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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 199 records · Page 11
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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Experimental Results of a Rapidly Cycled Temperature Swing Adsorption Pump in a Terrestrial Environment

To improve the increasing CO 2 levels on Earth, technology for carbon capture and utilization must be efficient and cost effective. One major contributor of atmospheric CO 2 is post-combustion flue gas, which can contain up to 20% CO 2 . Scrubbing this CO 2 could reduce the environmental impact of this common industrial process. In off-Earth environments, capturing and utilizing CO 2 from space resources is useful for crewed spaceflight life support. Specifically, the Bosch process, which produces water and carbon powder by reacting CO 2 and hydrogen, is a possible in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) architecture for the Moon and Mars. The Rapid Cycle Temperature Swing Adsorption (RC-TSA) pump is an innovative technology designed to capture CO 2 efficiently. The RC-TSA leverages a stacked plate geometry to cycle multiple zeolite-coated beds. The thin layers allow for rapid heat transfer of the zeolite coating, which improves performance over previously tested pump designs. The design is favorable for scalability and manufacturability, which are forward work. Initial testing of the sorption pump using a simulated flue gas environment shows favorable breakthrough capacities and reduced cycle times. Results show promise for on- and off-Earth applications, such as a Martian surface and crewed spaceflight environments.

adsorption pump↗
NASA NTRS2010

Remote Sensing of Spatial Distributions of Greenhouse Gases in the Los Angeles Basin

The Los Angeles air basin is a significant anthropogenic source of greenhouse gasses and pollutants including CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO, contributing significantly to regional and global climate change. Recent legislation in California, the California Global Warning Solutions Act (AB32), established a statewide cap for greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 based on 1990 emissions. Verifying the effectiveness of regional greenhouse gas emissions controls requires high-precision, regional-scale measurement methods combined with models that capture the principal anthropogenic and biogenic sources and sinks. We present a novel approach for monitoring the spatial distribution of greenhouse gases in the Los Angeles basin using high resolution remote sensing spectroscopy. We participated in the CalNex 2010 campaign to provide greenhouse gas distributions for comparison between top-down and bottom-up emission estimates.

atmospheric remote sensing↗
NASA NTRS2011

Remote Sensing of Spatial Distributions of Greenhouse Gases in the Los Angles Basin

The Los Angeles air basin is a significant anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases and pollutants including CO2, CH4, N2O, and CO, contributing significantly to regional and global climate change. Recent legislation in California, the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), established a statewide cap for greenhouse gas emissions for 2020 based on 1990 emissions. Verifying the effectiveness of regional greenhouse gas emissions controls requires high-precision, regional-scale measurement methods combined with models that capture the principal anthropogenic and biogenic sources and sinks. We present a novel approach for monitoring the spatial distributions of greenhouse gases in the Los Angeles basin using high resolution remote sensing spectroscopy. We participated in the CalNex 2010 campaign to provide greenhouse gas distributions for comparison between top-down and bottom-up emission estimates.

Los Angeles air basin↗
NASA NTRS1980

Computational models for the viscous/inviscid analysis of jet aircraft exhaust plumes

Computational models which analyze viscous/inviscid flow processes in jet aircraft exhaust plumes are discussed. These models are component parts of an NASA-LaRC method for the prediction of nozzle afterbody drag. Inviscid/shock processes are analyzed by the SCIPAC code which is a compact version of a generalized shock capturing, inviscid plume code (SCIPPY). The SCIPAC code analyzes underexpanded jet exhaust gas mixtures with a self-contained thermodynamic package for hydrocarbon exhaust products and air. A detailed and automated treatment of the embedded subsonic zones behind Mach discs is provided in this analysis. Mixing processes along the plume interface are analyzed by two upgraded versions of an overlaid, turbulent mixing code (BOAT) developed previously for calculating nearfield jet entrainment. The BOATAC program is a frozen chemistry version of BOAT containing the aircraft thermodynamic package as SCIPAC; BOATAB is an afterburning version with a self-contained aircraft (hydrocarbon/air) finite-rate chemistry package. The coupling of viscous and inviscid flow processes is achieved by an overlaid procedure with interactive effects accounted for by a displacement thickness type correction to the inviscid plume interface.

Dash, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Three-Dimensional Ignition and Flame Propagation Above Liquid Fuel Pools: Computational Analysis

A three-dimensional unsteady reactive Navier-Stokes code is developed to study the ignition and flame spread above liquid fuels initially below the flashpoint temperature. Opposed air flow to the flame spread due to forced and/or natural convection is considered. Pools of finite width and length are studied in air channels of prescribed height and width. Three-dimensional effects of the flame front near the edge of the pool are captured in the computation. The formation of a recirculation zone in the gas phase similar to that found in two-dimensional calculations is also present in the three-dimensional calculations. Both uniform spread and pulsating spread modes are found in the calculated results.

