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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 1,315 records · Page 73

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DOE OSTI2018

The Need for Integrating the Back End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle in the United States of America

Current practice for commercial spent nuclear fuel management in the United States of America (US) includes storage of spent fuel in both pools and dry storage cask systems at nuclear power plants. Most storage pools are filled to their operational capacity, and management of the approximately 2,200 metric tons of spent fuel newly discharged each year requires transferring older and cooler fuel from pools into dry storage. In the absence of a repository that can accept spent fuel for permanent disposal, projections indicate that the US will have approximately 134,000 metric tons of spent fuel in dry storage by mid-century when the last plants in the current reactor fleet are decommissioned. Current designs for storage systems rely on large dual-purpose (storage and transportation) canisters that are not optimized for disposal. Various options exist in the US for improving integration of management practices across the entire back end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Understanding the structure and structural degradation mechanisms in high-voltage lithium-ion battery cathode oxides. A review of materials diagnostics

Materials diagnostic techniques are the principal tools used in the development of low-cost, high-performance electrodes for next-generation lithium-based energy storage technologies. Also, this review highlights the importance of materials diagnostic techniques in unraveling the structure and the structural degradation mechanisms in high-voltage, high-capacity oxides that have the potential to be implemented in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries for transportation that can use renewable energy and is less-polluting than today. The rise in CO 2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere due to the use of petroleum products in vehicles and the dramatic increase in the cost of gasoline demand the replacement of current internal combustion engines in our vehicles with environmentally friendly, carbon free systems. Therefore, vehicles powered fully/partially by electricity are being introduced into today’s transportation fleet. As power requirements in all-electric vehicles become more demanding, lithium-ion battery (LiB) technology is now the potential candidate to provide higher energy density. Moreover, discovery of layered high-voltage lithium-manganese–rich (HV-LMR) oxides has provided a new direction toward developing high-energy-density LiBs because of their ability to deliver high capacity (~250 mA h/g) and to be operated at high operating voltage (~4.7 V). Unfortunately, practical use of HV-LMR electrodes is not viable because of structural changes in the host oxide during operation that can lead to fundamental and practical issues. This article provides the current understanding on the structure and structural degradation pathways in HV-LMR oxides, and manifests the importance of different materials diagnostic tools to unraveling the key mechanism(s). Furthermore, the fundamental insights reported, might become the tools to manipulate the chemical and/or structural aspects of HV-LMR oxides for low cost, high-energy-density LiB applications.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2023

The Energy Transition: Advanced Nuclear Needed but Address Climate Vulnerabilities Now

The term “Energy Transition” is an attempt to capture an elaborate set of activities related to the modernization and decarbonization of energy grids. Performed concurrently and often in an ad hoc manner across local, state, regional and national boundaries, it is bringing chaos to what should arguably be one of the most conservatively managed of all critical infrastructure sectors. What’s more, with climate change producing an increasing tempo of extreme events, confidence in the intended resilient and redundant structure of the electric grids is likely to ebb. Even without these climate induced stressors, the nation’s electric grid was built for an earlier century. In addition to a drive towards greater efficiency via digitization and a continuing price decline in distributed energy resources (DERs), one could argue that climate change concerns are the primary driver of the energy transition. Non-CO2 emitting generation sources like wind and solar have become an important part of the overall generation fleet, albeit ones that cannot be counted upon to provide dispatchable power. Current projections indicate deployment of even larger percentages of DERs in coming years. Until far better storage capabilities arrive, the variability of wind and solar, inconsistent performance of traditional thermal generation plants, and energy delivery failures associated with natural gas pipelines will reinforce mounting reliability concerns. This pertains to both electric transmission and distribution. The recent shuttering of nuclear power plants in Germany, Japan, the US and elsewhere are also putting more downward pressure on dispatchable generation. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has roiled energy markets worldwide and forced some countries to return to coal as a primary fuel. In view circumstances such as these, it is essential that significant changes be made to policies and planning criteria, and to the standards and code on which they are based. Given the accelerating pace of extreme weather events, this needs to occur as soon as possible.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2022

rfasst: An R tool to estimate air pollution impacts on health and agriculture

Existing scientific literature shows that health and agricultural impacts attributable to air pollution are significant and should be considered in the integrated analysis of human and Earth-system interactions. The implementation of policies that affect the power sector, the composition of the vehicle fleet or the investments and deployment of different energy sources will in turn result in different levels of air pollution. Even though the various methodologies for estimating the impacts of air pollution, such as exposure-response functions, are extensively applied by the scientific community, they are normally not included in integrated assessment modeling outputs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2015

