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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 217 records · Page 12

Femtosecond Laser Tagging Characterization of a Sweeping Jet Actuator Operating in the Compressible Regime

A sweeping jet (SWJ) actuator operating over a range of nozzle pressure ratios (NPRs) was characterized with femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging (FLEET), single hot-wire anemometry (HWA) and high-speed/phase-averaged schlieren. FLEET velocimetry was successfully demonstrated in a highly unsteady, oscillatory flow containing subsonic through supersonic velocities. Qualitative comparisons between FLEET and HWA (which measured mass flux since the flow was compressible) showed relatively good agreement in the external flow profiles. The spreading rate was found to vary from 0.5 to 1.2 depending on the pressure ratio. The precision of FLEET velocity measurements in the external flow field was poorer (is approximately equal to 25 m/s) than reported in a previous study due to the use of relatively low laser fluences, impacting the velocity fluctuation measurements. FLEET enabled velocity measurements inside the device and showed that choking likely occurred for NPR ≥ 2.0, and no internal shockwaves were present. Qualitative oxygen concentration measurements using FLEET were explored in an effort to gauge the jet's mixing with the ambient. The jet was shown to mix well within roughly four throat diameters and mix fully within roughly eight throat diameters. Schlieren provided visualization of the internal and external flow fields and showed that the qualitative structure of the internal flow does not vary with pressure ratio and the sweeping mechanism observed for incompressible NPRs also probably holds for compressible NPRs.

Peters, Christopher J.↗

Federal Home-to-Work Electric Vehicle Program Guide

This document serves as a comprehensive resource for Federal agencies in developing their own program resources that promote the efficient and effective use of electric vehicles (EVs) for home-to-work travel while ensuring compliance with Federal regulations and sustainability objectives. One mission of the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Fleet program is to help federal fleet managers meet or exceed statutory requirements related to energy and environmental performance while improving overall fleet efficiency, reducing costs, and meeting mission requirements. To further this mission, FEMP provides resources to support Federal agencies with increasing alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) acquisitions and reducing petroleum use. EVs are AFVs and help agencies meet federal fleet requirements. Federal fleets include government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The purpose of this document is to serve as a guide for Federal agencies in developing their own internal program documents to manage government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. Federal agencies should consult their counsel and consider their own policies and authorities in the implementation of any policies or best practices regarding government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The guide provides key considerations for agencies, including launching a pilot program to fine-tune best practices, conducting a cost-benefit analysis to compare home versus public charging, and exploring cost-effective solutions, such as installing standard outlets instead of dedicated charging stations. The guide underscores the importance of legal and financial considerations, such as verifying agency authority to install home charging infrastructure at an employee's home, ensuring the availability and appropriateness of using agency funds for home charging infrastructure, and understanding the tax implications of reimbursements.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Vehicle Automation Benefits and Challenges for Passenger Transport System Beyond Automated Driving

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been researching the implementation of fully automated passenger transport systems to be operated within dense urban settings, referred to as Automated Mobility Districts, based on roadway vehicle automation as opposed to track or train-based automation. This research, now in its third phase, is presently addressing the full spectrum of benefits and challenges of full automation of passenger transport systems with respect to fleet electrification and the associated multimodal, large fleet operational management, benefits beyond simply automating the driving tasks. The focal points summarized in the paper and presentation address the benefit-analysis of fleet automation to address added complexities imposed on the multi-fleet operational management when there is a simultaneous implementation of an on-demand service mode that connects with and optimizes the effectiveness of legacy transit systems and new sub-regional autonomous vehicle fleets, with specific emphasis on enhanced ability to better meet peak ridership demand. The research also begins to address challenges in operations arising from lack of personnel present to handle unexpected customer and system needs. Combined, this research articulates vehicle automation benefits and challenges beyond simply automating the driving tasks, addressing additional operational benefits automation provides to address the added complexities imposed by electrification and on-demand modes of operation.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Future orbital transfer vehicle technology study. Volume 1: Executive summary

