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At least 1,477 records · Page 82

Outcomes of the DOE Workshop on Atmospheric Challenges for the Wind Energy Industry

The U.S. Department of Energy-funded Mesoscale-to-Microscale Coupling (MMC) project team planned and conducted a virtual Workshop on Atmospheric Challenges for the Wind Energy Industry on October 19 and 20, 2020. The goal of the workshop was to forge a dialog with the community, including industry representatives, on how modeling tools are currently being used, the present active atmospheric modeling research in support of wind energy, and required advancements in capabilities and technology to continue to advance wind energy deployment. The workshop was planned in collaboration with an industry advisory panel that included representatives from wind power plant developers, turbine manufacturers, and companies that provide resource assessment and forecasting services. The format of the workshop included panels from government research sponsors, visionaries from industry, and mixed panels of researchers discussing research status and needs. A shared keynote presentation from the Technical University of Denmark experts anchored the second day of the workshop. An emphasis was placed on understanding the research needs in the offshore environment. In addition, breakout opportunities were provided each day. On the first day, the breakout discussions addressed predesigned questions configured to elicit participants’ thoughts on needed research directions. The second-day breakouts treated three important technical topics through a combination of presentations and group conversations. Each workshop participant chose their breakout preference from among downscaling details, modeling for turbines, and using artificial intelligence for atmospheric modeling. The discussions were robust and productive. The outcomes of the workshop include archiving a series of recommendations from industry and the research community on research directions required to further advance wind energy deployment. Discussions confirmed the need for high-fidelity modeling but that there are specific areas of applicability and other areas where the time and cost of computation is prohibitive. In those cases, the high-fidelity models can inform low-order models that are more practical for real-time or widely deployed applications. Industry must consider the financial cost of performing more expensive modeling approaches, but industry engineers and researchers are using these approaches where there appears to be a return on investment. An emerging type of low-order model is based on machine learning (ML). Participants confirmed that there are many atmospheric phenomena that need to be modeled better, including low-level jets, cold air outbreaks, land-sea induced circulations, diurnal variability, thin stable boundary layers, dynamic changes such as from frontal passage, interaction of wakes and blockage, and more. For the offshore environment, there is wide agreement that some level of ocean-wave-atmospheric coupling is necessary to capture variations in rotor-level winds needed to plan and operate offshore wind plants. Another recurring recommendation is that more observations are needed, particularly for the offshore environment. Those observations should consider the needs for model improvement, both for physically based models and for ML models. Observations must capture atmospheric profiles of variables that are important to understanding and modeling atmospheric and oceanic phenomena that impact boundary layer winds. Models must be validated with data and the uncertainty quantified, particularly those that are sensitive to initial and boundary conditions. Finally, a repeated request was to consider the holistic needs of hybrid plants of wind, solar, and storage resources because those types of plants are likely to be the wave of the future. In addition, industry wishes to understand impacts of the resource under a changing climate for long-term planning.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Evaluation report on the Thermo Scientific TruDose (neutron,gamma) EPD3

This report summarizes an evaluation study on the Thermo Scientific TruDose n/γ EPD3 by LANL’s RP-SVS group. Two EPD3s were received for assessment (SNs 7500100 and 7500108) along with an EPD3 desktop reader. The evaluation included intercomparisons with Thermo’s N2 EPD which is in wide circulation at LANL but is no longer commercially available. A favourable assessment of the TruDose EPD3 would help support it as a viable option to replace the N2 EPD. The data and observations included in this report could also serve as the basis of a Technical Basis Document for the use of the EPD3 at LANL.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Hydrogen fueled subsonic aircraft - A prospective

The performance characteristics of hydrogen-fueled subsonic transport aircraft are compared with those of aircraft using conventional aviation kerosene. Results of the Cryogenically Fueled Aircraft Technology Program sponsored by NASA indicate that liquid hydrogen may be particularly efficient for subsonic transport craft when ranges of 4000 km or more are involved; however, development of advanced cryogenic tanks for liquid hydrogen fuel is required. The NASA-sponsored program also found no major technical obstacles for international airports converting the liquid hydrogen fueling systems. Resource utilization efficiency and fuel production costs for hydrogen produced by coal gasification or for liquid methane or synthetic aviation kerosene are also assessed.

