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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
DOE OSTI2020

DEM and MELT In-Can Vitrification Process for Fukushima Daiichi Water Treatment Secondary Waste - 20034

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station was severely damaged by a tsunami induced by the earthquake on March 11, 2011. A large amount of water treatment secondary waste has been generated from the purification work of contaminated water that consists of the water flowing into the reactor building. The Mid and Long-Term Road map specifies that solid waste at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station should be stored safely and reasonably according to its characteristics. In order to meet this goal, a versatile treatment solution is needed, and the In-Can vitrification seems to be a suitable solution. The DEM and MELT In-Can vitrification process is being developed and qualified in France to treat waste arising from decommissioning and dismantling operations. This qualification is carried out through the consortium of the DEM and MELT project coordinated by CEA which gathers Orano, ECM technologies and Andra. The DEM and MELT In-Can vitrification process is a robust, simple and versatile in situ vitrification process. It is designed for high or intermediate level waste and is compact enough to be implemented in an existing facility or close to the waste to be treated. It is developed to treat liquid and solid waste, to produce a small amount of secondary waste and to minimize investment and operating costs. The DEM and MELT In-Can vitrification process is also developed with a modular design in order to be adapted to nuclear operators needs and requirements. The In-Can melting process has already been developed and fully qualified by the CEA for Alpha liquid waste and can be rated TRL 7 for this scope. The In-Can vitrification technology is considered as a qualified solution that could be applied for the treatment of waste resulting from the D and D work in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The feasibility evaluation of the DEM and MELT In-Can vitrification process for Fukushima Daiichi water treatment secondary waste is a project led by Orano, CEA and ANADEC. This R and D project is performed by the funds from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as The Subsidy Program 'Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management'. This paper presents the first results of this feasibility evaluation, from the scenarios and glass formulation definition to the industrial implementation feasibility. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

In situ electrochemical scanning/transmission electron microscopy of electrode–electrolyte interfaces

Insights into the dynamics of electrochemical processes are critically needed to improve our fundamental understanding of electron, charge, and mass transfer mechanisms and reaction kinetics that influence a broad range of applications, from the functionality of electrical energy-storage and conversion devices (e.g., batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors), to materials degradation issues (e.g., corrosion and oxidation), and materials synthesis (e.g., electrodeposition). To unravel these processes, in situ electrochemical scanning/transmission electron microscopy (ec-S/TEM) was developed to permit detailed site-specific characterization of evolving electrochemical processes that occur at electrode–electrolyte interfaces in their native electrolyte environment, in real time and at high-spatial resolution. This approach utilizes “closed-form” microfabricated electrochemical cells that couple the capability for quantitative electrochemical measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution imaging, spectroscopy, and diffraction. Here, we review the state-of-the-art instrumentation for in situ ec-S/TEM and how this approach has resulted in new observations of electrochemical processes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1991

Sensor-model in-situ control of the RTM composite process

The paper reports on the use of in situ frequency dependent electromagnetic sensors (FDEMS) and the Loos resin transfer model to select and control the processing properties of an epoxy resin during RTM impregnation and cure. Once correlated with viscosity and degree of cure, FDEMS monitors the advancement of the resin, viscosity, and the impregnation of the fabric, allowing a direct means of monitoring in situ in the mold throughout the fabrication process the effects of time, temperature, vacuum, and pressure.

Kranbuehl, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Development of a material processing plant for lunar soil

Currently there is considerable interest in developing in-situ materials processing plants for both the Moon and Mars. Two of the most important aspects of developing such a materials processing plant is the overall system design and the integration of the different technologies into a reliable, lightweight, and cost-effective unit. The concept of an autonomous materials processing plant that is capable of producing useful substances from lunar regolith was developed. In order for such a materials processing plant to be considered as a viable option, it must be totally self-contained, able to operate autonomously, cost effective, light weight, and fault tolerant. In order to assess the impact of different technologies on the overall systems design and integration, a one-half scale model was constructed that is capable of scooping up (or digging) lunar soil, transferring the soil to a solar furnace, heating the soil in the furnace to liberate the gasses, and transferring the spent soil to a 'tile' processing center. All aspects of the control system are handled by a 386 class PC via D/A, A/D, and DSP (Digital Signal Processor) control cards.

