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Results for “fast sweeping method”

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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33 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Towards and FVE-FAC Method for Determining Thermocapillary Effects on Weld Pool Shape

Several practical materials processes, e.g., welding, float-zone purification, and Czochralski crystal growth, involve a pool of molten metal with a free surface, with strong temperature gradients along the surface. In some cases, the resulting thermocapillary flow is vigorous enough to convect heat toward the edges of the pool, increasing the driving force in a sort of positive feedback. In this work we examine this mechanism and its effect on the solid-liquid interface through a model problem: a half space of pure substance with concentrated axisymmetric surface heating, where surface tension is strong enough to keep the liquid free surface flat. The numerical method proposed for this problem utilizes a finite volume element (FVE) discretization in cylindrical coordinates. Because of the axisymmetric nature of the model problem, the control volumes used are torroidal prisms, formed by taking a polygonal cross-section in the (r, z) plane and sweeping it completely around the z-axis. Conservation of energy (in the solid), and conservation of energy, momentum, and mass (in the liquid) are enforced globally by integrating these quantities and enforcing conservation over each control volume. Judicious application of the Divergence Theorem and Stokes' Theorem, combined with a Crank-Nicolson time-stepping scheme leads to an implicit algebraic system to be solved at each time step. It is known that near the boundary of the pool, that is, near the solid-liquid interface, the full conduction-convection solution will require extremely fine length scales to resolve the physical behavior of the system. Furthermore, this boundary moves as a function of time. Accordingly, we develop the foundation of an adaptive refinement scheme based on the principles of Fast Adaptive Composite Grid methods (FAC). Implementation of the method and numerical results will appear in a later report.

Canright, David↗
NASA NTRS1989

Operator induced multigrid algorithms using semirefinement

A variant of multigrid, based on zebra relaxation, and a new family of restriction/prolongation operators is described. Using zebra relaxation in combination with an operator-induced prolongation leads to fast convergence, since the coarse grid can correct all error components. The resulting algorithms are not only fast, but are also robust, in the sense that the convergence rate is insensitive to the mesh aspect ratio. This is true even though line relaxation is performed in only one direction. Multigrid becomes a direct method if an operator-induced prolongation is used, together with the induced coarse grid operators. Unfortunately, this approach leads to stencils which double in size on each coarser grid. The use of an implicit three point restriction can be used to factor these large stencils, in order to retain the usual five or nine point stencils, while still achieving fast convergence. This algorithm achieves a V-cycle convergence rate of 0.03 on Poisson's equation, using 1.5 zebra sweeps per level, while the convergence rate improves to 0.003 if optimal nine point stencils are used. Numerical results for two and three dimensional model problems are presented, together with a two level analysis explaining these results.

Decker, Naomi↗
NASA NTRS1989

Operator induced multigrid algorithms using semirefinement

A variant of multigrid, based on zebra relaxation, and a new family of restriction/prolongation operators is described. Using zebra relaxation in combination with an operator-induced prolongation leads to fast convergence, since the coarse grid can correct all error components. The resulting algorithms are not only fast, but are also robust, in the sense that the convergence rate is insensitive to the mesh aspect ratio. This is true even though line relaxation is performed in only one direction. Multigrid becomes a direct method if an operator-induced prolongation is used, together with the induced coarse grid operators. Unfortunately, this approach leads to stencils which double in size on each coarser grid. The use of an implicit three point restriction can be used to factor these large stencils, in order to retain the usual five or nine point stencils, while still achieving fast convergence. This algorithm achieves a V-cycle convergence rate of 0.03 on Poisson's equation, using 1.5 zebra sweeps per level, while the convergence rate improves to 0.003 if optimal nine point stencils are used. Numerical results for two- and three-dimensional model problems are presented, together with a two level analysis explaining these results.

Decker, Naomi Henderson↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optimizing Process Conditions during Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Pine with Pt/TiO 2 —Improving the Viability of a Multiple-Fixed-Bed Configuration

Catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) has been identified as a promising pathway for the production of renewable fuels and co-products. However, continued technology development is needed to increase process efficiency and reduce process costs. This report builds upon previous research in which a bifunctional metal–acid Pt/TiO 2 catalyst was utilized in a fixed-bed reactor operated with co-fed H 2 to improve product yield and reduce coke generation compared to conventional CFP methods. Here, we report further process optimization, in which we achieved similar CFP oil carbon efficiency (>35%) and CFP oil oxygen content (<20 wt %) to our previous report while reducing catalyst and equipment costs by increasing time-on-stream between regenerations by 40–95% and decreasing required regeneration time by more than a factor of 2. These process improvements were achieved by conducting parameter sweeps to determine optimum conditions for CFP and regeneration with key variables including pyrolysis temperature, catalytic upgrading temperature, hydrogen partial pressure, and regeneration oxygen concentration. Coupled with comprehensive oil analyses, these data provide foundational insight into the deoxygenation and coking chemistries for CFP under realistic process conditions while also advancing the technology through applied engineering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1981

