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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 1,513 records · Page 84
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Characterization of brominated flame retardants from e-waste components in China

Highlights: • BFRs in housing plastics and PCBs from e-waste recycling enterprises in China were systematically examined. • Both PBDEs and TBBPA were detectable in most samples. • There is an apparent decreasing trend of BFRs from housing plastics and PCBs in China. • BFRs could be transferred into the recycled products those for other purpose use. - Abstract: Many studies show that high levels of many toxic metals and persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals have been found in electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling sites and their surrounding environmental media. Both flame-retardant plastic housing materials and printed circuit boards (PCBs) could be the major contributors. However, relatively little work has focused on the use or content of toxic substances and their changing in scrap housing materials and PCBs from home appliances. This study evaluated the existence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs, including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and Tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA)) in housing plastics and PCBs from home appliances collected from various e-waste recyclers in China. These were then analyzed for the potential migration of BFRs from the e-waste components into their recycled products. The results show that both PBDEs and TBBPA were found with high level in most of e-waste samples, indicating that the widespread use of BFRs in home appliances are entering into the end-of-life stage. For the plastics samples, CRT TVs and LCD monitors should be given priority for the control of BFRs. Regarding PBDEs, the dominant congeners of BDE-209 in the plastics samples contributed 90.72–93.54% to the total concentrations of PBDEs, yet there are large variations for PCBs samples: BDE-28, -47, -99, and -153 were also important congeners compositions, except for BDE-209. Compared with previous studies, the BFRs concentrations in current Chinese e-waste are trending to decline. This study also found that BFRs in housing plastics and PCBs will be transferred into the recycled products with other purpose use, and the new products could have highly enriched capacities for BFRs. The obtained results could be helpful to manage e-waste and their components properly in order to minimize associated environmental and health risks of BFRs, particularly for their further reuse.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

An optimization model for collection, haul, transfer, treatment and disposal of infectious medical waste: Application to a Greek region

Highlights: • We developed an optimization model to minimize cost of infectious waste management. •Two different software were used for model solution. • Model optimizes locations and capacities of treatment plants and transfer stations. • The higher percentage of total cost was due to construction of the treatment plant. • Sensitivity analysis with respect to fuel cost and waste production was conducted. - Abstract: The objective of this work was to develop an optimization model to minimize the cost of a collection, haul, transfer, treatment and disposal system for infectious medical waste (IMW). The model calculates the optimum locations of the treatment facilities and transfer stations, their design capacities (t/d), the number and capacities of all waste collection, transport and transfer vehicles and their optimum transport path and the minimum IMW management system cost. Waste production nodes (hospitals, healthcare centers, peripheral health offices, private clinics and physicians in private practice) and their IMW production rates were specified and used as model inputs. The candidate locations of the treatment facilities, transfer stations and sanitary landfills were designated, using a GIS-based methodology. Specifically, Mapinfo software with exclusion criteria for non-appropriate areas was used for siting candidate locations for the construction of the treatment plant and calculating the distance and travel time of all possible vehicle routes. The objective function was a non-linear equation, which minimized the total collection, transport, treatment and disposal cost. Total cost comprised capital and operation costs for: (1) treatment plant, (2) waste transfer stations, (3) waste transport and transfer vehicles and (4) waste collection bins and hospital boxes. Binary variables were used to decide whether a treatment plant and/or a transfer station should be constructed and whether a collection route between two or more nodes should be followed. Microsoft excel software was used as installation platform of the optimization model. For the execution of the optimization routine, two completely different software were used and the results were compared, thus, resulting in higher reliability and validity of the results. The first software was Evolver, which is based on the use of genetic algorithms. The second one was Crystal Ball, which is based on Monte Carlo simulation. The model was applied to the Region of East Macedonia – Thrace in Greece. The optimum solution resulted in one treatment plant located in the sanitary landfill area of Chrysoupolis, required no transfer stations and had a total management cost of 38,800 €/month or 809 €/t. If a treatment plant is sited in the most eastern part of the Region, i.e., the industrial area of Alexandroupolis, the optimum solution would result in a transfer station of 23 m{sup 3}, located near Kavala General Hospital, and a total cost of 39,800 €/month or 831 €/t. A sensitivity analysis was conducted and two alternative scenarios were optimized. In the first scenario, a 15% rise in fuel cost and in the second scenario a 25% rise in IMW production were considered. At the end, a cost calculation in €/t/km for every type of vehicle used for haul and transfer was conducted. Also, the cost of the whole system was itemized and calculated in €/t/km and €/t. The results showed that the higher percentage of the total cost was due to the construction of the treatment plant.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Combining anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction in the conversion of dairy waste into energy: A techno economic model for New York state

