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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Novel High Resolution High Temperature In-Line Sensors for Steel Manufacturing

To support efficiency, productivity, yield improvements, and future industry 4.0 and SMART manufacturing objectives for a competitive and prosperous steel industry, this program has embarked on an effort to develop, demonstrate and deploy several novel sensing technologies based on fiber optics for use in production steel facilities. Over the duration of this program, our team has successfully demonstrated three of these technologies: (1) near continuous Rayliegh Scattering optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) sensing with single mode silica fibers for temperature sensing to 700 C, (2) semi-distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing with multimode sapphire fibers for temperature sensing to >1600 C, and (3) remote in-situ Raman analysis for slag and flux chemistry analysis at steelmaking temperatures >1550 C. Each of these sensor and interrogation systems was developed, refined, and tested in our labs at Missouri S&T and then successfully deployed at SSAB’s production facilities at two sites, one in Montpelier, IA and one in Mobile, AL.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Characterization of the CMS Endcap Timing Layer readout chip prototype with charge injection

We present the characterization of a readout Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for the CMS Endcap Timing Layer (ETL) of the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade with charge injection. The ASIC, named ETROC and developed in a 65 nm CMOS technology, reads out a 16× 16 pixel matrix of the Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD). The jitter contribution from ETROC is required to be below 40 ps to achieve the 50 ps overall time resolution per hit. The analog readout circuits in ETROC consist of the preamplifier and the discriminator. The preamplifier handles the LGAD charge signal with the most probable value of around 15 fC. The discriminator generates the digital pulse, which provides the Time-Of-Arrival (TOA, leading edge) and Time-Over-Threshold (TOT, pulse width) information. The prototype of ETROC (ETROC0) that implements a single channel of analog readout circuits has been evaluated with charge injection. The jitter of the analog readout circuits, measured from the discriminator's leading edge, is better than 16 ps for a charge larger than 15 fC with the sensor capacitance. The time walk resulting from different pulse heights can be corrected using the TOT measurement. The time resolution distribution has a standard deviation of 29 ps after the time-walk correction from the charge injection. At room temperature, the preamplifier's power consumption is measured to be 0.74 mW and 1.53 mW per pixel in the low- and high-power mode, respectively. Finally, the measured power consumption of the discriminator is 0.84 mW per pixel. With the ASIC alone or the LGAD sensor, The characterization performances fulfill the ETL's challenging requirements.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Performance Assessment of Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS)

Accurate representation of atmospheric aerosol properties is a long-standing problem in atmospheric research. Modern pilotless aerial systems provide a new platform for atmospheric in situ measurement. However, small airborne platforms require miniaturized instrumentation due to apparent size, power, and weight limitations. A Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) is an emerged instrument to measure ambient aerosol size distribution with high time and size resolution, designed for deployment on a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) or tethered balloon system (TBS) platforms. This study evaluates the performance of a POPS with an upgraded laser heater and additional temperature sensors in the aerosol pathway. POPS maintains its performance under different environmental conditions as long as the laser temperature remains above 25 °C and the aerosol flow temperature inside the optical chamber is 15 °C higher than the ambient temperature. The comparison between POPS and an Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer (UHSAS) suggests that the coincidence error is less than 25% when the number concentration is less than 4000 cm –3 . The size distributions measured by both of them remained unaffected up to 15,000 cm –3 . While both instruments’ sizing accuracy is affected by the aerosol chemical composition and morphology, the influence is more profound on the POPS.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Expanding the range of the resolvable strain from distributed fiber optic sensors using a local adaptive reference approach

Optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) is a spectral measurement technique in which shifts in the local Rayleigh backscatter spectra can be used to perform distributed temperature or strain measurements relative to a reference measurement using ordinary single-mode optical fibers. Here, we demonstrate a data processing methodology for improving the resolvable range of temperature and strain by adaptively varying the reference measurement position by position, based on the time evolution of the local optical intensities and the correlation between the reference and active measurements. These methods nearly double the resolvable range of temperature and strain compared with that achieved using the traditional static reference approach.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2012

