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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 1,369 records · Page 76
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

High Performance Adaptive Deep-Reinforcement-Learning-based Real-time Emergency Control (HADREC) to Enhance Power Grid Resilience in Stochastic Environment (Final Report)

The HADREC technology developed in this project features real-time, validated, and predictive emergency control capabilities needed to effectively safeguard the grid against costly disturbances from extreme weather and other disruptive events. It has the potential to revolutionize the emergency control by providing faster and more effective solution for power grid emergency control. The technology can reduce the grid emergency control action time from minutes to seconds and mitigate the impact of outages and reduce system recovery time. The evaluation results using the models and data from PacifiCorp system have shown ~20% improvement in responding time and 70% improved in tripped generator output, comparing against today’s industrial application. This performance can help reduce preventive measurements and improve network utilization and market efficiency, and help lead to a more reliable and resilient power grid with renewable integration. The project has generated significant interest from industry, academic and commercial companies.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

A model for selecting the best sustainable airport technology alternatives

Air transport is a continually expanding industry, a fact that has become even more evident with the recovery of the aviation industry post-COVID-19. This expansion amplified energy consumption at airports, which was already significantly high. Airport decision-makers are increasingly focusing on improving sustainability and addressing social, economic, and environmental criteria across airports worldwide. In this article, we propose a decision-making model for identifying a sustainable airport technology solution that minimizes the energy consumption of airport lighting while considering economic, emission, and life-cycle criteria. The proposed model combines data envelopment analysis and multi-criteria decision making techniques. We applied the model to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) as a case study, considering eight lighting technology solutions, each with five luminous flux alternatives. Our model identified the best lighting technology solution for DFW outdoor and indoor environments based on the following criteria: luminous flux, capital costs, life-cycle costs, energy consumption, and emissions (CO2e, NOx, SO2, and PM2.5). The designed model is customizable to any airport and is applicable to a wide range of airport lighting technologies. In our analysis, Light-Emitting Diode lighting emerged as the most sustainable technology option. It ranked first in most cases due to its balance of high efficacy, long lifespan, low life-cycle cost, low capital cost, and lower emissions across all pollutants.

Tchivwila, Moise B↗
NASA NTRS2006

Development of In Situ Instruments for Planetary Exploration - Unique Challenges in Design, Development, and Execution

A viewgraph presentation describing in situ instruments for NASA missions is shown. The topics include: 1) In Situ Instrumentation; 2) Planetary Extremes; 3) Mars Surface Environment; 4) Lunar Precursor Mission Environment; 5) Europa Surface Analogue; 6) Other Parameters; 7) Space In Situ Instrumentation still in its Infancy; 8) Needed Capabilities For In Situ Science; 9) Framework For Putting The Pieces Together; 10) The Wild World of Astrobiology; 11) Timeline; 12) Example: MOD; 13) In Situ Sample Analysis Laboratories are more complex; 14) technologies In Situ Sample Analysis Requires Integration of Many Emerging Advanced Concepts; 15) Supporting technologies for In Situ Laboratories; 16) Micro-laboratory example; 17) In Situ Instrument Classes; and 18) Key for Analytical Instrument:Sample Preparation.

In Situ Instrumentation↗
NASA NTRS2001

Development of the Variable Emittance Thermal Suite for the Space Technology 5 Microsatellite

