Transient multilayer analytical model of a line heat source probe for in-pile thermal conductivity measurements
Not Available
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Not Available
A key objective of the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy’s Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Campaign is to better understand the technical basis, risks, and uncertainty associated with the safe and secure disposition of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste. Commercial nuclear power generation in the United States has resulted in thousands of metric tons of SNF, the disposal of which is the responsibility of the DOE (Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended). Any repository licensed to dispose of SNF must meet requirements regarding the long-term performance of that repository. For an evaluation of the long-term performance of the repository, one of the events that may need to be considered is the SNF achieving a critical configuration during the postclosure period. Of particular interest is the potential behavior of SNF in dualpurpose canisters (DPCs), which are currently licensed and being used to store and transport SNF but were not designed for permanent geologic disposal.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Particle-based Gen3 Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) can be paired with high-temperature power cycles (>700 °C) and can have built-in long duration (≥10 hours) thermal energy storage if the working particles are stored properly in thermal energy storage bins. Although high-temperature and long-duration thermal energy storage can mitigate daily intermittencies in solar irradiation, seasonal variability in local meteorological conditions can still have a significant impact on the overall performance of CSP systems. Aside from daily cloud coverage affecting incident solar radiation, wind speed and ambient temperature are also significant variables regarding system heat attenuation, component efficiency, and overall solar conversion efficiency. In this work, we present simulation results for a Gen3 CSP prototype system in operation over four weeks throughout the year in Albuquerque, NM. The meteorological conditions are taken directly from the TMY3 data at the Albuquerque International Sunport, where the hourly Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI), wind speed, and ambient temperature are of particular interest. An investigation of the sensitivity of individual components like storage and ducting to the local meteorological conditions is provided and extended to the overall performance of the CSP system. The results from this study show that the particle inlet temperature at the particle-to-sCO2 heat exchanger can change as fast as 30 °C/min under standard operation in a passive mode.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Directly pressurizing seawater for desalination with reverse osmosis membranes via wave motion is a promising and sustainable method for producing freshwater in coastal regions. However, such a system could result in significant pressure fluctuations and a departure from conventional steady-state desalination operations. This study sought to assess if membrane transport parameters (apparent water and salt permeability) should be modeled as transient or constant in solution–diffusion-based modeling efforts of dynamically operated desalination systems, such as those coupled to wave power. Two approaches were used to model membrane transport parameters: one considered each parameter to be a function of the net driving pressure of the system, and the other assumed they were constant across all conditions. A pilot-scale system was used to conduct steady-state and controlled ramping experiments. Data from steady-state experiments were used to calculate transient and constant transport parameters. Parameter combinations were used in a simulation model to predict water flux and effective permeate salinity, and simulation outcomes were compared against experimental ramping results. The transient relationships for both water and salt permeability produced the most accurate results for water flux and comparable results for effective permeate salinity. Development of such relationships would be unique to a specific system but could be valuable in modeling wave-driven desalination systems across the wide range of operating conditions they experience.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We have developed the first transient metabolic model for diurnal growth of algae based on experimental data and capable of predicting phenotype from genotype. This model enables us to evaluate the impact of genetic and environmental changes on the growth, biomass composition and intracellular fluxes of the model green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii . The availability of this model will enable faster and more efficient design of cells for production of fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
The integration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) in power systems is accelerating, bringing with it significant benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved grid resilience, and increased energy independence. Despite these advantages, the widespread adoption of IBRs introduces several challenges, including issues related to grid stability, increased operational complexity, and the need for updated regulatory frameworks. To address these challenges, IEEE released Standard 2800 in 2022, which sets forth the necessary interconnection capabilities and performance criteria for IBRs connected to transmission and sub-transmission systems. This standard outlines the performance requirements to ensure the reliable integration of IBRs into the bulk power system. Furthermore, in 2023, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) published a reliability guideline for electromagnetic transient (EMT) modeling of BPS-connected IBRs. This guideline provides recommendations for developing EMT model requirements, performing model quality checks, and implementing verification practices specifically for EMT models representing BPS-connected inverter-based resources in reliability studies conducted by transmission planners and planning coordinators. These standards and guidelines have a profound impact on EMT studies for transmission networks, influencing system stability analyses, grid recovery and resynchronization processes, fault ride-through evaluations, protection and coordination strategies, advanced control methodologies, and the inclusion of IBRs in transient models of transmission networks. As a result, the generation of EMT data is crucial for conducting various transient-based studies to understand the impact of IBRs. EMT data generation use cases serve as the basis for scenarios in event detection and identification use cases, providing comprehensive details about EMT data generation for transmission grids with inverter-based resources. These use cases supply sufficient training and validation datasets for subsequent EMT analysis algorithms.
