COMMUNITY OUTREACH & INVOLVEMENT

NETL-Albany Teams up with Firefighters to Practice Confined Space Rescues

A drill conducted at the NETL research campus in Albany, Oregon, gave firefighters and the Lab’s emergency response organization (ERO) the opportunity to overcome several challenging obstacles and coordinate efforts in a simulation to rescue personnel trapped in a confined space filled with toxic gas.
As part of a full-scale emergency exercise, members of the City of Albany Fire Department responded to NETL to rescue a pair of “unconscious workers” (life size rescue dummies) who were overcome by hydrogen sulfide while conducting an inspection in a narrow tunnel.

Tom Henke, a city firefighter and paramedic, said the drill quickly grew in complexity when firefighters arrived. The confined space was filled with pipes, ruling out the use of a conventional ladder to access the area. Instead, firefighters wearing self-contained breathing apparatus had to be lowered into the tunnel using a tripod and winch.

Life-size rescue dummies, placed in the dark, damp tunnel to replicate the unconscious workers, were then extricated through the maze of pipes and hoisted to the surface through a manhole.

The ERO staff and firefighters collaborated to address each challenge. “I think the exercise went really well,” Henke said.

The event marked the first full-scale emergency drill at NETL-Albany since the pandemic. In the period between the previous drill and this summer’s exercise, several new city firefighters and dispatchers have joined the department.

Collaborating with NETL is important to prepare those newer hires for the unexpected. “There is no teacher like experience,” Henke said. “It’s important to become accustomed to what can occur and placing that experience in your mental Rolodex, so you are better prepared in the event of an actual emergency.”

Plus, training drills allow those involved to understand their roles in a learning environment, making them more confident to respond under pressure.  
NETL was well-prepared for the drill. Henke said one of the main streets on campus was under construction, but NETL efficiently re-routed responding units to the scene of the simulated emergency without significantly impacting response time.

“We are committed to working closely with firefighters and other first responders in the Albany area to ensure a heightened level of emergency preparedness,” said Gerald “Jerry” Simkonis, NETL’s Emergency Response Program manager.

“The exercise also enabled NETL incident commanders and all members of the ERO team to sharpen their skills and communicate needed site information to firefighters in an efficient manner and better understand the needs of the firefighters,” Simkonis said.

Most confined spaces are not designed for workers to enter and work in them on a routine basis. They are designed to store a product, enclose materials and processes or transport products or substances. Therefore, occasional worker entry for inspection, maintenance, repair, cleanup or similar tasks is often difficult and dangerous due to chemical or physical hazards within the space.

“At a minimum, employers and workers should test atmospheric conditions prior to entry and continuously monitor them during the entire entry,” Simkonis said. “You cannot see or smell many toxic gases and vapors, nor can you determine if sufficient oxygen is present without proper monitoring.”

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See the Winners of NETL’s 2023 Earth Day Poster Contest!

Elementary students from schools near NETL’s laboratory sites in Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR are helping NETL spread the word about Earth Day 2023, observed on April 22, during our annual Earth Day Poster Contest. This special planet-centric day emphasizes the importance of recycling, conserving energy and improving air quality. The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in Our Planet. What will you do?”. Students were invited to design posters featuring their favorite ways to restore the Earth and its precious resources. First-, second-, third- and fourth-place winning posters are displayed below and were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. for display there.

Right now more than ever, our community needs us during this pandemic. AFGE is proud to support FISH of Albany where donations go to assist with medicine, food, and shelter. FISH helps nearly 300 families a week with their food pantry and provides snack packs for the Greater Albany Public School weekend programs. ​

Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

We are actively engaged with the community to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education from K-12 through graduate school.

​Please contact us if you would like to have someone from NETL speak or participate at your event!

Recent STEM Events with NETL Albany Participation

GirlCon 2021 Four scientists at NETL are inspiring girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at GirlCon 2021, an international tech conference aiming to empower the next generation of female leaders. Natalie Pekney, Alexandra Hakala, Circe Verba and Madison Wenzlick are slated to present at several sessions throughout the conference to share their career stories, offer tips for working in energy and address challenges girls may face in pursuing STEM.

