High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation: Fall 2024 Selected Projects
Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office
February 19, 2026
minute read time
Description
On February 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it would provide $4.8 million in funding to 12 projects that were selected through its High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) program to advance the performance and vitality of the U.S. manufacturing sector. These short-term, collaborative projects between industry members and DOE’s national energy labs will apply advanced modeling, simulation, data analysis, and AI to projects that improve manufacturing and explore new materials for advanced energy applications.
This round of selections focuses on topic areas associated with HPC4EI’s HPC4Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) program, which is supported by DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation.
HPC4EI is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).
Selectees
Award amounts are subject to change pending negotiations.
| Project Title | Company | Location | Description | DOE Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modeling Moisture Management for Improved Asphalt Production | Construction Partners, Inc | Dothan, AL | Construction Partners, Inc. and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are collaborating to optimize aggregate moisture management for advanced hot mix asphalt (HMA) production under various environmental conditions. The team will develop high-fidelity finite element models that capture complex geometries, spatially varying physical properties, and the coupling of heat, mass, and momentum transport. These models will form the basis for a field-deployable software tool, offering site-specific, quantitative assessments of moisture mitigation strategies. The project is expected to lead to reduced drying costs, improved asphalt mixture quality, and increased production rates for the U.S. asphalt industry. | $400,000 |
| Laser Additive Manufacturing Process Optimization | DMG MORI | Chicago, IL | DMG MORI and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are collaborating on an HPC4EI project to address challenges in additive manufacturing (AM) of energy-critical components. While AM enables the optimal production of complex, customized parts, there are still uncertainties related to product quality, performance, and cost. This project aims to develop an automated, laser-specific process optimization tool tailored for DMG MORI’s laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) systems, helping to improve manufacturing performance and repeatability. | $400,000 |
| HPC to Optimize Flash Processing of Steel | Flash Steelworks, Inc. | Washington, MI | Flash Steelworks, Inc. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are partnering to leverage high performance computing in the development of advanced flash processing for steel plates and sheets using rapid electrical heating. This innovative process produces a unique microstructure with a non-uniform distribution of bainite, martensite, and retained austenite, resulting in steel with outstanding strength and ductility. By substituting traditional furnace-based heat treatment with the flash process, the project targets significant energy and cost savings for the steel industry. | $400,000 |
| Model Development for Laser Ablation of Graphite for Faster Charging Batteries | Ford Motor Company | Dearborn, MI | Ford Motor Company and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) are collaborating on a project that uses high-performance computing to develop a high-fidelity multi-phase mesoscale model of wetting and ion transport in laser-ablated electrodes. This model will help define the minimum laser and manufacturing requirements for GWh-scale battery production. By optimizing laser electrode ablation, the project aims to reduce DC fast charge (DCFC) time, lower costs, and extend battery lifetime, ultimately improving customer confidence in electrified powertrain performance and value. | $400,000 |
| Advanced Inspection Solutions for Materials Joining in Large-Scale EV Battery Manufacturing | General Motors LLC | Warren, MI | General Motors and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are teaming to create advanced, high-performance computing and AI-powered solutions for inspecting materials joining in large-scale EV battery manufacturing. The project involves developing a 2D X-ray simulation tool and generating physics-based 3D CT weld volumes that include microstructural details. These innovations will form the basis of a nondestructive inspection framework for welds, ensuring the integrity of critical battery components and supporting a zero-defect process control strategy that can be applied across multiple industries. | $400,000 |