Goettsch, Ulix↗
DOE OSTI2020

Adapting In Situ Accelerators for Sparsity With Granular Matrix Reordering

Neural network (NN) inference is an essential part of modern systems and is found at the heart of numerous applications ranging from image recognition to natural language processing. In situ NN accelerators can efficiently perform NN inference using resistive crossbars, which makes them a promising solution to the data movement challenges faced by conventional architectures. Although such accelerators demonstrate significant potential for dense NNs, they often do not benefit from sparse NNs, which contain relatively few non-zero weights. Processing sparse NNs on in situ accelerators results in wasted energy to charge the entire crossbar where most elements are zeros. To address this limitation, this paper proposes Granular Matrix Reordering (GMR): a preprocessing technique that enables an energy-efficient computation of sparse NNs on in situ accelerators. GMR reorders the rows and columns of sparse weight matrices to maximize the crossbars' utilization and minimize the total number of crossbars needed to be charged. The reordering process does not rely on sparsity patterns and incurs no accuracy loss. Finally, GMR achieves an average of 28% and up to 34% reduction in energy consumption over seven pruned NNs across four different pruning methods and network architectures.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2011

In Situ Surface Characterization

Operation of in situ space assets, such as rovers and landers, requires operators to acquire a thorough understanding of the environment surrounding the spacecraft. The following programs help with that understanding by providing higher-level information characterizing the surface, which is not immediately obvious by just looking at the XYZ terrain data. This software suite covers three primary programs: marsuvw, marsrough, and marsslope, and two secondary programs, which together use XYZ data derived from in situ stereo imagery to characterize the surface by determining surface normal, surface roughness, and various aspects of local slope, respectively. These programs all use the Planetary Image Geometry (PIG) library to read mission-specific data files. The programs themselves are completely multimission; all mission dependencies are handled by PIG. The input data consists of images containing XYZ locations as derived by, e.g., marsxyz. The marsuvw program determines surface normals from XYZ data by gathering XYZ points from an area around each pixel and fitting a plane to those points. Outliers are rejected, and various consistency checks are applied. The result shows the orientation of the local surface at each point as a unit vector. The program can be run in two modes: standard, which is typically used for in situ arm work, and slope, which is typically used for rover mobility. The difference is primarily due to optimizations necessary for the larger patch sizes in the slope case. The marsrough program determines surface roughness in a small area around each pixel, which is defined as the maximum peak-to-peak deviation from the plane perpendicular to the surface normal at that pixel. The marsslope program takes a surface normal file as input and derives one of several slope-like outputs from it. The outputs include slope, slope rover direction (a measure of slope radially away from the rover), slope heading, slope magnitude, northerly tilt, and solar energy (compares the slope with the Sun s location at local noon). The marsuvwproj program projects a surface normal onto an arbitrary plane in space, resulting in a normalized 3D vector, which is constrained to lie in the plane. The marsuvwrot program rotates the vectors in a surface normal file, generating a new surface normal file. It also can change coordinate systems for an existing surface normal file. While the algorithms behind this suite are not particularly unique, what makes the programs useful is their integration into the larger in situ image processing system via the PIG library. They work directly with space in situ data, understanding the appropriate image metadata fields and updating them properly. The secondary programs (marsuvwproj, marsuvwrot) were originally developed to deal with anomalous situations on Opportunity and Spirit, respectively, but may have more general applicability.

