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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 NTRS1985

Results of studies on advanced winged space transportation systems

Various winged spaceplane concepts which appear viable as the post-Shuttle generation of launch vehicles are reviewed. The designs all yield improvements in size and mass compared to the STS, provided certain emerging technologies are successfully applied. Single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles would burn LOX/LH fuels in SSME-derived engines with two position nozzles. SSTO could be realized in either vertical or horizontal take-off configurations, but all would have 29,500 kg payload capacities and horizontal landing capabilities. Consideration is given to alternative fuels, the effects of adding air-breathing engines, various ways of attaching and deploying payloads, containing the fuels and providing thermal protection during reentry. It is found that similar technology advances are needed for all the concepts.

Arrington, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1983

An assessment of advanced technology for industrial cogeneration

The potential of advanced fuel utilization and energy conversion technologies to enhance the outlook for the increased use of industrial cogeneration was assessed. The attributes of advanced cogeneration systems that served as the basis for the assessment included their fuel flexibility and potential for low emissions, efficiency of fuel or energy utilization, capital equipment and operating costs, and state of technological development. Over thirty advanced cogeneration systems were evaluated. These cogeneration system options were based on Rankine cycle, gas turbine engine, reciprocating engine, Stirling engine, and fuel cell energy conversion systems. The alternatives for fuel utilization included atmospheric and pressurized fluidized bed combustors, gasifiers, conventional combustion systems, alternative energy sources, and waste heat recovery. Two advanced cogeneration systems with mid-term (3 to 5 year) potential were found to offer low emissions, multi-fuel capability, and a low cost of producing electricity. Both advanced cogeneration systems are based on conventional gas turbine engine/exhaust heat recovery technology; however, they incorporate advanced fuel utilization systems.

Moore, N.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Smart Manufacturing Pathways for Industrial Decarbonization and Thermal Process Intensification

Rapid decarbonization is fast becoming the primary environmental and sustainability initiative for many economic sectors. Industry consumes more than 30 % of all primary energy in the United States and accounts for nearly 25 % of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. More than 70 % of energy consumed by the industrial sector is related to thermal processes, which are also the largest contributors of carbon emissions, overwhelmingly due to the combustion of fossil fuels. Thermal process intensification (TPI) seeks to dramatically improve the energy performance of thermal systems through technology pillars focusing on alternative energy sources and processes, supplemental technologies, and waste heat management. The impacts of TPI have significant overlap with the goals of industrial decarbonization (ID) that seeks to phase out all GHG emissions from industrial activities. Emerging supplemental technologies such as smart manufacturing (SM) and the industrial internet of things (IoT) enable significant opportunities for the optimization of manufacturing processes. Combining strategies for TPI and ID with SM and IoT can open and enhance existing opportunities for saving time and energy via approaches such as tighter control of temperature zones, better adjustment of thermal systems for variations in production levels and feedstock properties, and increased process throughput. Data collected by smart processes will also enable new advanced solutions such as digital twins and machine learning algorithms to further improve thermal system savings. Herein, this paper examines the individual pathways of TPI, ID, and SM and how the combination of all three can accelerate energy and GHG reductions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2019

A Conceptual Design Study for an Unmanned, Reusable Cargo Lunar Lander

Motivated by the aggressive timeline of NASA’s Artemis Program, the feasibility of evolving a mid-sized, reusable and refuelable cargo lunar lander technology demonstrator into the descent element of the three- stage human lander was assessed with the goal of forming synergies between both acquisition programs. Requirements for such a concept are that it must be deployed on commercial launch vehicles that are expected to enter into service consistent with Artemis’ timeline. In order to assess this concept’s feasibility, a physics-based analysis of alternatives was conducted where mission and vehicle architectures are traded side-by-side. Mission trades considered include the impacts of traveling to near-rectilinear halo orbit quickly versus slowly; vehicle trades include fuel and oxidizer tank configurations, number of engines, and propellant combinations, as well as several technology options, e.g. reduced and zero boil-off strategies. Results and discussions are presented to facilitate the consideration of this concept. lunar lander, systems analysis, multidisciplinary design and analysis, space systems, analysis of alternatives,

Robertson, Bradford↗
NASA NTRS2007

High Altitude Long Endurance Air Vehicle Analysis of Alternatives and Technology Requirements Development