The advent of very small satellites, such as nano and microsatellites, logically leads to a requirement for smaller thermal control subsystems. In addition, the thermal control needs of the smaller spacecraft/instrument may well be different from more traditional situations. For example, power for traditional heaters may be very limited or unavailable, mass allocations may be severely limited, and fleets of nano/microsatellites will require a generic thermal design as the cost of unique designs will be prohibitive. Some applications may require significantly increased power levels while others may require extremely low heat loss for extended periods. Small spacecraft will have low thermal capacitance thus subjecting them to large temperature swings when either the heat generation rate changes or the thermal sink temperature changes. This situation, combined with the need for tighter temperature control, will present a challenging situation during transient operation. The use of "off-the-shelf" commercial spacecraft buses for science instruments will also present challenges. Older thermal technology, such as heaters, thermostats, and heat pipes, will almost certainly not be sufficient to meet the requirements of these new spacecraft/instruments. They are generally too heavy, not scalable to very small sizes, and may consume inordinate amounts of power. Hence there is a strong driver to develop new technology to meet these emerging needs. Variable emittance coatings offer an exciting alternative to traditional control methodologies and are one of the technologies that will be flown on Space Technology 5, a mission of three microsatellites designed to validate "enabling" technologies. Several studies have identified variable emittance coatings as applicable to a wide range of spacecraft, and to potentially offer substantial savings in mass and/or power over traditional approaches. This paper discusses the development of the variable emittance thermal suite for ST-5. More specifically, it provides a description of and the infusion and validation plans for the variable emittance coatings.

Douglas, Donya M.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A comprehensive academic and industrial survey of blockchain technology for the energy sector using fuzzy Einstein decision-making

The global energy sector is undergoing a significant transformation driven by decarbonization and digitalization, leading to the emergence of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) — particularly blockchain — as a promising tool for enhancing transparency, security, and efficiency in modern power systems. This study aims to provide a comprehensive academic and industrial survey of blockchain applications in the energy sector and develop a robust decision-making framework to identify and prioritize the most promising real-world use cases based on multidisciplinary criteria. A three-stage methodology was adopted: (i) a literature and market review encompassing over 300 academic publications and commercial blockchain initiatives in energy, (ii) an in-depth evaluation of the evolution and viability of blockchain initiatives in energy with the help of expert surveys, and (iii) a novel decision-making model using a q-rung orthopair fuzzy Multi-Attributive Border Approximation (q-ROF-MABAC) method under the Einstein operator. The results were compared with existing decision models to validate consistency and robustness. Nine key blockchain use case categories were identified and ranked based on technical, economic, and governance dimensions. The results demonstrated that integrating expert insights into a fuzzy logic framework helps filter out overhyped claims in the literature and prioritize realistic and high-impact applications such as green certificates, grid services, and peer-to-peer energy trading. The model’s rankings remained stable across varying weight configurations, confirming the robustness of the methodology. This study provides an evidence-based decision-support tool for researchers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to better understand, evaluate, and adopt blockchain technologies in the energy sector.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Contech to Accelerate Cleantech: Seeding Emerging Innovation Programs for Construction Productivity and Energy Efficiency Integration; Preprint

Investments in U.S.-based start-ups that focus on advanced building construction technologies to increase construction productivity (contech) surged to approximately $3.1 billion in 2018 (as per Crunchbase data). More recently, emerging programs by government funding agencies, philanthropic foundations, and venture capitalists have been instrumental in supporting contech start-ups for innovations that increase productivity of energy efficiency integration and accelerate clean energy technologies (cleantech) for the buildings sector. These programs include R&D support and funding mechanisms for contech and cleantech. Traditionally, contech and cleantech are considered as two different innovation ecosystems. To enhance and scale up energy efficiency in buildings, creative programs that bring together contech and cleantech are critical. This paper provides a landscape assessment of the "contech-for-cleantech" innovation ecosystem in the U.S. and its impact in accelerating technology readiness and the development pipeline of "contech-for-cleantech". Technologies highlighted are robotics for retrofits, prefabrication of energy-efficient products, and advanced manufacturing of low-carbon net-zero buildings construction. Programs discussed include those led by (1) government funding agencies: American-Made Challenges with prizes like E-ROBOT for retrofits with robotics, (2) philanthropic foundations: Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) that includes focus on energy efficiency and prefabrication, and (3) venture capitalists: Shadow Ventures Green Building Accelerator program which provides funding support to start-ups with ambitious plans for decarbonizing the built environment. This paper will also expand upon robust processes and criteria involved in judging and down-selection of start-ups through vetting and feedback from national lab researchers and industry experts in both cleantech and contech.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Membranes for Lithium Recovery From Conventional and Unconventional Sources

