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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 325 records · Page 18

An Investigation of the Prevention of Ice on the Airplane Windshield

An investigation of three methods for the prevention and the removal of ice on an airplane windshield has been completed. The methods were: electric heating; hot-air heating; and an alcohol-dispensing, rotating wiper blade. The results showed that vision through the airplane windshield could be maintained during severe icing conditions by the use of heat. When put in operation prior to the formation of ice on the windshield the rotating wiper blade prevented the formation of ice. A combination of heated air and a rotating wiper blade would appear to protect against formation of ice on the windshield exterior, to prevent frost on the interior and to provide for the removal of rainfall.

Rodert, Lewis A↗

Multi-fluid renewable geo-energy systems and methods

A geo-energy production system and method extracts thermal energy from a reservoir formation, and stores either thermal waste heat or excess heat in a storage zone of the reservoir formation. A compressed fluid injection injects an unheated, compressed working fluid into the storage zone. A fluid injection well injects a working fluid laden with thermal waste heat or excess heat into the storage zone. The storage zone is located below a caprock layer and above a native brine zone of the reservoir formation and is partially circumscribed by a hot brine storage zone. The compressed working fluid assists with a withdrawal of pressurized brine residing below and/or to the sides of the storage zone. A compressed CO2, N2, or air production well helps to remove compressed working fluid from the storage zone for use in power production.

Buscheck, Thomas A.↗

Mitigating CaCO 3 crystal nucleation and growth through continuous ion displacement via alternating electric fields

Mineral crystal formation poses a challenge on surfaces (e.g., heat exchangers, pipes, membranes, etc.) in contact with super-saturated fluids. Applying alternating currents (AC) to such surfaces can prevent surface crystallization under certain conditions. Here, we demonstrate that ion displacement induced by periodic charging and discharging of the electrical double layer (EDL) inhibits both heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation (and crystal growth) of CaCO 3 . Titanium sheets (meant to simulate metallic heat exchanger surfaces) are immersed in super-saturated CaCO 3 solutions with a saturation index >11. We show that at relatively high AC frequencies, incomplete EDL formation leads to an alternating electric field that propagates far into the bulk solution, inducing rapid ion migration that overwhelms the Brownian motion of ions. Electrochemical characterization reveals EDL charging/discharging under AC conditions that greatly inhibits precipitation. Operating at 4 V pp , 0.1–10 Hz reduces turbidity by over 96% and reduces CaCO 3 coverage on the metal plates by over 92%. Based on electrokinetic and crystallization models, the ion displacement velocity (exceeding the mean Brownian velocity) and displacement length disrupts ion collision and crystal nucleation. Overall, the technique has potential for preventing mineral crystal formation in heat exchangers and many other industrially relevant systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation’s Response to CO2 Increase: Assessing the Roles of Surface Flux and Oceanic Advection Feedbacks

Abstract The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is projected to slow down in climate models due to greenhouse gas emissions. However, the physical mechanisms determining the rate of the projected AMOC slowdown remain unclear. Accordingly, this study isolates the roles of oceanic advection and surface flux feedbacks that might accelerate or decelerate the AMOC’s weakening using carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) quadrupling simulations in the CESM1.2 model. Surface flux feedbacks are isolated in partially coupled experiments in which either all surface flux components or the momentum flux responses to AMOC’s weakening that might provide feedback are suppressed, while a tracer decomposition of ocean density anomalies isolates the advection feedbacks. Comparing the ocean density components in the experiments shows that the AMOC’s response is initially determined by CO 2 -induced anomalous surface heat fluxes, and afterward, feedbacks determine its response. In the fully coupled case, surface heat flux feedback strongly promotes AMOC slowdown and causes its near shutdown, while a weaker but active AMOC is maintained when the surface flux feedback is inhibited in the partially coupled case. The positive surface heat flux feedback works by canceling out the negative oceanic heat advection feedback on deep-water formation in the subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA). With the heat advection feedback thus reduced, the positive salinity advection feedback becomes the dominant contributor to SPNA density changes and deep-water formation. In the partially coupled case, negative ocean heat advection feedback and the CO 2 -induced subtropical Atlantic saline anomalies imported into the SPNA play a stabilizing role. The results highlight the importance of SPNA salinity gradients and gyre circulation strength in determining the AMOC’s response rate or recovery.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Preliminary Investigation of Cyclic De-Icing of an Airfoil Using an External Electric Heater