Cai, Jinsheng↗
NASA NTRS2009

Shock Layer Radiation Measurements and Analysis for Mars Entry

NASA's In-Space Propulsion program is supporting the development of shock radiation transport models for aerocapture missions to Mars. A comprehensive test series in the NASA Antes Electric Arc Shock Tube facility at a representative flight condition was recently completed. The facility optical instrumentation enabled spectral measurements of shocked gas radiation from the vacuum ultraviolet to the near infrared. The instrumentation captured the nonequilibrium post-shock excitation and relaxation dynamics of dispersed spectral features. A description of the shock tube facility, optical instrumentation, and examples of the test data are presented. Comparisons of measured spectra with model predictions are also made.

Bose, Deepak↗
NASA NTRS2008

Lunar Water Resource Demonstration

In cooperation with the Canadian Space Agency, the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, Inc., the Carnegie-Mellon University, JPL, and NEPTEC, NASA has undertaken the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) project called RESOLVE. This project is a ground demonstration of a system that would be sent to explore permanently shadowed polar lunar craters, drill into the regolith, determine what volatiles are present, and quantify them in addition to recovering oxygen by hydrogen reduction. The Lunar Prospector has determined these craters contain enhanced hydrogen concentrations averaging about 0.1%. If the hydrogen is in the form of water, the water concentration would be around 1%, which would translate into billions of tons of water on the Moon, a tremendous resource. The Lunar Water Resource Demonstration (LWRD) is a part of RESOLVE designed to capture lunar water and hydrogen and quantify them as a backup to gas chromatography analysis. This presentation will briefly review the design of LWRD and some of the results of testing the subsystem. RESOLVE is to be integrated with the Scarab rover from CMIJ and the whole system demonstrated on Mauna Kea on Hawaii in November 2008. The implications of lunar water for Mars exploration are two-fold: 1) RESOLVE and LWRD could be used in a similar fashion on Mars to locate and quantify water resources, and 2) electrolysis of lunar water could provide large amounts of liquid oxygen in LEO, leading to lower costs for travel to Mars, in addition to being very useful at lunar outposts.

Muscatello, Anthony C.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimations for 2016-2020 using the Sherlock Air Traffic Data Warehouse

Data and analyses are presented on the utilization of aircraft in the U.S. and the greenhouse gas emissions that they create. Commercial passenger and cargo aviation flight data, captured in the Sherlock data warehouse at NASA Ames over the five years from 2016 to 2020, is used to estimate the miles flown by major aircraft models. The estimates for aggregate annual number of flights are validated against data published by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The corresponding fuel usage is estimated using the International Civilian Aviation Organization (ICAO) fuel use tables and carbon dioxide emissions are calculated using a fuel-use multiplicative factor. A key conclusion of this analysis is that a small number of long-haul flights (with ranges greater than 2485 statute miles) create a disproportionately large fraction (30%) of annual total U.S. aviation-related carbon dioxide emissions, while a relatively large number of short flights (less than 311 statute miles) contribute a small net amount (less than 5%) of U.S. aviation-related carbon dioxide emissions. These U.S. results are consistent with a similar recent 2020 emissions study conducted by EUROCONTROL.

Emissions↗
NASA NTRS1998

Adaptation to high CO2 concentration in an optimal environment: radiation capture, canopy quantum yield and carbon use efficiency

The effect of elevated [CO2] on wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Veery 10) productivity was examined by analysing radiation capture, canopy quantum yield, canopy carbon use efficiency, harvest index and daily C gain. Canopies were grown at either 330 or 1200 micromoles mol-1 [CO2] in controlled environments, where root and shoot C fluxes were monitored continuously from emergence to harvest. A rapidly circulating hydroponic solution supplied nutrients, water and root zone oxygen. At harvest, dry mass predicted from gas exchange data was 102.8 +/- 4.7% of the observed dry mass in six trials. Neither radiation capture efficiency nor carbon use efficiency were affected by elevated [CO2], but yield increased by 13% due to a sustained increase in canopy quantum yield. CO2 enrichment increased root mass, tiller number and seed mass. Harvest index and chlorophyll concentration were unchanged, but CO2 enrichment increased average life cycle net photosynthesis (13%, P < 0.05) and root respiration (24%, P < 0.05). These data indicate that plant communities adapt to CO2 enrichment through changes in C allocation. Elevated [CO2] increases sink strength in optimal environments, resulting in sustained increases in photosynthetic capacity, canopy quantum yield and daily C gain throughout the life cycle.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1993

