SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Guidelines”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,567 records · Page 87

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2024

Analytical methods for online data quality assessment

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the main steps for algorithmic sensor signal quality assessment, which can enhance the decision-making process for water resource recovery facility (WRRF) operation and optimization. It introduces the concept of redundancy as the basis for data quality assessment. It also explains the typical data processing pipeline, which consists of preliminary analysis, data pre-processing, and specific algorithmic approaches. Each of these processes is presented and discussed in three separate sections. Importantly, this chapter introduces the main approaches for data quality assessment, provides guidelines for selecting the most suitable one and the key performance indicators to evaluate them and explains how to collect metadata through such an algorithmic approach.

Aguado, Daniel↗

DOE OSTI2019

Proposal for a Fusion Prototype Neutron Source at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center

This study evaluates a target station at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center dedicated to the mission of irradiating structural materials in an environment that is nearly prototypic of the radiation environment experienced by the first wall of a magnetically-confined fusion reactor burning D-T fuel. Such a station could be located in the existing Area A experimental hall and be driven by an 800-MeV, 1-MW proton beam delivered by the LANSCE accelerator. A neutronics assessment of a target concept shows it satisfies all of the key parameter guidelines stated in the Summary Report on the Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source Workshop.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Scan of an Unpublished Report: "Fission Product Behavior During Severe LWR Accidents: Recommendations for the MELCOR Code System"

This document provides a scanned version of a 1987 SAND report that was never formally published. However, this report was referenced within the MELCOR Reference Manual and, therefore, provides historical information and technical basis for the MELCOR code. This document is being made available to permit users of the MELCOR code access to the information. The title page has been edited to prevent any confusion with regards to the possible documentation identifiers, such as the SAND report number or the intended date of publication. Beyond these modifications, a cover, distribution, and back cover are prepended and appended to the document to conform to modern SAND report style guidelines. The first four chapters of this report were updated and released under the title "Fission Product Behavior During Severe LWR Accidents: Recommendations for the MELCOR Code System. Volume I" and were made available by the U.S. NRC through the Adams database under accession number ML19227A327. No prior release of the remaining content of this report has occurred.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Continuous Water Quality Sensing for FGD Wastewater

The coal fired plant power industry requires new solutions for on-line monitoring of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewaters for regulated trace metals to reduce recurring operating and off-site laboratory analysis costs and provide a high level of confidence of compliance with state and federal discharge guidelines. The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) developed an integrated water sensor package for continuous water quality monitoring of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewaters for concentration measurements of Selenium (Se). UAB utilized a diverse team of University Professors/Staff Members/Student(s) (Engineering and Innovative Technology Development Group), a University Affiliated Research Institution from the local area (Southern Research), and a cost sharing Industry Partner (Metrohm). The team developed and validated a proprietary wet chemistry batch process for water sample preparation; and implemented this process as a fully automated on-line monitor prototype system. This prototype system’s performance was evaluated in both the laboratory and during in-field deployment to a coal fired power plant. In both environments it was found that the prototype system was unable to recreate the batch process’s success at preparing FGD water samples for total Se measurements with a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) cyclic anodic stripping voltammetry (CSV) system. Through this experience, UAB has provided insight into a number of specific areas where improvements can be made with respect to the COTS systems used in this project to yield a more complete and competitive industry solution for on-line monitoring of total Se in industrial wastewater.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2020

Operationalizing Synchrophasors for Enhanced Grid Reliability and Asset Utilization

