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At least 1,477 records · Page 82

Overview of IMPACT Data Acquisition System and Data Reduction Process

This report documents the development of the data acquisition system (DAS) and data reduction methodologies for the Irradiated Material Property Accelerated Characterization Test (IMPACT) experiment at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The IMPACT experiment is designed to enable in-pile measurement of thermal conductivity in metallic nuclear fuels, specifically U-10Zr, using an instrumented thermal conductivity probe. The DAS supports both passive temperature monitoring and active thermal interrogation of the probe through controlled AC and DC excitation. Significant modifications to laboratory-scale systems were required to accommodate the higher resistance paths associated with the in-pile application. Custom electronics and relay-controlled measurement sequencing were developed to enable the measurement and sufficient power delivery to the sensing region. A reduced-order, axisymmetric thermal model based on the thermal quadrupoles method is presented to support data interpretation. This model enables efficient evaluation of transient heat transfer behavior and facilitates solution of the inverse problem required to extract thermal properties from measured signals. Multiple boundary condition formulations are discussed to address varying experimental time scales and geometries. Additionally, machine learning techniques are introduced to support data reduction and improve confidence in inverse solutions. Convolutional neural networks are applied to identify the presence of gas gaps and other evolving geometric features that significantly impact thermal response during irradiation. These efforts contribute to the broader integration of digital twin frameworks and real-time modeling capabilities within the Advanced Fuels Campaign.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗

Resonant Extraction and Extinction Measurement for the Mu2e Experiment

The Mu2e experiment, currently under construction at Fermilab, will search for coherent neutrinoless muon to electron conversion, extending the sensitivity of searches for charged lepton flavour violation by four orders of magnitude in 3-5 years of data-taking. This improved sensitivity is made possible by using a pulsed beam structure that is optimized for reducing prompt backgrounds when muons are stopped on an aluminium target. Producing a high-rate pulsed beam is achieved using resonant extraction of a circulating proton beam, an “AC dipole” with a time-varying field to deflect out-of-time protons, and a system to measure the extinction of out-of-time beam particles incident on the muon production target. These proceedings summarize the systems that have been designed to achieve the required level of extinction and to continuously place limits on the presence of out-of-time beam hitting the production target with a sensitivity of <1e-10.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Hierarchical Optimal Power Flow with Improved Gradient Evaluation

Existing algorithms to solve alternating-current optimal power flow (AC-OPF) often exploit linear approximations to simplify system models and accelerate computations. In this paper, we improve a recent hierarchical OPF algorithm, which rested on primal-dual gradients evaluated in a linearized distribution power flow model. Specifically, we identify a risk of voltage violation arising from the model linearization, and propose a more accurate gradient evaluation method to eliminate that risk. We further develop a hierarchical primal-dual algorithm to solve OPF based on the proposed gradient evaluation method. Numerical results on IEEE networks show that our algorithm can enhance voltage safety with satisfactory computational efficiency.

distributed algorithm↗

NUMERICAL CALCULATION OF LOSSES OF TRAPPED VORTICES UNDER STRONG RF MEISSNER CURRENT AND DC SUPERHEATING FIELD IN TYPE II SUPERCONDUCTORS

