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Results for “energy conversion efficiencies”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Dynamics and efficiency of type III solar radio emission

Existing calculations of nonlinear coupling coefficients for fundamental and harmonic emission via three-wave interactions are refined and used to calculate the conversion efficiency of Langmuir energy into electromagnetic waves when the Langmuir waves have the observed bursty form. Resulting field strengths for harmonic emission are found to be consistent with typical International Sun Earth Explorer 3 (ISSE 3) observations at 1 AU. Fundamental emission at 1 AU is found to proceed only when stimulated by the presence of a source of ion sound waves. However, it is argued that electrostatic decay of Langmuir waves can supply the necessary waves provided the driving electron beam is sufficiently fast. Under these conditions, the predicted fundamental field strengths can account for both the highest and typical fields observed; they also dominate the predicted harmonic fields, consistent with observations. This mechanism is also consistent with previous observations that fundamental emission generally occurs early in type III events, when the beam is fastest. For typical parameters it is shown that neither fundamental nor harmonic emission saturates its respective source instability, contrary to previous assumptions. However, saturation cannot be ruled out under particularly favorable conditions.

Robinson, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Advanced Propulsion Research Interest in Materials for Propulsion

This viewgraph presentation provides an overview of material science and technology in the area of propulsion energetics. The authors note that conventional propulsion systems are near peak performance and further refinements in manufacturing, engineering design and materials will only provide incremental increases in performance. Energetic propulsion technologies could potential solve the problems of energy storage density and energy-to-thrust conversion efficiency. Topics considered include: the limits of thermal propulsion systems, the need for energetic propulsion research, emerging energetic propulsion technologies, materials research needed for advanced propulsion, and potential research opportunities.

Cole, John↗
NASA NTRS1988

Exploring the limits of crop productivity. I. Photosynthetic efficiency of wheat in high irradiance environments

The long-term vegetative and reproductive growth rates of a wheat crop (Triticum aestivum L.) were determined in three separate studies (24, 45, and 79 days) in response to a wide range of photosynthetic photon fluxes (PPF, 400-2080 micromoles per square meter per second; 22-150 moles per square meter per day; 16-20 hour photoperiod) in a near-optimum, controlled-environment. The CO2 concentration was elevated to 1200 micromoles per mole, and water and nutrients were supplied by liquid hydroponic culture. An unusually high plant density (2000 plants per square meter) was used to obtain high yields. Crop growth rate and grain yield reached 138 and 60 grams per square meter per day, respectively; both continued to increase up to the highest integrated daily PPF level, which was three times greater than a typical daily flux in the field. The conversion efficiency of photosynthesis (energy in biomass/energy in photosynthetic photons) was over 10% at low PPF but decreased to 7% as PPF increased. Harvest index increased from 41 to 44% as PPF increased. Yield components for primary, secondary, and tertiary culms were analyzed separately. Tillering produced up to 7000 heads per square meter at the highest PPF level. Primary and secondary culms were 10% more efficient (higher harvest index) than tertiary culms; hence cultural, environmental, or genetic changes that increase the percentage of primary and secondary culms might increase harvest index and thus grain yield. Wheat is physiologically and genetically capable of much higher productivity and photosynthetic efficiency than has been recorded in a field environment.

NASA Discipline Number 61-10↗
NASA NTRS2002

A study of hear sink performance in air and soil for use in a thermoelectric energy harvesting device

A suggested application of a thermoelectric generator is to exploit the natural temperature difference between the air and the soil to generate small amounts of electrical energy. Since the conversion efficiency of even the best thermoelectric generators available is very low, the performance of the heat sinks providing the heat flow is critical. By providing a constant heat input to various heat sinks, field tests of their thermal conductances in soil and in air were performed. Aprototype device without a thermoelectric generator was constructed, buried, and monitored to experimentally measure the heat flow achievable in such a system. Theoretical considerations for design and selection of improved heat sinks are also presented. In particular, the method of shape factoranalysis is used to give rough estimates and upper bounds for the thermal conductance of a passive heat sink buried in soil.