Reusable space and ground based LO2/LH2 OTV's, both advanced space engines and aero assist capability were compared. The SB OTV provided advantages in life cycle cost, performance and potential for improvement. An all LO2/LH2 OTV fleet was also compared with a fleet of LO2/.H2 OTV's and electric OTV's. The normal growth technology electric OTV used silicon cells with heavy shielding and argon ion thrusters. In this case, the LO2/LH2 OTV fleet provided a 23% advantage in total transportation cost. An accelerated technology LF2/LH2 OTV provided improvements in performance relative to LO2/.H2 OTV but has higher DDT&E cost which negated its cost effectiveness. The accelerated technology electric vehicle used GaAs cells and annealing but still did not result in the mixed fleet being any cheaper than an all LO2/LH2 OTV fleet. It is concluded that reusable LO2/LH2 OTV's can serve all general purpose cargo roles between LEO and GEO for the forseeable future. The most significant technology for the second generation vehicle would be space debris protection, on orbit propellant storage and transfer and on orbit maintenance capability.

Davis, E. E.↗

Aircraft Emission Inventories Projected in Year 2015 for a High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) Universal Airline Network

This report describes the development of a three-dimensional database of aircraft fuel burn and emissions (fuel burned, NOx, CO, and hydrocarbons) from projected fleets of high speed civil transports (HSCT's) on a universal airline network.Inventories for 500 and 1000 HSCT fleets, as well as the concurrent subsonic fleets, were calculated. The objective of this work was to evaluate the changes in geographical distribution of the HSCT emissions as the fleet size grew from 500 to 1000 HSCT's. For this work, a new expanded HSCT network was used and flights projected using a market penetration analysis rather than assuming equal penetration as was done in the earlier studies. Emission inventories on this network were calculated for both Mach 2.0 and Mach 2.4 HSCT fleets with NOx cruise emission indices of approximately 5 and 15 grams NOx/kg fuel. These emissions inventories are available for use by atmospheric scientists conducting the Atmospheric Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft (AESA) modeling studies. Fuel burned and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx as NO2), carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons have been calculated on a 1 degree latitude x 1 degree longitude x 1 kilometer attitude grid and delivered to NASA as electronic files.

Baughcum, Steven L.↗

High-Speed Civil Transport Forecast: Simulated Airlines Scenarios for Mach 1.6, Mach 2.0, and Mach 2.4 Configurations for Year 2015

The report describes the development of a database of fuel burn and emissions from projected High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) fleets that reflect actual airlines' networks, operational requirement, and traffic flow as operated by simulated world wide airlines for Mach 1.6, 2.0, and 2.4 HSCT configurations. For the year 2015, McDonnell Douglas Corporation created two supersonic commercial air traffic networks consisting of origin-destination city pair routes and associated traffic levels. The first scenario represented a manufacturing upper limit producible HSCT fleet availability by year 2015. The fleet projection of the Mach 2.4 configuration for this scenario was 1059 units with a traffic capture of 70 percent. The second scenario focused on the number of units that can minimally be produced by the year 2015. Using realistic production rates, the HSCT fleet projection amounts to 565 units. The traffic capture associated with this fleet was estimated at 40 percent. The airlines network was extracted from the actual networks of 21 major world airlines. All the routes were screened for suitability for HSCT operations. The route selection criteria included great circle distance, difference between flight path distance and great circle distance to avoid overland operations, and potential flight frequency.

Metwally, Munir↗

Lessons Learned from Engineering a Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center

NASA's Small Explorers (SMEX) satellites have surpassed their designed science-lifetimes and their flight operations teams are now facing the challenge of continuing operations with reduced funding. At present, these missions are being reengineered into a fleet-oriented ground system at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). When completed, this ground system will provide command and control of four SMEX missions and will demonstrate fleet automation and control concepts. As a path-finder for future mission consolidation efforts, this ground system will also demonstrate new ground-based technologies that show promise of supporting longer mission lifecycles and simplifying component integration. One of the core technologies being demonstrated in the SMEiX Mission Operations Center is the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture. The GMSEC architecture uses commercial Message Oriented Middleware with a common messaging standard to realize a higher level of component interoperability, allowing for interchangeable components in ground systems. Moreover, automation technologies utilizing the GMSEC architecture are being evaluated and implemented to provide extended lights-out operations. This mode of operation will provide routine monitoring and control of the heterogeneous spacecraft fleet. The operational concepts being developed will reduce the need for staffed contacts and is seen as a necessity for fleet management. This paper will describe the experiences of the integration team throughout the reengineering effort of the SMEX ground system. Additionally, lessons learned will be presented based on the team s experiences with integrating multiple missions into a fleet-based automated ground system.

