HydroGEN Seedling: High-Temperature Reactor Catalyst Material Development for Low-Cost and Efficient Solar-Driven Sulfur-Based Processes

The objective of this evaluation was to independently and objectively verify driving ranges of >400 miles announced by Toyota for its new advanced Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV-adv) utilizing 70 MPa compressed hydrogen. To accomplish this, participants from both Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) witnessed and participated in a 2-vehicle evaluation with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA) over a typical open road route for over 11 hours in one day with all relevant data recorded. SRNL and TEMA first entered into discussions of verifying the range of the advanced Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV-adv) in August 2008 resulting from reported 400+ mile range by Toyota. After extended negotiations, a CRADA agreement, SRNS CRADA No. CR-04-003, was signed on May 6, 2009. Subsequently, on June 30, 2009 SRNL and NREL participated in an all-day evaluation of the FCHV-adv with TEMA to determine the real-world driving range of this vehicle through on-road driving on an extended round-trip drive between Torrance and San Diego, California. SRNL and NREL observed the vehicles being refueled at Toyota's headquarters the day before the evaluation in Torrance, CA on June 29. At 8:00 AM on June 30, the vehicles departed Torrance north toward downtown Los Angeles, then west to the Pacific Coast Highway, and down to San Diego. After lunch the vehicles retraced their route back to Torrance. The traffic encountered was much heavier than anticipated, causing the vehicles to not return to Torrance until 9 PM. Each vehicle was driven by the same Toyota driver all day, with one SRNL/NREL observer in each vehicle the entire route. Data was logged by Toyota and analyzed by NREL. The maximum range of the FCHV-adv vehicles was calculated to be 431 miles under these driving conditions. This distance was calculated from the actual range of 331.5 miles during over 11 hours driving, plus 99.5 miles of additional range calculated from the average fuel economy from the day times the remaining usable hydrogen. Driving range results were independently calculated for each vehicle, and these results averaged together to achieve the final 431-mile range estimate. The uncertainty on these results is relatively low due to eight independent measurements of distance and six separate measurements of hydrogen usage, with a resulting uncertainty of {+-} 7 miles ({+-} 1.7%) based on spread between the low and high values from all of the multiple measurements. The average fuel economy resulting from the day's driving was 68.3 miles/kg and the total hydrogen stored on-board at 70 MPa was calculated to be 6.31 kg. The speed profiles were analyzed and compared to standard driving cycles, and were determined to be of moderate aggressiveness. The city segments of the route had average speeds slightly greater than the UDDS cycle and the highway segments were close to the HWFET & US06 cycles. The average acceleration for the highway driving was very close to the HWFET cycle, and the city portions had average accelerations lower than the UDDS and US06 cycles. We feel that the route accurately reflects realistic driving behaviors in southern California on a typical weekday, and is an appropriate benchmark to use in the verification of a fuel cell vehicle's range.

Under Secretary of Energy Menezes called for an integrated view of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) applied energy activities and requested that the three applied energy laboratories - Idaho National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory - take a fresh look at their portfolios for gaps and coordination opportunities. A workshop was held July 24-25, 2018 with teams from DOE, INL, NETL, and NREL.

