SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
This analysis compares how the existing critical infrastructure continues to be vulnerable and with smart grid technologies being implemented exposes IES, power systems, the grid, and renewable energy in new ways. Continued work in cybersecurity will thwart efforts against adversaries having an opportunity to penetrate these systems.
Energy supply, distribution, and demand are continuously evolving in accordance with the integration of new power generation sources. In the United States, there is a progressive shift toward incorporating fluctuating energy sources such as wind and solar into the energy mix, alongside the distributed generation. Simultaneously, we are seeing a revolution in consumer technologies such as electric vehicles, energy devices for both residential and commercial use, and industrial processes—all contributing to a fundamental change in energy consumption dynamics. These scenarios have led to huge demand for enhanced flexibility from nuclear power plants (NPPs), requiring them to operate with unprecedented adaptability. Furthermore, advanced NPPs (A-NPPs) could potentially apply to scenarios in which power generation flexibility is prioritized over its current and conventional baseload generation capacity for traditional demand patterns. The present work covers several configurations for coupling nuclear energy production with thermal energy storage (TES). Previous work evaluated systems entailing a simple nuclear-TES configuration that used steam as a heat source for the TES of three different advanced reactors (ARs), but its heat diversion ratio (HDR) for charging was limited. The present work proposes a new configuration that features full decoupling of the nuclear reactor and the power cycle, using reactor coolant (i.e., gas) as a heat source for the TES and offering a theoretically unlimited HDR. This configuration is, however, more complex, as both high- and low-temperature TES (HT-TES and LT-TES) systems are required in order to cover the extended temperature range. Although this configuration imposes certain limitations on the discharge system configuration, it also presents the opportunity to design a more efficient system. For this case in particular, a steam reheat cycle is advantageous. Conventional TES systems take advantage of nominal efficiency when discharging, whereas the reheat cycle in the fully decoupled TES system affords a significant efficiency increase over conventional cases. Material selection, component/equipment sizing, and costing analyses were performed, followed by economic dispatch and size optimization. Dynamic models were developed for the decoupled system in order to generate insights into aspects of off design operation (e.g., drops in cycle efficiency), and these models enable exploration of potential mitigation strategies for addressing such drops. The models also highlight the need to design fail-safes that ensure continuous operational stability and minimize the impact of power ramping on the reactor parameters.
NREL and the Hawaiian Electric Companies are collaborating with the solar and inverter industries to implement advanced inverters, allowing greater solar photovoltaic (PV) penetrations that will support the State of Hawaii's goal to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2045. Advanced inverters will help maintain stable grid operations by riding through grid disturbances when the PV output is needed, operating autonomously to smooth voltage fluctuations, and coordinating the start-up and reconnection of PV systems and other distributed energy resources.
This fact sheet highlights work done in partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) for a microgrid project in Borrego Springs, California.
A high-level presentation on systems in the Dynamic Energy Transport and Integration Laboratory including TEDS and MAGNET.
Not Available
This presentation provides an overview of the role of nuclear energy in achieving net-zero energy systems.
This fact sheet highlights the Systems Performance Lab in the ESIF, including the type of research it can host.
This fact sheet highlights work done at the ESIF in partnership with Giner. Giner, a developer of proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technologies, has contracted with NREL to validate the performance of its large-scale PEM electrolyzer stacks. PEM electrolyzers work much like fuel cells run in reverse.
Leveraging Hydrogen's unique ability to address cross-energy sector issues and to enable clean, efficient industrial and transportation processes.
This paper is focused on utilizing customers' flexible energy demand, including both heat demand and electricity demand, to provide balancing resources and relieve the difficulties of integrating variable wind power with the combined heat and power. The integration of heat and electricity energy systems providing customers with multiple options for fulfilling their energy demand is described. Customer aggregators are introduced to supply downstream demand in the most economical way. Controlling customers' energy consumption behaviors enables aggregators to adjust their energy demand in response to supply conditions. Incorporating aggregators' flexible energy demand into the centralized energy dispatch model, a two-level optimization problem (TLOP) is first formed where the system operatormaximizes social welfare subject to aggregators' strategies, which minimize the energy purchase cost. Furthermore, the subproblems are linearized based on several reasonable assumptions. Optimal conditions of the subproblems are then transformed as energy demands to be described as explicit piecewise-linear functions of electricity prices corresponding to the demand bid curves. In this way, the TLOP is transformed to a standard optimization problem, which requires aggregators to only submit a demand bid to run the centralized energy dispatch program. All the parameters pertaining to the aggregators' energy consumption models are internalized in the bid curves. The proposed technique is illustrated in a modified testing system.
This fact sheet highlights work done at the ESIF in collaboration with EPRI. NREL is collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to validate the performance of a Spirae-developed advanced microgrid controller capable of managing 1-10 megawatts of aggregated generation capacity. The aim is to develop a commercially viable and flexible microgrid controller, easily adapted to different end-user applications and to a range of electric grid characteristics.
Overview of INL and DOE-NE work in nuclear-hydrogen production.
In collaboration with Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company, Xcel Energy, land developer L.C. Fulenwider, and the City and County of Denver, NREL is developing a zero-energy transit-oriented campus at the Denver International Airport's Pena Station.
Electrification of transportation fleets provides an opportunity for optimizing multiple distributed energy resource (DER) technologies, such as solar and energy storage. NREL is partnering with Eaton to evaluate control strategies for managing electric bus (E-bus) fleets for grid services. The project team will develop a replicable platform for evaluating EV fleet management and quantifying benefits from grid services.
This final report describes novel capabilities developed as part of DISPATCHES, Design Integration and Synthesis Platform to Advance Tightly Coupled Hybrid Energy Systems, for designing hybrid energy systems (HES) a.k.a. integrated energy systems (IES) in the context of a larger electricity market. Capabilities are demonstrated on a case study with fossil-based power coupled to a molten salt thermal energy storage system.
BlockCypher is teaming with NREL to demonstrate secure peer-to-peer energy transactions - taking place in real-time and without a centralized arbitrator - forming the basis for a distributed energy marketplace. The transactions use blockchain technology for features like instantaneous settlement times, low transaction costs, and for enabling trust between participants without the need for a third party. Blockchain technology is an innovative solution to managing grid security, enabling distributed energy markets, and the proliferation of distributed energy resources, all-the-while opening up new value streams for customers and utilities.
Abstract not provided