Determination of wind tunnel constraint effects by a unified pressure signature method. Part 1: Applications to winged configurations

A new, fast, non-iterative version of the "Wall Pressure Signature Method" is described and used to determine blockage and angle-of-attack wind tunnel corrections for highly-powered jet-flap models. The correction method is complemented by the application of tangential blowing at the tunnel floor to suppress flow breakdown there, using feedback from measured floor pressures. This tangential blowing technique was substantiated by subsequent flow investigations using an LV. The basic tests on an unswept, knee-blown, jet flapped wing were supplemented to include the effects of slat-removal, sweep and the addition of unflapped tips. C sub mu values were varied from 0 to 10 free-air C sub l's in excess of 18 were measured in some cases. Application of the new methods yielded corrected data which agreed with corresponding large tunnel "free air" resuls to within the limits of experimental accuracy in almost all cases. A program listing is provided, with sample cases.

Hackett, J. E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cell dark current–voltage from non-calibrated module electroluminescence image analysis

Here, we present a fast, accurate, and reliable method of obtaining cell dark current–voltage (I–V) curves from module electroluminescence (EL) images without requiring calibration or correction. For a pristine module, EL-derived dark I–V are compared to directly probed data for a variety of changing imaging parameters: camera sensor, lens, filter, aperture width, exposure time (level of sensor saturation), number of images used, and various combinations of these. Pristine modules and those experiencing different modes and degrees of degradation are examined. A recent study of modules using five different cell technologies demonstrates the practicality of our “EL sweep” technique for performance and degradation studies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1999

Power System Optimization Codes Modified

A major modification of and addition to existing Closed Brayton Cycle (CBC) space power system optimization codes was completed. These modifications relate to the global minimum mass search driver programs containing three nested iteration loops comprising iterations on cycle temperature ratio, and three separate pressure ratio iteration loops--one loop for maximizing thermodynamic efficiency, one for minimizing radiator area, and a final loop for minimizing overall power system mass. Using the method of steepest ascent, the code sweeps through the pressure ratio space repeatedly, each time with smaller iteration step sizes, so that the three optimum pressure ratios can be obtained to any desired accuracy for each of the objective functions referred to above (i.e., maximum thermodynamic efficiency, minimum radiator area, and minimum system mass). Two separate options for the power system heat source are available: 1. A nuclear fission reactor can be used. It is provided with a radiation shield 1. (composed of a lithium hydride (LiH) neutron shield and tungsten (W) gamma shield). Suboptions can be used to select the type of reactor (i.e., fast spectrum liquid metal cooled or epithermal high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR)). 2. A solar heat source can be used. This option includes a parabolic concentrator and heat receiver for raising the temperature of the recirculating working fluid. A useful feature of the code modifications is that key cycle parameters are displayed, including the overall system specific mass in kilograms per kilowatt and the system specific power in watts per kilogram, as the results for each temperature ratio are computed. As the minimum mass temperature ratio is encountered, a message is printed out. Several levels of detailed information on cycle state points, subsystem mass results, and radiator temperature profiles are stored for this temperature ratio condition and can be displayed or printed by users.

Juhasz, Albert J.↗
DOE OSTI2019

ZIF‐8 Membrane Separation Performance Tuning by Vapor Phase Ligand Treatment

Abstract Vapor phase ligand treatment (VPLT) of 2‐aminobenzimidazole (2abIm) for 2‐methylimidazole (2mIm) in ZIF‐8 membranes prepared by two different methods (LIPS: ligand induced permselectivation and RTD: rapid thermal deposition) results in a notable shift of the molecular level cut‐off to smaller molecules establishing selectivity improvements from ca. 1.8 to 5 for O 2 /N 2 ; 2.2 to 32 for CO 2 /CH 4 ; 2.4 to 24 for CO 2 /N 2 ; 4.8 to 140 for H 2 /CH 4 and 5.2 to 126 for H 2 /N 2 . Stable (based on a one‐week test) oxygen‐selective air separation performance at ambient temperature, 7 bar(a) feed, and 1 bar(a) sweep‐free permeate with a mixture separation factor of 4.5 and oxygen flux of 2.6×10 −3 mol m −2 s −1 is established. LIPS and RTD membranes exhibit fast and gradual evolution upon a 2abIm‐VPLT, respectively, reflecting differences in their thickness and microstructure. Functional reversibility is demonstrated by showing that the original permeation properties of the VPLT‐LIPS membranes can be recovered upon 2mIm‐VPLT.