There is increasing global interest and policies being enacted to lower greenhouse gas emissions, especially from the agricultural sector. In the U.S. for example, states with large dairy operations may combine proven manure valorization technologies, such as anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal liquefaction. Sustainable manure treatment would increase the recovery of energy and other useful co-products, namely biogas, biocrude oil and hydro-char as well as lower the environmental impacts. In this study, the economic feasibility of implementing a centralized bioenergy system in New York State was investigated. Here, the feasibility of this transformation depends on many factors, including capital costs, discount rates, and other financing arrangements, electricity selling prices, incentives and farm sizes and locations. For a large-scale implementation in New York State accounting for nearly 50% of the state’s dairy farms, our model of a distributed, hybrid anaerobic/hydrothermal system was shown to treat 590 million liters of wet manure per day, producing 607 million kWh of electricity, 162,000 L of biocrude oil and 117,000 kg of hydro-char per day. Electricity selling price is a critical factor. Increasing the electricity selling price from wholesale ($\$0.06$ /kWh) to retail ($\$0.18$ kWh) increased the net present value from $\$395$ million to $1.5 billion (considering a 40-year project lifetime).

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impact of Small-Alkane Solvents on Polyolefin Hydrogenolysis over a Ruthenium Catalyst

Selective catalytic hydrogenolysis of polyolefins is a promising route to convert plastic waste into valuable liquid products, such as lubricants, waxes, and surfactants. However, the high viscosity of polymer melts imposes mass transfer limitations on this reaction. Solvents can mitigate these challenges, but their effects on reaction kinetics and product selectivity remain underexplored. Here, we systematically explore the effects of small n-alkanes and cycloalkanes on the hydrogenolysis of polyethylene and polypropylene over a Ru/TiO 2 catalyst. Using kinetic measurements and isotopic labeling, we show that n-octane at high mass fractions alters the mechanism from direct hydrogenation to solvent-mediated hydrogen transfer, reducing the rate of C–C bond cleavage. Longer alkanes further inhibit reactivity due to stronger surface binding. 1,4-Dimethylcyclohexane suppresses methane formation, favoring heavier products, while decalin likely forms surface-bound aromatics that poison the catalyst. Overall, alkane solvents modulate product selectivity and reduce the yield of methane byproduct, allowing for ∼35–40% selectivity to valuable C 20 -C 30 alkane products. This work highlights the complex impact of polymer–alkane mixtures on hydrogenolysis kinetics relevant to the design of commercial-scale plastic waste valorization processes.

Catalysts↗
DOE OSTI2026

Enzymatic Nylon Deconstruction: Enzyme Discovery, Engineering, and Opportunities

Nylons are widely used synthetic polyamides valued for their strength, versatility, and durability across diverse applications. However, their petrochemical origin and energy-intensive production underscore the need for efficient, circular solutions. Conventional recycling methods remain limited by incomplete recovery, material degradation, and costly sorting requirements. Enzymatic depolymerization offers a selective, low-energy alternative capable of processing mixed waste streams under mild conditions. While significant progress has been achieved for polyesters, enzymatic degradation of polyamides is still at an early stage. The discovery of nylon hydrolases demonstrated the potential of biological systems to evolve catalysts for synthetic polyamides, yet reported depolymerization yields remain low. These limitations reflect both the structural complexity of nylons and the need for improved enzyme discovery and engineering. In conclusion, this review highlights recent advances, key challenges, and future directions for enzymatic nylon recycling, outlining its potential role enabling mixed polymer waste to be used as a green feedstock for remanufacturing.

