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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 1,297 records · Page 72
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Wildland Fires in the Subtropical Hill Forests of Southeastern Bangladesh

The first ever comprehensive study on wildland fires in Bangladesh is carried out to develop a fire prevention and prediction method. The major causes of huge wildland fires (88%) in the subtropical Chittagong Hill forest (43% of total) of southern Bangladesh are reported as shifting cultivation, grazing and unauthorized settlement. We used satellite hotspot (HS) data from 2003 to 2021 (a total of 54,669 HSs) to clarify the spatio-temporal structure of wildland fires. Fire weather conditions were analyzed using various weather data and synoptic-scale weather maps at different air levels. Fires concentrated from March through April or a transitional period from the dry season, caused by the Asian winter monsoon, to the wet season, due to the Asian summer monsoon. Fire occurrence depended on dry conditions and pre-monsoon showers and their timing. The difference in 925 hPa heights of high and low pressure systems may be attributed to the different types of the Asian winter and summer monsoons. The average maximum air temperature and incident shortwave solar energy in April were the highest and strongest, contributing fire-prone weather conditions. Based on the analysis, a fire prevention and prediction method will be developed, and this report may also facilitate the establishment of future CO 2 reduction measures for Bangladesh.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Multiphysics Multiscale Simulation Platform for Damage, Environmental Degradation, and Life Prediction of CMCs in Extreme Environments

This project successfully developed a multiphysics, multiscale computational framework to enhance the design and development of CMCs, with a focus on modeling highly nonlinear, time-dependent damage mechanisms and material degradation under extreme conditions, such as those experienced in turbine service environments. The project made significant advances in improving our understanding of progressive damage, oxidative degradation, and time-dependent inelastic deformation in CMCs, with particular attention to the role of uncertainties in predictions. Key outcomes include the integration of advanced material characterization, uncertainty quantification, and multiphysics constitutive models to predict the behavior of CMCs over their service life. A novel multiscale methodology was employed, which integrated microscale constituent behaviors with structural-scale responses, enabling the manufacturing defects in the microstructure that are prone to damage nucleation. Through the development of DL algorithms, the project advanced the prediction of damage initiation and crack propagation, taking into account the defect morphology and statistical variations across multiple scales. The framework was rigorously validated using thermomechanical experiments, which tested CMCs under various mechanical loadings at elevated temperatures, further enhancing the model's predictive capability. Overall, the research outcomes have provided a more accurate, reliable method for predicting CMC component life, significantly advancing material design, and improving component reliability in extreme environments. This work has strong implications for the optimization of turbine components and other high-performance applications where CMCs are used.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unsupervised learning-enabled pulsed infrared thermographic microscopy of subsurface defects in stainless steel

Metallic structures produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing method (AM) frequently contain microscopic porosity defects, with typical approximate size distribution from one to 100 microns. Presence of such defects could lead to premature failure of the structure. In principle, structural integrity assessment of LPBF metals can be accomplished with nondestructive evaluation (NDE). Pulsed infrared thermography (PIT) is a non-contact, one-sided NDE method that allows for imaging of internal defects in arbitrary size and shape metallic structures using heat transfer. PIT imaging is performed using compact instrumentation consisting of a flash lamp for deposition of a heat pulse, and a fast frame infrared (IR) camera for measuring surface temperature transients. However, limitations of imaging resolution with PIT include blurring due to heat diffusion, sensitivity limit of the IR camera. We demonstrate enhancement of PIT imaging capability with unsupervised learning (UL), which enables PIT microscopy of subsurface defects in high strength corrosion resistant stainless steel 316 alloy. PIT images were processed with UL spatial–temporal separation-based clustering segmentation (STSCS) algorithm, refined by morphology image processing methods to enhance visibility of defects. The STSCS algorithm starts with wavelet decomposition to spatially de-noise thermograms, followed by UL principal component analysis (PCA), fine-tuning optimization, and neural learning-based independent component analysis (ICA) algorithms to temporally compress de-noised thermograms. The compressed thermograms were further processed with UL-based graph thresholding K-means clustering algorithm for defects segmentation. The STSCS algorithm also includes online learning feature for efficient re-training of the model with new data. For this study, metallic specimens with calibrated microscopic flat bottom hole defects, with diameters in the range from 203 to 76 µm, were produced using electro discharge machining (EDM) drilling. While the raw thermograms do not show any material defects, using STSCS algorithm to process PIT images reveals defects as small as 101 µm in diameter. To the best of our knowledge, this is the smallest reported size of a sub-surface defect in a metal imaged with PIT, which demonstrates the PIT capability of detecting defects in the size range relevant to quality control requirements of LPBF-printed high-strength metals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Verification and Validation of Two Hydrodynamic Methods for Simulations of High Energy Density Physics Problems