Lithium has been deemed a critical mineral of national importance that finds uses in a wide range of applications, and its demand has been rising significantly in recent years. The urgency of meeting this demand requires lithium extraction from various aqueous sources such as continental brines, geothermal brines, seawater, produced water, and battery waste. While direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies such as adsorption, ion exchange, and solvent extraction have emerged as possible solutions, membrane technologies are also being investigated for various sources and at different stages of the recovery process. Here, we analyze the application of membranes for pretreatment of lithium source waters, bring management, lithium/magnesium separation, lithium/sodium separation, and lithium hydroxide conversion, and evaluate performance metrics for critical lithium separations from the literature. We explore the potential of membranes at every stage of the recovery process and describe their current status and future prospects. We describe hypothetical process trains with integrated membrane technologies for each source type and address their feasibility and challenges. The potential energy and water impacts of membrane-integrated and conventional DLE processes are also critically considered alongside performance and selectivity metrics, and this is illustrated using examples and calculated from published technical reports. This paper thus provides a comprehensive overview of the application of membranes along every stage of the lithium recovery process, emphasizing the versatility and potential of membrane technologies for critical mineral recovery.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2009

Achieving a Prioritized Research and Technology Development Portfolio for the Dust Management Project

Mission architectures for human exploration of the lunar surface continue to advance as well as the definitions of capability needs, best practices and engineering design to mitigate the impact of lunar dust on exposed systems. The NASA DMP has been established as the agency focal point for dust characterization, technology, and simulant development. As described in this paper, the DMP has defined a process for selecting and justifying its R&T portfolio. The technology prioritization process, which is based on a ranking system according to weighted criteria, has been successfully applied to the current DMP dust mitigation technology portfolio. Several key findings emerged from this assessment. Within the dust removal and cleaning technologies group, there are critical technical challenges that must be overcome for these technologies to be implemented for lunar applications. For example, an in-situ source of CO2 on the moon is essential to the CO2 shower technology. Also, significant development effort is required to achieve technology readiness level TRL 6 for the electrostatic cleaning system for removal of particles smaller than 50 pm. The baseline materials related technologies require considerable development just to achieve TRL 6. It is also a nontrivial effort to integrate the materials in hardware for lunar application. At present, there are no terrestrial applications that are readily adaptable to lunar surface applications nor are there any obvious leading candidates. The unique requirements of dust sealing systems for lunar applications suggest an extensive development effort will be necessary to mature dust sealing systems to TRL 6 and beyond. As discussed here, several alternate materials and technologies have achieved high levels of maturity for terrestrial applications and warrant due diligence in ongoing assessment of the technology portfolio. The present assessment is the initial step in an ongoing effort to continually evaluate the DMP technology portfolio and external non-NASA relevant technology developments efforts to maintain an optimal investment profile. At the same time, there is an ongoing review of agency-wide dust-related R&T activities. The results of these ongoing assessments will be reported in future publications.

Hyatt, Mark J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced food processing techniques for enhanced food safety, quality, and security: a comprehensive review