With increased penetration of converter interfaced generation (CIG) in power systems, it becomes imperative to adequately model them in both steady-state and dynamic simulations. There are several modeling approaches and simulation platforms for CIG. In addition, it is noted that suitability of modeling approaches and models is also dependent on the system conditions. However, their suitability has yet to be systematically analyzed, and this becomes a challenge in the industry without a systemic method. To tackle these challenges, in this paper, we first develop a methodology for identifying the maximum penetration of aggregated rooftop sources that can be represented as negative loads in both the steady state and dynamic analysis. Then we verify the suitability of positive-sequence performance-based model and detailed electromagnetic transient (EMT) model for utility-scale PV plants under different fault conditions. Based on the results, we perform dynamic simulations on a large practical system with both positive-sequence transient stability(TS) and EMT-TS hybrid simulation. Our study shows that positive-sequence performance based PV plant model is more suitable for study cases with faults relatively far away from the point of connection, and that positive-sequence models and TS simulation approach can produce comparable results with reference to EMT-TS hybrid simulation for normally-cleared single-line-to-ground faults, but the inadequacy of positive-sequence based model and simulation approach becomes obvious for prolonged-tripping of unbalanced faults in proximity of the PV plants.
BISON's fission gas release (FGR) model has been evaluated and tested over several hypothetical thermal transient cases at high burnup and validated against FGR experimental data from an annealing test at high burnup. Diffusion-controlled FGR is accounted for in the model by including several physical mechanisms such as the diffusion of fission gas to grain faces, grain boundary sweeping, grain growth, and intergranular bubble growth. Under temperature variations, FGR is increased due to the development of micro-cracks at grain faces. This existing transient capability, however, was developed based on transient fuel behavior during power ramps and the associated micro-cracking process. Nevertheless, a fraction of the FGR during temperature transients such as LOCA can ensue from different mechanisms (in particular, fuel fragmentation) and present an important dependency on local burnup and high burnup structure formation. It follows that the performance and necessary developments of the existing BISON fission gas model for the analysis of LOCA-type transients need to be investigated through a systematic assessment study. Such a study is performed in this work. The model shows an overall good qualitative agreement with experimental observations on FGR during annealing tests with different temperature conditions. It also accounts well for microstructural effects on FGR. When quantitatively compared to FGR data from previously irradiated 103 MWd/kgU UO 2 discs under thermal annealing, the model shows a less satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.
In this article, the shutters need to be closed or opened during the operation and calibration period time for the fusion diagnostic systems, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) motional stark effect (MSE). Standard electric motors and actuators will not work in a strong magnetic field environment due to the presence of the magnetic field of fusion reactors. The innovative linear induction motor (LIM) with an ironless feature overcomes this kind of challenge and can be used for any application that requires controlled motion with a large stroke in the magnetic field environment. It consists of a high-electrical conductivity plate like copper and three-phase motor windings with nonferrous or stainless-steel stators. The conductor plate attached with the shutter is simply driven by the underneath three-phase linear windings to achieve linear motion. The motor drive can be controlled remotely by a controller using the electrical connection, so no sensitive electronic components are located in the harsh environment where the motor itself is located. The design requirements and test facility have been described. Several 3-D transient Maxwell electromagnetic (EM) models with different locations of three-phase linear motor windings and shutter stators have been analyzed and evolved to meet any applications allowed in the harsh environment inside the vacuum vessel of fusion reactors. The preliminary design results are presented in this article.
Hydrologic exchange flows (HEFs) have environmental significance in riverine ecosystems. Key river channel factors that influence the spatial and temporal variations of HEFs include river stage, riverbed morphology, and riverbed hydraulic conductivity. However, their impacts on HEFs were often evaluated independently or on small scales. In this study, we numerically evaluated the combined interactions of these factors on HEFs using a high-performance simulator, PFLOTRAN, for subsurface flow and transport. The model covers 51 square kilometers of a selected river corridor with large sinuosity along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River in Washington, US. Three years of spatially distributed hourly river stages were applied to the riverbed. Compared to the simulation when riverbed heterogeneity is not ignored, the simulation using homogeneous riverbed conductivity underestimated HEFs, especially upwelling from lateral features, and overestimated the mean residence times derived from particle tracking. To derive a surrogate model for the river corridor, we amended the widely used transient storage model (TSM) for riverine solute study at reach scale with reactions. By treating the whole river corridor as a batch reactor, the temporal changes in the exchange rate coefficient for the TSM were derived from the dynamic residence time estimated from the hourly PFLOTRAN results. The TSM results were evaluated against the effective concentrations in the hyporheic zone calculated from the PFLOTRAN simulations. Our results show that there is potential to parameterize surrogate models such as TSM amended with biogeochemical reactions while incorporating small-scale process understandings and the signature of time-varying streamflow to advance the mechanistic understanding of river corridor processes at reach to watershed scales. However, the assumption of a well-mixed storage zone for TSM should be revisited when redox-sensitive reactions in the storage zones play important roles in river corridor functioning.