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A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a systematic approach to account for the production and release of certain gases generated by an institution from various emission sources. The gases of interest are those that climate science has identified as related to anthropogenic global climate change. This document presents an inventory of GHGs generated during Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored entity, located in southeastern Idaho. In recent years, concern has grown about the environmental impact of GHGs. This, together with a desire to decrease harmful environmental impacts, would be enough to encourage the calculation of an inventory of the total GHGs generated at INL. Additionally, INL has a desire to see how its emissions compare with similar institutions, including other DOE national laboratories. Executive Order 13693 requires that federal agencies and institutions document reductions in GHG emissions. INL’s GHG inventory was calculated according to methodologies identified in federal GHG guidance documents using operational control boundaries. It measures emissions generated in three scopes: (1) INL emissions produced directly by stationary or mobile combustion and by fugitive emissions, (2) the share of emissions generated by entities from which INL purchased electrical power, and (3) indirect or shared emissions generated by outsourced activities that benefit INL (occur outside INL’s organizational boundaries, but are a consequence of INL’s activities). This inventory found that INL generated 58,330 metric tons (MT) of CO2 equivalent (CO2e ) emissions during FY15. The following conclusions were made from looking at the results of the individual contributors to INL’s FY15 GHG inventory: • Electricity (including the associated transmission and distribution losses) is the largest contributor to INL’s GHG inventory, with over 50% of the CO2e emissions • Other sources with high emissions were employee commuting, mobile combustion (fleet fuels), stationary combustion (facility fuels), business air travel, and waste disposal (including fugitive emissions from the onsite landfill and contracted disposal) • Sources with low emissions were wastewater treatment (onsite and contracted), business ground travel (in personal and rental vehicles), and fugitive emissions from refrigerants. This report details the methods behind quantifying INL’s GHG inventory and discusses lessons learned on better practices by which information important to tracking GHGs can be tracked and recorded. It is important to note that because this report differentiates between those portions of INL that are managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) and those managed by other contractors, it includes only the Laboratory activities overseen by BEA. It is assumed that other contractors will provide similar reporting for those activities they manage, where appropriate.

Conversion from double-season rice to ratoon rice paddy fields reduces carbon footprint and enhances net ecosystem economic benefit

High current, thin silicon-on-ceramic solar cell

Carrier Dynamics Engineering for High-Performance Electron-Transport-Layer-free Perovskite Photovoltaics

The decarbonization of Utah’s coal-fired power plants is essential for achieving the state and federal climate policy targets, including the Utah Roadmap objective of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to achieve a 90% reduction in CO₂ emissions from power generation by 2035. This study presents a comprehensive parametric analysis to evaluate the technical, economic, and regulatory implications of retrofitting Utah’s coal-fired power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Three coal-fired power plants were examined, collectively consisting of six electric generating units (EGUs). The Bonanza unit was selected as a case study to explore the influence of different operational parameters, policy frameworks, and economic factors. Three CO₂ capture technologies including: amine-based absorption, solid adsorption, and membrane separation are assessed. Among these, amine-based absorption demonstrates superior performance, offering higher net power output, improved thermal efficiency, and lower costs across all evaluated economic metrics. Capture efficiency emerged as a critical parameter in the analysis, increasing CO₂ capture rate from 85% to 95% significantly reduced emissions and the cost per ton of CO₂ captured, but also led to higher parasitic energy loads, cooling water demand, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The impact of plant operating mode showed that ultra-supercritical systems delivered higher efficiency and lower emissions, whereas subcritical plants were more economically viable due to lower capital costs. Incorporating a natural gas auxiliary system improved net plant efficiency and water use but increased the LCOE due to high gas prices and limited operational lifespan in Utah. Sensitivity to coal price was linear, with a 25% reduction in coal cost significantly improving LCOE and CO₂ mitigation economics. Capacity factor had a strong influence, with higher utilization rates substantially lowering all cost metrics. From a policy perspective, imposing taxes on CO₂ emissions raised project costs; a breakeven tax of ~$83/ton of CO2 was needed to make CCS competitive with the base/existing case (Without CCS). In contrast, the 45Q federal tax credit had a strong positive effect: a $20/ton credit enabled CCS feasibility for most EGUs, while credits above $60/ton led to negative CO₂ avoidance costs. The results confirm that CCS viability hinges not on any single factor but on the alignment of capture technology, efficiency, fuel economics, and incentive structures. A hybrid policy combining carbon emission taxation with targeted tax credits as well as capturing efficiencies technological advancements presents the most viable path to enabling deep decarbonization in Utah’s aging coal fleet.

This report discusses an analysis of the total cost of ownership of fuel cell-powered and traditional battery-powered material handling equipment (MHE, or more typically 'forklifts'). A number of fuel cell MHE deployments have received funding support from the federal government. Using data from these government co-funded deployments, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been evaluating the performance of fuel cells in material handling applications. NREL has assessed the total cost of ownership of fuel cell MHE and compared it to the cost of ownership of traditional battery-powered MHE. As part of its cost of ownership assessment, NREL looked at a range of costs associated with MHE operation, including the capital costs of battery and fuel cell systems, the cost of supporting infrastructure, maintenance costs, warehouse space costs, and labor costs. Considering all these costs, NREL found that fuel cell MHE can have a lower overall cost of ownership than comparable battery-powered MHE.

