SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “biomass flow”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 271 records · Page 15

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2007

Anomalies in the South American Monsoon Induced by Aerosols

We have investigated the direct effects of aerosols on the water cycle of the South American monsoon using the NASA finite-volume general circulation model (fvGCM). Global aerosol forcings are computed from radiative transfer functions derived from global distributions of five species of aerosols, i.e., dust, black carbon, organic carbon, sulphate and sea salt from the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation Transport (GOCART) model. Comparing fvGCM experiments without aerosol forcing, and with different combinations of aerosol forcing, we evaluate the impacts of aerosol direct heating on the onset, maintenance and evolution of the South American summer monsoon. We find that during the pre-monsoon season (September-October-November) Saharan dust contribute to heating of the atmosphere over the central and eastern equatorial Atlantic/Africa region through the elevated heat pump mechanism. The heating generates an anomalous Walker circulation with sinking motion, and low level northeasterlies over the Caribbean and northwestern South America. The low level flow is blocked by the Andes, and turn south and southeastward, increasing the low level jet (LLJ) along the eastern slope of the Andes. The increased LLJ transports more moisture from the Atlantic and the Amazon, enhancing the moisture convergence over subtropical land regions of South America. The moisture convergence was further accelerated by atmospheric heating by biomass burning over the Amazon. The net results of the dust and biomass heating are: a) an advance of the monsoon rainy season, b) an enhanced LLJ and c) a shifting the South America monsoon land precipitation equatorward, with increased rain over southern Brazil and reduced rain over the La Plata basin. ramifications of this elevated heating heat pump mechanism in aerosol monsoon water cycle on climate variability and change will be discussed. The ramifications of this "elevated heating heat pump" mechanism in aerosol monsoom water cycle on climate variability and change will be discussed.

Lau, K. M. William↗

DOE OSTI2025

Spatially structured bacterial interactions alter algal carbon flow to bacteria

Phytoplankton account for nearly half of global photosynthetic carbon fixation, and the fate of that carbon is regulated in large part by microbial food web processing. We currently lack a mechanistic understanding of how interactions among heterotrophic bacteria impact the fate of photosynthetically fixed carbon. Here, we used a set of bacterial isolates capable of growing on exudates from the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to investigate how bacteria-bacteria interactions affect the balance between exudate remineralization and incorporation into biomass. With exometabolomics and genome-scale metabolic modeling, we estimated the degree of resource competition between bacterial pairs. In a sequential spent media experiment, we found that pairwise interactions were more beneficial than predicted based on resource competition alone, and 30% exhibited facilitative interactions. To link this to carbon fate, we used single-cell isotope tracing in a custom cultivation system to compare the impact of different "primary" bacterial strains in close proximity to live P. tricornutum on a distal "secondary" strain. We found that a primary strain with a high degree of competition decreased secondary strain carbon drawdown by 51% at the single-cell level, providing a quantitative metric for the "cost" of competition on algal carbon fate. Additionally, a primary strain classified as facilitative based on sequential interactions increased total algal-derived carbon assimilation by 7.6 times, integrated over all members, compared to the competitive primary strain. Our findings suggest that the degree of interaction between bacteria along a spectrum from competitive to facilitative is directly linked to algal carbon drawdown.

genome-scale metabolic model↗

DOE OSTI2021

Dynamic life-cycle carbon analysis for fast pyrolysis biofuel produced from pine residues: implications of carbon temporal effects