An investigation was conducted in the NACA Lewis icing research tunnel to determine the characteristics and requirements of cyclic deicing of a 65,2-216 airfoil by use of an external electric heater. The present investigation was limited to an airspeed of 175 miles per hour. Data are presented to show the effects of variations in heat-on and heat-off periods, ambient air temperature, liquid-water content, angle of attack, and. heating distribution on the requirements for cyclic deicing. The external heat flow at various icing and heating conditions is also presented. A continuously heated parting strip at the airfoil leading edge was found necessary for quick, complete, and consistent ice removal. The cyclic power requirements were found to be primarily a function of the datum temperature and heat-on time, with the other operating and meteorological variables having a second-order effect. Short heat-on periods and high power densities resulted in the most efficient ice removal, the minimum energy input, and the minimum runback ice formations. The optimum chordwise heating distribution pattern was found to consist of a uniform distribution of cycled power density in the impingement region. Downstream of the impingement region the power density decreased to the limits of heating which, for the conditions investigated, extended from 5.7 percent chord on the upper surface of the airfoil to 8.9 percent chord on the lower surface. Ice removal did not take place at a heater surface temperature of 32 F; surface temperatures of approximately 50 to 100 F were required to effect removal. Better de-icing performance and greater energy savings would be possible with a heater having a higher thermal efficiency.

Lewis, James P.↗

Analysis of Upper Air, Ground and Remote Sensing Data for the Atlas Field Campaign in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The general climate of the island of Puerto Rico is dominated by the easterly trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean, and during synoptically calm days by the topographic and local land surface characteristics [1]. The urban canopy of the metropolitan area of San Juan, capital city of the Island, may introduce a new microclimate that changes the characteristics of the low atmosphere and interacts with the other microclimates already present in the island. The primitive land cover and land use (LCLU) of the metropolitan area of San Juan was composed by broadleaf trees, moist soils, and very dense vegetation in general. The urban LCLU changes the balance for the mass, momentum and energy between the bottom boundary and the lower atmosphere, creating different climate conditions over urban and rural regions. Some of these differences are low relative humidity and high temperatures observed in urban areas when compared to rural areas. These in turn produces a convective circulation over the urban areas, a phenomenon compared to the sea and land breezes, commonly known as heat islands (UHI). Factors that contribute to the formation of the UHI are anthropogenic heat sources, aerosols from pollutants, fast water canalization due to the presence of buildings and streets, among others. The comparison between urban and rural climates is the most common approach to analyze the UHI. These contrasts are larger in clear and calm conditions and tend to disappear in cloudy and windy weather. The UHI was recognized in the early 1950 s as closed isotherms that separates the city from the general temperature field [2]. The impact of the urban LCLU in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was quantified calculating the difference between historical data sets for the air temperature over an identified urban area and a rural area dT(U-R). The analysis of the climatological data revealed that a UHI exists in the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The data reveals a permanent urban heat island effect present in the SJMA during the year, which is increasing at a rate of 0.41oC/decade. These findings encouraged the planning and execution of an intense field campaign in February 2004 referred as the ATLAS San Juan mission. The focus of the remaining of this report is the analysis of the data for this field campaign.

Gonzalez-Cruz, Jorge E.↗

Material Characterization and Modeling of Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone

Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone (RTV) is a high-temperature adhesive that has successfully been used as a gap-filler between Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles for heatshields on numerous missions. It is also used to bond instrumentation plugs such as temperature and pressure sensors into the heatshields. While RTV has been traditionally assumed to be a non-porous and non-ablating material, numerous experiments have shown that RTV pyrolyzes and becomes highly porous as it is heated. Heating RTV has also shown swelling, or intumescence, which can pose unique problems that lead to roughness induced boundary-layer transition, surface oxide formation and contamination of heat shield sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and model the intumescence phenomenon of RTV. As data for RTV material properties is limited, the first step in modeling RTV is to collect material properties such as pyrolysis mass-loss, microstructure change, virgin and char porosity, etc. which was performed in our initial study. Additionally, thermomechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio are required for modeling the intumescence of RTV, which were taken from literature and the coefficient of thermal expansion was collected using in-situ heating and Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT) in previous studies. Finally, numerous other properties such as pyrolysis gas properties, virgin and char thermal conductivity and specific heat were compiled from previous experiments and literature into a material database that can be used for simulations. In Porous Material Analysis Toolbox based on OpenFOAM (PATO) [4], structural mechanics coupled with material response was used for simulating the intumescence of RTV as it is heated. However, since the permeability of the material is very low, the pyrolysis gas creates an internal pressure build-up as the material is being heated, significantly contributing to the deformation of the material. To correctly characterize this phenomenon, additional physics models were implemented into PATO's stress analysis solver, and results were compared with RTV dilatometry test data as a preliminary verification case. Future work will include experiments of RTV at the Plasmatron X facility and the in-situ heating cell with µ-CT, and improvement of simulation tools to more accurately model RTV intumescence.

