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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 1,495 records · Page 83
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

The MacArthur Maze Fire and Roadway Collapse: A "Worst Case Scenario" for Spent Nuclear Fuel Transportation?

In 2007, a severe transportation accident occurred near Oakland, California, at the interchange known as the "MacArthur Maze." The accident involved a double tanker truck of gasoline overturning and bursting into flames. The subsequent fire reduced the strength of the supporting steel structure of an overhead interstate roadway causing the collapse of portions of that overpass onto the lower roadway in less than 20 minutes. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has analyzed what might have happened had a spent nuclear fuel transportation package been involved in this accident, to determine if there are any potential regulatory implications of this accident to the safe transport of spent nuclear fuel in the United States. This paper provides a summary of this effort, presents preliminary results and conclusions, and discusses future work related to the NRC's analysis of the consequences of this type of severe accident.

Bajwa, Christopher S.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Optical fiber evanescent wave adsorption sensors for high-temperature gas sensing in advanced coal-fired power plants

Modern advanced energy systems such as coal-fired power plants, gasifiers, or similar infrastructure present some of the most challenging harsh environments for sensors. The power industry would benefit from new, ultra-high temperature devices capable of surviving in hot and corrosive environments for embedded sensing at the highest value locations. For these applications, we are currently exploring optical fiber evanescent wave absorption spectroscopy (EWAS) based sensors consisting of high temperature core materials integrated with novel high temperature gas sensitive cladding materials. Mathematical simulations can be used to assist in sensor development efforts, and we describe a simulation code that assumes a single thick cladding layer with gas sensitive optical constants. Recent work has demonstrated that Au nanoparticle-incorporated metal oxides show a potentially useful response for high temperature optical gas sensing applications through the sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon resonance absorption peak to ambient atmospheric conditions. Hence, the simulation code has been applied to understand how such a response can be exploited in an optical fiber based EWAS sensor configuration. We demonstrate that interrogation can be used to optimize the sensing response in such materials.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effects of Trigger Method on Fire Propagation during the Thermal Runaway Process in Li-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are prone to fire hazards due to the possibility of thermal runaway propagation. During battery product development and subsequent safety tests for design validation and safety certification, the thermal runaway onset is triggered by various test methods such as nail penetration, thermal ramp, or external short circuit. This failure initiation method affects the amount of heat contributions and the composition of gas generations. This study compares two such trigger methods, external heating and using a thermally-activated internal short circuit device (ISCD). The effects of the trigger method on total heat generation are experimentally investigated within 18650 cylindrical cells at single cell level as well as at multiple cell configuration level. The severity of failure was observed to be worse for cells with ISCDs at single cell level, whereas quite the opposite results were observed at multiple cell configuration level. A preliminary numerical analysis was performed to better understand the battery safety performance with respect to thermal runaway trigger methods and heat transfer conditions.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Analysis of prescribed fire days in climate model output

This code analyzes openly available, downscaled climate model output and counts days in a year that are available to conduct prescribed fire based on meteorological prescription data obtained from US land management agencies.

Jonko, Alexandra↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modelling Framework For Fire And Smoke Detection In Imagery

This framework was developed to ingest images/video images to train and test artificial neural network structures for image-based detection of fire and smoke. The code includes data preprocessing, model development, and testing. The framework is designed to work with RGB video imagery.

Griffel, LloydM.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of oxide layer formation on deformation of aluminum alloys under fire conditions

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural behavior of aluminum alloys used in the aerospace industry when exposed to conditions similar to those of an accident scenario, such as a fuel fire. This study focuses on the role that the aluminum oxide layer plays in the deformation and the strength of the alloy above melting temperature. To replicate some of the thermal and atmospheric conditions that the alloys might experience in an accident scenario, aluminum rod specimens were subjected to temperatures near to or above their melting temperature in air, nitrogen, and vacuum environments. The characteristics of their deformation, such as geometry and rate of deformation, were observed. Tests were conducted by suspending aluminum rods vertically from an enclosure. This type of experiment was performed in two different environments: air and nitrogen. The change in environments allowed the effects of the oxide layer on the material strength to be analyzed by inhibiting the growth of the oxide layer. Observations were reported from imaging taken during the experiment showing creep behavior of aluminum alloys at elevated temperatures and time to failure. In addition, an example of tensile load–displacement data obtained in air and vacuum was reported to understand the effect of oxide layer on aluminum deformation and strength.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Degradation of Nylon 6,6 Fire-Suppression Casing from Plutonium Glove Boxes Under Alpha and Neutron Irradiation