Witcofski, R. D.↗

GASP- General Aviation Synthesis Program. Volume 1: Main program. Part 1: Theoretical development

The General Aviation synthesis program performs tasks generally associated with aircraft preliminary design and allows an analyst the capability of performing parametric studies in a rapid manner. GASP emphasizes small fixed-wing aircraft employing propulsion systems varying froma single piston engine with fixed pitch propeller through twin turboprop/ turbofan powered business or transport type aircraft. The program, which may be operated from a computer terminal in either the batch or interactive graphic mode, is comprised of modules representing the various technical disciplines integrated into a computational flow which ensures that the interacting effects of design variables are continuously accounted for in the aircraft sizing procedure. The model is a useful tool for comparing configurations, assessing aircraft performance and economics, performing tradeoff and sensitivity studies, and assessing the impact of advanced technologies on aircraft performance and economics.

Hague, D.↗

Improving Production in the Emerging Paradox Oil Play (Final Technical Report)

This report documents the results of the DOE-funded project Improving Production in the Emerging Paradox Oil Play, focused on integrating geological characterization, petrophysical analysis, reservoir simulation, and field development planning to improve hydrocarbon recovery from the Paradox Basin. Project activities included core and log analysis, assessment of reservoir heterogeneity and compartmentalization, evaluation of completion and stimulation strategies, and development of an uncertainty-aware field development framework. Findings highlight the importance of selective completions, geology-driven well placement, and targeted stimulation in vertically heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs.

02 PETROLEUM↗

Overview of NASA GRC Stirling Technology Development

The Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG) is currently being developed by Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA) under contract to the Department of Energy (DOE). The generator will be a high efficiency electric power source for NASA Space Science missions with the ability to operate in vacuum or in an atmosphere such as on Mars. High efficiency is obtained through the use of free-piston Stirling power conversion. Power output will be greater than 100 watts at the beginning of life with the decline in power largely due to the decay of the plutonium heat source. In support of the DOE SRG project, the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has established a technology effort to provide data to ensure a successful transition to flight for what will be the first dynamic power system in space. Initially, a limited number of areas were selected for the effort, however this is now being expanded to more thoroughly cover key technical issues. There is also an advanced technology effort that is complementary to the near-term technology effort. Many of the tests use the 55-We Technology Demonstration Convertor (TDC). There have been multiple controller tests to support the LMA flight controller design effort. Preparation is continuing for a thermal/vacuum system demonstration. A pair of flight prototype TDC s have been placed on continuous operation. Heater head life assessment continues, with the material data being refined and the analysis moving toward the system perspective. Magnet aging tests continue to characterize any possible aging in the strength or demagnetization resistance of the magnets in the linear alternator. A reliability effort has been initiated to help guide the development activities with focus on the key components and subsystems. This paper will provide an overview of some of the GRC technical efforts, including the status, and a description of future efforts.

