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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Optimal Operation of PV Sources in DC Grids for Improving Technical, Economical, and Environmental Conditions by Using Vortex Search Algorithm and a Matrix Hourly Power Flow

This document presents a master–slave methodology for solving the problem of optimal operation of photovoltaic (PV) distributed generators (DGs) in direct current (DC) networks. This problem was modeled using a nonlinear programming model (NLP) that considers the minimization of three different objective functions in a daily operation of the system. The first one corresponds to the minimization of the total operational cost of the system, including the energy purchasing cost to the conventional generators and maintenance costs of the PV sources; the second objective function corresponds to the reduction of the energy losses associated with the transport of energy in the network, and the third objective function is related to the minimization of the total emissions of CO2 by the conventional generators installed on the DC grid. The minimization of these objective functions is achieved by using a master–slave optimization approach through the application of the Vortex Search algorithm combined with a matrix hourly power flow. To evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach, two test scenarios were used, which correspond to a grid-connected and a standalone network located in two different regions of Colombia. The grid-connected system emulates the behavior of the solar resource and power demand of the city of Medellín-Antioquia, and the standalone network corresponds to an adaptation of the generation and demand curves for the municipality of Capurganá-Choco. A numerical comparison was performed with four optimization methodologies reported in the literature: particle swarm optimization, multiverse optimizer, crow search algorithm, and salp swarm algorithm. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed optimization approach achieved excellent solutions in terms of response quality, repeatability, and processing times.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

MOCMC: Method of Characteristics Moment Closure, a Numerical Method for Covariant Radiation Magnetohydrodynamics

In this work, we present a conservative numerical method for radiation magnetohydrodynamics with frequency-dependent full transport in stationary spacetimes. This method is stable and accurate for both large and small optical depths and radiation pressures. The radiation stress–energy tensor is evolved in flux-conservative form, and closed with a swarm of samples that each transport a multigroup representation of the invariant specific intensity along a null geodesic. In each zone, the enclosed samples are used to efficiently construct a Delaunay triangulation of the unit sphere in the comoving frame, which in turn is used to calculate the Eddington tensor, average source terms, and adaptively refine the sample swarm. Furthermore, radiation four-forces are evaluated in the moment sector in a semi-implicit fashion. The radiative transfer equation is solved in invariant form deterministically for each sample. Since each sample carries a discrete representation of the full spectrum, the cost of evaluating the transport operator is independent of the number of frequency groups, representing a significant reduction of algorithmic complexity for transport in frequency-dependent problems. The major approximation we make in this work is performing scattering in an angle-averaged way. Local adaptivity in samples also makes this scheme more amenable to nonuniform meshes than a traditional Monte Carlo method. We describe the method and present results on a suite of test problems. We find that Method of Characteristics Moment Closure converges at least as ~N -1 , rather than the canonical Monte Carlo N -1/2 , where N is the number of samples per zone.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hydrogen-Battery Hybrid Energy System on Repurposed Offshore Platforms for Efficient Clean-Energy Transition

