Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Current Controllers”

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.

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

At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Corrosion Control during Closure Activities at the Savannah River Site - 13514

Liquid radioactive wastes from the Savannah River Site (SRS) separation process are stored in large underground carbon steel tanks. Until the waste is removed from storage, transferred, and processed, the materials and structures of the tanks must maintain a confinement function by providing a barrier to the environment and by maintaining acceptable structural stability during normal service and design basis events (e.g., earthquake conditions). A corrosion control program is in place to ensure that degradation of the steel does not impact the structural and leak integrity functions of these waste tanks. The SRS is currently retrieving waste from older waste tanks and processing the waste through the vitrification for long term stabilization. The retrieval processes prepare the tanks for ultimate closure (i.e., grouting) by removing sludge by mechanical and/or sluicing methods, dissolving salt cake by adding water, and chemical cleaning of the residual sludge with oxalic acid. Each of these retrieval methods will result in waste chemistry that does not meet the requirements of the current corrosion control program. Given the short-term exposure and limited remaining service life for the tanks in which retrievals are being performed, an assessment of the need for corrosion controls in these tanks was performed. The assessment reviewed the corrosion rates in the more aggressive environments and the postulated loads on the structure during the closure activities. The assessment concluded that the current corrosion control program may be suspended for a short period of time while final retrieval of the waste is performed. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

A double-plasma source of continuous bipolar ion-ion beam

A double-plasma source capable of the generation of a continuous bipolar ion-ion beam is described. The quasi-neutral ion-ion flow to an extraction electrode is formed in the system containing primary inductively coupled plasma separated from a secondary plasma by an electrostatic grid-type filter. The total current of each ion species to the 250 mm diameter extraction electrode is about 80 mA; the electron current does not exceed 30% of the ion current. Method of positive/negative ion current ratio control is proposed, allowing the ion currents ratio variation in wide range.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

DWPF Melter Off-Gas Flammability Assessment for Sludge Batch 9

The slurry feed to the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) melter contains several organic carbon species that decompose in the cold cap and produce flammable gases that could accumulate in the off-gas system and create potential flammability hazard. To mitigate such a hazard, DWPF has implemented a strategy to impose the Technical Safety Requirement (TSR) limits on all key operating variables affecting off-gas flammability and operate the melter within those limits using both hardwired/software interlocks and administrative controls. The operating variables that are currently being controlled include; (1) total organic carbon (TOC), (2) air purges for combustion and dilution, (3) melter vapor space temperature, and (4) feed rate. The safety basis limits for these operating variables are determined using two computer models, 4-stage cold cap and Melter Off-Gas (MOG) dynamics models, under the baseline upset scenario - a surge in off-gas flow due to the inherent cold cap instabilities in the slurry-fed melter.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dynamic Formation of a Transient Jet from Arched Magnetized Laboratory Plasma

Abstract A laboratory plasma experiment was built to explore the eruptive behavior of arched magnetized plasmas with dimensionless parameters relevant to the Sun’s photosphere ( β ≈ 10 −3 , Lundquist number ≈10 4 , plasma radius/ion gyroradius ≈20, ion–neutral collision frequency ≫ion cyclotron frequency). Dynamic formation of a transient plasma jet was observed in the presence of the strapping magnetic field. The eruption leading to the jet is unintuitive because the arched plasma is both kink- and torus-stable. The jet structure erupts within a few Alfvén transit times from the formation of the arched plasma. Extensive measurements of plasma temperature, density, magnetic field, and flows are presented. In its early stages, the jet plasma flows away from the arch with supersonic speeds (Mach 1.5). This high-speed flow persists up to the resistive diffusion time in the arched plasma and is driven by large gradients in the magnetic and thermal pressures near the birthplace of jets. There are two distinct electric current channels within the jet, one consisting of outgoing electrons and another composed of electrons returning to the anode footpoint. Significant current density around the jet is a consequence of the diamagnetic current produced by a large thermal pressure gradient in the jet. Ion–neutral charge-exchange collisions provide an efficient mechanism to produce the cross-field current and control the dynamics of the complex current channels of the jet.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

An Ultra-Fast Inrush-Current-Free Startup Method for Grid-tie Inverter without Voltage Sensors

This paper proposes an ultra-fast inrush-currentfree startup method for grid-tie inverters without voltage sensors and phase-locked loop (PLL). Traditionally, the grid-tie inverter needs the voltage measured from points of common couplings (PCC) to generate the phase angle via PLL for inverter pulsewidth- modulation (PWM) signals. The startup procedure is slow and inrush current occurs if the initial PWM does not match the unknown grid voltage well. This paper proposes a startup method that only uses measured inverter ac currents to generate the initial PWM by controlling the current to zero. The generated PWM pattern can be used to reproduce the real grid voltage regardless of the grid impedance. The zero-crossing points of the grid voltage are detected and then used for grid synchronization. The proposed startup procedure only needs a few cycles (16.67 ms/cycle) to reliably synchronize the inverter to the grid without any inrush current. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of this control strategy.