Amides↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Machine Learning Model for Predicting Composition of Catalytic Coprocessing Products from Molecular Beam Mass Spectra

Demand for the development of an automated and integrated refining process for biofuels has increased in recent years due to the lack of generalized process inspection tools. In bio-oil upgrading processes, all process variables are maintained based on the offline specification of intermediates and products. A lack of real-time product specifications in batch-wise monitoring can cause process failure and wasted resources. Therefore, there is a need for a fast and accurate intermediates/product specification tool that can be used for real-time specification to reduce waste and mitigate the risk of process failure. Here, to address this gap, we developed a machine learning (ML) model for predicting speciated bio-oil composition, including paraffin, iso-paraffins, olefins, naphthene, and aromatics. The model is trained using the mass spectra from upgraded products collected in the vapor phase before condensation and predicts the composition of the condensed product. Training ML models using raw mass spectra is challenging due to numerous overlapped peaks originating from different parent compounds. With this in mind, we propose a protocol that (i) transforms raw mass spectra to chemistry-inspired predefined features and (ii) trains decision tree-based models using these features. Our results show that the random forest model was robust against overfitting and had the highest accuracy compared to other models. Moreover, a stochastic ablation method determined the eight most significant features while maximizing the accuracy. Our protocol facilitates real-time compositional analysis of upgraded bio-oils and thus real-time process monitoring. Additionally, this protocol enables the rational design of efficient catalysts and the determination of optimal process conditions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Chapter 14: Chemical Recycling of Commodity Plastics

Global plastic production is at an all-time high and shows little signs of slowing down. Less than 10% of all plastic produced is recycled, with approximately 90% entering landfills, incinerators, and oceans. This has led to a rapid accumulation of single-use plastic waste across the planet. Mechanical recycling has been executed at the industrial level to manage plastic waste for decades. However, mechanically recycled plastic products are significantly limited by contamination and low performance. Chemical recycling technologies offer another pathway for achieving plastic circularity. This chapter highlights the current state-of-the-art chemical recycling technologies for plastic decomposition into monomers, fuels, or other petrochemical feedstocks. A brief description of recyclability of plastics and the waste sorting process is provided followed by a high-level overview of chemical recycling technologies. Products, key barriers, and limitations are also discussed as well as a brief overview of techno-economics.

chemical recycling↗
DOE OSTI2017

Confinement of Iodine Molecules into Triple-Helical Chains within Robust Metal–Organic Frameworks

During nuclear waste disposal process, radioactive iodine as a fission product can be released. The widespread implementation of sustainable nuclear energy thus requires the development of efficient iodine stores that have simultaneously high capacity, stability and more importantly, storage density (and hence minimized system volume). Here, we report high I 2 adsorption in a series of robust porous metal–organic materials, MFM-300(M) (M = Al, Sc, Fe, In). MFM-300(Sc) exhibits fully reversible I 2 uptake of 1.54 g g –1 , and its structure remains completely unperturbed upon inclusion/removal of I 2 . Direct observation and quantification of the adsorption, binding domains and dynamics of guest I 2 molecules within these hosts have been achieved using XPS, TGA-MS, high resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, Raman, terahertz and neutron spectroscopy, coupled with density functional theory modeling. These complementary techniques reveal a comprehensive understanding of the host–I 2 and I 2 –I 2 binding interactions at a molecular level. The initial binding site of I 2 in MFM-300(Sc), I 2 I , is located near the bridging hydroxyl group of the [ScO 4 (OH) 2 ] moiety [I 2 I ···H–O = 2.263(9) Å] with an occupancy of 0.268. I 2 II is located interstitially between two phenyl rings of neighboring ligand molecules [I 2 II ···phenyl ring = 3.378(9) and 4.228(5) Å]. I 2 II is 4.565(2) Å from the hydroxyl group with an occupancy of 0.208. Significantly, at high I 2 loading an unprecedented self-aggregation of I 2 molecules into triple-helical chains within the confined nanovoids has been observed at crystallographic resolution, leading to a highly efficient packing of I 2 molecules with an exceptional I 2 storage density of 3.08 g cm –3 in MFM-300(Sc).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Fuel cycles and envisioned roles of fast neutron reactors and hybrids

Future innovative nuclear fuel cycles will require insuring sustainability in terms of safe operation, optimal use of resources, radioactive waste minimization and reduced risk of proliferation. The present paper introduces some basic notions and fundamental fuel cycle strategies. The simulation approach needed to evaluate the impact of the different fuel cycle alternatives will also be shortly discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Neutronics for critical fission reactors and subcritical fission in hybrids

