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The three building envelope functions with the largest impact on the energy usage are illumination, energy flux and energy production. In general, these three functions are addressed separately in the building design. A step change toward a zero-energy building can be achieved with a glazing system that combines these three functions and their control into a single unit. In particular, significant value could be realized if illumination into the building is dynamically controlled such that it occurs during periods of low load on the grid (e.g., morning) to augment illumination supplied by interior lights and then to have that same light diverted to PV energy production and the thermal energy rejected during periods of high load on the grid. The objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of a glazing unit design that integrates these three key functions (illumination and energy flux control, and power production) into a single module.

This project was conducted to evaluate buildings and facilities remaining in the Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) deactivation, decontamination, decommissioning, and demolition schedule for bat roost sites. The project began in spring of 2009 and was concluded in spring of 2011. A total of 196 buildings and facilities were evaluated for the presence of bat roosting sites. The schedule for the project was prioritized to accommodate the demolition schedule. As the surveys were completed, the results were provided to the project managers to facilitate planning and project completion. The surveys took place in the 300 Area, 400 Area, 100-H, 100-D, 100-N, and 100-B/C Area. This report is the culmination of all the bat surveys and summarizes the findings by area and includes recommended mitigation actions where bat roosts were found.

Though a potentially significant climate change mitigation strategy, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) remains mired in demonstration and development rather than proceeding to full-scale commercialization. Prior studies have suggested numerous reasons for this stagnation. This Report seeks to empirically assess those claims. Using an anonymous opinion survey completed by over 200 individuals involved in CCS, it concludes that there are four primary barriers to CCS commercialization: (1) cost, (2) lack of a carbon price, (3) liability risks, and (4) lack of a comprehensive regulatory regime. These results largely confirm previous work. They also, however, expose a key barrier that prior studies have overlooked: the need for comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, CCS regulation. The survey data clearly show that the CCS community sees this as one of the most needed incentives for CCS deployment. The community also has a relatively clear idea of what that regulation should entail: a cooperative federalism approach that directly addresses liability concerns and that generally does not upset traditional lines of federal-state authority.

This Final Scientific/ Technical Report submitted with respect to Project DE-FE0000833 titled 'An Integrated Water Treatment Technology Solution for Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Marcellus Shale' in support of final reporting requirements. This final report contains a compilation of previous reports with the most current data in order to produce one final complete document. The goal of this research was to provide an integrated approach aimed at addressing the increasing water resource challenges between natural gas production and other water stakeholders in shale gas basins. The objective was to demonstrate that the AltelaRain{reg_sign} technology could be successfully deployed in the Marcellus Shale Basin to treat frac flow-back water. That objective has been successfully met.

For Phase 1 of this project, the Hopewell team developed a detailed design for the Small Scale Pilot-Scale Algal CO2 Sequestration System. This pilot consisted of six (6) x 135 gallon cultivation tanks including systems for CO2 delivery and control, algal cultivation, and algal harvesting. A feed tank supplied Hopewell wastewater to the tanks and a receiver tank collected the effluent from the algal cultivation system. The effect of environmental parameters and nutrient loading on CO2 uptake and sequestration into biomass were determined. Additionally the cost of capturing CO2 from an industrial stack emission at both pilot and full-scale was determined. The engineering estimate evaluated Amine Guard technology for capture of pure CO2 and direct stack gas capture and compression. The study concluded that Amine Guard technology has lower lifecycle cost at commercial scale, although the cost of direct stack gas capture is lower at the pilot scale. Experiments conducted under high concentrations of dissolved CO2 did not demonstrate enhanced algae growth rate. This result suggests that the dissolved CO2 concentration at neutral pH was already above the limiting value. Even though dissolved CO2 did not show a positive effect on biomass growth, controlling its value at a constant set-point …