Abstract Background Woody biomass has been considered as a promising feedstock for biofuel production via thermochemical conversion technologies such as fast pyrolysis. Extensive Life Cycle Assessment studies have been completed to evaluate the carbon intensity of woody biomass-derived biofuels via fast pyrolysis. However, most studies assumed that woody biomass such as forest residues is a carbon–neutral feedstock like annual crops, despite a distinctive timeframe it takes to grow woody biomass. Besides, few studies have investigated the impacts of forest dynamics and the temporal effects of carbon on the overall carbon intensity of woody-derived biofuels. This study addressed such gaps by developing a life-cycle carbon analysis framework integrating dynamic modeling for forest and biorefinery systems with a time-based discounted Global Warming Potential (GWP) method developed in this work. The framework analyzed dynamic carbon and energy flows of a supply chain for biofuel production from pine residues via fast pyrolysis. Results The mean carbon intensity of biofuel given by Monte Carlo simulation across three pine growth cases ranges from 40.8–41.2 g CO 2 e MJ −1 (static method) to 51.0–65.2 g CO 2 e MJ −1 (using the time-based discounted GWP method) when combusting biochar for energy recovery. If biochar is utilized as soil amendment, the carbon intensity reduces to 19.0–19.7 g CO 2 e MJ −1 (static method) and 29.6–43.4 g CO 2 e MJ −1 in the time-based method. Forest growth and yields (controlled by forest management strategies) show more significant impacts on biofuel carbon intensity when the temporal effect of carbon is taken into consideration. Variation in forest operations and management (e.g., energy consumption of thinning and harvesting), on the other hand, has little impact on the biofuel carbon intensity. Conclusions The carbon temporal effect, particularly the time lag of carbon sequestration during pine growth, has direct impacts on the carbon intensity of biofuels produced from pine residues from a stand-level pine growth and management point of view. The carbon implications are also significantly impacted by the assumptions of biochar end-of-life cases and forest management strategies.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Early Detection Algal Crop Protection. Final Report

During large-scale, outdoor algal biomass growth, production strain(s) are subject to attack by pathogens, predators, and non-productive competitors, compromising the biomass yield. The project team at UCSD developed and demonstrated the effectiveness of Volatile Organic Compound, VOC, analysis via mass spectrometry (MS) as an early detection system for the presence of production algal ponds infection. The MS detection can then trigger high-resolution melt analysis (HRMA) and enhanced quantitative PCR (qPCR) to identify predatory or pathogenic species precisely. This study gathered the foundational data informing how wholly automated systems monitor the health of production ponds. By detecting the presence of low molecular weight VOCs in the air space above ponds, the instrument was able to mimic “sniffing” the health of the algae pond. This early warning system will be free growers from time-consuming and costly regular surveillance of ponds with the current techniques, such as qPCR and flow-cam assays, which are slower, less sensitive, and not easily fully automated, resulting in increased production efficiency through the reduction of crop loss. This project demonstrated that Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry, CIMS, could serve as a real-time monitor of ponds health tracking up to 100 different VOCs simultaneously for continuous periods up to 60 days without interruption, signaling infection within an algal crop 24 to 36 hours prior to techniques such as qPCR and microscopy. While mass spectrometry is an expensive tool, this simple VOC sampling system proved not only to be sensitive and robust but could to multiplexed to monitor several ponds, lowering the overall cost serially. This technology demonstrated a reduction in biomass production cost by approximately 50% compared to growers not employing any detection methodology.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Catalytic Bio-crude Production in a Novel, Short-Contact Time Reactor

RTI has developed a catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) process to produce biomass-based hydrocarbon replacement fuels. From a technology perspective, this advanced biofuels process produces liquid transportation fuels that can leverage capital expenditures in the existing petroleum distribution infrastructure. From a business perspective, this technology does not face potential market limitations caused by oxygenate blend limitations for light duty vehicle applications. A promising catalyst has been developed with excellent potential for deoxygenation to produce a hydrocarbon-rich biocrude that is more suitable for upgrading with traditional hydroprocessing technology. The role of the catalyst is to control the chemistry during biomass pyrolysis to produce a biocrude in a single step that has lower oxygen content and is more thermally stable than conventional biomass fast pyrolysis oil. Catalyst properties are optimized to minimize gas and coke production and improve catalytic deoxygenation and biocrude yields. Results from this project have demonstrated that biocrudes from catalytic fast pyrolysis contain <20 wt% oxygen, with the organic fraction as low as 12% oxygen. These oxygen numbers are > 50% lower compared to traditional fast pyrolysis oils. The biocrude produced from our CFP process can be upgraded to gasoline range hydrocarbons. A very conservative approach for upgrading included a preliminary stabilization step followed by a hydroprocessing step. The oxygen content in the upgraded product was decreased by 97% (to less than 3wt %) from the oxygen content of the biocrude sample. Additionally, the acid content was reduced by 99% from the acid content of the biocrude sample. In an optimized integrated process, the CFP step and the hydroprocessing (upgrading) step need to be carefully balanced to maximize the input biomass energy that is recovered in the finished biofuels. Hydrogen utilization and carbon recovery during both catalytic biomass pyrolysis and biocrude upgrading need to be optimized to maximize energy recovery in the finished biofuel. A nominal 1 ton per day (TPD) catalytic biomass pyrolysis system was designed based on the laboratory experimental data. The system was designed to achieve the short residence times (0.5–2 sec) and high heat transfer rates required for maximum liquid biocrude yields while optimizing process integration to maintain catalyst activity by continuous regeneration. The catalytic biomass pyrolysis reactor is a continuously circulating single-loop transport reactor design that is flexible enough to allow sensitivity studies around temperature, residence time, biomass feed rate, and catalyst-to-biomass ratio (i.e., catalyst circulation rate) for process optimization. For a nominal 100 lb/hr feed rate of dry biomass, the products include ~25 lb/hr char and coke, ~20 lb/hr permanent gases, and ~55 lb/hr condensable vapors. Pyrolysis temperatures are 350–600°C, and the system is operated close to ambient pressure. Production of the catalyst developed within the project was scaled up to provide enough material (200kg) for bench-scale testing. The 1TPD bench-scale unit was fabricated, installed and commissioned with this project. Biocrude samples from wood were produced in this unit with the CFP catalyst with material balance > 90%. The intermediate biocrude yields and chemical composition compare well with previous laboratory results and a hydroprocessing strategy for upgrading the resulting biocrude was developed. The experimental results obtained within this project were used to develop a process model for a 2000 TPD commercial facility. Detailed flow sheets were developed for all major unit operations in the process and provided a basis for an economic analysis to develop capital and operating costs. Estimates of the biofuel production costs were used to develop internal rates of return for the yields and compositions measured for the current state of technology at the end of this project and for the yields anticipated for an optimized (nth plant) scenario as additional process improvements are made.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Considering coasts: Adapting terrestrial models to characterize coastal wetland ecosystems

The Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) simulates fully coupled processes and interactions among water, energy, carbon and nutrient cycles. E3SM connects vegetation and soil dynamics through nutrient uptake, plant production, litterfall and decomposition as a function of abiotic parameters (e.g. temperature and moisture). However, E3SM is designed to characterize terrestrial ecosystems and connects land and open ocean systems using a single streamflow transport term, ignoring the complex dynamics of energy, water, carbon, and nutrients in coastal systems. The goals of our project were to: (1) Parameterize a point version of E3SM to capture coastal wetland habitats and (2) Determine marsh community responses to increased temperature and elevated CO 2 . We adapted a version of the E3SM land model, previously configured to represent forested bog hydrology to a coastal ecosystem using datasets from field experiments conducted at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's Global Change Research Wetland (GCReW). Tidal forcing in a marsh environment was simulated using a two-column system in which the columns are connected by lateral hydrologic flows. One column simulates interactions between vegetation and soil while a second column simulates variation in water level (both tidal and sea level rise). The updated model captures many aspects of the field experiments, showing that plant community responses to environmental change are non-linear, non-additive and different between plant types. Elevated CO 2 treatments increased C 3 plant biomass more than C 4 (33% vs 17%). Temperature exacerbated CO 2 responses in C 3 plants (0 °C: 26%, 5.1 °C: 56%). We were more successful at characterizing C 3 than C 4 responses and simulating above rather than belowground biomass production. Furthermore, the next steps will include updates to key physiological parameters such as root:shoot carbon allocation and the addition of mechanistic feedbacks between vegetation and biogeochemical processes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

SAM™ (System Advisor Model™) [SWR-16-02, SWR-10-13]

See the SAM™ website to build a desktop version of the National Laboratory of the Rockies' (NLR's) System Advisor Model™ (SAM). https://sam.nlr.gov/ The System Advisor Model™ (SAM™) is a free techno-economic software model that facilitates decision-making for people in the renewable energy industry: -Project managers and engineers -Policy analysts -Technology developers -Researchers SAM can model many types of renewable energy systems: -Photovoltaic systems, from small residential rooftop to large utility-scale systems -Battery storage with Lithium ion, lead acid, or flow batteries for front-of-meter or behind-the-meter applications -Concentrating Solar Power systems for electric power generation, including parabolic trough, power tower, and linear Fresnel -Industrial process heat from parabolic trough and linear Fresnel systems -Wind power, from individual turbines to large wind farms -Marine energy wave and tidal systems -Solar water heating -Fuel cells -Geothermal power generation -Biomass combustion for power generation -High concentration photovoltaic systems SAM's financial models are for the following types of projects: -Residential and commercial projects where the renewable energy system is on the customer side of the electric utility meter (behind the meter), and power from the system is used to reduce the customer's electricity bill. -Power purchase agreement (PPA) projects where the system is connected to the grid at an interconnection point, and the project earns revenue through power sales. The project may be owned and operated by a single owner or by a partnership involving a flip or leaseback arrangement. -Third party ownership where the system is installed on the customer's (host) property and owned by a separate entity (developer), and the host is compensated for power generated by the system through either a PPA or lease agreement. For a more detailed description of SAM, see Blair et al. (2018), System Advisor Model (SAM) General Description (Version 2017.9.5), NREL/TP-6A20-70414. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy18osti/70414.pdf