Star trapping and metallicity enrichment in quasars and active galactic nuclei

Recent observational evidence suggests that the metallicity in quasars within a wide range of redshifts, in particular in gas flowing out of the nuclear regions, may be approximately redshift-independent and comparable with or larger than solar. It is plausible that the nuclear metallicity can be internally generated and maintained at approximately time-stationary values in quasars. We identify and estimate efficiency of a mechanism for rapid metallicity enrichment of quasar nuclear gas (in general, in active galactic nuclei) based on star-gas interactions and equivalent to an unusual mode of massive star formation. The mechanism involves capture of low-mass stars from the host galaxy's nucleus by the assemblages of clouds or by accretion disks orbiting the central massive objects (e.g., black holes). Trapping of stars within gaseous disks/clouds occurs through resonant density and bending wave excitation, as well as by hydrodynamical drag. The time scale for trapping stars with total mass equal to that of disk fragment/cloud is of order Hubble time and is remarkably model-independent. Our results show that the described mechanism can produce features suggested by observations, for example, the (super) solar gas metallicity in the nucleus. Thus the observed metallicities in high-redshift quasars do not necessarily imply that global star formation and efficient chemical changes have occurred in their host galaxies at very early cosmological epochs.

Artymowicz, Pawel↗
NASA NTRS1989

Angular motion of a PAH molecule in interstellar environment

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have recently been proposed as an important and hitherto undetected component of the Interstellar Medium (ISM). The theory was based on an explanation of the Unidentified IR Emission Bands by Leger et al. It has already led to a verified prediction on extended galactic and extragalactic emissions measured by IRAS, or by a recent balloon borne experiment. The physics that rules the motion of such molecules in the ISM was studied, taking into account their coupling with the ambient gas, the radiation field (absorption and emission) and the static magnetic field. This is important for many implications of the PAH theory such as the radio emission by these molecules or the expected polarization of their IR emission. A reflection nebulae is considered where the situation is rather well known. Every day life of a mean PAH molecule in such a region is as follows: every 3 hrs a UV photon is absorbed heating the molecule to a thousand degs; the temperature decay due to cooling by IR emission follows then within a few seconds. A collision with a molecule of gas occurs typically once a week, while an H atom is ejected or captured at the same rate. A typical cooling cycle after a heat impulse is given. The PAH molecules studied as representative of the family has typically 50 atoms, a radius of 4.5 A, is circular and has a molecular mass of M = 300; its permanent dipole moment is 3 Debye.

Rouan, D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the luminosity of black hole cluster model of active galactic nuclei

The luminosity of a nuclear cluster of accreting black holes and other objects is discussed in terms of two accretion regimes: external supply of gas from outside the cluster and internal supply resulting from tidal disruption and capture of stars within the cluster. The external supply regime results in radiation being emitted from the innermost parts of the cluster while internal supply can efficiently feed the holes in the outer parts of the cluster as long as it is not too compact cluster and is embedded in a distribution of stars with a density larger than 10 exp 7 solar masses/cu pc.

Stoeger, W. R.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Spectroscopic Measurement of the Flows in an Arc-Jet Facility

To provide the proper test conditions for various applications, the characteristics of arcjet test facilities should be known. To determine the operational characteristics of an arcjet facility, emission spectroscopy measurements have been performed and analyzed in a previous study. As an extension of the study, radiation from the free stream and the shock layer of 15 cm diameter blunt-body test articles is measured under different test conditions in the NASA Ames 20 MW Arcjet Facility. The test gas is a mixture of argon and air or N2 and argon. To capture the spatially resolved emission spectra along the stagnation streamline of the blunt-body, a CCD camera (1024 x 256 array) with .275 m Czerny-Turner spectrograph is used. The optical system is calibrated in situ using tungsten and deuterium radiation sources. The emission measurements supplement the existing data base and will help provide better understanding of the equilibration processes in the shock layer region.

Park, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Johnson Space Center Experimental Impact Lab: Contributions Toward Understanding the Evolution of the Solar System

Impact is the most common and only weathering phenomenon affecting all the planetary bodies (e.g., planets, satellites, asteroids, comets, etc.) in the solar system. NASA Johnson Space Center s Experimental Impact Laboratory (EIL) includes three accelerators that are used in support of research into the effects of impact on the formation and evolution of the solar system. They permit researchers to study a wide variety of phenomena associated with high-velocity impacts into a wide range of geologic targets and materials relevant to astrobiological studies. By studying these processes, researchers can investigate the histories and evolution of planetary bodies and the solar system as a whole. While the majority of research conducted in the EIL addresses questions involving planetary impacts, work involving spacecraft components has been performed on occasion. An example of this is the aerogel collector material flown on the Stardust spacecraft that traveled to Comet Wild-2. This capture medium was tested and flight qualified using the 5 mm Light-Gas Gun located in the EIL.

