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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
NASA NTRS1996

Computational Modeling of Magnetically Actuated Propellant Orientation

Unlike terrestrial applications where gravity positions liquid at the "bottom" of the tank, the location of liquid propellant in spacecraft tanks is uncertain unless specific actions are taken or special features are built into the tank. Some mission events require knowledge of liquid position prior to a particular action: liquid must be positioned over the tank outlet prior to starting the main engines and must be moved away from the tank vent before vapor can be released overboard to reduce pressure. It may also be desirable to positively position liquid to improve propulsion system performance: moving liquid away from the tank walls will dramatically decrease the rate of heat transfer to the propellant, suppressing the boil-off rate, thereby reducing overall mission propellant requirements. The process of moving propellant to a desired position is referred to as propellant orientation or reorientation. Propulsive reorientation relies on small auxiliary thrusters to accelerate the tank. The inertia of the liquid causes it to collect in the aft-end of the tank if the acceleration is forward. Liquid Acquisition Devices (LAD's) rely on surface tension to hold the liquid within special geometries, (i.e. vanes, wire-mesh channels, start-baskets), to positively position propellants. Both of these technologies add significant weight and complexity to the spacecraft and can be limiting systems for long duration missions. The subject of the present research is an alternate technique for positively positioning liquid within spacecraft propellant tanks: magnetic fields. LOX is paramagnetic (attracted toward a magnet) and LH2 is diamagnetic (repelled from a magnet). Order-of-magnitude analyses, performed in the 1960's to determine required magnet size, concluded that the magnets would be prohibitively massive and this option has remained dormant during the intervening years. Recent advances in high-temperature superconducting materials hold the promise of electromagnets with sufficient performance to support cryogenic propellant management tasks. In late 1992, NASA MSFC began a new investigation in this technology commencing with the design of the Magnetically-Actuated Propellant Orientation (MAPO) experiment. A mixture of ferrofluid and water is used to simulate the paramagnetic properties of LOX and the experiment is being flown on the KC-135 aircraft to provide a reduced gravity environment. The influence of a 0.4 Tesla ring magnet on flow into and out of a subscale Plexiglas tank is being recorded on video tape. The most efficient approach to evaluating the feasibility of MAPO is to compliment the experimental program with development of a computational tool to model the process of interest. The goal of the present research is to develop such a tool. Once confidence in its fidelity is established by comparison to data from the MAPO experiment, it can be used to assist in the design of future experiments and to study the parameter space of the process. Ultimately, it is hoped that the computational model can serve as a design tool for full-scale spacecraft applications.

Hochstein, John I.↗
NASA NTRS1998

A New Small Nano-Kelvin Resolution Thermometer for Low Temperature Experiments

A small, high resolution paramagnetic susceptibility thermometer was developed using a GdCl3 paramagnetic salt. The device uses a SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) magnetometer to determine the temperature dependent magnetization of the salt in a magnetic field. The magnetic field is provided by a pair of small samarium cobalt permanent magnet disks situated inside the thermometer housing. The eliminates the need for a heavy, charging solenoid used in a conventional SQUID based magnetic thermometer system. This thermometer can resolve approximately 10 (exp -9)K near the liquid-gas critical point of He-3(approximately 3.31K). The drift rate of the thermometer was measured to be less than 2 x 10 (exp -13) K per second. This light weight thermometer (approximately 7 g) is a candidate for use in future low temperature Space Shuttle and International Space Station experiments. The present thermometer design easily permits a variety of magnetic materials for use in other applications.

Welander, Paul↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Small Nano-Kelvin Resolution Thermometer for Low Temperature Experiments in Space

A small high resolution paramagnetic susceptibility thermometer was developed using a GdCl3 paramagnetic salt. The device uses a SQUID magnetometer to determine the temperature dependent magnetization of the salt in a magnetic field. The required magnetic field is provided by a pair of small SmCo permanent magnet disks situated inside the thermometer housing. This eliminates the use of a heavy charging solenoid in a conventional SQUID based magnetic thermometer system using a flux tube. This thermometer can resolve approximately 10(exp -9)K near the liquid-gas critical point of The (approx. 3.31K). The drift in the thermometer is less than 2 x 10(exp -13) K/s. This light weighted thermometer (approx. 7 g) is a candidate for use in future International Space Station flight low temperature experiments.