Madden, Maureen↗

Transforming Our SMEX Organization by Way of Innovation, Standardization, and Automation

NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) Flight Operations Team (FOT) is currently tackling the challenge of supporting ground operations for several satellites that have surpassed their designed lifetime and have a dwindling budget. At Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), these missions are presently being reengineered into a fleet-oriented ground system. When complete, this ground system will provide command and control of four SMEX missions, and will demonstrate fleet automation and control concepts as a pathfinder for additional mission integrations. A goal of this reengineering effort is to demonstrate new ground-system technologies that show promise of supporting longer mission lifecycles and simplifying component integration. In pursuit of this goal, the SMEX organization has had to examine standardization, innovation, and automation. A core technology being demonstrated in this effort is the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture. The GMSEC architecture focuses on providing standard interfaces for ground system applications to promote application interoperability. Building around commercial Message Oriented Middleware and providing a common messaging standard allows GMSEC to provide the capabilities necessary to support integration of new software components into existing missions and increase the level of interaction within the system. For SMS, GMSEC has become the technology platform to transform flight operations with the innovation and automation necessary to reduce operational costs. The automation technologies supported in SMEX are built upon capabilities provided by the GMSEC architecture that allows the FOT to further reduce the involvement of the console, operator. Initially, SMEX is automating only routine operations, such as safety and health monitoring, basic commanding, and system recovery. The operational concepts being developed here will reduce the need for staffed passes and are a necessity for future fleet management. As this project continues to evolve, additional innovations beyond GMSEC and automation have, and will continue to be developed. The team developed techniques for migrating ground systems of existing on-orbit assets. The tools necessary to monitor and control software failures were integrated and tailored for operational environments. All this was done with a focus of extending fleet operations to mission beyond SMU. The result of this work is the foundation for a broader fleet-capable ground system that will include several missions supported by the Space Science Mission Operations Project.

Madden, Maureen↗

Lessons Learned from Engineering a Multi-Mission Satellite Operations Center

NASA's Small Explorers (SMEX) satellites have surpassed their designed science-lifetimes and their flight operations teams are now facing the challenge of continuing operations with reduced funding. At present, these missions are being re-engineered into a fleet-oriented ground system at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). When completed, this ground system will provide command and control of four SMEX missions and will demonstrate fleet automation and control concepts. As a path-finder for future mission consolidation efforts, this ground system will also demonstrate new ground-based technologies that show promise of supporting longer mission lifecycles and simplifying component integration. One of the core technologies being demonstrated in the SMEX Mission Operations Center is the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture. The GMSEC architecture uses commercial Message Oriented Middleware with a common messaging standard to realize a higher level of component interoperability, allowing for interchangeable components in ground systems. Moreover, automation technologies utilizing the GMSEC architecture are being evaluated and implemented to provide extended lights-out operations. This mode of operation will provide routine monitoring and control of the heterogeneous spacecraft fleet. The operational concepts being developed will reduce the need for staffed contacts and is seen as a necessity for fleet management. This paper will describe the experiences of the integration team throughout the re-enginering effort of the SMEX ground system. Additionally, lessons learned will be presented based on the team's experiences with integrating multiple missions into a fleet-automated ground system.

Madden, Maureen↗

From Concept to Design: Progress on the J-2X Upper Stage Engine for the Ares Launch Vehicles

In accordance with national policy and NASA's Global Exploration Strategy, the Ares Projects Office is embarking on development of a new launch vehicle fleet to fulfill the national goals of replacing the space shuttle fleet, returning to the moon, and exploring farther destinations like Mars. These goals are shaped by the decision to retire the shuttle fleet by 2010, budgetary constraints, and the requirement to create a new fleet that is safer, more reliable, operationally more efficient than the shuttle fleet, and capable of supporting long-range exploration goals. The present architecture for the Constellation Program is the result of extensive trades during the Exploration Systems Architecture Study and subsequent refinement by the Ares Projects Office at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Byrd, Thomas↗