Nylon 6,6 tensile specimens, conforming to the casing for self-contained fire extinguisher systems, have been irradiated using both an accelerator He ++ ion beam and a 5-Ci PuBe neutron source to model the radiation damage these systems would likely incur over a lifetime of operation within glove boxes. Following irradiation, these samples were mechanically tested using standard practices as described in ASTM D638. The results of the He ++ study indicate that the tensile strength of the nylon specimens undergoes some slight (<10%) degradation while other properties of the samples, such as elongation and tangent modulus, appear to fluctuate with increasing dose levels. The He ++ -irradiated specimens also have a noticeable level of discoloration corresponding to increasing levels of dose. The neutron-irradiated samples show a higher degree of mechanical degradation than the He ++ -irradiated samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Long term predictions of coal fired power plant data using evolved recurrent neural networks

Abstract This work presents an investigation into the ability of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to provide long term predictions of time series data generated by coal fired power plants. While there are numerous studies which have used artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict coal plant parameters, to the authors’ knowledge these have almost entirely been restricted to predicting values at the next time step, and not farther into the future. Using a novel neuro-evolution strategy called Evolutionary eXploration of Augmenting Memory Models (EXAMM), we evolved RNNs with advanced memory cells to predict per-minute plant parameters and per-hour boiler parameters up to 8 hours into the future. These data sets were challenging prediction tasks as they involve spiking behavior in the parameters being predicted. While the evolved RNNs were able to successfully predict the spikes in the hourly data they did not perform very well in accurately predicting their severity. The per-minute data proved even more challenging as medium range predictions miscalculated the beginning and ending of spikes, and longer range predictions reverted to long term trends and ignored the spikes entirely. We hope this initial study will motivate further study into this highly challenging prediction problem. The use of fuel properties data generated by a new Coal Tracker Optimization (CTO) program was also investigated and this work shows that their use improved predictive ability of the evolved RNNs.

Automation & Control Systems↗
DOE OSTI2022

FTICR-MS, Sensor, and Environmental Data from 5 Streams Impacted by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire Associated with: "Spatiotemporal controls on the delivery of dissolved organic matter to streams following a wildfire"

This data package is associated with the publication "Spatiotemporal Controls on the Delivery of Dissolved Organic Matter to Streams Following a Wildfire" submitted to Geophysical Research Letters (Roebuck et al., 2022). The study aims to understand storm induced transport of pyrogenic materials to streams impacted by varying degrees of burn severity. Time series samples (24 samples in 1-hour intervals) were collected at 5 sites within the McKenzie River Watershed (Oregon, USA) whose catchment were each completely engulfed by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. The samples were collected in November 2020 during the first major storm pulse following the conclusion of the wildfire. Samples were characterized for dissolved organic carbon, total dissolved nitrogen, and by ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. In situ turbidity data also collected.This data package contains 4 primary folders that include the following: 1) Metadata, 2) EnvData (Environmental Data), 3) SensorData, and 4) FTICR_SupportingData. The package contains a single file-level metadata (flmd) file. Each primary folder also contains individual data dictionaries (dd) to define and provide descriptors of column/row headers and data flags. The FTICR_SupportingData, folder 4, contains raw, unprocessed FTICR-MS Data files in addition to a csv containing processed FTICR-MS data. This package contains the following file types: csv, xml, pdf.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Geochemistry, volumetric water content, and active layer depths from rainfall simulations at the Kougarok Fire Site, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, 2022

