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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Advanced Exploration Systems Water Architecture Study Interim Results

The mission of the Advanced Exploration System (AES) Water Recovery Project (WRP) is to develop advanced water recovery systems that enable NASA human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The primary objective of the AES WRP is to develop water recovery technologies critical to near-term missions beyond LEO. The secondary objective is to continue to advance mid-readiness-level technologies to support future NASA missions. An effort is being undertaken to establish the architecture for the AES Water Recovery System (WRS) that meets both near- and long-term objectives. The resultant architecture will be used to guide future technical planning, establish a baseline development roadmap for technology infusion, and establish baseline assumptions for integrated ground and on-orbit Environmental Control and Life Support Systems definition. This study is being performed in three phases. Phase I established the scope of the study through definition of the mission requirements and constraints, as well as identifying all possible WRS configurations that meet the mission requirements. Phase II focused on the near-term space exploration objectives by establishing an International Space Station-derived reference schematic for long-duration (>180 day) in-space habitation. Phase III will focus on the long-term space exploration objectives, trading the viable WRS configurations identified in Phase I to identify the ideal exploration WRS. The results of Phases I and II are discussed in this paper.

Sargusingh, Miriam J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

AES Water Architecture Study Interim Results

The mission of the Advanced Exploration System (AES) Water Recovery Project (WRP) is to develop advanced water recovery systems in order to enable NASA human exploration missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO). The primary objective of the AES WRP is to develop water recovery technologies critical to near term missions beyond LEO. The secondary objective is to continue to advance mid-readiness level technologies to support future NASA missions. An effort is being undertaken to establish the architecture for the AES Water Recovery System (WRS) that meets both near and long term objectives. The resultant architecture will be used to guide future technical planning, establish a baseline development roadmap for technology infusion, and establish baseline assumptions for integrated ground and on-orbit environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) definition. This study is being performed in three phases. Phase I of this study established the scope of the study through definition of the mission requirements and constraints, as well as indentifying all possible WRS configurations that meet the mission requirements. Phase II of this study focused on the near term space exploration objectives by establishing an ISS-derived reference schematic for long-duration (>180 day) in-space habitation. Phase III will focus on the long term space exploration objectives, trading the viable WRS configurations identified in Phase I to identify the ideal exploration WRS. The results of Phases I and II are discussed in this paper.

Sarguisingh, Miriam J.↗
NASA NTRS1998

A Fuzzy Expert System for Fault Management of Water Supply Recovery in the ALSS Project

Modeling with a new software is a challenge. CONFIG is a challenge and is design to work with many types of systems in which discrete and continuous processes occur. The CONFIG software was used to model the two subsystem of the Water Recovery system: ICB and TFB. The model worked manually only for water flows with further implementation to be done in the future. Activities in the models are stiff need to be implemented based on testing of the hardware for phase III. More improvements to CONFIG are in progress to make it a more user friendly software.

Tohala, Vapsi J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measuring Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Water Resource Recovery Facilities Workshop Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office hosted the Measuring Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Water Resource Recovery Facilities Workshop on Jan. 23–24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The event brought together representatives from water resource recovery facilities, national laboratories, technology providers, academic researchers, industry consultants, and government agencies, to gather input on the challenges and opportunities in greenhouse gas measurement at water resource recovery facilities and how to effectively leverage future DOE efforts to reduce these uncertainties through potential measurement campaign(s). This report is a summary of the views expressed by individual participants during the workshop; it is not intended to represent DOE’s views or programmatic priorities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of small water resource recovery facilities: Comparison of mechanical and lagoon systems

Small water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) serving communities with populations of less than 10,000 people account for 70% of centralized wastewater treatment systems in the United States. Here, with growing interest globally in improving the sustainability of these systems, this study evaluated the environmental life cycle impact and land use tradeoffs of different lagoon and mechanical WRRFs across the diverse climate of Nebraska. Life cycle inventory including construction and operations was collected for 35 existing systems representing a range of commonly used mechanical WRRFs: oxidation ditch, extended aeration, and sequencing batch reactors, and lagoon treatment systems: complete retention, irrigation, and controlled discharge lagoons.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Application of step-response lambda tuning to proportional-integral controllers in water resource recovery facilities

Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers in water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) feedback control loops are commonplace. While simple to implement, such control loops are rarely tuned optimally or systematically. Heuristic tuning approaches are commonly applied with varying degrees of success using trial-and-error, ad hoc tuning rules, or duplication of tuning values from a similar system. However, there are effective methods, such as lambda tuning, produce acceptable tuning with limited effort. These are based on the step-response method, where a manual process perturbation is used to define the relationship between the manipulated and controlled variables. Based on such an experiment, a simple process model is constructed and used to determine the controller tuning values. In this work, we used the step-response method and lambda tuning for two control systems in full-scale WRRFs. This led to responsive and stable behavior of the controlled system as defined by the absolute average error of the controlled variable to setpoint and standard deviation of the manipulated variable. Tuning of feedback control loops can be completed successfully through a systematic approach, and this work suggests that tuning tools, like lambda, should be part of all wastewater treatment control engineers' toolbox.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Crossing the Finish Line: Integration of Data-Driven Process Control for Maximization of Energy and Resource Efficiency in Advanced Water Resource Recovery Facilities

Improvements in process monitoring and control at water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) could result in reductions in electricity consumption, chemical inputs, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as improved energy recovery. Many current WRRF data collection, monitoring, and control approaches use 20th century process monitoring and control systems, which require large design safety factors to ensure reliability in the absence of more advanced, precise controls. Implementation of more modern data-driven control tools could lead to more efficient operations that provide intrinsic reliability with better overall process performance at full-scale. This project (1) developed and demonstrated data-driven process controls at full-scale facilities for five promising WRRF process technologies that provide whole-plant approaches and offer substantial energy and resource recovery benefits, and (2) created a Machine Learning (ML) Toolkit and an implementation guide of new process control approaches that walks users through each step of the ML workflow and illustrates the steps through case study examples.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1988

Status of the US Space Station ECLSS and internal TCS

The U.S. Space Station includes many elements and systems. Responsibility for these have been delegated to four NASA centers via a work packaging concept. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for work package one (WPOI) which includes the habitation, laboratory modules, the logistic carrier elements, as well as the environmental control and life support system (ECLSS), the internal thermal control system (ITCS), and the internal audio and video systems. Current status of the ECLSS and internal thermal are the subjects of this paper. The ECLSS is composed of six subsystem groups: the temperature humidity control, the atmosphere control and supply, the air revitalization, water reclamation and management, fecal waste management, and the fire detection and suppression subsystems. The internal TCS consists of all WP01 elements of passive and active thermal measures. The ECLSS and ITCS provide services for the permanently orbiting pressurized modules as well as the pressurized and unpressurized logistics carriers. The logistics carriers are used as ground-to-station ferries for both resupply and initial delivery of selected new equipment and later replacement items. Equipment, which cannot be subjected to the rigors of the space environment, will be carried in the pressurized logistic carrier; while an unpressurized carrier is used to resupply other commodities, such as external fluid consumables. The laboratory module houses the equipment for both payloads and subsystem maintenance and repair. The habitation module is dedicated to providing living and sleeping quarters including a galley, sleeping provisions, hygiene facilities, medical services as well as services for exercise and relaxation. The four nodes that join the two modules at their ends also house electronics as well as work stations and outside viewing cupolas. The airlocks, one providing an emergency hyperbaric chamber capability, are also attached. This assembly constitutes the U.S. provided portion of the initial station. Additional international modules and docking provisions for future attached pressurized payload as well as dual logistic module and growth capabilities are also provided. The primary heat rejection mechanism is achieved via a central set of radiators provided by another work package. The interface with the central TCS at the module heat exchangers defines the active control interface boundary of the ITCS with the central TCS. All internal cooling of the permanent orbital elements are provided via internal active fluid loops within the elements utilizing water as the transport media. Cabin and equipment cooling are provided by forced air flow and cold plate heat sinks. A special active cooling loop is provided in the laboratory module to accommodate experiments and other payloads. Coatings and insulation are used in conjunction with the active components to passively limit heat losses/gains. The most challenging ECLSS new technology issues relate to oxygen and water recovery. Closure of the oxygen loop requires the use of new regenerative CO 2 removal and concentration techniques, CO 2 reduction to convert the CO 2 to water with a waste by-product, and the electrolysis of water to produce breathing oxygen for water recovery. For water recovery three separate loops are currently planned. One loop provides potable water by utilizing a combination of recovered condensate and CO 2 reduction water. A second loop purifies hygiene water from waste from the showers, clothes washer, hygiene/hand wash stations and a dishwasher. The third loop provides hygiene water by the reclamation and purification of urine water. This paper outlines the basic services provided by the ECLSS and ITCS and describes the ECLSS functional distribution throughout the pressurized assembly.

