Digital Commons Network^™

Examination Of Hypothetical Transportation Accidents For Transportable Nuclear Power Plants, Richard Louis Calvin

Masters Theses

The reintroduction of Transportable Nuclear Power Plants (TNPPs) opens the doors for potential accidents which have not been previously considered under current licensing standards. TNPPs transported via truck, rail, aircraft, or boat may be involved in various hypothetical transportation accidents. 10 CFR 71, Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material, regulatorily addresses various accident scenarios. However, when applying logistics and design constraints alternative methods to license and transport these TNPPs will be required. These alternative methods require the use of Probabilistic Risk Assessments, modeling of accident scenarios, and experimental data to demonstrate an equivalent level of safety to 10 CFR 71. …

Optimization And Development Of Sodium-Based Electrolytes For Energy Storage Devices, Jameson L. Tyler

Doctoral Dissertations

Energy storage devices have undergone development for decades. Much of the research is focused on the improvement of energy density by developing existing electrodes and investigating novel electrode materials. This has led to the overall improvement of traditional lithium-ion batteries, but also the discovery of new energy storage devices such sodium-ion batteries, redox flow batteries, solid electrolyte-based batteries, and many more. As the field expands, fundamental research is necessary to fully ascertain the validity of these novel systems for long term success. One of the most important components to all electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors is …

Next Generation Energy Storage: An Examination Of Lignin-Based Carbon Composite Anodes For Sodium Ion Batteries Through Modeling And Simulation, Dayton G. Kizzire

Doctoral Dissertations

The current energy market relies heavily on fossil fuel sources; however, we are amidst a momentous shift towards wind, solar, and water based renewable energies. Large-scale energy storage allows renewable energy to be stored and supply the grid with consistent energy despite changing weather conditions. Improvements to large-scale energy storage in terms of cost, safety, and sustainability are crucial to wide-scale adoption. A promising candidate for large-scale energy storage are sodium-ion batteries using hard carbon anodes. Sodium is globally available, cheaper, and more sustainable than lithium, but requires a different anode structure. A sustainable hard carbon anode with excellent Li-ion …

Lithium Recovery Process From Spent Batteries, Nicholas A. Ross, Lacey Roberts, Jordan Leith, Woodi Woodland

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Economic Analysis Of Lithium Recovery From Spent Lithium Ion Batteries, Makayla Hyde, Jaclyn Choate, Zoe Antonas, Abby Newberry, Madi Sherrod

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Finding The Validity Of Using A Vanadium Redox Flow Battery To Load Shift The Hodges Library Off Periods Of Peak Demand, Jared Thomas Carpenter

Masters Theses

The University of Tennessee Green Fee program wanted to find a way to reduce energy costs in the Hodges Library by load shifting. Several options were investigated before vanadium redox flow batteries were selected as possibly the best viable option. The Hodges Library was modeled to compute estimates for the load profile of the library during on and off peak hours. These loads were then used with the electricity rate structure to find that there was a potential to save almost $200,000 per year. Several companies who manufacture these batteries were contacted for pricing and availability of a battery array …

Battery Energy Storage Emulation For Power System Applications, Jessica Danielle Boles

Masters Theses

The concept of energy storage for power systems has received increasingly more attention in recent decades, and the growing penetration of renewable energy sources has only escalated demand for it. Energy storage systems are excellent for balancing generation and load, for suppressing power fluctuations, and for providing other ancillary services to the grid. The Hardware Testbed (HTB) is a novel converter-based grid emulator created for studying the needs associated with high renewable penetration, but the system currently lacks a battery storage emulator. Thus, this work documents the development of a battery energy storage system (BESS) emulator for the HTB.

The …

Semi-Autonomous Golf Cart, Daniel T. Garza, Richard S. Emeott, Matthew E. May, Valerie A. Cherry, Brooke Davidson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Lignin-Based Li-Ion Anode Materials Synthesized From Low-Cost Renewable Resources, Nicholas William Mcnutt

Doctoral Dissertations

In today’s world, the demand for novel methods of energy storage is increasing rapidly, particularly with the rise of portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and the personal consumption and storage of solar energy. While other technologies have arguably improved at a rate that is exponential in accordance with Moore’s law, battery technology has lagged behind largely due to the difficulty in devising new electric storage systems that are simultaneously high performing, inexpensive, and safe.

In order to tackle these challenges, novel Li-ion battery anodes have been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that are made from lignin, a low-cost, renewable …

Investigation Of Deformation And Failure Mechanisms In Nanoindentation Mechanics, Yuzhi Xia

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation further extends nanoindentation to study the initiation of plasticity in single crystals in nanoscale stressed volumes, to the instrumented tests for damage evaluation and monitoring, and to the fundamental issues in deformation and failure mechanisms in relationship to the defect evolutions.

In the first project, model Fe-Cr, Fe-Ni and Fe-Cr-Ni alloys that are the basis of many structural steels were synthesized as single crystals and characterized. The compositions investigated were Fe-15Cr, Fe-30Cr, Fe-30Ni and Fe-15Cr-15Ni (atomic percent). Several key mechanical properties were determined which will be useful in further studies of irradiation/deformation-induced defects. Incipient plasticity and slip characteristics …

Development Of A Testing Platform For Secondary-Use Electric Vehicle Batteries As Community Energy Storage Systems, Thomas Benjamin Ollis

Masters Theses

Energy storage is quickly transforming from a commodity to a necessity for electric utilities. The peak demand on the electric grid continues to grow, requiring more sources of generation and upgrades to infrastructure. The variability of renewable generation sources, such as wind and solar, has created more uncertainty on the generation side of the electric grid. Energy storage represents one possible solution to mitigate the demand and uncertainty; however, energy storage systems have historically been too expensive to recoup their capital cost. More recently, research into electric vehicle batteries has brought their cost down and improved performance. As they continue …

A Base Case Design And Capital Cost Analysis Of An All Vanadium Redox-Flow Battery, Mark Alan Moore

Masters Theses

Interest in the development of redox-flow batteries (RFBs) for large-scale grid storage is growing, and considerable investments have been made into the research and development of RFBs over the past few decades. Unfortunately, practical implementation has been hampered by various cost and performance issues typical of an immature state of development. One critical factor for the competitiveness of this technology is the installed cost. The purpose of this work is to develop an evolutionary procedure to be used for the base-case design of a Vanadium Redox-Flow Battery, and to incorporate recent developments in all-vanadium RFB research in order to present …