Ryberg, David↗

NASA NTRS2018

Using Remote Sensing to Assess of Growth and Distribution for Floating Invasive Plants and Growth Response Times to Altered Environments

Management of aquatic weeds in complex watersheds and river systems present many challenges to assessment, planning and implementation of management practices for aquatic invasive plants. The Delta Region Areawide Aquatic Weed Project (DRAAWP), a USDA (U. S. Dept. of Agriculture)-sponsored area-wide project, is working to enhance planning, decision-making and operational efficiency of invasive plant management in the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Satellite and airborne remote sensing are used to map area of plant coverage and estimate biomass density to aid operations and assess management impacts on plant communities. Modeling at local and watershed scales using the SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) modeling tool provides insight into land-use effects on water quality. Environmental variability in the Delta occurs across a range of time scales from long-term climate and seasonal trends to short-term water flow mediated variations. Controlled environment growth studies have been conducted to quantify the growth response of invasive aquatic plants to water quality and other environmental factors. Response time for invasive species response are examined at time scales of weeks, day, and hours using a combination of study duration and growth assessment techniques to assess water quality, temperature (air and water), and light effects. These provide response parameters for plant growth models in response to environmental variation and interact with management and economic models associated with aquatic weed management. Plant growth models are to be informed by remote sensing and applied spatially across the Delta to balance location and type of aquatic plant, growth response to altered environments and phenology. Initial utilization of remote sensing tools developed for mapping of aquatic invasive plants improved operational efficiency in management practices. These assessment methods provide a comprehensive and quantitative view of aquatic invasive plant communities in the California Delta.

Floating↗

DOE OSTI2023

Mainstream nitrogen removal from low temperature and low ammonium strength municipal wastewater using hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox

Application of partial nitritation (PN)-anammox to mainstream wastewater treatment faces challenges in low water temperature and low ammonium strength. In this study, a continuous flow PN-anammox reactor with hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox was designed and operated for nitrogen removal from mainstream wastewater with low temperature. Long-term operation with synthetic and real wastewater as the feed demonstrated nearly complete ammonium and total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal by the reactor at temperatures as low as 10 °C. A significantly decreased nitrogen removal performance and biomass activity was observed in the reactor at 4 °C before a selective heating strategy was employed. A novel heating technology using radiation to heat carbon black co-encapsulated in the hydrogel matrix with biomass was used to selectively heat biomass but not water in the treatment system. This selective heating technology enabled nearly complete ammonium removal and 89.4 ± 4.3 % TIN removal at influent temperature of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C. Activity tests suggested selective heating brought the biomass activity at influent temperatures of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C to a level comparable to that at 10 °C. Comammox and anammox were consistently present in the system and spatially organized in the hydrogel beads as revealed by qPCR and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH). The abundance of comammox largely decreased by 3 orders of magnitude during the operation at 4 °C, and rapidly recovered after the application of selective heating. The anammox-comammox technology tested in this study essentially enabled mainstream shortcut nitrogen removal, and the selective heating ensured good performance of the technology at temperature as low as 5 °C.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Humidified single-scattering albedometer (H-CAPS-PM SSA ): Design, data analysis, and validation

