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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Modeling Separate and Combined Atmospheres in BIO-Plex

We modeled BIO-Plex designs with separate or combined atmospheres and then simulated controlling the atmosphere composition. The BIO-Plex is the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, a large regenerative life support test facility under development at NASA Johnson Space Center. Although plants grow better at above-normal carbon dioxide levels, humans can tolerate even higher carbon dioxide levels. incinerator exhaust has very high levels of carbon dioxide. An elaborate BIO-Plex design would maintain different atmospheres in the crew and plant chambers and isolate the incinerator exhaust in the airlock. This design easily controls the crew and plant carbon dioxide levels but it uses many gas processors, buffers, and controllers. If all the crew's food is grown inside BIO-Plex, all the carbon dioxide required by the plants is supplied by crew respiration and the incineration of plant and food waste. Because the oxygen mass flow must balance in a closed loop, the plants supply all the oxygen required by the crew and the incinerator. Using plants for air revitalization allows using fewer gas processors, buffers, and controllers. In the simplest design, a single combined atmosphere was used for the crew, the plant chamber, and the incinerator. All gas processors, buffers, and controllers were eliminated. The carbon dioxide levels were necessarily similar for the crew and plants. If most of the food is grown, carbon dioxide can be controlled at the desired level by scheduling incineration. An intermediate design uses one atmosphere for the crew and incinerator chambers and a second for the plant chamber. This allows different carbon dioxide levels for the crew and plants. Better control of the atmosphere is obtained by varying the incineration rate. Less gas processing, storage, and control is needed if more food is grown.

Jones, Harry↗
NASA NTRS2008

Initial Performance Results on IBM POWER6

The POWER5+ processor has a faster memory bus than that of the previous generation POWER5 processor (533 MHz vs. 400 MHz), but the measured per-core memory bandwidth of the latter is better than that of the former (5.7 GB/s vs. 4.3 GB/s). The reason for this is that in the POWER5+, the two cores on the chip share the L2 cache, L3 cache and memory bus. The memory controller is also on the chip and is shared by the two cores. This serializes the path to memory. For consistently good performance on a wide range of applications, the performance of the processor, the memory subsystem, and the interconnects (both latency and bandwidth) should be balanced. Recognizing this, IBM has designed the Power6 processor so as to avoid the bottlenecks due to the L2 cache, memory controller and buffer chips of the POWER5+. Unlike the POWER5+, each core in the POWER6 has its own L2 cache (4 MB - double that of the Power5+), memory controller and buffer chips. Each core in the POWER6 runs at 4.7 GHz instead of 1.9 GHz in POWER5+. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a dual-core Power6 based IBM p6-570 system, and we compare its performance with that of a dual-core Power5+ based IBM p575+ system. In this evaluation, we have used the High- Performance Computing Challenge (HPCC) benchmarks, NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB), and four real-world applications--three from computational fluid dynamics and one from climate modeling.

Saini, Subbash↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impacts of sulfonic acids on fungal manganese oxide production