Integrated PEV Charging Solutions and Reduced Energy for Occupant Comfort [Brochure]

Brochure on Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility, featuring the Vehicle Modification Facility, Vehicle Test Pad and ReCharge Integrated Demonstration System. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) offer the opportunity to shift transportation energy demands from petroleum to electricity, but broad adoption will require integration with other systems. While automotive experts work to reduce the cost of PEVs, fossil fueled cars and trucks continue to burn hundreds of billions of gallons of petroleum each year - not only to get from point A to point B, but also to keep passengers comfortable with air conditioning and heat. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), three installations form a research laboratory known as the Vehicle Testing and Integration Facility (VTIF). At the VTIF, engineers are developing strategies to address two separate but equally crucial areas of research: meeting the demands of electric vehicle-grid integration and minimizing fuel consumption related to vehicle climate control. Part of NREL's Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems (CTTS), the VTIF is dedicated to renewable and energy efficient solutions. This facility showcases technology and systems designed to increase the viability of sustainably powered vehicles. NREL researchers instrument every class of on-road vehicle, conduct hardware and software validation for electric vehicle (EV) components and accessories, and develop analysis tools and technology for the Department of Energy, other government agencies and industry partners. Research conducted at the VTIF examines the interaction of building energy systems, utility grids, renewable energy sources and PEVs, integrating energy management solutions, and maximizing potential greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, while smoothing the transition and reducing costs for EV owners. NREL's collaboration with automakers, charging station manufacturers, utilities and fleet operators to assess technologies using VTIF resources is designed to enable PEV communication with the smart grid and create opportunities for vehicles to play an active role in building and grid management. Ultimately, this creates value for the vehicle owner and will help renewables be deployed faster and more economically, making the U.S. transportation sector more flexible and sustainable.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2013

Smith Newton Vehicle Performance Evaluation (Revised) [Brochure]

The Fleet Test and Evaluation Team at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is evaluating and documenting the performance of electric and plug-in hybrid electric drive systems in medium-duty trucks across the nation. Through this project, Smith Electric Vehicles will build and deploy 500 all-electric medium-duty trucks. The trucks will be deployed in diverseclimates across the country.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Smith Newton Vehicle Performance Evaluation - 3rd Quarter 2012 (Brochure)

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Improvements to Nuclear Data and Its Uncertainties by Theoretical Modeling

This project addresses three important gaps in existing evaluated nuclear data libraries that represent a significant hindrance against highly advanced modeling and simulation capabilities for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI). This project will: Develop advanced theoretical tools to compute prompt fission neutrons and gamma-ray characteristics well beyond average spectra and multiplicity, and produce new evaluated files of U and Pu isotopes, along with some minor actinides; Perform state-of-the-art fission cross-section modeling and calculations using global and microscopic model input parameters, leading to truly predictive fission cross-sections capabilities. Consistent calculations for a suite of Pu isotopes will be performed; Implement innovative data assimilation tools, which will reflect the nuclear data evaluation process much more accurately, and lead to a new generation of uncertainty quantification files. New covariance matrices will be obtained for Pu isotopes and compared to existing ones. The deployment of a fleet of safe and efficient advanced reactors that minimize radiotoxic waste and are proliferation-resistant is a clear and ambitious goal of AFCI. While in the past the design, construction and operation of a reactor were supported through empirical trials, this new phase in nuclear energy production is expected to rely heavily on advanced modeling and simulation capabilities. To be truly successful, a program for advanced simulations of innovative reactors will have to develop advanced multi-physics capabilities, to be run on massively parallel super- computers, and to incorporate adequate and precise underlying physics. And all these areas have to be developed simultaneously to achieve those ambitious goals. Of particular interest are reliable fission cross-section uncertainty estimates (including important correlations) and evaluations of prompt fission neutrons and gamma-ray spectra and uncertainties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Framework For Human-Automation Collaboration: Project Status Report