Research on the vortex dynamics and enhancing of superheating field in superconductors has attracted much attention in accelerator physics community to develop next-generation high-performance accelerator cavities. However, the extreme dynamics of curvilinear elastic vortices driven by very strong currents close to the depairing limit or superheating field of a superconductor with a nanostructured surface has not been well understood. We calculated the superheating field Hsh and critical momentum kc characterizing the wavelength of the instability ?m of the Meissner state to flux penetration by solving numerically the Ginzburg?Landau equations. A bulk superconductor, superconductor with the inhomogeneous surface disorder (S-S), and multilayered surface (S-I-S) have been thoroughly investigated in this work. Our result showed that S-S and S-I-S structures can enhance the superheating field well above their clean limit. In this work extensive numerical simulation of the power dissipated by an oscillating vortex segment driven by the surface ac Meissner currents was performed. Our simulations take into account the nonlinear vortex line tension, vortex mass, Bardeen?Stephen viscous vortex drag applicable at low fields, and nonlinear Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) viscous drag coefficient ?(v) at high fields and pinning force. We showed that the LO decrease of ?(v) with the vortex velocity v could radically change the field dependence of the surface resistance Ri(H) caused by trapped vortices. At low frequencies Ri(H) exhibits a conventional increase with H. However, as frequency increases, the surface resistance becomes a nonmonotonic function of H which decreases with H at higher fields irrespective of the pinning distribution. Overheating can mask the descending field dependence of Ri(H) as frequency increases. Our numerical simulations also show that the LO effect can cause a vortex bending instability at high field amplitudes and frequencies, giving rise to the formation of dynamic kinks along with the vortex when a vortex is pinned strongly to one end. Nonlinear losses of trapped vortices in thick films under high-amplitude RF fields as functions of frequency, mean free path and pinning characteristics have been calculated.

Pathirana, Walive↗

Yield, chemistry, and TEA/LCA data for 84 switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) variants

Switchgrass yield, chemistry, technoeconomic assessment (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) data referenced in the manuscript "Economics and Sustainability impacts of yield and composition variation in bioenergy crops: Panicum virgatum L.", Happs, et. al. (manuscript in revision at ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering). These results are based on analysis of yield data generated from a set of switchgrass common garden experiments established by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI; https://cbi.ornl.gov/). These data include estimates of commercial-scale yields and characterization of biomass chemistry (fermentable carbohydrate fraction) for 84 different switchgrass variants from a genome-wide association study population, as well as estimates of minimum fuel selling price and various life-cycle footprint metrics for cellulosic ethanol produced from that switchgrass biomass.

switchgrass, biofuels↗

ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 1

The ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 1, from 2018 to 2019, focused on the basic Security Constrained AC Optimal Power Flow problem (SCOPF) for a single time period. The Challenge utilized sets of unique datasets generated by the ARPA-E GRID DATA program. Each dataset consisted of a collection of power system network models of different sizes with associated operating scenarios (snapshots in time defining instantaneous power demand, renewable generation, generator and line availability, etc.). The datasets were of two types: Real-Time, which included starting-point information, and Online, which did not. Week-Ahead data is also provided for some cases but was not used in the Competition. Although most datasets were synthetic and generated by GRIDDATA, a few came from industry and were only used in the Final Event. All synthetic Input Data and Team Results for the GO Competition Challenge 1 for the Sandbox, Trial Events 1 to 3, and the Final Event along with problem, format, scoring and rules descriptions are available here. Data for industry scenarios will not be made public. Challenge 1, a minimization problem, required two computational steps. Solver 1 or Code 1 solved the base SCOPF problem under a strict wall clock time limit, as would be the case in industry, and reported the base case operating point as output, which was used to compute the Objective Function value that was used as the scenario score. The feasibility of the solution was provided by the Solver 2 or Code 2, which solves the power flow problem for all contingencies based on the results from Solver 1. This is not normally done in industry, so the time limits were relaxed. In fact, there were no time limits for Trial Event 1. This proved to be a mistake, with some codes running for more than 90 hours, and a time limit of 2 seconds per contingency was imposed for all other events. Entrants were free to use their own Solver 2 or use an open-source version provided by the Competition. Containers, such as Docker, were considered to improve the portability of codes, but none that could reliably support a multi-node parallel computing environment, e.g., MPI, could be found. For more information on the competition and challenge see the "GO Competition Challenge 1 Information" and "GO Competition Challenge 1 Additional Information" resources below.

ACOPF↗

Section-level genome sequencing and comparative genomics of Aspergillus sections Cavernicolus and Usti.

