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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 1,549 records · Page 86

Residential Battery Modeling for Control-Oriented Techno-Economic Studies: Preprint

Electrochemical batteries, which serve as electric energy storage devices, are becoming increasingly popular among residential buildings that incorporate solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to help meet their energy needs. Battery economics are affected by performance degradation over time, and managing this degradation can help extend the battery's lifespan. The tradeoff between operational costs/benefits and managing battery degradation is of significant research interest. One of the key factors for assessing battery degradation is the dispatch strategy used to control the charging and discharging of the battery. Conventional dispatch strategies typically use simple rule-based methods, and these overly aggressive charging/discharging cycles can significantly reduce a battery’s life span. Our research seeks to develop optimized dispatch strategies for grid-connected PV homes with a goal of extending battery life while simultaneously taking into consideration utility costs and occupant comfort. To achieve this goal, we adapted lithium-ion battery life- and cyclic-degradation models for use in high-fidelity building simulations, so whole-building and grid-interactive controllers can dispatch the batteries along with other flexible loads. With the help of a co-simulation platform, we performed a simulation study to compute the optimized dispatch strategies for relevant operating conditions brought about by changing geographical locations, weather conditions, and utility pricing. Comparing the optimized strategies with the conventional strategies resulted in a >50% decrease in capacity degradation and >10% average reduction in operational costs during the months of January and July in Fort Collins, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

Enhancing Distribution System Resilience: A First-Order Meta-RL Algorithm for Critical Load Restoration

The increasing frequency of extreme events and the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into modern grids have elevated the need for resilient and efficient critical load restoration strategies in distribution systems. However, the stochastic nature of renewable DERs, limited energy resource availability and the intricate nonlinearities inherent in complex grid control problem make the problem challenging. Although reinforcement learning (RL) and warm-start RL methods have shown promising results, their performance often falls short in rapidly adapting to new, unseen situations and typically requires exhaustive problem-specific tuning. To address these gaps, we propose a First-Order Meta-based RL (FOM-RL) algorithm within an online framework for adaptive and robust critical load restoration. By harnessing local DERs as the enabling technology, FOM-RL allows the RL agent to swiftly adapt to new unseen scenarios by leveraging previously acquired knowledge of different tasks. Experimental results provide evidence that proposed algorithm learns more efficiently and showcases generalization capabilities across diverse set of operational scenarios. Moreover, a rigorous theoretical analysis yields a tight sublinear regret bound, sensitive to temporal variability, with a task-averaged optimality gap bounded by O(VM+D*/(Tsquare root(M))). These results suggest that optimality improves with task similarity and an increased number of tasks M, reaffirming the efficacy and scalability of the proposed approach in addressing the complexities of critical load restoration in distribution systems.

complexity theory↗

Substation-Level Grid Topology Optimization Using Bus Splitting

Operations of substation circuit breakers are important for maintenance needs and topology reconfiguration in power systems. Bus splitting is one type of topology change where the two bus bars at a substation can become electrically disconnected under certain actions of circuit breakers. Because these events involve detailed substation modeling, they are typically not considered in routine power system operation and control. In this paper, an improved substation-level topology optimization framework is developed by expanding traditional line switching decisions by breaker-level bus splitting, which can further reduce grid congestion and generation costs. A tight McCormick relaxation is proposed to reformulate the bilinear terms in the resultant optimization problem to linear inequality constraints. Thus, a tractable mixed-integer linear program reformulation is attained that allows for efficient solutions in real-time operations. Numerical studies on the IEEE 14-bus and 118-bus systems demonstrate the computational performance and economic benefits of the proposed topology optimization approach.

bus split↗

HOMER Economic Models - US Navy

This LETTER REPORT has been prepared by Idaho National Laboratory for US Navy NAVFAC EXWC to support in testing pre-commercial SIREN (Simulated Integration of Renewable Energy Networks) computer software models. In the logistics mode SIREN software simulates the combination of renewable power sources (solar arrays, wind turbines, and energy storage systems) in supplying an electrical demand. NAVFAC EXWC will create SIREN software logistics models of existing or planned renewable energy projects at five Navy locations (San Nicolas Island, AUTEC, New London, & China Lake), and INL will deliver additional HOMER computer models for comparative analysis. In the transient mode SIREN simulates the short time-scale variation of electrical parameters when a power outage or other destabilizing event occurs. In the HOMER model, a variety of inputs are entered such as location coordinates, Generators, PV arrays, Wind Turbines, Batteries, Converters, Grid costs/usage, Solar resources, Wind resources, Temperatures, Fuels, and Electric Loads. HOMER's optimization and sensitivity analysis algorithms then evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of these technology options and account for variations in technology costs, electric load, and energy resource availability. The Navy can then use HOMER’s optimization and sensitivity results to compare to those of the SIREN model. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) possesses unique expertise and experience in the software, hardware, and systems design for the integration of renewable energy into the electrical grid. NAVFAC EXWC will draw upon this expertise to complete mission requirements.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

A moving control volume approach to computing hydrodynamic forces and torques on immersed bodies

