Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry (DOE) announced a new high-performance computing (HPC) initiative that will help U.S. industry accelerate the development of new or improved materials for use in severe environments.  “The High Performance Computing for Materials Program will provide opportunities for our industry partners to access the high-performance computing capabilities and expertise of DOE’s national labs as they work to create and improve technologies that combat extreme conditions,” said Secretary Perry. “This initiative combines two, crucial elements of the Administration’s mission at DOE – advances in high-performance computing and the improved transition of energy technologies to market.”

Multiphase flow research examines the way materials in different states like gas, liquid or solids with different chemical properties mix and flow together. Multiphase flows occur in most commercial energy and environmental processes, and understanding the interaction among these phases is critical to understanding and predicting the performance of many energy system devices. It’s a complex area of investigation but one which holds the key to unlocking advanced energy applications like using biomass feedstocks in energy-producing reactors. NETL, along with a team of researchers from other DOE National Laboratories, is on the task.  Biomass is an energy source from plants like wood, food crops, agriculture or forestry residues, algae or even fumes from landfills. But much work remains to find the most efficient ways to use biomass as an energy source. That’s why NETL researchers are applying their skills in multiphase flow to help design systems to effectively unlock energy from this renewable feedstock.

Chemical reactors—like fluidized beds, transport beds, and gasifiers—are critical and complex components of power generation systems that involve a variety of multiphase chemical reactions. Understanding the reactions and designing optimized reactors requires intricate modeling and simulation. A new toolset being developed by NETL multiphase flow science experts will make the optimization process faster and more efficient. NETL modeling and simulation experts are creating a new toolset for optimizing chemical reactors with the goal of creating technologies to reduce costs and increase efficiency of coal-based power generation systems. “The toolset has the potential to redefine how innovation comes about,” said Dr. Dirk Van Essendelft of NETL’s multiphase flow science team. “These new simulation and modeling tools will change how the technology development community conceptualizes, designs, and builds coal conversion reactors and plants that are economically attractive while reducing the environmental impact of fossil energy use.”

NETL is collaborating with Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of Colorado Boulder to develop MFIX-Exa, the next generation of NETL’s internationally acclaimed Multiphase Flow with Interphase Exchanges (MFIX)—a suite of specialized computational fluid dynamic codes (CFDs) that help researchers study the simultaneous flow of gases, liquids, or solid materials.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in collaboration with Allegheny County’s Executive Office and the Allegheny County Housing Authority, hosted a Remake Learning Lab Day on May 24, 2017, at NETL’s South Park, Pa., site outside of Pittsburgh. Remake Learning Days offer innovative learning experiences for children. NETL’s program seeks to pique student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This year’s Lab Day featured laboratory tours, presentations, and hands-on science activities led by a diverse group of laboratory professionals.   Remake Learning is a professional network of educators and innovators working together to enrich education for children and their families, caregivers, and educators. The network, which comprises more than 250 organizations, is a collaborative effort to inspire and empower lifelong learning in Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and beyond.

Contrary to that old cooking adage, “a watched pot never boils,” keeping a careful eye on things—in the kitchen or in the laboratory—can be essential to making a useable (or edible!) final product. Take chocolate, for instance, that foundational block of the food pyramid. An important part of creating high-grade chocolate is a step called tempering, or the melting, stirring, and cooling of the liquid chocolate to align the crystals that give it a smooth texture and a glossy shine. One of the key senses chocolatiers use to monitor tempering is sight, giving them information on the thickness and color of the batch to make sure it tempers evenly as it cools. But what if they had to do it blind?

In a project managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), GE Global Research has advanced a method to lower the energy requirement and cut the cost of recovering usable water from high-salinity brines. The new technology offers a way to turn a potential waste product into a usable source of water and minerals. Water and energy are surprisingly interconnected: much water is needed to generate electricity, and much energy is needed to purify water. The lowest energy method of water purification is typically a membrane process, such as reverse osmosis; however, some wastewaters are not good candidates for this because of very high salt concentrations. Reverse osmosis also leaves behind a brine with very high salinity that must be disposed of properly.

Just as the newest jet aircraft technologies require cutting edge innovations like carbon-fiber composites, polymers, and avionics to make them fly, the next generation of high efficiency and environmentally sound energy-producing technologies demand a very specific set of functional materials to make them capable of answering the nation’s increasing energy needs. NETL is internationally recognized for its success in designing, developing, and deploying functional materials tailored for use in energy applications and extreme service environments for next-generation energy technologies like solid oxide fuel cells, chemical looping, carbon capture, fuel processing, and many other applications.

Just as the newest jet aircraft technologies require cutting edge innovations like carbon-fiber composites, polymers, and avionics to make them fly, the next generation of high efficiency and environmentally sound energy-producing technologies demand a very specific set of functional materials to make them capable of answering the nation’s increasing energy needs. NETL is internationally recognized for its success in designing, developing, and deploying functional materials tailored for use in energy applications and extreme service environments for next-generation energy technologies like solid oxide fuel cells, chemical looping, carbon capture, fuel processing, and many other applications.

Extreme environments are everywhere. From the pressures of the ultradeep ocean to the inferno heat of a power plant, harsh conditions make scientific ingenuity a necessity. To operate technology in extreme environments, new materials that can withstand those environments need to be created. Scientists at NETL are known for their ability to do just that. The three RS-25 engines used to propel NASA’s Space Shuttles are technological marvels. Fueled by liquid hydrogen, they generate intense heat and pressure to create the force necessary to escape the Earth’s atmosphere. During operation, an engine’s main combustion chambers can reach temperatures of 6,000 °F—far hotter than lava or molten steel.