In the US and abroad, major research and development initiatives toward establishing a hydrogen-based transportation infrastructure have been undertaken, encompassing key technological challenges in hydrogen production and delivery, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage. However, the principal obstacle to the implementation of a safe, low-pressure hydrogen fueling system for fuel-cell powered vehicles remains storage under conditions of near-ambient temperature and moderate pressure. The choices for viable hydrogen storage systems at the present time are limited to compressed gas storage tanks, cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tanks, chemical hydrogen storage, and hydrogen absorbed or adsorbed in a solid-state material (a.k.a. solid-state storage). Solid-state hydrogen storage may offer overriding benefits in terms of storage capacity, kinetics and, most importantly, safety.The fervor among the research community to develop novel storage materials had, in many instances, the unfortunate consequence of making erroneous, if not wild, claims on the reported storage capacities achievable in such materials, to the extent that the potential viability of emerging materials was difficult to assess. This problem led to a widespread need to establish a capability to accurately and independently assess the storage behavior of a wide array of different classes of solid-state storage materials, employing qualified methods, thus allowing development efforts …

Commercial building owners and operators have requested a standard set of key performance metrics to provide a systematic way to evaluate the performance of their buildings. The performance metrics included in this document provide standard metrics for the energy, water, operations and maintenance, indoor environmental quality, purchasing, waste and recycling and transportation impact of their building. The metrics can be used for comparative performance analysis between existing buildings and industry standards to clarify the impact of sustainably designed and operated buildings.

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The Lake Charles CCS Project is a large-scale industrial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project which will demonstrate advanced technologies that capture and sequester carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions from industrial sources into underground formations. Specifically the Lake Charles CCS Project will accelerate commercialization of large-scale CO{sub 2} storage from industrial sources by leveraging synergy between a proposed petroleum coke to chemicals plant (the LCC Gasification Project) and the largest integrated anthropogenic CO{sub 2} capture, transport, and monitored sequestration program in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region. The Lake Charles CCS Project will promote the expansion of EOR in Texas and Louisiana and supply greater energy security by expanding domestic energy supplies. The capture, compression, pipeline, injection, and monitoring infrastructure will continue to sequester CO{sub 2} for many years after the completion of the term of the DOE agreement. The objectives of this project are expected to be fulfilled by working through two distinct phases. The overall objective of Phase 1 was to develop a fully definitive project basis for a competitive Renewal Application process to proceed into Phase 2 - Design, Construction and Operations. Phase 1 includes the studies attached hereto that will establish: the engineering design basis for the …

Saline water disposal is one of the most pressing issues with regard to increasing petroleum and natural gas production in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah. Conventional oil fields in the basin provide 69 percent of Utah?s total crude oil production and 71 percent of Utah?s total natural gas, the latter of which has increased 208% in the past 10 years. Along with hydrocarbons, wells in the Uinta Basin produce significant quantities of saline water ? nearly 4 million barrels of saline water per month in Uintah County and nearly 2 million barrels per month in Duchesne County. As hydrocarbon production increases, so does saline water production, creating an increased need for economic and environmentally responsible disposal plans. Current water disposal wells are near capacity, and permitting for new wells is being delayed because of a lack of technical data regarding potential disposal aquifers and questions concerning contamination of freshwater sources. Many companies are reluctantly resorting to evaporation ponds as a short-term solution, but these ponds have limited capacity, are prone to leakage, and pose potential risks to birds and other wildlife. Many Uinta Basin operators claim that oil and natural gas production cannot reach its full potential until a …