Deen, Robert G.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Digital Twin Model for Advanced Manufacture of a Rotating Detonation Engine Injector

A digital twin material model (DTMM) of an additive manufacturing (AM) process was created to advance the state of the art in rotating detonation engine (RDE) injector design. Current RDE injectors are designed with large pressure drops, enabling a stable and repeatable combustion process. However, this comes at the cost of system efficiency. For the technology to transition to commercial fossil-based power generation, it is important to develop injectors with reduced flow losses. Low-loss injectors are difficult to design and manufacture with conventional manufacturing techniques. AM enables new design options, but the AM manufacturing process must be thoroughly understood to result in a robust design. A DTMM provides the necessary insight by defining the cause-effect relationships between process parameters, microstructure features, and properties. Therefore, a DTMM to support the design and manufacturing process was developed and applied to the design of a new additively manufactured low-loss injector. The injector combustion behavior was characterized through hot-fire tests, and mechanical performance was compared to the DTMM predictions. The two project goals were the successful development of the DTMM and the demonstration of an improved RDE injector design. The RDE injector design and DTMM developments occurred on parallel but dependent paths. The injector was designed to reduce pressure drop by increasing the cross-sectional flow area ratio between the injector air passages and the combustor annulus. This resulted in less structural material, raising the concern that thin members would be susceptible to high-cycle fatigue (HCF) under the periodic loading inherent to an RDE. It was most important for the DTMM to predict behavior in these features; therefore, the injector design concept guided the material thicknesses used in fatigue tests. The DTMM development started by manufacturing a series of coupons over the range of possible AM process variations. A design-of-experiment approach was used to select which process variable combinations gave the most efficient coverage relevant to the injector design space. The microstructure in each of these coupons was characterized, and then computational methods were used to create a numerical model of the correlation between process variables and microstructure. Next, a set of HCF samples were tested to calibrate existing models that map microstructure to HCF performance. Together, these two links formed the DTMM that calculates HCF behavior from AM process variables. Two injector prototypes were additively manufactured. The first injector design strategy aggressively pursued low-loss performance by substantially increasing the oxidizer flow area. The combination of manufacturing lead times and the fatigue testing schedule meant that the DTMM was not available when building this first prototype. Therefore, its process parameters were chosen based on a manual review of the available coupon data. This prototype was built successfully and evaluated in 58 combustion tests. Sustained detonation was achieved with remarkably reduced pressure loss, and some tests even displayed pressure loss characteristics similar to conventional gas turbine combustors. This achieved the project goal of improving RDE injector design. The second injector was manufactured according to the optimized parameters predicted by the DTMM. The flow area modifications of this injector were less aggressive than the first injector since demonstrating low pressure loss was not an objective of the second hot-fire test series. Rather, the test objective was to cause high cycle fatigue failure in the part due to periodic loading from the rotating detonation wave. The observed number of cycles to failure was to be compared to the number predicted by the DTMM and thereby assess the utility of the DTMM in component design. However, the required level of vibration was not obtained during combustion. Therefore, high cycle fatigue was not experienced in the hot-fire tests of the second injector. Fatigue data was obtained by further testing the second injector in a conventional HCF test apparatus. The injector demonstrated HCF strength above the DTMM prediction. In fact, it did not fail and testing was only discontinued due to reaching the end of the period of performance. This points to some success in the project’s primary goal of successfully developing and applying the DTMM to a component design. Implementing the DTMM recommendations for optimal processing parameters led to a part with acceptable properties. The DTMM was also shown to be an efficient correlator of data and to provide insight into the relationship between process settings, microstructure, and property performance. However, the failure of the DTMM prediction to match the experimental result of the injector fatigue test also points to the need to include significantly more data in the model development. In this project, coupons made with identical processing parameters exhibited drastically different properties from each other and from the injector part, which clearly influences the accuracy of a model that predicts performance based on parameters. Uncertainties in the build process must be quantified to develop more robust models. A denser and broader matrix of coupon process and geometry variations, several repeated builds of every point, more in-situ build process measurements, and direct observation of tensile and HCF sample microstructure (as opposed to separate microstructure specimens) are recommendations to improve future AM modeling efforts.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS2012

