INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Science

Energy Related Capabilities and Projects

Continued on back

HYDROGEN

INL's Hydrogen Initiative

addresses critical scientific and

engineering issues to realize the

benefits of a hydrogen

economy.

To address this historic priority

it focuses on hydrogen production, separation, storage and

use.

Hydrogen from Nuclear

Energy

INL performs a major role in

R&D for the production of

hydrogen using nuclear energy.

The advantages of using

nuclear energy for hydrogen

production include near zero

CO2 emissions and independence from fossil fuels. Two

promising methods for using

nuclear energy for hydrogen

production include hightemperature electrolysis and

thermochemical cycles for

splitting water into hydrogen

and oxygen. A new Very High

Temperature Reactor is under

consideration for this purpose.

Hydrogen from Diesel

Fuel

INL is participating with

SOFCo EFS in its 500 kWe

Integrated Fuel Processor

(IFP) Program as part of the

U.S. Navy Ship Service Fuel

Cell Program. INL is tasked to

design, fabricate, and test a

first generation IFP for

producing hydrogen-rich gas

from NATO-F76 diesel fuel.

The IFP produces and purifies

hydrogen for fuel cell applications. The process uses

autothermal reforming technologies to provide hydrogen

fuel for clean fuel cell electric

power on Navy ships. The IFP

and associated fuel cell allows

significantly more energy to be

generated from lower-grade

fuels than could be realized

from combustion alone.

Hydrogen,

Electricity from Coal

INL is developing multiple

technologies to support clean

coal gasification processors,

combustion emissions reduction technologies for heavy

metals, SOx, NOx, and CO2

capture for geologic sequestration.

Hydrogen Processing

and Storage Technology

INL and its industrial partners

are working to develop a

unique composite membrane

structure of hydrogen and

oxygen at high temperatures.

INL is also studying other

unique inorganic polymer

molecular composites for

hydrogen storage and separation applications and these

materials exhibit exceptionally

high selectivity for hydrogen

and all other gasses. INL is

studying processes to regenerate sodium borohydride from

spent sodium borate. (See also

Transportation: Fueling

Infrastructure, on page 3.)

BIOENERGY

INL's Bioenergy Initiative

embraces the vision of "Whole

Crop Utilization" and leverages

key multidisciplinary INL

capabilities to address the

major science and technology

needs associated with the costeffective utilization of waste

biomass. Whole Crop Utilization means using the entire

crop, including the grain and

traditionally discarded plant

biomass to produce food, feed,

fiber, energy and value-added

products. Besides promoting

use of agricultural biomass to

produce energy, fuels, chemicals and durable goods, the

Whole Crop Utilization concept

has the added advantage of

revitalizing rural economies by

providing an additional revenue

source to growers.

As a U.S. Department of Energy multiprogram national laboratory, the Idaho National

Laboratory (INL) employs 1,200 specialized scientists and engineers to bring about

R&D discoveries for nuclear, fossil and renewable energy technologies — including the

production of hydrogen — to deliver and secure sustainable energy sources and increase

environmental quality for the nation.

An artist’s rendering of the Very

High Temperature Reactor that

could produce hydrogen (above);

and the diesel reformer that

converts diesel fuel into

hydrogen that passes through a

fuel cell to generate electrical

current (below).
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

INL is a member of DOE's

National Bioenergy Center and

has lead responsibility for

biomass feedstock harvesting

R&D.

RENEWABLE

ENERGY

Wind

INL provides technical support

to the DOE's Wind Powering

America Program — an

outreach initiative to foster

awareness of the benefits and

applications of wind energy

and to promote the development of domestic wind energy

resources. As part of this effort

— and in cooperation with the

Idaho Department of Water

Resources Energy Division —

INL installs anemometers on

state and private lands,

evaluates wind data, and assists

stakeholders in wind energy

deployments through the Idaho

Wind Working Group and

public workshops. INL also

performs wind energy assessments as well as wind energy

systems engineering and

deployment activities for the

Department of Defense to

provide clean, low cost

renewable energy at military

installations.

Geothermal

INL is the lead laboratory in

geosciences for DOE's Geothermal Program. The mission

of this program is to work in

partnership with U.S. industry

to establish geothermal energy

as a competitive contributor to

the domestic energy supply.

The program has three focus

areas: Geoscience, Exploration

and Drilling, and Energy

Systems Research and Testing.

INL performs work in all three

focus areas that includes

resource identification,

assessment and development,

resource expansion (Enhanced

Geothermal Systems), resource

productivity and sustainability,

and energy conversion. It also

participates in GeoPowering

the West — an outreach activity

that fosters awareness of the

availability and benefits of

geothermal energy — and

promotes its development in

the Western United States.