The genus Aspergillus is diverse, including species of industrial importance, human pathogens, plant pests, and model organisms. Aspergillus includes species from sections Usti and Cavernicolus, which until recently were joined in section Usti, but have now been proposed to be non-monophyletic and were split by section Nidulantes, Aenei and Raperi. To learn more about these sections, we have sequenced the genomes of 13 Aspergillus species from section Cavernicolus (A. cavernicola, A. californicus, and A. egyptiacus), section Usti (A. carlsbadensis, A. germanicus, A. granulosus, A. heterothallicus, A. insuetus, A. keveii, A. lucknowensis, A. pseudodeflectus and A. pseudoustus), and section Nidulantes (A. quadrilineatus, previously A. tetrazonus). We compared these genomes with 16 additional species from Aspergillus to explore their genetic diversity, based on their genome content, repeat-induced point mutations (RIPs), transposable elements, carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) profile, growth on plant polysaccharides, and secondary metabolite gene clusters (SMGCs). All analyses support the split of section Usti and provide additional insights: Analyses of genes found only in single species show that these constitute genes which appear to be involved in adaptation to new carbon sources, regulation to fit new niches, and bioactive compounds for competitive advantages, suggesting that these support species differentiation in Aspergillus species. Sections Usti and Cavernicolus have mainly unique SMGCs. Section Usti contains very large and information-rich genomes, an expansion partially driven by CAZymes, as section Usti contains the most CAZyme-rich species seen in genus Aspergillus. Section Usti is clearly an underutilized source of plant biomass degraders and shows great potential as industrial enzyme producers. Citation: Nybo JL, Vesth TC, Theobald S, Frisvad JC, Larsen TO, Kjaerboelling I, Rothschild-Mancinelli K, Lyhne EK, Barry K, Clum A, Yoshinaga Y, Ledsgaard L, Daum C, Lipzen A, Kuo A, Riley R, Mondo S, LaButti K, Haridas S, Pangalinan J, Salamov AA, Simmons BA, Magnuson JK, Chen J, Drula E, Henrissat B, Wiebenga A, Lubbers RJM, Müller A, dos Santos Gomes AC, Mäkelä MR, Stajich JE, Grigoriev IV, Mortensen UH, de Vries RP, Baker SE, Andersen MR (2025). Section-level genome sequencing and comparative genomics of Aspergillus sections Cavernicolus and Usti. Studies in Mycology 111: 101-114. doi: 10.3114/sim.2025.111.03.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

From Farm to Flight: CoverCress as a Low Carbon Intensity Cash Cover Crop for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production. A Review of Progress Towards Commercialization

Thlaspi arvense L. (Field Pennycress; pennycress) is being converted into a winter-annual oilseed crop that confers cover crop benefits when grown throughout the 12 million-hectares U.S. Midwest. To ensure a fit with downstream market demand, conversion involves not only improvements in yield and maturity through traditional breeding, but also improvements in the composition of the oil and protein through gene editing tools. The conversion process is similar to the path taken to convert rapeseed into Canola. In the case of field pennycress, the converted product that is suitable as a rotational crop is called CoverCress™ as marketed by CoverCress Inc. or golden pennycress if marketed by others. Off-season integration of a CoverCress crop into existing corn and soybean hectares would extend the growing season on established croplands and avoid displacement of food crops or ecosystems while yielding up to 1 billion liters of seed oil annually by 2030, with the potential to grow to 8 billion liters from production in the U.S. Midwest alone. The aviation sector is committed to carbon-neutral growth and reducing emissions of its global market, which in 2019 approached 122 billion liters of consumption in the U.S. and 454 billion liters globally. The oil derived from a CoverCress crop is ideally suited as a new bioenergy feedstock for the production of drop-in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, biodiesel and other value-added coproducts. Through a combination of breeding and genomics-enabled mutagenesis approaches, considerable progress has been made in genetically improving yield and other agronomic traits. With USDA-NIFA funding and continued public and private investments, improvements to CoverCress germplasm and agronomic practices suggest that field-scale production can surpass 1,680 kg ha -1 (1,500 lb ac -1 ) in the near term. At current commodity prices, economic modeling predicts this level of production can be profitable across the entire supply chain. Two-thirds of the grain value is in oil converted to fuels and chemicals, and the other one-third is in the meal used as an animal feed, industrial applications, and potential plant-based protein products. In addition to strengthening rural communities by providing income to producers and agribusinesses, cultivating a CoverCress crop potentially offers a myriad of ecosystem services. The most notable service is water quality protection through reduced nutrient leaching and reduced soil erosion. Biodiversity enhancement by supporting pollinators’ health is also a benefit. While the efforts described herein are focused on the U.S., cultivation of a CoverCress crop will likely have a broader application to regions around the world with similar agronomic and environmental conditions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Magnetic Vortex and Hyperthermia Suppression in Multigrain Iron Oxide Nanorings