Commercialization of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies require the development of advanced reflector materials that are low cost and maintain high specular reflectance for extended lifetimes under severe outdoor environments. During the past nine years, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has funded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in McLean, Virginia, to develop a promising low-cost advanced solar reflective material (ASRM) combining the best of both thin-glass and silvered-polymer reflectors. The alumina Al2O3 coating is deposited by ion-beam-assisted physical vapor deposition (IBAD). Materials undergoing testing demonstrate excellent durability under accelerated and outdoor weathering. To help commercialize the technology, NREL had a cost analysis performed incorporating realistic web coating assumptions and the technical improvements made in the ASRM. The biggest process cost items are the alumina and machine burden (which collects the cost of the building and office staff). The switch from a polyethylene terethaphalate (PET) to a steel substrate for the ASRM is a significant contributor to the cost. The cost of high-purity alumina should drop from $400 to $200/kg when purchased in 20 kg quantities. Alumina deposition rate then becomes the critical cost driver. In a previous study, deposition rates above 100 nm/s were not examined, but deposition rates greater than 100 nm/s are being used routinely for thin alumina coatings deposited on commercial web-coaters as barrier coatings. In addition, multiple (2–3) Al2O3 IBAD zones can be used in one roll-coating machine to deposit thicker alumina at a lower web speed. This means that with increasing deposition rate and/or multiple zones, the total production cost of the SAIC ASRM with 1 μm thick Al2O3 on PET will meet both the 1992 cost goal of $10.76/m2$1/ft2 and the equivalent cost goal of $13.79/m2$1.31/ft2 when the 1992 cost goal is corrected for inflation. There is a minimum deposition rate needed to reach the cost goal and a maximum deposition rate related to the number of zones after which no significant cost gains are observed. These asymptotic total production costs are $8.06/m2($7.39/m2 excluding substrate) for a large commercial web-coating company and $7.62/m2($6.94/m2 excluding substrate) for a smaller company. As can be seen by these numbers, the $10.76/m2 cost goal can be reached, but the cost of the substrate is still a major consideration. In addition, the width of the web was increased from 600 to 1200 mm, which decreased the asymptotic total production costs. The results of the cost analysis will be described.

Low Cost machine Vision Camera is nothing but designing a machine vision camera with raspberry Pi High Quality Camera and also with Raspberry Pi 4 which is a Low Cost product with high efficiency. This project is focused at developing a Machine Vision camera using a combination of low-cost High Quality Camera hardware and computer algorithms to process the image taken from camera and to show the result whether the product is good or not good. The Keras.h5 model algorithm consists of positive and negative images and with the help of developed program we shall be able to calculate whether it is a good or not good product. The algorithm is based on colour difference, shape difference and coordinate differences.

Assessment of chemical looping-based conceptual designs for high efficient hydrogen and power co-generation applied to gasification processes