Ares I First Stage Propulsion System Status

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle inevitable, the US is faced with the need to loft a reliable cost-effective, technologically viable solution to bring the nation s fleet of spacecraft back up to industry standard. It must not only support the International Space Station (ISS), it must also be capable of supporting human exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). NASA created the Constellation Program to develop a new fleet including the launch vehicles, the spacecraft, and the mission architecture to meet those objectives. The Ares First Stage Team is tasked with developing a propulsion system capable of safely, dependably and repeatedly lofting that new fleet. To minimize technical risks and development costs, the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) of Shuttle were used as a starting point in the design and production of a new first stage element. While the first stage will provide the foundation, the structural backbone, power, and control for launch, the new propulsive element will also provide a greater total impulse to loft a safer, more powerful, fleet of space flight vehicles. Substantial design and system upgrades were required to meet the mass and trajectory requisites of the new fleet. Noteworthy innovations and design features include new forward structures, new propellant grain geometry, a new internal insulation system, and a state-of-the art avionics system. Additional advances were in materials and composite structures development, case bond liners, and thermal protection systems. Significant progress has been made in the design, development and testing of the propulsion and avionics systems for the new first stage element. Challenges, such as those anticipated with thrust oscillation, have been better characterized, and are being effectively mitigated. The test firing of the first development motor (DM-1) was a success that validated much of the engineering development to date. Substantive data has been collected and analyzed, allowing the Ares First Stage team to move forward, fine-tune the design, and advance to production of the second development motor (DM-2), which is now in fabrication. This paper will provide an overview of the design, development, challenges, and progress on the production of the new Ares First Stage propulsion system

Priskos, Alex S.↗

Design of a Tiltwing Concept Vehicle for Urban Air Mobility

NASA is establishing a fleet of conceptual air vehicle designs to support research and development for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This fleet of vehicles will enable examination of the sensitivity of UAM vehicle designs to technology assumptions, identify key research and development needs for UAM aircraft, and provide the UAM community with reference vehicles that are publicly available and based upon known assumptions. To date, four six-passenger reference vehicles have been established: a quadrotor, a side-by-side, a lift-plus-cruise, and a quiet single main rotor helicopter; this paper adds a tiltwing vehicle to the fleet. This paper details the design process that was followed in order to establish the tiltwing vehicle in the fleet, including early conceptual design decisions, sizing and configuration trades, structural analyses, proprotor design and aeroacoustic predictions, and aerodynamic analyses. The resulting tiltwing vehicle uses a turboelectric propulsion system to power six proprotors positioned on a tilting main wing and two tilting proprotors positioned on the horizontal tail. This paper also compares the resulting tiltwing vehicle with the other six-passenger reference vehicles, including an updated lift-plus-cruise vehicle, and then proposes future studies. The fleet of UAM reference vehicles will continue to evolve; subsequent versions of the reference vehicles will be based upon the results of future trade studies and technology developments.

Urban Air Mobility↗

Conceptual Design of a Tiltduct Reference Vehicle for Urban Air Mobility

NASA is establishing a fleet of conceptual air vehicle designs to support research and development for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This fleet of vehicles will enable examination of the sensitivity of UAM vehicle designs to technology assumptions, identify key research and development needs for UAM aircraft, and provide the UAM community with reference vehicles that are publicly available and based upon known assumptions. To date, five six-passenger reference vehicles have been published: a quadrotor, a side-by-side, a lift-plus-cruise, a single-main-rotor helicopter, and a tiltwing. To increase the breadth of vehicle technologies encapsulated in the fleet of NASA UAM reference vehicles, this paper establishes a tiltduct vehicle as an addition to the fleet. The fleet will continue to evolve as future analyses and trade studies are performed. The tiltduct reference vehicle has six tilting ducted proprotors. This paper describes the initial configuration downselection; discusses ducted proprotor design rules of thumb as they applied to the conceptual design of the reference vehicle; describes the vehicle sizing, trade studies, and tuning of models performed; and finally, compares the resulting tiltduct vehicle against the other six-passenger NASA UAM reference vehicles. The high-level analyses performed for this study did not indicate significant differences in performance between the tiltduct and tiltwing reference vehicles, and so vehicle performance alone may not be a key driver in the selection of a tiltduct vehicle over a tiltwing vehicle. However, if ducts are found to have significant acoustical benefits, then acoustical priorities may provide a compelling reason to incorporate ducted proprotors. One significant limitation of the design presented in this paper is that the ducted proprotor performance was tuned based upon performance characteristics observed during historical tests with disk loadings (defined as thrust divided by proprotor disk area) of 125-250 lb/ft^2. The tiltduct vehicle designed in this study has a disk loading of 30 lb/ft^2, to be more representative of UAM vehicles; further studies to understand performance of ducted proprotors at representative disk loadings are warranted.