The report discusses the development of production-grade synchrophasor software applications. The objective is to improve system reliability and asset utilization for offline as well as real-time considerations, as per the Department of Energy (DOE) guidelines specified by Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001492. On the one hand, we have developed grid management applications on how to transform synchrophasor-based monitoring into operator guidance, and commercial grade tools addressing industry needs such as NERC Reliability Standards (MOD 26, MOD 27 and MOD 33). On the other hand, with the wide industrial adoption in mind, the developed applications have been fully discussed with utility partners and installed in the utility partners site including 6 field tests. The Model Validation and Calibration software module has been integrated into GE’s PhasorAnalyticsTM. The first commercial contract has been signed even before the close date of this project. The Angle-based Grid Management (AGM), Fast Voltage Security Assessment (FastVSA), Enhanced Islanding Monitoring(EIM) and Enhanced Disturbance Management (EDM) have been integrated into GE’s Grid Stability Assessment line of applications in e-terra Suite of EMS product.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2020

RadResponder Nationwide Drill 2020: FRMAC participation After Action Report

On February 11th, 2020 FRMAC participated in the 2020 RadResponder nationwide drill involving survey data review and approval. During this drill, dozens of organizations from across the country participated in uploading simulated survey results to their own RadResponder event and reviewing those data given some "best-practice" guidelines. FRMAC participated in this drill to learn how this process is carried out in RadResponder and to determine some areas of improvement that will make FRMACs use of RadResponder more effective and efficient. As drill participants, the four FRMAC staff each set up their own RadResponder events so they could work independently to work through each step. Each were given an import file with 60 survey measurements to import and review. At the end of the drill a hotwash was held where users were able to ask questions and receive feedback from Chainbridge and FRMAC participants. In summary, several areas for improvement have been identified and will be categorized as items that need immediate attention (Bugs), areas for improvement in the near-term (change requests), and ideas on how the overall process can be improved (feature requests). The items presented in this report by no means reflect all the required changes FRMAC Monitoring and Sampling and Assessment will need to carry out their procedures in RadResponder but do represent a step in the right direction. A full review and exercise of the FRMAC process will need to be conducted with more subject matter experts to discover all the required features FRMAC needs to carry out their mission.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of Multi-cell Failure Propagation

Failure propagation testing is of increasing interest to the designers and end users of battery systems. One of the chief difficulties, however, is choosing an appropriate initiation method to perform the test. Single cell abuse testing is typically used to initiate thermal runaway but this can involve a large amount of additional energy injected into the system. It is assumed that this will have some impact on the behavior of a propagating thermal runaway event, but there is little data available as to how significant this would be. Further, it is ultimately difficult to develop viable propagation tests for compliance and public safety activities without better knowledge of how test methods will impact the results. This work looks at propagating battery failure with a variety of chemistries, formats, configurations and initiation methods to determine the level of significance of the chosen initiation method on the test results. We have ultimately found while there is some impact on the detailed results of propagation testing, in most cases other factors, particularly the energy density of the system play a much greater role in the likelihood of a propagation event consuming an entire battery. We have also provided some guidelines for test design to support best practices in testing.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Intensified Flue Gas Desulfurization Water Treatment for Reuse, Solidification, and Discharge

The goal of this final project report is to summarize the work conducted on project DE-FE0031555. In accordance with the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO), the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER) (Recipient) developed a hybrid electrochemical-membrane technology for treating wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) blowdown from coal-fired power generation plants that (1) removes government-regulated species and total suspended solids (TSS) via electrocoagulation with solid/liquid separation to avoid further treatments by a biological method specifically for selenium, and (2) reduces total dissolved solids (TDS) in a nanofiltration unit to promote water recycle and reduce freshwater intake. Additional technological configurations were pursued, including (1) nanofiltration combined with zeolite dewatering for a near-zero liquid discharge (ZLD) scenario, and (2) polishing discharge from zeolite dewatering using capacitive deionization (CDI) with 90+% salt rejection to produce water with less than 100ppm TDS for more beneficial use. Project results verified that UK CAER’s hybrid approach addressed the complexities of WFGD blowdown with simplified unit operation at relatively low capital investment by demonstrating: (1) an effective in-situ generated solid sorbent material, green-rust (GR), that specifically removes regulated dissolved species in WFGD blowdown, including selenium, arsenic, and nitrates; (2) a low-cost, high flux nanofiltration treatment that removes both monovalent and divalent species at >80% rejection to adequately provide water recycle and extend the life of FGD equipment by mitigating chloride aided pitting corrosion mechanisms; and (3) a solidification and stabilization process using pozzolanic agents that retain regulated species and satisfy the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) leachate requirements. UK CAER proved electrocoagulation with GR to be an intensified solution for effluent limit guidelines (ELG), and based on preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA), in comparison to DOE’s Case 1 for Biological Wastewater Treatment that had a purchased equipment cost (PEC) of $\$$5.26 million and a Total plant cost (TPC) of $\$$30.0 million, the EC process had a PEC of $\$$2.67 million and the TPC of $\$$17.0 million. While the electricity consumption for Case 1 was 53 kW, it was 110 kW for the EC process due to dissolving iron for a three-stage reaction design. However, electricity consumption for the EC process could be significantly reduced by adopting a counter-current reactor design for at least a 6-stage chemical reaction operation.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2020