Interpreting Temperature Strain Data from Meso-Scale Clathrate Experiments

Gas hydrates are important in global climate change, carbon sequestra- tion, and seafloor stability. Currently, formation and dissociation pathways are poorly defined. We present a new approach for processing large amounts of data from meso-scale experiments, such as the LUNA distributed sensing system (DSS) in the seafloor process simulator (SPS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The DSS provides a proxy for temperature measurement with a high spatial resolution allowing the heat of reaction during gas hydrate formation/dissociation to aid in locating clathrates in the vessel. The DSS fibers are placed in the sediment following an Archimedean spiral design and then the position of each sensor is solved by iterating over the arc length formula with Newtons method. The data is then gridded with 1 a natural neighbor interpolation algorithm to allow contouring of the data. The solution of the sensor locations is verified with hot and cold stimulus in known locations. An experiment was preformed with a vertically split column of sand and silt. The DSS system clearly showed hydrate forming in the sand first, then slowly creeping into the silt. Similar systems and data processing techniques could be used for monitoring of hydrates in natural environments or in any situation where a hybrid temperature/strain index is useful. Further ad- vances in fiber technology allow the fiber to be applied in any configuration and the position of each sensor to be precisely determined making practical applications easier.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Thermal Performance of Neutron Sensor Qualification Device

The neutron sensor qualification device was developed to provide a temperature-controlled environment for neutron sensors and dosimetry, enabling irradiation in a neutron field at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) TRIGA reactor facility. The device, constructed from low-activation and low neutron cross-section materials, features a modular tube furnace design with three independently controlled heating zones for controlling axial temperature distribution. Laboratory testing validated the device's thermal performance, including uniform temperature distribution with less than 6°C variation across the central region, a steady-state operational temperature of 350°C achieved in approximately 3 hours, and a cooling time constant of 3.5 hours. External surface temperatures remained safe for handling, with the surrounding aluminum structure remaining at ambient conditions. The results confirm the device’s suitability for neutron sensor qualification experiments, with potential for future operation at higher temperatures and further optimization of performance.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗
DOE OSTI2012

Preparation of the spacer for narrow electrode gap configuration in ionization-based gas sensor

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have started to be developed as the sensing element for ionization-based gas sensors due to the demand for improved sensitivity, selectivity, stability and other sensing properties beyond what can be offered by the conventional ones. Although these limitations have been overcome, the problems still remain with the conventional ionization-based gas sensors in that they are bulky and operating with large breakdown voltage and high temperature. Recent studies have shown that the breakdown voltage can be reduced by using nanostructured electrodes and narrow electrode gap. Nanostructured electrode in the form of aligned CNTs array with evenly distributed nanotips can enhance the linear electric field significantly. The later is attributed to the shorter conductivity path through narrow electrode gap. The paper presents the study on the design consideration in order to realize ionization based gas sensor using aligned carbon nanotubes array in an optimum sensor configuration with narrow electrode gap. Several deposition techniques were studied to deposit the spacer, the key component that can control the electrode gap. Plasma spray deposition, electron beam deposition and dry oxidation method were employed to obtain minimum film thickness around 32 {mu}m. For plasma spray method, sand blasting process is required in order to produce rough surface for strong bonding of the deposited film onto the surface. Film thickness, typically about 39 {mu}m can be obtained. For the electron beam deposition and dry oxidation, the film thickness is in the range of nanometers and thus unsuitable to produce the spacer. The deposited multilayer film consisting of copper, alumina and ferum on which CNTs array will be grown was found to be removed during the etching process. This is attributed to the high etching rate on the thin film which can be prevented by reducing the rate and having a thicker conductive copper film.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

