Energy Analysis Models, Tools and Software Technology Marketing Summaries

This technology is an automated system in which the reflection of a mirror, typically for solar applications, is characterized by the slope and slope errors. The system uses a video camera and a PC to create fringe patterns from the reflection of the mirror. These patterns can characterize and better assess the quality of the mirrors for solar applications in a more automated process.

Sandia’s LED Pulser drives high-power LEDs to generate light pulses with shorter duration, higher repetition frequency, and higher intensity than is possible with commercially available LED drivers. This technology utilizes specially designed electronic circuitry that allows it to create intense pulses as short as ten nanoseconds that can illuminate extremely fast processes, such as fuel injection. The LED Pulser can emit up to four colors, each with independent timing and from a... read more

The desire to improve grid resiliency and enable a sustainable capacity expansion has led to the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) and the utilization of renewable energy sources. DER allows for smaller amounts of aggregate energy to meet the regular demand of the commercial, industrial, and domestic consumers. When combined with renewable energy sources, the distribution network supplying power is transformed into a smarter and more sustainable grid.

One major challenge in a... read more

With growing numbers of solar energy systems being proposed and installed throughout the United States, the potential impact of glint and glare from photovoltaic modules, concentrating solar collectors, receivers, and other components is receiving increased attention as a potential hazard or distraction for pilots, air-traffic control personnel, motorists, and residents. Hazards from reflection of solar radiation from solar power plants include the potential for permanent eye injury (e.g.,... read more

In the fields of vehicle telematics and navigation, there are algorithms for recommending potential travel routes from a given origin to a desired destination. Such potential routes may be presented as candidate routes from which a vehicle user may choose to travel. Further, in the field of vehicle energy use prediction, there are techniques for estimating vehicle energy consumption as a function of the vehicle’s driving cycle/speed profile. To predict vehicle energy consumption over a... read more

Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) is an emerging class of load-disaggregation technology that promises to replace expensive submetering. NILM systems perform analysis on whole-building data taken at the main power panel to accurately estimate the energy consumption of individual appliances. Existing NILM technology requires extensive user inputs which result in inconvenience and low rate of adoption.

Radiative transfer (RT) models simulating broadband solar radiation have been widely used by atmospheric scientists to model solar resources for various energy applications such as operational forecasting. Due to the complexity of solving the RT equation, the computation under cloudy conditions can be extremely time consuming though many approximations (e.g. two-stream approach and delta-M truncation scheme) have been utilized. Thus, a more efficient RT model is crucial for model... read more

Different components within an electrochemical system (e.g., a battery) can generate heat due to inefficiencies in transport of the charges or exothermal reactions at different rates. For example, the joule heating of the connectors happens at a much shorter time period compared to the heat generated due to some of the reactions. By introducing current or voltage signals as input at the appropriate frequency and by carefully measuring the heat generated from the system (e.g.,... read more

Wind energy is increasingly recognized as a viable option for complementing and even replacing other types of energy such as fossil fuels. In the early development of wind energy, the majority of wind turbines or wind turbine generators were constructed for operation at a constant speed, but more recently, the trend is toward using variable-speed wind turbines to better capture available wind power. In most cases, wind turbine pitch angles can be adjusted to control the operation of the... read more

A simple and rapid method for the screening of the permeability and selectivity of membranes for gas separation has been developed. A high throughput membrane testing system permits simultaneous evaluation of multiple membranes under conditions of moderate pressure and temperature for both pure gases and gas mixtures. The modular design, on-line sample analysis, and automation-competence of the technology provides a cost-effective approach to identify the optimal membrane for a given gas... read more

This patent application discloses a novel method to simultaneously track the motion of high numbers of object images under extreme, high concen-tration conditions. Although the software is designed to simultaneously track large numbers of particle images in flow fields, it can track any type of object whose locations are available at consecutive time increments (e.g., consecutive video frames).

This is a decision-making tool for industry, government, academia, and scientists that addresses uncertainity inherent in data interpretation, enhances accuracy and effective communiciation associated with data interpretation, and provides an updated method to use spatial data.