The objective of this study was to develop a variety of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) conceptual designs for two operationally useful missions (hurricane science and communications relay) and compare their performance and cost characteristics. Sixteen potential HALE UAV configurations were initially developed, including heavier-than-air (HTA) and lighter-than-air (LTA) concepts with both consumable fuel and solar regenerative (SR) propulsion systems. Through an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) down select process, the two leading consumable fuel configurations (one each from the HTA and LTA alternatives) and an HTA SR configuration were selected for further analysis. Cost effectiveness analysis of the consumable fuel configurations revealed that simply maximizing vehicle endurance can lead to a sub-optimum system solution. An LTA concept with a hybrid propulsion system (solar arrays and a hydrogen-air proton exchange membrane fuel cell) was found to have the best mission performance; however, an HTA diesel-fueled wing-body-tail configuration emerged as the preferred consumable fuel concept because of the large size and technical risk of the LTA concept. The baseline missions could not be performed by even the best HTA SR concept. Mission and SR technology trade studies were conducted to enhance understanding of the potential capabilities of such a vehicle. With near-term technology SR-powered HTA vehicles are limited to operation in favorable solar conditions, such as the long days and short nights of summer at higher latitudes. Energy storage system specific energy and solar cell efficiency were found to be the key technology areas for enhancing HTA SR performance.

Nickol, Craig L.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hydrogen Peroxide‐Induced Overoxidation of Fe−N−C Catalysts: Implications for ORR Activity

Fe−N−C (iron-nitrogen-carbon) electrocatalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to precious metals for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but they remain insufficiently stable for widespread adoption in fuel cell technologies. One plausible mechanism to explain this lack of stability, and the associated catalyst degradation, is oxidative attack on the catalyst surface by hydrogen peroxide, a non-selective byproduct of the ORR. In this work, we perform a detailed analysis of this degradation mechanism, using a combination of periodic Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations to probe the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrogen peroxide activation on a series of candidate active sites for the Fe−N−C catalyst. The results demonstrate that carbon atoms neighbouring FeN 4 active sites can be strongly over-oxidized via formation of hydroxyl or epoxy groups when hydrogen peroxide is present in the electrolyte. In most cases, the interaction between the over-oxidizing groups and the ORR reaction intermediates reduces the ORR activity, and we further propose that the over-oxidized sites are likely precursors to irreversible carbon corrosion and further catalyst deactivation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles in Tunnels

There are numerous vehicles which utilize alternative fuels, or fuels that differ from typical hydrocarbons such as gasoline and diesel, throughout the world. Alternative vehicles include those running on the combustion of natural gas and propane as well as electrical drive vehicles utilizing batteries or hydrogen as energy storage. Because the number of alternative fuels vehicles is expected to increase significantly, it is important to analyze the hazards and risks involved with these new technologies with respect to the regulations related to specific transport infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels. This report focuses on hazards presented by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles that are different from traditional fuels. There are numerous scientific research and analysis publications on hydrogen hazards in tunnel scenarios; however, compiling the data to make conclusions can be a difficult process for tunnel owners and authorities having jurisdiction over tunnels. This report provides a summary of the available literature characterizing hazards presented by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, including light-duty, medium and heavy-duty, as well as buses. Research characterizing both worst-case and credible scenarios, as well as risk-based analysis, is summarized. Gaps in the research are identified to guide future research efforts to provide a complete analysis of the hazards and recommendations for the safe use of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in tunnels.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Learnings From the 2022 NREL Partner Forum: Research Needs for Aircraft

During the 2022 Partner Forum at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), stakeholders and experts from across aviation came to the whiteboard to outline common goals, align interests, understand technologies, and discuss steps for safely and seamlessly decarbonizing aviation. Experts identified challenges, strategies, and needed research on sustainable aviation fuel, alternative propulsion, infrastructure, and aircraft. Initial insights, strategies, and high-level suggestions from the aircraft workshop are summarized below, including potential barriers and synergies for achieving bold decarbonization goals.

aircraft↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy Storage Technologies and U.S. Department of War Requirements