Thermoelectric power generation↗
NASA NTRS2002

Barium light source method and apparatus

Visible light emission is obtained from a plasma containing elemental barium including neutral barium atoms and barium ion species. Neutral barium provides a strong green light emission in the center of the visible spectrum with a highly efficient conversion of electrical energy into visible light. By the selective excitation of barium ionic species, emission of visible light at longer and shorter wavelengths can be obtained simultaneously with the green emission from neutral barium, effectively providing light that is visually perceived as white. A discharge vessel contains the elemental barium and a buffer gas fill therein, and a discharge inducer is utilized to induce a desired discharge temperature and barium vapor pressure therein to produce from the barium vapor a visible light emission. The discharge can be induced utilizing a glow discharge between electrodes in the discharge vessel as well as by inductively or capacitively coupling RF energy into the plasma within the discharge vessel.

Curry, John J.↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Dissipation Mechanism of Magnetic Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is arguably the most efficient transport and energy conversion mechanism in almost ideal plasmas. Reconnection controls the overall dynamics in space and astrophysics plasmas, as well as in many laboratory plasma systems. Reconnection operates by means of a localized diffusion region, where deviations from the plasma idealness condition generate electric fields and permit plasma transport even far away from the diffusion region itself. Recent advances in analytic theory and computer modeling have begun to shed light on the internal dynamics of the diffusion region. In particular, we begin to understand the delicate nature of the force balance in the inner diffusion region, where particles can become unmagnetized and where electric field forces are important. This presentation will provide a brief introduction of the reconnection process and its applications. This introduction will be followed by a detailed analysis of the current understanding of dissipation region physics, and by an outlook toward future research.

Hesse, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Supercritical Pile GRB Model: The Prompt to Afterglow Evolution

The 'Supercritical Pile' is a very economical gamma ray burst (GRB) model that provides for the efficient conversion of the energy stored in the protons of a Relativistic Blast Wave (RBW) into radiation and at the same time produces - in the prompt GRB phase, even in the absence of any particle acceleration - a spectral peak at an energy sim 1 MeV. We extend this model to include also the evolution of the RBW Lorentz factor Gamma and thus follow the spectral and temporal features of this model into the early GRB afterglow stage. One of the novel features of the present treatment is the inclusion of the feedback of the GRB produced radiation on the evolution of Gamma with radius. This feedback and the presence of kinematic and dynamic thresholds in the model can be the sources of rich time evolution which we have begun to explore. In particular, one can this way obtain afterglow light curves with steep decays followed by the more conventional flatter afterglow slopes, while at the same time preserving the desirable features of the model, i.e. the well defined relativistic electron source and radiative processes that produce the proper peak in the nu F spectra. Furthermore, the existence of a kinematic threshold in this model provides for a operational distinction of the prompt and afterglow GRB stages; in fact, the afterglow stage sets in when the RBW Lorentz factor cannot anymore fulfill the kinematic condition for pair formation in the photon - proton pair production reactions that constitute the fundamental process for the dissipation of the blast wave kinetic energy. We present the results of a specific set of parameters of this model with emphasis on the multiwavelength prompt emission and transition to the early afterglow.

Kazanas, Demosthenes↗
NASA NTRS2008

The Dissipation Mechanism of Magnetic Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is arguably the most efficient transport and energy conversion mechanism in almost ideal plasmas. Reconnection controls the overall dynamics in space and astrophysics plasmas, as well as in many laboratory plasma systems. Reconnection operates by means of a localized diffusion region, where deviations from the plasma idealness condition generate electric fields and permit plasma transport even far away from the diffusion region itself. Recent advances in analytic theory and computer modeling have begun to shed light on the internal dynamics of the diffusion region. In particular, we begin to understand the delicate nature of the force balance in the inner diffusion region, where particles can become unmagnetized and where electric field forces are important. This presentation will provide a brief introduction of the reconnection process and its applications. This introduction will be followed by a detailed analysis of the current understanding of dissipation region physics, and by an outlook toward future research.

Hesse, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Inner Workings of Magnetic Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is arguably the most efficient transport and energy conversion mechanism in almost ideal plasmas. Reconnection controls the overall dynamics in space and astrophysics plasmas, as well as in many laboratory plasma systems. Reconnection operates by means of a localized diffusion region, where deviations from the plasma idealness condition generate electric fields and permit plasma transport even far away from the diffusion region itself. Recent advances in analytic theory and computer modeling have begun to shed light on the internal dynamics of the diffusion region. In particular, we begin to understand the delicate nature of the force balance in the inner diffusion region, where particles can become unmagnetized and where electric field forces are important. This presentation will provide a brief introduction of the reconnection process and its applications. This introduction will be followed by a detailed analysis of the current understanding of dissipation region physics, and by an outlook toward future research.

