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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Digital Tools for the Preventive Conservation of Built Heritage: The Church of Santa Ana in Seville

Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) plays a pivotal role in heritage conservation endeavours, offering a robust framework for digitally documenting existing structures and supporting conservation practices. However, HBIM’s efficacy hinges upon the implementation of case-specific approaches to address the requirements and resources of each individual asset and context. This paper defines a flexible and generalisable workflow that encompasses various aspects (i.e., documentation, surveying, vulnerability assessment) to support risk-informed decision making in heritage management tailored to the peculiar conservation needs of the structure. This methodology includes an initial investigation covering historical data collection, metric and condition surveys and non-destructive testing. The second stage includes Finite Element Method (FEM) modelling and structural analysis. All data generated and processed are managed in a multi-purpose HBIM model. The methodology is tested on a relevant case study, namely, the church of Santa Ana in Seville, chosen for its historical significance, intricacy and susceptibility to seismic action. The defined level of detail of the HBIM model is sufficient to inform the structural analysis, being balanced by a more accurate representation of the alterations, through linked orthophotos and a comprehensive list of alphanumerical parameters. This ensures an adequate level of information, optimising the trade-off between model complexity, investigation time requirements, computational burden and reliability in the decision-making process. Field testing and FEM analysis provide valuable insight into the main sources of vulnerability in the building, including the connection between the tower and nave and the slenderness of the columns.

Chaves, Estefanía↗
DOE OSTI2019

Efficacy of occupancy-based smart ventilation control strategies in energy-efficient homes in the United States

Proper ventilation of residences is essential for occupant health and comfort, and is responsible for a significant portion of energy consumption in homes. This study examines a method for providing adequate ventilation in homes while reducing energy consumption and peak demand: “smart” control of ventilation through sensing of occupancy and modulation of ventilation fans. We first conducted a detailed simulation study of advanced California homes with several occupancy-based ventilation control strategies. We then look at how general these results are nationally through a second simulation campaign in 15 ASHRAE climate zones. All simulations compared equivalent indoor air quality situations and assessed energy savings benefits. A key difference from previous demand-controlled ventilation strategies is that our study includes the effects of building related contaminants that are continuously emitted, irrespective of occupancy status, consistent with the requirements in ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2016. Under this new assumption, it is very difficult to extract substantial energy savings using only occupancy sensing. For the baseline strategy, savings were less than 10% of ventilation energy and sometimes negative in all cases analyzed other than leakier 2-story homes. Addition of a pre-occupancy flush period increases savings somewhat, but savings are still less than 15% other than in 2-story leakier homes.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Enabling CCS via Low-temperature Geothermal Energy Integration for Fossil-fired Power Generation

Here, among the key barriers to commercial scale deployment is the cost associated with CO 2 capture. This is particularly true for existing large, fossil-fired assets that account for a large fraction of the electricity generation fleet in developed nations, including the U.S. Fitting conventional combustion technologies with CO 2 capture systems can carry an energy penalty of thirty percent or more, resulting in an increased price of power to the grid, as well as an overall decrease in net plant output. Taken together with the positive growth in demand for electricity, this implies a need for accelerated capital build-out in the power generation markets to accommodate both demand growth and decreased output at retrofitted plants. In this paper, the authors present the results of a study to assess the potential to use geothermal energy to provide boiler feedwater preheating, capturing efficiency improvements designed to offset the losses associated with CO 2 capture. Based on NETL benchmark cases and subsequent analysis of the application using site-specific data from the North Valmy power plant, several cases for CO 2 capture were evaluated. These included geothermally assisted MEA capture, CO2BOLs capture, and stand-alone hybrid power generation, compared with a baseline, no-geothermal case. Based on Case 10, and assuming 2.7 MMlb/h of geothermally sourced 150 ºC water, the parasitic power load associated with MEA capture could be offset by roughly seven percent, resulting in a small (~1 percent) overall loss to net power generation, but at levelized costs of electricity similar to the no-geothermal CCS case. For the CO 2 BOLs case, the availability of 150°C geothermal fluid could allow the facility to not only offset the net power decrease associated with CO 2 BOLs capture alone, but could increase nameplate capacity by two percent. The geothermally coupled CO 2 BOLs case also decreases LCOE by 0.75 ¢/kWh relative to the non-hybrid CO 2 BOLs case, with the improved performance over the MEA case driven by the lower regeneration temperature and associated duty for CO 2 BOLs relative to MEA.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Soil exchange rates of COS and CO18O differ with the diversity of microbial communities and their carbonic anhydrase enzymes