R. Humphries↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Efficient Waste Heat Coupled Forward Osmosis for Effluent Water Management at Coal-Fired Power Plants

This project sought to evaluate the technical and economic viability of the Aquapod©, a transformational low energy (<200 kJ/kg water) waste heat coupled forward osmosis (FO) technology, to manage effluents, meet cooling water demands, and achieve water conservation in a coal-fired power plant environment. The Aquapod© process is innovative because it is heat-driven, avoids the evaporation of water, and uses no toxic chemicals such as ammonia or amines. The Aquapod© process accomplishes this using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) coupled FO process. The evaluation revealed that the Aquapod© process offers a pathway to exploit waste heat resources within a power plant to achieve flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater volume reduction and water recovery with minimal pretreatment. Water recovery of 80% from FGD wastewater was achieved with minimal pretreatment, exceeding the project target of 50%. The estimated electrical energy of 2.16 kWh/m 3 of water produced for the Aquapod© process met the project target of < 3.6 kWh/m 3 . The heat required for the process operation was approximately 186 kJ/kg of produced water, which was slightly lower than the project target of 200 kJ/kg. The estimated treatment cost for installing and operating the Aquapod© process in conjunction with a spray dryer evaporator to achieve zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) of the 100 gpm FGD wastewater was $13.24/m 3 over a 30-year lifetime. As a point of reference, this study’s host power plant currently incurs a cost of $3.70/m 3 – $8.87/m3 on a discharged volume basis to discharge its wastewater into the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) after physical-chemical treatment. Therefore, the Illinois power plant would incur an incremental cost increase of $4.37/m 3 – 9.54/m 3 to achieve ZLD using the Aquapod© and spray dryer combination. Ample opportunities exist to further lower the ZLD capital and operating costs in the next design iteration to attain pipe parity at the higher end of the site treatment costs.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Alternating, Current-Induced Electromagnetic Field for Membrane Fouling and Scaling Control during Desalination of Secondary Effluent from Municipal Wastewater

Membrane treatment of secondary effluent for reuse applications is a promising approach to expand water supplies and provide flexibility to water resources management. However, effective control of membrane fouling and scaling is crucial for cost-effective treatment and system resilience. This study compared the performance of antiscalants to an alternating, current-induced electromagnetic field (EMF) as an alternative pretreatment method to reverse osmosis. Compared to the no-EMF control experiments, the EMF device resulted in 13% higher water recovery and 366% lower flux decline at 60% of water recovery, along with 2–8 times lower precipitation of fouling and scaling, as evidenced by scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and chemical extraction analysis. The combination of the EMF with antiscalant was more effective for reducing membrane fouling and scaling, increasing water recoveries up to 89.3%, as compared to the EMF (67.5%) and antiscalant-only (73.6%) configurations. This is the first study to demonstrate synergistic effects of using an EMF in combination with antiscalants and could lead to lower pretreatment costs. Additional research is required to quantify the economics of this approach and to fully understand the fundamental mechanisms governing fouling and scaling control by an EMF.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2011

Advanced Life Support Technologies and Scenarios

As NASA looks beyond the International Space Station toward long-duration, deep space missions away from Earth, the current practice of supplying consumables and spares will not be practical nor affordable. New approaches are sought for life support and habitation systems that will reduce dependency on Earth and increase mission sustainability. To reduce launch mass, further closure of Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) beyond the current capability of the ISS will be required. Areas of particular interest include achieving higher degrees of recycling within Atmosphere Revitalization, Water Recovery and Waste Management Systems. NASA is currently investigating advanced carbon dioxide reduction processes that surpass the level of oxygen recovery available from the Sabatier Carbon Dioxide Reduction Assembly (CRA) on the ISS. Improving the efficiency of the recovery of water from spacecraft solid and liquid wastes is possible through use of emerging technologies such as the heat melt compactor and brine dewatering systems. Another significant consumable is that of food. Food production systems based on higher plants may not only contribute significantly to the diet, but also contribute to atmosphere revitalization, water purification and waste utilization. Bioreactors may be potentially utilized for wastewater and solid waste management. The level at which bioregenerative technologies are utilized will depend on their comparative requirements for spacecraft resources including mass, power, volume, heat rejection, crew time and reliability. Planetary protection requirements will need to be considered for missions to other solar system bodies.