Observations Regarding Commonly Available Materials for Face Shield Emulated-Personal Protective Equipment

The Center for Disease Control has recommended that to reduce potential exposure to COVID-19 the public should wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. These face coverings and other Emulated-Personal Protective Equipment (E-PPE) can be made by using Commonly Available Materials (CAMs). As E-PPE recommendations continue to flood the media, a Sandia COVID-19 LDRD effort, the Sandia E-PiPEline Team, systematically evaluated E-PPE design options considering their effectiveness, durability, build difficulty, build cost, and comfort. Using qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluation tools, results of the investigation are presented here to provide guidelines for home and office construction of E-PPE.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Observations Regarding Commonly Available Materials for Face Covering Emulated-Personal Protective Equipment

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

E-PiPEline: Quick to Market Emulated-PPE using Commonly Available Materials

The Center for Disease Control has recommended the public to wear cloth face coverings in public settings that reduce potential exposure to COVID-19 where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community based transmission. These face coverings and other Emulated-Personal Protective Equipment (EPPE) can be made by using Commonly Available Materials (CAMs). As part of the Sandia COVID-19 LDRD effort (funded under the Materials Science Investment Area), the Sandia E-PiPEline task evaluated E-PPE design options for face coverings and face shields considering their effectiveness, durability, build difficulty, build cost, and comfort. Observations from this investigation are presented here to provide guidelines for home construction of E-PPE. This executive summary includes a brief roadmap of the analysis methodology, two one-page handouts geared to be distributed to the public at large (one for E-PPE face coverings and one for E-PPE face shields), and additional observations regarding the potential solutions for E-PPE face coverings and face shields included to further support the one-page handouts.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Filtration Performance Results: Sierra Peaks Material No. 4

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) assessed the filtration performance of materials from Sierra Peaks to identify alternatives which may perform similarly to materials used in FDA-approved N95 respirators. This work is meant to characterize the aerosol performance of materials to give Sierra Peaks information for them to determine if they elect to submit masks made using these materials for follow-on N95 certification testing at an accredited facility. The R&D testbed used is a large-scale filtration system designed to test commercial filter boxes. System modifications were performed to simulate, where possible, parameters defined by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for certification of filter materials for N95 respirators (NIOSH 2019). The system is a pull-through design. Air enters through a Laminar Flow Element (LFE) and the volumetric flow is measured based on the pressure drop across the LFE. Pressure is measured via a Pressure Transducer (PT). The air then passes through a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter to purge the air of ambient airborne particulates. Test aerosol is injected into the flow shortly after and mixing is induced via a coarse mesh. The airflow is allowed to fully develop prior to arriving at the test section. The aerosol then passes through the test material mounted in a box in the test section. Pressure drop across the test article is measured and aerosol sampling probes measure the aerosol concentrations upstream and downstream of the sample. The air passes through a second HEPA filter prior to being exhausted to ambient by a blower. A Topas aerosol generator is used to produce the test aerosol from Sodium Chloride (NaC1) dissolved in deionized (DI) water. Generated aerosol passes through a heated mixing chamber and a desiccant dryer to produce nanosized solid-state particulates. A dilution loop allows for the aerosol concentration to be regulated. The aerosol sampling probes upstream and downstream of the test section are aligned with the flow path. These are ducted directly to the aerosol sizing and counting instruments. A Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) was used for data collection in the original configuration of the system and was also used for initial testing in this project. Because the lower measurement range for the LAS is 90 nanometers (nm), the LAS was switched out for a more complicated Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) spectrometer system. The SMPS is comprised of an Electrostatic Classifier (EC), Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA), and a Condensation Particle Counter (CPC). This enabled data collection at 75 nm, the particle size called out in the NIOSH guidelines.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