Abstract Differentiating the contributions of photosynthesis and respiration to the global carbon cycle is critical for improving predictive climate models. Carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity in leaves is responsible for the largest biosphere-atmosphere trace gas fluxes of carbonyl sulfide (COS) and the oxygen-18 isotopologue of carbon dioxide (CO18O) that both reflect gross photosynthetic rates. However, CA activity also occurs in soils and will be a source of uncertainty in the use of COS and CO18O as carbon cycle tracers until process-based constraints are improved. In this study, we measured COS and CO18O exchange rates and estimated the corresponding CA activity in soils from a range of biomes and land use types. Soil CA activity was not uniform for COS and CO2, and patterns of divergence were related to microbial community composition and CA gene expression patterns. In some cases, the same microbial taxa and CA classes catalyzed both COS and CO2 reactions in soil, but in other cases the specificity towards the two substrates differed markedly. CA activity for COS was related to fungal taxa and β-D-CA expression, whereas CA activity for CO2 was related to algal and bacterial taxa and α-CA expression. This study integrates gas exchange measurements, enzyme activity models, and characterization of soil taxonomic and genetic diversity to build connections between CA activity and the soil microbiome. Importantly, our results identify kinetic parameters to represent soil CA activity during application of COS and CO18O as carbon cycle tracers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE EMISSION OF CYGNUS X-1: OBSERVATIONS WITH INTEGRAL SPI FROM 20 keV TO 2 MeV

We report on Cyg X-1 observations performed by the SPI telescope on board the INTEGRAL mission and distributed over more than 6 years. We investigate the variability of the intensity and spectral shape of this peculiar source in the hard X-ray domain, and more particularly up to the MeV region. We first study the total averaged spectrum which presents the best signal-to-noise ratio (4 Ms of data). Then, we refine our results by building mean spectra by periods and gathering those of similar hardness. Several spectral shapes are observed with important changes in the curvature between 20 and 200 keV, even at the same luminosity level. In all cases, the emission decreases sharply above 700 keV, with flux values above 1 MeV (or upper limits) well below the recently reported polarized flux, while compatible with the MeV emission detected some years ago by the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory/COMPTEL. Finally, we take advantage of the spectroscopic capability of the instrument to seek for spectral features in the 500 keV region with negative results for any significant annihilation emission on 2 ks and day timescales, as well as in the total data set.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

IRES Microgrid Energy Integration Report Version 1.0

This report presents technical information and guidance for the planned Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) microgrid project. This deployment of the microgrid and its associated assets was initiated in the beginning of 2022 at the Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory (MCRL) facility of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)-Sequim, Washington. The information in the report is organized under two main focus areas: electrical power interface, or interconnection, information of planned IRES assets; and communication and control interface, or interoperability, information of the planned IRES assets. The information will provide technical input for the development of the IRES microgrid controller technical specification, and also provide input for PNNL’s evaluation of adequacy of the electrical service infrastructure at MCRL to support the IRES project and help identify any gaps that will require facility-based upgrades. From an R&D aspect, this study and report will build on PNNL’s research and development work relating to energy storage (ES) codes and standards (C&Ss), including hybrid systems, performed on behalf of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) ES. The current state of C&Ss for advanced technologies and their application, including microgrid-based technology is limited. For cases where formal standards issued by recognized Standards Developing Organizations do not yet exist, guidance is provided based on emerging best practices, including industry-group references that can be leveraged for microgrid technology which is in its early stages of development and use.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimal Design of Food Packaging Considering Waste Management Technologies to Achieve Circular Economy

