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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 1,603 records · Page 89
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Multi-compartment Aerosol Transport Model

A simple aerosol transport model was developed for a multi-compartmented cleanroom. Each compartment was treated as a well-mixed volume with ventilating supply and return air. Gravitational settling, intercompartment transport, and leakage of exterior air into the system were included in the model. A set of first order, coupled, ordinary differential equations was derived from the conservation equations of aerosol mass and air mass. The system of ODEs was then solved in MATLAB using pre-existing numerical methods. The model was verified against cases of (1) constant inlet-duct concentration, and (2) exponentially decaying inlet-duct concentration. Numerical methods resulted in normalized error of less than 10 -9 when model solutions were compared to analytical solutions. The model was validated against experimental measurements from a single field test and showed good agreement in the shape and magnitude of the aerosol concentration profile with time.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Commercial Absorption Heat Pump Water Heater: Beta Prototype Evaluation

The Beta version of the Commercial Absorption Heat Pump (CAHP) water heater was evaluated in the environmental chambers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Ambient air conditions ranged from 17 to 75 oF and inlet water temperatures ranged from 100 to 120oF in order to capture trends in performance. The unit was operated under full fire (100%) and partial fire (55%). The unit was found to perform at 90% of the project goal at the design conditions of 47oF ambient and 100oF water temperatures. The trends across the full range of environmental conditions were as expected for ambient air temperatures above 32oF. Below this temperature and for the full fire condition, frost accumulated on the evaporator coil. In future work a defrost strategy will be enabled, the unit will be thoroughly cleaned of an oil contamination and the rectifier will be reconfigured in order to meet the design goals and have a field test unit ready in early 2017.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Fluid flow in disrupted porous media: Volcanological and radiological waste applications

This presentation provides Technical defense supporting documents, with the following slides: (1) Introduction (2) Long boundary drainage as a source for lahars (submitted for review) (3) Development and implementation of a porosity-dependent capillary suction function in FEHM (4) Modeling in support of field testing high-level radioactive waste in salt (5) Conclusions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Use of a Ca-Citrate-Phosphate Solution to Form Hydroxyapatite for Uranium Stabilization of Old Rifle Sediments: Laboratory Proof of Principle Studies

The Old Rifle Site is a former vanadium and uranium ore-processing facility located adjacent to the Colorado River and approximately 0.3 miles east of the city of Rifle, CO. The former processing facilities have been removed and the site uranium mill tailings are interned at a disposal cell north of the city of Rifle. However, some low level remnant uranium contamination still exists at the Old Rifle site. In 2002, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) concurred with United States Department of Energy (US DOE) on a groundwater compliance strategy of natural flushing with institutional controls to decrease contaminant concentrations in the aquifer. In addition to active monitoring of contaminant concentrations, the site is also used for DOE Legacy Management (LM) and other DOE-funded small-scale field tests of remediation technologies. The purpose of this laboratory scale study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a hydroxyapatite (Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ) permeable reactive barrier and source area treatment in Old Rifle sediments. Phosphate treatment impact was evaluated by comparing uranium leaching and surface phase changes in untreated to PO 4 -treated sediments. The impact of the amount of phosphate precipitation in the sediment on uranium mobility was evaluated with three different phosphate loadings. A range of flow velocity and uranium concentration conditions (i.e., uranium flux through the phosphate-treated sediment) was also evaluated to quantify the uranium uptake mass and rate by the phosphate precipitate.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2018

Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC) – Enabling America’s Solar Revolution