Single-crystal iron oxide nanorings have been proposed as a promising candidate for magnetic hyperthermia application because of their unique shape-induced vortex-domain structure, which supports good colloidal stability and enhanced magnetic properties. However, the synthesis of single crystalline iron oxide has proven to be challenging. In this article, we showed that chemically synthesized multigrain magnetite nanorings disfavor a shape-induced magnetic vortex-domain structure. Our results indicate that the multigrain Fe 3 O 4 nanorings with an average outer diameter of ~110 nm and an inner to outer diameter ratio of ~0.5 do not show a shape-induced vortex-domain structure, which was observed in the single-crystal Fe 3 O 4 nanorings of similar dimensions. At 300 Ks, multigrain magnetite nanorings showed an effective anisotropy field of 440 Oe, which can be attributed to its high surface area and intraparticle interaction. Both calorimetric and AC loop measurements showed a moderate inductive heating efficiency of multigrain magnetite nanorings of ~300 W/g at 800 Oe. Our results shed light on the magnetic ground states of chemically synthesized multigrain Fe 3 O 4 nanorings.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Verification of a Modeling Toolkit for the Design of Building Electrical Distribution Systems

DC electrical distribution systems offer many potential advantages over their AC counterparts. They can facilitate easier integration with distributed energy resources, improve system energy efficiency by eliminating AC/DC converters at end-use devices (e.g., laptop chargers), and reduce installation material, time, and cost. However, DC electrical distribution systems present additional design considerations, largely resulting from potentially greater magnitude and variation in cable losses. Modeling and simulation are rarely used to design such systems. However, the greater dependency of DC system energy efficiency on design choices such as distribution voltages, architecture, and integration of PV and BESS suggests that modeling and simulation may be required. Such system performance analysis is currently not a standard practice, in part due to limited availability and validation of capable software tools. This paper characterizes the accuracy of a Modelica-based Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model (BEEAM) toolkit, as a precursor for validating its use to perform system performance analysis and inform design decisions. The study builds upon previous verification research by characterizing complete systems comprised of commercially available equipment, and providing a more detailed analysis of simulation results. Five lighting systems with varying electrical distribution architectures were designed using market-available equipment, installed in a laboratory environment, modeled using BEEAM, and simulated using three Modelica integrated development environments (IDEs). Simulated and measured results were compared to characterize toolkit accuracy. Initial results revealed that simulated performance was mostly within ±5% of measured system-level and device-level performance. While simulation results were not found to be dependent on the IDE, some Modelica compiler interoperability issues were identified. Although the BEEAM toolkit showed promise for the targeted use case, further work is needed to determine whether the demonstrated 5% accuracy is sufficient for making real-world design decisions, and for BEEAM to advance from an interesting research tool to one that can impact real-world building projects.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

An Optimized H5 Hysteresis Current Control with Clamped Diodes in Transformer-Less Grid-PV Inverter

