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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Green buffers near industrial plants, examples in Jefferson County TX

Green buffers between industrial plants and residential areas have multiple purposes in mitigating air pollution and protecting the environment. This study focuses on providing information on examples of green space development by industries near residential areas in Jefferson County, Texas. One represents a full buffer where residences were totally removed, another is a partial buffer where some residences were removed in a neighborhood and the third represents vegetation of a formerly industrial facility. Additional estimates on benefits of buffer spaces with respect to a pollutant plume are also considered. The study used geospatial and property data from 1966 to 2020. The transition from a residential area to a full or partial buffers highlights possible mitigation of air pollution impacts while serving additional functions, such as boosting stormwater infiltration and improving the aesthetic attractiveness of the area. The transformation from oil tanks to forested space may display the potential for environmental remediation, but not all spaces are suitable for fully forested buffers, as safety and other limitations should be considered. With the analysis of the classic Plume Equation insights can be provided regarding the possible impact of green buffers on ground-level pollutant concentrations. The calculations for atmospheric stability classes A-F and for various stack heights provide an understanding of how different conditions may affect the pollutant concentrations. The presence of a green buffer can play a crucial role in controlling ground-level pollution concentrations and reduce a community’s perception of risk.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1978

A technical analysis for cogeneration systems with potential applications in twelve California industrial plants

In a study sponsored by the State of California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, 12 industrial plants in five utility districts were surveyed to assess the potential applications of the cogeneration of heat and electricity in California industry. Thermodynamic calculations were made for each plant in determining the energy required to meet the existing electrical and steam demands. The present systems were then compared to conceptual cogeneration systems specified for each plant. Overall energy savings were determined for the cogeneration applications. Steam and gas turbine topping cycle systems were considered as well as bottoming cycle systems. Types of industries studied were: pulp and paper, timber, cement, petroleum refining, enhanced oil recovery, foods processing, steel and glass

Moretti, V. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Demand Bidding Model for Multi-Product Industrial Plants

The growing contribution of renewable energy sources has increased volatility and uncertainty in electricity markets, challenging traditional grid operation paradigms. Demand bidding (DB), a market participation model where (large) electricity users communicate their willingness to pay for electricity to the grid operator, was shown in previous work to enhance grid stability and lower generation cost. We present a DB model for multi-product industrial plants, based on an extended optimal power flow problem where the plant dynamics are represented using autoregressive with extra inputs (ARX) models. We compare DB to price-based demand-side management, showing that, under certain assumptions, the two approaches are equivalent, while DB provides more transparency and predictability to the grid operator. A case study based on an industrial air separation unit is discussed.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1974

Anechoic chamber in industrial plants

A light anechoic chamber for routine acoustical measurements in the machine building industry is reported. The outer housing of the chamber consists of modules cast in glass fiber reinforced polyester resin; the inner housing consists of pyramidal modules cut out of sound absorbing slates. The parameters of this anechoic chamber facilitate acoustical measurements according to ISO and CAEM recommendations.

Halpert, E.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Post-Calibration Uncertainty Analysis for Travel Times at a Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant

The Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) in McGregor, Texas began manufacturing explosives in 1980 and several hazardous chemicals were discovered in lakes and streams surrounding the site in 1998. Contaminants traveled to local lakes and streams much faster than initially predicted. This research estimated contaminant travel times and identified locations where monitoring wells should be installed to yield the greatest reductions in uncertainties in travel-time predictions. To this end, groundwater and particle-tracking models for NWIRP site were built to predict hydraulic heads and contaminant travel times. Next, parameter (hydraulic conductivities) uncertainties, parameter identifiabilities, observation (hydraulic heads) worth, and predictive (contaminant travel times) uncertainties were quantified. Parameter uncertainties were reduced by up to 92%; a total of 19 of 158 parameters were at least moderately identifiable; travel-time uncertainties were reduced up to 92%. Additionally, travel-time predictions and post-calibration parameter distributions were generated using the null-space Monte Carlo (NSMC) technique. NSMC predicted that conservative tracers exited the flow system within a year, which matches with field data. Finally, an observations-worth analysis found that additional 11 more measurements would reduce travel-time uncertainties by factors from 1.04 to 4.3 over existing data if monitoring wells were installed at the suggested locations.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integrated Harsh Environment Gas / Temperature Wireless Microwave Acoustic Sensor System for Fossil Energy Applications