Research is active on the patent pending technology, and is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory... read more

Future sustainable electricity systems will consist of billions of smart devices and millions of actors such as homes, buildings, microgrids, utilities, electric vehicles, etc. At the same time that the associated infrastructure is being instrumented with sensors and communications, appliances and distributed energy resources are being deployed with embedded computers, which are enabling distributed energy intelligence – thus enhancing the capability of these actors in energy... read more

Photovoltaic (PV) module performance can be characterized by imaging using baseline and periodic images to track defects and degradation. Both thermal images, which can be acquired during sunny operating conditions, and photoluminescence (PL) images, which could be acquired at night, can be collected without electrical connection. Electroluminescence (EL) images, which are useful to detect many types of defects such as cracks, interconnect and solder faults, and resistances, have... read more

In order to increase the speed and scale of energy efficiency (EE) project deployment in buildings, energy savings analysis and a strong business case is required. This software provides an analysis for energy conservation measures (ECMs) and calculates energy savings, demand reduction, cost savings, and building life cycle costs including: simple payback, discounted payback, net-present value, and savings to investment ratio. This tool combines the capabilities of previously... read more

As we pursue efforts to lower the capital and installation costs of parabolic trough solar collectors, it is essential to maintain high optical performance. The Distant Observer (DO) tool, developed by engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is a fast and highly accurate tool that provides complete characterization of the performance of the optical components which include the mirror panels and thermal receiver. This tool is very useful for testing both prototype and... read more

Simergy is a graphical user interface (GUI) for the DOE building energy simulation program EnergyPlus for modeling building heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation and other energy flows. 

HELM™ Flow is a simulation and analysis tool for transmission and distribution power systems. It provides the analyst with unique powerful capabilities thanks to the underlying algorithms based on HELM™, the Holomorphic Embedded Load flow Method. Unlike other methods, HELM™ power flow is non-iterative and always guarantees finding the correct operational solution (and unambiguously detects when there is no solution). With HELM™ you will never have to worry... read more

There are multiple methods for measuring fluid flow. Current methods rely on different physical principles such as: pressure measurement, particle tracking using images, heat removal from a wire and Doppler shift measurements. However, infrared images are not used to quantitatively measure flow properties, fluid mixing, or mass concentration of fluids.

These existing techniques for measuring two dimensional velocity fields, such as particle image velocimetry (PIV), require expensive and... read more

Water heating in residential homes can account for as much as 15% of total energy use. It is the second largest end use after space heating and cooling. With a renewed interest in energy efficiency for both financial and environmental reasons, water heater companies have seen increased demand from consumers for more efficient water heaters. While various technologies have been developed, control systems can add significant savings to the best technologies.

Data centers use large amounts of energy. Consistent large loads of energy are required for data center efficiency and reliability. Four different cooling technologies, including direct expansion (DX), the air-side economizer, the direct evaporative cooler, and the multistage indirect evaporative cooler, are examined for climate appropriateness and cooling energy reduction in data centers.

These technologies are examined individually and in combination with others to categorize seven... read more

There are numerous options for renewable energy systems development. Location, size, type of system, and a number of other criteria need to be considered. The objective of this program is to determine the optimal size (capacity, Kilowatt (kW)) of a renewable energy generator, based on minimizing life cycle cost (LCC).

The reason for developing such a program is driven by three major issues. First, the need to evaluate a very large number (tens of thousands) of project opportunity sites.... read more

The most common way of describing the quality of an existing or potential wind or solar power generation site is the total amount of energy expected to be generated based on typical weather patterns. This total amount of energy is characterized by the capacity factor (the ratio between the expected generated amounts to the maximum possible amount for hypothetical conditions of constantly blowing wind or sunshine for a 24 hour period). The capacity factor gives a correct estimate for the... read more

This algorithm calculates the solar and lunar zenith and azimuth angles in the period from the year -2000 to 6000, with uncertainties of +/- 0.0003 degrees for the Sun and +/- 0.003 degrees for the Moon, based on the date, time, and location on Earth.

Ever since the 1995 sarin attack in a Tokyo subway, authorities have recognized that large interior structures are vulnerable to chemical and biological attack. Particularly at risk are venues like subways, airports and government office buildings, where people are concentrated in small areas and quick evacuation is difficult; or enclosed buildings such as convention centers or arenas, where the threat may be high when the facility is occupied. In all cases, early detection and rapid... read more

The success of modern industries— especially those that are electricity-intensive—depends on complex engineering systems to ensure safe, productive and efficient operations. System breakdowns can result in millions of dollars in lost time and productivity—and even the loss of life and property. For example, in the utilities industry—where the continuous operation of coolant pumps is essential—the breakdown of a single pump can result in a loss of as much as $10... read more

Electrochemical analysis is a highly sensitive, chemically selective method for identifying and quantifying many different chemicals in water.  Previous art required  field samples be transported to a laboratory where additional chemicals would be added before the analysis could be performed.  Sandia National Laboratories has invented an electrochemical analysis method that has eliminated the need to add chemicals to the testing process while increasing the... read more