The goal of this project was an experimental and modeling investigation of overcooling transients that include freezing in Fluoride-Salt Cooled High-Temperature Reactors (FHRs). The most impactful product of this research collaboration between Professor Scarlat’s group at UW Madison and subsequently at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Rui Hu’s group at Argonne National Laboratory was the initial demonstration of SAM application to FHR transients, and the generation of a freezing module for the SAM code. The national laboratory and industry graduate student internships enabled by this project were valuable for workforce development, and also for knowledge transfer between university, national lab, and industry.
This document pertains to the reporting requirements of DOE contract FE-0031767. The document covers the development of a reduced order model library that can be used to represent coal-fired power plants. The models are transient and physics-based. Model classes in the library that correspond to different components in CFPPs are presented with physical explanations and representative results. Also, the use of the library to build an overall model for a representative CFPP is presented along with simulation results.
The current tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel assessment and validation database in BISON primarily covers steady- state irradiation and high-temperature furnace testing. Transient assessment cases are potentially needed to support U.S. industry efforts in designing and deploying commercial reactors using TRISO fuels. Historical transient tests in- volving TRISO fuels used highly conservative conditions compared to the typical high-temperature gas-cooled reactor accident scenarios. Despite this, modeling historical transient tests is fundamental for evaluating BISON’s predictive capabilities, adapting material properties for high-temperature and high-particle-power regimes, and developing a sys- tematic validation approach for TRISO transient applications. This work developed a 1D model of transient experiments carried out at the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor using BISON. BISON’s predictions of energy deposition, UO 2 melting onset, and molten volume fractions are compared against experimental measurements. Melting was modeled using an effective specific heat capacity model for UO 2 . We found that BISON’s predictions are in reasonable agreement with experimental data for low-energy-deposition cases, and that BISON overpredicts melting at higher energy depositions. We also discuss the potential causes of discrepancies between the simulated and measured results and propose ways to further develop the model. Although these simulations used conservative conditions compared to those expected for actual TRISO-fueled reactors, they extended the range of conditions reflected in the data in the existing BISON database for TRISO fuels.
The US nuclear energy industry is investigating strategies to increase the reactor operating cycle to 24 months, resulting in peak rod average burnups exceeding the current limit of 62 GWd/tU. This increase will in turn increase the probability of fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD) in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). This effort couples multiple codes to (1) evaluate full-core power histories for high-burnup fuel operated in a Westinghouse 4-loop pressurized water reactor, (2) model a postulated large-break LOCA, and (3) calculate the mass of fuel susceptible to FFRD. This paper, the first of three describing the work, focuses on code coupling strategies and FFRD susceptibility calculations. The other two companion papers focus on code-specific designs and analyses. Three codes were used in this work. VERA was used to calculate steady-state power histories, TRACE was used to model the transient thermal hydraulics, and BISON was used to model steady-state and transient fuel performance and cladding failure. Herein, several fuel pulverization models were used to calculate FFRD susceptibility in failed rods. Depending on the cladding failure/fuel pulverization model combination, the core-wide FFRD susceptibility during the postulated LOCA range from 0 to over 5,000 kg.
An efficient numerical framework is presented for modeling viscoelasticity and permanent set of polymers. It is based on the hereditary integral form of transient network theory, in which polymer chains belong to distinct networks each with different natural equilibrium states. Chains continually detach from previously formed networks and reattach to new networks in a state of zero stress. The free energy of these networks is given in terms of the deformation gradient relative to the configuration at which the network was born . A decomposition of the kernel for various free energies allows for a recurrence relationship to be established, bypassing the need to integrate over all time history. The technique is established for both highly compressible and nearly incompressible materials through the use of neo-Hookean, Blatz–Ko, Yeoh, and Ogden-Hill material models. Multiple examples are presented showing the ability to handle rate-dependent response and residual strains under complex loading histories.