There is a significant need for sensors capable of detecting gases, such as H 2 , O 2 , NO x , SO x within harsh environments encountered in power plants, industrial manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, and aerospace applications. This project successfully demonstrated the use of wireless microwave acoustic sensor technology for the detection of gases (H 2 or O 2 ) from ambient temperatures up to 650°C. The work focused on langasite (LGS) based surface acoustic wave resonator (SAWR) sensors as the harsh-environment sensor platform and explored multiple combinations of high-temperature thin films and device structures which were used to increase the sensor platform stability and detection capability at temperatures in the operational range of 150°C to 700°C. Specific material configurations that were investigated include: yttria-stabilized-zirconia (YSZ) decorated with Pt nanoparticles, atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al 2 O 3 , palladium, and Pt/Al 2 O 3 co-deposited electrode alloys. Through the deposition of YSZ at temperatures as high as 850°C and the use of graded alloy concentrations of Pt in the fabrication of the Pt/Al 2 O 3 electrode structures, film stress problems were mitigated, and sensor operation and stability achieved. To test and evaluate SAWR sensor performance for the detection of H 2 and O 2 under the influence of temperature variations, a comprehensive gas sensor control system and test apparatus was created to operate within a laboratory box furnace-controlled environment. In addition to the advancement in thin film materials through the deposition and fabrication techniques mentioned above, the work characterized the performance of sensors containing these films in the presence of oxidizing and reducing gases between 25°C and 700°C. In particular, the work revealed that the exposure of the SAWR sensor surfaces to oxidizing environments significantly improve the sensor response to H 2 , whereas the exposure of the sensor to reducing environments at high temperatures (≈ 500°C) renders the sensor irresponsive to H 2 , requiring sensor surface treatment at high temperatures (above 500°C) to recover the responsiveness to H 2 . The SAWR sensors have been also tested for wireless operation and array operation using multiple orientations to resolve the detection of gases under temperature variations. The work developed at the University of Maine was aided by a collaboration with the NETL Research and Innovation Center, Pittsburgh, PA, where thin film materials and device structures fabricated at UMaine were tested and characterized using NETL gas reactors and surface analysis techniques. SAWR sensors fabricated at UMaine were exposed multiple times to temperatures up to 700°C and H 2 concentrations up to 100% in the NETL facilities to measure the sensor performance. Environetix Technologies Corporation, a UMaine harsh-environment sensor spin-off company, also provided support and assistance in sensor system testing and implementation. The sensor small size and configuration allows flexible sensor placement and embedding of multiple sensor arrays into a variety of components within power systems and other aerospace or industrial settings that need to be interrogated wirelessly. The SAW platform is an attractive option for high-temperature harsh-environment gas sensing applications due to its inherent features, namely small size, capability of battery-free and wireless operation, and cost effective scale production using well-established production techniques from the semiconductor industry. The research findings achieved in this work, particularly advances regarding the fabrication and performance of the SAWR gas sensor platform, can be adapted and transferred to industrial power plants and other harsh environments.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2024

Site Integration and Regulatory Considerations for a Nuclear Power Plant Colocated with Industrial Facilities: Colocation Studies for a Petroleum Refinery, Methanol Plant, and Wood Pulp Plant