The U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (US-PVMC) is an industry-led consortium which was created with the mission to accelerate the research, development, manufacturing, field testing, commercialization, and deployment of next-generation solar photovoltaic technologies. Formed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SunShot initiative, and headquartered in New York State, PVMC is managed by the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) at the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. PVMC is a hybrid of industry-led consortium and manufacturing development facility, with capabilities for collaborative and proprietary industry engagement. Through its technology development programs, advanced manufacturing development facilities, system demonstrations, and reliability and testing capabilities, PVMC has demonstrated itself to be a recognized proving ground for innovative solar technologies and system designs. PVMC comprises multiple locations, with the core manufacturing and deployment support activities conducted at the Solar Energy Development Center (SEDC), and the core Si wafering and metrology technologies being headed out of the University of Central Florida. The SEDC provides a pilot line for proof-of-concept prototyping, offering critical opportunities to demonstrate emerging concepts in PV manufacturing, such as evaluations of innovative materials, system components, and PV system designs. The facility, located in Halfmoon NY, encompasses 40,000 square feet of dedicated PV development space. The infrastructure and capabilities housed at PVMC includes PV system level testing at the Prototype Demonstration Facility (PDF), manufacturing scale cell & module fabrication at the Manufacturing Development Facility (MDF), cell and module testing, reliability equipment on its PV pilot line, all integrated with a PV performance database and analytical characterizations for PVMC and its partners test and commercial arrays. Additional development and deployment support are also housed at the SEDC, such as cost modeling and cost model based development activities for PV and thin film modules, components, and system level designs for reduced LCOE through lower installation hardware costs, labor reductions, soft costs and reduced operations and maintenance costs. The progression of the consortium activities started with infrastructure and capabilities build out focused on CIGS thin film photovoltaics, with a particular focus on flexible cell and module production. As marketplace changes and partners objectives shifted, the consortium shifted heavily towards deployment and market pull activities including Balance of System, cost modeling, and installation cost reduction efforts along with impacts to performance and DER operational costs. The consortium consisted of a wide array of PV supply chain companies from equipment and component suppliers through national developers and installers with a particular focus on commercial scale deployments (typically 25 to 2MW installations). With DOE funding ending after the fifth budget period, the advantages and disadvantages of such a consortium is detailed along with potential avenues for self-sustainability is reviewed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Safeguards Technology Development Program 3rd Quarter FY 2018 Report June 30, 2018 GPS-Free Navigation in Buildings

This is an evaluation of candidate navigation solutions for GPS free inspection tools that can be used in tours of large building interiors. In principle, COTS portable inertial motion unit (IMU) sensors with satisfactory accuracy, SWAP (size, weight, power), low error, and bias drift can provide sufficiently accurate dead reckoning navigation in a large building in the absence of GPS. To explore this assumption, the capabilities of representative IMU navigation sensors to meet these requirements will be evaluated and field tested, starting with a market survey. To test the candidate COTS IMUs drawn from the market survey, we will design and fabricate a person-portable backpack for testing. We will provide a mobile power supply and data collection port. Then, we will test the IMUs on interior building tours at LLNL, finally carrying out an analysis of these sensors’ performance using LLNL’s navigation codes.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Safeguards Technology Development Program 4th Quarter FY 2018 Report September 30, 2018

This is an evaluation of candidate navigation solutions for GPS free inspection tools that can be used in tours of large building interiors. In principle, COTS portable inertial motion unit (IMU) sensors with satisfactory accuracy, SWAP (size, weight, power), low error, and bias drift can provide sufficiently accurate dead reckoning navigation in a large building in the absence of GPS. To explore this assumption, the capabilities of representative IMU navigation sensors to meet these requirements will be evaluated and field tested, starting with a market survey. To test the candidate COTS IMUs drawn from the market survey, we will design and fabricate a person-portable backpack for testing. We will provide a mobile power supply and data collection port. Then, we will test the IMUs on interior building tours at LLNL, finally carrying out an analysis of these sensors’ performance using LLNL’s navigation codes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Considerations for Corridor and Community DC Fast Charging Complex System Design

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, has been DOE’s lead laboratory for the field testing of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), charging infrastructure, and other alternative vehicle technologies for 25 years. INL has tested and collected data from more than 17,000 charging stations, documenting efficiencies, charge profiles, and PEV drivers’ behaviors when using charging infrastructure. Based on the experience of INL staff and support personnel, DOE requested that INL perform three tasks: • Identify pertinent lessons learned from previous direct current (DC) fast charger (DCFC) deployment and data collection activities in order to perform an analysis of the experience to date with DC fast charging systems • Establish the criteria for siting DC fast charging systems, including access to current or future sizeable penetrations of PEVs and existing power, the potential to be used by local (intracity) as well as pass-through (intercity) PEV drivers, expandability, and accessible to the federal highway system • Develop a draft system specification that lists the components that will be incorporated in a DC fast charging complexes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Interaction between Heat Pump Water Heaters or Other Internal Point Source Loads and a Central Heating System

