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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

SIMS Analysis of d18O and d13C of Carbonate Cements in Shale & Mudstone. Final report

This project has had two primary goals: 1) improving new technology for in situ microanalysis of stable isotope ratios by SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) and 2) evaluating the importance of in situ analysis for studies of carbonate cements within shales of the Bakken Petroleum System. The systematic relations of stable isotope ratios provide an important tool to help resolve critical questions in geology. Stable isotope analysis of carbonate cements in shale constrain many topics of interest to DOE including: CO2 sequestration, climate change, and the genesis and quality of rock reservoirs for petroleum, natural gas, and water. However, this evidence is often preserved as fine-scale zonation, which is homogenized by conventional bulk analysis of powders. Recently, analysis of ultra-small spots in polished samples at the University of Wisconsin WiscSIMS Lab. has documented stable isotope zoning in carbonates and other diagenetic cements at smaller scales than previously possible. We have made detailed studies of oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in diagenetic cements from shales of the Bakken Formation from the Williston basin and elsewhere. The Bakken contains both reservoir and source rocks for petroleum. Hydrofracturing has greatly enhanced production of oil in these tight reservoirs. The sediments contain zoned carbonate cements with growth textures that record multiple events. The growth of carbonate (dolomite) cements has been proposed to control reservoir quality, but previous stable isotope studies of homogenized powders could not resolve individual generations of cement and this proposal remains untested. Our better characterization of the multiple growth zones in these carbonates will aid in understanding the genesis of these tight reservoirs and the production of unconventional oil and gas. This study has also developed SIMS standards for analysis of all compositions of Ca-Mg-Fe carbonate and selected Mn-carbonates and hydromagnesite. We have refined techniques for improved accuracy of SIMS stable isotope analysis, and for sub-1-micron spot sizes. We have established protocols for mapping and correlating sample analyses at micron-scale using QGIS software.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗
NASA NTRS1973

Preliminary utilization of Iran's ERTS-1 data in the field of geology and water resources

Preliminary analysis of a number of selected ERTS-1 images undertaken in the fields of geology and water resources for the purpose of testing its applicability and usefulness for mapping the natural resources of Iran identified a number of geologic and hydrologic phenomena, such as previously unknown faults, streams, and lakes. Due to a number of limiting factors, the results of this study are by no means conclusive; yet, the encouraging results obtained demonstrate the importance of satellite imagery for multidisciplinary resource analysis purposes in Iran.

Akhavi, M. S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Routine Beryllium-10 analysis from post-detonation debris and geologic materials [Slides]

Beryllium (Be) isotope measurements provide insight into weapon design, yield, etc. Sample preparation nor measurement capability currently existed at LANL. Potential capability directly benefits nuclear forensics venture. PI Goehring has nearly 20 years of Be chemistry experience, including method implementation with difficult samples.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
NASA NTRS1984

Scarp development in the Valles Marineris

The scarps along the margins of the Vales Marineris display a complex assemblage of forms that have been related to a variety of mass wasting and sapping processes. These scarp segments display variations in the degree of development of spur and gully topography, the number and density of apparent sapping features and the frequency of large scale landslides which reflect the age, geology and processes of slope development throughout the Valles Marineris. This regional analysis should provide more information on the geologic evolution of the Valles Marineris as well as new insight into the relative importance of different processes in the development of the scarp forms. In order to evaluate the regional variation in scarp form and the influence of time and structure on scarp development geomorphic mapping and morphometric analysis of geologically distinct regions of Valles Marineris is being undertaken.

Patton, P. C.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Geologic application of thermal inertia imaging using HCMM data

During the July to September 1980 quarter the final tapes were received completing the order and preliminary processing was done. Thermal Inertia images for each of the three test sites, Death Valley and Pisgah Crater, California and Goldfield, Nevada were created using registered HCMM day/night pairs and the JPL model. A comprehensive study and analysis of the geologic application of all acquired HCMM data is in progress.

