Morgantown High School’s Team 1 claimed victory at the 33rd West Virginia Science Bowl (WVSB) Regional High School Competition, held Saturday, Feb. 3, in an in-person format for the first time in years at the West Virginia University (WVU) Mountainlair. Twenty-four teams from 18 high schools participated in the contest, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NETL. The WVSB tested students’ knowledge of math and science in a fast-paced, quiz-style tournament. “Congratulations to our high school winner of this outstanding academic challenge. Your hard work equipped you to excel against a tremendous field filled with other talented students,” said Sean Plasynski, NETL acting director. “I hope this exciting competition inspires you and all teams to pursue your dreams and reveals to each of you what you are capable of as our next generation of scientists and engineers.”

A new study conducted by NETL researchers investigated long duration energy storage options that can better accommodate deficits of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources over multi-day and seasonal timescales. The work calls for additional long-term research and development investments to reduce costs and help enable an improved electrical grid that features increasing amounts of VRE. The study was published in the inaugural issue of Cell Reports Sustainability, a multidisciplinary open access journal that publishes cutting-edge research across natural, applied, and social sciences that seeks to address the world’s grand challenges.

As technology advances and unlocks new applications, it also encounters new challenges, such as in data curation. However, the Energy Data Exchange, a virtual library and data laboratory built to find, connect, curate, use and re-use data to advance fossil energy and environmental research and development, has solutions for these problems. In a world where data curation tends to emphasize technology rather than people, there is a clear need for people to work through complex data curation issues. The NETL Energy Data eXchange (EDX®) gives researchers more time to perform research by solving four major data curation problems: enterprise-level curation, data governance, scalability, and discoverability. Solving these problems meets the needs of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) stakeholders, scientists, and professionals working toward the DOE’s mission.

As a young man, NETL’s Samuel “Sam” Oyebanjo competed as a boxer. Besides learning how to throw a jab and land an uppercut, Oyebanjo acquired values through boxing that prepared him for success in another endeavor — leading a team of accountants that oversees funding for projects to address climate change and other energy-related priorities.  Oyebanjo, supervisor for accounting at NETL, said his pugilistic pursuits also taught him the importance of developing effective strategies and the understanding that every experience — even a loss in the ring — presents an opportunity to grow and improve. “Boxing demands a high level of discipline and determination,” said Oyebanjo, who grew up in Nigeria. “It teaches you humility, but you quickly realize that a tough loss can be a learning experience and that you can only succeed with preparation and hard work, which is a valuable life lesson.”

With NETL support, through the Lab’s University Training and Research program, researchers at the University of California, Riverside used advanced computing models that harness machine learning to efficiently reduce impingement in boilers — an innovation that can ensure longer and more efficient service life for power plants and even potentially extend the lives of helicopter rotor blades or aircraft engine components. Erosion from particle impingement results in irreversible material degradation due to repeated impact of high-velocity particles on surfaces. This process causes perpetual wear of critical components in various energy and technological industries, like those used in petroleum refining and pipelines and in power plants. Mitigating these effects is particularly crucial because the financial loss from erosion is estimated to cost 1 – 4% of the gross national product in industrialized nations.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced up to $19 million in funding for research that will develop cutting-edge technology solutions to make clean hydrogen a more available and affordable fuel for electricity generation, industrial decarbonization, and transportation. The funding opportunity will focus on using hydrogen systems to convert various waste materials—such as biomass, plastics, common household garbage and other wastes—into clean energy, supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of achieving a zero-carbon American power sector by 2035 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. “When coupled with technologies that capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, using waste materials is expected to be a low-cost path for producing clean hydrogen to help achieve our climate goals,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “This effort can also help reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills while creating local economic opportunities by locating new waste-to-energy hydrogen plants in communities.”

Next-generation engineers and scientists who served internships at NETL, two other national laboratories, and four universities to study hybrid resilient energy systems converged in Morgantown, West Virginia, recently to share presentations on their work as part of the Consortium of Hybrid Resilient Energy Systems (CHRES) Technical Forum. Hybrid energy systems are interconnected infrastructures using a variety of independent components such as electricity, thermal, gas, hydrogen, waste and transportation networks. Resilience refers to the ability of those systems to survive and quickly recover from extreme and unexpected disruptions.

Leah Arnold, IT manager within NETL’s Laboratory Operations Center, has an extensive career in public service marked by resilience and a knack for embracing new practices and technologies to excel in a rapidly changing work environment. Arnold has been the supervisor of the Lab’s enterprise applications area since she joined NETL in September 2012. She also held several interim leadership roles over the years, supporting the IT Director and the Cybersecurity team. Over that time, the Lab’s federal IT staff doubled, and Arnold’s team tripled in size. Arnold explained that her team’s work is significant on many levels. “First, risk to NETL is minimized since business knowledge is maintained within federal staff,” she said. “In addition, enterprise business system planning now informs strategic direction on priorities. Lastly, technical debt is reduced, and business needs are being met.” 

On more than one occasion, colleagues have suggested that NETL’s McMahan “Mac” Gray may soon need a larger display case to hold the numerous honors and awards he has received for advancing cutting-edge solutions to complex energy issues. The research chemist joined NETL in 1986 and has served as principal investigator for multiple innovations, including NETL’s basic immobilized amine sorbent (BIAS) technology — a breakthrough discovery capable of capturing greenhouse gas emitted by power plants that earned Gray a prestigious R&D 100 award. 

International Women in Engineering Day is celebrated across the globe June 23 to raise awareness about the women pursuing engineering and transforming the world with their achievements. NETL is proud to recognize its women engineers who work to address the nation’s critical energy needs. A few of the many women engineers at work in NETL labs, their specialties, and their views on the work they do include: Djuna Gulliver, Ph.D. — NETL Research Scientist