NPFTURBULENCE: Best Estimate Aerosol Size Distribution by airborne measurements

The original data were collected during the field campaign of “Turbulent layers promoting New Particle Formation” experiment (NPFTURBULENCE; https://www.arm.gov/research/campaigns/aaf2024npfturbulence) over the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Atmospheric Observatory (https://www.arm.gov/capabilities/observatories/sgp ) in north-central Oklahoma. The ARM Aerial Facility ArcticShark uncrewed aerial system (UAS) was based at Blackwell–Tonkawa Municipal Airport (IATA: BWL, ICAO: KBKN, FAA LID: BKN, 36.74475° N, 97.34918° W, 313.9 m MSL), for the field campaign from May 5 through May 29, 2024. The ArcticShark UAS performed 11 flights, including 10 research flights over the Central Facility of the ARM SGP to measure atmospheric state, turbulence, surface IT temperature and imagery, aerosol number concentration and size distribution. The current data set presents Best Estimate Aerosol Size Distribution: a merged aerosol size distribution composed of the data from 2 sensors: miniaturized Scanning Electrical Mobility Sizer (mSEMS) and Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS). The mSEMS data were interpolated to 1 second from “native” time resolution of about 15 second to match the other probe. The POPS data were converted from equivalent optical size into geometric size using value of aerosol refractive index of 1.477 from the HISCALE field campaign (same geographical area, altitudes, and time of year; http://www.arm.gov/campaigns/aaf2016hiscale ).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Oxygen exchange on nanocrystalline tin dioxide modified by palladium

Temperature-programmed oxygen isotopic exchange study was performed on nanocrystalline tin dioxide-based materials synthesized via sol-gel route and modified by palladium. Such materials are widely used as resistive gas sensors. The experiments were carried out in a flow-reactor up to complete isotopic substitution of oxygen. Substantial rates of isotopic exchange for SnO{sub 2} were observed from about 700 K. The distribution of isotopic molecules {sup 16}O{sub 2}, {sup 16}O{sup 18}O and {sup 18}O{sub 2} corresponds to simple dioxygen heteroexchange mechanism with single lattice oxygen atom. The modification of SnO{sub 2} by Pd introduced multiple heteroexchange mechanism with preliminary O{sub 2} dissociation on the clusters surface. Spill-over of atomic oxygen from Pd to the surface of SnO{sub 2} and fast exchange with lattice oxygen result in more than 100% increase of apparent heteroexchange rate. The exchange on SnO{sub 2}/Pd was shown to be a complex process involving partial deactivation of the catalytic centers at temperature higher than 750 K. - Graphical abstract: Nanocrystalline SnO{sub 2} modification by Pd essentially influences the interaction with gas phase molecules. A temperature programmed isotopic exchange study revealed that Pd promotes oxygen exchange of the material by facilitating oxygen dissociation and spill-over on the surface of active clusters. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Nanocrystalline SnO{sub 2} can exchange up to 100% of constituent oxygen with gas phase. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple heteroexchange mechanism dominates for blank SnO{sub 2} interaction with oxygen. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Pd clusters on SnO{sub 2} surface enhance oxygen exchange rate. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Catalytic effect of Pd is due to O{sub 2} dissociation and spill-over on active clusters. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Partial Pd deactivation occurs at elevated temperature due to morphology changes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

A three-year dataset supporting research on building energy management and occupancy analytics

Abstract This paper presents the curation of a monitored dataset from an office building constructed in 2015 in Berkeley, California. The dataset includes whole-building and end-use energy consumption, HVAC system operating conditions, indoor and outdoor environmental parameters, as well as occupant counts. The data were collected during a period of three years from more than 300 sensors and meters on two office floors (each 2,325 m 2 ) of the building. A three-step data curation strategy is applied to transform the raw data into research-grade data: (1) cleaning the raw data to detect and adjust the outlier values and fill the data gaps; (2) creating the metadata model of the building systems and data points using the Brick schema; and (3) representing the metadata of the dataset using a semantic JSON schema. This dataset can be used in various applications—building energy benchmarking, load shape analysis, energy prediction, occupancy prediction and analytics, and HVAC controls—to improve the understanding and efficiency of building operations for reducing energy use, energy costs, and carbon emissions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Inverse rendering of fusion plasmas: Inferring plasma composition from imaging systems