He, Yuchen↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reducing current reversal time in electric motor control

The time required to reverse current flow in an electric motor is reduced by exploiting inductive current that persists in the motor when power is temporarily removed. Energy associated with this inductive current is used to initiate reverse current flow in the motor.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development, Demonstration, and Control of a Testbed for Multiterminal HVDC System

This paper presents the development of a scaled four-terminal high-voltage direct current (HVDC) testbed, including hardware structure, communication architecture, and different control schemes. The developed testbed is capable of emulating typical operation scenarios including system start-up, power variation, line contingency, and converter station failure. Some unique scenarios are also developed and demonstrated, such as online control mode transition and station re-commission. In particular, a dc line current control is proposed, through the regulation of a converter station at one terminal. By controlling a dc line current to zero, the transmission line can be opened by using relatively low-cost HVDC disconnects with low current interrupting capability, instead of the more expensive dc circuit breaker. Utilizing the dc line current control, an automatic line current limiting scheme is developed. As a result, when a dc line is overloaded, the line current control will be automatically activated to regulate current within the allowable maximum value.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

IBPSA Project 2 BOPTEST: An update on the test cases available in the framework for testing advanced control strategies in buildings

Project 2 develops software infrastructure, test cases, and extensions for the Building Optimization Testing Framework (BOPTEST) to address the expanding needs of building and urban energy system controls through open international collaboration. This paper provides an overview of the new test cases available as of BOPTEST version 0.7.1. Each test case is developed using open-source Modelica libraries and Spawn of EnergyPlus, enabling the creation of high-fidelity building models that incorporate envelope dynamics, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, and explicit control representations. Currently, eight test cases are available, with five additional cases under development. These test cases cover a wide range of climates, building types, and HVAC systems. This paper compiles and summarizes test case descriptions, cites original manuscripts that developed them for a more detailed description, and reports baseline control performance metrics. Furthermore, two example applications are presented: one illustrating different levels of control, from supervisory to low-level, and another demonstrating how Model Predictive Control (MPC) solutions must be adapted from continuous to integer to control some building actuators.

Zanetti, Ettore↗
DOE OSTI2023

Circulating Current Reduction of Back-to-Back MMC with Advanced Grid-Support Functionalities for Medium-Voltage Applications

A Lyapunov energy function based circulating current reduction scheme for a back to back modular multilevel converter based system for a microgrid application has been proposed in this digest. In order to ensure no circulating or zero sequence currents within the modules, the dynamics from one leg of the converter to the other are evaluated. A Lyapunov energy function is then developed and utilizing the circulating current dynamics of the converter the overall control law is implemented. In this digest a decentralized hierarchical control architecture has been implemented for the main current control; where the outer loop or the central controller implements the higher level grid interconnection functions as per IEEE 1547-2018 standards and the inner loop based on synchronous reference frame implements the current control architecture. The inner loops' outputs are the commanded converter voltages either on either side which are augmented by the Lyapunov energy function based circulating current suppression architecture. To evaluate the efficacy of the overall system, the overall system is modeled around a 300kVA back to back SiC multilevel modular converter used as a direct-connected medium voltage (MV) grid intertie based on MATLAB/Simulink domain. Several important case studies are presented in this paper to prove the effectiveness of the proposed architecture. case study results are presented.

circulating current↗
DOE OSTI2021

Improved temperature control for measuring the humidity dependence of aerosol optical properties

Aerosols impact climate and cloud formation by their ability to take up water, which leads to changes in their optical properties. To better characterize the interactions of aerosol with water vapor, a humidification section has been added to the Cavity Attenuation Phase-shift Spectrometry (CAPS) instrument. The CAPS is a diode based method that provides simultaneous measurements of both aerosol total optical extinction and scattering in real-time. We are improving the humidity controlled sample line with new temperature controls. The current system suffers from particlelosses and poorly controlled humidity profiles, both of which were corrected for in the systems redesign. This improved wet-CAPS system has been integrated with a dry-CAPS to simultaneously measure the wet and dry aerosol optical properties. The two CAPS monitors were operated in a dry collection mode to ensure there were no biases between the instruments. Initial calibrations and data were collected to test the functionality of the dual CAPS system (wet + dry). The new two channel CAPS system improves our ability to measure the effects of humidity on aerosol optical properties.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Operation and Control of Soft Switching Solid State Transformer as a Virtual Synchronous Machine for Photovoltaic Application

