SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The development of photomask reticle calibration standards for single particle instruments is discussed. The calibration method studied involves the use of photomask reticles where the particle artifacts are actually disks of chrome thin film in the clear field reticles produced by photolithography and etching processes. Consideration is given to various aspects of theory, design, and performance.
We propose that in the outer envelope (more than 15 sec from the star) around IRC +10216 the grains are amorphous carbon spheres of radius a with a size distribution of the form n(a) approximately equals d(exp -3.5) exp (-a/a(sub 0)) and a(sub 0) approximately equals 0.10 micrometers. Small grains (a much less than a(sub 0)) are required to explain the shielding of circumstellar molecules against destruction by interstellar ultraviolet radiation. Larger grains (a much greater than a(sub 0)) are required to explain the observed circumstellar polarization at the K band. In this model approximately 0.1% of the mass in the ejected dust is contained in particles that are larger than 1 micrometer in diameter. If the size distribution of the ejected SiC particles is similar to the size distribution that we derive for the amorphous carbon grains, then at least some of the micron-sized SiC inclusions in meteorites thought to originate from mass-losing carbon stars may have been produced in the outflows from stars such as IRC +10216.
The Krook kinetic equation for identical planetary ring particles is presently generalized for the case of two-component systems, and the equations are numerically solved on the basis of Brophy and Esposito's (1989) phase-space CFD method. Attention is given to the simulation results obtained for a two-component narrow ring, in which the large particles are eight times as massive as the small particles. This ring's unconstrained edge dynamics are resolved by the simulation, and are found to exhibit a sharpening that would not have been expected in single-component rings.
In this talk, we combined ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) surface science techniques, electrochemical measurements, and computational modeling to investigate Ag based electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Our goal is to understand the critical characteristics governing the activity and selectivity of Ag electrocatalysts. Ag electrocatalysts were grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) in the UHV chamber, characterized with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and then tested in a custom-built gastight H-cell. Supported by computational modeling based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations and microkinetic modeling (MKM), our studies revealed a strong size-dependent electrocatalytic CO2-to-CO conversion of the Ag nanoparticle electrocatalysts with average particle diameter between 2 to 6 nm. Smaller diameter (< 3 nm) particles favored H2 evolution reaction (HER) due to a high population of Ag edge sites, whereas larger diameter particles favored CO2RR as the population of Ag(100) surface sites grew. We further discovered that electronic interactions between small diameter Ag particles and highly defective carbon supports could break the size-dependent CO2RR reactivity, resulting in highly selective (CO Faradaic Efficiency > 90%) and active Ag nanoparticle electrocatalysts with sizes < 2 nm diameter. This knowledge is key to understand electrocatalysts performance and to ultimately guide electrocatalyst design
A full scale model of an aircraft engine inlet was tested at NASA Lewis Research Center's Icing Research Tunnel. Simulated natural ice sheds from the engine inlet lip were studied using high speed digital image acquisition and image analysis. Strategic camera placement integrated at the model design phase allowed the study of ice accretion on the inlet lip and the resulting shed ice particles at the aerodynamic interface plane at the rear of the inlet prior to engine ingestion. The resulting digital images were analyzed using commercial and proprietary software to determine the size of the ice particles that could potentially be ingested by the engine during a natural shedding event. A methodology was developed to calibrate the imaging system and insure consistent and accurate measurements of the ice particles for a wide range of icing conditions.
Oxidative coupling of methanol and dimethylamine in the presence of O 2 in the vapor phase over dilute Pd in Au bimetallic catalysts occurs via the dissociation of O 2 on Pd and selective oxidation of methanol on Au. Here, we synthesize a series of silica-supported PdAu alloy nanoparticle catalysts of varied Pd:Au ratios with ~5 nm particle diameter and show that these catalysts have increased selectivity to dimethylformamide across all Pd:Au ratios (~95%), distinct from observations over larger PdAu nanoparticles (~15–25 nm diameter) of similar Pd:Au ratios. Small monometallic Pd particles are more selective than large monometallic Pd particles, and small Au nanoparticles are reactive and selective for oxidative coupling (while large Au nanoparticles are inactive). Rates per surface metal atom were similar over PdAu nanoparticles of all sizes and increased monotonically with increasing Pd content for the small nanoparticles. Further, apparent reaction kinetics demonstrate distinct apparent methanol reaction order and apparent activation energy relative to those reported over larger nanoparticles of similar Pd:Au ratios. Unlike larger PdAu nanoparticles, the rate of dimethylformamide formation is not promoted by cofed water over small PdAu nanoparticles. The results of the kinetic studies are used to propose a series of elementary steps, derive a plausible rate expression, and regress rate and equilibrium constants. These results suggest high coverages of surface methoxy species and low coverages of adsorbates derived from dimethylamine. Taken together, these results demonstrate the sensitivity of the rates, selectivities, and kinetics of oxidative coupling reactions to the size of bimetallic nanoparticles.