A 3D verification and validation suite of test problems is presented and used to evaluate hydrodynamic methods within a radiation hydrodynamics code, xRAGE. These test problems exercise different levels of complexity, building towards ICF problems which in addition to hydrodynamics also include three temperature plasma physics, thermal conduction, and radiation diffusion. Among the problems in the test suite are the Kidder ball problem, the Verney shell problem, and a 5-material compression problem, which exercise different purely hydrodynamic methods implemented within xRAGE. There is excellent agreement between 2D and 3D XRAGE simulation results and between the xRAGE results and the benchmark solutions. Two 3D ICF test problems are also presented, based on an OMEGA direct drive capsule experiment and on a NIF indirect drive capsule experiment. It is demonstrated that the newer unsplit hydrodynamic method in xRAGE produces more vorticity relative to the older default method. For the indirect drive capsule, the 3D simulations are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values of ion temperature and neutron production.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Initial Evaluation of the Elevated-Temperature Cyclic Properties of Optimized 316H Stainless Steel Fabricated by Powder Metallurgy Hot Isostatic Pressing

Powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing (PM-HIP) is a mature advanced manufacturing technology, which can consolidate metallic powder under high temperature and pressure to generate near-net shape components. This process can lower production costs and reduce component lead times for nuclear reactor construction and can be readily deployed in the near term for microreactor components because of their smaller size. The purpose of this work is to continue the evaluation of elevated-temperature cyclic material properties for PM-HIP 316H stainless steel. Prior scoping results have shown that the commercially procured PM-HIP stainless-steel materials have reduced creep-fatigue performance compared to wrought 316 stainless steels. To better understand how PM-HIP processed material properties compare to traditional manufacturing methods, additional billets of PM-HIP 316H stainless steel were procured and tested. This testing is necessary to understand how elevated-temperature properties are influenced by the PM-HIP process and what data are needed for incorporating PM HIP 316H into the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 5 for high temperature reactor construction. Specifically, an additional PM-HIP 316H stainless steel billet with lower oxygen and nitrogen concentrations was fabricated by the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre of the United Kingdom and tested to understand if elevated-temperature cyclic properties can be improved. The creep-fatigue resistance of the material from this new billet did not show appreciable improvement compared to prior testing.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Mapping protein dynamics at high spatial resolution with temperature-jump X-ray crystallography

Understanding and controlling protein motion at atomic resolution is a hallmark challenge for structural biologists and protein engineers because conformational dynamics are essential for complex functions such as enzyme catalysis and allosteric regulation. Time-resolved crystallography offers a window into protein motions, yet without a universal perturbation to initiate conformational changes the method has been limited in scope. Here we couple a solvent-based temperature jump with time-resolved crystallography to visualize structural motions in lysozyme, a dynamic enzyme. We observed widespread atomic vibrations on the nanosecond timescale, which evolve on the submillisecond timescale into localized structural fluctuations that are coupled to the active site. An orthogonal perturbation to the enzyme, inhibitor binding, altered these dynamics by blocking key motions that allow energy to dissipate from vibrations into functional movements linked to the catalytic cycle. Because temperature jump is a universal method for perturbing molecular motion, the method demonstrated here is broadly applicable for studying protein dynamics.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Radiative Heat Transport and Optical Characterization of High Temperature Molten Salts

