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Researchers at Sandia Lab Successfully Test New Power Generation Technology

September 13, 2022

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico announced they completed a successful test of a new power-generating technology, delivering electricity to the local grid using an energy conversion system that they say could drive a major increase in efficiency for power plants across the U.S. and perhaps the world.

The researchers, in a news release from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy, said they developed a simple recuperated closed-loop Brayton cycle that uses supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) as the working fluid. The lab said the gas runs through a continuous loop of being pressurized, heated, and expanded through a turbine to generate electricity. After the fluid exits the turbine, it is cooled in a recuperator before returning to a compressor to complete the cycle.

Want to learn more about supercritical CO₂? Read this POWER Interview with a program director from the Gas Technology Institute. And go here to read a library of articles about supercritical CO₂ published by POWER in recent years.…

DOE Picks First Marine Energy Projects for PacWave Test Site in Oregon

January 30, 2022

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Eight ocean energy projects representing the first round of open-water testing at the 20-MW PacWave South wave energy test site off the Oregon coast have garnered a combined $ 25 million in federal funding to support technology research, development, and demonstration at the trailblazing facility.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) on Jan 25 announced the project selections as part of its “Advancing Wave Energy Technologies through Open Water Testing at PacWave.” The project selections are notable because they are among the first at an actual open-water test facility that is dedicated to accelerating wave energy technology to commercial viability.

PacWave South: Pioneering Testing in Open Ocean Conditions

“Waves are created when wind blows over the surface of open water in the ocean, and this movement results in a large amount of natural energy,” explained WTOP. To capture this energy and convert it to carbon-free electricity, researchers use WECs, but “advancing wave energy converters requires testing in realistic conditions,” it noted.…

Groups Announce Successful Test to Advance Fusion Energy

September 9, 2021

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The post Groups Announce Successful Test to Advance Fusion Energy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A company working to bring fusion energy technology to market joined with a group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in announcing a successful test of what they call the world’s strongest high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet, technology considered key for development of commercial fusion energy.

Representatives of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), along with researchers from MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), on Sept. 8 outlined the group’s progress in developing the HTS, what they called a “world changing” technology to produce power while also combating climate change.

The milestone test, conducted at the PSFC on Sept. 5, proved that the magnet built at scale can reach a sustained magnetic field of more than 20 tesla. That’s enough to enable CFS’s small tokamak device, called SPARC, to achieve net energy from fusion, what the groups called “a historic first.” They said the successful demonstration proves that the SPARC will be the world’s first fusion device that can create and confine a plasma that produces more energy than it consumes.…

World-First Test Production of Fossil-Free Hydrogen-Reduced Sponge Iron Completed

June 22, 2021

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The post World-First Test Production of Fossil-Free Hydrogen-Reduced Sponge Iron Completed appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A pioneering pilot project in Lulea, Sweden, designed to produce “fossil-free” steel has successfully completed test production of sponge iron, demonstrating it is possible to use hydrogen made with fossil-free power to reduce iron ore, instead of coal and coke.

Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB—companies that are collaborating under the joint initiative, dubbed “HYBRIT”—hailed the achievement as a technological breakthrough that “is a decisive step on the road to fossil-free steel.”

“Production has been continuous and of good quality,” the companies announced on June 21. “Around 100 tonnes have been made so far.”

As HYBRIT explains it, the ore-based steelmaking value chain starts at the iron ore mine, where the ore is processed in the form of pellets, or “fines.” At a steelmaking site, the iron ore is conventionally converted to metallic iron by reduction of the iron ore pellets with coke in a blast furnace.…

Hydrogen from Nuclear Power Test Set at Idaho Lab

May 18, 2021

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The post Hydrogen from Nuclear Power Test Set at Idaho Lab appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A California company that introduced a new electrolyzer technology last year has announced an agreement with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to test how nuclear energy can create clean hydrogen using the product.

San Jose-based Bloom Energy on May 18 said INL will use the company’s solid oxide, high-temperature electrolyzer to produce carbon-free hydrogen through electrolysis, powered by nuclear generation. Bloom on Tuesday said the electricity generated by nuclear facilities could produce “cost-effective hydrogen,” including during periods when the power grid has an ample supply of electricity. Rather than ramping down to prevent an oversupply of power, the plant can use its electricity to produce hydrogen.

INL, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a nuclear science and technology lab. The facility’s team leads research, development, and demonstration projects to support and expand the use of nuclear energy. The group, like those in other countries, is involved with supporting the growth of a hydrogen economy, a sector with a rapidly growing market as governments and industries worldwide seek to decarbonize their operations.…

Australia Pulls Job Stimulus Worth 5% of GDP in Test for Economy – Bloomberg

March 28, 2021

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Australia Pulls Job Stimulus Worth 5% of GDP in Test for Economy Bloomberg
“job” – Google News…