With the rise of renewable energy penetration in the grid, photovoltaic (PV) panels are connected to the grid via inverters to supply solar energy. Transformer-less grid-tied PV inverters are gaining popularity because of their improved efficiency, reduced size, and lower costs. However, they can induce a path for leakage currents between the PV and the grid due to the absence of galvanic isolation. This leads to serious electromagnetic interference, loss in efficiency, and safety concerns. The leakage current is primarily influenced by the nature of the common mode voltage (CMV), which is determined by the switching techniques of the inverter. In this paper, a novel inverter topology of Hysteresis Controlled H5 with Two Clamping Diodes (HCH5-D2) is derived. The HCH5-D2 topology helps decouple the AC part (Grid) and DC part (PV) during the freewheeling period to make the CMV constant, thereby reducing the leakage current. Additionally, the extra diodes help reduce voltage spikes generated during the freewheeling period and maintain the CMV at a constant value. Finally, a 2.2 kW grid-connected single-phase HCH5-D2 PV inverter system’s MATLAB simulation is presented, showing better results compared to a traditional H4 inverter.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Corrosion of Metal Alloys in Potassium Acetate Solutions for Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification and Air Conditioning

For commercial buildings, liquid desiccant air conditioners (LDACs) could provide up to 80% energy savings compared to high-efficiency vapor compression AC, but commonly utilized liquid desiccants are highly corrosive. This precludes the use of metallic components, necessitating specialized plastics and thereby driving up cost, weight, and limiting operational temperature and pressure ranges. Less corrosive alternatives are sought. Here, potassium acetate solutions are investigated as less-corrosive alternatives to the chloride salt solutions that are typically used in LDAC systems. Corrosion evaluations for a Cu alloy (C12200) and two Al alloys (Al3003 and Al1100) in both potassium acetate and chloride salt solutions are presented. We show that yearly corrosion rates are lower in potassium acetate solutions by up to three orders of magnitude. Active corrosion behavior is largely absent in potassium acetate solutions but is present in chloride salt solutions. Furthermore, solid corrosion products are observed in chloride salt solutions. Thus, we conclude that potassium acetate is a promising candidate as a less corrosive alternative liquid desiccant for LDAC systems with metallic components.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

An Evaluation of Co-Simulation for Modeling Coupled Natural Gas and Electricity Networks

Reliance on natural gas for power generation has increased the coupling between gas and power networks. While this coupling can bring operational and economic benefits, it can also yield challenges, as the constraints in one system can impact the other. Co-simulation can capture the constraints and interactions between these systems, but so far, there has been limited comparison of co-simulation results to those of an integrated model. In this work, we develop a new co-simulation framework using the HELICS platform and the SAInt tool for modeling transient gas and AC optimal power flow. We evaluate this co-simulation framework against a fully integrated version of the SAInt power and gas simulators, thus providing a benchmarking of the co-simulation approach. We compare results across the two approaches for two test networks and a network representing the Belgian power and gas networks, testing both normal operating conditions and cases with compressor disruptions. In each of the cases tested, we find nearly identical results from the two approaches across various metrics of interest, such as nodal pressure, gas flow rates, and active power generation. This alignment suggests that co-simulation can yield comparable results to fully integrated models for modeling coupled gas and electricity networks.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Centralized and Decentralized Distributed Energy Resource Access Control Implementation Considerations.

A global transition to power grids with high penetrations of renewable energy generation is being driven in part by rapid installations of distributed energy resources (DER). New DER equipment includes standardized IEEE 1547-2018 communication interfaces and proprietary communications capabilities. Interoperable DER provides new monitoring and control capabilities. The existence of multiple entities with different roles and responsibilities within the DER ecosystem makes the Access Control (AC) mechanism necessary. In this paper, we introduce and compare two novel architectures, which provide a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) service to the DER ecosystem’s entities. Selecting an appropriate RBAC technology is important for the RBAC administrator and users who request DER access authorization. The first architecture is centralized, based on the OpenLDAP, an open source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). The second approach is decentralized, based on a private Ethereum blockchain test network, where the RBAC model is stored and efficiently retrieved via the utilization of a single Smart Contract. We have implemented two end-to-end Proofs-of-Concept (PoC), respectively, to offer the RBAC service to the DER entities as web applications. Finally, an evaluation of the two approaches is presented, highlighting the key speed, cost, usability, and security features.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A Review of Distributed Secondary Control Architectures in Islanded-Inverter-Based Microgrids