In February 2011 the US Department of Energy announced their new Sunshot Initiative. The Sunshot goal is to reduce the total cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent before the end of the decade. The DOE estimated that a total installed cost of $1 per watt for photovoltaic systems would be equivalent to 6¢/kilowatt hour (kWh) for energy available from the grid. The DOE also estimated that to meet the $1 per watt goal, PV module costs would need to be reduced to $.50 per watt, balance of systems costs would need to be reduced to $.40 per watt, and power electronic costs would need to reach $.10 per watt. To address the BOS balance of systems cost component of the $1 per watt goal, the DOE announced a funding opportunity called (BOS-X) Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reductions. The DOE identified eight areas within the total BOS costs: 1) installation labor, 2) installation materials, 3) installation overhead and profit, 4) tracker, 5) permitting and commissioning, 6) site preparation, 7) land acquisition, 8) sales tax. The BOS-X funding announcement requested applications in four specific topics: Topic 1: Transformational Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Modules Topic 2: Roof and …

Alcoa began this program in March of 2008 with the goal of developing and validating an advanced CSP trough design to lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) as compared to existing glass based, space-frame trough technology. In addition to showing a pathway to a significant LCOE reduction, Alcoa also desired to create US jobs to support the emerging CSP industry. Alcoa's objective during Phase I: Concept Feasibility was to provide the DOE with a design approach that demonstrates significant overall system cost savings without sacrificing performance. Phase I consisted of two major tasks; reflector surface development and system concept development. Two specific reflective surface technologies were investigated, silver metallized lamination, and thin film deposition both applied on an aluminum substrate. Alcoa prepared samples; performed test validation internally; and provided samples to the NREL for full-spectrum reflectivity measurements. The final objective was to report reflectivity at t = 0 and the latest durability results as of the completion of Phase 1. The target criteria for reflectance and durability were as follows: (1) initial (t = 0), hemispherical reflectance >93%, (2) initial spectral reflectance >90% for 25-mrad reading and >87% for 7-mrad reading, and (3) predicted 20 year durability of less …

The combination of premature failure of wind turbine gearboxes and the downtime caused by those failures leads to an increase in the cost of electricity produced by the wind. There is a need for guidance to asset managers regarding how to maximize the longevity of their gearboxes in order to help keep the cost of wind energy as low as possible. A low cost of energy supports the US Department of Energy's goal of achieving 20% of the electricity in the United States produced by wind by the year 2030. DNV KEMA has leveraged our unique position in the industry as an independent third party engineering organization to study the problem of gearbox health management and develop guidance to project operators. This report describes the study. The study was conducted in four tasks. In Task 1, data that may be related to gearbox health and are normally available to wind project operators were collected for analysis. Task 2 took a more in-depth look at a small number of gearboxes to gain insight in to relevant failure modes. Task 3 brought together the previous tasks by evaluating the available data in an effort to identify data that could provide early indications …

This report consists of Two research projects; Sustainable Buildings and Hydrogen Storage. Sustainable Building Part includes: Wind and the self powered built environment by professor P. Land and his research group and experimental and computational works by professor D. Rempfer and his research group. Hydrogen Storage part includes: Hydrogen Storage Using Mg-Mixed Metal Hydrides by professor H. Arastoopour and his research team and Carbon Nanostructure as Hydrogen Storage Material by professor J. Prakash and his research team.

We identified hard-burned magnesium oxide (MgO) as a suitable expansive additive for improving the plugging performance of self-degradable, temporary sodium silicate-activated slag/Class C fly ash (SSASC) blend cement sealers into rock fractures in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGSs). MgO extended the volumetric expansion of sealers during their exposure to a hydrothermal environment at 200 C under pressures, ranging from 300 to 1500 psi. A great expansion ratc of 19.3% was observed by adding 3.0 wt% MgO under 300 psi pressure, thus promising to plug thoroughly inner fracture. When the pressure was increased from 300 psi to 1500 psi, the expansion rate of cement markedly reduced, corresponding to the formaLion of crack-free specimens and the improvement of compressive strength. However, with 3.0 wt% MgO, the specimens still engendered the generation of numerous visual cracks, although they were prepared under a high pressure of 1500 psi. The effective content of MgO in minimizing and eliminating the generation of cracks was 2.0 wt%, which provided a moderate expansion of {ge} 0.5%. The compressive strength of 2.0 wt% MgO specimens made under a pressure of 300 psi rose {approx} 1.7-fold to 4816 psi with an increasing pressure to 1500 psi. The in-situ growth of brucite …

