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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 OSTI2017

Nuclear data uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the VHTRC benchmark using SCALE

The Very High Temperature Critical Assembly (VHTRC) experiment represents one of the few data sets available for the validation of HTGR lattice physics. Within the framework of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project on HTGR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses of this graphite-moderated facility are performed as the validation reference to the prismatic MHTGR-350 fuel block calculations. Nominal multi-group and continuous-energy criticality calculations with the KENO-VI Monte Carlo code of the SCALE code package are compared with the continuous-energy Monte Carlo Code Serpent. Good agreement with a maximum difference of 250 pcm is obtained. The experimental data set, however, differs by several hundred pcm with the results of both codes when using the ENDF-VII.0 library. When using ENDF/B-VII.1 data, this difference is reduced to a few hundred pcm and the calculations lie within the experimental error bars. Uncertainties of the VHTRC multiplication factors due to uncertainties in nuclear data are determined with SAMPLER/KENO-VI of SCALE 6.2 and with continuous-energy TSUNAMI of SCALE 6.2. For all experimental configurations, the obtained uncertainty is found to be 0.58% when using ENDF/B-VII.0 data. The top contributor to this uncertainty is the average number of neutrons per fission event of U-235. With ENDF/B-VII.1 data, uncertainties of about 0.66% are obtained in particular due to an increased uncertainty of U-235 nu-bar in the latest ENDF release. In conclusion, when considering these nuclear data uncertainties, the obtained 1s uncertainty intervals are overlapping with the experimental error bars.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Validation of Statistical Uncertainties in Subcritical Benchmark Measurements: Part I - Theory and Simulations

Subcritical neutron noise measurements are often used to determine multiplication of a system with Special Nuclear Material. This work presents an uncertainty approach which incorporates the singles and doubles counting rates determined by the Hage-Cifarelli formalism. This is a moments-based approach which utilizes time correlations between prompt neutrons in order to assess the system multiplication. After the method is described, a validation is presented which utilizes simulated data generated using a 0-D point-kinetics Monte Carlo code.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Benchmarking thermal energy storage cost for industrial process heat

Process heat accounts for roughly half of industrial energy demand, and currently 95% of process heat is derived from the combustion of natural gas, oil, and coal. Electrification of industrial heating could be an alternative, potentially expanding locations suitable for manufacturing; however, industrial facility owners may desire energy storage to stabilize energy costs. In this work, the economic benefits of pairing thermal storage with electrified process heat to reduce the average price paid for energy are analyzed. Cost savings focus on energy arbitrage, or leveraging flexible energy pricing schemes, alone. The cost of natural gas combustion across decades (2019-2060) is compared to the costs of electricity and thermal energy storage in four United States Independent System Operator (ISO) regions. Systems installed today may not yield positive net present value (NPV) compared to the use of natural gas. However, using estimated electricity prices, systems installed in 2030 using arbitrage alone could be profitable when compared to natural gas in some regions of the U.S. Furthermore, if capital expenditures could be reduced by 50% for sensible thermal storage systems by 2030, profitable systems are found across all regions. This implies that electrification of industrial process heat, when paired with inexpensive thermal energy storage systems, could be less expensive than brownfield natural gas systems, using arbitrage as the only source of revenue and without a dependency on any future policy drivers such as pricing externalities that could further incentivize the electrification of industrial process heat.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Benchmarking the repeatability of a pneumatic cyclic neutron activation analysis facility using 16 O(n,p) 16 N for nuclear forensics

A target was prepared for cyclic neutron activation analysis by heat sealing lithium-carbonate in polyethylene. The target was cyclically irradiated 50 times using a Thermo-Scientific accelerator based deuterium–tritium fusion neutron generator. During counting periods, gamma-rays emitted by 16 N were detected using three high-purity germanium detectors acquiring data in list-mode. Total counts acquired in each spectrum were compared between the three detectors to examine variability in geometric positioning of the target and variability of the generator intensity throughout the experiment. These two effects were determined to be the primary sources of variation in the measured counts. Variation in target positioning and generator intensity were found to increase the standard deviation by 34% and 33%, respectively. Transit times to the detector were found to be slower and more variable than transit to the generator but were well below the half second threshold needed to measure short-lived radionuclides with half-lives on the order of seconds. The standard deviation in irradiation time was found to be less than 1 milliseconds. The impact on statistical variability in the measured counts was negligible relative to the two primary sources of variation. Spectra acquired from each cycle were summed together. The sum of the peak areas from the 6.1 MeV gamma-ray and its corresponding single and double escape peaks were used to measure the half-life of 16N. The result of 7.108(15) seconds derived from data suggests that the currently published value of 7.13(2) seconds has minimal systematic bias induced by background.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mapping use cases and dataset needs for benchmarking buildings data