Microbial manganese (Mn) oxidation plays a critical role in Mn(III/IV) oxide formation in modern day environmental systems. These oxidation processes and resulting biominerals are sensitive to aqueous conditions, such as pH and dissolved constituent concentrations. With Mn and sulfur (S) biogeochemical cycling closely linked in many environmental systems, and dissolved organic sulfur comprising a substantial pool of total sulfur in several environments, the impact of dissolved organic sulfur compounds on Mn redox processes is important to consider. Sulfonic acids, environmentally ubiquitous organosulfur compounds, play substantial roles in S cycling in many natural and contaminated systems. Research to assess the effects of these abundant sulfonic acids on Mn biogeochemical cycling, microbial Mn oxidation processes, and Mn biominerals is needed for understanding and predicting the impact of coupled S and Mn biogeochemical cycles, particularly in environments with dynamic redox gradients or in anthropogenically contaminated systems. Further, with research on microbial and abiotic Mn oxidation processes often using aminosulfonic acids to control pH, understanding the impact of such sulfonic acids on microbial Mn oxidation processes is critical. Several recent studies found that commonly used zwitterionic N substituted aminosulfonic acids, known as Good’s buffers, such as HEPES and MES, can alter abiotic birnessite sheet structures. Here we investigate the impact of two sulfonic acids with broad applications to natural and contaminated sites as well as laboratory settings (HEPES and MES) on fungal Mn oxidation relative to a carbonate buffer and a buffer-free control by three Ascomycete fungi known to oxidize Mn(II): Stagonospora sp. SRC1lsM3a, Paraphaeosphaeria sporulosa AP3s5–JAC2a, and Plectosphaerella cucumerina DS2psM2a2. Structural analyses of the products show that sulfonic acids promote Mn oxidation by P. cucumerina, producing hexagonally symmetric phyllomanganates analogous to hexagonal birnessite or c–disordered H + birnessite [(Ca,Na,K)(Mn 4+ ,Mn 3+ ,$\square$)O 2 nH 2 O], with solid–associated Mn(II) bound to vacancy sites and biomass, while in their absence almost all Mn remains as either aqueous Mn(II) or solid–associated Mn(II) bound to biomass. In contrast, sulfonic acids exert the opposite effect on Mn oxidation by P. sporulosa, with their presence suppressing Mn(II) oxidation to Mn(IV), likely leading to the formation of mycogenic bixbyite (Mn 3+ 2 O 3 ) while the buffer–free control forms a poorly crystalline phyllo- or tectomanganate. Meanwhile, all treatments exert a minimal effect on Mn(II) uptake from solution and Mn oxidation with Stagonospora sp., with all experimental systems and controls forming poorly crystalline, hexagonally symmetric phyllomanganates. The fact that the sulfonic acids here studied exert similar effects on Mn oxidation, but substantially different effects for each fungus, suggests they affect Mn oxidation via mechanistically similar pathways that are likely dependent on interactions with fungal exudates (which vary from species to species) or specific fungal Mn oxidation processes. Interestingly, for all fungi, MES increases Mn(III) in the resulting biominerals, while the carbonate buffer consistently decreases Mn(III). Further, these results clearly demonstrate that sulfonic acids not only alter Mn oxide structures, as has been previously noted in abiotic studies, but can interfere with Mn oxidation reactions themselves, highlighting the incredible sensitivity of both Mn oxide structures and the Mn oxidation process to the aqueous environment.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2014

Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) Sodium Bicarbonate/Carbonate Buffer in an Open Aqueous Carbon Dioxide System and Corollary Electrochemical/Chemical Reactions Relative to System pH Changes

The International Space Station (ISS) Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) experienced a number of chemical changes driven by system absorption of CO2 which altered the coolant’s pH. The natural effects of the decrease in pH from approximately 9.2 to less than 8.4 had immediate consequences on system corrosion rates and corrosion product interactions with specified coolant constituents. The alkalinity of the system was increased through the development and implementation of a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer that would increase coolant pH to 9.0 – 10.0 and maintain pH above 9.0 in the presence of ISS cabin concentrations of CO2 up to twenty times higher than ground concentrations. This paper defines how a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer works in an open carbon dioxide system and summarizes the analyses performed on the buffer for safe and effective application in the on-orbit system. The importance of the relationship between the cabin environment and the IATCS is demonstrated as the dominant factor in understanding the system chemistry and pH trends before and after addition of the carbonate/bicarbonate buffer. The paper also documents the corollary electrochemical and chemical reactions the system has experienced and the rationale for remediation of these effects with the addition of the carbonate/bicarbonate buffer.

Stegman, Thomas W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Improved Electrophoresis Cell

Several proposed modifications are expected to improve performance of a continous-flow electrophoresis cell. Changes would allow better control of buffer flow and would increase resolution by suppressing thermal gradients. Improved electrophoresis device would have high resolution and be easy to operate. Improvements would allow better flow control and heat dissipation.