Tiltduct↗

Conceptual Design of a Tiltduct Reference Vehicle for Urban Air Mobility

NASA is establishing a fleet of conceptual air vehicle designs to support research and development for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). This fleet of vehicles will enable examination of the sensitivity of UAM vehicle designs to technology assumptions, identify key research and development needs for UAM aircraft, and provide the UAM community with reference vehicles that are publicly available and based upon known assumptions. To date, five six-passenger UAM reference vehicles have been published: a single-main-rotor helicopter, a side-by-side helicopter, a quadrotor, a lift-plus-cruise, and a tiltwing. To increase the breadth of vehicle technologies encapsulated in the fleet of NASA UAM reference vehicles, this paper establishes a tiltduct vehicle as an addition to the fleet. The fleet will continue to evolve as future analyses and trade studies are performed. The tiltduct UAM reference vehicle has six tilting ducted proprotors. This paper describes the initial configuration downselection; discusses ducted proprotor design rules of thumb as they applied to the conceptual design of the reference vehicle; describes the vehicle sizing, trade studies, and tuning of models performed; and finally, compares the resulting tiltduct vehicle against the other six-passenger NASA UAM reference vehicles. The high-level analyses performed for this study did not indicate significant differences in performance between the tiltduct and tiltwing reference vehicles, and so vehicle performance alone may not be a key driver in the selection of a tiltduct vehicle over a tiltwing vehicle. However, if ducts are found to have significant acoustical benefits, then acoustical priorities may provide a compelling reason to incorporate ducted proprotors. One significant limitation of the design presented in this paper is that the ducted proprotor performance was tuned based upon performance characteristics observed during historical tests with disk loadings (defined as thrust divided by proprotor disk area) of 125-250 lb/ft$^2$. The tiltduct vehicle designed in this study has a disk loading of 30 lb/ft$^2$, to be more representative of UAM vehicles; further studies to understand performance of ducted proprotors at representative disk loadings are warranted.

Tiltduct↗

Usability of an Updated Version of the Supplemental Data Service Provider-Consolidated Dashboard for Supporting Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management

The Supplemental Data Service Provider-Consolidated Dashboard (SDSP-CD) is a preflight planning user interface (UI) that serves to aid operators when drafting routes for small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs). The primary function of the SDSP-CD is to identify hazards that an sUAS may encounter along a proposed flight path and assess the severity of these risks. A usability study was conducted on an updated version of the SDSP-CD to determine if the most recent iterations made to the system improved objective performance and subjective user experience. There are two main components of the SDSP-CD interface: (1) the dashboard and (2) the interactive map. The dashboard provides users with hazard and vehicle limitations for each sUAS in their fleet while the map contains a graphical representation of each vehicle’s route, hazard details, and geographic information. A series of preflight risk-assessment questions and tasks were developed to examine how participants interact with the updated version of the SDSP-CD. Additionally, a new service that measures vertiport congestion was developed and included as one of the services that was tested. In the present study, participants were trained to use the SDSP-CD and then completed two simulated scenarios during which they performed a variety of tasks, responded to questions, and completed surveys. The two scenarios developed for the present study were the Package Delivery and Hurricane Preparation scenarios. The Package Delivery scenario involved a fleet of four sUASs delivering low-stakes items (e.g., lunches and snacks) to people in a fictitious city. The Hurricane Preparation scenario involved a fleet of 11 sUASs delivering a range of supplies (from medicine to boardgames) to employees stranded at an office park due to road closures caused by an impending hurricane. Participants assumed the role of a fleet manager during both scenarios and were responsible for managing the sUASs in their fleet. Questions included those with objectively correct responses, open-ended strategy responses, and subjective user experience feedback. It was found that participants were largely successful at using the SDSP-CD interface to answer questions with objectively correct responses. Additionally, participants were able to use reasoning and logic based on the information available in the SDSP-CD to determine the cause of various risks and what actions they would consider taking. Finally, although participants reported that there were elements of the UI that could be improved, overall feedback pertaining to user experience suggested that the SDSP-CD concept is viable.