A perennial challenge in buildings research is the lack of high-quality datasets that can be relied upon for a wide array of tasks, including model calibration and improving energy efficiency and load flexibility. Instrumenting a building for data collection is resource intensive, so it is important to be methodical in the approach and ensure that resulting data are flexible and useful for a broad range of analyses. This study aims to fill the gaps in characterizing potential use cases for buildings datasets and mapping them to dataset needs using a well-defined data infrastructure. Here, we have developed a systematic mapping strategy between buildings dataset needs and use cases to help streamline the processes of efficiently targeting datasets, designing building sensing systems, and determining buildings research use cases. We selected 14 prospective use cases and 11 refined buildings data categories for developing the preliminary dataset-needs-to-use-cases mapping matrix (‘DN-UC mapping matrix’) with generic ‘Tags’—a detailed sub-level of data categories extracted by justifying the needs of an aspect of the datasets to use cases. We present two example applications of the developed mapping matrix to demonstrate use of the mapping matrix and its effectiveness.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mobility size and mass of nascent soot particles in a benchmark premixed ethylene flame

The burner stabilized stagnation flame technique coupled with micro-orifice probe sampling and mobility sizing has evolved into a useful tool for examining the evolution of the particle size distribution of nascent soot in laminar premixed flames. Several key aspects of this technique are examined through a multi-university collaborative study that involves both experimental measurement and computational modeling. Key issues examined include (a) data reproducibility and facility effects using four burners of different sizes and makers over three different facilities, (b) the mobility diameter and particle mass relationship, and (c) the degree to which the finite orifice flow rate affects the validity of the boundary condition in a pseudo one dimensional stagnation flow flame formulation. The results indicate that different burners across facilities yield nearly identical results after special attention is paid to a range of experimental details, including a proper selection of the sample dilution ratio and quantification of the experimental flame boundary conditions. The mobility size and mass relationship probed by tandem mass and mobility measurement shows that nascent soot with mobility diameter as small as 15 nm can deviate drastically from the spherical shape. Various non-spherical morphology models using a mass density value of 1.5 g/cm 3 can reconcile this discrepancy in nascent soot mass. Lastly, two-dimensional axisymmetric simulations of the experimental flame with and without the sample orifice flow reveal several problems of the pseudo one-dimensional stagnation flow flame approximation. The effect of the orifice flow on the flame and soot sampled, although small, is not negligible. Particular suggestions are provided as to how to treat the non-ideality of the experimental setup in experiment and model comparisons.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Finding a common ground for RCM experiments. Part B: Benchmark study on ethanol ignition

Rapid compression machines (RCMs) are widely used to investigate gas phase reaction kinetics of various kind of fuels at application relevant conditions. In principle, the operation of an RCM is based on the idea of compressing a homogenous pre-mixed fuel-air mixture by a piston. Usually creviced pistons ensure a homogenous adiabatic core in the center of the reaction chamber which permits the assumption of an isentropic relation between the measured pressure and gas temperature. Despite the ideal core gas compression, non-ideal effects such as heat loss, differences in the compression behavior, and ultimately non-standardized design and operation of rapid compression machines lead to different experimental results in different facilities at nominally the same end of compression conditions. In this study ignition delay times of ethanol are investigated at four different conditions in five independent RCMs. As expected, the raw results of the different facilities indeed show notable differences at the same end of compression conditions. However, according to the adiabatic core hypothesis the agreement between kinetic simulations and experiments should be consistent for all facilities provided that the facility effects are correctly accounted for. To elaborate upon this hypothesis, a kinetic mechanism is optimized to reflect the experimental results of all facilities. In the end, the optimized mechanism predicts all experimental data within the expected uncertainty. This confirms the reliability of RCM experiments for kinetic investigations and the validity of the effective volume approach in simulating RCM data.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