This research explores the colocation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) with industrial applications. Three existing industrial sites were considered to demonstrate the siting process and illuminate technological gaps for future work. The three applications demonstrated for colocation here are a petroleum refinery, a methanol production plant, and a pulp and paper plant. This study uses a modified version of the EPRI siting criteria to explore the geological and demographic characteristics of the location of the current industrial site, as well as exploring external hazards from the industrial plant and its surrounding land use. Data was collected from public databases to estimate site characteristics. We then discuss how the site characteristics may impact the ability to colocate an NPP with an industrial application. The application site and 5 additional sites were explored for each application to give a general indication of the siting implications for an NPP in each area. The hazards for each industrial application was also explored to determine how colocation may impact reactor safety. The following gaps have been identified and should be explored in future research on colocation of NPPs with petroleum refineries, methanol plants, and pulp and paper plants: - There is a variety of industrial use, hazards, and pipelines in the surrounding area. A more thorough review of these hazards should be considered for colocation. - In general, the whole region around some applications seems to have softer soil, with implications for large site preparation costs. Further site investigations should prioritize looking into the geotechnical conditions. - Applications along coastlines are susceptible to flooding and hurricanes. The benefits of colocation should be weighed against the potential design implications. - The benefits of natural gas pipeline infrastructure in place should be explored further. If heat supply from the NPP is not required or not feasible due to the distance between the NPP and the application, there may be an opportunity to supply hydrogen to the plant through an existing pipeline. - Because there are several collocated industrial plants in the regions for the refinery and methanol plant, the benefits of sharing resources from the NPP should be explored further. This may open up additional sites for colocation. The following knowledge gaps were identified for the colocation of NPPs with these three industries, and industrial applications in general. These gaps are: - While the STAND tool contains many important characteristics for the reactor siting process, it is not calibrated for the colocation of NPPs with industrial facilities. - There are aspects of both the NPP and industrial application that need to be quantified for a siting analysis. Particularly, we need to understand the water intake requirements for NPPs and each application. - Further work may focus on adapting the STAND site comparison methodology to comparison of sites for co-location. This will involve using the data documented in this report as a starting point and performing a comprehensive and quantitative comparison. - Without spending significant resources, it would be impossible to gather data for each site to evaluate all aspects of siting. One approach to finding data and understanding its implications to siting is looking at FSARs for existing plants. For example, most sites considered in this study have small Vs30 values, indicating soft soil. However, there are NPPs located in the vicinity of most of the sites (e.g., Waterford Steam Electric Station near New Orleans) and reviewing available site characteristics and geotechnical data for these NPPs, might provide further information for siting. - The siting analysis in this study indicates that colocation of the NPP with the industrial site could be difficult based on external hazards, cooling requirements, weather, or population. We need to determine the impact of distance between the two facilities on cost and quality of energy transport. - This study did not touch on socioeconomic impacts for NPP colocation with industrial facilities. The input-output analysis methodology could be applied to the communities referenced in this study to determine the socioeconomic impact of these projects. - Similarly, the impacts of colocation on emergency planning was not explored in this study. The impacts on emergency planning infrastructure are somewhat related to the socioeconomic impacts, and could be explored using a similar methodology. - This study also did not address physical and cybersecurity, which will be important aspects of co-location [ref] . Cybersecurity will be important, regardless of the distance, but physical security will be important if the facilities are located very closely. Physical security might also be important for the steam lines between the plants, unless they are determined to be non-safety significant. - In many site l

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1983

Advanced technology cogeneration system conceptual design study: Closed cycle gas turbines

The results of a three task study performed for the Department of Energy under the direction of the NASA Lewis Research Center are documented. The thermal and electrical energy requirements of three specific industrial plants were surveyed and cost records for the energies consumed were compiled. Preliminary coal fired atmospheric fluidized bed heated closed cycle gas turbine and steam turbine cogeneration system designs were developed for each industrial plant. Preliminary cost and return-on-equity values were calculated and the results compared. The best of the three sites was selected for more detailed design and evaluation of both closed cycle gas turbine and steam turbine cogeneration systems during Task II. Task III involved characterizing the industrial sector electrical and thermal loads for the 48 contiguous states, applying a family of closed cycle gas turbine and steam turbine cogeneration systems to these loads, and conducting a market penetration analysis of the closed cycle gas turbine cogeneration system.

Mock, E. A. T.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multistage Surface-Heated Vacuum Membrane Distillation Process Enables High Water Recovery and Excellent Heat Utilization: A Modeling Study