Welander, Paul↗
NASA NTRS2000

High Resolution Thermometry for EXACT

High Resolution Thermometers (HRTs) based on SQUID detection of the magnetization of a paramagnetic salt or a metal alloy has been commonly used for sub-nano Kelvin temperature resolution in low temperature physics experiments. The main applications to date have been for temperature ranges near the lambda point of He-4 (2.177 K). These thermometers made use of materials such as Cu(NH4)2Br4 *2H2O, GdCl3, or PdFe. None of these materials are suitable for EXACT, which will explore the region of the He-3/He-4 tricritical point at 0.87 K. The experiment requirements and properties of several candidate paramagnetic materials will be presented, as well as preliminary test results.

Panek, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Magnetic Control of Convection in Electrically Nonconducting Fluids

Inhomogeneous magnetic fields exert a body force on electrically nonconducting, magnetically permeable fluids. This force can be used to compensate for gravity and to control convection. The effects of uniform and nonuniform magnetic fields on a laterally unbounded fluid layer heated from below or above are studied using a linear stability analysis of the Navier-Stokes equations supplemented by Maxwell's equations and the appropriate magnetic body force. For a uniform oblique field, the analysis shows that longitudinal rolls with axes parallel to the horizontal component of the field are the rolls most unstable to convection. The corresponding critical Rayleigh number and critical wavelength for the onset of such rolls are less than the well-known Rayleigh-Benard values in the absence of magnetic fields. Vertical fields maximize these deviations, which vanish for horizontal fields. Horizontal fields increase the critical Rayleigh number and the critical wavelength for all rolls except longitudinal rolls. For a nonuniform field, our analysis shows that the magnetic effect on convection is represented by a dimensionless vector parameter which measures the relative strength of the induced magnetic buoyancy force due to the applied field gradient. The vertical component of this parameter competes with the gravitational buoyancy effect, and a critical relationship between this component and the Rayleigh number is identified for the onset of convection. Therefore, Rayleigh-Benard convection in such fluids can be enhanced or suppressed by the field. It also shows that magnetothermal convection is possible in both paramagnetic and diamagnetic fluids. Our theoretical predictions for paramagnetic fluids agree with experiments. Magnetically driven convection in diamagnetic fluids should be observable even in pure water using current technology.

Huang, Jie↗
NASA NTRS2003

Magnetic Control of Solutal Buoyancy Driven Convection

Volumetric forces resulting from local density variations and gravitational acceleration cause buoyancy induced convective motion in melts and solutions. Solutal buoyancy is a result of concentration differences in an otherwise isothermal fluid. If the fluid also exhibits variations in magnetic susceptibility with concentration then convection control by external magnetic fields can be hypothesized. Magnetic control of thermal buoyancy induced convection in ferrofluids (dispersions of ferromagnetic particles in a carrier fluid) and paramagnetic fluids have been demonstrated. Here we show the nature of magnetic control of solutal buoyancy driven convection of a paramagnetic fluid, an aqueous solution of Manganese Chloride hydrate. We predict the critical magnetic field required for balancing gravitational solutal buoyancy driven convection and validate it through a simple experiment. We demonstrate that gravity driven flow can be completely reversed by a magnetic field but the exact cancellation of the flow is not possible. This is because the phenomenon is unstable. The technique can be applied to crystal growth processes in order to reduce convection and to heat exchanger devices for enhancing convection. The method can also be applied to impose a desired g-level in reduced gravity applications.

