A new dawn for AM: Symposium focuses on additive manufacturing’s future With some $20 million invested into more than 80 additive manufacturing (AM)-related research projects, Sandia’s commitment to additive manufacturing is clear. The challenge going forward is to synthesize the lessons from these disparate projects to realize the potential of this technology. “We [...]
Desirable Features of Power Towers for Utilities Because of their practical energy storage, solar power towers have two features that are particularly desirable for utilities: flexible capacity factors and a high degree of dispatchability. Power towers can be designed with annual capacity factors up to 60 percent, and as high as 80 percent in summer [...]
Vermont—a leader in energy efficiency and deployment of so-called smart-grid technology—will become home to a $15 million national energy research project, officials announced Monday. The Center for Energy Transformation and Innovation will be housed at the University of Vermont. The three-year project is a partnership among the state of Vermont, Sandia National Laboratories [...]
June 22, 2011 [singlepic id=978 w=320 h=240 float=right] In a paper titled “Nanoscale Effects on Heterojunction Electron Gases in GaN/AlGaN Core/Shell Nanowires” published in Nano Letters, Sandia scientist Bryan M. Wong, and EFRC scientists François Léonard, Qiming Li, and George T. Wang, present a theoretical and computational study of the electronic properties of core/shell nanowires. They [...]
June 27-28, 2011 [singlepic id=979 w=320 h=240 float=right] The rebound (or take-back) effect) is the term in energy economics used to describe the effectin which increases in energy efficiency do not necessarily lead to simple 1:1 decreases in energy consumption, but instead are “taken back” in the form of higher consumption of the goods and [...]
July 4, 2011 [singlepic id=980 w=320 h=240 float=right]Solid-state lighting is currently based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and phosphors. Solid-state lighting based on lasers would offer significant advantages including high potential efficiencies at high current densities. Light emitted from lasers, however, has a much narrower spectral linewidth than light emitted from LEDs or phosphors. Therefore it [...]
March 1, 2011[singlepic id=364 w=320 h=240 float=right] The fundamental interaction governing light emission from semiconductor materials is the coupling between electronic states in the semiconductor and a local electromagnetic field. The current generation of solid-state lighting devices operates in the so-called “weak-coupling” regime, in which the rate of energy transfer between the electronic states and [...]
Focus areas for predictive simulation of advanced engines: Couple state-of-the-art Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) and optical engine experiments to provide significantly enhanced quantitative information and understanding. Spray modeling and experimentation in dense spray and nozzle internal flow regions, including physics like cavitation and flash boiling Spray Combustion Consortium (SCC) The Combustion Research Facility [...]
Stationary Power Our work in stationary power includes the deployment of clean electricity, which requires integration with a modernized grid infrastructure, and enhancements in energy efficiency as a direct influence on energy productivity and economic competitiveness. Energy Conversion Efficiency High-efficiency conversion of low and zero-carbon energy sources to electricity Grid [...]