Paley, H. N.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Energy Storage Analysis

This study presents a comprehensive techno-economic characterization of energy storage and exible low carbon power generation technologies that can shift energy across days, weeks, or months to balance daily, weekly, and seasonal disparities in supply and demand. Energy storage technologies evaluated here include pumped hydropower storage (PHS), adiabatic and diabatic compressed air energy storage (CAES), vanadium redox flow batteries (VRBs), pumped thermal energy storage (P-TES), and renewably produced hydrogen stored in either geologic formations or underground pipes with re-electrification via combustion turbines in combined cycles, stationary proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, or the novel use of PEM fuel cells designed for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) which are expected to have shorter lives but also lower capital costs. We also evaluate flexible low-carbon power generation systems, including ethanol combustion in gas turbines and natural gas combustion with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). We estimate current costs with literature data, use learning rates to characterize future costs, and develop capacity factors calibrated to an 85% renewables grid to calculate the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of each technology. Results illustrate that at the 12-hour storage duration, PHS and CAES have the lowest LCOE with current costs, and VRBs become competitive if future costs are achieved. At the 120-hour storage duration, hydrogen systems with geologic storage and natural gas with CCS achieve the lowest LCOE in both current and future capital cost scenarios. In particular, the new configuration of HDV-PEM fuel cells with hydrogen storage in geologic formations evaluated here could lower the LCOE by 22-27% compared to stationary fuel cell systems typically evaluated and might help enable very high (>80%) renewable energy electric power systems. P-TES and hydrogen stored in underground pipes are the least-cost options at the 120-hour storage duration rating that do not require some form of geologic storage. Sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo analysis illustrate that the general trends seen in this study are valid for a wide range of capacity factors and future cost scenarios. The study also illustrates that coproducing and selling hydrogen to other markets could reduce the LCOE of hydrogen systems by up to 39%.

carbon capture and sequestration↗
DOE OSTI2021

Core Analysis E-Reports Produced for the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration for Wells 13-10A, 13-14, and 32-8 of the Farnsworth Unit, Texas

The submission is three electronic reports (e-reports) produced by Terra Tek, a former Schlumberger company, for and under the oversight of the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP). The SWP designed and implemented a coring and core analysis program in conjunction with the previous field operator Chaparral Energy, L.L.C. The main SWP contacts who oversaw the coring and core analysis program, including geologic core descriptions and sample selection for testing by the Terra Tek, are listed below in the Authors section. The three reports are for Wells 13-10A, 13-14, and 32-8 of the Farnsworth Unit, TX, a site of the SWP's CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery project. The e-reports include many data types that are not listed in full detail here, but may include: geomechanical, geochemical, and petrophysical measurements; white light and UV core photos; spectral gamma logs on the core; and Heterogeneous Rock Analysis logs. Fracture core review reports are included for Wells 13-14 and 32-8. The three e-reports each have many subfolders with the various types of data in spreadsheets, pdfs, image files, or other formats. The main e-reports for each well are listed by the well name. The sub-folder “E-Report” for each well has a Report.html file, which, when opened, will have hyperlinks to the various data sets and information. The files in the zipped folder will need to be extracted for the Report.html files to work properly. These authors thank Joseph Hall, a geologist formerly of Chaparral Energy, L.L.C., for assistance in designing the coring program, his geologic expertise of the Farnsworth Unit, and his assistance with characterizing the core. Christopher Gillespie, of Terra Tek at the time, managed the myriad geomechanical, geochemical, and petrophysical measurements provided by Terra Tek for this project. The core from which the samples were collected for this project are housed at the Subsurface Data and Core Libraries of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico, USA. Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) through the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP) under Award No. DE-FC26-05NT42591. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. These e-reports describe objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the reports do not necessarily represent the views of the US Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Caprock↗
NASA NTRS2004

Subsurface Structure of the Ismenius Area and Implications for Evolution of the Martian Dichotomy and Magnetic Field

The Martian dichotomy divides the smooth, northern lowlands from the rougher southern highlands. The northern lowlands are largely free of magnetic anomalies, while the majority of the significant magnetic anomalies are located in the southern highlands. An elevation change of 2-4 km is typical across the dichotomy, and is up to 6 km locally. We examine a part of the dichotomy that is likely to preserve the early history of the dichotomy as it is relatively unaffected by major impacts and erosion. This study contains three parts: 1) the geologic history, which is summarized below and detailed in McGill et al., 2) the study of the gravity and magnetic field to better constrain the subsurface structure and history of the magnetic field (this abstract), and 3) modeling of the relaxation of this area. Our overall goal is to place constraints on formation models of the dichotomy by constraining lithospheric properties. Initial results for the analysis of the geology, gravity, and magnetic field studies are synthesized in Smrekar et al..