Eum, Kiwon↗
DOE OSTI2019

ZIF-8 Membrane Separation Performance Tuning by Vapor Phase Ligand Treatment

Vapor phase ligand treatment (VPLT) of 2-aminobenzimidazole (2abIm) for 2-methylimidazole (2mIm) in ZIF-8 membranes prepared by two different methods (LIPS: ligand induced permselectivation and RTD: rapid thermal deposition) results in a notable shift of the molecular level cut-off to smaller molecules establishing selectivity improvements from ca. 1.8 to 5 for O 2 /N 2 ; 2.2 to 32 for CO 2 /CH 4 ; 2.4 to 24 for CO 2 /N 2 ; 4.8 to 140 for H 2 /CH 4 and 5.2 to 126 for H 2 /N 2 . Furthermore, stable (based on a one-week test) oxygen-selective air separation performance at ambient temperature, 7 bar(a) feed, and 1 bar(a) sweep-free permeate with a mixture separation factor of 4.5 and oxygen flux of 2.6×10 -3 mol m -2 s -1 is established. LIPS and RTD membranes exhibit fast and gradual evolution upon a 2abIm-VPLT, respectively, reflecting differences in their thickness and microstructure. Functional reversibility is demonstrated by showing that the original permeation properties of the VPLT-LIPS membranes can be recovered upon 2mIm-VPLT.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1971

The stopping rate of negative cosmic-ray muons near sea level

A production rate of 0.065 + or - 0.003 Ar-37 atom/kg min of K-39 at 2-mwe depth below sea level was measured by sweeping argon from potassium solutions. This rate is unaffected by surrounding the solution by paraffin and is attributed to negative muon captures and the electromagnetic interaction of fast muons, and not to nucleonic cosmic ray component. The Ar-37 yield from K-39 by the stopping of negative muons in a muon beam of a synchrocyclotron was measured to be 8.5 + or - 1.7%. The stopping rate of negative cosmic ray muons at 2-mwe depth below sea level from these measurements and an estimated 17% electromagnetic production is 0.63 + or - 0.13 muon(-)/kg min. Previous measurements on the muon stopping rate vary by a factor of 5. Our value is slightly higher but is consistent with two previous high values. The sensitivity of the Ar-37 radiochemical method for the detection of muons is considerably higher than that of the previous radiochemical methods and could be used to measure the negative muon capture rates at greater depths.

Spannagel, G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Dual Ion Spectrometers and Their Calibration for the Fast Plasma Investigation on NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

The scientific target of NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission is to study the fundamentally important phenomenon of magnetic reconnection. Theoretical models of this process predict a small size, on the order of hundred kilometers, for the ion diffusion region where ions are demagnetized at the dayside magnetopause. This region may typically sweep over the spacecraft at relatively high speeds of 50 km/s, requiring the fast plasma investigation (FPI) instrument suite to have an extremely high time resolution for measurements of the 3D particle distribution functions. As part of the FPI on MMS, the 16 dual ion spectrometers (DIS) will provide fast (150 ms) 3D ion velocity distributions, from 10 to 30,000 eV/q, by combining the measurements from four dual spectrometers on each of four MMS spacecraft. For any multispacecraft mission, the response uniformity among the spectrometer set assumes an enhanced importance. Due to these demanding instrument requirements and the effort of calibrating more than 32 sensors (16 × 2) within a tight schedule, a highly systematic and precise calibration was required for measurement repeatability. To illustrate how this challenge was met, a brief overview of the FPI DIS was presented with a detailed discussion of the calibration method of approach and implementation. Finally, a discussion of DIS performance results, their unit-to-unit variation, and the lessons learned from this calibration effort are presented.

Coffey, V. N.↗
NASA NTRS2015

In Flight Calibration of the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Fast Plasma Investigation

The Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) on the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) combines data from eight spectrometers, each with four deflection states, into a single map of the sky. Any systematic discontinuity, artifact, noise source, etc. present in this map may be incorrectly interpreted as legitimate data and incorrect conclusions reached. For this reason it is desirable to have all spectrometers return the same output for a given input, and for this output to be low in noise sources or other errors. While many missions use statistical analyses of data to calibrate instruments in flight, this process is difficult with FPI for two reasons: 1. Only a small fraction of high resolution data is downloaded to the ground due to bandwidth limitations and 2: The data that is downloaded is, by definition, scientifically interesting and therefore not ideal for calibration. FPI uses a suite of new tools to calibrate in flight. A new method for detection system ground calibration has been developed involving sweeping the detection threshold to fully define the pulse height distribution. This method has now been extended for use in flight as a means to calibrate MCP voltage and threshold (together forming the operating point) of the Dual Electron Spectrometers (DES) and Dual Ion Spectrometers (DIS). A method of comparing higher energy data (which has low fractional voltage error) to lower energy data (which has a higher fractional voltage error) will be used to calibrate the high voltage outputs. Finally, a comparison of pitch angle distributions will be used to find remaining discrepancies among sensors.