For nearly fifty years, the US national laboratories, under the direction of the Department of Energy, have maintained a tradition of outstanding scientific research and innovative technological development. With the end of the Cold War, their roles have undergone profound changes. Although many of their original priorities remain--stewardship of the nation`s nuclear stockpile, for example--pressing budget constraints and new federal mandates have altered their focus. Promotion of energy efficiency, environmental restoration, human health, and technology partnerships with the goal of enhancing US economic and technological competitiveness are key new priorities. The multiprogram national laboratories offer unparalleled expertise in meeting the challenge of changing priorities. This volume aims to demonstrate each laboratory`s uniqueness in applying this expertise. It describes the laboratories` activities in eleven broad areas of research that most or all share in common. Each section of this volume is devoted to a single laboratory. Those included are: Argonne National Laboratory; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest Laboratory; and Sandia National Laboratories. The information in this volume was provided by the multiprogram national laboratories and compiled at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of advanced liquid transportation fuels from lignocellulosic biomass by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the State of Technology (SOT). As part of its involvement with this mission, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) completes an annual SOT report for biomass feedstock logistics. This report summarizes supply system impacts of Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)-funded research and development efforts at INL and elsewhere (such as the High-Tonnage Feedstock Logistics projects (Webb et al. 2013a, Webb et al. 2013b, Webb et al. 2013c, Webb and Sokhansanj 2014, Sokhansanj et al. 2014)) that lead to improvements in feedstock supply systems. These include improvements to and observed performance of innovative harvest and collection methods, storage technologies, transportation and handling approaches, and advanced preprocessing technologies. Biomass quality and variability, and the interface between feedstock quality and conversion performance are key drivers in addition to delivered feedstock cost. In this report, we estimate the benefits of R&D improvements to individual supply system unit operations and present the status of feedstock logistics technology development for converting biomass into biofuels. These analyses are supported by experimental data where possible and help to align the SOT relative to the cost goals defined in the Multi-Year Program Plan. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT incorporates several technology changes in feedstock preprocessing and introduces opportunities from the integrated landscape management (ILM) strategy and increased grower participation to reduce biomass access costs, while maintaining or improving grower profitability. During FY18 uneven flow from the horizontal bale grinder was identified as a significant issue limiting preprocessing system throughput. Based on FSL-funded research at INL, the 2019 Herbaceous SOT replaces the horizontal bale grinder used in the first stage size reduction with a bale processor. The improved uniformity of biomass flow entering the PDU eliminated slugging flow from the first stage size reduction and improved the throughput of downstream operations. In order to achieve moisture reduction through frictional heating during grinding (which allowed elimination of the costly rotary drum dryer in previous SOTs), the second stage grinder was changed from a rotary shear, which does not remove moisture, back to a hammer mill. Finally, the 2019 Herbaceous SOT introduces modified three-pass and two-pass corn stover supply curves derived from the BT16 resource assessment, based on FY19 modeling results (WBS 4.2.1.20) quantifying economic benefits of ILM in the supply area, together with modeling results (WBS 1.2.1.5) identifying ILM strategies to increase grower participation. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT report documents the current modeled cost of an herbaceous feedstock supply system from harvest to the pretreatment reactor throat for hydrocarbon fuel production via biochemical conversion, based on equipment and processes now available or potentially available in the near term. The modeled cost also considers both the required quality and the availability of the biomass resources. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT predicts a modeled delivered feedstock cost of $81.37 /dry ton (2016$); this is a $2.30/dry ton (2016$) decrease from the 2018 Herbaceous SOT. Technology improvements that contributed to this modeled cost reduction include reduced cost for the new preprocessing design and quantification of the opportunities of the integrated landscape management (ILM) strategy and an increased grower participation rate to reduce the grower payment portion of biomass access costs, while maintaining or improving grower profitability. A greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) assessment was completed by Argonne National Laboratory using the 2019 Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model, estimating an increase of 14.89 kg CO2e/ton from the 2018 SOT (69.27 kg CO2e/ton in 2018 to 84.16 kg CO2e/ton in 2019). The increase of energy consumption during preprocessing along with higher transportation distance to access low cost biomass from further distance contributed to the increase of GHG emissions in the 2019 Herbaceous SOT. The reason for the increased transportation distances was the cost tradeoff of going farther from the biorefinery to access the cheaper ILM-derived counties (the cheaper price outweighed the cost of increased supply radius).

Recent investigations into the performance and economics of mixed thoria-urania (ThO2/UO2) fuel cycles in light water reactors indicate that there may be advantages to using these fuels at high burnups. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) modified FRAPCON-3, a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-sponsored software package developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for use on mixed thoria-urania fuels. The modifications constituted the first stage of fuel performance evaluations supported by the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) project titled Advanced Proliferation Resistant, Lower Cost, Uranium-Thorium Dioxide Fuels for Light Water Reactors. The goal of this NERI project is to develop mixed ThO2/UO2 fuels that can be operated to a relatively high burnup level in current and future commercial power reactors.This paper describes in detail the INEEL’s modifications to the FRAPCON-3 thermal conductivity subroutine FTHCON and the techniques used to validate the modifications. The paper presents the general fuel design criteria used to model mixed thoria-urania fuel and a steady-state analysis of a mock thoria-urania fuel using the FRAPCON-3Th code. The paper also presents the data analyses for the mock thoria-urania fuel and offers suggestions for future upgrades and improvements to the code.