BYLINE: Jenna V. Wray
Newswise — Selected projects goal to advance nuclear applied sciences, optimize battery manufacturing and scale back dangers for freight operators.
Four projects on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have earned funding via DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF).
TCF helps transfer applied sciences developed at DOE nationwide laboratories into {the marketplace}, thus advancing innovation, maximizing taxpayer funding and serving to keep U.S. scientific and technical management.
The TCF is managed by DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization.
“As advanced reactors are rolled out, we are looking forward to this opportunity to help industry expand its toolkit with models specifically suited for the unique physics of fast reactors.” — Rachel Thomas, principal nuclear engineer
Accelerating nuclear reactor design and licensing
Argonne’s Computational Science division will obtain funding for OpenMC, an open-source Monte Carlo (MC) particle transport software. A Monte Carlo code is a pc program that makes use of Monte Carlo strategies — a category of algorithms that depend on random sampling — to mannequin and clear up issues that is perhaps too advanced for analytical options. The purpose of this challenge is to put together OpenMC code for industrial adoption, which is predicted to speed up the design and licensing of new nuclear reactor projects within the U.S.
DOE invested closely within the growth of OpenMC via the latest Exascale Computing Project. OpenMC accelerates processes considerably in comparison with earlier comparable know-how. When commercialized, OpenMC may help operators empower superior reactor design efforts, in addition to compress prices and design timelines.
“OpenMC on GPU has already demonstrated a high technology readiness level,” Computational Scientist John Tramm mentioned. “TCF funding will help us bridge the final gap to industrial adoption.”
Tramm’s challenge will allow OpenMC to be used for safety-related engineering and licensing work within the U.S. industrial nuclear trade.
In whole, the challenge is estimated to save tens of millions in methodology growth and licensing prices for every reactor kind for which OpenMC is used.
Preparing for the long run of nuclear
The Nuclear Science and Engineering division will even obtain funding to develop a liquid metal-cooled quick reactor (LMFR) simulator. Reactor simulators are used for operator coaching, in addition to simulation-assisted engineering design, validation and verification work.
“The software models used within today’s commercial simulators are intended for light-water reactors,” Principal Nuclear Engineer Rachel Thomas mentioned. “As advanced reactors are rolled out, we are looking forward to this opportunity to help industry expand its toolkit with models specifically suited for the unique physics of fast reactors.”
The challenge will couple Argonne’s safety analysis code SAS4A/SASSYS-1 with Curtiss-Wright’s industrial nuclear energy plant simulator setting. The purpose is to create a high-quality modeling and simulation device particularly relevant to LMFR designs, accelerating growth and deployment of superior reactor ideas. The finish product shall be a package deal that may be supplied to clients.
Ongoing SAS4A/SASSYS-1 upkeep is supported by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy Fast Reactor Program. Additional funding, reminiscent of that offered by the TCF, permits nuclear engineers like Thomas to speed up the event and commercialization of new applied sciences.
Increasing effectivity of battery supplies manufacturing
Argonne is teaming up with PulseForge to commercialize a fast and energy-efficient photonic processing know-how for manufacturing ceramic, lithium-batteries” target=”_blank”>battery electrolyte materials. This technology was developed by the Argonne and PulseForge teams through a prior TCF project sponsored by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and the Office of Technology Commercialization.
“When commercialized, this processing technology will allow us to manufacture battery materials much faster,” said Yuepeng Zhang, group leader of nanocomposite materials and membrane manufacturing in the Applied Materials division.
Photonic processing uses photons to perform calculations, which allows for cheaper, faster processing. Its advantages include a tenfold reduction in energy consumption and a 200-fold increase in manufacturing speed. The project also won a 2024 R&D 100 Award.
In this follow-on TCF project, the team will further increase the technology and adoption readiness level through intensive customer engagement. The team will also design and construct prototype manufacturing equipment.
Cutting costs, reducing risks for freight operators
Argonne scientists will also receive TCF funding for the Transportation and Power Systems division pathways toolkit, which aims to accelerate the adoption of advanced vehicle technologies in freight depots.
Fleet operators currently lack a holistic tool to assess the impact of these technologies on operations and business models. This leads to uncertainty in investment decisions and operational planning.
By integrating Argonne’s capabilities, the toolkit will help optimize route, infrastructure and operational planning across key metrics, including cost, energy, infrastructure and depot space.
“We’re very glad to be receiving DOE commercialization funding,” Principal Systems Analysis Engineer Charbel Mansour said. “It will enable us to accelerate the deployment of this toolkit, bridging the gap between research and real-world adoption.”
By offering a comprehensive, user-friendly solution, the toolkit will bring together stakeholders, allowing freight operators to plan more effectively and truck manufacturers to better understand and meet their customers’ needs. Commercialized via an easy-to-use desktop platform, it will help reduce investment risks, optimize depot operations, lower shipping costs and improve U.S. economic competitiveness.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.