The goal of this project was to advance the field of molten fluoride radiative heat transfer (RHT), through optical property measurements, heat transfer loop construction and operation, and computational fluid dynamics simulations. The following outcomes have been accomplished. A comprehensive review has been conducted to compile all available RHT-relevant optical absorption data for molten fluorides. The various measurement methods have also been compiled and critiqued. Thermal emission measurement methods have been refined and documented. A unique thermal emissivity measurement facility has been constructed and used to measure the emissivity of flowing FLiBe-exposed SS316 samples. A slight increase has been observed in the emissivity compared to unexposed SS316. A dual reflectance-emission setup was partially demonstrated for the purpose of molten fluoride absorption measurement. Preliminary infrared edge data for FLiNaK was obtained. A visible near-infrared (NIR) measurement setup has been constructed and will be used to measure absorption of corrosion products in FLiBe. A new multi-band thermal radiation method using blackbody-weighted spectral bands for the absorption-coefficient was deployed to investigate the thermal performance of the UW Natural Circulation FLiBe Loop under various power levels and operating conditions. The results showed an increasing and decreasing trend in the overall heat transfer with optical thickness with a maximum at optical thickness τ D ≈Ο(1). A forced convection FLiBe loop was constructed for the purpose of studying corrosion and thermal hydraulic phenomena. A vertical cantilever pump is used to achieve up to 5 gpm and 5 m/s flow velocity in hot and cold test sections. A methodology has been established for modeling radiative heat transfer (RHT) in molten salt coolants for the purpose of quantifying the contribution of thermal radiation in conditions relevant to FHR or MSR systems. The comparison between the results obtained for forced and mixed convection showed that in the studied ranges of optical thickness, the maximum effect of RHT on overall heat transfer was 60% improvement observed at z/D = 250 for forced convection; whereas for mixed convection, that value was higher at 170% observed at z/D = 30. The highest effect of RHT on the overall energy distribution was observed at τ D ≈3.4. Negligible effect (<20%) was observed above τ D =18 and below τ D ≈0.002. A CFD code-to-code comparison was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics at UW-Madison and STAR-CCM at MIT, for a forced and mixed convection laminar flow for a grey medium in a vertical heated using both COMSOL Multiphysics at UW-Madison and STAR-CCM at MIT. The relative error was the largest at τ D =40 for the radiative heat flux, bulk temperature, and Nusselt number. On the other hand, the relative error was the least at τ D =0.002 for the conductive heat flux, bulk temperature, and Nusselt number.

Anderson, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2022

Survey of Surveys: I. The largest compilation of radial velocities for the Galaxy

In the present-day panorama of large spectroscopic surveys, the amount, diversity, and complexity of the available data continuously increase. The overarching goal of studying the formation and evolution of our Galaxy is hampered by the heterogeneity of instruments, selection functions, analysis methods, and measured quantities. Here, we present a comprehensive catalogue, the Survey of Surveys (SoS), built by homogeneously merging the radial velocity (RV) determinations of the largest ground-based spectroscopic surveys to date, such as APOGEE, GALAH, Gaia-ESO, RAVE, and LAMOST, using Gaia as a reference. This pilot study serves to prove the concept and to test the methodology that we plan to apply in the future to the stellar parameters and abundance ratios as well. We have devised a multi-staged procedure that includes: (i) the cross match between Gaia and the spectroscopic surveys using the official Gaia cross-match algorithm, (ii) the normalisation of uncertainties using repeated measurements or the three-cornered hat method, (iii) the cross calibration of the RVs as a function of the main parameters on which depend (magnitude, effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and signal-to-noise ratio) to remove trends and zero point offsets, and (iv) the comparison with external high-resolution samples, such as the Gaia RV standards and the Geneva-Copenhagen survey, to validate the homogenisation procedure and to calibrate the RV zero-point of the SoS catalogue. We provide the largest homogenised RV catalogue to date, containing almost 11 million stars, of which about half come exclusively from Gaia and half in combination with the ground-based surveys. We estimate the accuracy of the RV zero-point to be about 0.16–0.31 km s –1 and the RV precision to be in the range 0.05–1.50 km s –1 depending on the type of star and on its survey provenance. We validate the SoS RVs with open clusters from a high resolution homogeneous samples and provide the systemic velocity of 55 individual open clusters. Additionally, we provide median RVs for 532 clusters recently discovered by Gaia data. The SoS is publicly available and ready to be applied to various research projects, such as the study of star clusters, Galactic archaeology, stellar streams, or the characterisation of planet-hosting stars, to name a few. We also plan to include survey updates and more data sources in future versions of the SoS.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integration of Online Cross-Section Generation Capability with Depletion and Transient Solvers in Griffin