Rhodes, P. H.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enhanced Switching Reliability of Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 Ferroelectric Films Induced by Interface Engineering

Ferroelectric materials have been widely researched for applications in memory and energy storage. Among these materials and benefiting from their excellent chemical compatibility with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) devices, hafnia-based ferroelectric thin films hold great promise for highly scaled semiconductor memories, including nonvolatile ferroelectric capacitors and transistors. However, variation in the switched polarization of this material during field cycling and a limited understanding of the responsible mechanisms have impeded their implementation in technology. Here, we show that ferroelectric Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) capacitors that are nearly free of polarization “wake-up”─a gradual increase in switched polarization as a function of the number of switching cycles─can be achieved by introducing ultrathin HfO 2 buffer layers at the HZO/electrodes interface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals crystallite sizes substantially greater than the film thickness for the buffer layer capacitors, indicating that the presence of the buffer layers influences the crystallization of the film (e.g., a lower ratio of nucleation rate to growth rate) during postdeposition annealing. This evidently promotes the formation of a polar orthorhombic (O) phase in the as-fabricated buffer layer samples. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the conversion of the nonpolar tetragonal (T) phase to the polar orthorhombic (O) phase during electric field cycling in the control (no buffer) devices, consistent with the polarization wake-up observed for these capacitors. The extent of T–O transformation in the nonbuffer samples is directly dependent on the duration over which the field is applied. Here these results provide insight into the role of the HZO/electrodes interface in the performance of hafnia-based ferroelectrics and the mechanisms driving the polarization wake-up effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dynamic Modelling and Performance Evaluation of a Chemisorption Heat Pump for Cold Climate

Space heating is a significant contributor to the energy consumption in residential buildings, especially in cold climates where electric-driven heat pumps lose the advantage of high efficiency and conventional gas-combustion furnaces have limited efficiency. Chemical adsorption (chemisorption) heat pumps (CSHP) have the potential for producing heating with high energy efficiency under cold operating conditions. A CSHP operates intermittently between desorption and adsorption modes, and their performance is affected by system design and transient system control. This study developed a dynamic model and used it to evaluate the daily system performance under different designs and controls, particularly the buffer tank size and the controlled minimum heating power. The simulation results revealed the effects of these parameters on the system performance and helped identify the optimal design and control for the highest coefficient of performance and heating capacity.

Yang, Zhiyao↗
NASA NTRS1992

Optimal routing and buffer allocation for a class of finite capacity queueing systems

The problem of routing jobs to K parallel queues with identical exponential servers and unequal finite buffer capacities is considered. Routing decisions are taken by a controller which has buffering space available to it and may delay routing of a customer to a queue. Using ideas from weak majorization, it is shown that the shorter nonfull queue delayed (SNQD) policy minimizes both the total number of customers in the system at any time and the number of customers that are rejected by that time. The SNQD policy always delays routing decisions as long as all servers are busy. Only when all the buffers at the controller are occupied is a customer routed to the queue with the shortest queue length that is not at capacity. Moreover, it is shown that, if a fixed number of buffers is to be distributed among the K queues, then the optimal allocation scheme is the one in which the difference between the maximum and minimum queue capacities is minimized, i.e., becomes either 0 or 1.

Towsley, Don↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Confidence-Based Buffer for Strategic Deconfliction with Probabilistic Operational Intent

This paper presents a methodology to expand the 95% confidence level of the elliptical geometry given by Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators planning to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) to any confidence level before being fed to the strategic deconfliction (SD) module, effectively increasing the separation buffer between Operational Intents (OIs). To assess the performance of this approach, it is integrated within an adaptation of the Rolling Horizon with K-Position Search volume-based strategic deconfliction approach, previously developed at NASA Ames, preventing the 4D overlapping of OIs shaped by ellipses instead of traditional blocks. Safety and efficiency metrics are evaluated through the deconfliction of four simulated package delivery route network structures across the San Francisco Metropolitan Area with increasing numbers of crossing waypoints (network complexity). Safety assessment entails the in-house creation of a metric to quantify collision occurrences per flight hour based on the frequency at which the probabilistic operational volume segments are sampled, whereas efficiency is measured using ground delay. Results indicate that the largest buffer growth occurs when increasing the confidence level beyond 99.9% and demonstrate the negative impact of network complexity on both metrics, regardless of the OI geometry. Further, the ellipse-based SD adaptation more accurately estimates temporal separation at crossings, allowing deconflicted vehicles to be closer together. It is concluded that the proposed methodology enables the desired confidence level to serve as an effective controller of buffer size.