Possibility for control and operation of a three-phase solid state soft switching transformer based as a virtual synchronous machine or synchronverter has been investigated in this paper. The soft switching solid state transformer is used as an interface between the ac grid and a photovoltaic power generation unit supported by a battery bank. The control architecture investigated in this paper is that of a synchronverter to achieve inertial support to the grid and local loads. The operation of the soft switching solid state transformer has also been investigated as a V S M during unbalanced/distorted grid voltage condition. Control objective to achieve oscillation free power transfer between the ports (photovoltaic, battery and grid) has been achieved. The presented architecture has been verified for several important case studies via numerical simulations based on MATLAB/Simulink domain.

grid current controller↗
DOE OSTI2015

Contactless heat flux control with photonic devices

The ability to control electric currents in solids using diodes and transistors is undoubtedly at the origin of the main developments in modern electronics which have revolutionized the daily life in the second half of 20th century. Surprisingly, until the year 2000 no thermal counterpart for such a control had been proposed. Since then, based on pioneering works on the control of phononic heat currents new devices were proposed which allow for the control of heat fluxes carried by photons rather than phonons or electrons. The goal of the present paper is to summarize the main advances achieved recently in the field of thermal energy control with photons.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Synthesis of zirconium oxynitride in air under DC electric fields

We synthesized zirconium oxynitride from yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in air by applying DC electric fields that produced a controlled electric current in the specimen. When YSZ was heated under an applied DC electric field, the electric current of the specimen steeply increased at a critical temperature, called a flash event, during flash sintering. By keeping the electric current of the specimen constant during the flash event and then holding the specimen at the critical temperature, YSZ was transformed into zirconium oxynitride under the optimal conditions of 50 V/cm, 500 mA, and 1000 °C. We confirmed that zirconium oxynitride formed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive spectrometry. To convert oxides to nitrides, reducing conditions are necessary to form excess oxygen vacancies. Our technique produced the strong reducing conditions necessary to form nitrides from the oxides by delivering a controlled electric current to the specimen.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Test of Point-Source Helicity Injection for Non-Solenoidal Startup in NSTX

This grant supported research activity focused on the development of Local Helicity Injection (LHI) as a technique for initiation and growth of spherical tokamak plasmas without the use of a traditional ohmic solenoid for magnetic induction. The LHI technique consists of injection of high-density current streams into a vacuum magnetic field consisting of toroidal and vertical fields. Under appropriate conditions, these streams become unstable and support magnetic reconnection to allow the system to reconfigure itself into a tokamak-like plasma magnetic configuration. This research program focused on three aspects of this plasma startup technique: 1) development and tests of appropriate electron current sources that provide sufficiently high injection currents into the near-plasma edge without strongly contaminating the resultant tokamak plasma with impurities; 2) development and validation of a 0-D power balance model to describe the evolution of the plasma current I p (t) during this startup process; and 3) initial estimates of I p levels achievable with this technique in NSTX-U scale plasmas. The 0-D model development included extremely low aspect ratio corrections to analytical formulae for the plasma inductances that produce voltages due to rapid changes in plasma size and location. Applications of this model to sample plasmas in the Pegasus ultra-low aspect ratio tokamak confirms the expectation that I p (t) is dominated by these induced voltages when injection occurs from the outer low-field side of the plasma. Conversly, I p (t) is dominated by an effective toroidal loop voltage arising from helicity conservation when injectors are placed in the inner high-field side divertor region. The activities pursued here, combined with more general research on LHI followed by the Pegasus experiment group, provide the tools needed for initial consideration of a MA-level plasma startup capability for the NSTX-U experiment. Simplified modeling for LHI on NSTX-U indicates that no showstoppers exist, and ~ 0.8MA appears accessible using a moderate current injection facility. However, many issues remain to be resolved to address extrapolating this technique to the larger sizes and magnetic field strengths of NSTX-U and larger fusion-grade tokamaks. These include, among others: I p scaling with helicity drive input; extending current injector technology; understanding electron confinement and the resulting helicity dissipation processes that determine the achievable I p ; the role of plasma stability in controlling the current evolution; and controlling plasma-material interactions and impurity content. These open issues will be further explored in a future experiment dedicated to integrated studies of non-solenoidal startup at higher magnetic fields and plasma currents.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Mapping and simulating systematics due to spatially-varying observing conditions in DES science verification data

Spatially-varying depth and characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, in particular in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. We illustrate the complementarity of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with the BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalogue generated by forward-modelling of the DES SV images. We then analyse the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially-varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterised in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys, and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null-tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Power Electronics as an Enabler of the Current and Future Grid: Control Instead of Copper

Power electronics are becoming more pervasive in the power system. Solar, wind and battery energy storage systems regularly connect to the grid using power electronic interfaces. Loads are also increasingly power electronic-based. These changes, coupled with the change in the power system's operating characteristics as more and more renewable energy is integrated into the power system, offer a challenge to power electronic and power system engineers alike - how do we design and operate the power system moving forward?

direct connect↗