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A segmented design and fabrication and assembly techniques were developed for a 1.8 m (6 ft) diameter parabolic concentrator for space application. This design and these techniques were adaptable to a low cost, mass-produced concentrator. Minimal machining was required. Concentrator segments of formed magnesium were used. The concentrator weighed only 1.6 kg sq m (0.32 lbm/sq ft).
A tutorial overview of point-focusing parabolic collectors is presented. Optical and thermal characteristics are discussed. Data representing typical achievable collector efficiencies are presented and the importance of balancing collector cost with concentrator quality is argued through the development of a figure of merit. Various types of two-axis tracking collectors are described. The Department of Energy program to develop these devices is briefly discussed, as are present and projected costs for these collectors.
Alternating direction implicit (ADI) schemes for two-dimensional parabolic equations with a mixed derivative are constructed by using the class of all A sub 0-stable linear two-step methods in conjunction with the method of approximation factorization. The mixed derivative is treated with an explicit two-step method which is compatible with an implicit A sub 0-stable method. The parameter space for which the resulting ADI schemes are second order accurate and unconditionally stable is determined. Some numerical examples are given.
A class of explicit numerical formulas which involve next nearest neighbor as well as nearest neighbor points are explored in this paper. These formulas are formal approximations to the linear parabolic partial-differential equation of first order in time and second order in distance. It was found that some of these formulas can employ time steps as much as four times that for the conventional explicit technique without becoming unstable. Others showed improved accuracy for a given time step and spatial grid spacing. One formula achieved a steady-state solution of specified accuracy for an example problem in less than 4 percent of the total computational time required by the conventional explicit technique.
Activities of two projects at JPL in support of DOE's Small Power Systems Program are reported. These two projects are the Point-Focusing Distributed Receiver (PFDR) Technology Project and the Point-Focusing Thermal and Electric Applications (PFTEA) Project. The PFDR Technology Project's major activity is developing the technology of solar concentrators, receivers and power conversion subsystems suitable for parabolic dish or point-focusing distributed receiver power systems. Other PFDR activities include system integration and cost estimation under mass production, as well as the testing of the hardware. The PFTEA Project's first major activity is applications analysis, that is seeking ways to introduce PFDR systems into appropriate user sectors. The second activity is systems engineering and development wherein power plant systems are analyzed for specific applications. The third activity is the installation of a series of engineering experiments in various user environments to obtain actual operating experience
Point focus distributed receiver solar thermal technology for the production of electric power and of industrial process heat is addressed. The thermal power systems project which emphasizes the development of cost effective systems which will accelerate the commercialization and industrialization of plants up to 10 MWe, using parabolic dish collectors is described. The projected size of the isolated load market in the 1990-2000 time period is 300 to 1000 MW/year. Although this market is small in comparison to the grid connected utility market, it is indicated that by assuming only a 20 percent market penetration, up to 10,000 power modules per year would be required to meet this need. At a production rate of 25,000 units/year and assuming no energy storage, levelized bus bar energy costs of 75 mills/kWeh are projected. These numbers are based on what is believed to be a conservative estimate regarding engine-generator conversion efficiency (40 percent) for the 1990 time period. With a more optimistic estimate of efficiency (i.e., 45 percent), the bus bar cost decreases to about 67 mills/kWeh. At very large production rates (400,000 modules/years), the costs decrease to 58 mills/kWeh. Finally, the present status of the technology development effort is discussed.
A parabolic dish test site (PDTS) was established in the California Mojave Desert to carry out work in testing solar point focusing concentrator systems and related hardware. The site was chosen because of its high solar insolation level and year around clear sky conditions. The various facilities and equipment at the PDTS, and the concentrator experiments being performed are described.
On the earth, or in level flight, a blindfolded subject being rotated at constant velocity about his recumbent long body axis experiences illusory orbital motion of his body in the opposite direction. By contrast, during comparable rotation in the free-fall phase of parabolic flight, no body motion is perceived and all sense of external orientation may be lost; when touch and pressure stimulation is applied to the body surface, a sense of orientation is reestablished immediately. The increased gravitoinertial force period of a parabola produces an exaggeration of the orbital motion experienced in level flight. These observations reveal an important influence of touch, pressure, and kinesthetic information on spatial orientation and provide a basis for understanding many of the postural illusions reported by astronauts in space flight.
The paper investigates point focus distributed receiver (PFDR) solar thermal technology for the production of electric power and of industrial process heat. Attention is given to a thermal systems project conducted by JPL under DOE sponsorship. It is reported that project emphasis is on the development of cost-effective systems which will accelerate the commercialization and industrialization of plants up to 10 MWe, using parabolic dish collectors. Also discussed are the characteristics of PFDR systems, the cost targets for major systems hardware, and markets for this technology. Finally, the present system status of the technology development effort is discussed.