Due to the rising global energy demand and enhanced awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels, the Gulf of Mexico, traditionally known for oil extraction, offers a distinct chance to repurpose the existing offshore infrastructure. With the depletion of oil reserves, it is feasible to adapt previously utilized floating platforms for extraction to generate renewable energy, specifically through wind-generated power and hydrogen production. This adaptation seeks to promote a transport system that is more ecologically friendly in the future. Offshore wind turbines serve as the main energy source, with help from battery storage and hydrogen production to enhance the overall system performance, hydrogen creation, fuel, and electricity delivery for sustainable energy production. The system is divided into two distinct cases, each evaluated for cost, performance, and feasibility, with a focus on minimizing both the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). The first case examines the integration of offshore wind turbines with hydrogen production. Excess electricity generated by wind turbines is directed toward hydrogen production via electrolysis. The hydrogen produced can be used as fuel for vehicles or transported to the shore via pipelines. The second case investigates a technology that combines wind turbines with battery storage. The batteries possess an ability to supply electricity for a continuous duration of 4 hours maximum each day. The main objective is to reduce the LCOE by considering the battery's charging and discharging cycles, together with the uncertain attributes of wind power and battery deterioration. The produced energy can be distributed for onshore applications or utilized for the purpose of offsetting offshore loads such as subsea oil and gas production, transportation, etc. The offshore hydrogen-battery hybrid system is improved via three advanced algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO). In Case 1, PSO improves hydrogen production by efficiently managing the electrolyzer’s power consumption, decreasing production costs significantly. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is applied to improve the efficiency of the electrolyzer, reducing production costs and achieving an optimized CAPEX of $240.00 million (from an initial $300.00 million) and OPEX of $9.60 million per year. This system produces 4,720,000 kg of hydrogen annually, with a Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) of $6.40/kg and an annual profit of $9.27 million. In Case 2, GWO effectively reduces the overall energy cost by improving the charge-discharge management of batteries, which extends battery life and optimizes their use. The second case focuses on integrating battery storage, optimized using the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), which enhances battery charge-discharge cycles, extending battery life and lowering costs. This system achieves an optimized CAPEX of $204.80 million (from an initial $256.00 million) and OPEX of $9.29 million per year, producing 310883.39 MWh of electricity annually at a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of $86.13/MWh, with an annual profit of $6.25 million. The implementation of a comprehensive strategy results in a substantial reduction in costs, improved energy efficiency, and a dependable supply of both electric power and hydrogen, emphasizing the benefits of converting offshore oil platforms for clean energy transition. This study explores a clean strategy to enable cost-effective repurposing of offshore O&G platforms. Both cases highlight the economic and technical feasibility of transitioning offshore oil platforms to clean energy systems, demonstrating substantial cost reductions and reliable energy and hydrogen supplies for sustainable energy production.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1972

Reality of Comet Nucleus

The structure of the cometary nucleus is discussed. The view that the comet is a vast swarm of tiny particles separated by large distances is defended by the argument that during the meteor showers of 1966, the earth intercepted thousands of millions of meteoric particles; however, no reports of a single meteorite reaching the ground were recorded. Another feature that indicates that a comet consists of a swarm of particles is that the comets contract as they approach the sun, and expand again as they recede.

Lyttleton, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Early scattering by Jupiter and its collision effects in the terrestrial zone

When Jupiter was on the order of three to ten earth masses in size, there undoubtedly was a considerably larger mass of condensed matter in its zone, since Jupiter would have perturbed most of it to other parts of the solar system. Monte Carlo studies indicate a significant portion would have crossed the earth's orbit. If the earth and moon had not yet fully formed, the probability of earth-zone planetesimals being hit by this Jupiter-scattered material was high. Further Monte Carlo models of these collisions and their products indicate a significant portion of matter was heated to melting, even if less than 5% of the relative kinetic energy went into heat. The models include capture probabilities by an embryo earth and a protolunar swarm. Because heat energy is correlated with comminution energy, and because the capture probability of the swarm is mass-dependent while embryo's is not, the protolunar material suffered much higher heating on the average than did the proto-earth material.

Kaula, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Radar Observation of Insects - Mosquitoes

Tests were conducted at several sites over the coastal lowlands of New Jersey and over a region of high plains and low mountains in Oklahoma. In one area, a salt marsh in New Jersey, extensive ground tests were combined with laboratory data on expected insect backscatter to arrive at an extremely convincing model of the insect origin of most Dot Angels. A great deal of insight was studied from radar on the buildup and dispersal of insect swarms, since radar can follow where other means of trapping and observation cannot. Data on large-scale behavior as a function of wind and topography are presented. Displayed techniques which show individual or small swarm motion within some larger cloud or mass, or which can show the overall motion over great distances were developed. The influence of wind and terrain on insect motion and dispersal is determined from radar data.