Plastic packaging plays a fundamental role in the food industry, avoiding food waste and facilitating food access. The increasing plastic production and the lack of appropriate plastic waste management technologies represent a threat to the environmental and human welfare. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify sustainable packaging solutions. Circular economy (CE) promotes reducing waste and increasing recycling practices to achieve sustainability. In this work, we propose a CE framework based on multi-objective optimization, considering both economic and environmental impacts, to identify optimal packaging designs and waste management technologies. Using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA), this work aims to build the first steps in packaging design, informing about the best packaging alternatives and the optimal technology or technologies to process packaging waste. For the economic analysis, we consider the minimum increase in price (MIP) when adding recycling to the cost of each packaging solution, while for the environmental analysis, the greenhouse gas emissions impact was considered. A case study on ground coffee packaging is used to illustrate the proposed framework. The results demonstrate that the multilayer bag option is the most convenient when considering both the chosen economic and environmental impacts.

Life Cycle Analysis↗
DOE OSTI2011

Best Practices Case Study: Pine Mountain Builders - Pine Mountain, GA

Case study of Pine Mountain Builders who worked with DOE’s IBACOS team to achieve HERS scores of 59 on 140 homes built around a wetlands in Georgia. The team used taped rigid foam exterior sheathing and spray foam insulation in the walls and on the underside of the attic for a very tight 1.0 to 1.8 ACH 50 building shell.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2017

PROVIDING PLANT DATA ANALYTICS THROUGH A SEAMLESS DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT

As technology continues to evolve and become more integrated into a worker’s daily routine in the Nuclear Power industry the need for easy access to data becomes a priority. Not only does the need for data increase but the amount of data collected increases. In most cases the data is collected and stored in various software applications, many of which are legacy systems, which do not offer any other option to access the data except through the application’s user interface. Furthermore the data gets grouped in “silos” according to work function and not necessarily by subject. Hence, in order to access all the information needed for a particular task or analysis one may have to access multiple applications to gather all the data needed. The industry and the research community have identified the need for a digital architecture and more importantly the need for a Seamless Digital Environment. An SDE provides a means to access multiple applications, gather the data points needed, conduct the analysis requested, and present the result to the user with minimal or no effort by the user. In addition, the nuclear utilities have identified the need for research focused on data analytics. The effort should develop and evaluate use cases for data mining and analytics for employing information from plant sensors and database for use in developing improved business analytics. Idaho National Laboratory is leading such effort, which is conducted in close collaboration with vendors, nuclear utilities, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, and Electric Power Research Institute. The goal of the study is to research potential approaches to building an analytics solution for equipment reliability, on a small scale, focusing on either a single piece of equipment or a single system. The analytics solution will likely consist of a data integration layer, predictive and machine learning layer and the user interface layer that will display the output of the analysis in a straight forward, easy to consume manner. This paper will describe the study and the initial results.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Anaerobic Digestion Implementation at Dairies in Colorado

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of animal manure to produce biogas (methane) fuel has a wide variety of environmental benefits to air and water quality in addition to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition, the resulting biogas fuel and digestate products can help meet the energy needs and provide revenue to the farm. This case study explores the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing an AD system at the Aurora Organic Dairy (AOD) High Plains Complex in Gill, Colorado. The project is envisioned as digester located at the AOD Complex with a single feed stream of manure from the Complex. The project would be implemented by a third-party contractor who would build and operate the system and pay the dairy a fraction of the profits, in addition to providing by-products such as digestate solids and liquids for fertilizer.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Updated Subsurface Data Base For Bear Creek Valley, Chestnut Ridge, And Parts Of Bethel Valley On The U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Reservation

