Engineering topics

Linne, Diane L.

Publications and source records attributed to Linne, Diane L..

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS2018

Advanced Manifolds for Improved Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Performance

An investigation was conducted to see if additive manufacturing could be used to fabricate more efficient manifold designs for improved flow, reduced stresses, and decreased number of joints to be sealed for a solid oxide electrolyzer used to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Computational flow and mechanical modeling were conducted on a NASA Glenn Research Center patented cell and stack design with the potential to achieve a 3-4 times mass reduction. Various manifold designs were modeled, and two were downselected to be fabricated and tested. Some benefit was seen in a baffled manifold design, which directed incoming flow more effectively into the flow channels, compared to the original design, where the flow spent more time within the manifold itself. Flow measurements indicated some non-uniformity of flow across the channels at higher flow rates, which were not predicted by the model. Some possible explanations for the differences are discussed.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Current Activities in the Advanced Exploration Systems ISRU Project

Media Filter MOXIE support: completed flow performance tests and initial dust loading tests of the MOXIE HEPA filter in the Mars Flow Loop Designed and fabricated prototype full-scale scroll filter for testing of renewable filter performance Mars Flow Loop upgrades: installed more sensitive instrumentation, improved imaging, and increased run duration capability Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) Plasma-physics based model predicts particle charge and trajectory Characterizing dust environment from fluidized-bed injection dust environment using laser sheet visualization and Fine Particle Analyzer Sabatier Design Study Defined the Sabatier design space, including reactor type, thermal management, gas recycling/separation Modeled Sabatier systems with one or two reactors with different types of thermal management Adding thermal management schemes and recycling and gas separation to model Catalyst Screening Performing compression testing on new and used catalyst pellets Performing vibration testing on different catalyst pellet types under different load conditions Preparing to test catalysts for performance and degradation

In-Situ Resource Utilization↗

NASA NTRS2018

Extraction of Water from Martian Regolith Simulant via Open Reactor Concept

To demonstrate proof of concept water extraction from simulated Martian regolith, an open reactor design is presented along with experimental results. The open reactor concept avoids sealing surfaces and complex moving parts. In an abrasive environment like the Martian surface, those reactor elements would be difficult to maintain and present a high probability of failure. A general lunar geotechnical simulant was modified by adding borax decahydrate (Na2B4O7·10H2O) (BDH) to mimic the ~ 3 percent water content of hydrated salts in near surface soils on Mars. A rotating bucket wheel excavated the regolith from a source bin and deposited the material onto an inclined copper tray, which was fitted with heaters and a simple vibration system. The combination of vibration, tilt angle and heat was used to separate and expose as much regolith surface area as possible to liberate the water contained in the hydrated minerals, thereby increasing the efficiency of the system. The experiment was conducted in a vacuum system capable of maintaining a Martian like atmosphere. Evolved water vapor was directed to a condensing system using the ambient atmosphere as a sweep gas. The water vapor was condensed and measured. Processed simulant was captured in a collection bin and weighed in real time. The efficiency of the system was determined by comparing pre- and post-processing soil mass along with the volume of water captured.

Trunek, Andrew J.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Overview of NASA Technology Development for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) encompasses a broad range of systems that enable the production and use of extraterrestrial resources in support of future exploration missions. It has the potential to greatly reduce the dependency on resources transported from Earth (e.g., propellants, life support consumables), thereby significantly improving the ability to conduct future missions. Recognizing the critical importance of ISRU for the future, NASA is currently conducting technology development projects in two of its four mission directorates. The Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Agency's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate has initiated a new project for ISRU Technology focused on component, subsystem, and system maturation in the areas of water volatiles resource acquisition, and water volatiles and atmospheric processing into propellants and other consumable products. The Space Technology Mission Directorate is supporting development of ISRU component technologies in the areas of Mars atmosphere acquisition, including dust management, and oxygen production from Mars atmosphere for propellant and life support consumables. Together, these two coordinated projects are working towards a common goal of demonstrating ISRU technology and systems in preparation for future flight applications.