A wide range of high capacity on-board rechargeable material candidates have exhibited non-ideal behavior related to irreversible hydrogen discharge / recharge behavior, and kinetic instability or retardation. This project addresses these issues by incorporating solvated and other forms of complex metal hydrides, with an emphasis on borohydrides, into nano-scale frameworks of low density, high surface area skeleton materials to stabilize, catalyze, and control desorption product formation associated with such complex metal hydrides. A variety of framework chemistries and hydride / framework combinations were investigated to make a relatively broad assessment of the method'™s potential. In this project, the hydride / framework interactions were tuned to decrease desorption temperatures for highly stable compounds or increase desorption temperatures for unstable high capacity compounds, and to influence desorption product formation for improved reversibility. First principle modeling was used to explore heterogeneous catalysis of hydride reversibility by modeling H{sub 2} dissociation, hydrogen migration, and rehydrogenation. Atomic modeling also demonstrated enhanced NaTi(BH{sub 4}){sub 4} stabilization at nano-framework surfaces modified with multi-functional agents. Amine multi-functional agents were found to have more balanced interactions with nano-framework and hydride clusters than other functional groups investigated. Experimentation demonstrated that incorporation of Ca(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} and Mg(BH{sub 4}){sub 2} in …

This final scientific report documents the Industrial Technology Program (ITP) Stage 2 Concept Development effort on Data Center Energy Reduction and Management Through Real-Time Optimal Control (RTOC). Society is becoming increasingly dependent on information technology systems, driving exponential growth in demand for data center processing and an insatiable appetite for energy. David Raths noted, 'A 50,000-square-foot data center uses approximately 4 megawatts of power, or the equivalent of 57 barrels of oil a day1.' The problem has become so severe that in some cases, users are giving up raw performance for a better balance between performance and energy efficiency. Historically, power systems for data centers were crudely sized to meet maximum demand. Since many servers operate at 60%-90% of maximum power while only utilizing an average of 5% to 15% of their capability, there are huge inefficiencies in the consumption and delivery of power in these data centers. The goal of the 'Recovery Act: Decreasing Data Center Energy Use through Network and Infrastructure Control' is to develop a state of the art approach for autonomously and intelligently reducing and managing data center power through real-time optimal control. Advances in microelectronics and software are enabling the opportunity to realize significant data …

The focus of this program was to develop a new Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) which can operate under hotter, dryer conditions than the state of the art membranes today and integrate it into a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). These MEA's should meet the performance and durability requirements outlined in the solicitation, operating under low humidification conditions and at temperatures ranging from -20ºC to 120ºC, to meet 2010 DOE technical targets for membranes. This membrane should operate under low humidification conditions and at temperatures ranging from -20ºC to 120ºC in order to meet DOE HFCIT 2010 commercialization targets for automotive fuel cells. Membranes developed in this program may also have improved durability and performance characteristics making them useful in stationary fuel cell applications. The new membranes, and the MEA’s comprising them, should be manufacturable at high volumes and at costs which can meet industry and DOE targets. This work included: A) Studies to better understand factors controlling proton transport within the electrolyte membrane, mechanisms of polymer degradation (in situ and ex situ) and membrane durability in an MEA; B) Development of new polymers with increased proton conductivity over the range of temperatures from -20ºC to 120ºC and at lower levels of …