The increasing energy demand, the shortage of energy resources, and the environmental challenges faced by conventional power-generation systems are some of the ongoing challenges faced by modern power systems. Therefore, many efforts have been made by the scientific community to develop comprehensive solutions to overcome these issues. For instance, current technological advances have allowed the integration of distributed generators into the power systems, promoting the use of microgrids to overcome these issues. However, the use of renewable distributed generators have introduced new challenges to the traditional control system schemes. To overcome these challenges, a hierarchical control approach has been proposed for distributed renewable sources. In other words, the control scheme have been divided into three hierarchical levels, primary, secondary, and tertiary, to overcome the new challenges present in modern power systems. Due to extensiveness of this topic, this overview is focused on secondary control systems, mainly for AC isolated microgrids. To improve the power quality of modern systems, several secondary control schemes have been proposed to overcome the well-known problem of frequency and voltage deviation. Some of these schemes have also introduced adequate active/reactive power sharing techniques to optimize the utilization of resources. Additionally, other secondary control schemes have also focused on reducing the communication load, to lower the network cost and adding robustness against communication problems. This article presents an insight of the different control techniques used to overcome power quality and communication problems. A comprehensive overview of distributed secondary control techniques for islanded microgrids is presented. In addition, the implementation of these techniques is explained in an orderly and sequential manner.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Series FACTS Devices for Increasing Resiliency in Severe Weather Conditions

Severe weather conditions are low-probability, high-impact events that affect grid operations. The majority of power outages are caused by severe weather conditions. Grid resiliency to weather events can be enhanced by decreasing the reliance on its affected sections. One way to do this is to reduce the power flow through lines vulnerable to severe weather. If a line is disconnected, its initial power flow is distributed through the neighbor lines, which may cause congestion in the grid. FACTS devices can be used to control the power flow of lines that have a higher chance of power outages. Most previous works do not consider weather events in power flow control. In this work, a linearized optimal power flow (OPF)–based algorithm is developed to minimize the real power flow of vulnerable lines considering the thermal limits of lines to prevent infeasible solutions; the simulation is fast, making it suitable for large-scale systems. The proposed optimization problem is presented as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP), making it capable of using short-term load forecasting due to its high solution speed. The proposed optimization problem considers multiple lines with different outage probabilities and the uncertainties of the weather forecast. Moreover, it estimates the power reduction in vulnerable lines due to changes in the series FACTS devices. The performance of the proposed optimization problem is tested on IEEE 14-, 30-, and 118-bus systems for several scenarios. The results are validated with the AC power flow results from MATPOWER.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Transient Microstructure Evolutions and Local Properties of Dual-Phase 980 MPa Grade Steel Via Friction Stir Spot Processing

Friction stir processing is a novel solid-state process to modify microstructures and their properties by intense, localized plastic deformation. However, little research has been reported for microstructure evolutions of advanced high-strength steels during the process. The present work focuses on the study of transient microstructure changes and local mechanical properties for friction stir spot processed dual-phase (DP) 980 MPa grade steel (DP980) under different peak temperatures. A pinless silicon nitride ceramic tool was used to produce relatively simple material deformation and flow near the tool. Friction stir spot processed steel samples were characterized by optical and electron microscopies. Furthermore, Vickers microhardness and nano-indentation measurements were used to study local mechanical properties for correlation with microstructures. A swallow layer of refined grains (<0.6 µm) was obtained with a low peak temperature (under 400 °C), whereas higher peak temperatures (>Ac 1 ) led to a change in grain size with different microstructures (fine-grained DP or martensite). Electron back-scattered diffraction characterizations revealed a large deformation in the as-received microstructures (mixture of ferrite and tempered martensite) induced by friction stir spot processing, leading to recrystallization and grain refinement around the stirred zone. Also, nano-indentation measurements showed a higher hardness than the hardness of the as-received DP980. Friction stir processing with different process conditions effectively changed microstructures and local mechanical properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