Schreiber, Jeffrey G.↗

Building an EPA Class VI Permit Application

Summary To accelerate the commercialization of carbon capture and storage (CCS), the US Department of Energy (US DOE) is building on decades of characterization efforts and pilot-scale projects through their CarbonSAFE program. Administered through their National Energy Technology Laboratory, this program seeks to bring fully integrated projects to the sector that can store more than 50 million tonnes of CO2 over a 30-year period. The program, which was enacted before the enhancement of Internal Revenue Code Section 45Q, is in the capture assessment, characterization, and permitting phase. The objectives of this paper are to discuss (a) the injection permitting requirements of the CarbonSAFE projects; (b) information gathering in support of the permit; (c) the timelines of field development and permit-related activities; (d) the major technical components of the field development plan; and (e) early feedback from the regulators toward acceptance of the permit. In Mississippi, more than 30,000 acres have been characterized by six deep characterization wells, a deep groundwater well, and 92 line miles of 2D seismic as part of the CarbonSAFE Project ECO2S. During the acquisition of seismic data, all receiver lines were live, which resulted in the generation of a pseudo-3D seismic design. The incorporation of a 3D seismic survey was not included as part of this project due to logistical difficulties presented by the undulating, wooded surface terrain. A suite of openhole geophysical logs was taken from each well, allowing for a detailed interpretation of prospective storage reservoirs and confining intervals to complement the analysis carried out on the 290 ft of a whole core that was cut through the prospective confining zone and storage reservoir. The detailed geologic and reservoir data were assembled and entered into a 3D model to assess the injection capacity and the area of review (AoR). This information fed into the detailed corrective action, monitoring, testing, and postinjection site care (PISC) modeling. The results have been exceptional. The geologic assessment has revealed three primary storage targets, ranging in depth from 3,500 ft to 6,000 ft. These storage reservoirs net 1,300 ft of sandstone, with mean porosity and permeability of 29% and 3.6 darcies, respectively. Together, these reservoirs have storage capacities that may exceed 20 million tonnes per square mile, making this a gigatonne prospect. Forward modeling of the project resulted in an AoR of 16 sq miles, injecting about 8000 t/d, for 30 years, via two deep injection wells. The excellent confining characteristics of the caprock, relatively simple geologic structure, and lack of historical well drilling activity in this area provide excellent containment of the injected CO2. Based on this work, the project has proposed 20 years of PISC. To date, only two US CO2 injection permits have been granted. These projects relied on a singular capture point feeding a singular sequestration point (source to sink), and considerations have not been made to garner CO2 emissions from other industrial sources. The Kemper County Storage Complex is a first-of-its-kind storage hub concept that looks to develop an area capable of storing significant quantities of CO2 from the region. Also, this work will show how characterization efforts, geological and numerical modeling efforts, and plan development were constructed in support of permit and incentives acceptance.

Energy & Fuels↗

Assessment of Plant and Microalgal Oil-Derived Nonisocyanate Polyurethane Products for Potential Commercialization

Green pathways for nonisocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) production have attracted increasing levels of interest. The reaction between 5-membered cyclic carbonate and polyamines is one of the most promising pathways to produce NIPU polymers. Though promising, major technical hurdles such as slow polymerization rate and poor performance hinder the commercialization of NIPU. In this paper, we screened several commercially available triglyceride oil feedstocks for NIPU products, focusing on polymerization kinetics and product performance for industrial application. The impact of carbonated group density on polymerization rate and mechanical strength was determined. We have demonstrated a remarkably higher reactivity of carbonated oil derived from feedstocks with polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). The NIPU derived from such feedstocks also showed improved performance for industrial application. Unlike traditional polyurethane foam production that uses isocyanate and water to generate CO2 as a blowing reagent, there is no gas formation in NIPU polymerization. We have demonstrated a practical and cost-effective approach to produce NIPU foam material using bicarbonate as a blowing reagent. Furthermore, we conducted the first-ever technoeconomic analysis (TEA), revealing that profitable commercial NIPU production can be achieved when operating at sufficient production capacities.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Executive Summary

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download.

100% renewable↗

Advancing Solar Innovation for Low and Moderate-Income Households (Final Technical Report)