Radar Waveform Pulse Analysis Measurement System for High-Power GaN Amplifiers

This work presents a measurement system to characterize the pulsed response of high-power GaN amplifiers for use in space-based SAR platforms that require very strict amplitude and phase stability. The measurement system is able to record and analyze data on three different time scales: fast, slow, and long, which allows for greater detail of the mechanisms that impact amplitude and phase stability. The system is fully automated through MATLAB, which offers both instrument control capability and in-situ data processing. To validate this system, a high-power GaN HEMT amplifier operated in saturation was characterized. The fast time results show that variations to the amplitude and phase are correlated to DC supply transients, while long time characteristics are correlated to temperature changes.

high-power amplifier (HPA)↗
DOE OSTI2021

In-situ Photophysical Monitors and Corrective Algorithms for Photovoltaic Film Deposition and Rapid Thermal Processing in Scalable Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing

This project evaluated three photophysics-based approaches for in situ process monitoring of the scalable deposition of perovskite photovoltaic films. Based on stakeholder input and the results of laboratory trials and literature analysis, two techniques, angle resolved elastic light scattering (ARLS) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) were prototyped and demonstrated with a mixture of simulation, offline and online tests. Also, a hybrid gas flow and humidity control enclosure was constructed and demonstrated to stabilize the ambient conditions around the slot die deposition process and were demonstrated to meet the target humidity control in situ. Due in part to a delayed start and COVID-related lab restrictions and personnel changes, some of the milestones were not met. In spite of these challenges, however, both techniques were prototyped through several iterations and demonstrated significant promise for rapid in line perovskite characterization within the targeted characterization time windows and these techniques are under further development for use in DE-FOA000235:2357-1586. The TRPL system was fully mounted and demonstrated on the scaled slot die roll to roll and sheet coating systems at the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds (WCET). Motivated by significant internal and stakeholder interest, the successful prototyping achieved here, the ongoing need for in-situ characterization for the scale-up of perovskite manufacturing, and the benefits of in situ photophysical characterization for future funded process development research, we are continuing with the principle aims of the project to develop effect in situ photophysical probes for fast analysis of the optoelectronic and structural quality of sheet based and roll to roll process perovskites. TRPLS and ARLS probes proposed in the project are to be completed with external support from the Washington Research Foundation at the WCET. We are currently actively engaged in the acquisition of components and plan to complete and test the probes within three months. It is our intention that these probes will then be used in ongoing perovskite development with our research and commercialization partners including First Solar and other member of the US MAP consortium in future funded development work.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Sizing of discontinuous natural fibers: Effect of sizing approach and sizing concentration on composite properties

Natural fiber reinforced composites (NFRCs) are gaining attention in automotive applications as an alternative to glass fiber composites due to their lightweight and renewable sourcing. However, the inherent hydrophilicity of natural fibers leads to poor compatibility with hydrophobic polymers which adversely affects the mechanical properties of the composites and can limit their application to non-structural parts. Sizing is a common approach used for synthetic fibers to improve the interface between fiber and matrix. However, there is limited study on the sizing of natural fibers, and hence the focus of this work. Here, in this study, two different approaches to sizing discontinuous coir fibers were investigated, namely; (1) ex-situ sizing and (2) in-situ sizing. A commercial polypropylene (PP) based sizing agent was used and the effects of varying sizing solution concentrations (1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 wt%) on the properties of the composites was studied. Results showed that composites prepared via the in-situ sizing process had better fiber–matrix adhesion and improved tensile properties compared to ex-situ sized composites. On studying the effect of different sizing concentrations on composite properties, we found that the tensile strength of the composites increased (by ∼ 42 %) up to 2.5 wt% sizing concentration (in solution) and then decreased. However, the impact strength decreased significantly on increasing the sizing content beyond 1.5 wt% (by ∼ 40 %). Additionally, the study was further extended to investigate the effect of sizing on different NFRCs (coir, banana, and cottonized hemp fiber) where effectiveness of sizing was found to be influenced by the fiber surface morphology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