To make comparisons with experimental motion sickness susceptibility in Skylab missions, subjects were tested during free fall in parabolic flight and in ground-based simulation tests. They were rotated at 30 rpm in a rotating litter chair (RLC) with head fixed, head swiveling left-to-right, or with 90 degree forward and return head and body movements. Stressful accelerations similar to those in the Skylab RLC were generated only in the tests aloft, where subjects who made 'forward and return' movements (generating cross-coupled angular accelerations) were substantially more prone to motion sickness than those with either head fixed or head swiveling left-to-right. However, with head swiveling, susceptibility was slightly higher in the laboratory than aloft.
A two-mirror grazing-incidence telescope having a non-parabolic primary, and designed to be free of spherical aberration has been investigated. A method for determining the second surface equation is described, when the surface equation for one mirror is given. Application to grazing incidence systems such as used in X-ray and planed for EUV astronomy is discussed. Of special interest is the design of a secondary mirror when the hyperboloid of a conventional Wolter type I system is taken as the primary.
The finite element approximation of a Dirichlet type boundary control problem for parabolic systems is considered. An approach based on the direct approximation of an input-output semigroup formula is applied. Error estimates are derived for optimal state and optimal control, and it is noted that these estimates are actually optimal with respect to the approximation theoretic properties.
Postural and visual motion aftereffects may be experienced after exposure to alternating periods of free fall and increased gravitoinertial force in parabolic flight. In an aftereffect, the body feels as if it is again undergoing periodic changes in force level because of motion of the substrate; strong apparent postural motion is also accompanied by visual motion of the surroundings. The aftereffects are discussed according to: (1) their character, (2) their time course, (3) secondary symptoms associated with them, (4) conditions favoring their occurrence, (5) their relation to the inducing frequency, (6) fragments of the complete pattern, (7) their duration, and (8) the importance of contact cues.
The reduction of nonuniformities in the intensity distribution of light focused on a photovoltaic array by a compound parabolic concentrator is investigated. The introduction of small distortions into the surfaces of the reflector in order to diffuse the incident collimated light to fill the angular acceptance of the concentrator is calculated by means of ray tracing to decrease the irradiance nonuniformity at the cost of a lowered effective concentration of the concentrator. Measurements of the intensity distribution on a scale test model in terrestrial sunlight with corrugated aluminized mylar reflectors are shown to be in good agreement with the ray tracing results. A two-stage concentrator consisting of a focusing primary and a nonimaging secondary is also shown to result in a fairly uniform intensity distribution except in the case of a 4-deg incidence angle, which may be corrected by the introduction of distortions into one or both concentration stages.
A hybrid computational technique which splits the flowfield into inviscid and viscous regions is used to investigate the complete flowfield about axisymmetric parabolic blunt bodies in a supersonic stream. The solutions are carried out on the CDC CYBER-203 computer which, with its extensive memory, allows for the use of a large number of finite-difference mesh points, allowing resolution of important flowfield features. A range of freestream Mach number of 2-5 and a range of Re number based on nose radius of 500-125,000 was run for a sonic corner body. Contour plots of density, pressure, and Mach number, velocity vector plots, and surface distributions of pressure, heat transfer, and shear stress are presented. Also, correlations of the downstream extent of the base recirculation region with Re number based on nose radius are given.
Goldfish were flown in parabolic Keplerian trajectories in a KC-135 aircraft to assay both the effectiveness of piracetam as an antimotion sickness drug and the effectiveness of state-dependent training during periods of oscillating gravity levels. Single-frame analyses of infrared films were performed for two classes of responses - role rates in hypogravity or hypogravity orienting responses (LGR) and climbing responses in hypergravity or hypergravity orienting responses (HGR). In Experiment I, preflight training with the vestibular stressor facilitated suppression of LGR by the 10th parabola. An inverse correlation was found between the magnitudes of LGR and HGR. Piracetam was not effective in a state-dependent design, but the drug did significantly increase HGR when injected into trained fish shortly before flight. In Experiment II, injections of saline, piracetam, and modifiers of gamma-aminobutyric acid - aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA) and isonicotinic acid did not modify LGR. AOAA did significantly increase HGR. Thus, the preflight training has a beneficial effect in reducing disorientation in the fish in weightlessness, but the drugs employed were ineffective.
The parabolic dish solar collector is a highly versatile concentrating collector system that can produce heat for many thermal processes and electricity by coupling the collector to a suitable heat engine. This paper discusses a project for the development of these collector systems and summarizes contracts with industry for developing the dish subsystems which include concentrator, receiver, and heat engine. An early market for dishes is the dispersed small community market which depends heavily on oil to operate diesel or steam turbine plants in order to generate electricity. The present contracts with industry for conducting engineering experiments using the developed dish hardware to demonstrate the technology in these early opportunity markets is also discussed.
Alternating direction implicit (ADI) schemes for two-dimensional parabolic equations with a mixed derivative are constructed by using the class of all A(0)-stable linear two-step methods in conjunction with the method of approximate factorization. The mixed derivative is treated with an explicit two-step method which is compatible with an implicit A(0)-stable method. The parameter space for which the resulting ADI schemes are second-order accurate and unconditionally stable is determined. Some numerical examples are given.