Griffin is a Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE)-based reactor multiphysics analysis application jointly developed by Argonne and Idaho National Laboratories under the DOENE Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. In FY25, an online crosssection generation capability based on the Self-Shielding Application Programming Interface (SSAPI) was demonstrated for TRISO-fueled reactor problems under steady-state conditions. This fiscal year, that capability was extended to support depletion and transient multiphysics calculations, enabling high-fidelity analyses that generate self-shielded cross sections on the fly from the actual evolving composition and temperature states rather than from pre-tabulated libraries. For depletion, a two-way coupling was established in which SSAPI computes compact-averaged self-shielded cross sections that the depletion solver then uses to advance the Bateman equations, with the updated compositions returned to SSAPI at each step; the depletion module was refactored to support both library-based and SSAPI-based cross sections, and additional logic was added to track daughter isotopes and to exclude minor isotopes for efficiency. For transient analysis, the SSAPI multigroup library was extended with the kinetics data required for time-dependent calculations, the Improved Quasi-Static (IQS) scheme was coupled with SSAPI, and several supporting capabilities were implemented, including a self-shielding treatment that lets control rods and drums move within a self-shielded model, which had previously been impossible and had ruled out rod- and drum-movement transients with on-the-fly cross sections altogether, a new mixing scheme for delayed-neutron precursor decay constants, a checkpoint-based restart workflow, and performance improvements such as pointwise cross-section interpolation and the bypassing of unnecessary Dancoff factor calculations. The implemented capabilities were verified against Serpent Monte Carlo solutions. For depletion, a prismatic pin-cell problem based on a Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Very High Temperature Reactor benchmark showed excellent agreement, with eigenvalue differences within 200 pcm over the entire burnup range (up to 140 MWD/kgU) and fission-product and actinide inventories agreeing to within 0.8% and 2.5%, respectively; a heat-pipe microreactor assembly problem with a much higher fuel loading confirmed the same behavior and quantified the bias introduced when the multigroup equivalence effect is neglected. For transient analysis, a pin-cell problem with a step reactivity insertion and temperature feedback reproduced the analytically expected asymptotic power and showed close agreement between the direct and IQS solutions, and a two-dimensional microreactor core problem with control-drum rotation exercised the new moving-drum self-shielding treatment and demonstrated successful coupling of the online crosssection generation with both the direct and IQS transient methods. The capability was further exercised on a full-core pebble-bed problem, in which Griffin was coupled with the System Analysis Module (SAM) to simulate load-following operation of the gPBR with the Doppler feedback resolved at the TRISO fuel kernel temperature. These developments in Griffin provide a convenient, high-fidelity approach to cross-section generation for advanced thermal reactors with geometrically complex and highly heterogeneous configurations, including TRISO-fueled prismatic and pebble-bed systems, and support steady-state, depletion, and transient multiphysics calculations. They also enable self-shielded cross sections to be evaluated directly at the actual coupled state of the system, thereby establishing a foundation for high-fidelity, fully coupled multiphysics analysis of advanced reactors

Park, H.↗
DOE OSTI2021

H 2 production in the 10 B(n,α) 7 Li reaction in water

Herein we demonstrate a method for measuring the H2 produced in water from the 10 B(n,α) 7 Li fission reaction. Low energy neutrons from the NIST Center for Neutron Research interact with borate-containing water in a temperature-controlled high pressure cell made from titanium. After exposure for one to several hours, the water is extracted and sparged with argon. H 2 entrained in the sparging gas is sampled with a small mass spectrometer. To determine the neutron exposure, a small amount of sodium is included in the borate solution. The water is collected and 24 Na activation is measured in a counting apparatus on the following day. The G-value for H 2 at room temperature is found to be (1.18 ± 0.10) molecules H 2 /100eV, in good agreement with previous estimates and recent modeling calculations.

