capacity (PVHC) is an essential step in the process of integrating solar energy into power grids, particularly when focusing on the distribution network (DN) as the primary integration target. PVHC needs to be investigated, especially in cases where the grids are unbalanced, and their operational conditions vary spatially and temporally. This motivation prompted us to propose a scalable model tailored to this application. In this paper, we applied linearization to the alternating current optimal power flow (AC-OPF) and solar inverters, transforming the original problem into a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem. Additionally, we accounted for the battery energy storage system (BESS) as a time-coupling factor for calculating PVHC. We then compared the PVHC results between the IEEE-13 bus and SMART-DS San Francisco (SFO) cases and discussed the extent to which BESS can enhance the PVHC of a DN. Furthermore, we designed a web-based graphical visualization for the SFO case, enabling user interaction with raw data and simulation results on a map through a graphical user interface (GUI). In summary, our results and findings provide valuable insights for future three-phase unbalanced AC-OPF PVHC practices and their visualization.

AC-optimal power flow↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing of Wide-Area Damping Controller for Field Implementation in Large-scale Power Grid

In our previous work, an adaptive measurement-driven wide-area damping controller (WADC) for suppressing inter-area oscillations has been proposed and a hardware prototype was developed and validated through hardware-in-the-loop tests. As a continuation of the work, this paper introduces a WADC software prototype to handle the realistic challenges for field implementation in the control room of the power grid. The WADC software is developed and operated as an openPDC adapter with a graphical user interface (GUI) to monitor the WADC inputs and output, the communication delays and other variables. The software prototype has been fully tested through an enhanced hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test setup. Its performance is verified under various realistic communication uncertainties, such as random time delays and data losses, with different communication protocols. The experiment results have proven the WADC software can deliver sufficient damping to suppress the targeted oscillation mode in handling various communication uncertainties for future field deployment.

Jia, Xinlan↗
DOE OSTI2018

Laboratory Studies of Particle Cementation and PV Module Soiling

Monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) systems can maintain efficient operations. However, extensive monitoring of large quantities of data can be a cumbersome process. The present work introduces a simple, inexpensive, yet effective data monitoring strategy for detecting faults and determining lost revenues automatically. This was achieved through the deployment of Raspberry Pi (RPI) device at a PV system's combiner box. The RPI was programmed to collect PV data through Modbus communications, and store the data locally in a MySQL database. Then, using a Gaussian Process Regression algorithm the RPI device was able to accurately estimate string level current, voltage, and power values. The device could also detect system faults using a Support Vector Novelty Detection algorithm. Finally, the RPI was programmed to output the potential lost revenue caused by the abnormal condition. The system analytics information was then displayed on a user interface. The interface could be accessed by operations personal to direct maintenance activity so that critical issues can be solved quickly.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Extremum Seeking-Based Control System for Particle Accelerator Beam Loss Minimization

Particle accelerators throughout the world vary widely in terms of age and availability of advanced noninvasive diagnostics that provide varying levels of detail about the accelerated beams. Additionally, beam loss measurements and current monitors are ubiquitous in the accelerator community, they are noninvasive, and they are some of the most important metrics in terms of preventing damage or irradiation of beam pipes and equipment for high-energy machines. However, beam loss and current measurements are difficult to use for feedback tuning because of a lack of a known analytic relationship between scalar loss measurements throughout an accelerator and the hundreds of thousands of parameters that influence the beam and time variation of the beam source itself. In this work, we present a model-independent extremum seeking (ES) controller, which has been implemented for automated tuning and optimization of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) linear ion accelerator based only on scalar quantities, such as beam loss or flux measurements. We demonstrate the approach on various accelerator subsystems, including groups of radio frequency (RF) accelerating cavities, quadrupole magnets, bending magnets, and steering magnets. This tool is now available as a use graphical user interface (GUI) in the LANSCE control room, allowing beam physicists to choose arbitrary groups of parameters and beam loss or current monitors for adaptive tuning.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Transparent Ceramic Garnet Gamma-Ray Spectrometer With Directionality