The Particle Into Liquid Sample (PILS) was deployed on the NASA P3 for airborne measurements of fine particle ionic chemical composition. The data have been quality assured and reside in the NASA data archive. We have analyzed our data to characterize the sources and atmospheric processing of fine aerosol particles advected from the region during the experiments. Fine particle water-soluble potassium was found to serve as a useful aerosol tracer for biomass smoke. Ratios of PILS potassium to sulfate are used as a means of estimating the percent contribution of biomass burning to fine particle mass in mixed plumes advecting from Asia. The high correlations between K+ and NO3(sup -) and NH4(sup +)' indicated that biomass burning was a significant source of these aerosol compounds in the region. It is noteworthy that the air mass containing the highest concentrations of fine particles recorded in all of ACE-Asia and TRACE-P appeared to be advecting from the Bejing/Tientsin urban region and also had the highest K(+), NO3(sup -) and NH4(sup +) concentrations of both studies. Based on K+/SO4(sup 2-) ratio's, we estimated that the plume was composed of approx. 60% biomass burning emissions, possibly from the use of bio-fuels in the urban regions.
The Experiment to Characterize Aircraft Volatile Aerosols and Trace Species Emissions (EXCAVATE) took place at NASA Langley Research Center during January 2002. This ground based study was conducted to examine the role of fuel sulfur content on particulate emissions. Size distributions as a function of engine operating conditions were measured in the exhaust plume of a B-757 at four downstream axial locations (1 m, 10 m, 25 m and 35 m). The engine was run on JP-5 with three different sulfur concentrations, 810 ppm, 1050 ppm, 1820 ppm; and was operated over a range of power settings from idle to near-full power. Zalabsky differential-mobility analyzers DMAS), Met One condensation-nuclei counters (CNCs), and a TSI 3022 condensation-particle counter (CPC) were used to measure the size distributions. The total number-count (particle concentration), number-based Emissions Index (EInumber) and mass-based Emissions Index (E1-J increased with fuel sulfur-content and engine pressure ratio (EPR). Count Mean Diameter (Ch4D) also increased with EPR yet remained fairly constant with fuel sulfur-content for a fixed location in the exhaust plume. Also the mode and CMD both increased with distance in the plume.
We present retrievals of dust particle effective radius during the 2018 planet-encircling dust storm from the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Four independent observations with three of the rover's instruments were used for retrievals. We find dust particle radii exceeded 4 m and possibly 5 m during the height of the storm, which represent the largest dust particles yet seen in the martian atmosphere.
The work is reported on laser operation in a vacuum, and the theoretical response of active scattering particle spectrometers (ASPS). The theoretical considerations connected with the thermal, interferometric and electrical problems that influence laser operation under vacuum conditions are discussed along with the scattering signal pulses with high frequency ripple content which were observed while operating the ASPS.
A description is given of a measurement method, applicable to a poly-dispersion of particles, in which the intensity of scattered light at any angle is weighted by a factor proportional to that angle. Determination is then made of four angles at which the weighted intensity is four fractions of the maximum intensity. These yield four characteristic diameters, i.e., the diameters of the volume/area mean (D sub 32 the Sauter mean) and the volume/diameter mean (D sub 31); the diameters at cumulative volume fractions of 0.5 (D sub v0.5 the volume median) and 0.75 (D sub v0.75). They also yield the volume dispersion of diameters. Mie scattering computations show that an average diameter less than three micrometers cannot be accurately measured. The results are relatively insensitive to extraneous background light and to the nature of the diameter distribution. Also described is an experimental method of verifying the conclusions by using two microscopic slides coated with polystyrene microspheres to simulate the particles and the background.