In Situ Characterization of Interface Evolution in Argyrodite‐Based All‐Solid‐State Li Batteries

Interfacial stability is one of the critical challenges in all-solid-state Li metal batteries. Multiple processes such as solid electrolyte (SE) decomposition and lithium dendrite growth take place at the solid interfaces during cycling, leading to the overall cell failure. To deconvolute these complex processes, in situ characterization is of paramount importance to elucidate the interfacial evolution on the SE upon Li plating/stripping. Herein, an all-solid-state asymmetric in situ cell is developed that allows the direct visualization of the highly localized Li plating/stripping processes under the optical microscope. Moreover, this cell configuration enables reliable post-mortem chemical and morphological analysis of the intact SE/Li interface. Using combined scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the study reveals that the evolution of the Li argyrodite interface is strongly influenced by the current density, particularly in terms of chemical distribution and Li plating morphology. More specifically, the solid interface is LiCl-rich with the formation of Li cubes at low current densities, while high currents result in more uniform elemental distribution and filament morphology. These findings elucidate the dynamic evolution mechanism at solid interfaces and offer valuable guidance for developing stable solid interfaces in all-solid-state Li metal batteries.

Huang, Di↗
DOE OSTI2021

The In Situ Ion Irradiation Toolbox: Time-Resolved Structure and Property Measurements

Abstract The dynamic interactions of ions with matter drive a host of complex evolution mechanisms, requiring monitoring on short spatial and temporal scales to gain a full picture of a material response. Understanding the evolution of materials under ion irradiation and displacement damage is vital for many fields, including semiconductor processing, nuclear reactors, and space systems. Despite materials in service having a dynamic response to radiation damage, typical characterization is performed post-irradiation, washing out all information from transient processes. Characterizing active processes in situ during irradiation allows the mechanisms at play during the dynamic ion-material interaction process to be deciphered. In this review, we examine the in situ characterization techniques utilized for examining material structure, composition, and property evolution under ion irradiation. Covering analyses of microstructure, surface composition, and material properties, this work offers a perspective on the recent advances in methods for in situ monitoring of materials under ion irradiation, including a future outlook examining the role of complementary and combined characterization techniques in understanding dynamic materials evolution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2004

Developing Glassy Magnets from Simulated Composition of Martian Soil for Exploration Applications

The long-term exploration goals of NASA include developing human habitation on Mars and conducting scientific investigations on Mars and other planetary bodies. In situ resource processing is a key objective in this area. We focus on the possibility of making magnetic glasses in situ for potential applications development. The paper will focus on ongoing work at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on making magnetic glass from Mars soil simulants and its characterization. Analysis of the glass morphology, strength, chemistry and resulting magnetic properties will provide a fundamental understanding of the synthesized material that can be used for potential applications development. in an effort to characterize the magnetic properties of the Mars glasses, a series of tests were performed at NASA MSFC. Preliminary tests indicated that the glasses were attracted to a magnet and also had a small amount of residual magnetism. They were opaque (almost black in color). As the first step, a sample of Mars 1 glass (approx.1 mm x 1 mm x 5 mm length) was machined, weighed and its hysteresis curve was measured using a Vibration Sample Magnetometer (VSM). Next, a small furnace was designed and built and the sample was baked in a graphite (reducing agent) crucible at 800 C in an Argon atmosphere for 3 hours in the presence of a uniform, transverse (transverse to the 5mm length of the sample) magnetic field of 0.37 Tesla. The treated sample showed reddening on the outside and showed substantially increased residual magnetism. This sample was again analyzed in the VSM. The data clearly showed that some chemical change occurred during the heat treatment (color change) and that both the glasses have useful magnetic properties. Although no orientation effects of the magnetic field were considered, the data showed the following: 1. Both glass samples are primarily soft magnets and display ferromagnetic behavior (hysteresis, saturation, etc.) 2. The treated glass has improved saturation magnetism (order of magnitude increase), retentivity (factor of 6 increase) and susceptibility (order of magnitude increase) compared to the untreated glass 3. The untreated sample has higher coercivity (approx.50% that of Nickel) than the treated sample 4. Both samples have similar energy density. Results from a systematic study to quantify the effects of processing conditions such as heat treatment, atmosphere, containerless processing (by electrostatic levitation), and applications of external magnetic fields of different strengths will be discussed. Efforts on optimizing the magnetic properties of the product and the feasibility of using it for a couple of specific magnetic applications such as heat generation using an ac field and for electro forming will also be covered. The latter is an in situ manufacturing technique being studied for in-space fabrication applications at MSFC.