In this work, we develop a differentiable rendering pipeline for visualising plasma emission within tokamaks, and estimating the gradients of the emission and estimating other physical quantities. Unlike prior work, we are able to leverage arbitrary representations of plasma quantities and easily incorporate them into a non-linear optimisation framework. The efficiency of our method enables not only estimation of a physically plausible image of plasma, but also recovery of the neutral Deuterium distribution from imaging and midplane measurements alone. We demonstrate our method with three different levels of complexity showing first that a poloidal neutrals density distribution can be recovered from imaging alone, second that the distributions of neutral Deuterium, electron density and electron temperature can be recovered jointly, and finally, that this can be done in the presence of realistic imaging systems that incorporate sensor cropping and quantisation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

High-Frequency Acoustic Mode Identification of Unstable Combustors

Abstract High frequency thermoacoustic instabilities are becoming increasingly problematic in modern combustion systems. Understanding which acoustic mode is being excited is important for understanding potential mechanisms and control approaches — for example, influence of a helical shear layer mode on the flame has profoundly different effects on the first tangential acoustic mode, than a higher order axial mode of similar frequency. Nonetheless, the modal density increases with frequency and it becomes increasingly difficult to determine which acoustic mode is self-excited, based upon frequency calculations alone. Moreover, access issues and cost usually limit the number of pressure probes that can be distributed axially and azimuthally in the combustor. This paper presents a methodology for identifying the acoustic mode by using high temperature pressure transducers flush mounted in a combustion chamber. Modal identification is demonstrated with a siren under non-reacting conditions. The siren is mounted on the chamber to excite longitudinal and azimuthal waves. Five acoustic sensors at different axial and azimuthal locations measure the pressure fluctuations simultaneously. Given the forcing frequency and the speed of sound, the pressure distribution in the combustor is reconstructed in the time domain from the measured data by using a least squares method to determine its mode shapes. In addition, the finite element method (FEM) solver is used to provide the eigenfrequencies and corresponding mode shapes. The test results demonstrate that the mode shapes from the reconstructed data and corresponding frequencies are consistent with those predicted from the FEM, which validates the methodology in this study. In addition, the methodology is extended to practical reacting cases without the siren to determine the acoustic mode shapes of naturally occurring instabilities. In these cases, the modal features have strong stochastic features, such as what appear to be stochastic variations in overall amplitude and relative amplitudes of clockwise and counterclockwise waves.

Kim, J.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Pyroelectric energy harvesting using liquid-based switchable thermal interfaces

The pyroelectric effect offers an intriguing solid-state approach for harvesting ambient thermal energy to power distributed networks of sensors and actuators that are remotely located or otherwise difficult to access. There have been, however, few device-level demonstrations due to challenges in converting spatial temperature gradients into temporal temperature oscillations necessary for pyroelectric energy harvesting. We demonstrate the feasibility of a device concept that uses liquid-based thermal interfaces for rapid switching of the thermal conductance between a pyroelectric material and a heat source/sink and can thereby deliver high output power density. Using a thin film of a pyroelectric co-polymer together with a macroscale mechanical actuator, we operate pyroelectric thermal energy harvesting cycles at frequencies close to 1 Hz. Film-level power densities as high as 110 mW/cm(3) were achieved, limited by slow heat diffusion across a glass substrate. When combined with a laterally interdigitated electrode array and a MEMS actuator, the present design offers an attractive option for compact high-power density thermal energy harvesters. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cha, G↗
DOE OSTI2023

In-field strain and temperature measurements in a (RE)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7–x coil via Rayleigh-backscattering interrogated optical fibers

(RE)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (REBCO) conductors have overcome technical challenges related to manufacturing quality, length homogeneity, scale-up of piece-length, and joints. There is one remaining technical challenge, however, which is common to all high temperature superconductors and lies in effective detection of failure to prevent material degradation. An innovative technique based on optical fibers interrogated by Rayleigh backscattering has been shown to have advantages over voltage taps at detecting incipient faults. Prior work has experimentally demonstrated the technique in several implementation scenarios, including direct integration of optical fibers into superconducting conductors and cables to create a class of ‘SMART’ conductors and cables that are able to monitor their own health. In this paper, the magnet monitoring technique based on Rayleigh backscattering interrogated optical fibers has been experimentally studied in a model coil subject to external magnetic field, where different fiber integration methods are used to increase selectivity of the fiber sensor to temperature. Results show that the spectral shift displays different features during strain and thermal transients. The implications of the results in terms of potential and limitations of each sensor as well as strain-temperature decoupling are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Accurate Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement for Arbitrary Time-Variant Thermal Profile