The overarching goal of this project was to deepen the understanding of the social and economic aspects of solar adoption, with a specific eye towards any pathways or barriers that could be identified that directly impact low and moderate-income households. Specific objectives included (1) identifying and assessing significant non-economic barriers that complicate the ability of LMI households to adopt and benefit from solar, even under scenarios with low economic barriers; (2) assessing the differential ability of groups to benefit from solar adoption based on their ability to invest in different solar innovations; (3) explaining why some LMI communities nonetheless experience significantly higher rates of solar adoption and benefit than others; (4) developing a methodological model for generating data addressing key issues to the project; and (5) designing and developing an interactive web portal that aggregates existing datasets, provides researchers trend analysis capabilities, standardizes project protocols for other states and communities; provides the opportunities for researchers using the same protocol in other communities to upload their results; and engages with the general public by providing them the ability to upload their own perspectives and stories of solar technology adoption. Through a common framework for conducting semi-structured field interviews. In partnership with cooperative extension services, in conjunction with survey research and the aggregation of existing solar adoption datasets, this study has identified that currently ,there is a strong values alignment and knowledge access challenge that continues to affect solar adoption. Participants in this study – many of whom are either low or moderate-income and/or live in underserved rural communities do not believe solar is an option where they live or believe solar is appropriate for their lifestyle. This perception challenge is further exacerbated by the absolute dearth of adopters in most communities and a total lack of local marketing for solar energy. What marketing that does exist is geared towards audiences other than those in the participant's community, reinforcing a perception that 22% of survey respondents (n = 1,551) have: that solar energy is not meant for them and their community. Overcoming these serious human challenges pertaining to knowledge and marketing are critical to reducing the customer acquisition costs incurred amongst LMI communities and especially those in rural America where the opportunities solar provides to increase local energy resilience, security, all while engaging in personal stewardship of the planet could align with local values. Community-Based Social Marketing, built in partnership with community leaders and geared towards meeting local visions of ideal life, is a near term opportunity to bridge the gap between local priorities and national market and policy imperatives for solar while moving towards the administration's goals for renewable energy as part of a just and equitable decarbonization program. The tools and methods developed for this study can serve as a template for identifying other specific local challenges for solar adoption in other state, and provide the opportunity for a common data framework for understanding system-wide trends and barriers to achieving uptake of residential solar in communities that may, ultimately, benefit the most from the technology.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Results of Re-evaluation of FEPs Related to Implementing the ABD Glass Program

The Savannah River Site plans to reprocess defense spent nuclear fuel currently stored in their L-Basin via the Accelerated Basin Deinventory (ABD) Program. The previous plan for the L-Basin spent nuclear fuel was to dispose of it directly in the federal repository without reprocessing. Implementing the ABD Program will result in final disposal of approximately 900 fewer canisters of defense spent nuclear fuel and the production of approximately 521 more canisters of vitrified high-level waste glass with some specific differences from the planned high-level waste glass. Because the 235U in the L-Basin spent nuclear fuel is not intended to be recovered, the fissile mass loading of the vitrified high-level glass waste form to be produced must be increased above the current value of 897 g/m 3 to a maximum of 2,500 g/m 3 . Therefore, implementing the ABD Program would produce a variant of high-level waste glass—the ABD glass—that needs to be evaluated for future repository licensing, which includes both preclosure safety and postclosure performance. This report describes the approach to and summarizes the results of an evaluation of the potential effects of implementing the ABD Program at the Savannah River Site on the technical basis for future repository licensing for a generic repository that is similar to Yucca Mountain and for one that is fully generic. This evaluation includes the effects on preclosure safety analyses and postclosure performance assessment for both repository settings. The license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository (DOE 2008), which is serving as a framework for this evaluation, concluded that the proposed Yucca Mountain repository would meet all applicable regulatory requirements. The evaluation documented in this report found that implementing the ABD Program is not expected to change that conclusion for a generic repository similar to Yucca Mountain or for a generic repository with respect to the preclosure safety analyses. With respect to the postclosure performance of a generic repository, no concerns were identified.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 1. Introduction

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter introduces the study.

100% Renewable↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 2. Study Approach

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter describes the LA100 study approach, including the modeling framework and scenarios.

100% Renewable↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 3. Electricity Demand Projections

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter explores how electricity is consumed by customers now, how that might change through 2045, and potential opportunities to better align electricity demand and supply.

100% Renewable↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 4. Customer-Adopted Rooftop Solar and Storage

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter explores the technical and economic potential for rooftop solar in LA, and how much solar and storage might be adopted by customers.

100% Renewable↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 5. Utility Options for Local Solar and Storage

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter identifies and ranks locations for utility-scale solar (ground-mount, parking canopy, and floating) and storage, and associated costs for integrating these assets into the distribution system.

100% Renewable↗

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 6. Renewable Energy Investments and Operations

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter explores pathways to 100% renewable electricity, describing the types of generation resources added, their costs, and how the systems maintain sufficient resources to serve customer demand, including resource adequacy and transmission reliability.

100% Renewable↗