Ramachandran, N.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Developing Glassy Magnets from Simulated Composition of Martian Soil for Exploration Applications

The long-term exploration goals of NASA include developing human habitation on Mars and conducting scientific investigations on Mars and other planetary bodies. In situ resource processing is a key objective in this area We focus OR the possibility of making magnetic glasses in situ for potential applications development. The paper will focus on ongoing work at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on making magnetic glass h m Mars soil simulants and its characterization. Analysis of the glass morphology, strength, chemistry and resulting magnetic properties will provide a fi.mdamenta1 understanding ofthe synthesized materiai that can be used for pomtiai appiications cieveiopment. In an effort to characterize the magnetic properbes of the Mars glasses, a series of tests were performed at NASA MSFC. Preliminary tests indicated that the glasses were attracted to a magnet and also had a small amount of residual magnetism. They were opaque (almost black in color). As the first step, a sample of Mars 1 glass (-lm x lmm x 5 mm length) was machined, weighed and its hysteresis curve was measured using a Vibration Sample Magnetometer 0. Next, a small furnace was designed and built and the sample was baked in a graphite (reducing agent) crucible at 800 C in an Argon atmosphere for 3 hours in the presence of a uniform, transverse (transverse to the 5mm length of the sample) magnetic field of 0.37 Tesla. The treated sample showed reddening on the outside and showed substantially increased residual magnetism. This sample was again analyzed in the VSM. The data clearly showed that some chemical change occurred during the heat treatment (color change) and that both the glasses have useful magnetic properties. Although no orientation effects of the magnetic field were considered, the data showed the following: 1. Both glass samples are primarily soft magnets and display ferromagnetic behavior (hysteresis, saturation, etc.) 2. The treated glass has improved saturation magnetism (order of magnitude increase), retentivity (factor of 6 increase) and susceptibility (order of magnitude increase) compared to the untreated glass 3. The untreated sample has higher coercivity (-50% that of Nickel) than the treated sample

Ramachandran, Narayanan↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hierarchical Galloaluminosilicate MFI Catalysts for Ethane Nonoxidative Dehydroaromatization

This study presented an approach to overcome diffusion limitation and imbalance between Brønsted and Lewis acidities that affect conversion and aromatic yield in alkane nonoxidative dehydroaromatization (DHA) conversion. Three different Ga-promoted ZSM-5 catalysts were synthesized for the ethane DHA reaction. The hierarchical galloaluminosilicate Meso-GaZSM-5 was prepared by the solid-state crystallization technique wherein Ga was introduced through the in situ synthesis process. The microporous galloaluminosilicate Micro-GaZSM-5 was synthesized by the hydrothermal technique wherein Ga was introduced in situ during zeolite formation. The hierarchically structured Ga-Meso-ZSM-5 was synthesized by the solid-state crystallization method, but the Ga was introduced by the incipient wetness method. Additional Pt was incorporated by the incipient wetness technique for all three catalysts to enhance the DHA activity. The solid-state crystallization technique created the hierarchical structure without using a template. With the in situ technique, Ga species replaced the Al framework, reducing the strong Brønsted acidity. Meanwhile, they created the extraframework GaO + , introducing the strong Lewis acid sites into catalysts. Due to better synergistic interaction between the oxidation state of metals, acidic properties, and catalyst porosity, Pt-Meso-GaZSM-5 showed higher C 2 H 6 conversion and aromatic selectivity. The improvement on diffusivity not only reduces the effect of channel blockage but also improves the utilization of active sites. As a result, this work sheds light on the direct, nonoxidative conversion of shale gas without going through the syngas route.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2012