Water heating represents approximately 18% of residential energy consumption, or 4.6 quadrillion Btus of source energy use annually (EIA 2009). Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) offer an efficient option for residential water heating, with the ability to reduce water heating energy consumption by up to 63%. Previous research has demonstrated the laboratory performance of HPWHs and has shown savings of 43 to 62% on water heating energy consumption are possible, based on field tests (Ecotope 2015). In order to achieve such high efficiencies, HPWHs employ a refrigeration cycle to move heat from the ambient air into the water. Therefore, when HPWHs are installed in conditioned space, they will remove heat from that space which can help the HVAC system in the cooling season and require additional energy from the HVAC system in the heating season. This project provides an unbiased evaluation of the space conditioning interactions between a HPWH and the heating system in several locations throughout the home to further our understanding of the impact that HPWHs have on space conditioning loads. This report explores the HPWH interaction factor from several perspectives: (1) a theoretical analysis, (2) a review of previous literature, and (2) an experimental assessment. The experiments were conducted in PNNL’s side-by-side Lab Homes, which provide a platform for evaluating energy-saving and grid-responsive technologies in a controlled environment. The PNNL Lab Homes are two factory-built homes installed on PNNL’s campus in Richland, Washington. The homes represent existing homes, which account for approximately 99% of occupied homes in the U.S. These 1500 ft2 homes have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and are equipped with 7.7 HSPF heat pump and an electric forced air furnace. Both homes have R-22 floors, R-11 walls and R-22 ceiling insulation levels, with double-pane clear glass windows. The results of this experiment verified that the energy use of the HVAC system increases as a point source cooling load, like a HPWH, is moved closer to the thermostat. The opposite is also true, as a point source heating load is moved closer to the thermostat, the heating load decreases. The results show between 30-40% difference between the interaction that this type of load has when it is placed in the master bathroom compared to the living room for the PNNL Lab Homes.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Preclosure Risk Assessment for Deep Borehole Disposal

This report presents a preclosure radiological safety assessment for deep borehole disposal (DBD) of nuclear wastes. The primary purpose of the safety assessment is to identify risk factors for disposal operations, to aid in design for an engineering demonstration of technology for DBD. The assessment is based on a conceptual design for disposal packages and borehole systems that was developed previously. It considers operational steps that could be used for actual DBD, with internal and external initiating off-normal events, to develop insights that can be applied to an engineering demonstration that would be performed without using any form of nuclear waste. This research was performed as part of the deep borehole field test (DBFT). Based on revised U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priorities in mid-2017, the DBFT and other research related to a DBD option was discontinued; ongoing work and documentation were closed out by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017. This report was initiated as part of the DBFT and documented as an incomplete draft at the end of FY 2017. The report was finalized by Sandia National Laboratories in FY2018 without DOE funding, subsequent to the termination of the DBFT, and published in FY2019. iii

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

Deep Borehole Disposal Safety Case

This report describes the current status of the safety case for the deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept. It builds on the safety case presented in Freeze et al. (2016), presenting new information and identifying additional information needs for specific safety case elements. At this preliminary phase of development, the DBD safety case focuses on the generic feasibility of the DBD concept. It is based on potential system designs, waste forms, engineering, and geologic conditions; however, no specific site or regulatory framework exists. Updated information is provided for the following safety case elements: (1) pre-closure basis and safety analysis, (2) post-closure basis and performance assessment, and (3) confidence enhancement. This research was performed as part of the deep borehole field test (DBFT). Based on revised U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priorities in mid-2017, the DBFT and other research related to a DBD option was discontinued; ongoing work and documentation were closed out by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2017. This report was initiated as part of the DBFT and documented as an incomplete draft at the end of FY 2017. The report was finalized by Sandia National Laboratories in FY2018 without DOE funding, subsequent to the termination of the DBFT, and published in FY2019.