10B↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cast Film Production with Polyethylene Recycled from a Post-Industrial Printed Multilayer Film by Solvent-Targeted Recovery and Precipitation

The solvent-targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP) process separates and recovers the constituent resins in multilayer plastic packaging films by selective polymer dissolution. In this work, three different experimental methods were considered to recover a polyethylene (PE) resin from a printed multilayer film by STRAP. The methods consisted of (1) a filter bag system, (2) a Soxhlet extraction, and (3) a jacketed dissolution vessel. Cast films were produced with the PE recovered from each method and were analyzed for color, mechanical properties, and number of impurities. High-quality recycled PE cast films can be produced by increasing the solvent to plastic ratio, including a filter pore size of 100 μm, and optimizing temperature control in STRAP. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that STRAP polymers can be recycled back into plastic films, enabling the potential circularity of these packaging materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Room-Temperature Quantitative Quantum Sensing of Lithium Ions with a Radical-Embedded Metal–Organic Framework

Recent advancements in quantum sensing have sparked transformative detection technologies with high sensitivity, precision, and spatial resolution. Owing to their atomic-level tunability, molecular qubits and ensembles thereof are promising candidates for sensing chemical analytes. Here, in this study, we show quantum sensing of lithium ions in solution at room temperature with an ensemble of organic radicals integrated in a microporous metal–organic framework (MOF). The organic radicals exhibit electron spin coherence and microwave addressability at room temperature, thus behaving as qubits. The high surface area of the MOF promotes accessibility of the guest analytes to the organic qubits, enabling unambiguous identification of lithium ions and quantitative measurement of their concentration through relaxometric and hyperfine spectroscopic methods based on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The sensing principle presented in this work is applicable to other metal ions with nonzero nuclear spin.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of the work statistics of an open quantum system using a quantum computer

Abstract We report on the experimental measurement of the work statistics of a genuinely open quantum system using a quantum computer. Such measurement has remained elusive thus far due to the inherent difficulty in measuring the total energy change of a system-bath compound (which is the work) in the open quantum system scenario. We overcome this difficulty by applying the interferometric scheme, originally conceived for closed systems, to the open system case and implement it on a superconducting quantum computer, taking advantage of the relatively high levels of noise on current quantum hardware to realize an open quantum system. We demonstrate that the method can be used as a diagnostic tool to probe physical properties of the system-bath compound, such as its temperature and specific transition frequencies in its spectrum. Our experiments corroborate that the interferometric scheme is a promising tool to achieve the long-sought experimental validation of the Jarzynski equality for arbitrary open quantum systems.

Oftelie, Lindsay Bassman (ORCID:0000000335421553)↗
DOE OSTI2022

Antioxidant Activity, Microbiological Quality, and Acceptability of Spontaneously Fermented Shrimp Sausage (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Fermented shrimp sausages are prepared spontaneously with Litopenaeus vannamei as raw material. Shrimp is one of the marine sources with rich chitosan as bioactive compounds, antioxidants, vitamin E, and probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produced by fermentation processes. This study aimed to analyze the variations in antioxidant activity, vitamin E content, total LAB, total pathogenic bacteria, pH, and acceptability of shrimp sausage produced at different fermentation times. A completely randomized experimental design study was performed using four levels of exposure time, including control (0 days), 1, 2, and 3 days. The treatment was conducted spontaneously with 1.2% salt concentration, a drying temperature of 50°C for 3 h, and fermentation at 35°C. The evaluated parameters included the antioxidant activity measured with the radical 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) method, vitamin E levels by high-performance liquid chromatography, total LAB with total plate count, and Escherichia coli bacteria by the most probable number method. Salmonella sp. and Staphylococcus aureus were estimated by the identification method. A pH meter was used to assess acidity, and hedonic organoleptic testing was performed for taste, aroma, color, and texture. The results show significant differences in antioxidant activity, vitamin E, and shrimp sausage acceptability at varied fermentation times p ≤ 0.05 . However, the best formulation was obtained with the first-day fermented shrimp sausage, as shown by its bioactive content and the level of acceptability.

Afifah, Diana N.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantification of Lanthanides in a Molten Salt Reactor Surrogate Off-Gas Stream Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