Development of the Packed Bed Reactor ISS Flight Experiment

Packed bed reactors are compact, require minimum power and maintenance to operate, and are highly reliable. These features make this technology a leading candidate as a potential unit operation in support of long duration human space exploration. On earth, this type of reactor accounts for approximately 80% of all the reactors used in the chemical process industry today. Development of this technology for space exploration is truly crosscutting with many other potential applications (e.g., in-situ chemical processing of planetary materials and transport of nutrients through soil). NASA is developing an ISS experiment to address this technology with particular focus on water reclamation and air revitalization. Earlier research and development efforts funded by NASA have resulted in two hydrodynamic models which require validation with appropriate instrumentation in an extended microgravity environment. The first model developed by Motil et al., (2003) is based on a modified Ergun equation. This model was demonstrated at moderate gas and liquid flow rates, but extension to the lower flow rates expected in many advanced life support systems must be validated. The other model, developed by Guo et al., (2004) is based on Darcy s (1856) law for two-phase flow. This model has been validated for a narrow range of flow parameters indirectly (without full instrumentation) and included test points where the flow was not fully developed. The flight experiment presented will be designed with removable test sections to test the hydrodynamic models. The experiment will provide flexibility to test additional beds with different types of packing in the future. One initial test bed is based on the VRA (Volatile Removal Assembly), a packed bed reactor currently on ISS whose behavior in micro-gravity is not fully understood. Improving the performance of this system through an accurate model will increase our ability to purify water in the space environment.

Patton, Martin O.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Development Status of the WetLab-2 Project: New Tools for On-orbit Real-time Quantitative Gene Expression.

The primary objective of NASA Ames Research Centers WetLab-2 Project is to place on the ISS a research platform to facilitate gene expression analysis via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) of biological specimens grown or cultured on orbit. The WetLab-2 equipment will be capable of processing multiple sample types ranging from microbial cultures to animal tissues dissected on-orbit. In addition to the logistical benefits of in-situ sample processing and analysis, conducting qRT-PCR on-orbit eliminates the confounding effects on gene expression of reentry stresses and shock acting on live cells and organisms. The system can also validate terrestrial analyses of samples returned from ISS by providing quantitative on-orbit gene expression benchmarking prior to sample return. The ability to get on orbit data will provide investigators with the opportunity to adjust experimental parameters for subsequent trials based on the real-time data analysis without need for sample return and re-flight. Finally, WetLab-2 can be used for analysis of air, surface, water, and clinical samples to monitor environmental contaminants and crew health. The verification flight of the instrument is scheduled to launch on SpaceX-5 in Aug. 2014.Progress to date: The WetLab-2 project completed a thorough study of commercially available qRT-PCR systems and performed a downselect based on both scientific and engineering requirements. The selected instrument, the Cepheid SmartCycler, has advantages including modular design (16 independent PCR modules), low power consumption, and rapid ramp times. The SmartCycler has multiplex capabilities, assaying up to four genes of interest in each of the 16 modules. The WetLab-2 team is currently working with Cepheid to modify the unit for housing within an EXPRESS rack locker on the ISS. This will enable the downlink of data to the ground and provide uplink capabilities for programming, commanding, monitoring, and instrument maintenance. The project is currently designing a module that will lyse the cells and extract RNA of sufficient quality for use in qRT-PCR reactions while using a housekeeping gene to normalize RNA concentration and integrity. Current testing focuses on two promising commercial products and chemistries that allow for RNA extraction with minimal complexity and crew time.

quantitative PCR↗