Ramachandran, N.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Solutal Convection in a Magnetic Fluid

A theoretical and experimental study is presented on the stability of solutal convection of a magnetized fluid in the presence of a magnetic field. The total force on the fluid is derived and equilibrium positions are computed establishing the field necessary to counter fluid buoyancy. The requirements for stability are developed and compared with experiments with a paramagnetic fluid. The experiments are in good agreement not only with the theoretical predictions for equilibrium but also verify the stability theory which predicts both horizontal and vertical stability. Analogous to results for levitation, the theory indicates that solutal convection in paramagnetic fluids cannot be completely stabilized while that in diamagnetic liquid are possible.

Leslie, Fred↗
NASA NTRS2004

Magnetic Control of Solutal Buoyancy-driven Convection: Stability - Part II

A theory is presented on the stability of solutal convection of a magnetized fluid in the presence of a magnetic field. The requirements for stability are developed and compared to experiments with a paramagnetic fluid. The theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the experiments and, analogous to results for levitation, the theory indicates that solutal convection in paramagnetic fluids cannot be completely stabilized. Computations for a model diamagnetic fluid are given and show that complete stability is possible if the equilibrium requirements are met in a particular region of the field.

Leslie, F. W.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Cryogenic High-Sensitivity Magnetometer

A proposed magnetometer for use in a cryogenic environment would be sensitive enough to measure a magnetic-flux density as small as a picogauss (10(exp -16) Tesla). In contrast, a typical conventional flux-gate magnetometer cannot measure a magnetic-flux density smaller that about 1 microgauss (10(exp -10) Tesla). One version of this device, for operation near the low end of the cryogenic temperature range, would include a piece of a paramagnetic material on a platform, the temperature of which would be controlled with a periodic variation. The variation in temperature would be measured by use of a conventional germanium resistance thermometer. A superconducting coil would be wound around the paramagnetic material and coupled to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer.

Day, Peter↗
NASA NTRS2004

Magnetocaloric Pumping of Liquid Oxygen

The field-induced force density on a magnetic fluid is proportional to the magnetic susceptibility times the gradient of the magnetic field squared. The direction of the force is towards increasing magnetic field (positive gradient). Applying a magnetic field to a magnetic fluid will result in a force from all directions towards the location of peak field. Since the magnetic field is conservative and there are no magnetic monopoles, the net field-induced force on any fluid of constant susceptibly will be zero. The only manner to obtain a nonzero net field-induced force is to vary the susceptibility of the fluid. At the gas/liquid interface of liquid oxygen, the susceptibility varies drastically, and the exploitation of the resultant large net forces. An alternative method of varying the magnetic susceptibility is to vary the temperature of the fluid. The magnetic susceptibility of paramagnetic liquid oxygen obeys the Curie-Weiss law: it is inversely proportional to temperature. By applying a temperature gradient in the presence of a symmetric magnetic field, a nonzero net force results. Much of the theory of the so-called Magnetocaloric Effect has previously been developed for and applied to ferromagnetic fluids, or ferrofluids, but is readily applied to paramagnetic liquid oxygen.