strategic deconfliction↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Confidence-Based Buffer for Strategic Deconfliction with Probabilistic Operational Intent

This paper presents a methodology to expand the 95% confidence level of the elliptical geometry given by Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operators planning to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) to any confidence level before being fed to the strategic deconfliction (SD) module, effectively increasing the separation buffer between Operational Intents (OIs). To assess the performance of this approach, it is integrated within an adaptation of the Rolling Horizon with K-Position Search volume-based strategic deconfliction approach, previously developed at NASA Ames, preventing the 4D overlapping of OIs shaped by ellipses instead of traditional blocks. Safety and efficiency metrics are evaluated through the deconfliction of four simulated package delivery route network structures across the San Francisco Metropolitan Area with increasing numbers of crossing waypoints (network complexity). Safety assessment entails the in-house creation of a metric to quantify collision occurrences per flight hour based on the frequency at which the probabilistic operational volume segments are sampled, whereas efficiency is measured using ground delay. Results indicate that the largest buffer growth occurs when increasing the confidence level beyond 99.9% and demonstrate the negative impact of network complexity on both metrics, regardless of the OI geometry. Further, the ellipse-based SD adaptation more accurately estimates temporal separation at crossings, allowing deconflicted vehicles to be closer together. It is concluded that the proposed methodology enables the desired confidence level to serve as an effective controller of buffer size.

safety↗
DOE OSTI2023

Experiments and Simulations to Describe Alkalinity Release from Particle-Containing Oil-in-Water Emulsions and Particle Suspensions

Among the most common amendments added to groundwater during site remediation are compounds used to adjust or maintain the pH. This research describes an approach to encapsulate mineral particles (MgO and CaCO 3 ) within oil droplets suspended within an aqueous phase for the purpose of delivery to the subsurface environment. A series of batch experiments was combined with mathematical modeling to illustrate the encapsulation and understand the influence of particle encapsulation on rates and extents of alkalinity release. The encapsulation of the alkalinity-releasing particles results in slower rates of amendment release as compared to rates obtained using suspensions of bare mineral particles, allowing for the possibility of control as a function of the pH. The results indicate that the alkalinity release from particle suspensions followed a mineral dissolution mechanism that could not explain the rate of the alkalinity release of the encapsulated particles. The reduction in mineral dissolution rates observed with the encapsulated particles was found to result from a mass transfer limitation. This limitation was well described using a linear driving force expression to account for the resistance to mass transfer at the oil–water interface.

EVO↗
NASA NTRS1971

Precision calibration and reference voltage source for data acquisition systems

Hybrid integrated circuit operational amplifiers, which have inherent characteristics of low quiescent power dissipation and extended operational lifetime with high reliability, are source for digital systems. Amplifiers are coupled to Zener reference diode in current control and buffer configuration.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1982

Io's surface - Its phase composition and influence on Io's atmosphere and Jupiter's magnetosphere

The evidence and interpretations pertaining to the surface phase composition of Io and the mechanisms by which Io's surface influences its atmosphere are discussed. The mechanism by which Io's surface and/or atmosphere supplies neutral and ionic species to the region around the satellite and ultimately to the Jovian magnetosphere is also discussed. A model is suggested in which the global SO2 gas abundance is primarily controlled by buffering in the brightest, coldest regions. The net SO2 flux across the disk is limited by regional cold trapping on high albedo regions and possibly by the resistance of a tenuous non-SO2 residual atmosphere. The continuing migration of SO2 toward cooler regions and those lacking SO2 sources is opposed by SO2 destruction and planetary ejection processes, including sputtering, thus preventing buildup of thick, ubiquitous SO2 coverage.