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

Real-Time Monitoring of Selenium Species in Power Plant Wastewaters via Optical Spectroscopy

Energy Research Company (ERCo) and Lehigh University are developing a new rapid sensor for measuring trace amounts of selenium in coal-fired power plant wastewater streams down to the single parts-per-billion (ppb) level. With EPA regulations pending on releases of selenium in wastewaters from power plants, plant operators are finding that commercially available technology is not suitable for ensuring compliance with the new regulations. These regulations require monitoring selenium at the single ppb level. There are several important advantages of our instrument as compared to other potential methods such as ICP-MS or ICP-OES. First, the method is rapid, allowing for analyses within minutes. Second, the method is amenable to automation, so dedicated lab personnel are not required. Third, the apparatus is compact and comprised of off-the-shelf components that are inexpensive compared to other laboratory instruments. Fourth, our instrument is designed to be used in the field and will collect data from any water source in near real time. Fifth, maintenance is minimal and finally, the cost is quite low. Furthermore, selective concentration of different ionization states of selenium was also demonstrated. Selenium is present in wastewaters in two main ionization states, +4 and +6. The fraction of each ionization state is important to know because it affects selenium treatment technologies. We were able to measure each one with a single instrument. The Phase II work plan will automate our instrument and expand the measurements to other heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic, the two other heavy metals covered in the new EPA regulations. We will also field test the instrument at an operating coal fired power plant.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Summary of available data for estimating chloride-induced SCC crack growth rates for 304/316 stainless steel

The majority of existing dry storage systems used for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) consist of a welded 304 stainless steel container placed within a passively-ventilated concrete or steel overpack. More recently fielded systems are constructed with dual certified 304/304L and in some cases, 316 or 316L. In service, atmospheric salts, a portion of which will be chloride bearing, will be deposited on the surface of these containers. Initially, the stainless steel canister surface temperatures will be high (exceeding the boiling point of water in many cases) due to decay heat from the SNF. As the SNF cools over time, the container surface will also cool, and deposited salts will deliquesce to form potentially corrosive chloride-rich brines. Because austenitic stainless steels are prone to chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC), the concern has been raised that SCC may significantly impact long-term canister performance. While the susceptibility of austenitic stainless steels to CISCC in the general sense is well known, the behavior of SCC cracks (i.e., initiation and propagation behavior) under the aforementioned atmospheric conditions is poorly understood. A literature survey has been performed to identify SCC crack growth rate (CGR) studies conducted utilizing conditions that may be relevant to existing SNF interim storage canisters, the results of which are presented in this document. The data presented here have been restricted to those representing atmospheric corrosion of stainless steels due to deliquescence of marine salts, or marine salt components, on the metal surface. A suite of experimental studies representing both long-term field tests and accelerated laboratory tests has been identified. Potentially relevant data are summarized in Figures 1-1 (304 SS) and Figure 1-2 (316 SS). In the Figures, when a particular reference utilized a series of samples, the range is shown as a bar, and the average value shown with a symbol. A summary of the test methods, sample geometry, and environmental conditions for each study is given in Table 1-1. While the surveyed studies all explore SCC of austenitic stainless steels under atmospheric conditions, the methods through which each researcher approached the problem do differ, as illustrated in Table 1-1. The surveyed studies utilized a variety of metal treatments including as-fabricated, solution annealed, welded, and sensitized material. Furthermore, different surface treatments (polished vs ground) were also used. In addition, most of these studies were accomplished using techniques that are not generally accepted for high-fidelity crack growth rate measurements, and in cases where more traditional approaches were taken, these methodologies may not be applicable to the atmospheric conditions of interest here. The wide variety of methods and materials results in the observed large scatter in measured CGRs. Each of the data sets in Figures 1-1 and 1-2 is described in more detail in the following sections. A short summary of crack growth rates based on operational experience is also presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Use of a Ca-Citrate-Phosphate Solution to Form Hydroxyapatite for Uranium Stabilization of Old Rifle Sediments: Laboratory Proof of Principle Studies