In-situ Resource Utilization↗

NASA NTRS2017

Leveraging Terrestrial Industry for Utilization of Space Resources

NASA's Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration released in October of 2015 states that NASA is working toward the capability to work, operate, and sustainably live safely beyond Earth. To progress from our current "Earth-Reliant" approach to exploration and eventually become "Earth Independent", we need to first identify resources in space and then learn to use and harvest them to minimize logistics from Earth, reduce costs, and enable sustainable and affordable space transportation and surface operations. Known as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), the collection and conversion of space resources into products such as propellants, fuel cell reactants, and life support consumables can greatly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of space exploration. Also, the ability to perform civil engineering, construction, and manufacturing at sites of exploration can also allow for increased crew safety and sustainable growth in critical infrastructure. Much of what NASA wants to do on the Moon and Mars with respect to harnessing and utilizing space resources has been performed and perfected on Earth over the centuries. While minimizing mass and operating in the vacuum of space may be unique challenges to NASA, both terrestrial industry and NASA face many of the same challenges associated with operating in severe environments, minimizing maintenance and logistics, maximizing performance per unit mass and volume, performing remote and autonomous operations, and integrating hardware from many vendors and countries. In the end, both NASA and terrestrial industry need to obtain a return on the investment for the development and deployment of these capabilities. This paper will first examine what is ISRU and what are the space resources of interest. The paper will than discuss what are NASA's approach, life cycle, and economic considerations for implementing ISRU. The paper will outline the site and infrastructure needs associated with a phased implementation of ISRU into human missions to the Moon and Mars. The paper will than assess what technologies and operations from terrestrial industries are relevant and synergistic with ISRU (from prospecting to product storage), and what challenges and similarities between the two can be exploited. Lastly, the paper will end with a discussion on where do we go from here for industry and NASA to collaborate.

Sanders, Gerald B.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Leveraging Terrestrial Industry for Utilization of Space Resources

No abstract available

Sanders, Gerald B.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Connecting Projects to Complete the In Situ Resource Utilization Paradigm

Terrain Identify specifics such as slope, rockiness, traction parameters Identify what part of ISRU needs each Physical Geotechnical Hardness, density, cohesion, etc. Identify what part of ISRU needs each (e.g., excavation needs to know hardness, density; soil processing needs to know density, cohesion; etc.)Mineral Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Volatile Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Atmosphere Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Environment Identify specifics Identify what part of ISRU needs each Resource Characterization What: Develop an instrument suite to locate and evaluate the physical, mineral, and volatile resources at the lunar poles Neutron Spectrometer Near Infrared (IR) to locate subsurface hydrogen surface water Near IR for mineral identification Auger drill for sample removal down to 1 m Oven with Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer to quantify volatiles present ISRU relevance: Water volatile resource characterization and subsurface material access removal Site Evaluation Resource Mapping What: Develop and utilize new data products and tools for evaluating potential exploration sites for selection and overlay mission data to map terrain, environment, and resource information e.g., New techniques applied to generate Digital Elevation Map (DEMs) at native scale of images (1mpxl)ISRU relevance: Resource mapping and estimation with terrain and environment information is needed for extraction planning Mission Planning and Operations What: Develop and utilize tools and procedures for planning mission operations and real time changes Planning tools include detailed engineering models (e.g., power and data) of surface segment systems allows evaluation of designs ISRU relevance: Allows for iterative engineering as a function of environment and hardware performance.

Paradigm↗

NASA NTRS2016

Extraction and Capture of Water from Martian Regolith Experimental Proof-of-Concept

A novel concept for extraction of water from the Mars soil in a real-time, open-air process was demonstrated in a Mars environment chamber. The concept breadboard uses radiative heating to bake off water from exposed soil contained in a bin. An enclosure, intended to mimic the bottom of a rover, covers the bin. A fan continuously blows the Mars atmospheric gases through the enclosure to collect the evolved water while a tiller was used to churn up moist subsurface soil. These initial tests verified concept feasibility. The sweep gas generated by commercially available muffin fans at 7 Torr was sufficient to transfer water vapor into a condenser flow loop. The radiative heating, while non-optimized, heated the soil surface to 60 C to generate water vapor. A rototiller working through the soil bin brought sufficient amounts of new moist soil to the heated surface to show an increase in rate of water extraction.

Mars Exploration↗

NASA NTRS2015

Capability and Technology Performance Goals for the Next Step in Affordable Human Exploration of Space

The capability for living off the land, commonly called in-situ resource utilization, is finally gaining traction in space exploration architectures. Production of oxygen from the Martian atmosphere is called an enabling technology for human return from Mars, and a flight demonstration to be flown on the Mars 2020 robotic lander is in development. However, many of the individual components still require technical improvements, and system-level trades will be required to identify the best combination of technology options. Based largely on work performed for two recent roadmap activities, this paper defines the capability and technology requirements that will need to be achieved before this game-changing capability can reach its full potential.