TPS↗

Material Properties and Modeling of Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone

Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone (RTV) is a high-temperature adhesive that has successfully been used as a gap-filler between Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles for heatshields on numerous missions. It is also used to bond instrumentation plugs such as temperature and pressure sensors into the heatshields. While RTV has been traditionally assumed to be a non-porous and non-ablating material, numerous experiments have shown that RTV pyrolyzes and becomes highly porous as it is heated. Heating RTV has also shown swelling, or intumescence, which can pose unique problems that lead to roughness induced boundary-layer transition, surface oxide formation and contamination of heat shield sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and model the intumescence phenomenon of RTV. As data for RTV material properties is limited, the first step in modeling RTV is to collect material properties such as pyrolysis mass-loss, microstructure change, virgin and char porosity, etc. which was performed in our initial study. Additionally, thermomechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio are required for modeling the intumescence of RTV, which were taken from literature and the coefficient of thermal expansion was collected using in-situ heating and Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT) in previous studies. Finally, numerous other properties such as pyrolysis gas properties, virgin and char thermal conductivity and specific heat were compiled from previous experiments and literature into a material database that can be used for simulations. In Porous Material Analysis Toolbox based on OpenFOAM (PATO) [4], structural mechanics coupled with material response was used for simulating the intumescence of RTV as it is heated. However, since the permeability of the material is very low, the pyrolysis gas creates an internal pressure build-up as the material is being heated, significantly contributing to the deformation of the material. To correctly characterize this phenomenon, additional physics models were implemented into PATO's stress analysis solver, and results were compared with RTV dilatometry test data as a preliminary verification case. Future work will include experiments of RTV at the Plasmatron X facility and the in-situ heating cell with µ-CT, and improvement of simulation tools to more accurately model RTV intumescence.

PATO↗

Microconvection in evaporation and microconvection in ice formation

Absorption of solar radiation by sea water with contact heat exchange and evaporation leads to the formation of a thin cold film on the ocean surface. Microconvection to ice in this thin surface layer is attributed to nonuniform temperature distributions in wind and water and irregular drag by the air currents.

Shumilov, A. V.↗

Protostellar rotation - Turbulence and heating of molecular clouds

The formation of rapidly rotating protostellar objects in turbulent and clumpy molecular clouds is analyzed. It is shown that the early dissipation of the protostellar rotational energy via a rotationally driven wind can keep their parent molecular clouds at the observed temperatures and in the observed turbulent state. The model requires a low space density of protostellar shells in order to provide the energy requirements to stabilize molecular clouds against gravitational collapse in regions of star formation. The dependence of this mechanism on the star formation rate suggests that the star formation is self-regulated.

Franco, J.↗

Cermet Coatings for Solar Stirling Space Power

Cermet coatings, molecular mixtures of metal and ceramic are being considered for the heat inlet surface of a solar Stirling space power converter. This paper will discuss the solar absorption characteristics of as-deposited cermet coatings as well as the solar absorption characteristics of the coatings after heating. The role of diffusion and island formation, during the deposition process and during heating will also be discussed.

Jaworske, Donald A.↗

Depriming of arterial heat pipes: An investigation of CTS thermal excursions

Four thermal excursions of the Transmitter Experiment Package (TEP) were the result of the depriming of the arteries in all three heat pipes in the Variable Conductance Heat Pipe System which cooled the TEP. The determined cause of the depriming of the heat pipes was the formation of bubbles of the nitrogen/helium control gas mixture in the arteries during the thaw portion of a freeze/thaw cycle of the inactive region of the condenser section of the heat pipe. Conditions such as suction freezeout or heat pipe turn-on, which moved these bubbles into the active region of the heat pipe, contributed to the depriming mechanism. Methods for precluding, or reducing the probability of, this type of failure mechanism in future applications of arterial heat pipes are included.