Hesse, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Supercritical Pile GRB Model: The Prompt to Afterglow Evolution

The "Supercritical Pile" is a very economical GRB model that provides for the efficient conversion of the energy stored in the protons of a Relativistic Blast Wave (RBW) into radiation and at the same time produces - in the prompt GRB phase, even in the absence of any particle acceleration - a spectral peak at energy approx. 1 MeV. We extend this model to include the evolution of the RBW Lorentz factor Gamma and thus follow its spectral and temporal features into the early GRB afterglow stage. One of the novel features of the present treatment is the inclusion of the feedback of the GRB produced radiation on the evolution of Gamma with radius. This feedback and the presence of kinematic and dynamic thresholds in the model can be the sources of rich time evolution which we have began to explore. In particular. one can this may obtain afterglow light curves with steep decays followed by the more conventional flatter afterglow slopes, while at the same time preserving the desirable features of the model, i.e. the well defined relativistic electron source and radiative processes that produce the proper peak in the (nu)F(sub nu), spectra. In this note we present the results of a specific set of parameters of this model with emphasis on the multiwavelength prompt emission and transition to the early afterglow.

Mastichiadis, A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

A Bulk Comptonization Model for the Prompt GRM Emission

The "Supercritical Pile" is a very economical GRB model that provides for the efficient conversion of the energy stored in the protons of a Relativistic Blast Wave (RBW) into radiation and at the same time produces - in the prompt GRB phase, even in the absence of any particle acceleration - a spectral peak at energy approximately 1 MeV. We extend this model to include the evolution of the RBW Lorentz factor F and thus follow its spectral and temporal features into the early GRB afterglow stage. One of the novel features of the present treatment is the inclusion of the feedback of the GRB produced radiation on the evolution of Gamma with radius. This feedback and the presence of kinematic and dynamic thresholds in the model are sources of potentially very rich time evolution which we have began to explore. In particular, one can this way obtain afterglow light curves with steep decays followed by the more conventional flatter afterglow slopes, while at the same time preserving the desirable features of the model, i.e. the well defined relativistic electron source and radiative processes that produce the proper peak in the nu F(sub nu) spectra. In this note we present the results of a specific set of parameters of this model with emphasis on the multiwavelength prompt emission and transition to the early afterglow.

Kazanas, Demos↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Type II superluminous SN 2008es at late times: near-infrared excess and circumstellar interaction

SN 2008es is one of the rare cases of a Type II superluminous supernova (SLSN), showing no narrow features in its early-time spectra, and therefore, its powering mechanism is under debate between circumstellar interaction (CSI) and magnetar spin-down. Late-time data are required for better constraints. We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry obtained from Gemini, Keck, and Palomar Observatories from 192 to 554 d after explosion. Only broad H α emission is detected in a Gemini spectrum at 288 d. The line profile exhibits red-wing attenuation relative to the early-time spectrum. In addition to the cooling SN photosphere, an NIR excess with blackbody temperature ∼1500 K and radius ∼1016 cm is observed. This evidence supports dust condensation in the cool dense shell being responsible for the spectral evolution and NIR excess. We favour CSI, with ∼2–3 Mꙩ of circumstellar material (CSM) and ∼10–20 Mꙩ of ejecta, as the powering mechanism, which still dominates at our late-time epochs. Both models of uniform density and steady wind fit the data equally well, with an effective CSM radius ∼1015 cm, supporting the efficient conversion of shock energy to radiation by CSI. A low amount (≲0.4 Mꙩ) of 56Ni is possible but cannot be verified yet, since the light curve is dominated by CSI. The magnetar spin-down powering mechanism cannot be ruled out, but is less favoured because it overpredicts the late-time fluxes and may be inconsistent with the presence of dust.