Mars exploration↗

NASA NTRS2014

Waste Management Options for Long-Duration Space Missions: When to Reject, Reuse, or Recycle

The amount of waste generated on long-duration space missions away from Earth orbit creates the daunting challenge of how to manage the waste through reuse, rejection, or recycle. The option to merely dispose of the solid waste through an airlock to space was studied for both Earth-moon libration point missions and crewed Mars missions. Although the unique dynamic characteristics of an orbit around L2 might allow some discarded waste to intersect the lunar surface before re-impacting the spacecraft, the large amount of waste needed to be managed and potential hazards associated with volatiles recondensing on the spacecraft surfaces make this option problematic. A second option evaluated is to process the waste into useful gases to be either vented to space or used in various propulsion systems. These propellants could then be used to provide the yearly station-keeping needs at an L2 orbit, or if processed into oxygen and methane propellants, could be used to augment science exploration by enabling lunar mini landers to the far side of the moon.

Space processing↗

NASA NTRS2013

Demonstration of Critical Systems for Propellant Production on Mars for Science and Exploration Missions

A Mars hopper has been proposed as a Mars mobility concept that will also demonstrate and advance in-situ resource utilization. The components needed in a Mars propellant production plant have been developed to various levels of technology maturity, but there is little experience with the systems in a Mars environment. Two systems for the acquisition and compression of the thin carbon dioxide atmosphere were designed, assembled, and tested in a Mars environment chamber. A microchannel sorption pump system was able to raise the pressure from 7 Torr to 450 Torr or from 12 Torr to over 700 Torr in two stages. This data now provides information needed to make additional improvements in the sorption pump technology to increase performance, although a system-level analysis might prove that some amount of pre- or post-compression may be a preferred solution. A mini cryofreezer system was also evaluated as an alternative method for carbon dioxide acquisition and compression. Finally, an electrolysis system was tested and successfully demonstrated start-up operation and thermal stability of all components during long-term operation in the chamber.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Mars Surface Mobility Leading to Sustainable Exploration

A Mars rocket-propelled hopper concept was evaluated for feasibility through analysis and experiments. The approach set forth in this paper is to combine the use of in-situ resources in a new Mars mobility concept that will greatly enhance the science return while providing the first opportunity towards reducing the risk of incorporating ISRU into the critical path for the highly coveted, but currently unaffordable, sample return mission. Experimental tests were performed on a high-pressure, self-throttling gaseous oxygen/methane propulsion system to simulate a two-burn-with-coast hop profile. Analysis of the trajectory, production plant requirements, and vehicle mass indicates that a small hopper vehicle could hop 2 km every 30 days with an initial mass of less than 60 kg. A larger vehicle can hop 15 km every 30 to 60 days with an initial mass of 300 to 430 kg.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Employing ISRU Models to Improve Hardware Design

An analytical model for hydrogen reduction of regolith was used to investigate the effects of several key variables on the energy and mass performance of reactors for a lunar in-situ resource utilization oxygen production plant. Reactor geometry, reaction time, number of reactors, heat recuperation, heat loss, and operating pressure were all studied to guide hardware designers who are developing future prototype reactors. The effects of heat recuperation where the incoming regolith is pre-heated by the hot spent regolith before transfer was also investigated for the first time. In general, longer reaction times per batch provide a lower overall energy, but also result in larger and heavier reactors. Three reactors with long heat-up times results in similar energy requirements as a two-reactor system with all other parameters the same. Three reactors with heat recuperation results in energy reductions of 20 to 40 percent compared to a three-reactor system with no heat recuperation. Increasing operating pressure can provide similar energy reductions as heat recuperation for the same reaction times.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Component and System Sensitivity Considerations for Design of a Lunar ISRU Oxygen Production Plant

Component and system sensitivities of some design parameters of ISRU system components are analyzed. The differences between terrestrial and lunar excavation are discussed, and a qualitative comparison of large and small excavators is started. The effect of excavator size on the size of the ISRU plant's regolith hoppers is presented. Optimum operating conditions of both hydrogen and carbothermal reduction reactors are explored using recently developed analytical models. Design parameters such as batch size, conversion fraction, and maximum particle size are considered for a hydrogen reduction reactor while batch size, conversion fraction, number of melt zones, and methane flow rate are considered for a carbothermal reduction reactor. For both reactor types the effect of reactor operation on system energy and regolith delivery requirements is presented.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS2007