This document represents a compilation of location, construction, and hydrologic information relating to boreholes, groundwater monitoring wells, and surface water locations that have been installed/established at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) through August 2013. To date, a total of 1422 boreholes and wells have been installed in and around the Y-12 area. Of those, 835 existing boreholes and wells continue to be utilized for groundwater monitoring programs, research, remedial investigations, plume characterization and delineation studies, and various other hydrogeologic endeavors. In addition, 215 surface water locations, such as rivers, streams, seeps, springs, lakes, ponds, and building sumps are included in this database. General data about boreholes and wells included in the database are survey coordinates, survey system, elevations, alternative names and well status. Surface water location information (Appendix I) includes name, alias, functional area, northing and easting coordinates, survey system, map number and sampling history. Tabulated construction data include total depth, completion method, borehole diameter, casing and screen materials, casing and screen diameters, casing and screen depths, filter pack depths, open-hole intervals, and open-hole diameters. Hydrogeological data summarized in this document include the aquifer monitored by the completion interval, depth to weathered and fresh bedrock, formations penetrated, well sampling history, and whether rock core and geophysical logs were obtained. This document (which is the sixth revision to Y/TS–881 and the ninth overall update of a previous compilation) is published on a regular basis by the Y-12 Groundwater Protection Program (GWPP), which serves as custodian of drilling records and well construction data for the network of wells and other groundwater monitoring stations at Y-12. The tabulations in this database are arranged in appendices of like information. An example application of the data compiled in this document would be the evaluation of the suitability of wells for continued use in groundwater investigations and monitoring studies. Other uses may include: the siting of hydrogeological characterization activities, background evaluations of sites prior to initiation of new drilling activities, and hydrogeological review of selected sites prior to the initiation of remedial actions or new construction activity. Existing boreholes, wells, and surface water locations are presented on a series of maps (Appendix K). Boreholes and wells that have been plugged and abandoned, destroyed, could not be located, or otherwise are of unknown status/condition appear on a second series of maps of identical coverage (Appendix L).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

The cost of getting CCS wrong: Uncertainty, infrastructure design, and stranded CO 2

Carbon capture, and storage (CCS) infrastructure will require industry—such as fossil-fuel power, ethanol production, and oil and gas extraction—to make massive investment in infrastructure. The cost of getting these investments wrong will be substantial and will impact the success of CCS technology. Multiple factors can and will impact the success of commercial-scale CCS, including significant uncertainties regarding capture, transport, and injection-storage decisions. Uncertainties throughout the CCS supply chain include policy, technology, engineering performance, economics, and market forces. In particular, large uncertainties exist for the injection and storage of CO 2 . Even taking into account upfront investment in site characterization, the final performance of the storage phase is largely unknown until commercial-scale injection has started. We explore and quantify the impact of getting CCS infrastructure decisions wrong based on uncertain injection rates and uncertain CO 2 storage capacities using a case study managing CO 2 emissions from the Canadian oil sands industry in Alberta. We use Sim CCS, a widely used CCS infrastructure design framework, to develop multiple CCS infrastructure scenarios. Each scenario consists of a CCS infrastructure network that connects CO 2 sources (oil sands extraction and processing) with CO 2 storage reservoirs (acid gas storage reservoirs) using a dedicated CO 2 pipeline network. Each scenario is analyzed under a range of uncertain storage estimates and infrastructure performance is assessed and quantified in terms of cost to build additional infrastructure to store all CO 2 . We also include the role of stranded CO 2 , CO 2 that a source was expecting to but cannot capture due substandard performance in the transport and storage infrastructure. Results show that the cost of getting the original infrastructure design wrong are significant and that comprehensive planning will be required to ensure that CCS becomes a successful climate mitigation technology. Here, we show that the concept of stranded CO 2 can transform a seemingly high-performing infrastructure design into the worst case scenario.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Case Studies Comparing System Advisor Model (SAM) Results to Real Performance Data: Preprint

NREL has completed a series of detailed case studies comparing the simulations of the System Advisor Model (SAM) and measured performance data or published performance expectations. These case studies compare PV measured performance data with simulated performance data using appropriate weather data. The measured data sets were primarily taken from NREL onsite PV systems and weather monitoringstations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

DOE ZERH Case Study: Sunroc Builders, Bates Avenue, Lakeland, FL

Case study of a DOE 2015 Housing Innovation Award winning affordable home in the hot-humid climate that got HERS 57 without PV, with 6.5” SIP walls and 8.25” SIP roof; uninsulated slab foundation; fresh air intake; SEER 16 ducted air source heat pump.

Building America↗