Frost, E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The origin of the Moon

Bulk density alone shows that the Moon is depleted in metallic FeNi relative to the Earth or to chondritic meteorites. This depletion implies that the Moon formed not from chondrites but from differentiated material. Origin of the Moon by fission from the Earth offers a simple explanation for its depletion in FeNi, but this mechanism seems unlikely because of associated dynamical difficulties. Lunar volatile element depletions were invoked in support of fission, but volatile contents of eucritic meteorites are similarly low and the eucrites did not form by Earth fission. A more plausible origin of the Moon is accretion from the circumterrestrial swarm. The low FeNi content of the Moon is understood if the mean size of interplanetary silicate particles was much smaller than that for metal particles, since this would have led to preferential capture of silicates into Earth orbit, but the question arises whether the mean particle size of the metallic particles was great enough to prevent their capture into the swarm.

Wasson, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A Circum-terrestrial Compositional Filter

A major question about the moon is its under abundance of iron. It is the purpose of this research to understand whether a metal-silicate fractionation of heliocentrically orbiting bodies can be achieved through collisional interactions with a circum-terrestrial swarm. Rates of diffusion are investigated and the mutual collisional destruction within the population is examined. The interactions of these differentiated planetesimals and their collisional products (both silicate mantle fragments and iron cores) with a swarm of Earth orbiting lunesimals (perhaps ejecta from the Earth) of km scale, totaling a mass of order 0.1 lunar mass, extending out 10 or 20 Earth radii are considered. It is found that such a small near Earth population of lunesimals can filter out silicate rich material, while passing iron cores, and form a moon composed partly of terrestrial material, but more substantially of the captured silicate rich portions of the planetesimals.

Chapman, C. R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The Petrogenetic significance of Plagioclase megacrysts in Archean rocks

The petrogenetic significance of plagioclase megacryst-bearing Archean rocks was considered. It was suggested that these developed in mid-to upper-crustal magma chambers that were repeatedly replenished. Crystallization of megacrysts from a primitive liquid that evolves to an Fe-rich tholeiite (with LREE enrichment) is nearly isothermal and is an equilibrium process. Cumulates probably form near the margins of the chambers and liquids with megacrysts are periodically extracted and can appear as volcanics. Some flows and intrusives are found in arc-like settings in greenstone belts. Megacrystic dikes represent large volumes of melt and dike swarms such as the Metachawan swarm of Ontario suggest multiple sources of similar compositions. A complex series of melt ponding and migration are probable and involve large amounts of liquid.

Morrison, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

CCD observations of orbital debris

A portable 31 cm aperture f/1.3 Schmidt telescope with a CCD sensor at the prime focus has been designed and constructed to carry out photometric studies of earth-orbiting debris. When operated in the time delay integration mode in which the readout rate is matched to the predicted motion of the satellite, this system reaches a limiting diameter of about 10 cm for particles at 400 km height and albedo 0.1. It is used for statistical studies of phase angle effects and for swarm-to-swarm albedo differences between several selected debris groups which include the Cosmos 1275, Cosmos 1375, Landsat 1, Landsat 3, NOAA 3, Nimbus 4, Solwind, and Spot-1/Viking groups.

Henize, Karl G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The origins of radial fracture systems and associated large lava flows on Venus

Magellan images have revealed the existence of systems of radial fractures on venus that are very similar in form to terrestrial dike swarms such as the Mackenzie swarm in Northern Canada. The association of many of the fracture systems with lava flows, calderas, and volcanic edifices further support the idea of a dike emplacement origin. A global survey of the Magellan images has allowed the location of 300 such fracture systems. Two types of fracture systems are defined. A series of models were developed to simulate the emplacement of dikes on Venus. Observations of fracture lengths and widths were then used to constrain the emplacement conditions. The model results show that the great length and relatively large width of the fractures can only be explained if the dikes that produce them were emplaced in high driving pressure (pressure buffered) conditions. Such conditions imply high rates of melt production, which is consistent with the melt being derived directly from a plume head. We have recently modeled the vertical emplacement of a dike from the top of a mantle plume and calculated the eruption rates such a dike would produce on reaching the surface. This modeling shows that eruption rates of approximately 0.1 cu km/hr can readily be generated by such a dike, consistent with the above results. However, the sensitivity of the model to dike width and therefore driving pressure means that eruption rates from dikes emplaced from the base of the crust or the head of a mantle plume could be orders of magnitude higher than this. Clearly, therefore, the model needs to be refined in order to better constrain eruption conditions. However, it is worth noting here that the initial results do show that even for moderate dike widths, eruption rates could be at least on the order of those estimated for terrestrial flood basalts.