Hydropower

INL is the lead laboratory for

engineering support for DOE's

Hydropower program. The

mission of this Program is to

improve the technical, societal,

and environmental benefits of

hydropower by conducting and

coordinating research and

development with industry and

other federal agencies. The

primary focus of the program is

the development of the next

generation of hydropower

turbine technology through the

Advanced Hydropower Turbine

System Program. INL also

performs work on hydropower

resource assessment, hydropower economics, and integration of hydropower with other

energy systems.

Power Technologies/

System Integration

INL performs power systems

research and engineering for

renewable energy and other

energy sources for both the

DOE and DOD. Research and

applications work is performed

in areas including power

system integration, reliability,

power quality, power plant

control, hybrid power applications, distributed power,

standards development and

sensors.

FOSSIL ENERGY

INL pioneers innovative

research and development

activities to reduce U.S.

petroleum imports, increase the

use of cleaner burning natural

gas, solve environmental

dilemmas and reduce industry

operating costs. It commercializes quality products and

services; develops exploration,

production and gas and oil

processing technologies; and

develops and tests natural gas

vehicles. It also develops

technologies in support of a

hydrogen economy infrastructure, expands the use of ultraclean fuels and researches

methods and sites for carbon

sequestration.

INL scientists and engineers are

researching ways to harvest

biomass feedstock and prepare it

for a biorefinery.

The INL works with DOD to install

wind turbines on Ascension

Island.

Engineers are studying the

available water energy potential

in stream segments around the

country.

Natural Gas, CNG, LNG

and H2 Blends

The INL Alternative Fuels

Program focuses on liquefied

natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) as

alternatives to conventional

gasoline and diesel fuels for

powering heavy-duty and lightduty vehicles. The program is

part of the DOE's initiative to

reduce air pollution and reduce

the nation's dependence on

imported petroleum products

by promoting the use of

domestically available fuels

that burn with lower emissions.

LNG and CNG meet these

criteria, and provide the

additional advantages of being

relatively safe to store and use

and are cost-competitive with

conventional fuels.

Fueling Stations and

Infrastructure

INL's hydrogen research draws

on core competence in several

engineering and technology

areas, including systems

engineering, safety and risk

INL and a private utility partner

established this LNG liquefaction

plant in Sacramento, CA.

INL leads the testing and

monitoring activity of advanced

alternative-fueled vehicles.
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Science

assessment, chemical and

mechanical engineering,

manufacturing and materials,

sensors and controls, plasma

processing, fuel cell technology, biotechnology engineering, and alternative fuel vehicle

fueling infrastructure development. It pursues development

and commercialization of

technologies related to production, infrastructure, and use of

hydrogen fuel.

Oil, Gas Production/Use

INL provides solutions to

industry-identified problems

ranging from downhole

instrumentation to pipeline

production and transportation.

Projects include research on a

downhole seismic source for

look-ahead prediction, a high

void fraction multiphase meter,

a large downhole seismic

sensor array, locating geopressured hydrocarbon reservoirs,

oil and gas production sensors

and controls, single well

seismic imaging, and transportation of hydrocarbon indicators. The Laboratory develops

technologies to sequester CO2

and understand its fate and

transport in the subsurface. INL

also develops simple low-cost

bioreactors to remove sulfides

from produced water and gas in

oil field and offshore platform

environments.

ENERGY STORAGE

Advanced Battery Test

Laboratory

INL's Energy Storage and

Conversion Program principally supports the U.S.

Department of Energy’s

FreedomCAR and Vehicle

Technologies Program Office.

The Program has the lead role

for developing, characterizing,

testing and evaluating all DOE

high-power energy storage

devices for electric vehicle

(EV) and hybrid electric

vehicle (HEV) applications.

These devices include advanced batteries, ultra capacitors, and flywheels.

The Program also supports the

FreedomCAR partnership —

comprised of DOE, and U.S.

automakers Ford, General

Motors, and Daimler Chrysler

— by participating on the

partnership’s FreedomCAR

Electrochemical Energy

Storage and the Systems

Analysis technical teams. This

INL Program is the DOE's lead

laboratory for all HEV advanced energy storage testing

— including the development

of test protocols, procedures

and manuals, and analytical

methodologies. It also conducts

performance testing, analyses,

life modeling and prepares

special product characteristics

reports.