Immer, Christopher↗
NASA NTRS2011

Development of Position-Sensitive Magnetic Calorimeters for X-Ray Astronomy

Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMC) are one of the most promising devices to provide very high energy resolution needed for future astronomical x-ray spectroscopy. MMC detectors can be built to large detector arrays having thousands of pixels. Position-sensitive magnetic (PoSM) microcalorimeters consist of multiple absorbers thermally coupled to one magnetic micro calorimeter. Each absorber element has a different thermal coupling to the MMC, resulting in a distribution of different pulse shapes and enabling position discrimination between the absorber elements. PoSMs therefore achieve the large focal plane area with fewer number of readout channels without compromising spatial sampling. Excellent performance of PoSMs was achieved by optimizing the designs of key parameters such as the thermal conductance among the absorbers, magnetic sensor, and heat sink, as well as the absorber heat capacities. Micro fab ri - cation techniques were developed to construct four-absorber PoSMs, in which each absorber consists of a two-layer composite of bismuth and gold. The energy resolution (FWHM full width at half maximum) was measured to be better than 5 eV at 6 keV x-rays for all four absorbers. Position determination was demonstrated with pulse-shape discrimination, as well as with pulse rise time. X-ray microcalorimeters are usually designed to thermalize as quickly as possible to avoid degradation in energy resolution from position dependence to the pulse shapes. Each pixel consists of an absorber and a temperature sensor, both decoupled from the cold bath through a weak thermal link. Each pixel requires a separate readout channel; for instance, with a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device). For future astronomy missions where thousands to millions of resolution elements are required, having an individual SQUID readout channel for each pixel becomes difficult. One route to attaining these goals is a position-sensitive detector in which a large continuous or pixilated array of x-ray absorbers shares fewer numbers of temperature sensors. A means of discriminating the signals from different absorber positions, however, needs to be built into the device for each sensor. The design concept for the device is such that the shape of the temperature pulse with time depends on the location of the absorber. This inherent position sensitivity of the signal is then analyzed to determine the location of the event precisely, effectively yielding one device with many sub-pixels. With such devices, the total number of electronic channels required to read out a given number of pixels is significantly reduced. PoSMs were developed that consist of four discrete absorbers connected to a single magnetic sensor. The design concept can be extended to more than four absorbers per sensor. The thermal conductance between the sensor and each absorber is different by design and consequently, the pulse shapes are different depending upon which absorber the xrays are received, allowing position discrimination. A magnetic sensor was used in which a paramagnetic Au:Er temperature-sensitive material is located in a weak magnetic field. Deposition of energy from an x-ray photon causes an increase in temperature, which leads to a change of magnetization of the paramagnetic sensor, which is subsequently read out using a low noise dc-SQUID. The PoSM microcalorimeters are fully microfabricated: the Au:Er sensor is located above the meander, with a thin insulation gap in between. For this position-sensitive device, four electroplated absorbers are thermally linked to the sensor via heat links of different thermal conductance. One pixel is identical to that of a single-pixel design, consisting of an overhanging absorber fabricated directly on top of the sensor. It is therefore very strongly thermally coupled to it. The three other absorbers are supported directly on a silicon-nitride membrane. These absorbers are thermally coupled to the sensor via Ti (5 nm)/Au250 nm) metal links. The strength of the links is parameterized by the number of gold squares making up the link. For detector performance, experimentally different pulse-shapes were demonstrated with 6 keV x-rays, which clearly show different rise times for different absorber positions. For energy resolution measurement, the PoSM was operated at 32 mK with an applied field that was generated using a persistent current of 50 mA. Over the four pixels, energy resolution ranges from 4.4 to 4.7 eV were demonstrated.

Bandler, SImon↗
NASA NTRS2011

Improved Design and Fabrication of Hydrated-Salt Pills

A high-performance design, and fabrication and growth processes to implement the design, have been devised for encapsulating a hydrated salt in a container that both protects the salt and provides thermal conductance between the salt and the environment surrounding the container. The unitary salt/container structure is known in the art as a salt pill. In the original application of the present design and processes, the salt is, more specifically, a hydrated paramagnetic salt, for use as a refrigerant in a very-low-temperature adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). The design and process can also be applied, with modifications, to other hydrated salts. Hydrated paramagnetic salts have long been used in ADRs because they have the desired magnetic properties at low temperatures. They also have some properties, disadvantageous for ADRs, that dictate the kind of enclosures in which they must be housed: Being hydrated, they lose water if exposed to less than 100-percent relative humidity. Because any dehydration compromises their magnetic properties, salts used in ADRs must be sealed in hermetic containers. Because they have relatively poor thermal conductivities in the temperature range of interest (<0.1 K), integral thermal buses are needed as means of efficiently transferring heat to and from the salts during refrigeration cycles. A thermal bus is typically made from a high-thermal-conductivity met al (such as copper or gold), and the salt is configured to make intimate thermal contact with the metal. Commonly in current practice (and in the present design), the thermal bus includes a matrix of wires or rods, and the salt is grown onto this matrix. The density and spacing of the conductors depend on the heat fluxes that must be accommodated during operation.

