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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 253 records · Page 14

Spinoff 1999

A survey is presented of NASA-developed technologies and systems that were reaching commercial application in the course of 1999. Attention is given to the contributions of each major NASA Research Center. Representative 'spinoff' technologies include the predictive AI engine monitoring system EMPAS, the GPS-based Wide Area Augmentation System for aircraft navigation, a CMOS-Active Pixel Sensor camera-on-a-chip, a marine spectroradiometer, portable fuel cells, hyperspectral camera technology, and a rapid-prototyping process for ceramic components.

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY↗

Contingency Power Study for Short Haul Civil Tiltrotor

NASA has concluded from previous studies that the twin engine tiltrotor is the most economical and technologically viable rotorcraft for near-term civil applications. Twin engine civil rotorcraft must be able to hover safely on one engine in an emergency. This emergency power requirement generally results in engines 20 to 50 percent larger than needed for normal engine operation, negatively impacting aircraft economics. This study identifies several contingency power enhancement concepts, and quantifies their potential to reduce aircraft operating costs. Many unique concepts were examined, and the selected concepts are simple, reliable, and have a high potential for near term realization. These engine concepts allow extremely high turbine temperatures during emergency operation by providing cooling to the power turbine and augmenting cooling of both turbines and structural hardware. Direct operating cost are reduced 3 to percent, which could yield a 30 to 80 percent increase in operating profits. The study consists of the definition of an aircraft economics model and a baseline engine, and an engine concept screening study, and a preliminary definition of the selected concepts. The selected concepts are evaluated against the baseline engine, and the critical technologies and development needs are identified, along with applications for this technology.

D'Angelo, Marin M.↗

Potential use of engineered nanoparticles in ocean fertilization for large-scale atmospheric carbon dioxide removal

Artificial ocean fertilization (AOF) aims to safely stimulate phytoplankton growth in the ocean and enhance carbon sequestration. AOF carbon sequestration efficiency appears lower than natural ocean fertilization processes due mainly to the low bioavailability of added nutrients, along with low export rates of AOF-produced biomass to the deep ocean. Here we explore the potential application of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to overcome these issues. Data from 123 studies show that some ENPs may enhance phytoplankton growth at concentrations below those likely to be toxic in marine ecosystems. ENPs may also increase bloom lifetime, boost phytoplankton aggregation and carbon export, and address secondary limiting factors in AOF. Life-cycle assessment and cost analyses suggest that net CO 2 capture is possible for iron, SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 ENPs with costs of 2–5 times that of conventional AOF, whereas boosting AOF efficiency by ENPs should substantially enhance net CO 2 capture and reduce these costs. Therefore, ENP-based AOF can be an important component of the mitigation strategy to limit global warming.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Process-based balance of system cost modeling for offshore wind power plants in the United States

This paper describes the development of a process-based and open-source balance of system cost model that provides the capability to evaluate both existing and novel offshore wind technologies. Individual design and installation steps are represented with bottom-up engineering models that compute times and costs associated with the process; furthermore, operational constraints are assigned to each process so that delays caused by weather and presence of marine mammals may be accounted for in the overall project timeline. The model structure, assumptions, inputs, and results are vetted with industry partners and compared against actual projects for validation. Installation times show reasonable agreement with real data. Project cost sensitivities are investigated to compute the system-level impact of different design choices. First, individual vessel efficiencies are computed for varying numbers of installation vessels and weather time series to show the diminishing returns of more than two feeder barges. Then, array cable capital costs and installation times are determined for a representative project with different turbine sizes. These values quantify the cost-benefit tradeoffs and show a net-cost savings of decreasing numbers of turbines, increased turbine spacing, and fewer turbine terminations. These results demonstrate that the balance of system model features the accuracy, functionality, and accessibility to serve as the foundation for a wide range of analyses to identify cost reduction potentials for offshore wind energy in the United States.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Affordable solar system exploration

The design features of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) version of the Mariner Mark II spacecraft are described, together with the instruments to be carried aboard and the goals of the mission. To minimize the cost, computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing will be used, and, where possible, established technologies and off-the- shelf products will be incorporated. Planned for a launch in 1992, the CRAF will rendezvous with the Tempel 2 comet in 1996 and will stick with it through 1999, making studies of plasma in the comet's coma and the comet's dust, gas, and nucleus by means of its penetrator rocket which will pierce the nucleus.