As simulation capability improves exponentially with increasingly more cost effective CPUs and hardware, it can be used ?routinely? for engineering applications. Many commercial products are available and they are marketed as increasingly powerful and easy to use. The question remains as to the overall accuracy of results obtained. To support the validation of the CFD, a hierarchical experiment was established in which the type of fuel injection (radial, axial) as well as level of swirl (non-swirling, swirling) could be systematically varied. The effort was limited to time efficient approaches (i.e., generally RANS approaches) although limited assessment of time resolved methods (i.e., unsteady RANS and LES) were considered. Careful measurements of the flowfield velocity and fuel concentration were made using both intrusive and non-intrusive methods. This database was then used as the basis for the assessment of the CFD approach. The numerical studies were carried out with a statistically based matrix. As a result, the effect of turbulence model, fuel type, axial plane, turbulent Schmidt number, and injection type could be studied using analysis of variance. The results for the non-swirling cases could be analyzed as planned, and demonstrate that turbulence model selection, turbulence Schmidt number, and the type of injection …

We have developed high-index, high efficiency bulk luminescent materials and novel nano-sized phosphors for improved solid-state white LED lamps. These advances can potentially contribute to reducing the loss in luminous efficiencies due to scattering, re-absorption, and thermal quenching. The bulk and nanostructured luminescent materials investigated are index matched to GaN and have broad and size-tunable absorption bands, size and impurity tuned emission bands, size-driven elimination of scattering effects, and a separation between absorption and emission bands. These innovations were accomplished through the use of novel synthesis techniques suitable for high volume production for LED lamp applications. The program produced a full-color set of high quantum yield phosphors with high chemical stability. In the bulk phosphor study, the ZnSeS:Cu,Ag phosphor was optimized to achieve >91% efficiency using erbium (Er) and other activators as sensitizers. Detailed analysis of temperature quenching effects on a large number of ZnSeS:Cu,Ag,X and strontium- and calcium-thiogallate phosphors lead to a breakthrough in the understanding of the “anti-quenching” behavior and a physical bandgap model was developed of this phenomena. In a follow up to this study, optimized phosphor blends for high efficiency and color performance were developed and demonstrated a 2-component phosphor system with good white chromaticity, color …

A new solvent system referred to as Next Generation Solvent or NGS, has been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the removal of cesium from alkaline solutions in the Caustic Side Solvent Extraction process. NGS is proposed for deployment at MCU and at the Salt Waste Processing Facility. This work investigated the chemical compatibility between NGS and 16 M, 8 M, and 3 M nitric acid from contact that may occur in handling of analytical samples from MCU or, for 3 M acid, which may occur during contactor cleaning operations at MCU. This work shows that reactions occurred between NGS components and the high molarity nitric acid. In the case of 16 M and 8 M nitric acid, initially organo-nitrate groups are generated and attach to the modifier and that with time oxidation reactions convert the modifier into a tarry substance with gases (NO{sub x} and possibly CO) evolving. Calorimetric analysis of the organonitrate revealed the reaction products are not explosive nor will they deflagrate. NGS exposure to 3 M nitric acid resulted in much slower reaction kinetics and that the generated products were not energetic. We recommended conducting Accelerated Rate calorimetry on the materials generated in the 16 …

This Special Analysis (SA) was initiated to address a concern expressed by the Department of Energy's Low Level Waste Disposal Facility Federal Review Group (LFRG) Review Team during their review of the 2008 E-Area Performance Assessment (PA) (WSRC, 2008). Their concern was the potential for overlapping of atmospheric plumes, emanating from the soil surface above SRS LLW disposal facilities within the E-Area, to contribute to the dose received by a member of the public during the Institutional Control (IC) period. The implication of this concern was that the dose to the maximally-exposed individual (MEI) located at the SRS boundary might be underestimated during this time interval. To address this concern a re-analysis of the atmospheric pathway releases from E-Area was required. In the process of developing a new atmospheric release model (ARM) capable of addressing the LFRG plume overlap concern, it became obvious that new and better atmospheric pathway disposal limits should be developed for each of the E-Area disposal facilities using the new ARM. The scope of the SA was therefore expanded to include the generation of these new limits. The initial work conducted in this SA was to develop a new ARM using the GoldSim{reg_sign} program (GTG, 2009). …