Shirron, Peter J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Reversible Thermally Driven Pump for Use in a Sub-Kelvin Magnetic Refrigerator

A document describes a continuous magnetic refrigerator that is suited for cooling astrophysics detectors. This refrigerator has the potential to provide efficient, continuous cooling to temperatures below 50 mK for detectors, and has the benefits over existing magnetic coolers of reduced mass because of faster cycle times, the ability to pump the cooled fluid to remote cooling locations away from the magnetic field created by the superconducting magnet, elimination of the added complexity and mass of heat switches, and elimination of the need for a thermal bus and single crystal paramagnetic materials due to the good thermal contact between the fluid and the paramagnetic material. A reliable, thermodynamically efficient pump that will work at 1.8 K was needed to enable development of the new magnetic refrigerator. The pump consists of two canisters packed with pieces of gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG). The canisters are connected by a superleak (a porous piece of VYCOR glass). A superconducting magnetic coil surrounds each of the canisters. The configuration enables driving of cyclic thermodynamic cycles (such as the sub-Kelvin Active Magnetic Regenerative Refrigerator) without using pistons or moving parts.

Miller, Franklin K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Measurements of Electron Beam-Induced Spin-Relaxation in Frozen-Spin Hydrogen-Deuteride (HD)

Targets of solid hydrogen-deuteride (HD) can be prepared in a frozen-spin state with spin relaxation times (T1) in excess of a year. The present work has studied their potential use in experiments with electron beams. Polarization relaxation rates have been measured during exposure to sub-nanoAmp currents of 9.7 MeV electron beams from the recently commissioned Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at Jefferson Lab (JLab). These UITF measurements can be used to anticipate the expected performance at the GeV energies typical of JLab experiments, since the energy deposition in a target is almost independent of beam energy. An in-beam dilution refrigerator equipped with superconducting solenoids has been used to maintain solid HD samples at ?0.1 K and ?1 tesla, and internal NMR coils have been used to monitor hydrogen polarization. Spin-relaxation in two frozen-spin targets, with initial H-polarizations of 40% and 34%, have been tracked while exposed to beams under varying conditions of current, dose, beam duty factor and temperature. At a fixed accumulated dose, the spin-relaxation rates drop with current, suggesting depolarization by the charge cloud of the beam. Imposing a duty factor on the otherwise continuous UITF beam, with forced millisecond scale gaps, has shown no obvious correlation to polarization loss rates. After an accumulated dose of ?2 ?C/cm2, beam-off spin-relaxation rates drop from their immeasurably long pre-irradiation values to the order of weeks (with beam-on T1 values typically an order of magnitude shorter), reflecting a buildup of paramagnetic charge centers within the HD lattice. The accumulated polarization loss was approximately proportional to dose in both targets, dropping to 1/e of their initial values after ?6 ?C/cm2. Thermal equilibrium polarizations of targets not in the frozen-spin state (with intentionally short T1) have been used to deduce the in situ temperature of solid HD while under electron bombardment. A model for depolarization by beam-associated paramagnetic impurities largely accounts for the data, and suggests that improvements in heat removal could lead to significant increases in the in-beam T1.

O'Connell, Thomas↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tunable Spin Qubit Pairs in Quantum Dot–Molecule Conjugates