ExploraVision Student Summit –Open Window School (Belleview, WA) Student Leadership Innovation Summit - December 2, 2020 – This grades 5th–7th virtual STEM career event involved innovative leaders influential in enacting key policies, initiatives, or programs to bring about change within their industry or field.  These leaders shared information about their fields and organizations, their careers, the top challenges facing their industries/fields and current solutions, their visions for the future of their fields, and what innovations they would like to see developed to transform their industry and the potential impact these may have.  Following the summit, students participated in the ExploraVision competition where they selected an issue they are passionate about and began work in small teams to tackle these issues through the utilization of innovative technology.  Through NETL’s participation students gained an awareness of NETL, the fossil energy field, and the energy challenges and solutions facing the US. 

Society of Women Engineers Virtual career fair on November 4-5, 2020

Oregon State University’s (OSU) Natural Sciences, Earth & Environmental Career Fair.  October 22, 2020.  This virtual event provided OSU undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to network with, seek information about, and investigate intern/full-time/volunteer employment opportunities with NETL and a variety of other private, corporate, and governmental organizations.

The Albany Regional Museum featured the Albany Research Center in its Albany Special Metals exhibit and accompanying video 

Spotlights

Billy Epting

Working for NETL at its research site in Albany, Oregon, has provided Billy Epting with an abundance of opportunities to explore his true passions — developing solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) technology to address climate change and enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest with his family.

“I got into my field because I wanted to address climate change, solve our energy challenges and make the energy landscape in our country cleaner and more sustainable,” Epting said.

A senior research scientist, Epting is advancing SOFC and SOEC technology to serve as an efficient, combustion-less, virtually pollution-free power source to help the nation meet its clean energy goals, which call for a net-zero carbon emission electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050. Examples in nature that underscore the importance of his work are close at hand. “Living near Eugene provides us with easy access to the rugged and scenic Pacific coast. The Cascade Mountains, full of old-growth forests, crystal-clear lakes and other stunning beauty, are about an hour to the east,” Epting said.

Over a recent holiday weekend, Epting and his family traveled a few hours south to take in the majesty of the ancient coastal redwoods found in northern California. “We love nature,” Epting said. “My wife, Julia, and I take our children (Naomi, who will soon start kindergarten, and Alden, 1½) hiking and camping every chance we get.”

Exploring the region’s natural splendor with his children drives Epting. “I care deeply about leaving the world a better place for them, and SOFCs and SOECs are an important part of the NETL technology portfolio to reach that objective,” he said. SOFCs are electrochemical conversion devices that produce electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. They are highly efficient and produce far less carbon dioxide, require very little water and use less fuel while providing the same amount of electricity as today’s combustion-based fossil energy technologies. SOFCs can efficiently convert a variety of abundant domestic fuels into clean power via electrochemical reactions. SOECs can use clean electricity to generate hydrogen as a clean fuel for generating electricity later when it is needed as well as for long-haul trucking and other applications.

Every fuel cell or electrolyzer has two electrodes — an anode and a cathode where electricity-producing chemical reactions take place. One of the primary obstacles to widespread commercialization of the technology is degradation, a gradual decline in performance that limits the device’s lifespan. Contributors to performance degradation are tied to the microstructural composition of the positive and negative electrodes.

Epting and his NETL colleagues are using the Lab’s cutting-edge computational tools to model thousands of simulated microstructures as they seek to boost the performance and longevity of this energy-efficient, near-zero-emission technology.

“These are very complicated systems with complicated microstructures, and characterizing and modeling these processes is resource-intensive, with many variables to consider,” Epting said. “Deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) helps us understand the results of our many-variable models and develop ML-based materials with enhanced longevity.”

Away from work, Epting enjoys the benefits of an eco-friendly lifestyle. For instance, the Epting family has a small flock of chickens, which can produce up to 20 fresh eggs a week. A mix of leafy greens and other vegetables can be found in their garden. “I love to grow big patches of lettuce mixes (such as mesclun). I can go out and pick fresh greens any time I want a salad and keep it going half the year, with occasionally re-sowing. Also, nothing beats watching our daughter eat sugar snap peas straight off the vine,” Epting said. Before relocating to Oregon in July 2020, Epting studied at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and worked at NETL’s research campus near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While in Pittsburgh, he participated in Tree Tender, a volunteer program that plants and cares for trees that can thrive in urban areas. “I love trees,” said Epting, adding he takes special pride in the magnolia tree and Douglas fir growing at his Oregon home. Caring for those trees, the garden, flowers and other plants is a priority. Natural pollination is one key to maintaining healthy vegetation. “Bees are one of the world’s most important pollinators, so I would like to have a beehive, too,” Epting said.