TRANSPORTATION

Fueling Infrastructure

INL manages the light-duty

vehicle testing activities of the

DOE's Energy's Advanced

Vehicle Testing Activity

(AVTA). As part of this activity,

INL and AVTA teamed with

Electric Transportation Applications and Arizona Public

Service (APS) to develop the

Alternative Fuel Pilot Plant that

produces and dispenses

hydrogen on site. The hydrogen

is produced through electrolysis

by operating a PEM fuel cell in

reverse. This plant also

compresses natural gas on site

and fuels internal combustion

engine test vehicles that operate

on 100% hydrogen and blends

of 15% to 50% hydrogen and

compressed natural gas.

Heavy Vehicles

INL works with heavy-duty

diesel engine manufacturer

Detroit Diesel to explore the

use of liquefied natural gas

applications in INL's bus fleet.

This partnership has resulted in

the conversion of seven INL

diesel buses to LNG and has

advanced the commercial use

of natural gas technology for

transportation purposes.

Oil Bypass Filter

Technology

INL is conducting an oil filter

bypass demonstration project

with eight of its diesel motor

coaches to determine the extent

that engine oil usage can be

reduced. The buses have

accumulated well over 200,000

test miles and their engine oil is

regularly sampled for 26

additives and contaminants that

contribute to the volume of

hazardous waste.

ENERGY

CONSERVATION

Sustainable Building

Design

 INL is providing research and

support to the DOE and other

agencies to develop standards

and technologies for sustainable design of buildings.

“Sustainable Buildings” is the

industry term for "green"

building design, construction,

operation, and disposition.

Sustainable design includes

siting, water efficiency, energy,

materials, and indoor environment considerations. INL key

capabilities include building

energy use evaluation, research

INL tests and monitors

alternative-fueled vehicles for

energy and environmental

performance.
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Continued from front

05-GA50193-20

For more information

in sustainable heating and

cooling of buildings, and

development of sustainable

design programs.

INDUSTRIAL AND

MATERIAL

TECHNOLOGIES

INL supports the DOE Industrial Technologies Program to

enhance the nation’s industrial

competitiveness, productivity

and energy efficiency — and it

performs R&D through

Industries of the Future

Program that focuses on the

nation’s aluminum, chemical,

forest product, glass,

metalcasting, mining and steel

industries.

Metals Joining

INL has a long history of

providing state-of-the-art

science and technology for

joining both reactor and

industrial materials. It conducts

R&D in the areas of intelligent

machines, intelligent sensors

and controls, prototype

machine design and fabrication,

advanced computational

methods, materials processing

and procedure development,

weld integrity evaluation, nondestructive evaluation. INL has

equipment and facilities for gas

metal arc welding, gas tungsten-arc welding, submerged

arc welding, laser welding,

hybrid laser-assisted arc

welding, friction stir welding,

resistance spot welding, gleeble

testing, and robotic welding

cell development. In addition, it

has experience in welding

carbon steel, stainless steel, and

nickel-based, titanium, aluminum and oxide dispersion

strengthened alloys.

Plasma Processing

INL is devoted to applying

plasma science to the development of unique industrial

technologies including the

extraction of metals from ores,

the synthesis of advanced

metal alloys and ceramics, the

development of advanced

coating/forming processes, and

similar plasma-related processes to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. industry in

world markets. The group has

equipment and facilities for the

synthesis of nano-size powders;

development for hydrogen

carriers and chemical synthesis;

plasma spraying of advanced

materials, design and fabrication of hybrid plasma systems,

plasma processing of natural

gas for liquid conversion and

heavy oil upgrade; waste form

development for nuclear waste

stabilization; and solid state

combustion synthesis and netshape forming of cermet

materials.

Spray processing

INL focuses on the development of applications for spray

forming technology. Spray

forming is a patented rapid

solidification process (RSP)

technology involving gasassisted atomization of metals

and alloys followed by deposition on a substrate to form

coatings or near-net shape

solids. It addresses a broad

range of applications including

molds and dies, flat rolled

products, cylindrical and

tubular products, coatings and

claddings, and membranes. By

combining rapid solidification

with near net-shape materials

processing, spray forming can

offer advantages in processing,

material properties, cost, and

energy savings over conventional approaches.

Spray processing was used to

develop INL RSP Tooling

technology, which won an R&D

100 award, a DOE Energy@23

Award and a Federal Laboratory

Consortium Award.

Walt Newcomb

Director

Energy and Technology

systems

208-526-4509

Walter.Newcomb@inl.gov

INL is a U.S. Department of

Energy national laboratory

operated by Battelle Energy

Alliance