National-Tribal Critical Infrastructure Protection: Collaboration for Extraordinary National Security Benefit

This paper examines national and tribal collaborative opportunities to get ahead of the critical infrastructure insecurity problem. Recommendations are viewed through the lens of the Sandia Labs Tribal Cyber-Energy initiative and national security projects. Recommendations include 1) Collaboratively address national priority and shared challenges to gain faster and better solutions to national priority problems on a smaller yet comprehensive American Indian and Alaskan Native sovereign single-point of authority scale 2) Utilize newer standards-based technologies to provide scalable, capable, and manageable solutions for greatly expanded and connected national critical infrastructures 3) Employ Cyber-Physical-Resilient design preliminary analysis to define concept- to-disposition design requirements for preemptive critical infrastructure risk mitigation and baked-in security; 4) Develop data-centric protection to provide increased information asset protection as data shifts from data-owner operated on-premises infrastructure to virtual service provider data-steward owned and operated off-premises infrastructure; and 5) Balance shared solutions with the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity and Risk Management frameworks, and the System Security Engineering Guidelines. As yet unallocated federal funding would support research, development, the timely application of National-Tribal critical infrastructure protection, and critical infrastructure Cyber disruption response and recovery with extraordinary mutual benefits for the foreseeable future. The Critical Infrastructure Insecurity Problem: Rapid modernization and expansive connectivity are due to advances in Information and Communications Technologies that have sweeping cyber impact across all critical infrastructure sectors. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and Industrial Control Systems are particularly impacted as systems long separated from the Internet are now being connected and computerized. Virtualization and mobility create a Data Everywhere-User Anywhere paradigm that has evaporated the enterprise network perimeter. There are multi-front technological challenges at play, where long depended on technologies simply don't scale to current needs resulting in a digital dichotomy of competing old and new standards. New standards-based technologies scale but are not as well-known or as widely deployed, which leaves decision makers, stakeholders, and the workforce in a quandary, caught mid-stream between the technological past and the virtual future. Rapid and expansive cyber threat accompanies disruptive change in connectivity and computational dependencies. A lack of action will exacerbate the problem if new technologies roll out without baked-in security design. The Risk: If National-Tribal CIP collaboration to design in security is not done, then an ongoing state of insufficient bolt-on security and elevated threat exposure will remain for years to come.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of Steam Cycle Upgrades to Improve the Competitiveness of U.S. Coal Power Plants (Final Scientific / Technical Report)