This report offers an overarching primer the energy storage market and assessment of each technology’s suitability for U.S. Department of War applications. We find that battery energy storage is the most promising technology for energy storage applications in terms of energy density and cost. While commercial and advanced Li-ion can satisfy certain electric mobility (e.g., cars, midsized vehicles) and electric flight application (e.g. drones) needs of DoW, next generation technologies like Li metal solid-state batteries, and conversion chemistries (Li-air, Li-CFx) are needed for heavy duty applications like armored vehicles, tanks, airplanes, jets. Batteries should also be supplemented with technologies such as supercapacitors and next-generation flywheels to provide short bursts of high energy for high power needs. Thermal energy storage solutions (sensible and latent heat) and fuel cells (PEMFC and SOFC) are good alternatives for supporting energy storage applications in terms of energy density and cost. Gravity-based energy storage promises the least energy density with high cost and should only be used for niche DoW applications. Of the different gravity energy storage technologies reviewed, pumped-hydro, flywheel, and compressed air energy storage are promising, while solid gravity energy storage appears the least attractive. Military facilities requiring 14 days of energy storage can benefit from flow batteries, especially commercial VFRBs and next generation iron-air systems. While VFRBs are expensive, iron-air batteries have the coupled benefits of low cost and good energy density promising 100+ hours of storage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Land-use intensity of electricity production and tomorrow’s energy landscape

The global energy system has a relatively small land footprint at present, comprising just 0.4% of ice-free land. This pales in comparison to agricultural land use– 30–38% of ice-free land–yet future low-carbon energy systems that shift to more extensive technologies could dramatically alter landscapes around the globe. The challenge is more acute given the projected doubling of global energy consumption by 2050 and widespread electrification of transportation and industry. Yet unlike greenhouse gas emissions, land use intensity of energy has been rarely studied in a rigorous way. Here we calculate land-use intensity of energy (LUIE) for real-world sites across all major sources of electricity, integrating data from published literature, databases, and original data collection. We find a range of LUIE that span four orders of magnitude, from nuclear with 7.1 ha/TWh/y to dedicated biomass at 58,000 ha/TWh/y. By applying these LUIE results to the future electricity portfolios of ten energy scenarios, we conclude that land use could become a significant constraint on deep decarbonization of the power system, yet low-carbon, land-efficient options are available.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of an Energy-Efficient and High-Productivity Ammonia Recovery and Removal Process Using Resin-Wafer Electrodeionization

As efforts to develop various energy resources, ammonia energy is emerging as a promising carbon-free fuel alternative. Recovering high-concentration ammonia and ammonium from wastewater potentially offers significant environmental and economic benefits. However, research on recovery technologies for industries such as semiconductors remains limited. This study develops an efficient, energy-saving ammonia recovery technology using Resin Wafer Electrodeionization (RW-EDI), specifically for the semiconductor industry. RW-EDI shows promise for recovering ammonia from high-concentration wastewater. By optimizing parameters, such as voltage and initial concentration, a balance between productivity and energy consumption is achieved. Results indicate that ammonium and fluoride ion transport kinetics are similar, with minimal competition and selectivity values between 0.95 and 1.08. As the initial ammonia/ammonium concentration increases from 500 to 8000 ppm, reaction rate constants and the overall mass transfer coefficient decrease. Increasing the voltage can enhance mass transfer and eliminate barriers. Ion transport primarily occurs in the RW solid phase, accounting for 93.89% of the total current. Additionally, RW-EDI shows superior specific energy consumption within a concentration range of 500 ppm to 8000 ppm, outperforming technologies like electrodialysis by reducing specific energy consumption from 8−15 kWh/kg-NH 4 + to 1.2−2.5 kWh/kg-NH 4 + . This study highlights RW-EDI’s potential for ammonia recovery, providing valuable insights for future applications in wastewater treatment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1978

Alternative aircraft fuels

In connection with the anticipated impossibility to provide on a long-term basis liquid fuels derived from petroleum, an investigation has been conducted with the objective to assess the suitability of jet fuels made from oil shale and coal and to develop a data base which will allow optimization of future fuel characteristics, taking energy efficiency of manufacture and the tradeoffs in aircraft and engine design into account. The properties of future aviation fuels are examined and proposed solutions to problems of alternative fuels are discussed. Attention is given to the refining of jet fuel to current specifications, the control of fuel thermal stability, and combustor technology for use of broad specification fuels. The first solution is to continue to develop the necessary technology at the refinery to produce specification jet fuels regardless of the crude source.