Ultrasonic thickness measurement of mechanical structures is one of the most popular and commonly used nondestructive methods for various kinds of process control and corrosion monitoring. With ultrasonic propagation speed being temperature-dependent, the thickness measurement can be performed reliably only when the thermal profile is completely known. Most conventional techniques assume the temperature of the test structure is uniform and at room temperature across its thickness. Such assumptions may lead to large errors in the thickness measurement, especially when there are significant temperature variations across the thickness. State-of-the-art techniques use external temperature measurements or implement iterative methods to compensate for the unknown thermal profiles. However, such techniques produce unsatisfactory results when the heat distribution is complex or varies rapidly with time. In this work, we propose a two-sensors technique, using both compressive and shear excitations, with a non-iterative rapid data processing method for accurate thickness measurement under arbitrary time-variant thermal profile. The independent behavior of shear and compressive waves is used to formulate a real-time thickness estimation technique. The developed technique is experimentally validated on a steel plate with fixed acoustic sensors. Test results show that the error in thickness estimation can be reduced by up to 98% compared to conventional thickness gauging methods.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Room temperature multiplexed gas sensing using chemical-sensitive 3.5-nm-thin silicon transistors

There is great interest in developing a low-power gas sensing technology that can sensitively and selectively quantify the chemical composition of a target atmosphere. Nanomaterials have emerged as extremely promising candidates for this technology due to their inherent low-dimensional nature and high surface-to-volume ratio. Among these, nanoscale silicon is of great interest because pristine silicon is largely inert on its own in the context of gas sensing, unless functionalized with an appropriate gas-sensitive material. We report a chemical-sensitive field-effect transistor (CS-FET) platform based on 3.5-nm-thin silicon channel transistors. Using industry-compatible processing techniques, the conventional electrically active gate stack is replaced by an ultrathin chemical-sensitive layer that is electrically nonconducting and coupled to the 3.5-nm-thin silicon channel. We demonstrate a low-power, sensitive, and selective multiplexed gas sensing technology using this platform by detecting H 2 S, H 2 , and NO 2 at room temperature for environment, health, and safety in the oil and gas industry, offering significant advantages over existing technology. Moreover, the system described here can be readily integrated with mobile electronics for distributed sensor networks in environmental pollution mapping and personal air-quality monitors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mitigating urban heat island and enhancing indoor thermal comfort using terrace garden

The United Nations advocates for sustainable urban planning and design, emphasizing green infrastructure initiatives to mitigate urban heat island effects and enhance the resilience and livability of cities globally. To address urban heat challenges, a study was conducted in Chennai, India, from April to June 2023. The study focused on assessing temperature dynamics on a building's terrace by comparing a well-maintained garden area with an exposed region. Temperature and humidity sensors were deployed in both the garden and exposed areas of the terrace, as well as within rooms beneath it, to monitor hourly temperature fluctuations. The findings indicate a significant reduction in internal room temperatures in areas with rooftop gardens, ranging from 4 to 11 °C, depending on the time of year and sun's position, compared to rooms with fully exposed roof configurations. Additionally, simulation studies were performed to validate these findings, suggesting that optimizing the distribution of soil beds and plant density across the roof could yield an additional temperature reduction of 3–4 °C, resulting in an overall difference of up to 14–15 °C. The study highlights the efficacy of rooftop gardens in providing cooling effects during daylight hours and maintaining temperature parity post-sunset. Through analysis of sensor data, the research elucidates the intricate relationship between green infrastructure and thermal comfort, offering insights for energy-efficient building design and resilient urban planning. The findings underscore the potential of rooftop gardens in fostering a more comfortable, energy-efficient, and sustainable urban living environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