Smrekar, S. E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Evidence for Regional Basin Formation in Early Post-Tessera Venus History: Geology of the Lavinia Planitia Area (V55)

On Venus, global topography shows the presence of highs and lows including regional highly deformed plateaus (tesserae), broad rifted volcanic rises, linear lows flanking uplands, and more equidimensional lowlands (e.g. Lavinia and Atalanta planitiae) Each of these terrain types on Venus has relatively distinctive characteristics, but origins are uncertain in terms of mode of formation, time of formation, and potential evolutionary links. There is a high level of uncertainty about the formation and evolution of lowlands on Venus. We have undertaken the mapping of a specific lowlands region of Venus to address several of these major questions. Using geologic mapping we have tried to establish: What is the sequence of events in the formation and evolution of large-scale equidimensional basins on Venus? When do the compressional features typical of basin interiors occur? What is the total volume of lava that occurs in the basins and is this similar to other non-basin areas? How much subsidence and downwarping has occurred after the last major plains units? WE have undertaken an analysis of the geology of the V55 Lavinia Planitia quadrangle in order to address many of these issues and we report on the results here.

Head, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Geologic hypotheses of Lake Tanganyika region, Zaire, drawn from ERTS imagery

Based on initial work in the Lake Tanganyika area of eastern Zaire, it has been concluded that ERTS imagery is extremely useful for reconnaissance level geologic mapping and analysis in this region of the humid tropics. In particular, ERTS imagery has proven useful for recognizing and mapping regional structural units, for recognizing major structural features, and for arriving at some preliminary hypotheses about the mineral potential of the area. Results so far indicate that ERTS imagery can make a major contribution to the development of the mineral resources of the country. Research has concentrated on applications of ERTS imagery in the field of cartography, geology, forestry, hydrology and agriculture. For the work in geology, a test site was chosen in eastern Zaire on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in the vicinity of the Lukuga River. This area was selected because of its varied geology and the existence of two frames of cloud-free ERTS imagery.

Wolyce, U.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Basin and Range Investigation for Developing Geothermal Energy: Exploration Data

This data package includes exploration material from the Basin & Range Investigation for Developing Geothermal Energy [in Hidden Systems] project (BRIDGE), which is part of a broader initiative to advance the exploration of hidden geothermal resources in the Basin & Range Province of the western U.S. Data modalities include a helicopter-borne time-domain electromagnetic survey, magnetotellurics, 2-meter temperature measurements, ground-based gravity and legacy aeromagnetic surveys, geochemistry, geologic mapping, LiDAR analysis, 3D models, associated geospatial data, and a bibliography of existing data and references utilized in prospect characterization and conceptual modeling. Key files are in CSV, Geosoft, and Geotools formats. Please refer to READMEs for dataset-specific information. Where applicable, acquisition data and inversion models for a particular prospect or area of interest are organized separately. This BRIDGE data package is the product of a collaboration led by Sandia National Laboratories with partners from Geologica Geothermal Group, Inc., the U.S. Navy Geothermal Program Office, and consultants Steven Sewell (Australis Geoscience Ltd) and William Cumming (Cumming Geoscience). The project's areas of interest (AOIs) are based off priority areas of interest in the southwestern portion of the Nevada Play Fairway map, distribution across tectonic provinces, accessibility, and the project team's extensive experience in the region. AOIs cover about a dozen basins that include unexplored prospects, partially explored prospects, and some developed analogue resources that provide validation cases. Many unexplored and partially explored prospects are on U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) land, though adjacent lands are included as well.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Wellbore injectivity response to step-rate CO 2 injection: Coupled thermo-poro-elastic analysis in a vertically heterogeneous formation

Safe and permanent carbon geological storages require an elaborate analysis of geomechanical stability. Subsurface injection of CO 2 changes the local temperature and pore pressure and, further, alters the stress due to thermo-poro-elastic responses. A permanent CO 2 storage testing was conducted in the water leg of Cranfield reservoir in Mississippi, USA, where hosted CO 2 enhanced-oil recovery activities. During CO 2 injection, the injection rate was ramped up twice but the bottom-hole pressure did not increase with the imposed injection rates as expected. This unexpected field observation suggests the possibility of an open-mode fracture development at the injector. However, the injector response and potential fracture development have not been rigorously interpreted with detailed near-wellbore temperature and pore pressure change upon the CO 2 injection. In this study, we performed history matching of CO 2 injection using coupled thermo-poro-elastic reservoir simulation to examine the possibility of fracturing. We built a reservoir model including vertical heterogeneity in both petrophysical and geomechanical properties estimated from well-logging analysis and laboratory experiments. The simulation results show that CO 2 injection changes stresses and support the hypothesis of development of an open-mode fracture at the injector during the Cranfield test. The near-injector region exhibits a large temperature reduction up to 55 °C with ensuing effective horizontal stress reduction up to 9.1 MPa. However, a caprock integrity issue is unlikely because of the horizontal stress contrast within layers and low hydraulic communication with the injection zone. This work indicates that the injectant temperature should be considered in the design of high-rate CO 2 injector.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ion irradiation and modification: The role of coupled electronic and nuclear energy dissipation and subsequent nonequilibrium processes in materials