The Human-Automation Collaboration (HAC) research project within the Department of Energy’s Advanced Small Modular Reactor (AdvSMR) program is investigating how advanced technologies that are planned for AdvSMRs might affect the performance and the reliability of the plant from a human factors and human performance perspective. The HAC research effort investigates the consequences of allocating functions between the operators and automated systems. More specifically, the research team is addressing how to best design the collaboration between the operators and the automated systems in a manner that has the greatest positive impact on overall plant performance and reliability. As one step to accomplish this goal, the research team reviewed available information on AdvSMR designs and identified plant functions and operator tasks that might impact the design of the HAC. The identified functions and tasks will later be vetted against insights learned from the current fleet of Light Water Reactors (LWR), other industries where humans are collaborating with highly automated systems, and the results from the activities in the AdvSMR Concepts of Operations project to inform a high-level generic design model. This generic model will be used as a basis for experimental studies to study the effects of different HAC concepts as well as evaluating new human-system interface (HSI) solutions to support a well-functioning HAC. Another important part needed to accomplish the research goal is a model of the collaboration between the human operator and the automated system. The team has developed a model of HAC that defines: (1) the important design dimensions of automation that impact automation’s use by personnel and integrated human-automation performance, (2) what aspects of human cognition, behavior, and performance mediate automation’s use by personnel, and (3) when and how the above factors affect the use of automation and the overall performance of the HAC system. The HAC model is utilized to identify areas in need of additional research, which forms the basis for planned HAC research activities. By detailing the relationships between characteristics of HAC, automation, and human cognition, the HAC model identifies what aspects of the human-automation interaction are important to consider in developing automation for AdvSMR systems. Three analytical studies have been initiated to address questions related to the HAC model. These studies are 1) Models of Teamwork, 2) Standardized HAC Performance Measurement Battery, and 3) Initiators and Triggering Conditions for Adaptive Automation. Additionally, a number of field studies have been identified and are in progress, and a set of experimental studies that are on schedule to be conducted later in the project to address the main research question. This report consists of three main parts: the preliminary identification of AdvSMR functions and tasks, a description of the updates and extensions to the HAC model, and a description of ongoing and planned analytical, field, and experimental research efforts that the research team has developed to accomplish the project’s overall goal of establishing a technical basis for designing the collaboration of personnel and automation.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Alternative Fuels Data Center (Fact Sheet)

Fact sheet describes the Alternative Fuels Data Center, which provides information, data, and tools to help fleets and other transportation decision makers find ways to reduce petroleum consumption through the use of alternative and renewable fuels, advanced vehicles, and other fuel-saving measures.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2013

Evaluation of Ultrasonic Techniques on Concrete Structures

Materials issues are a key concern for the existing nuclear reactor fleet as material degradation can increase maintenance, downtime, and risk. Extending reactor life to 60 years and beyond will likely increase the reactor’s susceptibility to, and the severity of known forms of degradation. Additionally, new mechanisms of materials degradation are also possible. The purpose of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program is to develop technologies and other solutions that can improve the reliability, sustain the safety, and extend the operating lifetimes of nuclear power plants (NPPs) beyond 60 years.

Concrete↗

DOE OSTI2013

Western Wind and Solar Integration Study Phase 2

The electric grid is a highly complex, interconnected machine, and changing one part of the grid can have consequences elsewhere. Adding wind and solar affects the operation of the other power plants and adding high penetrations can induce cycling of fossil-fueled generators. Cycling leads to wear-and-tear costs and changes in emissions. Phase 2 of the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study(WWSIS-2) evaluated these costs and emissions and simulated grid operations for a year to investigate the detailed impact of wind and solar on the fossil-fueled fleet. This built on Phase 1, one of the largest wind and solar integration studies ever conducted, which examined operational impacts of high wind and solar penetrations in the West.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2013

Continuous Reliability Enhancement for Wind (CREW) database :

To benchmark the current U.S. wind turbine fleet reliability performance and identify the major contributors to component-level failures and other downtime events, the Department of Energy funded the development of the Continuous Reliability Enhancement for Wind (CREW) database by Sandia National Laboratories. This report is the third annual Wind Plant Reliability Benchmark, to publically report on CREW findings for the wind industry. The CREW database uses both high resolution Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) data from operating plants and Strategic Power Systems ORAPWindª (Operational Reliability Analysis Program for Wind) data, which consist of downtime and reserve event records and daily summaries of various time categories for each turbine. Together, these data are used as inputs into CREW s reliability modeling. The results presented here include: the primary CREW Benchmark statistics (operational availability, utilization, capacity factor, mean time between events, and mean downtime); time accounting from an availability perspective; time accounting in terms of the combination of wind speed and generation levels; power curve analysis; and top system and component contributors to unavailability.