Parfitt, Elisabeth A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Buffered and unbuffered dike emplacement on Earth and Venus - Implications for magma reservoir size, depth, and rate of magma replenishment

Models of the emplacement of lateral dikes from magma chambers under constant (buffered) driving pressure conditions and declining (unbuffered) driving pressure conditions indicate that the two pressure scenarios lead to distinctly different styles of dike emplacement. In the unbuffered case, the lengths and widths of laterally emplaced dikes will be severely limited and the dike lengths will be highly dependent on chamber size; this dependence suggests that average dike length can be used to infer the dimensions of the source magma reservoir. On Earth, the characteristics of many mafic-dike swarms suggest that they were emplaced in buffered conditions (e.g., the Mackenzie dike swarm in Canada and some dikes within the Scottish Tertiary). On Venus, the distinctive radial fractures and graben surrounding circular to oval features and edifices on many size scales and extending for hundreds to over a thousand km are candidates for dike emplacement in buffered conditions.

Parfitt, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Heliocentric zoning of the asteroid belt by aluminum-26 heating

Variations in petrology among meteorites attest to a strong heating event early in solar system history, but the heat source has remained unresolved. Aluminum-26 has been considered the most likely high-energy, short-lived radionuclide (half-life 0.72 million years) since the discovery of its decay product - excess Mg-26 - in Allende CAI's. Furthermore, observation of relict Mg-26 in an achondritic clast and in feldspars within ordinary chondrites (3,4) provided strong evidence for live Al-26 in meteorite parent bodies and not just in refractory nebular condensates. The inferred amount of Al-26 is consistent with constraints on the thermal evolution of both ordinary and carbonaceous chondrite parent objects up to a few hundred kilometers in diameter. Meteorites can constrain the early thermal evolution of their parent body locations, provided that a link can be established between asteroid spectrophotometric signature and meteorite class. Asteroid compositions are heliocentrically distributed: objects thought to have experienced high metamorphic or even melting temperatures are located closer to the sun, whereas apparently unaltered or mildly heated asteroids are located farther away. Heliocentric zoning could be the result of Al-26 heating if the initial amount of the radionuclide incorporated into planetesimals was controlled by accretion time, which in turn varies with semimajor axis. Analytic expressions for planetary accretion may be integrated to given the time, tau, required for a planetesimal to grow to a specified radius: tau varies as a(sup n), where n = 1.5 to 3 depending on the assumptions about variations in the surface density of the planetesimal swarm. Numerical simulations of planetesimal accretion at fixed semimajor axis demonstrate that variations in accretion time among small planetesimals can be strongly nonlinear depending on the initial conditions and model assumptions. The general relationship with semimajor axis remains valid because it depends only on the initial orbit properties and distribution of the planesimal swarm. In order to demonstrate the basic dependence of thermal evolution on semimajor axis, we parameterized accretion time across the asteroid belt according to tau varies as a(sup n) and calculated the subsequent thermal history. Objects at a specified semimajor axis were assumed to have the same accretion time, regardless of size. We set the initial Al-26/Al-27 ratio = 6 x 10(exp -5) and treated n and tau(sub 0) at a(sub 0) = 3 AU as adjustable parameters. The thermal model included temperature-dependent properties of ice and rock (CM chondrite analog) and the thermodynamic effects of phase transitions.