Longwell, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS2011

HIFIRE Flight 2 Overview and Status Update 2011

A collaborative international effort, the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) Program aims to study basic hypersonic phenomena through flight experimentation. HIFiRE Flight 2 teams the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), NASA, and the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). Flight 2 will develop an alternative test technique for acquiring high enthalpy scramjet flight test data, allowing exploration of accelerating hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet performance and dual-to-scram mode transition up to and beyond Mach 8 flight. The generic scramjet flowpath is research quality and the test fuel is a simple surrogate for an endothermically cracked liquid hydrocarbon fuel. HIFiRE Flight 2 will be a first of its kind in contribution to scramjets. The HIFiRE program builds upon the HyShot and HYCAUSE programs and aims to leverage the low-cost flight test technique developed in those programs. It will explore suppressed trajectories of a sounding rocket propelled test article and their utility in studying ramjet-scramjet mode transition and flame extinction limits research. This paper describes the overall scramjet flight test experiment mission goals and objectives, flight test approach and strategy, ground test and analysis summary, development status and project schedule. A successful launch and operation will present to the scramjet community valuable flight test data in addition to a new tool, and vehicle, with which to explore high enthalpy scramjet technologies.

Jackson, Kevin R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Simulation-Based Assessment of Energy Consumption of Alternative Powertrains in Agricultural Tractors

The objectives of this research were to develop simulation models for agricultural tractors with different powertrain technologies and evaluate the energy consumption in typical agricultural operations. Simulation models were developed for conventional, parallel hybrid electric, series hybrid electric, fuel cell hybrid, and battery electric powertrains. Autonomie vehicle simulation software (version 2022) was used for the simulations and the tractor models were simulated in two tilling cycles and in a road transport cycle with a trailer. The alternative powertrains were configured to have at least the same tractive performance as the conventional, diesel engine-powered tractor model. The simulation results showed that the potential of the parallel and series hybrid powertrains to improve energy efficiency depends heavily on the tractor size and the operating cycle conditions. The fuel cell hybrid and battery electric powertrains have a higher potential to reduce energy consumption and emissions but still have inherent technical challenges for practical operation. The battery-powered electric tractor would require improvements in the storage energy density to have a comparable operational performance in comparison to other powertrains. The fuel cell hybrid tractor already provided an adequate operating performance but the availability of hydrogen and refueling infrastructure could be challenging to resolve in the farming context.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

cerf: A Python package to evaluate the feasibility and costs of power plant siting for alternative futures

Long-term electric power sector planning and capacity expansion is a key area of interest to stakeholders across a wide range of organizations because it helps in making informed decisions about investments in infrastructure within the context of potential future vulnerabilities under various natural and human stressors. Future power plant siting costs will depend on a number of factors including the characteristics of the electricity capacity expansion and electricity demand (e.g., fuel mix of future electric power capacity, and the magnitude and geographic distribution of electricity demand growth) as well as the geographic location of power plants. Electricity technology capacity expansion plans modeled to represent alternate future conditions meeting a set of scenario assumptions are traditionally compared against historical trends which may not be consistent with current and future conditions. We present the `cerf` Python package (a.k.a., the Capacity Expansion Regional Feasibility model) which helps evaluate the feasibility and structure of future, scenario-driven electricity capacity expansion plans by siting power plants in areas that have been deemed the least cost option while considering dynamic future conditions. We can use `cerf` to gain insight to research topics such as: 1) under what conditions future projected electricity expansion plans from models such as GCAM-USA are possible to achieve, 2) where and which on-the-ground barriers to siting (e.g., protected areas, cooling water availability) may influence our ability to achieve certain expansions, and 3) how electricity infrastructure build-outs and value may evolve into the future when considering locational marginal pricing (LMP) based on the supply and demand of electricity from a grid operations model.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Co-Optimization of Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Cost, Emissions, and Performance

The combustion of petroleum-based fuels contributes to increases in atmospheric CO2, contributing to climate change. As other sectors electrify, current battery technology makes this impractical for the aviation industry. The fastest pathway to reducing the carbon contributions of aviation is to create low or no net carbon-emitting drop-in petroleum alternatives. This research explores 3 potential sorghum derived jet fuel molecules from 4 different production routes, hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), and Jet A, to identify how blends including these fuels could offer improved performance (MJ/kg, MJ/L) and improved emissions (gCO2/MJ) while minimizing costs. Different applications will value each target metric differently. This research utilizes the Jet Fuel Blend Optimizer (JudO) to create a 4-dimensional Pareto front across potential solutions. The molecules considered will not offer reduced cost compared to conventional jet fuel (Jet A), but they can be utilized to create blends with higher specific energy, greater energy density, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Considerations including carbon credits, the sale of byproducts, and the valuation of improved performance will make the proposed molecules more commercially viable. At the lowest region of GHG solutions, coupled with equivalent LCFS approximations, JudO determined blends that could achieve as high as 69% overall carbon reductions at a premium of $0.34/L.

Feldhausen, John J.↗