The requirements of future innovative nuclear fuel cycles will focus on safety, sustainability and radioactive waste minimization. Critical fast neutron reactors and sub-critical, external source driven systems (accelerator driven and fusion-fission hybrids) have a potential role to meet these requirements in view of their physics characteristics. This paper provides a short introduction to these features.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Italian hybrid and fission reactors scenario analysis

Italy is a country where a long tradition of studies both in the fission and fusion field is consolidated; nevertheless a strong public opinion concerned with the destination of the Spent Nuclear Fuel hinders the development of nuclear power. The possibility to a severe reduction of the NSF mass generated from a fleet of nuclear reactors employing an hypothetical fusionfission hybrid reactor has been investigated in the Italian framework. The possibility to produce nuclear fuel for the fission nuclear reactors with the hybrid reactor was analyzed too.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2012

The neutronics studies of fusion fission hybrid power reactor

In this paper, a series of neutronics analysis of hybrid power reactor is proposed. The ideas of loading different fuels in a modular-type fission blanket is analyzed, fitting different level of fusion developments, i.e., the current experimental power output, the level can be obtained in the coming future and the high-power fusion reactor like ITER. The energy multiplication of fission blankets and tritium breeding ratio are evaluated as the criterion of design. The analysis is implemented based on the D-type simplified model, aiming to find a feasible 1000MWe hybrid power reactor for 5 years' lifetime. Three patterns are analyzed: 1) for the low fusion power, the reprocessed fuel is chosen. The fuel with high plutonium content is loaded to achieve large energy multiplication. 2) For the middle fusion power, the spent fuel from PWRs can be used to realize about 30 times energy multiplication. 3) For the high fusion power, the natural uranium can be directly used and about 10 times energy multiplication can be achieved.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2012

Diagnostics for hybrid reactors

The Hybrid Reactor(HR) can be considered an attractive actinide-burner or a fusion assisted transmutation for destruction of transuranic(TRU) nuclear waste. The hybrid reactor has two important subsystems: the tokamak neutron source and the blanket which includes a fuel zone where the TRU are placed and a tritium breeding zone. The diagnostic system for a HR must be as simple and robust as possible to monitor and control the plasma scenario, guarantee the protection of the machine and monitor the transmutation.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2012

Fission-suppressed fusion breeder on the thorium cycle and nonproliferation

Fusion reactors could be designed to breed fissile material while suppressing fissioning thereby enhancing safety. The produced fuel could be used to startup and makeup fuel for fission reactors. Each fusion reaction can produce typically 0.6 fissile atoms and release about 1.6 times the 14 MeV neutron's energy in the blanket in the fission-suppressed design. This production rate is 2660 kg/1000 MW of fusion power for a year. The revenues would be doubled from such a plant by selling fuel at a price of 60/g and electricity at $0.05/kWh for Q=P{sub fusion}/P{sub input}=4. Fusion reactors could be designed to destroy fission wastes by transmutation and fissioning but this is not a natural use of fusion whereas it is a designed use of fission reactors. Fusion could supply makeup fuel to fission reactors that were dedicated to fissioning wastes with some of their neutrons. The design for safety and heat removal and other items is already accomplished with fission reactors. Whereas fusion reactors have geometry that compromises safety with a complex and thin wall separating the fusion zone from the blanket zone where wastes could be destroyed. Nonproliferation can be enhanced by mixing {sup 233}U with {sup 238}U. Also nonproliferation is enhanced in typical fission-suppressed designs by generating up to 0.05 {sup 232}U atoms for each {sup 233}U atom produced from thorium, about twice the IAEA standards of 'reduced protection' or 'self protection.' With 2.4%{sup 232}U, high explosive material is predicted to degrade owing to ionizing radiation after a little over 1/2 year and the heat rate is 77 W just after separation and climbs to over 600 W ten years later. The fissile material can be used to fuel most any fission reactor but is especially appropriate for molten salt reactors (MSR) also called liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR) because of the molten fuel does not need hands on fabrication and handling.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Heavy metal inventory and fuel sustainability of recycling TRU in FBR design