Fanale, F. P.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A three-dimensional orthogonal laser velocimeter for the NASA Ames 7- by 10-foot wind tunnel

A three-component dual-beam laser-velocimeter system has been designed, fabricated, and implemented in the 7-by 10-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. The instrument utilizes optical access from both sides and the top of the test section, and is configured for uncoupled orthogonal measurements of the three Cartesian coordinates of velocity. Bragg cell optics are used to provide fringe velocity bias. Modular system design provides great flexibility in the location of sending and receiving optics to adapt to specific experimental requirements. Near-focus Schmidt-Cassegrain optic modules may be positioned for collection of forward or backward scattered light over a large solid angle, and may be clustered to further increase collection solid angle. Multimode fiber optics transmit collected light to the photomultiplier tubes for processing. Counters are used to process the photomultiplier signals and transfer the processed data digitally via buffered interface controller to the host MS-DOS computer. Considerable data reduction and graphical display programming permit on-line control of data acquisition and evaluation of the incoming data. This paper describes this system in detail and presents sample data illustrating the system's capability.

Dunagan, Stephen E.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Assessment of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Potential in the International Space Station Internal Active Thermal Control System Heat Exchanger Materials: A 6-Momths Study

The fluid in the Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) of the International Space Station (ISS) is water based. The fluid in the ISS Laboratory Module and Node 1 initially contained a mix of water, phosphate (corrosion control), borate (pH buffer), and silver sulfate (Ag2SO4) (microbial control) at a pH of 9.5+/-0.5. Over time, the chemistry of the fluid changed. Fluid changes included a pH drop from 9.5 to 8.3 due to diffusion of carbon dioxide (CO2) through Teflon(reistered Trademark) (DuPont) hoses, increases in dissolved nickel (Ni) levels, deposition of silver (Ag) to metal surfaces, and precipitation of the phosphate (PO4) as nickel phosphate (NiPO4). The drop in pH and unavailability of a antimicrobial has provided an environment conducive to microbial growth. Microbial levels in the fluid have increased from >10 colony-forming units (CFUs)/100 ml to 10(exp 6) CFUs/100 ml. The heat exchangers in the IATCS loops are considered the weakest point in the loop because of the material thickness (=7 mil). It is made of a Ni-based braze filler/CRES 347. Results of a preliminary test performed at Hamilton Sundstrand indicated the possibility of pitting on this material at locations where Ag deposits were found. Later, tests have confirmed that chemical corrosion of the materials is a concern for this system. Accumulation of micro-organisms on surfaces (biofilm) can also result in material degradation and can amplify the damage caused by the chemical corrosion, known as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). This paper will discuss the results of a 6-mo test performed to characterize and quantify the damage from microbial accumulation on the surface of the ISS/ATCS heat exchanger materials. The test was designed to quantify the damage to the materials under worst-case conditions with and without micro-organisms present at pH 8.3 and 9.5.

Roman, Monsi C.↗
NASA NTRS2015

How to Enter, Fly In, and Exit the A-Train Constellation

The collaborative science obtained from the satellites in the A-Train is an unparalleled success. The constellation framework that has evolved is well-formulated and documented by its international members. Communication between teams is enhanced by a web-based Constellation Coordination System. Safety and correlated observations are ensured by defining independent control boxes with buffers in between. Each mission stays within its control box by regular drag makeup maneuvers. Annual inclination adjustments are coordinated by all missions to maintain their absolute and relative Mean Local Time of Ascending Node (MLTAN). Since the satellites are in different orbit planes their separation involves a three-dimensional triad made up of the along track separations, reference groundtracks and MLTAN's. For further safety, a Constellation Envelope has been defined to determine safe entry and exit orbits.

MLTAN↗
NASA NTRS1969

Novel multipurpose timer for laboratories

Multipurpose digital delay timer simultaneously controls both a buffer pump and a fraction-collector. Timing and control may be in 30-second increments for up to 15 hours. Use of glassware and scintillation vials make it economical.

Eisler, W. J.↗