ISRU System Model Tool: From Excavation to Oxygen Production

In the late 80's, conceptual designs for an in situ oxygen production plant were documented in a study by Eagle Engineering [1]. In the "Summary of Findings" of this study, it is clearly pointed out that: "reported process mass and power estimates lack a consistent basis to allow comparison." The study goes on to say: "A study to produce a set of process mass, power, and volume requirements on a consistent basis is recommended." Today, approximately twenty years later, as humans plan to return to the moon and venture beyond, the need for flexible up-to-date models of the oxygen extraction production process has become even more clear. Multiple processes for the production of oxygen from lunar regolith are being investigated by NASA, academia, and industry. Three processes that have shown technical merit are molten regolith electrolysis, hydrogen reduction, and carbothermal reduction. These processes have been selected by NASA as the basis for the development of the ISRU System Model Tool (ISMT). In working to develop up-to-date system models for these processes NASA hopes to accomplish the following: (1) help in the evaluation process to select the most cost-effective and efficient process for further prototype development, (2) identify key parameters, (3) optimize the excavation and oxygen production processes, and (4) provide estimates on energy and power requirements, mass and volume of the system, oxygen production rate, mass of regolith required, mass of consumables, and other important parameters. Also, as confidence and high fidelity is achieved with each component's model, new techniques and processes can be introduced and analyzed at a fraction of the cost of traditional hardware development and test approaches. A first generation ISRU System Model Tool has been used to provide inputs to the Lunar Architecture Team studies.

Santiago-Maldonado, Edgardo↗

NASA NTRS2007

System Modeling of Lunar Oxygen Production: Mass and Power Requirements

A systems analysis tool for estimating the mass and power requirements for a lunar oxygen production facility is introduced. The individual modeling components involve the chemical processing and cryogenic storage subsystems needed to process a beneficiated regolith stream into liquid oxygen via ilmenite reduction. The power can be supplied from one of six different fission reactor-converter systems. A baseline system analysis, capable of producing 15 metric tons of oxygen per annum, is presented. The influence of reactor-converter choice was seen to have a small but measurable impact on the system configuration and performance. Finally, the mission concept of operations can have a substantial impact upon individual component size and power requirements.

Steffen, Christopher J.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Investigation of Instabilities and Heat Transfer Phenomena in Supercritical Fuels at High Heat Flux and Temperatures

A series of heated tube experiments was performed to investigate fluid instabilities that occur during heating of supercritical fluids. In these tests, JP-7 flowed vertically through small diameter tubes at supercritical pressures. Test section heated length, diameter, mass flow rate, inlet temperature, and heat flux were varied in an effort to determine the range of conditions that trigger the instabilities. Heat flux was varied up to 4 BTU/sq in./s, and test section wall temperatures reached as high as 1950 F. A statistical model was generated to explain the trends and effects of the control variables. The model included no direct linear effect of heat flux on the occurrence of the instabilities. All terms involving inlet temperature were negative, and all terms involving mass flow rate were positive. Multiple tests at conditions that produced instabilities provided inconsistent results. These inconsistencies limit the use of the model as a predictive tool. Physical variables that had been previously postulated to control the onset of the instabilities, such as film temperature, velocity, buoyancy, and wall-to-bulk temperature ratio, were evaluated here. Film temperatures at or near critical occurred during both stable and unstable tests. All tests at the highest velocity were stable, but there was no functional relationship found between the instabilities and velocity, or a combination of velocity and temperature ratio. Finally, all of the unstable tests had significant buoyancy at the inlet of the test section, but many stable tests also had significant buoyancy forces.

Linne, Diane L.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Forced Convection Boiling and Critical Heat Flux of Ethanol in Electrically Heated Tube Tests

Electrically heated tube tests were conducted to characterize the critical heat flux (transition from nucleate to film boiling) of subcritical ethanol flowing at conditions relevant to the design of a regeneratively cooled rocket engine thrust chamber. The coolant was SDA-3C alcohol (95% ethyl alcohol, 5% isopropyl alcohol by weight), and tests were conducted over the following ranges of conditions: pressure from 144 to 703 psia, flow velocities from 9.7 to 77 ft/s, coolant subcooling from 33 to 362 F, and critical heat fluxes up to 8.7 BTU/in(exp 2)/sec. For the data taken near 200 psia, critical heat flux was correlated as a function of the product of velocity and fluid subcooling to within +/- 20%. For data taken at higher pressures, an additional pressure term is needed to correlate the critical heat flux. It was also shown that at the higher test pressures and/or flow rates, exceeding the critical heat flux did not result in wall burnout. This result may significantly increase the engine heat flux design envelope for higher pressure conditions.

Meyer, Michael L.↗