Nuclear fuel materials from spent fuel of light water reactors have a potential to be used for destructive devices with very huge energy release or in the same time, it can be utilized as a peaceful energy or civil applications, for generating electricity, desalination of water, medical application and others applications. Several research activities showed some recycled spent fuel can be used as additional fuel loading for increasing fuel breeding capability as well as improving intrinsic aspect of nuclear non-proliferation. The present investigation intends to evaluate the composition of heavy metals inventories and fuel breeding capability in the FBR design based on the loaded fuel of light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel (SF) of 33 GWd/t with 5 years cooling time by adopting depletion code of ORIGEN. Whole core analysis of FBR design is performed by adopting and coupling codes such as SLAROM code, JOINT and CITATION codes. Nuclear data library, JFS-3-J-3.2R which is based on the JENDL 3.2 has been used for nuclear data analysis. JSFR design is the basis design reference which basically adopted 800 days cycle length for 4 batches system. Higher inventories of plutonium of MOX fuel and TRU fuel types at equilibrium composition than initial composition have been shown. Minor actinide (MA) inventory compositions obtain a different inventory trends at equilibrium composition for both fuel types. Higher Inventory of MA is obtained by MOX fuel and less MA inventory for TRU fuel at equilibrium composition than initial composition. Some different MA inventories can be estimated from the different inventory trend of americium (Am). Higher americium inventory for MOX fuel and less americium inventory for TRU fuel at equilibrium condition. Breeding ratio of TRU fuel is relatively higher compared with MOX fuel type. It can be estimated from relatively higher production of Pu-238 (through converted MA) in TRU fuel, and Pu-238 converts through neutron capture to produce Pu-239. Higher breeding ratio of MOX fuel and TRU fuel types at equilibrium condition are estimated from converted fertile material during reactor operation into fissile material of plutonium such as converted uranium fuel (converted U-238 into Pu-239) or additional converted fuel from MA into Pu-238 and changes into Pu-239 by capturing neutron. Loading LWR SF gives better fuel breeding capability and increase inventory of MA for doping material of MOX fuel; however, it requires more supply MA inventory for TRU fuel type.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Comparative analysis of LWR and FBR spent fuels for nuclear forensics evaluation

Some interesting issues are attributed to nuclide compositions of spent fuels from thermal reactors as well as fast reactors such as a potential to reuse as recycled fuel, and a possible capability to be manage as a fuel for destructive devices. In addition, analysis on nuclear forensics which is related to spent fuel compositions becomes one of the interesting topics to evaluate the origin and the composition of spent fuels from the spent fuel foot-prints. Spent fuel compositions of different fuel types give some typical spent fuel foot prints and can be estimated the origin of source of those spent fuel compositions. Some technics or methods have been developing based on some science and technological capability including experimental and modeling or theoretical aspects of analyses. Some foot-print of nuclear forensics will identify the typical information of spent fuel compositions such as enrichment information, burnup or irradiation time, reactor types as well as the cooling time which is related to the age of spent fuels. This paper intends to evaluate the typical spent fuel compositions of light water (LWR) and fast breeder reactors (FBR) from the view point of some foot prints of nuclear forensics. An established depletion code of ORIGEN is adopted to analyze LWR spent fuel (SF) for several burnup constants and decay times. For analyzing some spent fuel compositions of FBR, some coupling codes such as SLAROM code, JOINT and CITATION codes including JFS-3-J-3.2R as nuclear data library have been adopted. Enriched U-235 fuel composition of oxide type is used for fresh fuel of LWR and a mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for FBR fresh fuel. Those MOX fuels of FBR come from the spent fuels of LWR. Some typical spent fuels from both LWR and FBR will be compared to distinguish some typical foot-prints of SF based on nuclear forensic analysis.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Neutronics of accelerator-driven subcritical fission for burning transuranics in used nuclear fuel

We report the development of a conceptual design for accelerator-driven subcritical fission in a molten salt core (ADSMS). ADSMS is capable of destroying all of the transuranics at the same rate and proportion as they are produced in a conventional nuclear power plant. The ADSMS core is fueled solely by transuranics extracted from used nuclear fuel and reduces its radiotoxicity by a factor 10,000. ADSMS offers a way to close the nuclear fuel cycle so that the full energy potential in the fertile fuels uranium and thorium can be recovered.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