Rainfall frequency and intensity is expected to increase in the Arctic, with potential implications for permafrost thaw and geochemical fluxes in soils. To conduct controlled rainfall experiments at remote field sites in the Arctic, the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic Rainfall Simulator (NARS) was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of the NGEE Arctic project. To better understand how rainfall may affect interflow biogeochemistry and permafrost thaw, rainfall simulations were performed on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska during late September and early October 2022 at the Kougarok Fire Site near mile marker 86 of the Nome-Taylor Highway. Water samples were collected before, during, and after rainfall simulations until interflow had ceased. Additional data collected included soil pore water samples from macrorhizons, active layer depths, and volumetric water content at each of the experimental plots. This dataset contains one *.csv file of water sample properties, one *.csv file of thaw depths, one *.csv file of soil moisture measurements, and one *.kml file of the locations where samples were collected.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research.The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy’s Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impact of fire on chemical properties and respiration of boreal forest soils

We collected both organic-rich and sandy soil cores from 12 sites (site_location_and_texture.csv) within Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada. Laboratory burns were conducted by exposing intact soil cores to 60 kW m^-2 in a mass loss calorimeter to simulate boreal forest crown fires in order to measure the effects of burning (temp_data.csv) on soil properties including pH, total C, and total nitrogen (N) (metadata.csv). We used 70-day soil incubations and two-pool exponential decay models to characterize the impacts of burning and burn-induced changes in soil properties on soil respiration (soil_moisture_at_end_of_incubation.csv; soil_mass_at_end_of_incubation.csv; respiration_data.csv). Laboratory burns successfully captured a range of soil temperatures that were realistic for natural wildfire events.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Aqueous Organic Matter from Kougarok Fire Complex, Alaska, 2023

Chemical analyses of aqueous organic matter extracted by filtration from a small set of organic layer samples collected from burned and unburned tussock tundra sites in the Kougarok Fire Complex, near Nome, Alaska. There are five files in *.csv format with one data file and four data description files including data dictionary, methods, terminology, and file-level metadata.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska.Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterization for CO2 Storage from Coal-fired Power Facilities in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama

The project Characterization for CO2 Storage from Coal-fired Power Facilities in the Black Warrior Basin of Alabama is one of 9 site characterization projects that were implemented as part of ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Data from this project was used to improve resolution of data in NATCARB in the area of study. Data related to this study has already been incorporated in NATCARB Atlas.

.las↗
DOE OSTI2011

Solid Fuel - Oxygen Fired Combustion for Production of Nodular Reduced Iron to Reduce CO2 Emissions and Improve Energy Efficiencies

The current trend in the steel industry is an increase in iron and steel produced in electric arc furnaces (EAF) and a gradual decline in conventional steelmaking from taconite pellets in blast furnaces. In order to expand the opportunities for the existing iron ore mines beyond their blast furnace customer base, a new material is needed to satisfy the market demands of the emerging steel industry while utilizing the existing infrastructure and materials handling capabilities. This demand creates opportunity to convert iron ore or other iron bearing materials to Nodular Reduced Iron (NRI) in a recently designed Linear Hearth Furnace (LHF). NRI is a metallized iron product containing 98.5 to 96.0% iron and 2.5 to 4% C. It is essentially a scrap substitute with little impurity that can be utilized in a variety of steelmaking processes, especially the electric arc furnace. The objective of this project was to focus on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through reducing the energy intensity using specialized combustion systems, increasing production and the use of biomass derived carbon sources in this process. This research examined the use of a solid fuel-oxygen fired combustion system and compared the results from this system with both oxygen-fuel and air-fuel combustion systems. The solid pulverized fuels tested included various coals and a bio-coal produced from woody biomass in a specially constructed pilot scale torrefaction reactor at the Coleraine Minerals Research Laboratory (CMRL). In addition to combustion, the application of bio-coal was also tested as a means to produce a reducing atmosphere during key points in the fusion process, and as a reducing agent for ore conversion to metallic iron to capture the advantage of its inherent reduced carbon footprint. The results from this study indicate that the approaches taken can reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and the associated energy intensity with the Linear Hearth Furnace process for converting iron ore to metallic iron nodules. Various types of coals including a bio-coal produced though torrefaction can result in production of NRI at reduced GHG levels. The process results coupled with earlier already reported developments indicate that this process technique should be evaluated at the next level in order to develop parameter information for full scale process design. Implementation of the process to full commercialization will require a full cost production analysis and comparison to other reduction technologies and iron production alternatives. The technical results verify that high quality NRI can be produced under various operating conditions at the pilot level.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2011