usability testing↗

EV Champion Training Webinar 1: ZEV and EV Charging Fundamentals [Slides]

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Champion Training Series, hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is tailored for fleet managers, facility managers, and other stakeholders involved in the deployment of EVs and charging stations. This series equips participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to become subject matter experts in EV implementation. This is the first training in a four-part series and serves as an introductory training. This training covers fundamental topics such as EV and charging technology, utility basics, and financial considerations for EVs. Additionally, this session introduces the Federal Fleet ZEV Ready Center framework, a one-stop location for federal fleet electrification resources. Participants will gain a solid foundation to support the effective deployment and management of EVs and their infrastructure. Visit the Federal Fleet ZEV Ready Center website to learn more about the ZEV Ready Center process. EV Champion Training Webinar 1: ZEV and EV Charging Fundamentals will enable attendees to: Identify EV and EV charging technology fundamentals; Recognize EV market and GSA Schedule options; Identify utility basics, incentives, and rates as they relate to EV charging; and Identify methods to calculate life cycle costs for EVs and gasoline vehicles.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

Research, Development and Demonstration of Advanced Vehicle Technologies in Clean Motor Fuels (CRADA Final Report)

NREL/DOE has been funding research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects to facilitate the deployment of alternative fuels into the marketplace in order to achieve three objectives: 1) enhance the reduction of mobile source emissions in California and the U.S.; 2) increase U.S. competitiveness and economic prosperity; and 3) preserve the environment through the reduction of emissions and toxins from the motor vehicle population. The Lewis-Presley Air Quality Management Act requires the South Coast Air Quality Management District to establish a program to encourage participation in projects to increase the utilization of clean-burning fuels. The parties seek to collaborate on a joint RD&D project to perform a field test on a small vehicle fleet operating on Fischer-Tropsch synthetic diesel fuel. Recently the 106th U.S. Congress designated "gas-to-liquid" (GTL) transportation fuels that are produced from domestic products as alternative fuels under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT). Niche markets could develop quickly for these fuel products, perhaps especially for the use of Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels in centrally fueled vehicle fleets in California. NREL and its project partners from the U.S. Department of Energy and West Virginia University have recently conducted what we believe to be the first-ever controlled tests of Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels in heavy vehicles. These tests have shown that Fischer-Tropsch fuels can be substituted in unmodified trucks and buses without any detectable loss in drivability and performance. Compared to a California diesel fuel baseline, neat Shell Fischer-Tropsch fuel emitted about 12% lower NOx and 24% lower particulate matter over a five-mile driving route while maintaining the same fuel economy on an energy equivalent basis. Whereas these exhaust emissions reductions from these previous studies have been impressive, far greater exhaust emissions reductions can be achieved if the vehicles are retrofitted with emissions control technologies that are enabled by Fischer-Tropsch fuels. For this program, a test fleet would be selected and retrofitted with continuously regenerating traps (CRT’s) or diesel particulate filters (DPF's). The University of West Virginia, under a separate subcontract to SCAQMD will have the responsibility to test and measure the emissions from the test fleet of vehicles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Research requirements to improve reliability of civil helicopters

The major reliability problems of the civil helicopter fleet as reported by helicopter operational and maintenance personnel are documented. An assessment of each problem is made to determine if the reliability can be improved by application of present technology or whether additional research and development are required. The reliability impact is measured in three ways: (1) The relative frequency of each problem in the fleet. (2) The relative on-aircraft manhours to repair, associated with each fleet problem. (3) The relative cost of repair materials or replacement parts associated with each fleet problem. The data reviewed covered the period of 1971 through 1976 and covered only turbine engine aircraft.

Dougherty, J. J., III↗