To enable the deployment of molten salt reactor technology, the development of off-gas treatment systems and advanced monitoring tools capable of operating with high temperatures and radiation fields while delivering near real-time information is necessary. Here, we aim to fulfill this requirement and proposes laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for monitoring molten salt aerosol streams. A sheath gas measuring method was developed to protect optical elements from aerosol particles and to ensure a relatively constant aerosol stream for measurement. An aqueous system was studied to demonstrate the utility of LIBS for monitoring possible fission products in an aerosol stream: Gd, Nd, and Sm up to 2000 parts per million (ppm). A calibration model was built using partial least squares (PLS) regression with five, six, and nine latent variables for Gd, Nd, and Sm, respectively. This calibration model successfully estimated the concentrations of three test samples, which were validated with inductively charged plasma optical emission spectroscopy measurements at a 99.9% confidence interval. To enhance these models, a genetic algorithm was used to filter the spectra before entering the PLS model, thereby limiting the spectral features being regressed to those with greater correlations to concentration. This allowed for the number of latent variables used in the PLS models to be reduced to four, three, and three for Gd, Nd, and Sm, respectively. Finally, the genetic algorithm-filtered PLS models were used to predict the concentrations of the aerosol stream on a real-time dataset and resulted in a 73%, 18%, and 25% improvement in root mean squared error of prediction compared to the original PLS models developed.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Coupled Gel/Seeded Growth of Cs2AgBiBr6 Single Crystals for Radiation Detection

Abstract— The all-inorganic lead free Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskite represents a highly promising environment-friendly radiation detector material. The first attempt to grow Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals using the unique gel growth method is reported in this study. This technique enables controlled reagent diffusion in a gel medium at room temperature, fostering the growth of visible single crystals. It offers advantages over conventional methods, leading to fewer equilibrium and non-equilibrium defects and simplified execution. Interestingly, the as-grown crystals exhibited variations in size and colors within the gel matrix, indicating the influence of Bi solutes in Bi-poor and Bi-rich Cs2AgBiBr6 crystals. Once the crystals were confirmed by powder xray diffraction, a series of comprehensive material characterizations was performed. The resistivity of Cs2AgBiBr6 single crystals was measured at 1.12x107 Ω•cm. Trap density analysis yielded a value of 2.82 x1010 cm-3. The charge carrier mobility was determined to be 32.9 cm2V-1S-1, suggesting the suitability for radiation detector applications. Additional growth optimization is going on and further characterization will be reported during the presentation. Our work helps accelerate the development of lead-free perovskite materials toward radiation detector applications.

James, Ralph B.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Impact Analysis of Transitioning to Heat Pump Rooftop Units for the U.S. Commercial Building Stock: Preprint

20% of the U.S. commercial building sector's energy usage is from on-site combustion of fossil fuels for heating. Decarbonization will require electrification of these systems to meet climate goals, often by transitioning to heat pumps. Rooftop units (RTU) are the most prominent commercial building HVAC system type and should therefore be prioritized for decarbonization solutions. However, there is limited understanding of the impact on emissions that considers regional electricity generation methods, as well as the impact of other heat pump intricacies such as the effects of temperature on capacity/efficiency, defrost operation, realistic sizing methodologies, and supplementary heating. This study explores the effects of transitioning all conventional RTUs to high-performance heat pump RTUs for the U.S. commercial building stock. The analysis is performed using ComStock, DOE's calibrated model of the U.S. commercial building stock developed by NREL. Results show 9% and 17% reductions in stock aggregate energy consumption and GHG emissions, respectively. Furthermore, average heat pump operational details are presented by state. This analysis will help inform the transition to heat pump RTUs for the U.S. commercial building stock.

commercial building electrification↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impact Analysis of Transitioning to Heat Pump Rooftop Units for the U.S. Commercial Building Stock

Twenty percent (25%) of the energy consumed by the U.S. commercial building sector is from on-site combustion of fossil fuels for space heating. Part of decarbonizing U.S. energy systems to meet climate initiatives will require electrification of space heating equipment, often by transitioning to heat pumps. Rooftop units (RTU) are the most prominent commercial building HVAC system type and should therefore be prioritized for electrification solutions. However, there is limited understanding of the impact on emissions when considering regional electricity generation methods, as well as the impact of ambient temperature on capacity and efficiency, defrost operation, realistic sizing methodologies, and supplementary heating on overall heat pump performance. This study explores the effects of transitioning all installed, existing RTUs to high-performance heat pump RTUs for the U.S. commercial building stock. The analysis is performed using ComStock (TM), the U.S. Department of Energy's calibrated model of the U.S. commercial building stock. Results show 10% and 9% reductions in stock aggregate energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. This analysis will help inform the transition to heat pump RTUs for the U.S. commercial building stock.

commercial building↗