Surface-heated membrane distillation (MD) enhances the energy efficiency of desalination by mitigating temperature polarization (TP). However, systematic investigations of larger scale, multistage, surface-heated MD system with high water recovery and heat recycling are limited. Here, we explore the design and performance of a multistage surface-heated vacuum MD (SHVMD) with heat recovery through a comprehensive finite difference model. In this process, the latent heat of condensation is recovered through an internal heat exchanger (HX) using the retentate from one stage as the condensing fluid for the next stage and an external HX using the feed as the condensing fluid. Model results show that surface heating enhances the performance compared to conventional vacuum MD (VMD). Specifically, in a six-stage SHVMD process, 54.44% water recovery and a gained output ratio (GOR) of 3.28 are achieved with a surface heat density of 2000 W m –2 , whereas a similar six-stage VMD process only reaches 18.19% water recovery and a GOR of 2.15. Mass and energy balances suggest that by mitigating TP, surface heating increases the latent heat trapped in vapor. The internal and external HXs capture and reuse the additional heat, which enhances the GOR values. We show for SHVMD that the hybrid internal/external heat recovery design can have GOR value 1.44 times higher than that of systems with only internal or external heat recovery. Furthermore, by only increasing six stages to eight stages, a GOR value as high as 4.35 is achieved. The results further show that surface heating can reduce the energy consumption of MD for brine concentration. As a result, the multistage SHVMD technology exhibits a promising potential for the management of brine from industrial plants.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Estimation of abatement potentials and costs of air pollution emissions in China

Understanding the air pollution emission abatement potential and associated control cost is a prerequisite to design cost ef?cient control policies. In this study, a linear programming algorithm model, International Control Cost Estimate Tool, was updated with cost data for applications of 56 types of end-of-pipe technologies and ?ve types of renewable energy in 10 major sectors namely power generation, industry combustion, cement pro-duction, iron and steel production, other industry processes, domestic combustion, transportation, solvent use, livestock rearing, and fertilizer use. The updated model was implemented to estimate the abatement potential and marginal cost of multiple pollutants in China. The total maximum abatement potentials of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), primary particulate matter (PM2.5), non-volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), and ammonia (NH3) in China were estimated to be 19.2, 20.8, 9.1, 17.2 and 8.6 Mt, respectively, which accounted for 89.7%, 89.9%, 94.6%, 74.0%, and 80.2% of their total emissions in 2014, respectively. The associated control cost of such reductions was estimated as 92.5, 469.7, 75.7, 449.0, and 361.8 billion CNY in SO2, NOx, primary PM2.5, NMVOCs and NH3, respectively. Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Zhejiang, and Guangdong provinces exhibited large abatement potentials for all pollutants. Provincial disparity analysis shows that high GDP regions tend to have higher reduction potential and total abatement costs. End-of-pipe technologies tended be a cost-ef?cient way to control pollution in industries processes (i.e., cement plants, iron and steel plants, lime production, building ceramic production, glass and brick production), whereas such technologies were less cost- effective in fossil fuel-related sectors (i.e., power plants, industry combustion, domestic combustion, and transportation) compared with renewable energy. The abatement potentials and marginal abatement cost curves developed in this study can further be used as a crucial component in an integrated model to design optimized cost-ef?cient control policies.

Zhang, Fenfen↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluating Diurnal Ozone Emissions: A Comparative Analysis of DSCOVR EPIC, PANDORA, and TOLNet Data for Space-Based Monitoring Assessment: A Case Study by ASDC

Stratospheric ozone occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, forming a protective layer that shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Tropospheric ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is created by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). This reaction happens when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in sunlight [1]. Therefore, increased levels of tropospheric ozone indicate the presence of pollutants in the air. While daily anthropogenic activity causes an increase of ground-level ozone, variation of stratospheric ozone changes happens much slower, so that variation of the total ozone column reflects the variation of the tropospheric column due to natural, e.g., wildfires and anthropogenic air pollution. Both total and tropospheric ozone column products are used in this study. The reflectance spectra measured by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) instrument aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft are compared with a set of radiative transfer-derived lookup tables for the EPIC filter transmission functions and a wide range of ozone values to retrieve ozone with a maximum resolution of 18 km at the sub-satellite point [2]. EPIC provides total column ozone in level 2 and level 4 products and tropospheric column ozone in level 4 products. Both EPIC Ozone products [2] are available at the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center [3, 4]. Pandora spectrometer instrument measures columnar amounts of trace gases in the atmosphere. These gases (O3, NO2, CH2O) absorb light from the sun at specific wavelengths in the ultraviolet-visible spectrum [5]. Using the theoretical solar spectrum as a reference, Pandora determines trace gas amounts using differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS). Pandora ozone retrievals are available from the Pandonia Global Network [6]. Pandora data from North American major metropolitan areas, New York, NY, Washington DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Mexico City. Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) was established in 2012 to provide high spatiotemporal observations of tropospheric ozone to (1) better understand physical processes driving the ozone budget in various meteorological and environmental conditions and (2) validate the tropospheric ozone measurements of space-borne missions [7]. TOLNet data are available at ASDC [8]. While EPIC provides global coverage of ozone retrievals several times daily, temporal resolution may miss some features in daily ozone variations. Ground-based sensors such as Pandora spectrometers and TOLNet lidars provide better temporal resolution while missing continuous spatial coverage. The forthcoming ozone retrieval from the TEMPO mission [9] will provide better spatial and temporal coverage of air quality (including ozone) over North America. This study investigates whether EPIC ozone products can detect diurnal air quality variations and compare ozone temporal development with retrieval by ground-based instruments.