| Membranes to Enhance the Production of Natural Gas Purification | GENERON (Phase 2 Project) | Pittsburg, CA | In this Phase 2 project, GENERON and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will continue their collaboration to advance natural gas purification, aiming for efficient and cost-effective production of pipeline-quality gas. The project seeks to improve performance and reduce manufacturing costs for hollow fiber membranes by accounting for variability resulting from the manufacturing process. The team will integrate models across multiple scales, including direct numerical simulations at the fiber and bundle scales, effective medium models for flow and mass transfer, and a computational fluid dynamics toolset for module-scale design optimization. The project is anticipated to enhance the proficiency and compactness of natural gas purification devices and to develop a computational approach relevant to other membranes and porous media. | $400,000 |
| Process Optimization for Cost-Effective Gas-to-Methanol System | M2X Energy Inc. (Phase 2 Project) | Rockledge, FL | This Phase 2 project continues the collaboration between M2X Energy Inc. and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to optimize M2X's gas-to-methanol system. Building on Phase 1 achievements, the team will conduct high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations to optimize the engine reformer's operational strategies and the compressor design for use of landfill gas as a feedstock. This work advances modular chemical manufacturing technology, aiming for significant improvements in operating costs, capital expenditure, and energy productivity. The project fosters domestic methanol production by creating an economically viable pathway to convert diverse, low-value waste streams into high-value methanol. | $400,000 |
| Enhancing Electrified Heating Strategies for Affordable Domestic Graphite Production | Seerstone Development | Provo, UT | Seerstone Development, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), aims to enhance the Noyes Process for producing graphite using an electro-thermal fluidized bed reactor (eFBR). Leveraging HPC-scale multiphysics simulations, ORNL will develop a validated representation of the Noyes Process to optimize the eFBR design, focusing on gas-catalyst interactions and high-efficiency heating. The project also seeks to explore methane-hydrogen feedstock blends to reduce operating costs, ultimately establishing a resilient and affordable domestic supply of electrode-, battery-, and nuclear-grade graphite | $400,000 |
| Process Optimization for High Precision Semiconductor Chip Manufacturing | TEL Technology Center, America, LLC | Albany, NY | TEL Technology Center, America, LLC and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are collaborating to simulate industrial fabrication processes using the GPU-accelerated Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code WarpX developed at LBNL. By integrating these advanced simulations with a machine learning-based Bayesian optimization workflow (using the optimas code), the project aims to optimize processes for ultra-high precision, scalable chip manufacturing. | $400,000 |
| Enhancing Ethylene Oxide Production | The Dow Chemical Company | Lake Jackson, TX | The Dow Chemical Company is collaborating with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to transform ethylene oxide production. This project aims to couple ethylene oxide production with carbon dioxide splitting using dynamic Joule heating to increase yield and decrease energy use. The team will employ large-scale computational simulations, including density functional theory and machine learning, to study reaction pathways and identify optimal catalysts, alongside experimental validation. This initiative is expected to deliver substantial energy and cost savings, accelerate technological advancements, and foster a more productive and competitive American chemical industry, with reduced reliance on imports. | $400,000 |
| Improved Manufacturing Production of Solid-State Batteries | Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America TEMA (Phase 2 Project) | Ann Arbor, MI | Toyota and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are working together on a Phase II project focused on advancing TRINA’s innovative Li-ion solid state electrolytes (SSEs), which have the potential to enable scalable energy production of solid-state batteries. In Phase I, the team identified critical factors affecting the processability and performance of pristine SSEs. Phase II will expand this work by investigating composite SSEs, similar to those used in actual battery cell manufacturing, with the goal of optimizing both manufacturability and mechanical strength while maintaining high battery performance. | $400,000 |
| Enabling Cost-Effective, Large-Scale Domestic Production of Magnesium Metal | U.S. Green Magnesium | Dallas, TX | U.S. Green Magnesium, LLC, in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), seeks to enhance the carbothermal reduction process for producing magnesium metal from magnesium oxide. The project's objective is to reduce energy use, mineral consumption, and waste generation in magnesium production, a critical material for the U.S. economy. The team will use high-performance computing for computational fluid dynamics simulations to optimize component geometry to promote ideal crystallization, improve metal recovery, and maintain efficiency across varying production conditions. This effort aims to foster a secure, cost-effective domestic magnesium supply, with potential applications in other metallurgical quenching processes. | $400,000 |