We have developed a handheld γ -ray spectrometer based on 1024 pixels, 2.8mm×2.8mm×6 mm in size, of gadolinium–yttrium–gallium–aluminum garnet (GYGAG) ((Gd,Y,Ce) 3 (Ga,Al) 5 O 12 ) ceramic scintillator (total of 48-cm 3 detector volume) coupled to silicon photodiode (SiPD) arrays. The SiPD arrays and readout ASIC, originally developed for medical imaging applications, have been adapted for portability in a lightweight box with heatsink and thermoelectric cooling. Custom readout firmware for γ-ray spectroscopy has been implemented, and a system user interface was developed that runs on an Android tablet. Here, we have optimized the processing of the GYGAG(Ce), the pixel optical coupling, and electronics readout parameters to obtain single pixel energy resolution as good as R(662keV)=3.1 % full-width at half-maximum and full device resolution with singles events from all pixels summed of 4.5%. When Compton-summed events are included, full-energy peak efficiency increases by ~2× , and R(662keV)=4.7 % is obtained for the full device. The pixelated architecture is leveraged to locate point sources of radiological materials using Compton imaging and active masking techniques. Directional detection of a 1 mCi Cs-137 source at 10 m can be made to ±10° in ~2 s.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

FEgen (v.1): Field Emission Distribution Generator Freeware Based on Fowler–Nordheim Equation

This work presents an open-source code, FEgen, that generates initial field emission distributions based on the time-dependent Fowler–Nordheim equation. Current in-demand and open-source beam tracking software—such as ASTRA, IMPACT-T, and GPT—do not contain native distribution generator functions suitable for field emitted electron tracking and phase space analysis. Furthermore, the intuitive graphical user interface of FEgen generates input files shown to be fully compatible with both ASTRA and GPT. Here, detailed application examples demonstrating a subset of FEgen’s capabilities are given by creating a customized emitter pattern with application to transverse beam shaping and longitudinal beam dynamic experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cross-facility science with the Superfacility Project at LBNL

As data sets from DOE user science facilities grow in both size and complexity there is an urgent need for new capabilities to transfer, analyze and manage the data underlying scientific discoveries. LBNL's Superfacility project brings together experimental and observational research instruments with computational and network facilities at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) with the goal of enabling user science. Here, we report on recent innovations in the Superfacility project, including advanced data management, API-based automation, real-Time interactive user interfaces, and supported infrastructure for 'edge' services.

Enders, B↗
DOE OSTI2016

Technical Note: SPEKTR 3.0—A computational tool for x-ray spectrum modeling and analysis

Purpose: A computational toolkit (SPEKTR 3.0) has been developed to calculate x-ray spectra based on the tungsten anode spectral model using interpolating cubic splines (TASMICS) algorithm, updating previous work based on the tungsten anode spectral model using interpolating polynomials (TASMIP) spectral model. The toolkit includes a MATLAB (The Mathworks, Natick, MA) function library and improved user interface (UI) along with an optimization algorithm to match calculated beam quality with measurements. Methods: The SPEKTR code generates x-ray spectra (photons/mm{sup 2}/mAs at 100 cm from the source) using TASMICS as default (with TASMIP as an option) in 1 keV energy bins over beam energies 20–150 kV, extensible to 640 kV using the TASMICS spectra. An optimization tool was implemented to compute the added filtration (Al and W) that provides a best match between calculated and measured x-ray tube output (mGy/mAs or mR/mAs) for individual x-ray tubes that may differ from that assumed in TASMICS or TASMIP and to account for factors such as anode angle. Results: The median percent difference in photon counts for a TASMICS and TASMIP spectrum was 4.15% for tube potentials in the range 30–140 kV with the largest percentage difference arising in the low and high energy bins due to measurement errors in the empirically based TASMIP model and inaccurate polynomial fitting. The optimization tool reported a close agreement between measured and calculated spectra with a Pearson coefficient of 0.98. Conclusions: The computational toolkit, SPEKTR, has been updated to version 3.0, validated against measurements and existing models, and made available as open source code. Video tutorials for the SPEKTR function library, UI, and optimization tool are available.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-C-BRC-07: Parametrized GPU Accelerated Electron Monte Carlo Second Check

Purpose: I am presenting a parameterized 3D GPU accelerated electron Monte Carlo second check program. Method: I wrote the 3D grid dose calculation algorithm in CUDA and utilized an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti to run all of the calculations. The electron path beyond the distal end of the cone is governed by four parameters: the amplitude of scattering (AMP), the mean and width of a Gaussian energy distribution (E and α), and the percentage of photons. In my code, I adjusted all parameters until the calculated PDD and profile fit the measured 10×10 open beam data within 1%/1mm. I then wrote a user interface for reading the DICOM treatment plan and images in Python. In order to verify the algorithm, I calculated 3D dose distributions on a variety of phantoms and geometries, and compared them with the Eclipse eMC calculations. I also calculated several patient specific dose distributions, including a nose and an ear. Finally, I compared my algorithm’s computation times to Eclipse’s. Results: The calculated MU for all of the investigated geometries agree with the TPS within the TG-114 action level of 5%. The MU for the nose was < 0.5 % different while the MU for the ear at 105 SSD was ∼2 %. Calculation times for a 12MeV 10×10 open beam ranged from 1 second for a 2.5 mm grid resolution with ∼15 million particles to 33 seconds on a 1 mm grid with ∼460 million particles. Eclipse calculation runtimes distributed over 10 FAS workers were 9 seconds to 15 minutes respectively. Conclusion: The GPU accelerated second check allows quick MU verification while accounting for patient specific geometry and heterogeneity.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-I-63: Relaxation Times of Lipid Resonances in NAFLD Animal Model Using Enhanced Curve Fitting

Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate the relaxation time of methylene resonance in comparison with other lipid resonances. Methods: The examinations were performed on a 3.0T MRI scanner using a four-channel animal coil. Eight more Sprague-Dawley rats in the same baseline weight range were housed with ad libitum access to water and a high-fat (HF) diet (60% fat, 20% protein, and 20% carbohydrate). In order to avoid large blood vessels, a voxel (0.8×0.8×0.8 cm{sup 3}) was placed in a homogeneous area of the liver parenchyma during free breathing. Lipid relaxations in NC and HF diet rats were estimated at a fixed repetition time (TR) of 6000 msec, and multi echo time (TEs) of 40–220 msec. All spectra for data measurement were processed using the Advanced Method for Accurate, Robust, and Efficient Spectral (AMARES) fitting algorithm of the Java-based Magnetic Resonance User Interface (jMRUI) package. Results: The mean T2 relaxation time of the methylene resonance in normal-chow diet was 37.1 msec (M{sub 0}, 2.9±0.5), with a standard deviation of 4.3 msec. The mean T2 relaxation time of the methylene resonance was 31.4 msec (M{sub 0}, 3.7±0.3), with a standard deviation of 1.8 msec. The T2 relaxation times of methylene protons were higher in normal-chow diet rats than in HF rats (p<0.05), and the extrapolated M{sub 0} values were higher in HF rats than in NC rats (p<0.005). The excellent linear fit with R{sup 2}>0.9971 and R{sup 2}>0.9987 indicates T2 relaxation decay curves with mono-exponential function. Conclusion: In in vivo, a sufficient spectral resolution and a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be achieved, so that the data measured over short TE values can be extrapolated back to TE = 0 to produce better estimates of the relative weights of the spectral components. In the short term, treating the effective decay rate as exponential is an adequate approximation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-540: Comprehensive Fluence Delivery Optimization with Multileaf Collimation

Purpose: Multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf sequencing is performed via commercial black-box implementations, on which a user has limited to no access. We have developed an explicit, generic MLC sequencing model to serve as a tool for future investigations of fluence map optimization, fluence delivery optimization, and rotational collimator delivery methods. Methods: We have developed a novel, comprehensive model to effectively account for a variety of transmission and penumbra effects previously treated on an ad hoc basis in the literature. As the model is capable of quantifying a variety of effects, we utilize the asymmetric leakage intensity across each leaf to deliver fluence maps with pixel size smaller than the narrowest leaf width. Developed using linear programming and mixed integer programming formulations, the model is implemented using state of the art open-source solvers. To demonstrate the versatility of the algorithm, a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed in MATLAB capable of accepting custom leaf specifications and transmission parameters. As a preliminary proof-ofconcept, we have sequenced the leaves of a Varian 120 Leaf Millennium MLC for five prostate cancer patient fields and one head and neck field. Predetermined fluence maps have been processed by data smoothing methods to obtain pixel sizes of 2.5 cm{sup 2}. The quality of output was analyzed using computer simulations. Results: For the prostate fields, an average root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.82 and gamma (0.5mm/0.5%) of 91.4% were observed compared to RMSE and gamma (0.5mm/0.5%) values of 7.04 and 34.0% when the leakage considerations were omitted. Similar results were observed for the head and neck case. Conclusion: A model to sequence MLC leaves to optimality has been proposed. Future work will involve extensive testing and evaluation of the method on clinical MLCs and comparison with black-box leaf sequencing algorithms currently used by commercial treatment planning systems.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-G-TeP2-15: Feasibility Study of Fiber-Optic Cerenkov Radiation Sensors for in Vivo Measurement: Dosimetric Characterization and Clinical Application in Proton Beams