The Old Rifle Site is a former vanadium and uranium ore-processing facility located adjacent to the Colorado River and approximately 0.3 miles east of the city of Rifle, CO. The former processing facilities have been removed and the site uranium mill tailings are interned at a disposal cell north of the city of Rifle. However, some low level remnant uranium contamination still exists at the Old Rifle site. In 2002, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) concurred with United States Department of Energy (US DOE) on a groundwater compliance strategy of natural flushing with institutional controls to decrease contaminant concentrations in the aquifer. In addition to active monitoring of contaminant concentrations, the site is also used for DOE Legacy Management (LM) and other DOE-funded small scale field tests of remediation technologies. The purpose of this laboratory scale study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a hydroxyapatite (Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ) permeable reactive barrier and source area treatment in Old Rifle sediments. Phosphate treatment impact was evaluated by comparing uranium leaching and surface phase changes in untreated to PO4-treated sediments. The impact of the amount of phosphate precipitation in the sediment on uranium mobility was evaluated with three different phosphate loadings. A range of flow velocity and uranium concentration conditions (i.e., uranium flux through the phosphate-treated sediment) was also evaluated to quantify the uranium uptake mass and rate by the phosphate precipitate.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
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

Pre-Commercial Scale-Up of a Gas-Fired Absorption Heat Pump

The project sought to advance the maturity of SMTI’s 80 kBTU/hr residential space and water heating GAHP from the engineering prototype stage (TRL-7) to pre-production readiness by addressing manufacturing, balance of system design and installation, cost, reliability, and field application questions. As part of this project, the project team has: (1) Matured the design package for a commercially ready product (2) Demonstrated compliance with relevant ANSI standards (3) Completed manufacturing and assembly process specifications (4) Completed total production cost estimates and capital equipment requirements (5) Initiated component and system level reliability assessments (6) Completed a small field demonstration including measured performance, installation requirements and expected costs, and customer/key stakeholder feedback. (7) Completed a Techno-economic analysis for representative applications and climate zones, including justification for utility incentive programs. (8) Completed a market intelligence report. Scope of Work: A multi-faceted project was completed that included: (a) design for manufacturing tasks for both the sealed system and balance of system, (b) development and trial of key manufacturing processes and techniques, (c) evaluation of component and system level reliability, (d) exploration of make/buy decisions including impact on cost and required capital. Additionally, (e) installation and monitoring of a small number of field test units was completed to demonstrate energy savings and collect customer/installer feedback, and (f) a focused market research task was completed to explore potential barriers and improve market introduction plans. These tasks addressed many of the remaining technical risks regarding long-term reliability, verification of manufacturing cost estimates and identification of cost concerns, identify installation and balance of system design criteria necessary to achieve energy savings and installed cost goals, and identify market barriers and strategies prior to product market introduction.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Field Validation of a Smart Energy Recovery Ventilation System Using Low-Cost Indoor Air Quality Sensors

This project is a field validation, using low-cost indoor air quality (IAQ) sensors, of a smart ventilation system that can help low-load homes in humid environments maintain acceptable indoor humidity conditions while providing adequate ventilation according to ASHRAE 62.2. The objectives of this research were to (1) address builders’ concerns with mechanical ventilation in humid environments and (2) answer the question of whether smart control logic helps with occupant comfort and the creation of a more acceptable indoor environment. To address the objectives of the study, the Southface team collected field data for one year in four Charleston, South Carolina, new construction homes in order to determine the differences in occupant comfort; comfort metrics; IAQ; and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption when toggling biweekly between an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) operating continuously and an ERV operating with smart, time-varying humidity control logic. The smart ventilation algorithm under consideration in this field test did create a less humid indoor environment on an annual basis as quantitatively measured through temperature and relative humidity (T/RH) readings, expressed most discernably as “percentage of time above 60% RH” and “percentage of time above 55°F dewpoint.” However, the difference it made was inconsistent during the spring, summer, and fall months, and it was only directionally consistent during the winter months. We suspect that this is primarily due to the long runtimes and concomitant dehumidification activity of the air-conditioning (A/C) units in response to the high sensible loads in Charleston. The effect of the smart ventilation algorithm was not discernable to the occupants in this study, as recorded through seasonal surveys.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