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a transformative force in addressing the multifaceted challenges of food safety, food quality, and food security. This review synthesizes advancements in AI-driven technologies, such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, and their applications across the food supply chain, based on a comprehensive analysis of literature published from 1990 to 2024. AI enhances food safety through real-time contamination detection, predictive risk modeling, and compliance monitoring, reducing public health risks. It improves food quality by automating defect detection, optimizing shelf-life predictions, and ensuring consistency in taste, texture, and appearance. Furthermore, AI addresses food security by enabling resource-efficient agriculture, yield forecasting, and supply chain optimization to ensure the availability and accessibility of nutritious food resources. This review also highlights the integration of AI with advanced food processing techniques such as high-pressure processing, ultraviolet treatment, pulsed electric fields, cold plasma, and irradiation, which ensure microbial safety, extend shelf life, and enhance product quality. Additionally, the integration of AI with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, and AI-powered sensors enables proactive risk management, predictive analytics, and automated quality control. By examining these innovations' potential to enhance transparency, efficiency, and decision-making within food systems, this review identifies current research gaps and proposes strategies to address barriers such as data limitations, model generalizability, and ethical concerns. These insights underscore the critical role of AI in advancing safer, higher-quality, and more secure food systems, guiding future research and fostering sustainable food systems that benefit public health and consumer trust.

AI↗
NASA NTRS2004

Verification of NASA Emergent Systems

NASA is studying advanced technologies for a future robotic exploration mission to the asteroid belt. This mission, the prospective ANTS (Autonomous Nano Technology Swarm) mission, will comprise of 1,000 autonomous robotic agents designed to cooperate in asteroid exploration. The emergent properties of swarm type missions make them powerful, but at the same time are more difficult to design and assure that the proper behaviors will emerge. We are currently investigating formal methods and techniques for verification and validation of future swarm-based missions. The advantage of using formal methods is their ability to mathematically assure the behavior of a swarm, emergent or otherwise. The ANT mission is being used as an example and case study for swarm-based missions for which to experiment and test current formal methods with intelligent swam. Using the ANTS mission, we have evaluated multiple formal methods to determine their effectiveness in modeling and assuring swarm behavior.

Rouff, Christopher↗
DOE OSTI2025

Fast-rate joining of thermoplastic composites using integrated additive manufacturing and compression molding process

The integration of additive manufacturing (AM) technology with compression molding (CM), has emerged as a high-performance composite manufacturing technology in recent years. In the AM-CM process, quickly deposited AM preform on a mold undergoes a rapid compaction cycle to fabricate structurally robust composite parts due to highly controlled fiber alignment (from AM) and reduced porosity (from CM). Currently, AMCM-based part size is limited by the size of the mold volume, thus posing a challenge to manufacture scalable parts. Here, this work focuses on joining techniques developed to enable fast rate joining of short fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite parts using the AM-CM process. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin reinforced with 20 wt% short carbon fiber composites was printed onto a flat mold and pressed under a hydraulic press. Fabricated panels were joined by the (a) mechanical impression at the joining interface and (b) over-molded continuous carbon fiber (CCF) sheet. Tensile tests were performed to characterize the joining strength of both mechanical impression-based joints and CCF over molded joints. Among the mechanical impression-based joints, a U-shape channel allowed the fibers to flow between two joint parts, and 280 % increased mechanical properties were observed. The continuous carbon fiber-based over molded joint CCF showed 350 % increase in tensile strength compared to the butt joints.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Interfacing HDF5 with a scalable object‐centric storage system on hierarchical storage

Summary Object storage technologies that take advantage of multitier storage on HPC systems are emerging. However, to use these technologies at present, applications have to be modified significantly from current I/O libraries. HDF5, a widely used I/O middleware on HPC systems, provides a virtual object layer (VOL) that allows applications to connect to different storage mechanisms transparently without requiring significant code modifications. We recently designed the proactive data containers (PDC) object‐centric storage system that provides the capabilities of transparent, asynchronous, and autonomous data movement taking advantage of multiple storage tiers—a decision that has so far been left upon the user on most current systems. To enable PDC's features through HDF5 without modifying application codes, we have developed an HDF5 VOL connector that interfaces with PDC. We present in this article the connector interface and evaluate its performance on Cori, a Cray XC40 supercomputer located at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). Our evaluation demonstrates up to an 8× improvement compared with HDF5 that has the most recent optimizations.

