Representatives of energy institutions throughout the country got a first-hand look at the technologies and talent at the NETL campuses across Appalachia as the Lab hosted the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO).

With tours at NETL Morgantown, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania sites on Aug. 8-9, respectively, the NASEO visitors represented a wide swath of agencies across state government, academia and private industry devoted to matters of energy, economic development and the environment. These included the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, West Virginia University Institute for Sustainability and Energy Research, North Dakota Department of Commerce, Ohio Department of Development, Virginia Department of Energy and Indiana Office of Energy Development, among others.

Tour stops at the Lab included systems and technologies at the forefront of NETL’s efforts to decarbonize the American power sector and economy.

One such stop was the Reaction Analysis & Chemical Transformation (ReACT) facility. Here, researchers are advancing the science needed to optimize energy conversion and transforming how we think about and approach chemical reactions. The ReACT facility, home to the Lab’s Center for Microwave Chemistry, is exploring new areas of chemistry and physics by using microwave reactions to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into useful products, synthesize ammonia and generate hydrogen while also producing polymer, plastic conversion and synthetic fuels— efforts that support net-zero carbon emission goals.

The NASEO guests also saw the Lab’s JOULE 2.0. JOULE supercomputers, along with advanced visualization centers that serve the Lab’s research and development needs.

Supercomputing provides the foundation of NETL’s research efforts, and NETL maintains supercomputing capabilities to effectively support its research to meet clean energy goals calling for net-zero carbon emissions in the electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050. Supercomputing allows NETL researchers to simulate phenomena that are difficult or impossible to otherwise measure and observe. This simulation-based engineering approach helps NETL to reduce the cost and time of technology development at every stage: speeding up the discovery of new materials, increasing the reliability and performance of novel devices and reducing the risk inherent in scaling up processes.

Other demonstrations on the two tours included:

• Creating Options for CO₂ Utilization, research which develops and evaluates emerging technologies that convert CO₂ emissions into value-added products. This would contribute to a decarbonized economy.
• NETL Critical Minerals Research, which explores the economic feasibility of recovering rare earth elements from domestic U.S. coal and coal byproducts. Research is focused on developing process designs that minimize or reduce the environmental, safety, and health impacts of radioactive and other byproducts, as well as optimize the overall economics of the separation and recovery process.
• Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling, which uses simulations to generate information beyond the reach of experiments alone, enabling prediction of the properties and performance of yet-to-be-synthesized materials and yet-to-be-built devices and systems.
• NETL’s Multiphase Flow Analysis Laboratory, which uses 3D printing capabilities for rapid prototyping of novel test rigs for measuring complex multiphase flow behavior to support model development and validation.

“The stops on these tours represented the cutting-edge of the Lab’s research,” said Tom Sarkus, senior managerial and technical advisor, science and technology, strategic planning and programs at NETL.

“With so many attendees from so many states, these tours were the perfect opportunity to not only showcase NETL’s capabilities to the entire nation, but also a chance to understand the various energy challenges faced in different regions and how the Lab can help address them.”

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.