Results are reported of latex sphere polymerization experiments performed on two flights of the Columbia and three flights of the Challenger. The trials were carried out because polymerization of the spheres in space avoids coagulation, nucleation of a new crop of particles, and excessive stirring requirements, and allows growth of spheres larger than 4 microns diam. The Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) held four stirred 100 cc sealed stainless steel cylindrical containers. The mixtures were monitored for the conversion times, volume decreases as spheres formed and the mixture temperature. The spheres were grown from 0.19 micron seeds. Details of the flight preparation efforts are outlined. In flights which did not experience mechanical malfunctions spheres 3-30 microns diam were grown that had noticeably lower size variations than did the ground-based control particles. The 10 micron diam spheres grown on STS-6 were accepted as standard reference material by the NBS and became the first products made in space to be commercially sold on earth; the 30 micron spheres also became NBS standards. The experiments confirmed all projected benefits of producing the spheres in space, as well as provided the opportunity to grow more larger offsize spheres by finishing the growths on earth.
Investigations have been conducted concerning the characteristics of the visibility function as determined by the parameters of the laser anemometer system and the electromagnetic scattering properties of the particles. Experiments have been performed to evaluate the backscatter visibility of signals from a symmetric, s polarization laser anemometer as a function of the particle diameter and a parameter ratio. The results have been compared with the predictions of an analysis based on Mie's scattering theory. The analysis has also been used to evaluate the effects of the collecting aperture's size and location.
This paper presents a new type of analysis for predicting the thermal conductivity of disperse composites from the properties of the component phases and elementary characterizations of particle shapes and orientation. This analysis successfully predicted the sensitivity to particle shape which was confirmed by experiments also reported in this paper. These results suggest that highly elongated particles may be used to achieve dramatic modifications of thermal conductivity and the analysis presented here may be a useful tool in the design or development of disperse composites of specific thermal conductivity. The analysis may also apply to other properties such as electrical conductivity or magnetic permeability.
The spectral width of light backscattered from molecules is increased due to Doppler shifts caused by the thermal motion of the molecules. The thermal motion of aerosol and cloud particles is much slower and the backscatter spectrum is nearly unchanged. The University of Wiconsin High Spectral Resolution Lidar (RSRL) measures optical properties of the atmosphere by separating the Doppler-broadened molecular backscatter return from the unbroadened aerosol return. The molecular backscatter cross section can be calculated from the molecular density profile. Thus, observing the magnitude of the measured molecular signal relative to the computed profile allows unambiguous measurement of the atmospheric extinction profile. The ratio of the aerosol return to the molecular return along with the computed molecular cross section provides direct measurement of the aerosol backscatter cross section.
Instrument is based on inverse solution ot equations for light scattered by a transparent medium. Measurements are taken over several angles of incidence rather than over several frequencies. Measurements can be used to simultaneously determine chemical and physical properties of particles in mixed gas or liquid.
Infrared radiance measurements were acquired from a narrow-field nadir-viewing radiometer based on the NASA ER-2 aircraft during a coincident Landsat 5 overpass on October 28, 1986 as part of the FIRE Cirrus IFO in the vicinity of Lake Michigan. The spectral bandpasses are 9.90-10.87 microns for the ER-2-based radiometer and 10.40-12.50 microns for the Landsat thematic mapper band. After adjusting for spatial and temporal differences, a comparative study using data from these two instruments is undertaken in order to retrieve cirrus cloud ice-crystal sizes and optical depths. Retrieval is achieved by analysis of measurement correlations between the two spectral bands and comparison to multistream radiative transfer model calculations. The results indicate that the equivalent sphere radii of the cirrus ice crystals were typically less than 30 microns. Such particles were too small to be measured by the available in situ instrumentation. Cloud optical depths at a reference wavelength of 11.4 microns ranged from 0.3 to 2.0 for this case study. Supplemental results in support of this study are described using radiation measurements from the King Air aircraft, which was also in near coincidence with the Landsat overpass.
Some of the latest pictures of Mars surface sent by NASA s Spirit rover in early January, 2004, show very cohesive, mud-like dust layers. Significant amounts of dust clouds are present in the atmosphere of Mars. NASA spacecraft missions to Mars confirmed hypotheses from telescopic work that changes observed in the planet s surface markings are caused by wind-driven redistribution of dust. In these dust storms, particles with a wide range of diameters (< 1 m to 50 m) are a serious problem to solar cells, spacecraft, and spacesuits. Dust storms may cover the entire planet for an extended period of time. It is highly probable that the particles are charged electrostatically by triboelectrification and by UV irradiation.