Barta, Daniel J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Analysis of backwash settings to maximize net water production in an engineering-scale ultrafiltration system for water reuse

Ultrafiltration (UF) has been widely utilized as water pretreatment for different applications especially in water reuse. The UF system operation is characterized by a filtration phase, where particles accumulate on the membrane surface resulting in an increase in the transmembrane pressure (TMP) and a cleaning phase, where foulants are removed through cleaning cycles including physical backwash and chemical-enhanced backwash (CEB). In this study, data from an engineering-scale UF system treating reclaimed wastewater were used to assess the impact of backwashing on the filtration process. TMP backwash trigger, backwash duration, and CEB frequency were purposely varied for a cycle-by-cycle investigation on the net water production, water recovery, initial operating TMP, and filtration cycle duration. As the TMP backwash trigger was varied between 62 and 145kPa, the maximum net water production (63 m 3 /d) was achieved at 103kPa and water recovery remained relatively constant at approximately 92%. Backwash durations of 45, 65, and 85s were performed where both net water production and water recovery yielded similar results (~63 m 3 /d and ~ 91%) compared with 103kPa TMP backwash trigger. The CEB frequency was also lowered from one every three backwashes (1/3) to 1/6 and 1/12 and resulted in decreased net water production and water recovery while the initial TMP increased. Interestingly, the total number of CEBs remained approximately constant regardless of their frequency. In conclusion, results suggest that CEB is an important fouling control process to maximize water production.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2015

Forward Osmosis Brine Drying

The Forward Osmosis Brine Drying (FOBD) system is based on a technique called forward osmosis (FO). FO is a membrane-based process where the osmotic potential between brine and a salt solution is equalized by the movement of water from the brine to the salt solution. The FOBD system is composed of two main elements, the FO bag and the salt regeneration system. This paper discusses the results of testing of the FO bag to determine the maximum water recovery ratio that can be attained using this technology. Testing demonstrated that the FO bag is capable of achieving a maximum brine water recovery ratio of the brine of 95%. The equivalent system mass was calculated to be 95 kg for a feed similar to the concentrated brine generated on the International Space Station and 86 kg for an Exploration brine. The results have indicated that the FOBD can process all the brine for a one year mission for between 11% to 10% mass required to bring the water needed to make up for water lost in the brine if not recycled. The FOBD saves 685 kg and when treating the International Space Station brine and it saves 829 kg when treating the Exploration brine. It was also demonstrated that saturated salt solutions achieve a higher water recovery ratios than solids salts do and that lithium chloride achieved a higher water recovery ratio than sodium chloride.

Brine↗
NASA NTRS1930

Speed and Deceleration Trials of U.S.S. Los Angeles

The trials reported in this report were instigated by the Bureau of Aeronautics of the Navy Department for the purpose of determining accurately the speed and resistance of the U. S. S. "Los Angeles" with and without water recovery apparatus, and to clear up the apparent discrepancies between the speed attained in service and in the original trials in Germany. The trials proved very conclusively that the water recovery apparatus increases the resistance about 20 per cent, which is serious, and shows the importance of developing a type of recovery having less resistance. Between the American and the German speed trials without water recovery there remains an unexplained discrepancy of nearly 6 per cent in speed at a given rate of engine revolutions. Warping of the propeller blades and small cumulative errors of observation seem the most probable causes of the discrepancy. It was found that the customary resistance coefficients C, are 0.0242 and 0.0293 without and with the water recovery apparatus, respectively. The corresponding values of the propulsive coefficient K, are 56.7 and 44.6. If there is an error in these figures, it is probably in a slight overestimate of C, and an underestimate of K. The maximum errors are almost certainly less than 5 per cent. No scale effect was detected indicating variation of C with respect to velocity (author)