Increasing the competitiveness of the existing pulverized-coal utility fleet in the United States may be achieved by decreasing heat rate, via increases in steam cycle efficiency through upgraded steam temperatures and use of latest technology available in steam turbine and blading design. The average net plant efficiency of the US coal-fired fleet is approximately 33% (HHV). Plant efficiency increases to approximately 41.4% (HHV) at 1,350°F (732°C) steam temperature. However, achieving these Advanced Ultra-Super Critical (AUSC) steam conditions requires the use of advanced high-temperature materials. While there has been a significant amount of DOE-funded materials R&D, most of the related design work has focused on new (greenfield) units, rather than on opportunities to retrofit this advanced technology to the existing utility fleet. If technology, based upon the advanced materials required for AUSC steam conditions, may be applied to the existing fleet, using an economically viable retrofit, a higher capacity factor can be expected as a result of the increased plant competitiveness. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) was awarded a project by the US Department of Energy to examine the technical and economic feasibility of a series of steam cycle upgrades to the two most prevalent types of U.S. coal power plants: 2,400 psig (16.6 MPa) subcritical and 3,500 psig (24.1 MPa) supercritical pulverized coal units. The nine upgrade options that were originally being considered included increasing the main and reheat steam temperatures from 1,000°F (538°C) to 1,100°, 1,200°, and 1,350°F (593°C, 649°C, and 732°C) while holding the steam pressures constant at their original design values, and cases where just the main steam or reheat steam temperatures were increased. The objective was to minimize the modifications required to the existing power plant while still providing a significant improvement in heat rate. The upgrade options assumed that the boiler enclosure envelope remained unchanged from each base case, and that all applicable OEM design guidelines for normal commercial units were imposed. For the highest temperature supercritical case, an option of using a low-pressure molten salt loop to transfer heat from the furnace to the steam was examined. The first major task of the work scope was designed to examine the technical feasibility of various upgrade options, while the subsequent work determined economic viability of the technically feasible upgrade options. Prior to evaluating the effect of these increased temperatures, a “base case” model of a subcritical and supercritical PC boiler was created, which was used for comparative purposes. Upgrade options were evaluated at full-load, part-load and dynamic transient conditions. Once the technical feasibility of each upgrade option was evaluated, the economic value of the heat rate improvement of each feasible option was determined by detailed modeling of unit dispatch in several regional power markets. The dispatch model was used to estimate the amount of revenue from power sales the upgraded unit would receive in comparison to a non-upgraded version of the same power plant. As a parallel task to the dispatch analysis, the capital cost of implementing the upgrades was estimated. The capital cost estimates were then compared to the increased revenue estimated by the dispatch modeling to determine the economic attractiveness of each upgrade option. Several upgrade options were determined to be technically feasible. The net present value (NPV) of the costs for steam cycle upgrades considered in this study ranged from approximately $\$$111 to $\$$130 million. The economic modeling results show that the unit dispatch changes resulting from steam cycle upgrades are relatively small, due largely to heat rate (and operating cost) changes being relatively small. Additionally, the cost of each upgrade exceeds the net revenue increases associated with the upgrade case. Note that the breakeven values are higher for subcritical retrofits, but the capital costs for the subcritical upgrades are also slightly higher. In typical new pulverized coal plants, fuel accounts for approximately 25% of the cost of electricity (COE), while capital costs represent around 50% of the COE. Therefore, in order to improve the heat rate by 4% one can only afford to increase the capital cost by 2%, at the same cost of electricity. The conclusion of this study is that without a cost for emitting CO 2 , it will be difficult to pay for significant efficiency improvements on plants firing low cost coals.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2020

Irradiation and PIE of alloys X-750 and XM-19 (EPRI Phase III)

The Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) based at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), along with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), formed an agreement to test representative alloys used as reactor structural materials as a pilot program to establish guidelines for future NSUF research programs. This report contains results from the portion of this program established as Phase III (of three phases), entailing irradiation and post-irradiation examination of select alloys typical of boiling water reactor (BWR) internal structural materials. Phases I and II are the subject of separate reports and represent baseline material test results and irradiation experiment design, respectively. The intent of this Phase III research program is to determine properties for the materials of interest after being irradiated at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to three different target fast (E>1MeV) fluences: 5.0 x 10¹⁹ n/cm², 2.0 x 10²⁰ n/cm², and 1.0 x 10²¹ n/cm². These correspond to irradiation damage levels (displacements per atom [dpa]) of approximately 0.08, 0.30, and 1.4 dpa, which represent comparable levels to (a) a previous study which looked at X-750 irradiated to ~1 x 10¹⁹ n/cm², comparable to the lowest fluence; (b) approximately a medium level of fluence for BWR components; and (c) extended life (60 – 80 years) for BWR components. The materials chosen for this research are the nickel-based alloy X-750 and austenitic stainless steel XM-19. A spare core shroud upper support bracket of alloy X-750 was purchased by EPRI from Southern Co., and a section of XM-19 plate was purchased by EPRI from GE-Hitachi. These materials were sectioned at GE Global Research Center (GE-GRC), and parts were provided to INL for use in this pilot project.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Quantum Mechanical Evaluation of CZTS Properties for Photovoltaic Applications