Lee Jensen

He is the man to know at NETL’s research campus in Albany, Oregon.

As lead facilities and project engineer at NETL-Albany, Lee Jensen keeps his finger on the pulse of small and large construction activities and other improvements planned at the U.S. Department of Energy research site.

“He is the main point of contact for everything Albany,” said Larry Kincell, Jensen’s supervisor. “He’s very much on top of everything happening.” 
Multiple construction projects are scheduled in the near term at the 42-acre campus. Jensen will play a major role in advancing many of them, including high-profile projects to expand NETL-Albany’s expertise in the development of high-performance alloys and to increase its use of clean energy.
A mechanical engineer who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Utah State University and the University of Utah, respectively, Jensen wears many hats in the performance of his duties. He relies on his extensive background and experience to develop project schedules, review designs and even serve as NETL-Albany’s unofficial historic preservationist.  

“The variety of the work makes life very interesting for me because I am always learning about new things,” said Jensen, who has worked at NETL-Albany since 2004.

Construction of the Advanced Alloys Signature Center (AASC) at NETL-Albany is planned to begin in early 2024.  NETL-Albany is internationally recognized for its leadership in developing advanced materials and alloys for use in energy applications and extreme service environments. The AASC will accelerate the development of innovative alloys for commercialization and ensure the United Sates maintains its leadership in the specialty alloy sector.

“It’s an important project because it creates a state-of-the-art metals fabrication facility that will contain three test laboratories to develop alloys with optimum performance characteristics,” Jensen said.

High-performance alloys are needed for many industrial applications and to reduce emissions generated by power plants. “Advanced alloys are essential to build components that can withstand higher temperatures and pressures so that intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power can be used with greater frequency to produce electricity,” Jensen said.

Jensen’s list of other major projects for 2024 includes construction of a 1-megawatt solar array in the southern portion of the NETL-Albany site.
Currently, up to 97% of the power for NETL-Albany comes from the Bonneville Power Administration, which delivers reliable, inexpensive and carbon-free hydropower produced in the Columbia River Basin to communities across the Northwest.

“When the on-site solar project is completed, all energy for the Albany site will be from renewable sources,” Jensen said.

He is involved in other major projects that have yet to proceed to the design stage. These projects include the development of the Geoscience, Environmental and Materials (GEMS) Computational facility. Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, GEMS will support advanced computing competencies applied to materials, computational fluid dynamic modeling and geoscience research.

In addition, Jensen anticipates leading the space management team in Albany in developing a hybrid workplace environment that enables employees to enhance meaningful in-person collaboration to improve efficiency and retention.

Other projects are linked to NETL-Albany’s historic past.

The NETL-Albany site traces its origins to 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that a new electro-metallurgical laboratory would be established in Albany. Prior to becoming a research site, the property that houses NETL-Albany served as the campus of the Albany Collegiate Institute.
In the intervening 80 years since FDR’s announcement, the Albany site has become one of the nation’s premier materials research laboratories, helping birth both the zirconium and titanium industries. In 1984, ASM International, the world’s largest and most established materials information society, recognized the laboratory for pioneering the process of making ductile zirconium and designated the site an ASM Historic Landmark.

Jensen noted that one of the oldest buildings on-site was once used as a college dormitory. However, it is no longer structurally safe and is scheduled for demolition. Before demolition occurs, Jensen is working with Oregon’s State Historic Preservation Office to document the historic significance of the building and identify items to salvage and preserve.
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“So far, that list includes fireplaces, hearths and mantles that could be donated to a local history organization so that chapter of our site is not forgotten,” Jensen said.

Phillip Lemonds, site manager at NETL-Albany, said Jensen understands the importance of collaboration and coordination to achieve positive results.  
“Lee was the project manager for the widening of the NETL-Albany main entrance. He worked closely with the City of Albany months in advance to schedule the main entrance work to coincide with the city’s road work on Queen Avenue,” Lemonds said.

Thanks to these efforts, both the main entrance and the Queen Avenue paving was completed before the school year began. “Lee did an exceptional job communicating all outages and finishing the project ahead of schedule,” Lemonds said.  

In his free time, Jensen enjoys fishing, hiking, camping and traveling with his wife, Debbie, and their sons, Daniel and Jacob.

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About Us

​American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1104 represents federal employees working at NETL-Albany. We would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and support from our contractor partners and research associates in helping us with accomplishing our mission. Thank you for your interest in our work!