In this work, we report the development and validation of a new humidified aerosol single-scattering albedometer to quantify the effects of water uptake on submicrometer particle optical properties. The instrument simultaneously measures in situ aerosol light extinction ( σ ep ) and scattering ( σ sp ) using a cavity-attenuated phase shift-single scattering albedo particulate matter (PM) monitor (CAPS-PM SSA , Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, MA, USA). It retrieves by difference aerosol light absorption ( σ ap ) and directly quantifies aerosol single-scattering albedo (SSA), the aerosol “brightness.” We custom built a relative humidity (RH) control system using a water vapor-permeable membrane humidifier and coupled it to the CAPS-PM SSA to enable humidified aerosol observations. Our humidified instrument (H-CAPS-PM SSA ) overcomes problems with noise caused by mirror purge-flow humidification, heating, and characterizing cell RH. Careful angular truncation corrections in scattering, particularly for larger particles, were combined with empirical observations. Results show that the optimal operational size to be D p < 400 nm. The H-CAPS-PM SSA was evaluated with several pure single-component aerosols including ammonium sulfate ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ), absorbing nigrosin, and levoglucosan, an organic biomass smoke tracer. The measured σ ep , σ sp , and the derived optical hygroscopicity parameter ( κ ) for size-selected ammonium sulfate are in good agreement with literature values. For dry size-selected nigrosin in the 100 < D p < 400 nm range, SSA values increased from ~0.3 to 0.65 with increasing D p . The enhancement in nigrosin σ ap at RH = 80% was a factor of 1.05–1.20 relative to dry conditions, with the larger particles showing greater enhancement. SSA increased with RH with the largest fractional enhancement measured for the smallest particles. For polydisperse levoglucosan, we measured an optical κ of 0.26 for both light extinction and scattering and negligible absorption. Our new instrument enables reliable observations of the effects of ambient humidity on mixed aerosol optical properties, particularly for light-absorbing aerosols whose climate forcing is uncertain due to measurement gaps.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

MHTLS Cross-flow Heat Exchanger Temperature Performance Data

The presentation and supporting information provide data on the performance of an engineering-scale cross-flow heat exchanger used in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). Temperature profiles are provide for the process of waste water treatment sludges and a food waste. The data can be used to model larger-scale heat exchangers used in HTL.

Bioenergy Technologies Tags Heat Exchanger HTL MHT↗

DOE OSTI2022

Synthesis and Analysis of Performance-Advantaged Bioproducts

Performance-advantaged bioproducts (PABPs) are "novel products where the bio-based product does not resemble an existing petroleum-derived molecule but offers a performance advantage over existing products" (Fitzgerald, Bailey 2018). PABPs are an exciting area with near-term potential to accelerate the bioeconomy. We focus on synthesis, characterization, and economic and sustainability analyses for PABPs, aiming to leverage the inherent chemical functionality of molecules from carbohydrates and lignin via chemical and biological transformations. We collaborate with other BETO projects to source new molecules. Our work is integrated with the Inverse Design project, which provides computational predictions for PABPs and first principles-based results to explain observed properties. Primary outcomes include 1) a Nature Reviews Materials paper that establishes PABP design principles, 2) PA nylons from beta-ketoadipic acid, 3) new recyclable thermosets from bio-aromatic amines, 4) new PA plasticizers that are less toxic, and 5) the experimental validation of a machine learning tool, PolyML, from the Inverse Design project. Going forward, we are working towards an integrated framework to dramatically narrow PABP design space and a materials flow analysis of commodity chemicals as a benchmark for PABPs. Our main challenges are in the sourcing of new molecules that are not commercially available and the need for comprehensive characterizations and scale-up for technology transfer.

BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to Extend Catalyst Lifetime for Biobased Adipic Acid Production

Robust heterogeneous catalysts are essential for enabling biomass conversion; however, harsh reaction environments introduce durability challenges for many conventional catalyst materials [1]. The hydrogenation of biobased muconic acid to adipic acid is one such emerging chemistry that faces PGM catalyst stability challenges [2]. Muconic acid is a heavily-investigated biobased platform chemical that can be converted into an array of large-market commodity chemicals [2]. PGM catalysts are exceptionally effective for muconic acid hydrogenation to adipic acid, with Pd the most active to date. [2] However, Pd leaches in an acidic environment and this chemistry has a high propensity for fouling. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is one such material design strategy that has emerged to stabilize supported metal catalysts [3]. ALD coatings are theorized to stabilize supported metal active sites by i) covering high-energy facets most susceptible to degradation, ii) disrupting the physical mobility of active sites, and iii) reinforcing the structure of the underlying catalyst support [3]. However, ALD coatings for catalyst durability with carboxylic acids remains an underdeveloped area of research and literature reports have yet to consider the techno-economic tradeoffs between the ALD manufacturing cost and catalyst lifetime productivity. This study examines low-cycle Al2O3 ALD coatings to stabilize Pd/TiO2 against deactivation during muconic acid hydrogenation. The unique harshness of muconic acid for Pd leaching was evaluated by both experiment and computation. Based on batch reactor screening results, uncoated and ALD coated catalysts were evaluated in a continuous flow reactor for their productivity, stability, and post-reaction regenerability at 700 degrees C. Characterization was performed to assess the impact of ALD coatings on catalyst morphology, as well as following regeneration. Finally, techno-economic analysis models evaluated the value proposition for ALD-coated catalysts within an nth-generation adipic acid biorefinery.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