As a quaternary semiconductor, CZTS (Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 ) shows promise as a thin-film solar cell material. The constituent elements in CZTS are abundant and non-toxic, and CZTS has an ideal band gap (~1.5 eV) for solar cell applications, which produces a large absorption coefficient. Unfortunately, the low efficiencies and difficulties in synthesizing the desired crystallographic phase (kesterite) and the associated formation of antisite defects limit its deployment. Using theoretical and computational tools, we investigated these current limitations, explored strategies to resolve these issues, and developed design guidelines to improve the efficiency of CZTS-based sunlight absorbers. We first sought to understand the challenges associated with synthesizing the kesterite phase and proposed ways to favor kesterite growth, thus adding to the understanding of CZTS photovoltaics. We also analyzed the major limitations at the atomic scale lowering the efficiency of CZTS: the low open-circuit voltage (V oc ) and the short carrier lifetime, thus addressing the technical effectiveness of CZTS photovoltaics. We believe the latter is due to Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination centers associated with point defects. We also studied the electronic structure of interfaces and defects introducing such recombination centers, and explored doping strategies to reduce SRH recombination. Ultimately, these efforts will benefit the public by contributing to the development of cheap and efficient solar energy conversion technologies made from abundant, non-toxic materials.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Pool Fire Analysis Methodology for Assessing Damage to Waste Containers

This document provides guidelines, whereby the physical parameters associated with postulated flammable/combustible liquid pool fires are determined (thermal analysis) in order to estimate the number of waste containers impacted. Pool fire damage to waste containers may occur due to a container being fully engulfed (within the periphery of the pool), partially engulfed, or within the critical heat flux distance. The methodology described here for estimating the size of the pool fire is developed using spill characteristics outlined in Chapter 65 of the SFPE Handbook (Ref. 7) and testing done by Hansen (Ref. 25). For exposures, the critical flux height is determined using the detailed method of Shokri and Beyler (Ref. 8) from the flame height, calculated as described by Heskestad (Ref. 7) and the average black body emissive power, determined using the method of Shokri and Beyler (Ref. 8). Three types of liquid pool fires should be considered; unconfined crash/instantaneous spill fires, unconfined continuously flowing (also called metered leak) spill fires, and confined spill fires. All fuel sources should be considered consistent with the facility Fire Hazard Analysis (FHA). However, the most likely liquid fuel sources present in TRU waste facilities are those present on TRU waste handling vehicles (forklifts, pallet movers, transport trucks, etc.). This method can also be used for assessing damage to items other than waste containers or other methods of analysis may be used with appropriate justification.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2020

Automated Threat Recognition For Aviation Security Applications

We have developed a framework for automated threat recognition (ATR) of explosive threat materials for both single-energy and dual-energy X-ray CT systems. Under this framework, two different types of ATR have been developed. The first type of ATR employs supervised machine learning with statistical characterization of target materials for threat identification training. The reliance only on statistical characterization information for threat training uniquely enables this style of ATR to adapt quickly to evolving threats. The second type of ATR employs deep learning through convolutional neural networks. Convolutional neural networks are attractive due to their human-like capacity for learning and strong ability to identify trends and patterns. Although this method is more powerful than the first type, it requires large amounts of training data and therefore is less agile. Each ATR performs threat characterization at the voxel neighborhood level. This approach avoids the use of threat shape as a detection criterion, which is prohibited by DHS and TSA guidelines.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