Draper, Ronald F.↗

Vortex Induced Vibration Test of the WITT Device in a Tidal Channel

Fluid flow around a bluff body causes vibrations as the boundary layer separates and vortices are shed. This phenomenon, called vortex induced vibration (VIV), is minimized in most engineering applications, but can be utilized for power generation. Vortex induced vibration has potential for energy harvesting in low velocity water flows and therefore could open many locations to marine renewable energy. Here we present the results of a field test of a device that utilizes VIV to harvest energy from flow in a tidal channel. The pendulum-type device has been designed to generate electricity from motion around and along three axes. It is named the Whatever Input to Torsion Transfer (WITT) energy device and in this test is mounted on top of a pipe. During the field test, the WITT generated electricity at flow velocities from 0.27 to 2.82 m/s. The field test has proven that the WITT can utilize VIV to produce electricity and charge a battery in tidal flows with velocities as low as 0.27 m/s. In the future, the electricity could be used to charge a battery for ocean observation instruments such as temperature and nitrate sensors. In-situ power generation by the WITT would extend deployment times and increase the frequency of measurements.

Branch, Ruth A.↗

LLNL Explosives Anisotropy Research

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and engineers led a multi-institutional team in executing a series of high explosives tests that successfully demonstrated fundamental principles of anisotropy, a possible enabler for improved weapon and munition safety. Working under snowy and frigid conditions on Idaho’s Snake River Plain, a 13-member team from LLNL carried out 52 explosives shots over four days in mid-November at the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) National Security Test Range (NSTR) to complete the study. The broader anisotropy (ANISO) team included high explosives handlers and volunteers from INL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Marine Raiders from the Marine Special Operations Command and members of the U.S. Special Operations Command. The purpose of the study was to explore theoretical methods of creating anisotropic explosives — explosives that perform differently depending on the direction the detonation wave moves through the explosive — by engineering certain physical features in the charges and obtaining basic data from testing. The work is part of an overall effort by the Lab to develop anisotropic explosives that could be used in munitions to reduce the severity and lethality of an unintended detonation without sacrificing performance. The data gathered from the study will be used to design and construct follow-on experiments at LLNL’s High Explosives Applications Facility (HEAF) and validate computer models for future anisotropic assemblies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Inspiring Tomorrow's Water Power Workforce to Lead the Clean Energy Revolution

Renewable water power, including hydropower and marine energy, will play a key role in building a reliable and flexible 100% clean energy future. That future needs a larger, modern workforce - one that's more diverse, equitable, and inclusive - to power and improve these technologies. And researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are committed to fostering tomorrow's water power workforce through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and workforce development programs. Through events, online resources, and more, the lab aims to engage and inspire careers in water power.

app↗

MOSAiC Radar b1 Processing: Corrections, Calibrations, and Processing Report

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility deployed many instruments on board a German ice breaker, the Research Vessel (RV) Polarstern, for one year from October 2019 to October 2020. The purpose of the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) field campaign was to study the decline in the sea-ice pack around the North Pole, and what factors may be at play. After the campaign ended, efforts were undertaken to provide a calibrated radar data set for future studies. MOSAiC presented new challenges to this process, as existing methodologies often were not applicable for the frozen environment with little to no ground clutter, and concurrent engineering updates or calibrations could not be accomplished once the ship set off. Like the previous Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) and Cold-air Outbreaks in the Marine Boundary Layer Experiment (COMBLE) documentation (Hardin et al. 2020, Matthews et al. 2023), the data correction and calibration process is known in ARM as creating a “b1” datastream. This means that the radar datastreams have been well characterized to the best possible quality. This report will detail the status of the raw “a1” level data sets during the MOSAiC campaign, the corrections that were applied to create the “b1” data files, and the details of the applied methods.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Processing on-board optical data for planetary approach navigation.

The Mariner 9 spacecraft's science television camera provided an optical navigation experiment with TV pictures containing images of Mars' natural satellites against star backgrounds. Required TV image data and spacecraft engineering data were extracted from the spacecraft telemetry stream in this near-real time experiment designed to validate the navigation content of spacecraft-based optical data. This paper discusses the computer programs developed to prepare optical data for use in a navigation filter. Ground and in-flight calibration allowed pointing knowledge of better than 6 arc seconds. System performance during Mars approach was excellent, leading to extremely accurate trajectory estimates. The experiment provides a basis for the design of equivalent systems for future missions.

Acton, C. H., Jr.↗

Development of the high-productivity marine microalga, Picochlorum renovo , as a photosynthetic protein secretion platform

Microalgae are remarkable in their ability to convert CO 2 and sunlight into renewable biomass and bioproducts. In this work, we have established a novel photosynthetic protein production platform via computational prediction and genetic engineering using native microalgal protein secretory signal peptides to achieve functional secretion of the fluorescent protein mCherry. Importantly, this work was conducted in the recently characterized alga Picochlorum renovo, an alga of industrial interest due to its rapid growth rate, tolerance to both high temperature and salinity, and genetically tractable nuclear and chloroplast genomes. Genomic queries allowed the identification of native secretory signal peptides, which were N-terminally fused to mCherry allowing for secretion into the culture supernatant. Further characterization revealed no impact on fitness, a production rate of 0.19 mg/L/day, and titer of 0.37 mg/L of transgenic mCherry protein in culture supernatant. These findings lay the foundation for applied genetic engineering approaches that could enable CO 2 -sequestering, sustainable photoproduction of industrially relevant enzymes at low cost.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Utilizing Remote Sensing to Detect and Assess the Impacts of Estuarine Breach Events for Improved Coastal Wetland Monitoring and Management