Grimm, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Formation and evolution of radial fracture systems on Venus

A survey of approximately 90 percent of the surface of Venus using Magellan data has been carried out to locate all radial fracture systems and to assess their association with other features such as volcanic edifices and coronae. Squyres et al. and Stofan et al. have discussed the association of radial fracture features in relation to coronae features, our approach was to assess the associations of all of the fracture systems. These fracture systems have two broad types of form - some fracture systems are associated with updomed topography, radiate from a point and have relatively uniform fracture lengths while others have a wider range of fracture lengths and radiate from the outer edge of a central caldera. Squyres et al. and Stofan et al. have interpreted both types of feature as reflecting tectonic fracturing resulting from uplift of the surface as a mantle plume impinges upon the crust. While it is true that a number of features are related to uplift and that such uplift will induce stresses consistent with radial fracturing, we explore the possibility that these fractures are not exclusively of tectonic origin. Purely tectonic fracturing will tend to generate a few main fractures/faults along which most of the stresses due to uplift will be accommodated leading to the triple-junction form common for terrestrial updoming. Though this type of feature is observed on Venus (e.g., feature located at 34S86), the majority of radial fracture systems display much more intensive fracturing than this through a full 360 degrees; this is difficult to explain by purely tectonic processes. The association of many of the fractures with radial lava flows leads us to interpret these fractures as reflecting dike emplacement: the form of the fractures being consistent with primarily vertical propagation from the head of a mantle plume. In the case of the second type of fracture system (those radiating from a central caldera), an even stronger case can be made that the fractures are not of tectonic origin. These features are not as commonly associated with updoming of the surface and where they are, the fractures extend out well beyond the edge of the topographic rise - an observation which is not consistent with the fractures being of tectonic uplift origin. Furthermore the fractures have a distribution of lengths (many short, fewer long) which is characteristic of dike swarms, and show direct associations with calderas and lava flows consistent with a volcanic origin. In addition, the longest fractures have a radial pattern only close to the center of the system but bend with distance to align themselves with the regional stress field - this behavior is very difficult to explain on purely tectonic grounds but is a pattern commonly seen for terrestrial dikes. For these reasons, we argue that many, if not the majority, of radial fracture systems found on Venus are the surface reflection of dike swarms, those associated with positive topography reflecting vertical emplacement and those radiating from calderas reflecting lateral propagation.

Parfitt, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The orbital characteristics of debris particle rings as derived from IDE observations of multiple orbit intersections with LDEF

During the first 346 days of the LDEF's almost 6 year stay in space, the metal oxide silicon detectors of the Interplanetary Dust Experiment (IDE) recorded over 15,000 impacts, most of which were separated in time by integer multiples of the LDEF orbital period (called multiple orbit event sequences, or MOES). Simple celestial mechanics provides ample reason to expect that a good deal of information about the orbits of the impacting debris particles can be extracted from these MOES, and so a procedure, based on the work of Greenberg, has been developed and applied to one of these events, the so-called 'May swarm'. This technique, the 'Method of Differential Precession,' allows for the determination of the geometrical elements of a particle orbit from the change in the position of the impact point with time. The application of this approach to the May swarm gave the following orbital elements for the orbit of the particles striking LDEF during this MOES: a = 6746.5 km; 0.0165 less than e less than 0.025; i = 66.55 deg; Omega(sub 0) = 179.0 deg plus or minus 0.2 deg; omega = 178.1 deg plus or minus 0.2 deg.