Mu, Jingqing↗
NASA NTRS2004

Improving VHF Spectrum Utilization

Limited VHF communications system capacity and increasing air traffic results in congestion of the aviation VHF spectrum. The voice communications errors and delayed channel access create system congestion and air traffic delays. Regulatory subdivision of bands for specific functions limits flexibility in the frequency usage. The objective of this viewgraph presentation is to identify near/mid/far term technologies to improve the performance and spectrum efficiency of current and emerging VHF communications systems. Select technologies with the highest potential, perform research and development to bring them to implementation stage.

Andro, Monty↗
NASA NTRS1983

Photovoltaic power - An important new energy option

A review of photovoltaic (PV) power technology is presented with an emphasis of PV as an economical and technically feasible alternative source of energy. The successful completion of the development and transfer of emerging low-cost technologies into a fully commercialized status are identified as the means to the realization of this option's full potential. The DOE National Photovoltaics Program, a significant sponsor of PV R&D, expects both flat-plate and concentrator collectors to meet established cost targets. Citing the DOE large flat-plate grid-connected system project of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, current technology modules priced at near $5/Wp (1983 dollars) are steadily reducing costs. A recent DOE study suggests that PV-generated electricity produced at a 30-year levelized cost of 15 cents per kWh would represent a viable energy supply alternative for the nation.

Ferber, R. R.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Emergency Planning Considerations for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors

The purpose of this scoping study is to develop an approach for establishing emergency planning requirements for advanced nuclear power reactors and other new reactor technologies. The approach considers existing emergency planning requirements and guidance. More specifically the study focuses on establishing criteria and process to determine the size of the plume and ingestion exposure pathway emergency planning zone. The review of emergency planning in place for existing licensed nuclear facilities provides insight and informs the suggested process for establishing this Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) process.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET)

Heat-shield for Extreme Entry Technology (HEEET) project is based on the 3-D Woven TPS, an emerging innovative and game changing technology funded by SMD and STMD to fill the ablative TPS gap that exists currently for reaching the depths of Saturn and Venus. Woven TPS technology will address the challenges currently faced by the Venus, Saturn, and higher speed sample return mission Science community due to lack of availability of the only TPS, namely Carbon Phenolic and enable the Science community to move forward with proposals in this decade with Woven TPS. This presentation describes the approach in maturing the technology in the next three years enabling NF-4 mission proposers to address the challenges of Venus, Saturn or higher speed sample return missions.

TPS↗
DOE OSTI2026

PACT Center: Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (Final Technical Report)

The Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies (PACT) center was established in July 2021 as a national resource to accelerate the commercialization of perovskite photovoltaic (PV) technology in the United States. Since its inception, PACT has been led by Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) in partnership with the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), formerly known as NREL. From FY20-FY23, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), CFV Labs, Black & Veatch (B&V), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) were part of the project team. LANL brought expertise in perovskite PV device designs and processing, CFV Labs (now GroundWork Renewables) provided initial indoor and outdoor measurement hardware technology, B&V led the initial effort on perovskite PV bankability, and EPRI worked on reviewing testing standards, identifying commercialization gaps, and helping to run PACT’s Industry Advisory Board, a group including representatives from commercial testing labs, independent engineering firms, insurance companies, state regulators, and electric utilities. To source perovskite PV module samples, PACT contracted with the University of North Carolina (UNC), the University of Toledo, the University of Washington, and SLAC/Stanford University to provide a steady stream of research-grade perovskite mini modules, enabling protocol development in advance of commercial module availability. The project period ran from July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2025, including a No Cost Extension. Starting in FY25, the project was continued as a Core Capability in the Lab Call portfolio and continues at a reduced budget with only Sandia and NLR as funded recipients. Notably, starting in FY25 PACT expanded its scope beyond MHP modules to accept all emerging PV mini module technologies for testing, including organic PV (OPV) and all-thin-film tandems, with the aim of supporting commercialization across the broader emerging PV ecosystem. With this change in scope the program was renamed the PV Accelerator for Commercializing Technologies, dropping perovskite from the name.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