Estuaries are extremely dynamic environments that provide a host of vital ecosystem services. California’s Marine Life Protection Act protects such ecosystems by creating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). California has approximately 440,000 acres of estuarine habitat as well as 23 Estuarine Marine Protected Areas (EMPAs). Thus, in situ data collection is often difficult due to time and resource constraints. This project used remote sensing to gather data that examined the health and dynamics of California EMPAs to supplement ground-based field measurements. Through the use of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Sentinel-2 MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI), and Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR), this project assessed mouth state, inundation extent, turbidity, temperature, and tidal measurements for observable estuaries. The Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) from Sentinel-2 MSI captured estuary mouth state and inundation extent. Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI detected differences in water quality metrics that correlated to changes in estuary mouth state (i.e., open or closed) through algorithms in Google Earth Engine (GEE). The GEE California Estuary Assessment (CEA) tool was created with partner input throughout development and culminated in a graphical user interface tailored to management needs. The CEA tool will allow the partners, the Ocean Protection Council, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories’ Central Coast Wetlands Group, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Davis (UCD), to better understand estuary dynamics and facilitate informed management decisions through satellite-based Earth observations.

Alex Gunnerson↗

Spatial Environmental Assessment Tool (SEAT)

SAND2024-08551O The Spatial Environmental Assessment Tool (SEAT) evaluates potential environmental risk associated with marine energy device deployment by coupling modeled impacts with risk severity maps. As a graphical user interface-based software, it interacts with marine energy stressor and receptor data to evaluate the risk of changes to marine environment. SEAT, which relies on spatial and temporal data, is a plug-in for geospatial software QGIS. 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.

Chartrand, Chris↗

TEAMER - Field Demonstration of MarineSitu’s Marine Energy Monitoring Tools - CRADA 664 (Abstract)

In order to effectively monitor for marine life around marine energy devices and thus minimize the risk of collision, multiple sensors working in coordination and augmented with around-the-clock automated monitoring algorithms need to be installed in challenging high-energy tidal and wave environments. Such systems are often too expensive for widespread adoption, or lack sufficient sensors or smarts to enable around-the-clock, real-time monitoring without human involvement. MarineSitu has been working to tackle this problem by developing a low-cost, combined sonar and stereo camera sensor array with connected real-time AI-based algorithms for automatically detecting marine life in these marine energy suitable environments. In this TEAMER project with Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL), MarineSitu will be testing this novel sensor system for the first time in the high-energy tidal channel environment at PNNL’s Marine and Coastal Research Lab. Throughout this deployment, MarineSitu will be monitoring their system and running analytics on the sensor’s data in real-time. Meanwhile, PNNL Data Scientists and Ocean Engineers, will be evaluating the system’s effectiveness and ease of use both as a tool for plug-and-play environmental monitoring and novel environmental monitoring research. In doing so, the team will improve MarineSitu’s system and software, produce insightful data products, and develop novel visualizations and AI algorithms for combining and analyzing the data produced by systems like MarineSitu’s.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

TEAMER – Field Demonstration of MarineSitu’s Marine Energy Monitoring (Abstract)

In order to effectively monitor for marine life around marine energy devices and thus minimize the risk of collision, multiple sensors working in coordination and augmented with around-the-clock automated monitoring algorithms need to be installed in challenging high-energy tidal and wave environments. Such systems are often too expensive for widespread adoption, or lack sufficient sensors or smarts to enable around-the-clock, real-time monitoring without human involvement. MarineSitu has been working to tackle this problem by developing a low-cost, combined sonar and stereo camera sensor array with connected real-time AI-based algorithms for automatically detecting marine life in these marine energy suitable environments. In this TEAMER project with Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL), MarineSitu will be testing this novel sensor system for the first time in the high-energy tidal channel environment at PNNL’s Marine and Coastal Research Lab. Throughout this deployment, MarineSitu will be monitoring their system and running analytics on the sensor’s data in real-time. Meanwhile, PNNL Data Scientists and Ocean Engineers, will be evaluating the system’s effectiveness and ease of use both as a tool for plug-and-play environmental monitoring and novel environmental monitoring research. In doing so, the team will improve MarineSitu’s system and software, produce insightful data products, and develop novel visualizations and AI algorithms for combining and analyzing the data produced by systems like MarineSitu’s.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