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This paper examines three models used to estimate the maximum power (P{sub m}) of PV modules when the irradiance and PV cell temperature are known: (1) the power temperature coefficient model, (2) the PVFORM model, and (3) the bilinear interpolation model. A variation of the power temperature coefficient model is also presented that improved model accuracy. For modeling values of P{sub m}, an 'effective' plane-of-array (POA) irradiance (E{sub e}) and the PV cell temperature (T) are used as model inputs. Using E{sub e} essentially removes the effects of variations in solar spectrum and reflectance losses, and permits the influence of irradiance and temperature on model performance for P{sub m} to be more easily studied. Eq. 1 is used to determine E{sub e} from T and the PV module's measured short-circuit current (I{sub sc}). Zero subscripts denote performance at Standard Reporting Conditions (SRC).

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Polymeric encapsulation materials are typically used in concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules to protect the cell from the field environment. Because it is physically located adjacent to the cell, the encapsulation is exposed to a high optical flux, often including light in the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) wavelengths. The durability of encapsulants used in CPV modules is critical to the technology, but is presently not well understood. This work seeks to identify the appropriate material types, field-induced failure mechanisms, and factors of influence (if possible) of polymeric encapsulation. These results will ultimately be weighed against those of future qualification and accelerated life test procedures.

Oxy-fired or low-nitrogen combustion is a technology that will facilitate CO2 capture while also reducing NOx formation and which offers the opportunity for near-zero emissions coal combustion via either the retrofit of existing power plants, or the design of new power plants. Because of the opportunity to improve the environmental performance of the existing coal fired fleet (currently approximately 800 GW of capacity in the US alone) and the potential for converting these plants from air-blown to oxy-fired burners, NETL’s Office of Research & Development is focusing its attention on the impact of retrofitting existing plants on the service life of the materials of construction

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Parabolic trough receivers, or heat collection elements (HCEs), absorb sunlight focused by the mirrors and transfer that thermal energy to a fluid flowing within them. Thje absorbing tube of these receivers typically operates around 400 C (752 F). HCE manufacturers prevent thermal loss from the absorbing tube to the environment by using sputtered selective Cermet coatings on the absorber and by surrounding the absorber with a glass-enclosed evacuated annulus. This work quantifies the heat loss of the Solel UVAC2 and Schott PTR70 HCEs. At 400 C, the HCEs perform similarly, losing about 400 W/m of HCE length. To put this in perspective, the incident beam radiation on a 5 m mirror aperture is about 4500 W/m, with about 75% of that energy ({approx} 3400 W/m) reaching the absorber surface. Of the 3400 W/m on the absorber, about 3000 W/m is absorbed into the working fluid while 400 W/m is lost to the environment.

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is commonly measured in water and is an important parameter for understanding carbonate equilibrium, carbon cycling, and water-rock interaction. While accurate measurements can be made in the analytical laboratory, we have developed a rapid, portable technique that can be used to obtain accurate and precise data in the field as well.

Due to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations causing the global energy and environmental crises, geological sequestration of carbon dioxide is now being actively considered as an attractive option to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. One of the important strategies is to use deep unminable coal seams, for those generally contain significant quantities of coal bed methane that can be recovered by CO2 injection through enhanced coal bed natural gas production, as a method to safely store CO2. It has been well known that the adsorbing CO2 molecules introduce structural deformation, such as distortion, shrinkage, or swelling, of the adsorbent of coal organic matrix. The accurate investigations of CO2 sorption capacity as well as of adsorption behavior need to be performed under the conditions that coals deform. The U.S. Department of Energy-National Energy Technology Laboratory and Regional University Alliance are conducting carbon dioxide sorption isotherm experiments by using manometric analysis method for estimation of CO2 sorption capacity of various coal samples and are constructing a gravimetric apparatus which has a visual window cell. The gravimetric apparatus improves the accuracy of carbon dioxide sorption capacity and provides feasibility for the observation of structural deformation of coal sample while carbon dioxide molecules interact with coal …

The goal of this specific research task is to develop proxy tracers that mimic contaminant movement to better understand and predict contaminant fate and transport in karst aquifers. Hydrogel tracer beads are transported as a separate phase than water and can used as a proxy tracer to mimic the transport of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL). They can be constructed with different densities, sizes & chemical attributes. This poster describes the creation and optimization of the beads and the field testing of buoyant beads, including sampling, tracer analysis, and quantitative analysis. The buoyant beads are transported ahead of the dissolved solutes, suggesting that light NAPL (LNAPL) transport in karst may occur faster than predicted from traditional tracing techniques. The hydrogel beads were successful in illustrating this enhanced transport.

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Recent advancements in utility-scale wind turbine technology and pricing have vastly increased the potential land area where turbines can be deployed in the United States. This presentation quantifies the new developable land potential (e.g., capacity curves), visually identifies new areas for possible development (e.g., new wind resource maps), and begins to address deployment barriers to wind in new areas for modern and future turbine technology.

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