diurnal ozone emissions, DSCOVR EPIC, PANDORA, spa↗
NASA NTRS1980

Cogeneration Technology Alternatives Study (CTAS). Volume 3: Energy conversion system characteristics

Six current and thirty-six advanced energy conversion systems were defined and combined with appropriate balance of plant equipment. Twenty-six industrial processes were selected from among the high energy consuming industries to serve as a frame work for the study. Each conversion system was analyzed as a cogenerator with each industrial plant. Fuel consumption, costs, and environmental intrusion were evaluated and compared to corresponding traditional values. The advanced energy conversion technologies indicated reduced fuel consumption, costs, and emissions. Fuel energy savings of 10 to 25 percent were predicted compared to traditional on site furnaces and utility electricity. With the variety of industrial requirements, each advanced technology had attractive applications. Fuel cells indicated the greatest fuel energy savings and emission reductions. Gas turbines and combined cycles indicated high overall annual savings. Steam turbines and gas turbines produced high estimated returns. In some applications, diesels were most efficient. The advanced technologies used coal derived fuels, or coal with advanced fluid bed combustion or on site gasifications. Data and information for both current and advanced energy conversion technology are presented. Schematic and physical descriptions, performance data, equipment cost estimates, and predicted emissions are included. Technical developments which are needed to achieve commercialization in the 1985-2000 period are identified.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2019

Authentication Protocol for ICS without Encryption

Industrial control systems (ICS) describes the different types of control systems and associated instrumentation, which includes the devices, systems, networks, and controls used to operate and/or automate industrial processes. Depending on the industry, each ICS functions differently and are built to electronically manage tasks efficiently. Historically, industrial plants have included networking, and changes have been made over time without consideration for security. Many ICS devices currently have inadequate security features. Adding encryption in ICS is undesirable because many of the new detection method involves deep packet inspection. Therefore, we propose to develop a method of providing authentication between devices without encrypting the data. This testbed design will allow rapid development and experimentation with Cyber Physical Systems. Modbus connects to a supervisory computer with a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. Our project seeks to enhance security in the ICS environment by adding device authentication to the lower levels of the plant floor. This approach was selected as it allows verification of the sender of data from level 1/level 0 devices up to supervisory systems. This addition is desirable as it adds enhanced verification to the integrity of system data without obscuring (via encryption) the data being transmitted across the network. This is important because many ICS systems are real time critical (decryption adds to latency) and many other good security options require deep packet inspection (which encryption completely defeats). To accomplish this, a proof of concept of adding an authentication scheme was designed and will be tested with a common ICS protocol. The setup includes a single serial cable connecting the serial ports on two devices, a Master and a Minion. Authentication will occur in the following methods: - Data layer involving Transport Layer Security/Secure Socket Layer (TLS/SSL); - TCP/IP route implementation; - Key exchange algorithm; - Raspberry Pi programming for authentication. A portion of the setup includes adding Raspberry Pi into the system as the device is handling the authentication for the network traffic. Modbus is the chosen ICS protocol. It is used to transmit signals from instrumentation and control devices back to a main controller or data gathering system. Typically, the device identity is assumed but not verified. For verifying device identity, we constructed a digital signature architecture with TLS. A novel adaptation of this is to use only the digital signature that is provided and not the encryption capability. This allows ICS traffic to flow unobscured while still providing verification for the integrity of the data. Verification of this process will involve adding additional I/O level network devices with spoofed IP addresses and detecting the authenticated versus unauthenticated traffic. Our TLS implementation will have encryption disabled but should still allow for digital signing of data. This will enable our system to distinguish between real end devices and spoofed end devices. This experiment is presently building the test setup. It is focusing on a small setting to identify authenticated and unauthenticated devices on the network. This should allow for scaling to a larger network size after the initial proof of concept. One concern with this scheme is a certificate deployment has a large scale key management. Network size will thus increase the key management task for security. In addition, we believe that further research should be done on exploring the use of this method to defeat man-in-the-middle attacks.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulating a solar parabolic trough collector plant used for industrial process heat using an optimized operating scheme that utilizes flexible heat integration