Organic molecules and quantum dots (QDs) have both shown promise as materials that can host quantum bits (qubits). This is in part because of their synthetic tunability. The current work employs a combination of both materials to demonstrate a series of tunable quantum dot–organic molecule conjugates that can both host photogenerated spin-based qubit pairs (SQPs) and sensitize molecular triplet states. The photogenerated qubit pairs, composed of a spin-correlated radical pair (SCRP), are particularly intriguing since they can be initialized in well-defined, nonthermally populated, quantum states. Additionally, the radical pair enables charge recombination to a polarized molecular triplet state, also in a well-defined quantum state. The materials underlying this system are an organic molecular chromophore and electron donor, 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene, and a quantum dot acceptor composed of ZnO. We prepare a series of quantum dot–molecule conjugates that possess variable quantum dot size and two different linker lengths connecting the two moieties. Optical spectroscopy revealed that the QD–molecule conjugates undergo photoexcited charge separation to generate long-lived charge-separated radical pairs. The resulting spin states are probed using light-induced time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TR-EPR) spectroscopy, revealing the presence of singlet-generated SCRPs and molecular triplet states. Notably, the EPR spectra of the radical pairs are dependent on the geometry of this highly tunable system. The g value of the ZnO QD anion is size tunable, and the line widths are influenced by radical pair separation. Overall, this work demonstrates the power of synthetic tunability in adjusting the spin specific addressability, satisfying a key requirement of functional qubit systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evidence of Atypical Structural Flexibility of the Active Site Surrounding of an [FeFe] Hydrogenase from Clostridium beijerinkii

[FeFe] hydrogenase from Clostridium beijerinkii (CbHydA1) is an unusual hydrogenase in that it can withstand prolonged exposure to O 2 by reversibly converting into an O 2 -protected, inactive state (Hinact). It has been indicated in the past that an atypical conformation of the “SC 367 CP” loop near the [2Fe] H portion of the six-iron active site (H-cluster) allows the Cys367 residue to adopt an “off-H + -pathway” orientation, promoting a facile transition of the cofactor to Hinact. Here, we investigated the electronic structure of the H-cluster in the oxidized state (H ox ) that directly converts to Hinact under oxidizing conditions and the related CO-inhibited state (H ox -CO). We demonstrate that both states exhibit two distinct forms in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The ratio between the two forms is pH-dependent but also sensitive to the buffer choice. Our IR and EPR analyses illustrate that the spectral heterogeneity is due to a perturbation of the coordination environment of the H-cluster’s [4Fe4S] H subcluster without affecting the [2Fe] H subcluster. Overall, we conclude that the observation of two spectral components per state is evidence of heterogeneity of the environment of the H-cluster likely associated with conformational mobility of the SCCP loop. Such flexibility may allow Cys367 to switch rapidly between off- and on-H + -pathway rotamers. Consequently, we believe such structural mobility may be the key to maintaining high enzymatic activity while allowing a facile transition to the O 2 -protected state.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nickel‐Based Single‐Molecule Catalysts with Synergistic Geometric Transition and Magnetic Field‐Assisted Spin Selection Outperform RuO 2 for Oxygen Evolution

Overcoming slow kinetics and high overpotential in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) requires innovative catalysts and approaches that transcend the scaling relationship between binding energies for intermediates and catalyst surfaces. Inorganic complexes provide unique, customizable geometries, which can help enhance their efficiencies. However, they are unstable and susceptible to chemical reaction under extreme pH conditions. Immobilizing complexes on substrates creates single‐molecule catalysts (SMCs) with functional similarities to single‐atom catalysts (SACs). Here, in this work, an efficient SMC, composed of dichloro(1,3‐bis(diphenylphosphino)propane) nickel [NiCl 2 dppp] anchored to a graphene acid (GA), is presented. This SMC surpasses ruthenium‐based OER benchmarks, exhibiting an ultra‐low onset and overpotential at 10 mAcm −2 when exposed to a static magnetic field. Comprehensive experimental and theoretical analyses imply that an interfacial charge transfer from the Ni center in NiCl 2 dppp to GA enhances the OER activity. Spectroscopic investigations reveal an in situ geometrical transformation of the complex and the formation of a paramagnetic Ni center, which under a magnetic field, enables spin‐selective electron transfer, resulting in enhanced OER performance. The results highlight the significance of in situ geometric transformations in SMCs and underline the potential of an external magnetic field to enhance OER performance at a single‐molecule level.

in situ geometrical changes↗