Home PURPOSE OF THE CENTER: To develop the center to address state-of-the-art research, create innovating educational programs, and support technology transfers using commercially viable results to assist the Army Research Laboratory to develop the next generation Future Combat System in the telecommunications sector that assures prevention of perceived threats, and Non Line of Sight/Beyond Line of Sight lethal support.

How to… home page

Potential importance of hydrogen as a future solution to environmental and transportation problems

Annual Energy Outlook

To improve the sustainability of transportation, a major goal is the replacement of conventional petroleum-based fuels with more sustainable fuels that can be used in the existing infrastructure (fuel distribution and vehicles). While fossil-derived synthetic fuels (e.g. coal derived liquid fuels) and biofuels have received the most attention, similar hydrocarbons can be produced without using fossil fuels or biomass. Using renewable and/or nuclear energy, carbon dioxide and water can be recycled into liquid hydrocarbon fuels in non-biological processes which remove oxygen from CO2 and H2O (the reverse of fuel combustion). Capture of CO2 from the atmosphere would enable a closed-loop carbon-neutral fuel cycle. This article critically reviews the many possible technological pathways for recycling CO2 into fuels using renewable or nuclear energy, considering three stages—CO2 capture, H2O and CO2 dissociation, and fuel synthesis. Dissociation methods include thermolysis, thermochemical cycles, electrolysis, and photoelectrolysis of CO2 and/or H2O. High temperature co-electrolysis of H2O and CO2 makes very efficient use of electricity and heat (near-100% electricity-to-syngas efficiency), provides high reaction rates, and directly produces syngas (CO/H2 mixture) for use in conventional catalytic fuel synthesis reactors. Capturing CO2 from the atmosphere using a solid sorbent, electrolyzing H2O and CO2 in solid oxide electrolysis cells to yield syngas, and converting the syngas to gasoline or diesel by Fischer–Tropsch synthesis is identified as one of the most promising, feasible routes. An analysis of the energy balance and economics of this CO2 recycling process is presented. We estimate that the full system can feasibly operate at 70% electricity-to-liquid fuel efficiency (higher heating value basis) and the price of electricity needed to produce synthetic gasoline at U.S.D$ 2/gal ($ 0.53/L) is 2–3 U.S. cents/kWh. For $ 3/gal ($ 0.78/L) gasoline, electricity at 4–5 cents/kWh is needed. In some regions that have inexpensive renewable electricity, such as Iceland, fuel production may already be economical. The dominant costs of the process are the electricity cost and the capital cost of the electrolyzer, and this capital cost is significantly increased when operating intermittently (on renewable power sources such as solar and wind). The potential of this CO2 recycling process is assessed, in terms of what technological progress is needed to achieve large-scale, economically competitive production of sustainable fuels by this method.

Sustainable hydrocarbon fuels by recycling CO2 and H2O with renewable or nuclear energy

The Serpent Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code has been developed at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland since 2004, and is currently used in over 100 universities and research organizations around the world. This paper presents the brief history of the project, together with the currently available methods and capabilities and plans for future work. Typical user applications are introduced in the form of a summary review on Serpent-related publications over the past few years.

The Serpent Monte Carlo code: Status, development and applications in 2013

Efficiency of hydrogen production systems using alternative nuclear energy technologies

LES benchmark study of high cycle temperature fluctuations caused by thermal striping in a mixing tee

Numerical analysis of thermal striping induced high cycle thermal fatigue in a mixing tee

An experimental investigation has been conducted to determine the local condensation heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of steam in the presence of air or helium flowing downward inside a 46-mm-i.d. vertical tube. The gas-steam mixture flow rate was measured with a calibrated vortex flowmeter before it entered the 2.54-m-long test condenser. Cooling water flow rate in an annulus around the tube was measure with a calibrated rotameter. Temperatures of the cooling water, the gas-steam mixture, and the tube inside and outside surfaces were measured at 0.3-m intervals in the test condenser. Inlet and exit pressures and temperatures of the gas-steam mixture and of the cooling water were also measured. The local heat flux was obtained from the slope of the coolant axial temperature profile and the coolant mass flow rate. It was found that for the same mass fraction of the noncondensable gas, compared with air, helium has a more inhibiting effect on the heat transfer, but for the same molar ratio, air was found to be more inhibiting. An application where there is important is the proposed advanced passive boiling water reactor design (Simplified Boiling Water Reactor), which utilizes the isolation condenser as a main component of the passive containmentmore » cooling system (PCCS).« less

Local heat transfer coefficients for forced-convection condensation of steam in a vertical tube in the presence of a noncondensable gas

Nuclear power is in the midst of a generational change-with new reactor designs, plant subsystems, fuel concepts, and other information that must be explained and explored-and after the 2011 Japan disaster, nuclear reactor technologies are, of course, front and center in the public eye. Written by leading experts from MIT, Nuclear Systems Volume I:

Mujid S. Kazimi

Papers

Efficiency of hydrogen production systems using alternative nuclear energy technologies

LES benchmark study of high cycle temperature fluctuations caused by thermal striping in a mixing tee

Numerical analysis of thermal striping induced high cycle thermal fatigue in a mixing tee

Local heat transfer coefficients for forced-convection condensation of steam in a vertical tube in the presence of a noncondensable gas

Nuclear Systems Volume I