Purpose: To evaluate the possibility of a fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor (FCRS) for in vivo dose verification in proton therapy. Methods: The Cerenkov radiation due to the proton beam was measured using a homemade phantom, consisting of a plastic optical fiber (POF, PGSCD1001-13-E, Toray, Tokyo, Japan) connected to each channel of a multianode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT:H7546, Hamamatsu Photonics, Shizuoka, Japan). Data were acquired using a multi-anode photomultiplier tube with the NI-DAQ system (National Instruments Texas, USA). The real-time monitoring graphic user interface was programmed using Labview. The FCRS was analyzed for its dosimetrics characteristic in proton beam. To determine the accuracy of the FCRS in proton dose measurements, we compared the ionization chamber dose measurements using a water phantom. We investigated the feasibility of the FCRS for the measurement of dose distributions near the superficial region for proton plans with a varying separation between the target volume and the surface of 3 patients using a humanoid phantom. Results: The dose-response has good linearity. Dose-rate and energy dependence were found to be within 1%. Depth-dose distributions in non-modulated proton beams obtained with the FCRS was in good agreement with the depth-dose measurements from the ionization chamber. To evaluate the dosimetric accuracy of the FCRS, the difference of isocenter dose between the delivery dose calculated by the treatment planning system and that measured by the FCRS was within 3%. With in vivo dosimetry using the humanoid phantom, the calculated surface doses overestimated measurements by 4%–8% using FCRS. Conclusion: In previous study, our results indicate that the performance of the array-type FCRS was comparable to that of the currently used a multi-layer ion chamber system. In this study, we also believe that the fiber-optic Cerenkov radiation sensor has considerable potential for use with in vivo patient proton dosimetry.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

MO-DE-BRA-02: SIMAC: A Simulation Tool for Teaching Linear Accelerator Physics

Purpose: The first goal of this work is to develop software that can simulate the physics of linear accelerators (linac). The second goal is to show that this simulation tool is effective in teaching linac physics to medical physicists and linac service engineers. Methods: Linacs were modeled using analytical expressions that can correctly describe the physical response of a linac to parameter changes in real time. These expressions were programmed with a graphical user interface in order to produce an environment similar to that of linac service mode. The software, “SIMAC”, has been used as a learning aid in a professional development course 3 times (2014 – 2016) as well as in a physics graduate program. Exercises were developed to supplement the didactic components of the courses consisting of activites designed to reinforce the concepts of beam loading; the effect of steering coil currents on beam symmetry; and the relationship between beam energy and flatness. Results: SIMAC was used to teach 35 professionals (medical physicists; regulators; service engineers; 1 week course) as well as 20 graduate students (1 month project). In the student evaluations, 85% of the students rated the effectiveness of SIMAC as very good or outstanding, and 70% rated the software as the most effective part of the courses. Exercise results were collected showing that 100% of the students were able to use the software correctly. In exercises involving gross changes to linac operating points (i.e. energy changes) the majority of students were able to correctly perform these beam adjustments. Conclusion: Software simulation(SIMAC), can be used to effectively teach linac physics. In short courses, students were able to correctly make gross parameter adjustments that typically require much longer training times using conventional training methods.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

MO-FG-CAMPUS-TeP1-03: Pre-Treatment Surface Imaging Based Collision Detection

Purpose: Modern radiotherapy increasingly employs large immobilization devices, gantry attachments, and couch rotations for treatments. All of which raise the risk of collisions between the patient and the gantry / couch. Collision detection is often achieved by manually checking each couch position in the treatment room and sometimes results in extraneous imaging if collisions are detected after image based setup has begun. In the interest of improving efficiency and avoiding extra imaging, we explore the use of a surface imaging based collision detection model. Methods: Surfaces acquired from AlignRT (VisionRT, London, UK) were transferred in wavefront format to a custom Matlab (Mathworks, Natick, MA) software package (CCHECK). Computed tomography (CT) scans acquired at the same time were sent to CCHECK in DICOM format. In CCHECK, binary maps of the surfaces were created and overlaid on the CT images based on the fixed relationship of the AlignRT and CT coordinate systems. Isocenters were added through a graphical user interface (GUI). CCHECK then compares the inputted surfaces to a model of the linear accelerator (linac) to check for collisions at defined gantry and couch positions. Note, CCHECK may be used with or without a CT. Results: The nominal surface image field of view is 650 mm × 900 mm, with variance based on patient position and size. The accuracy of collision detections is primarily based on the linac model and the surface mapping process. The current linac model and mapping process yield detection accuracies on the order of 5 mm, assuming no change in patient posture between surface acquisition and treatment. Conclusions: CCHECK provides a non-ionizing method to check for collisions without the patient in the treatment room. Collision detection accuracy may be improved with more robust linac modeling. Additional gantry attachments (e.g. conical collimators) can be easily added to the model.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