Understanding material responses to energy deposition from energetic charged particles is important for defect engineering, ion-beam processing, ion-beam analysis and modification, geologic aging, space exploration, and nuclear applications. As an incident ion penetrates a solid, its energy is transferred to electrons and to atomic nuclei of the solid. Much of this electronic energy deposition is subsequently transferred to the atomic structure via electron–phonon (e–ph) coupling, leading to local inelastic thermal spikes in which energy dissipation is influenced by the local environment. In addition, intense ionization can lead to high densities of localized electronic excitations in wide-bandgap materials and ceramics that can affect defect dynamics and atomic mobility. Specifically, energy exchange between electrons and atomic nuclei, along with localized electronic excitations, can lead to substantial competitive (ionization-induced annealing), additive (both electronic and nuclear energy depositions contributing to damage production), and synergistic (more damage than the sums of separate damage processes) effects. Although nonmonotonic effects of the e–ph coupling strength and athermal processes are demonstrated for pre-existing defects and residual damage during ion–solid interactions, there is limited understanding of when such electronic effects must be considered in atomic-scale models of damage production and evolution in a broad variety of materials. Complex ceramics and chemically disordered solid solution alloys with different constituent elements allow a systematic evaluation of defect dynamics and irradiation performance with increasing complexity. Current knowledge regarding tuning of bonding characteristics and chemical disorder to control atomic-level dynamics is reviewed. Although a lack of fundamental understanding obstructs the advancement of reliable predictions for ion beam material modification, it highlights challenges and opens research opportunities. Insights into the complex electronic and atomic correlations with extreme energy deposition will strengthen our ability to design materials and predict ion-irradiation-induced damage in a radiation environment, and they may pave the way to better control fundamental processes and design new material functionalities for advanced technologies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hydraulic characterization of a fault zone from fracture distribution

A quantitative assessment of how faults control the migration of geofluids is critical in many areas of geosciences. Here we integrated geological fieldwork, quantitative analysis of the fractures distribution and numerical modeling to build a geometrical representation of a fault zone and to characterize its hydraulic properties. Our target is a fault located in the Majella Mountain (Italy). We collected 21 scan lines across the fault profile in order to characterize its architecture. The numerical modeling of the fracture network of the damage zones and their hydraulic parameters was performed using both commercial (Move ® ) and open source software (dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN). Move ® was used to build a representative model of the fault zone using fracture spacing as a proxy, and to model the hydraulic parameters of the different fault domains. dfnWorks and PFLOTRAN were employed to infer the hydraulic parameters of the damage zones of the fault and then upscale these properties to an equivalent continuum domain, suitable for fluid flow simulations through the whole fault zone. Our findings show how even in a relatively small area it is possible to describe changes in terms of hydraulic properties of a fault zone and to build models capable to represent these variations.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Determination of the Spatial Distribution of Indigenous Lipid Biomarkers in an Immature Jurassic Sediment Using Time-of-Flight–Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

The ability to detect and map lipids, including potential lipid biomarkers, within a sedimentary matrix using mass spectrometry (MS) imaging may be critical to determine whether potential lipids detected in samples returned from Mars are indigenous to Mars or are contaminants. Here, we use gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and time-of-flight–secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) datasets collected from an organic-rich, thermally immature Jurassic geologic sample to constrain MS imaging analysis of indigenous lipid biomarkers in geologic samples. GC-MS data show that the extractable fractions are dominated by C 27 –C 30 steranes and sterenes as well as isorenieratene derivatives. ToF-SIMS spectra from organic matter-rich laminae contain a strong, spatially restricted signal for ions m/z 370.3, m/z 372.3, and m/z 386.3, which we assign to C 27 sterenes, cholestane (C 27 ), and 4- or 24-methyl steranes (C 28 ), respectively, as well as characteristic fragment ions of isorenieratene derivatives, including m/z 133.1, m/z 171.1, and m/z 237.1. We observed individual steroid spatial heterogeneity at the scale of 10's to 100's of microns. The fine-scale heterogeneity observed implies that indigenous lipid biomarkers concentrated within specific regions may be detectable via ToF-SIMS in samples with even low amounts of organic carbon, including in samples returned from Mars.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