Cooke, William J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Hotspot evolution and Venusian tectonic style

Because hotspots represent an important manifestation of heat loss on Venus, their geological evolution is of fundamental importance for any attempt to understand Venusian tectonics. Eistla Regio is an approximately 7500-km-long, moderately elevated region inferred to overlie one or more large mantle upwellings or hotspots. It also contains many shield volcanoes and coronae believed due to the rise of thermal plumes in the mantle. Central Eistla Regio includes two large volcanoes, Sappho and Anala, and several coronae in close proximity. Detailed mapping in this region results in two conclusions of tectonic significance: (1) Sappho and Anala occur near the intersection of two major extensional deformation zones, and (2) the coronae are older than the large volcanoes. Several of the coronae occur as a chain along Guor Linea, one of the major extensional deformation zones. Stratigraphic relationships indicate that the coronae began forming very soon after the emplacement of the widespread regional plains materials. Thus Central Eistla Regio was the site of a swarm of plumes that first formed coronae and then later formed shield volcanoes. The expected result of such a swarm would be thermal thinning of the elastic lithosphere with time. However, model results, geological observations, and gravity data suggest that the change from coronae to shield volcanoes was accompanied by a thickening of the lithosphere with time. This thickening is interpreted to be the result of global cooling of the lithosphere following the most recent episode of near-global resurfacing. The global cooling must have occurred faster than local heating of the lithosphere due to the impingement of thermal plumes.

Mcgill, George E.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Characteristics of a Major Tropical Cyclone Tornado Outbreak

It is well known that most tropical cyclones (TCs) that make landfall along the Gulf coast of the United States spawn at least a few tornadoes. Although most landfalling TCs generate fewer than a dozen such tornadoes, a small proportion produce large swarm outbreaks, with as many as 25 or more tornadoes. Usually, these major outbreaks occur in large, intense hurricane-strength TCs, but on 15-17 August 1994 Tropical Storm Beryl spun off 37 tornadoes along its path from the Florida panhandle through the mid-Atlantic states. Some 32 of these tornadoes occurred on 16 August 1994 from eastern Georgia to southern Virginia, with most of these taking place in South Carolina. Beryl's 37 tornadoes moved it into what was at that time fifth place historically in terms of TC tornado productivity. The Beryl outbreak is especially noteworthy in that at least three of the tornadoes achieved peak intensity of F3 on the Fujita damage intensity scale. Although no fatalities resulted from the Beryl outbreak, at least 50 persons suffered injuries, and property damages totalled more than $50 million . The Beryl outbreak is a good example of a TC whose greatest danger to the public is its post-landfall severe weather. In this respect, and in the character of its swarm outbreak of tornadoes, it resembles another large tornado outbreak spawned by a relatively weak TC, Hurricane Danny of 1985). In the Danny outbreak, numerous shallow mini-supercell storms were found to have occurred, and it was noted that, because of the storms' relatively shallow depth, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning was negligible. Better observations of future TC tornado outbreaks, especially with modern surveillance tools such as Doppler radars and the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), were recommended. Although the Beryl tornado outbreak is not the first set of TC-spawned tornado storms to be observed with the NLDN, it is one of the largest and likely the most intense such outbreak. The purpose of this paper is to document the NLDN-derived CG lightning characteristics of Beryl's tornadic storms, and to see how they compare with observations of CG lightning activity in other types of severe storms. In particular, we attempt to quantify the CG flash rates of TC tornadic cells, and to discover if there are any characteristics of their CG activity that may be useful to operational forecasters seeking to distinguish which cells are most likely to produce severe weather.

McCaul, Eugene W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Computational Intelligence (CI) Approach to the Precision Mars Lander Problem

A Mars precision landing requires a landed footprint of no more than 100 meters. Obstacles to reducing the landed footprint include trajectory dispersions due to initial atmospheric entry conditions such as entry angle, parachute deployment height, environment parameters such as wind, atmospheric density, parachute deployment dynamics, unavoidable injection error or propagated error from launch, etc. Computational Intelligence (CI) techniques such as Artificial Neural Nets and Particle Swarm Optimization have been shown to have great success with other control problems. The research period extended previous work on investigating applicability of the computational intelligent approaches. The focus of this investigation was on Particle Swarm Optimization and basic Neural Net architectures. The research investigating these issues was performed for the grant cycle from 5/15/01 to 5/15/02. Matlab 5.1 and 6.0 along with NASA's POST were the primary computational tools.

Birge, Brian↗