Kornpob Bhirombhakdi↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analysis of Thermoradiative Thermal Energy Conversion

The thermoradiative cell is a new method for converting heat energy to electrical power, first detailed by Strandberg in 2015. The cell is a p-n junction semiconductor device, similar to a photovoltaic cell but thermodynamically operating in the reverse direction, converting the thermal dark current into electrical power while radiating waste heat to space. The power and efficiency can be calculated as a function of bandgap in the Shockley-Queisser detailed-balance limit, in which the thermal emissivity of the cell is due to the recombination of electron-hole pairs, and all other recombination losses are ignored. The current produced is directly proportional to the recombination radiation. The fundamental loss mechanism for the thermoradiative cell is the energy carried by the infrared radiation into space from band-to-band recombination of carriers injected across the junction. In an ideal cell, to maximize the efficiency, the emission energy of these photons would precisely equal the bandgap. This can be achieved, for example, using dielectric filters or meta-material filters to recycle emission at other wavelengths back into the cell. The voltage is proportional to the external bias. These two constraints allow optimization of the optimum bias point for maximum power. Unlike photovoltaic cells, the maximum power operating point is not the same as the maximum efficiency point, and higher efficiency can be achieved at a higher (negative) bias in the ideal case. Incorporating non-ideal losses, however, shifts the maximum efficiency point toward lower bias. Unlike in photovoltaic cells, non-radiative recombination (e.g., Auger losses) will reduce the output current, but will not reduce the conversion efficiency, since the recombination energy is retained in the cell in the form of heat. Since a thermoradiative cell operates by radiating directly to space, the current produced by themoradiative cells will increase as Stefan-Boltzmann radiation; roughly the fourth power of the temperature. Thus, the power produced is highest at high operating temperatures, and, unlike conventional thermal conversion, increasing radiator temperature increases, the efficiency. Thus, the choice of technology will be toward semiconductors resistant to degradation at high temperature.

Thermoradiative↗
NASA NTRS1991

Generation of ultrahigh-energy gamma rays in accreting x ray pulsars

Relativistic protons producing ultrahigh energy gamma rays as a result of nuclear collisions ought to be generated in close proximity to the surface of a neutron star due to accretion. The main features of the mechanism in question are a high efficiency of conversion of the gravitational energy of the accreting matter into acceleration energy and a high efficiency of the acceleration itself. It is shown that in accretion to a neutron star with a strong magnetic field, a loss cone type distribution of accreting protons is formed, which due to instability effectively generates small scale Alfven and proton cyclotron waves, as well as nonlinear waves (magneto-acoustic and Alfven solitons). The electric field of the moving solitons may accelerate the protons to energies of greater than 10(exp 15) eV. The region of acceleration is not locally isolated, but extends from its surface. New possible sources of ultrahigh energy gamma rays are predicted. They may be binary x ray systems containing neutron stars with magnetic fields of about 10(exp 9) gauss.

Gnedin, Yu. N.↗
NASA NTRS2011

High altitude airship configuration and power technology and method for operation of same

A new High Altitude Airship (HAA) capable of various extended applications and mission scenarios utilizing inventive onboard energy harvesting and power distribution systems. The power technology comprises an advanced thermoelectric (ATE) thermal energy conversion system. The high efficiency of multiple stages of ATE materials in a tandem mode, each suited for best performance within a particular temperature range, permits the ATE system to generate a high quantity of harvested energy for the extended mission scenarios. When the figure of merit 5 is considered, the cascaded efficiency of the three-stage ATE system approaches an efficiency greater than 60 percent.

Choi, Sang H.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Efficient 1.6 Micron Laser Source for Methane DIAL

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and on a per molecule basis has a warming influence 72 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20 year horizon. Therefore, it is important to look at near term radiative effects due to methane to develop mitigation strategies to counteract global warming trends via ground and airborne based measurements systems. These systems require the development of a time-resolved DIAL capability using a narrow-line laser source allowing observation of atmospheric methane on local, regional and global scales. In this work, a demonstrated and efficient nonlinear conversion scheme meeting the performance requirements of a deployable methane DIAL system is presented. By combining a single frequency 1064 nm pump source and a seeded KTP OPO more than 5 mJ of 1.6 μm pulse energy is generated with conversion efficiencies in excess of 20%. Even without active cavity control instrument limited linewidths (50 pm) were achieved with an estimated spectral purity of ~95%. Tunable operation over 400 pm (limited by the tuning range of the seed laser) was also demonstrated. This source demonstrated the critical needs for a methane DIAL system motivating additional development of the technology.

Shuman, Timothy↗