Here, we present a moving control volume (CV) approach to computing hydrodynamic forces and torques on complex geometries. The method requires surface and volumetric integrals over a simple and regular Cartesian box that moves with an arbitrary velocity to enclose the body at all times. The moving box is aligned with Cartesian grid faces, which makes the integral evaluation straightforward in an immersed boundary (IB) framework. Discontinuous and noisy derivatives of velocity and pressure at the fluid–structure interface are avoided and far-field (smooth) velo city and pressure information is used. We re-visit the approach to compute hydrodynamic forces and torques through force/torque balance equations in a Lagrangian frame that some of us took in a prior work (Bhalla et al., 2013 [13]). We prove the equivalence of the two approaches for IB methods, thanks to the use of Peskin's delta functions. Both approaches are able to suppress spurious force oscillations and are in excellent agreement, as expected theoretically. Test cases ranging from Stokes to high Reynolds number regimes are considered. We discuss regridding issues for the moving CV method in an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) context. The proposed moving CV method is not limited to a specific IB method and can also be used, for example, with embedded boundary methods.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

MC21 analysis of the MIT PWR benchmark: Hot zero power results

MC21 Monte Carlo results have been compared with hot zero power measurements from an operating pressurized water reactor (PWR), as specified in a new full core PWR performance benchmark from the MIT Computational Reactor Physics Group. Included in the comparisons are axially integrated full core detector measurements, axial detector profiles, control rod bank worths, and temperature coefficients. Power depressions from grid spacers are seen clearly in the MC21 results. Application of Coarse Mesh Finite Difference (CMFD) acceleration within MC21 has been accomplished, resulting in a significant reduction of inactive batches necessary to converge the fission source. CMFD acceleration has also been shown to work seamlessly with the Uniform Fission Site (UFS) variance reduction method. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

A Framework for Counterfeit Smart Grid Device Detection

The core vision of the smart grid concept is the realization of reliable two-­way communications between smart devices (e.g., IEDs, PLCs, PMUs). The benefits of the smart grid also come with tremendous security risks and new challenges in protecting the smart grid systems from cyber threats. Particularly, the use of untrusted counterfeit smart grid devices represents a real problem. Consequences of propagating false or malicious data, as well as stealing valuable user or smart grid state information from counterfeit devices are costly. Hence, early detection of counterfeit devices is critical for protecting smart grid’s components and users. To address these concerns, in this poster, we introduce our initial design of a configurable framework that utilize system call tracing, library interposition, and statistical techniques for monitoring and detection of counterfeit smart grid devices. In our framework, we consider six different counterfeit device scenarios with different smart grid devices and adversarial seZings. Our initial results on a realistic testbed utilizing actual smart-­grid GOOSE messages with IEC-­61850 communication protocol are very promising. Our framework is showing excellent rates on detection of smart grid counterfeit devices from impostors.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Assured Resource Sharing in Ad-Hoc Collaboration

The project seeks an innovative framework to enable users to access and selectively share resources in distributed environments, enhancing the scalability of information sharing. We have investigated secure sharing & assurance approaches for ad-hoc collaboration, focused on Grids, Clouds, and ad-hoc network environments.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Robust Decentralized State Estimation

The health of a distribution grid is maintained by a distribution management system (DMS). Before the rise of distributed energy resource (DER), the DMS primarily managed the unidirectional power flow through the distribution grid from external sources (e.g. power brought from a large generating plant to the distribution grid by a transmission grid). Now, a typical DMS will utilize distributed energy resource manage systems (DERMS) to account for DER such as rooftop solar, community solar, and wind turbines. Each DERMS is responsible for an area of the distribution grid, issuing commands to the associated real-time automation controller (RTAC) to regulate power flow and maintain health of that section of the grid.

42 ENGINEERING↗

BigPanDA: PanDA Workload Management System and its Applications beyond ATLAS

Modern experiments collect peta-scale volumes of data and utilize vast, geographically distributed computing infrastructure that serves thousands of scientists around the world. Requirements for rapid, near real-time data processing, fast analysis cycles and need to run massive detector simulations to support data analysis pose special premium on efficient use of available computational resources. A sophisticated Workload Management System (WMS) is needed to coordinate the distribution and processing of data and jobs in such environment. The ATLAS experiment at CERN uses PanDA (Production and Data Analysis) Workload Management System for managing the workflow for all data processing on over 150 data centers. While PanDAcurrently uses more than 250,000 cores with a peak performance of 0.3 petaFLOPS, it runs around 2 million jobs per day on hundreds of Grid sites and serving thousands of ATLAS users. In 2017 about 1.5 exabytes of data were processed with PanDA.In 2012 BigPanDA project project was started with aim to introduce new types of computing resources into ATLAS computing infrastructure, but also to offering PanDA features to different data-intensive applications for projects and experiments outside of ATLAS and High-Energy and Nuclear Physics. In this article we will present accomplishments and discuss possible directions for future work.