Antoniuk, D.↗

Experimental study of external fuel vaporization

The fuel properties used in the design of a flash vaporization system for aircraft gas turbine engines were evaluated in experiments using a flowing system to determine critical temperature and pressure, boiling points, dew points, heat transfer coefficients, deposit formation rates, and deposit removal. Three fuels were included in the experiments: Jet-A, an experimental referree broad specification fuel, and a premium No. 2 diesel fuel. Engine conditions representing a NASA Energy Efficient Engine at sea-level take-off, cruise, and idle were simulated in the vaporization system and it was found that single phase flow was maintained in the heat exchanger and downstream of the throttle. Deposits encountered in the heat exchanger represented a thermal resistance as high as 1300 sq M K/watt and a deposit formation rate over 1000 gC/sq cm hr.

Szetela, E. J.↗

Metal-halide mixtures for latent heat energy storage

Alkali metal and alkali halide mixtures are identified which may be suitable for thermal energy storage at temperatures above 600 C. The use of metal-halides is appropriate because of their tendency to form two immiscible melts with a density difference, which reduces scale formation and solidification on heat transfer surfaces. Also, the accumulation of phase change material along the melt interface is avoided by the self-dispersing characteristic of some metal-halides, in particular Sr-SrCl2, Ba-BaCl2, and Ba-BaBr2 mixtures. Further advantages lie in their high thermal conductivities, ability to cope with thermal shock, corrosion inhibition, and possibly higher energy densities.

Chen, K.↗

Formation of the {gamma}ʹʹʹ-Ni2(Cr, Mo, W) phase during a two-step aging heat treatment in HAYNES® 244® Alloy

Precipitation hardening is the dominant method of achieving high strength in most Ni-based superalloys. The formation of nanoscale precipitates during thermal exposure is often studied to determine the optimal methods of attaining high strength. The commercial Ni-based superalloy, HAYNES® 244® alloy, is strengthened through a novel -Ni2(Cr, Mo, W) intermetallic phase that forms during a two-step aging cycle. The precipitation kinetics of this intermetallic phase are sluggish for single-step aging in comparison to the γʹ phase in precipitation-strengthened Ni-based alloys, but a two-step aging treatment has shown to reliably harden the alloy and improve high-temperature properties compared to a single-step aging heat treatment. To investigate the formation and coarsening of this phase, heat-treated samples of the 244 alloy were analyzed with high-energy in situ and ex situ X-ray techniques such as small angle X-ray scattering and wide angle X-ray scattering as well as Vickers micro-hardness, electron microscopy, and atom probe tomography. The relationship between hardness, aging parameters, and microstructure evolution is discussed. The enthalpy of formation and precipitate solvus temperature were determined with high-temperature differential scanning calorimetry and dilatometry analysis.

Ni-based Superalloys↗

Low-pressure inductively coupled plasmas in hydrogen: impact of gas heating on the spatial distribution of atomic hydrogen and vibrationally excited states

Non-equilibrium inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) operating in hydrogen are of significant interest for applications including large-area materials processing. Increasing control of spatial gas heating, which drives the formation of neutral species density gradients and the rate of gas-temperature-dependent reactions, is critical. In this study, we use 2D fluid-kinetic simulations with the Hybrid Plasma Equipment Model to investigate the spatially resolved production of atomic hydrogen in a low-pressure planar ICP operating in pure hydrogen (10–20 Pa or 0.075–0.15 Torr, 300 W). The reaction set incorporates self-consistent calculation of the spatially resolved gas temperature and 14 vibrationally excited states. We find that the formation of neutral-gas density gradients, which result from spatially non-uniform electrical power deposition at constant pressure, can drive significant variations in the vibrational distribution function and density of atomic hydrogen when gas heating is spatially resolved. This highlights the significance of spatial gas heating on the production of reactive species in relatively high-power-density plasma processing sources.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The interaction of T-Tauri stars with molecular clouds

Winds from T-Tauri stars may provide an important dynamical input into cold molecular clouds. If the frequency of T-Tauri stars exceeds 20/cu pc, wind-driven shells collide and form ram-pressure-confined clumps. The supersonic clump motions can account for cloud line widths. Clumps collide inelastically, coalescing and eventually becoming Jeans unstable. For characteristic dark cloud temperatures low-mass stars form, and it is speculated that in this manner clouds can be self-sustaining for 10 million to 100 million yr. Only when either the gas supply is exhausted or an external trigger stimulates massive star formation (for example, by heating the cloud or enhancing the clump collision rate), will the cloud eventually be disrupted. A natural consequence of this model is that dark cloud lifetimes are identified with the duration of low-mass star formation, inferred to exceed 10 million yr from studies of nearby star clusters. Other implications include the prediction of the existence of embedded low-mass stars in turbulent cloud cores, the presence of an internal source of radiation in dark clouds, and a clumpy structure for cold molecular clouds.

Silk, J.↗