See, T. H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Inefficient Growth of Refractory Grains: Implications for Grains in the Solar Nebula

Introduction: We report the results of a sounding rocket experiment in which SiO nucleation and growth in an argon atmosphere was observed in microgravity starting from a vapor generated by evaporation of waterglass deposited on a heated Ta wire. The temperature and pressure at the point of nucleation was determined using a double wavelength Mach–Zehnder-type interferometer. The particle composition and grain size distribution were measured after payload recovery using a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM; JEM-2100F. JEOL Ltd., Tokyo). The results were analyzed using Modified Classical Nucleation Theory (MCNT)[1]. We report a measurement of the SiO-silicate grain sticking coefficient of 0.016, indicating very inefficient grain growth from the vapor. In other words, for every 100 SiO molecules that collide with a growing grain only one to two are captured. In the only two previous studies of the growth of solid particles from the gas phase the calculated sticking coefficients were much lower. For zinc atoms colliding with zinc crystals only three out of 100,000 collisions resulted in grain growth [2]. Iron atoms colliding with growing iron particles similarly showed an efficiency of ~0.00002 [3]. For zinc, we can explain inefficient growth due to the difficulty of the colliding atom coming upon a vacancy in the growing crystal lattice before it evaporates from the grain surface. The much higher sticking coefficient of SiO molecules on silica grains is reasonable because the silica grains are highly amorphous or glassy and therefore provide a much higher defect density where SiO molecules can be captured into the grains. In the case of similar Fe experiment, the critical cluster was the dimer. In this case the forming dimer returns to the vapor phase by dissociation due to the excess energy from the formation of the Fe-Fe bond.

Joseph A Nuth↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gas-Particle Interaction Model Development in Plume Surface Interaction Erosion and Cratering

The development of a predictive simulation capability for extra-terrestrial Plume Surface Interaction (PSI) environments is undertaken by the Fluid Dynamics Branch at NASA/MSFC under the Game Changing Development (GCD) Program funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). Predictive simulation capability for propulsive Martian and Lunar landing PSI requires accurate modeling of the complex high-speed plume impingement and resulting gas/particle-cloud and ejecta stream formation. Physics modeling gap analysis during formulation of the PSI project scope identified two particular phenomena of first order importance in gas-particle interactions that lacked existing modeling formulations. The first arises from the lack of models capturing the unsteady drag forces imparted on particles by the rapidly expanding supersonic compressible flow. The second addresses the fluctuating forces and dispersions imparted on both the particle and the fluid resulting from the interference and wake turbulence generated by close proximity particle clouds, dubbed the Particle Turbulent Kinetic Energy(PTKE). Their first order significance has been identified in experiments, but simulation models currently do not exist for either effect. The development of models and the eventual implementation into the Eulerian Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) simulation tools was constructed as one of four major tasks of the PSI project. In this process, data on particle kinetics and gas-particle interactions are collected from carefully designed experiments of particles embedded in jets. The effects observed in the experiments are then replicated in high-fidelity particle-resolved CFD simulations to inform the formulation of improvements to particle phase drag models for implementations in the more efficient Eulerian-Lagrangian CFD simulations. The resulting models are ultimately ported to the Eulerian-Eulerian models applied for most efficient simulations in PSI production application tools. This paper describes the activities and accomplishments of the past year in the gas-particle interaction modeling task of the PSI project.

Jeff West↗
NASA NTRS2010

RESOLVE 2010 Field Test

This slide presentation reviews the field tests conducted in 2010 of the Regolith Environment Science & Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE). The Resolve program consist of several mechanism: (1) Excavation and Bulk Regolith Characterization (EBRC) which is designed to act as a drill and crusher, (2) Regolith Volatiles Characterization (RVC) which is a reactor and does gas analysis,(3) Lunar Water Resources Demonstration (LWRD) which is a fluid system, water and hydrogen capture device and (4) the Rover. The scientific goal of this test is to demonstrate evolution of low levels of hydrogen and water as a function of temperature. The Engineering goals of this test are to demonstrate:(1) Integration onto new rover (2) Miniaturization of electronics rack (3) Operation from battery packs (elimination of generator) (4) Remote command/control and (5) Operation while roving. Views of the 2008 and the 2010 mechanisms, a overhead view of the mission path, a view of the terrain, the two drill sites, and a graphic of the Master Events Controller Graphical User Interface (MEC GUI) are shown. There are descriptions of the Gas chromatography (GC), the operational procedure, water and hydrogen doping of tephra. There is also a review of some of the results, and future direction for research and tests.

Captain, J.↗