Sustainability Assessment of Coal-Fired Power Plants with Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) has the ability to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power production. Most studies find the potential for 70 to 80 percent reductions in CO2 emissions on a life-cycle basis, depending on the technology. Because of this potential, utilities and policymakers are considering the wide-spread implementation of CCS technology on new and existing coal plants to dramatically curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the power generation sector. However, the implementation of CCS systems will have many other social, economic, and environmental impacts beyond curbing GHG emissions that must be considered to achieve sustainable energy generation. For example, emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM) are also important environmental concerns for coal-fired power plants. For example, several studies have shown that eutrophication is expected to double and acidification would increase due to increases in NOx emissions for a coal plant with CCS provided by monoethanolamine (MEA) scrubbing. Potential for human health risks is also expected to increase due to increased heavy metals in water from increased coal mining and MEA hazardous waste, although there is currently not enough information to relate this potential to actual realized health impacts. In addition to environmental and human health impacts, supply chain impacts and other social, economic, or strategic impacts will be important to consider. A thorough review of the literature for life-cycle analyses of power generation processes using CCS technology via the MEA absorption process, and other energy generation technologies as applicable, yielded large variability in methods and core metrics. Nonetheless, a few key areas of impact for CCS were developed from the studies that we reviewed. These are: the impact of MEA generation on increased eutrophication and acidification from ammonia emissions and increased toxicity from MEA production and the impact of increased coal use including the increased generation of NOx from combustion and transportation, impacts of increased mining of coal and limestone, and the disposal of toxic fly ash and boiler ash waste streams. Overall, the implementing CCS technology could contribute to a dramatic decrease in global GHG emissions, while most other environmental and human health impact categories increase only slightly on a global scale. However, the impacts on human toxicity and ecotoxicity have not been studied as extensively and could have more severe impacts on a regional or local scale. More research is needed to draw strong conclusions with respect to the specific relative impact of different CCS technologies. Specifically, a more robust data set that disaggregates data in terms of component processes and treats a more comprehensive set of environmental impacts categories from a life-cycle perspective is needed. In addition, the current LCA framework lacks the required temporal and spatial scales to determine the risk of environmental impact from carbon sequestration. Appropriate factors to use when assessing the risk of water acidification (groundwater/oceans/aquifers depending on sequestration site), risk of increased human toxicity impact from large accidental releases from pipeline or wells, and the legal and public policy risk associated with licensing CO2 sequestration sites are also not currently addressed. In addition to identifying potential environmental, social, or risk-related issues that could impede the large-scale deployment of CCS, performing LCA-based studies on energy generation technologies can suggest places to focus our efforts to achieve technically feasible, economically viable, and environmentally conscious energy generation technologies for maximum impact.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2012

Multiplexed Optical Fiber Sensors for Coal Fired Advanced Fossil Energy Systems

This report summarizes technical progress on the program Multiplexed Optical Fiber Sensors for Coal Fired Advanced Fossil Energy Systems funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, and performed jointly by the Center for Photonics Technology of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech. This three-year project started on October 1, 2008. In the project, a fiber optical sensing system based on intrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer (IFPI) was developed for strain and temperature measurements for Ultra Supercritical boiler condition assessment. Investigations were focused on sensor design, fabrication, attachment techniques and novel materials for high temperature and strain measurements. At the start of the project, the technical requirements for the sensing technology were determined together with our industrial partner Alstom Power. As is demonstrated in Chapter 4, all the technical requirements are successfully met. The success of the technology extended beyond laboratory test; its capability was further validated through the field test at DOE NETL, in which the sensors yielded distributed temperature mapping of a testing coupon installed in the turbine test rig. The measurement results agreed well with prior results generated with thermocouples. In this project, significant improvements were made to the IFPI sensor technology by splicing condition optimization, transmission loss reduction, sensor signal demodulation and sensor system design.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2011

Development of Cost Effective Oxy-Combustion Retrofitting for Coal-Fired Boilers

The overall objective of this project is to further develop the oxy-combustion technology for commercial retrofit in existing wall-fired and Cyclone boilers by 2012. To meet this goal, a research project was conducted that included pilot-scale testing and a full-scale engineering and economic analysis.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