Energy savings achieved via occupant behavioral changes could be as high as 25%, and could rival savings achieved by technological measures. For example, energy audits often show that more than 50% of the energy used in a building is consumed at night. Occupants leaving equipment and lighting on after they leave work is a large contributing factor. Similar savings opportunities have been identified when occupants were away from their desks 50% of the time, while most of their computers,... read more

Sandia has developed a cheap, efficient, and accurate method of measuring the irradiance from solar reflections using a digital camera. Measurements of reflected solar irradiance is of great importance to industry, military, and government agencies to assess potential impacts of glint and glare from growing numbers of solar power installations around the world. In addition, this measurement technique can be used to monitor and maintain system performance for concentrating solar power... read more

With the increasing demand for new energy distribution methods including increased efficiency and alternative sources, Intelligent Grid technologies are on the cutting edge of demand. The significance is taking the current energy infrastructure to the next level of sustainability, utility, and compatibility with recent advances in the energy field. As a result of the increased carbon emissions around the world, the only option is to explore the balanced integration of renewable and... read more

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have created an in vitro, cell-free system and method for producing several types of protein: membrane proteins, membrane-associated proteins, and soluble proteins.

With advances that can be gleaned from the study of high quality samples of this type, this method is expected to drive advances in membrane protein structural biology and deepen our approaches for characterizing biological activity as cellular interfaces.

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have devised a safe, affordable way to ensure a reliable U.S. supply of selected medical isotopes. The invention has the potential to revitalize the domestic production of critical medical diagnostic materials and make the production process affordable even for small regional hospitals.

The innovative technology combines two Argonne patents, a superconducting cage-like radio-frequency (RF) cavity and a dual electron linear accelerator, or linac,... read more

For years, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been used in a variety of applications, from passports to inventory tracking in retail environments. Homeland security concerns have heightened the need for sensitive, real-time tracking of thousands of radioactive and hazardous material packages to ensure accountability, safety, security, and worker and public health. Through the support of DOE, Argonne researchers have developed and tested a patented RFID tracking and... read more

Devices for radioactive source detection exist but their capabilities and their precision is limited. There are currently no systems which integrate signals from multiple sensors or which provide directional information or discrete source location information. In addition, current systems allow a target to know that they are being tracked.

Present-day devices tend to have a limited range of geometrical configurations in which they can be deployed. Generally, they must be deployed in a... read more

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have created innovations in the design and fabrication of radio frequency (RF) cavities that improve acceleration of high energy particles: a “cage cavity” that improves cavity performance over solid wall cavities in several ways. The cage cavity improves the vacuum property, reduces power losses due to higher order resonances in the cavity, and allows use of superconducting films instead of bulk metals. Most importantly, the cage cavity... read more

Update Thermodynamic Databases for Modeling Geochemical Processes

The DBCreate software quickly and accurately updates thermodynamic databases used in geochemical modeling, based on changes in temperatures and pressures. The software facilitates the production of pressure, temperature and problem specific geochemical thermodynamic databases conveniently and quickly while minimizing the possibility of introducing errors caused by manual entry.

Duty cycles capture the influence of one variable in relations to the whole system. This allows for analysis in determining the impact of new variables, which are important in accurately gauging the systems in vehicles. In the collection of large data from fleet vehicles, there still exists a need to easily and accurately quantifying overall fleet operational characteristics (driving speed, distance, amount of stops…). The potential benefits of new vehicle technologies being introduced... read more

Using a room temperature process, a new type of transparent, crack-free, monolithic
scintillator has been developed at ORNL. This invention uses thin-film, glass, and
fiber-optic sensors, and is based on the preparation of neutron scintillators with a
room temperature sol-gel process. The result is an inexpensive, versatile system that is
compatible with both inorganic and organic dopants for hybrid material processing.
Typically, solid-state neutron scintillators are prepared by... read more

ORNL researchers invented a nanoscopic electrode system for measuring the
electron transport properties of a molecule. This invention offers a means of
enhancing measurements of a molecule positioned between two nanoscopic
electrodes for study. Currently, molecular sensing and identification is challenged
by uncertainty in conductance measurements.
 

Particle analysis is useful for determining chemical compositions in a wide range
of disciplines, from ascertaining the source of a petroleum sample to duplicating a
fragrance. The technique is appealing to a broad cross section of analytical sciences,
but its applications are limited because, for existing equipment, sample size is limited
and the testing is carried out under a high vacuum.
 