Hines, Valerie Ann-Peters↗

DOE OSTI2013

Technoeconomic Evaluation of MEA versus Mixed Amines for CO 2 Removal at Near-Commercial Scale at Duke Energy Gibson 3 Plant

The US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC) was established in November 2009 by Presidents Obama and Hu. CERC is made up of three consortia focused on building efficiency, clean vehicles and advanced coal technologies. The Advanced Coal Technology Consortium (ACTC) brings together many of the top scientists and leading companies in the power sector, who work together collaboratively to accelerate deployment of the most promising technologies and tackle some of the most pressing issues in making coal plants more efficient and environmentally friendly. Reducing carbon emissions in the power sector is a central goal for both US and Chinese decision makers and industrial leaders, since, worldwide, coal power plants produce nearly 40% of greenhouse gases. In order to deeply reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, many utilities are considering carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). CCUS can enable the current fossil fuel infrastructure to be utilized while non-fossil fuel based energy supplies evolve to replace fossil fuels. For the existing US and Chinese coal-burning fleets, post-combustion capture (PCC) remains a critically important option and viable approach. While companies provide technology for PCC retrofits, the costs and performance of these systems remain largely untested in commercial settings. As such, power generation companies have very few technical or economic data sets on which to base large capital decisions. Moreover, initial estimates suggest the costs will prove prohibitively high in many settings.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2013

2010 Honda Civic Hybrid UltraBattery Conversion 5577 - Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Test Results

The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity Program consists of vehicle, battery, and infrastructure testing on advanced technology related to transportation. The activity includes tests on hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), including testing the HEV batteries when both the vehicles and batteries are new and at the conclusion of on-road fleet testing. This report documents battery testing performed for the 2010 Honda Civic HEV UltraBattery Conversion (VIN JHMFA3F24AS005577). Battery testing was performed by the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation dba ECOtality North America. The Idaho National Laboratory and ECOtality North America collaborate on the AVTA for the Vehicle Technologies Program of the DOE.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2013

2011 Chevrolet Volt VIN 0815 Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Test Results

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity (AVTA) program consists of vehicle, battery, and infrastructure testing on advanced technology related to transportation. The activity includes tests on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), including testing the PHEV batteries when both the vehicles and batteries are new and at the conclusion of 12,000 miles of on-road fleet testing. This report documents battery testing performed for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt PHEV (VIN 1G1RD6E48BU100815). The battery testing was performed by the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec) dba ECOtality North America. The Idaho National Laboratory and ECOtality North America collaborate on the AVTA for the Vehicle Technologies Program of the DOE.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2013

2011 Hyundai Sonata 4932 - Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Test Results

The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity Program consists of vehicle, battery, and infrastructure testing on advanced technology related to transportation. The activity includes tests on hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), including testing the HEV batteries when both the vehicles and batteries are new and at the conclusion of 160,000 miles of on-road fleet testing. This report documents battery testing performed for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid HEV (VIN KMHEC4A43BA004932). Battery testing was performed by the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation dba ECOtality North America. The Idaho National Laboratory and ECOtality North America collaborate on the AVTA for the Vehicle Technologies Program of the DOE.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Electric Ground Support Equipment Advanced Battery Technology Demonstration Project at the Ontario Airport

The intent of the electric Ground Support Equipment (eGSE) demonstration is to evaluate the day-to-day vehicle performance of electric baggage tractors using two advanced battery technologies to demonstrate possible replacements for the flooded lead-acid (FLA) batteries utilized throughout the industry. These advanced battery technologies have the potential to resolve barriers to the widespread adoption of eGSE deployment. Validation testing had not previously been performed within fleet operations to determine if the performance of current advanced batteries is sufficient to withstand the duty cycle of electric baggage tractors. This report summarizes the work performed and data accumulated during this demonstration in an effort to validate the capabilities of advanced battery technologies. This report summarizes the work performed and data accumulated during this demonstration in an effort to validate the capabilities of advanced battery technologies. The demonstration project also grew the relationship with Southwest Airlines (SWA), our demonstration partner at Ontario International Airport (ONT), located in Ontario, California. The results of this study have encouraged a proposal for a future demonstration project with SWA.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