Svirin, Pavlo↗

A Voltage Inference Framework for Real-Time Observability in Active Distribution Grids

Active distribution grids are gaining traction to meet the growing environmental, socio-economic, and sustainability targets. Various advanced smart grid technologies facilitate the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) by supporting the bi-directional power flow. The limited observability of distribution grids, primarily related to their location at the very edge of power system infrastructure, brings challenges to optimal grid management. Moreover, only a limited number of measurements at regular intervals are usually available. This paper presents a novel inference framework, referred to as “Voltage Inference”, to overcome the observability issues. The proposed framework employs a prediction step based on the Multivariate Taylor series approximation, followed by a corrector step that minimizes the estimation error to infer the otherwise unknown voltages from the available measurements. Furthermore, numerical results on the IEEE 13-bus test feeder validate the accuracy and computational performance of the proposed framework.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Convex Optimization with Smart Grid Examples

In this talk, we give an overview of the field of convex optimization and work through four canonical problems that relate to electrical power systems and smart grids. The purpose of these examples is to demonstrate the breadth of applications of convex optimization in energy research and to show that toy versions of these problems can be solved in just a few lines of code, indicating the scale and complexity of problems that can be tackled with a more detailed treatment. We emphasize the cvxpy modeling language as a foundational technology that enables rapid development and prototyping of convex optimization problems, allowing researchers to focus on model development rather than get caught in the weeds of numerical and code implementation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Parallel Time Integration for Constrained Optimization

The number of transistors in an average processor continues to increase, but individual clock speeds have plateaued. Those transistors are instead going into additional cores, increasing the number of different things that a processor can do at once and placing an emphasis on parallel computation. Many problems in scientific computing follow a time-evolution model, and it can be difficult to solve such problems in parallel across the temporal domain. The Multi-Grid Reduction In Time (MGRIT) algorithm, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), solves differential equations with a method designed specifically to take advantage of extreme numbers of processors by parallelizing across time. The Tri-diagonal MGRIT (TriMGRIT) algorithm, also developed at LLNL, is a generalization of MGRIT which enables parallel-in-time solving of a greater number of problems. Constrained optimization problems, in particular, may be solved in parallel using TriMGRIT. These consist of choosing a control function such that an objective functional is minimized, constrained by a differential-equation. We consider two such problems: applying torque to a pendulum to bring it to a gentle stop and moving a crowd of people from one distribution into another. We also perform some miscellaneous theoretical and practical research, including investigating the use of a line-search subroutine to refine intermediate TriMGRIT results and preliminary work on strategies for choosing operators for TriMGRIT to use.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Efficient relaxations for joint chance constrained AC optimal power flow

Evolving power systems with increasing levels of stochasticity call for a need to solve optimal power flow problems with large quantities of random variables. Weather forecasts, electricity prices, and shifting load patterns introduce higher levels of uncertainty and can yield optimization problems that are difficult to solve in an efficient manner. Solution methods for single chance constraints in optimal power flow problems have been considered in the literature, ensuring single constraints are satisfied with a prescribed probability; however, joint chance constraints, ensuring multiple constraints are simultaneously satisfied, have predominantly been solved via scenario-based approaches or by utilizing Boole's inequality as an upper bound. In this paper, joint chance constraints are used to solve an AC optimal power flow problem while preventing overvoltages in distribution grids under high penetrations of photovoltaic systems. A tighter version of Boole's inequality is derived and used to provide a new upper bound on the joint chance constraint, and simulation results are shown demonstrating the benefit of the proposed upper bound. The new framework allows for a less conservative and more computationally efficient solution to considering joint chance constraints, specifically regarding preventing overvoltages.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Riemannian Optimization Applied to AC Optimal Power Flow: Preprint

The nonlinear, nonconvex AC optimal power flow problem is of growing importance as the nature of the power grid evolves. This problem can be difficult to solve for interior point methods. However, the advent of optimization algorithms over smooth Riemannian manifolds presents an alternative approach. The nonlinear, nonconvex constraints in the AC power flow problem form an embedded submanifold of Euclidean space. In this paper, the authors explore the performance of Riemannian optimization algorithms for the ACOPF problem where the optimization is performed directly on the AC power flow manifold. They demonstrate that these are viable computational alternatives to interior point methods. This is done by using Julia and the packages PowerModels.jl and Manopt.jl.

manifold optimization↗

An oscillation free shock-capturing method for compressible van der Waals supercritical fluid flows

Numerical solutions of the Euler equations using real gas equations of state (EOS) often exhibit serious inaccuracies. The focus here is the van der Waals EOS and its variants (often used in supercritical fluid computations). The problems are not related to a lack of convexity of the EOS since the EOS are considered in their domain of convexity at any mesh point and at any time. The difficulties appear as soon as a density discontinuity is present with the rest of the fluid in mechanical equilibrium and typically result in spurious pressure and velocity oscillations. This is reminiscent of well-known pressure oscillations occurring with ideal gas mixtures when a mass fraction discontinuity is present, which can be interpreted as a discontinuity in the EOS parameters. We are concerned with pressure oscillations that appear just for a single fluid each time a density discontinuity is present. As a result, the combination of density in a nonlinear fashion in the EOS with diffusion by the numerical method results in violation of mechanical equilibrium conditions which are not easy to eliminate, even under grid refinement.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