At Three Mile Island in 1979, a partial meltdown of the core was caused by a sudden,
undetected loss of reactor coolant water. In the past, a reactor’s high temperature and
pressure environment has complicated the implementation of level measurement
devices. To effectively measure the level of coolant, ORNL has developed a torsional
wave-based level measurement system. This system can be placed within a high
temperature and pressure environment.
 

Enterprises generate large quantities of information contained in documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and databases. This information is stored across file shares, intranet portals, user desktops, and other business unit applications. Combined with a lack of structured organizational tools, keywords, tags, or other automated retrieval tools, organizations struggle to index, search, and find information across these disparate platforms.

Most research on mammography focuses on image data, not textual reports. However, the reports associated with patient visits offer a valuable set of observations. To take advantage of these sequential writings, a robust ORNL learning algorithm assembles, searches, and analyzes cue phrases in radiology reports to determine if they define normal or abnormal traits in mammograms over time.

A variety of investigative settings, from medicine to law enforcement, rely on the clarity
of wide-angle images in order to make accurate interpretations. At ORNL, researchers
developed a computerized video imaging process that maps the coordinates of a
moving image to computer-based reference coordinates. This helps to stabilize and
align images for review.

The ORNL invention addresses several current imaging problems. Medical images
usually have low contrast features. The... read more

Direct digital synthesis (DDS) technology permits the generation of high frequency-resolved waveforms that can be changed on the nanosecond time scale (4 ns minimum). However when the DDS switches frequency, it occurs at any point in the phase accumulation consequently the output waveform during frequency stepping may be quite different. This randomness of frequency transition is called "DDS frequency transition jitter".

Current methods for sensor placement are based on qualitative approaches ranging from “best guess” to expensive, customized studies.



 

Researchers at the Colorado State University Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory have developed a complete software package for use with National Instruments’ Labview software. The package can be used with National Instruments hardware to measure conditions inside an engine cylinder. The program can measure and compute pressure, combustion mass, heat released, and other properties in real time.

A parabolic trough power plant generates electricity using concentrated sunlight as the heat source for its power cycle. A parabolic trough plant is comprised of multiple rows of single- linear focusing collectors concentrating direct beam radiation onto tubular receivers (also known as heat-collection elements [HCEs], absorbers, or receivers) located along the focal line. Receivers are designed to minimize heat loss to the environment while absorbing as much sunlight as possible. NREL has... read more

The present invention relates to a fluid submersible sensing device and, more particularly, to such a device having sensing structure provided within a fluid-tight housing and an external structure located outside of the fluid-tight housing including a passage through which a fluid sample flows.

LLNL's technology is useful in fields such as power systems engineering, security monitoring, and vehicle tracking to identify, locate and monitor a particular source of electromagnetic radiation in a noisy broadband environment.  Conventional broadband filtering techniques are often inefficient in reducing unwanted electromagnetic noise, and this inefficiency results in higher energy and processing costs along with imprecise location, monitoring and tracking capabilities.  The... read more

A new apparatus has been developed by ORNL researchers to efficiently separate volatile particles from condensible vapors in aircraft engine emissions. The technology enables high-precision emissions research, generating insightful data that helps improve the scientific understanding of the combustion process of modern jet engines and the formation process of secondary particulate matter in the atmosphere.

All-optical, fiber-optic-coupled remote radiation sensor using NRL’s luminescent, copper-doped quartz material.  The key to the technology is the doped quartz material that produces a luminescence signal that is directly proportional to the radiation dose. Individual sensors have an estimated cost of $50 and a lifespan of decades. The sensor is less than 7 mm in diameter by 10 cm in length and is fiber-optic-coupled to a photodetec-tor that is remotely located away from the... read more

The NASA Ames Research Center offers the opportunity to license and co-develop FACET, a flexible software tool for air traffic management. With thousands of planes flying overhead in the U.S. at any given time, there is an urgent need for tools that help avoid air traffic incidents and delays. To help air traffic control centers improve airline safety and efficiency, NASA Ames scientists developed FACET, a system software for performing powerful computational simulations for evaluating advanced... read more

Neutron detectors are vital in the national security effort to detect special nuclear material at the hundreds of U.S. ports of entry. Special nuclear material emits neutrons which rarely occur spontaneously, therefore detection can be correlated to the existence of special nuclear matter found in plutonium and plutonium based weapons. Currently, the most common type of neutron detector uses pressurized tubes containing rare Helium-3 gas. This 60 year old instrumentation is bulky, costly,... read more

Supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, other federal agencies, and industry sponsors, Argonne is providing broad-based scientific and engineering expertise to create analytical software tools that will enable the United States to make substantive enhancements in energy efficiency and serve the growing demand for renewable energy.