De France, S J↗
NASA NTRS1989

Test results on reuse of reclaimed shower water - A summary

Results are presented from tests to evaluate a microgravity whole body shower and waste water recovery system design for possible use on the Space Station. Several water recovery methods were tested, including phase change distillation, a thermoelectric hollow fiber membrane evaporation subsystem, and a reverse osmosis dynamic membrane system. Consideration is given to the test hardware, the types of soaps evaluated, the human response to showering with reclaimed water, chemical treatment for microbial control, the procedures for providing hygienic water, and the quality of water produced by the systems. All three of the waste water recovery systems tested successfully produced reclaimed water for reuse.

Verostko, Charles E.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating Pretreatment Strategies with Modeling for Reducing Scaling Potential of Reverse Osmosis Concentrate: Insights from Ion Exchange and Activated Alumina

Reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) treatment is critical for enhancing water recovery and minimizing concentrate volume for disposal, especially in regions facing water scarcity. This study investigates the application of ion exchange (IX) resins and activated alumina (AA) as pretreatment strategies to mitigate scaling in ROC due to high concentrations of total dissolved solids, hardness (Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ), and silica. Through a series of Langmuir isotherms, continuous column experiments, and model simulation, two types of strong acid cation IX resins and three types of strong base anion IX resins alongside three types of AA were evaluated. Results indicate that AA exhibits superior performance in silica removal, achieving up to a 65% reduction and maintaining performance for up to 800 bed volume without reaching saturation. Model simulation of a secondary reverse osmosis treating ROC after the IX and AA pretreatment indicated an additional water recovery of ~70% using antiscalants. This study demonstrates the potential for achieving higher water recovery while also identifying opportunities for pretreatment improvement. Challenges such as the limited IX capacity treating ROC, which requires frequent regeneration and increases operational costs, along with the restricted regeneration capacity of AA, underscore the importance of innovation. These findings emphasize the critical need for developing advanced materials and optimized strategies to further enhance the efficiency of ROC treatment processes.

activated alumina↗
NASA NTRS2016

Development of the Continuous-Fill Brine Evaporation Bag (BEB) System

The existing water recovery system on the International Space Station (ISS) is limited to 70 percent reclamation; consequently, long duration space missions are currently unfeasible due to the large quantity of water necessary to sustain the crew. The Brine Evaporation Bag (BEB) is a proposed system to supplement the existing water recovery system aboard the ISS and future deep space missions that can increase water recovery to 99 percent. The BEB project previously focused on the development of only the bag portion of the system. This paper focuses on the development of the BEB Evaporator. It will discuss the work to understand, optimize, and improve the entire BEB system while implementing a continuous-fill process. The results of that development and the advantages and limitations of the continuous-fill process will be presented.

Water Recovery↗
DOE OSTI2025

Transforming Aeration Energy in Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs) through Suboxic Nitrogen Removal (Final Report)

The objective of this project was to advance two key technological components—aeration control strategies and process design methodologies—to support the development and broader adoption of suboxic biological nitrogen removal (SBNR). The project focused on achieving the following three goals: • Enhance Model Predictive Control (MPC) Technology: Advance the DO/Nmaster MPC platform from its initial 2018 pilot deployment at the Chico Water Resource Recovery Facility in California to full-scale integration. This included partnering with a blower technology commercialization partner and incorporating machine learning (ML) capabilities to enable nationwide deployment. • Bridge Knowledge Gaps in SBNR Process Design: Address fundamental gaps in SBNR process understanding through controlled pilot-scale testing at a dedicated pilot facility. These efforts supported the development of robust kinetic models to inform reliable SBNR control, operational strategies, and design frameworks. • Demonstrate Full-Scale Implementation of Low DO/SBNR with ML: Transition low dissolved oxygen (DO)/SBNR coupled with ML from pilot-scale trials to full-scale demonstration in flow-through biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems, with the goal of enabling scalable, nationwide adoption in activated sludge treatment processes. The project included demonstration of SBNR at the pilot scale as performed by Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) and at the full-scale as performed by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts' (LACSD) Pomona Water Reclamation Plant (POWRP).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