NASA NTRS2012

Size Resolved Measurements of Springtime Aerosol Particles over the Northern South China Sea

Large sources of aerosol particles and their precursors are ubiquitous in East Asia. Such sources are known to impact the South China Sea (henceforth SCS), a sometimes heavily polluted region that has been suggested as particularly vulnerable to climate change. To help elucidate springtime aerosol transport into the SCS, an intensive study was performed on the remote Dongsha (aka Pratas) Islands Atoll in spring 2010. As part of this deployment, a Davis Rotating-drum Uniform size-cut Monitor (DRUM) cascade impactor was deployed to collect size-resolved aerosol samples at the surface that were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence for concentrations of selected elements. HYSPLIT backtrajectories indicated that the transport of aerosol observed at the surface at Dongsha was occurring primarily from regions generally to the north and east. This observation was consistent with the apparent persistence of pollution and dust aerosol, along with sea salt, in the ground-based dataset. In contrast to the sea-level observations, modeled aerosol transport suggested that the westerly flow aloft (w700 hPa) transported smoke-laden air toward the site from regions from the south and west. Measured aerosol optical depth at the site was highest during time periods of modeled heavy smoke loadings aloft. These periods did not coincide with elevated aerosol concentrations at the surface, although the model suggested sporadic mixing of this free-tropospheric aerosol to the surface over the SCS. A biomass burning signature was not clearly identified in the surface aerosol composition data, consistent with this aerosol type remaining primarily aloft and not mixing strongly to the surface during the study. Significant vertical wind shear in the region also supports the idea that different source regions lead to varying aerosol impacts in different vertical layers, and suggests the potential for considerable vertical inhomogeneity in the SCS aerosol environment.

South China Sea↗

NASA NTRS2016

Aerosol Meteorology of the Maritime Continent for the 2012 7SEAS Southwest Monsoon Intensive Study - Part 1: Regional-scale Phenomena

The largest 7 Southeast Asian Studies (7SEAS) operation period within the Maritime Continent (MC) occurred in the August-September 2012 biomass burning season. Included was an enhanced deployment of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun photometers, multiple lidars, and field measurements to observe transported smoke and pollution as it left the MC and entered the southwest monsoon trough. Here we describe the nature of the overall 2012 southwest monsoon (SWM) and biomass burning season to give context to the 2012 deployment. The MC in 2012 was in a slightly warm El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase and with spatially typical burning activity. However, overall fire counts for 2012 were 10 lower than the Reid et al. (2012) baseline, with regions of significant departures from this norm, ranging from southern Sumatra (+30) to southern Kalimantan (42). Fire activity and monsoonal flows for the dominant burning regions were modulated by a series of intraseasonal oscillation events (e.g., Madden-Julian Oscillation, or MJO, and boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation, or BSISO). As is typical, fire activity systematically progressed eastward over time, starting with central Sumatran fire activity in June related to a moderately strong MJO event which brought drier air from the Indian Ocean aloft and enhanced monsoonal flow. Further burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan Borneo occurred in a series of significant events from early August to a peak in the first week of October, ending when the monsoon started to migrate back to its wintertime northeastern flow conditions in mid-October. Significant monsoonal enhancements and flow reversals collinear with tropical cyclone (TC) activity and easterly waves were also observed. Islands of the eastern MC, including Sulawesi, Java, and Timor, showed less sensitivity to monsoonal variation, with slowly increasing fire activity that also peaked in early October but lingered into November. Interestingly, even though fire counts were middling, resultant AERONET 500nm aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from fire activity was high, with maximums of 3.6 and 5.6 in the Sumatra and Kalimantan source regions at the end of the burning season and an average of approximately 1. AOTs could also be high at receptor sites, with a mean and maximum of 0.57 and 1.24 in Singapore and 0.61 and 0.8 in Kuching Sarawak. Ultimately, outside of the extreme 2015 El Nino event, average AERONET AOT values were higher than any other time since sites were established. Thus, while satellite fire data, models, and AERONET all qualitatively agree on the nature of smoke production and transport, the MC's complex environment resulted in clear differences in quantitative interpretation of these datasets.