The Facility Energy Decision System—or FEDS—Software is a user-friendly, menu-driven, Windows-based software program that provides a comprehensive method for quickly and objectively identifying facility energy improvements that offer maximum life-cycle cost savings.

Argonne’s BLE Software is a state-of-the-art analytical tool for predicting cell and battery lifetimes on the basis of limited test data. Because hybrid vehicles are so new to the market, researchers don't have data spanning many years. They need a tool to reliably, quickly and accurately predict battery performance. BLE software can make life-cycle estimates using as little as two years' worth of aging data. With this limited data, researchers can use BLE to estimate how... read more

Electricity grids have traditionally been monitored using systems based upon dated and slow communications and computational technologies.  A large effort is underway in the electricity industry to replace those legacy systems with high-speed and accurate monitoring units call “phasor monitoring units,” or PMUs.  Real-time phasor measurement systems provide significant opportunity for real-time monitoring of a grid’s stability state. Such monitoring will enable... read more

The Decision Support for Operations and Maintenance (DSOM®) system is an expert operations and maintenance system that combines online condition monitoring and control of equipment. This allows plant operators, maintenance staff, engineers, and administrators to use one enterprise-wide system to monitor operations in and make adjustments according to streamlined, real-time information.

Researchers and engineers at PNNL have developed an automated, sophisticated, multi-level, real-time centrifugal chiller diagnostician with diagnostics available under partial load conditions. This diagnostician provides auto-analysis of system efficiency and diagnoses the most probable causes of centrifugal chiller operations caused by common failures. It provides a generic diagnostic tool applicable to most major brands of centrifugal chiller units.

JBEI has developed a model for a lignocellulosic biorefinery and posted it on an open wiki, making it the first open and widely accessible tool of its kind. The model can be used to estimate the economic impact of various aspects of lignocellulosic biorefinery processing technology. The model can be used to calculate the economic, environmental, and energetic performance of the corn stover-to-ethanol process, and allows users to model the scenarios that are of most interest to them. For... read more

The demand response system developed by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a transactional response system that determines optimal operation periods for smart electric appliances and devices based on consumer preferences and real-time pricing signals from the electric grid.

Batteries are one of the leading cost drivers of any electric vehicle project. Current practices require that batteries be oversized by design in order to meet the battery warrantee’s end-of-life (EOL) power and energy requirements. This quickly increases the cost of electric vehicles and can price them out of the realm of consideration for most users. NREL scientists have developed a software model that analyzes the performance of batteries over a lifetime of use in real world... read more

Grid Friendly™ Charger Controller or Grid Friendly™ Appliance technology, both developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), provide regulation services for utilities based on varying loads by water heaters and electric vehicle chargers.

Design. Build. Test. Break. Repeat. Developing batteries is an expensive and time-intensive process. Testing costs the automotive industry an estimated $1 million for every 50 battery cycling channels, with additional costs for designing and building prototypes totaling millions of dollars. To reduce this process and associated costs, scientists at NREL have designed computer models to predict thermal, electrical, and electrochemical battery performance. These models are so advanced they can... read more

Historically, building performance professionals have not had reliable tools for estimating energy usage. This information deficiency has led to building upgrade and retrofit recommendations which may not be reliable or cost-effective. Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed SUNREL, an hourly energy simulation engine which precisely estimates the energy consumed by a residential building. This technology enables auditors to accurately predict energy usage... read more

The Graphical Contingency Analysis (GCA) Tool is a visual analytic software tool that aids power grid operators and planners to effectively manage complex outage predictions and helps operators and planners predict potential network failures and take effective actions in response to adverse situations.

The Rooftop Diagnostician provides fast and effective diagnostics for heating, ventilation and air conditioning units in commercial buildings, allowing you to better monitor the HVAC system to provide optimal performance.

This algorithm calculates the solar zenith and azimuth angles in the period from the year -2000 to 6000, with uncertainties of +/- 0.0003 degrees based on the date, time, and location on Earth. (Reference: Reda, I.; Andreas, A., Solar Position Algorithm for Solar Radiation Applications, Solar Energy. Vol. 76(5), 2004; pp. 577-589).