This study focuses on the modeling and simulation of a novel design and operation of a solar industrial process heat (SIPH) plant that uses a parabolic trough collector system for generating process heat. The SIPH plant incorporates flexible heat integration (FHI) by having two options for heat sinks as well as a flexible collection temperature for the heat transfer fluid. Leveraging the degrees of freedom created by FHI allows an optimized operating scheme to be created which maximizes the solar heat delivered to the industrial processes. Yearly results for a 27 MW-t plant located in Salt Lake City, UT are simulated for a base case and a case utilizing optimized FHI. For the main process temperature case presented, FHI increases the total solar share by 13.0% and reduces the levelized cost of heat of the SIPH plant by 10.4% relative to the base case. Furthermore, three case study days are presented which highlight how FHI maximizes solar share, specifically during mornings, afternoons, and days with intermittent solar conditions. An environmental analysis is also performed showing that the SIPH plant can reduce harmful emissions by 15.4% for the base case and 17.4% for the FHI case compared to a plant that only utilizes a natural gas furnace for process heat. Overall, the work thoroughly explores an effective operating scheme for a SIPH plant, helping to make it more economical and environmentally beneficial.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Autonomous Aerial Power Plant Inspection in GPS-denied Environments

Inspection of coal-fired power plants is frequently dangerous, includes difficult places to reach, and can turn expensive due to the downtimes and cost of inspection crew. Robotic systems have shown capabilities to address some of these issues, but most of the current robotic inspection technology in power plants is designed for specific components. Conversely, recent advances in machine vision have empowered aerial platforms for long-range, remotely-controlled, GPS-based inspections of industrial plants. This capability has led to wide spread utilization of aerial robots (commonly termed Drones, UVS or UAS) platforms for inspection in less challenging environments where both collision avoidance, and GPS reception are not significant issues. The challenge in adapting airborne technology for power plant inspection lies in internal structures and the complex network of piping, and distribution systems, which impose significant risks for collision and can hinder the reception and transmission of GPS signals. The current state of the art in aerial inspection technology within the energy sector is controlled via radio control, and utilizes GPS-based navigation, for inspection of large-scale plants such as offshore platforms and wind turbine parks. Nevertheless, close-range and autonomous inspection in the GPS-denied environments of power plants has not yet been achieved, as it requires precise guidance and navigation with real-time situational awareness and obstacle avoidance capabilities. This endeavor introduced the use of rotary wing flying robots, due to their station keeping and vertical take-off capabilities for power plant components inspection. To enable close quarter inspection two methods were used. One method uses the 3D CAD (Three-dimensional Computer-Aided Design) model of the asset to inspect to generate the UAV’s inspection path. To acquire, analyze and process the 3D model, first, the STL file is produced to obtain surface points and vectors normal to the surface. Later, by introducing other variables such as wall offset and a controlled trajectory between each outline and each subsequent layer, the flight path is generated. The proposed framework will generate a path that will pass as close as desired from the surface and navigate in intricate environments. A second method, use advanced manufacturing techniques such as CNC (Computer Numerical Control) and additive manufacturing. Once the inspection flight path is obtained, vision-based navigation systems are employed to have the UAV autonomously tracking the provided trajectory. Finally, Artificial Intelligence-enabled developments are in charge of detecting cracks and corrosion in structural components of power plants. The proposed methods are validated in simulations, laboratory and industrial setups, where it is shown that the developed systems acting together enable close-quarter autonomous aerial inspection and mapping in power plant assets. The system can be further improved by adding more sensors to navigate in different GPS-denied environments, with non-homogeneous lighting conditions, dust and in general situations where vision-based systems may fail.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