Reid, Jeffrey S.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Analysis as a Key Guiding Tool for Waste Carbon Utilization

Over a billion metric tons of waste and biomass are projected to be available in a future mature market in the United States. These resources represent an opportunity to decouple chemical and polymer production from conventional fossil fuel feedstocks, but such a broad solution space can also make for challenging decision-making. This talk will provide researchers with an introduction to key analysis techniques such as techno-economic analysis, life cycle assessment, and material flow analysis: how they are conducted and how they can be used to benchmark the costs, environmental impacts, and circularity of new innovations as well as to identify opportunities for prioritization and optimization. Using a series of examples related to plastic recycling and chemical manufacturing, we will explore how analysis can guide where and how to leverage waste carbon in supply chains towards a future circular economy.

chemical↗

NASA NTRS2017

Comprehensive Measurement of Microbial Burden in Nutrient-Deprived Cleanrooms

Spacecraft surfaces that are destined to land on potential life-harboring celestial bodies are required to be rigorously cleaned and continuously monitored for spore bioburden as a proxy for spacecraft cleanliness. The NASA standard spore assay (NSA), used for spacecraft bioburden estimates, specifically measures spores that are cultivable, aerobic, resistant to heat shock, and grow at 30˚C in a nutrient-rich medium. Since the vast majority of microorganisms cannot be cultivated using the NSA assay, it is necessary to utilize state-of-the art molecular techniques to better understand the presence of all viable microorganisms, not just those measured with the NSA. In this study, the nutrient-deprived low biomass cleanrooms, where spacecraft are assembled, were used as a surrogate to spacecraft surfaces to measure the ratio of NSA spores in relation to the total viable microorganism population to compare with a 2006 space studies report that estimates that for every 1 spore there is approximately 50,000 viable organisms. Ninety-eight surface wipe samples were collected from the spacecraft assembly facility (SAF) cleanroom at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) over a 6-month period. The samples were processed and analyzed using classical microbiology along with molecular assays. Traditional microbiology plating methods were used to determine the cultivable bacterial, fungal, and spore populations. Molecular assays were used to determine the total organisms (TO, dead and live) and the viable organisms (VO, live). The TO was measured using adenine triphosphate (ATP) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays. The VO was measured using internal ATP, propidium monoazide (PMA)-qPCR, and flow cytometry (after staining for viable microorganisms) assays. Based on the results, it was possible to establish a ratio between spore counts and VO for each viability assay. The ATP based spore to VO ratio ranged from 149 – 746 and the bacterial PMA-qPCR assay based ratio ranged from 314 – 1491 VO. The most conservative estimate came from FACS, which estimated the ratio to be 12,091 VO per 1 NSA spore. Since archaeal (<1%) and fungal (~2%) populations were negligible, the spore to VO ratios were based on bacterial population estimates. The most conservative ratio from this study can be used as a replacement for the SSB estimate on nutrient-deprived (oligotrophic) desiccated spacecraft surfaces, to estimate the VO from NSA measurements without utilizing state-of-the art molecular methods that are costly and require more biomass than is typically found of spacecraft surfaces.

Venkateswaran, Kasthuri↗

NASA NTRS1992

Crop growth and associated life support for a lunar farm

Supporting human life on a lunar base will require growing many different food crops. This paper investigates the growth dynamics of four crops (wheat, soybeans, potatoes, and lettuce) for general similarities and differences, along with associated material flows of the gases, liquids, and solids in a lunar farm. The human dietary requirements are compared with the protein, carbohydrate, and lipid contents of these hydroponically grown, high-productivity crops to derive a lunar farm diet. A simple and general analytical model is used to calculate the mass fluxes of CO2, H2O, HNO3, and O2 during the life cycle of each of the four crops. The resulting farm crop areas and corresponding biomass production rates are given. One significant conclusion of this study is that there is a 'lipid problem' associated with the incorporation of these four crops into a viable diet.

Volk, Tyler↗