J.A. Dirks

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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i-10 index

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Co-Authors

D.R. Brown

Dalhousie University

Katherine A. Cort

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Donna J. Hostick

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Travis Williams

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

David B. Belzer

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Douglas B. Elliott

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Michael J. Scott

University of Chicago

Dave M. Anderson

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

S.A. Shankle

University of Florida

Eric E. Richman

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Cooperative Institutions

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

United States Department of Commerce

National Technical Information Service

Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Battelle

University of Maryland, College Park

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

United States Department of Energy

Joint Global Change Research Institute

University Research Co (United States)

Author Statistics

Papers

Citation

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Economic Sizing and Dispatch of Central Energy Plant Equipment at the Navy Medical Center, San Diego

Cogeneration & Distributed Generation Journal (2002)

D.R. Brown J.A. Dirks

ABSTRACT The Navy operates a central energy plant providing cooling, heating, and electric power to their hospital in San Diego. With aging equipment, uncertain loads, and volatile energy prices, the Navy was facing critical issues regarding replacement equipment sizing and dispatch of all equipment at their facility. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a spreadsheet model to determine the economic optimum size of new turbine generators and absorption chillers, and the economic dispatch of the entire central energy plant. This article describes the analytical approach taken for the study, with an emphasis on the optimization problems and strategies. Specific results for the Navy hospital are also presented.

Chiller

Absorption refrigerator

10.1080/10668680209508984

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Productivity increases in science

John Danko J.K. Young P.M. Molton J.A. Dirks

The study quantifies the impact on the cost of experimentation of synergistic advancements in instrumentation, theory, and computation over the last two decades. The study finds that the productivity of experimental investigation (experimental results/$) is increasing as science is transformed from a linear, isolated approach to a hierarchical, multidisciplinary approach. Developments such as massively parallel processors coupled with instrumental systems with multiple probes and diverse data analysis capabilities will further this transformation and increase the productivity of scientific studies. The complexities and scale of today`s scientific challenges are much greater than in the past, however, so that the costs of research are increasing. Even though science is much more productive in terms of the experimental results, the challenges facing scientific investigators are increasing at an even faster pace. New approaches to infrastructure investments must capitalize on the changing dynamics of research and allow the scientific community to maximize gains in productivity so that complex problems can be attacked cost-effectively. Research strategies that include user facilities and coordinated experimental, computational, and theoretical research are needed.

Pace

Scientific instrument

Scientific progress

10.2172/10138744

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Vulnerability of the US western electric grid to hydro-climatological conditions: How bad can it get?

Energy (2016)

Nathalie Voisin Michael Kintner‐Meyer Richard L. Skaggs Tony Nguyen Di Wu

Vulnerability

10.1016/j.energy.2016.08.059

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Citations (83)

Central Energy System Modernization at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

D.R. Brown William D. Chvála J.A. Dirks

An evaluation of technology options was conducted for the central energy systems at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. There were two objectives in conducting this study. From a broader viewpoint, the Army would like to develop a systematic approach to management of its central energy systems and selected Fort Jackson for this ''pilot'' study for a prospective Central Energy System Modernization Program. From a site-specific perspective, the objective was to identify the lowest life-cycle cost energy supply option(s) at Fort Jackson for buildings currently served by central boilers and chillers. This study was co-funded by the Army's Southeast Region and the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program.

10.2172/896344

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Solar thermal bowl concepts and economic comparisons for electricity generation

Travis Williams J.A. Dirks D.R. Brown Z.I. Antoniak R.T. Allemann

This study is aimed at providing a relative comparison of the thermodynamic and economic performance in electric applications for fixed mirror distributed focus (FMDF) solar thermal concepts which have been studied and developed in the DOE solar thermal program. Following the completion of earlier systems comparison studies in the late 1970's there have been a number of years of progress in solar thermal technology. This progress includes developing new solar components, improving component and system design details, constructing working systems, and collecting operating data on the systems. This study povides an update of the expected performance and cost of the major components, and an overall system energy cost for the FMDDF concepts evaluated. The projections in this study are for the late 1990's and are based on the potential capabilities that might be achieved with further technology development.

Component (thermodynamics)

Electricity system

10.2172/5045636

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Citations (3)

Impacts of climate change on energy consumption and peak demand in buildings: A detailed regional approach

Energy (2014)

J.A. Dirks Willy J. Gorrissen John H. Hathaway Daniel C. Skorski Michael J. Scott

Peak demand

energy demand

Consumption

Electricity demand

Demand Response

10.1016/j.energy.2014.08.081

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Citations (216)

Russian Apartment Building Thermal Response Models for Retrofit Selection and Verification

Peter R. Armstrong J.A. Dirks Richard B. Reilly James W. Currie R.J. Nesse

The Enterprise Housing Divestiture Project (EHDP) aims to identify cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation measures for Russian apartment buildings and to implement these measures in the entire stock of buildings undergoing divestiture in six cities. Short-term measurements of infiltration and exterior wall heat-loss coefficient were made in the cities of Cheropovets, Orenburg, Petrozavodsk, Ryazan, and Vladimir. Long-term monitoring equipment was installed in six or more buildings in the aforementioned and in the city of Volxhov. The results of these measurements will be used to calibrate models used to select optimal retrofit packages and to verify energy savings. The retrofit categories representing the largest technical potential in these buildings are envelope, heat recovery, and heating/hot water system improvements. This paper describes efforts to establish a useful thermal model calibration process. The model structures and analytical methods for obtaining building parameters from time series weather, energy use, and thermal response data are developed. Our experience applying these methods to two, nominally identical 5-story apartment buildings in the city of Ryazan is presented. Building envelope UA?s inferred from measured whole-building thermal response data are compared with UA?s based on window and wall U-values (the latter obtained by ASTM in-situ measurements of 20 wallmore » sections in various Ryazan panel buildings) as well. The UA's obtained by these completely independent measurements differ by less than 10%.« less

Building envelope

Envelope (radar)

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Documentation for FY2003 BTS GPRA metrics: Building technology, state and community programs

D.B. Belzer Katherine A. Cort J.A. Dirks Donna J. Hostick R. Pool

Estimates the fiscal year 2003 energy, environmental, and financial benefits of the technologies in DOE’s BTS office. Forecasted energy savings, consumer cost savings, and carbon benefits for 18 programs are included.

10.2172/1216522

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The value of energy efficiency programs for US residential and commercial buildings in a warmer world

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2007)

Michael J. Scott J.A. Dirks Katherine A. Cort

Primary energy

Carbon offset

Stock (firearms)

10.1007/s11027-007-9115-4

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Citations (27)

Value/cost optimization of solar central receiver electric power plants

J.A. Dirks C.J. Chiang

This paper describes a value and cost analysis of solar central receiver power plants using molten salt external receiver technology. These plants were assumed to operate within the service area of the Southern California Edison Company. The SOLERGY computer code was used to simulate the performance of the solar plants using 1984 weather data for Barstow, California. It is shown that a value-maximizing dispatch strategy which uses thermal storage to operate the turbine during the utility's peak demand period, in preference to the non-peak demand periods, can greatly increase the value of a solar central receiver power plant with little increase in the levelized energy cost. Results are presented as functions of storage capacity, type of dispatch strategy, size of the field relative to the turbine, and turbine size.

Solar Power

Grid parity

Peaking power plant

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