Detection-system↗
NASA NTRS2015

In Flight Calibration of the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Fast Plasma Investigation

The Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) on the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) combines data from eight spectrometers, each with four deflection states, into a single map of the sky. Any systematic discontinuity, artifact, noise source, etc. present in this map may be incorrectly interpreted as legitimate data and incorrect conclusions reached. For this reason it is desirable to have all spectrometers return the same output for a given input, and for this output to be low in noise sources or other errors. While many missions use statistical analyses of data to calibrate instruments in flight, this process is insufficient with FPI for two reasons: 1. Only a small fraction of high resolution data is downloaded to the ground due to bandwidth limitations and 2: The data that is downloaded is, by definition, scientifically interesting and therefore not ideal for calibration. FPI uses a suite of new tools to calibrate in flight. A new method for detection system ground calibration has been developed involving sweeping the detection threshold to fully define the pulse height distribution. This method has now been extended for use in flight as a means to calibrate MCP voltage and threshold (together forming the operating point) of the Dual Electron Spectrometers (DES) and Dual Ion Spectrometers (DIS). A method of comparing higher energy data (which has low fractional voltage error) to lower energy data (which has a higher fractional voltage error) will be used to calibrate the high voltage outputs. Finally, a comparison of pitch angle distributions will be used to find remaining discrepancies among sensors.

Heliophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration for Heterogeneous Domains, Compatible with Voids

A standard approach to solving the S N transport equations is to use source iteration with diffusion synthetic acceleration (DSA). Although this approach is widely used and effective on many problems, there remain some practical issues with DSA preconditioning, particularly on highly heterogeneous domains. For large-scale parallel simulation, it is critical that both (a) preconditioned source iteration converges rapidly and (b) the action of the DSA preconditioner can be applied using fast, scalable solvers, such as algebraic multigrid (AMG). For heterogeneous domains, these two interests can be at odds. In particular, there exist DSA diffusion discretizations that can be solved rapidly using AMG, but they do not always yield robust/fast convergence of the larger source iteration. Conversely, there exist robust DSA discretizations where source iteration converges rapidly on difficult heterogeneous problems, but fast parallel solvers like AMG tend to struggle applying the action of such operators. Moreover, very few current methods for the solution of deterministic transport are compatible with voids. This paper develops a new heterogeneous DSA preconditioner based on only preconditioning the optically thick subdomains. The resulting method proves robust on a variety of heterogeneous transport problems, including a linearized hohlraum mesh related to inertial confinement fusion. Moreover, the action of the preconditioner is easily computed using O(1) AMG iterations, convergence of the transport iteration typically requires 2 to 5× fewer iterations than current state-of-the-art “full” DSA, and the proposed method is trivially compatible with voids. On the hohlraum problem, rapid convergence is obtained by preconditioning less than 3% of the mesh elements with five to ten AMG iterations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

First Ever Polymer Flood Field Pilot to Enhance the Recovery of Heavy Oils on Alaska’s North Slope – Polymer Injection Performance

Alaska North Slope (ANS) holds an estimated 20-30+ billion barrel heavy oil resources, yet the development pace has been very slow due to high development costs and low oil recovery using conventional waterflood and EOR methods. The objective of this pilot is to perform a field experiment to validate the use of an advanced polymer flooding technology to unlock the vast heavy oil resources on ANS. The advanced polymer flooding technology combines polymer flooding, low salinity water flooding, horizontal wells, and if necessary, injection conformance control treatments into one integrated process to significantly improve oil recovery from heavy oil reservoirs. Two pairs of horizontal injection and production wells have been deployed in an isolated fault block of the Schrader Bluff heavy oil reservoir at the Milne Point Field to conduct a polymer flood pilot. The pilot will acquire scientific knowledge and field performance data to optimize polymer flood design in the Schrader Bluff heavy oil reservoirs on ANS. Polymer injection started on August 28, 2018 using a custom made polymer blending and pumping unit. This paper focuses on the facility setup and polymer injection performance into the horizontal injectors drilled and completed in the Schrader Bluff heavy oil reservoir. Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymer was selected and the initial target viscosity was set at 45 centipoise. Polymer injection rate was set at 2200 bbl/day for one injector (J-23A) and 1200 bbl/day for the other (J-24A) based on production voidage. Injection pressure was controlled at below fracture pressure to prevent fracturing the reservoir and causing fast breakthroughs. Step rate and pressure falloff tests indicate that short term polymer injectivity is similar to water injectivity, which means that injectivity is mostly controlled by fluid mobility deep in the reservoir rather than that in the vicinity of the injection wellbore. Long term injection data indicate that polymer injectivity has been decreasing in both injectors as the reservoir is filled by polymer. No polymer has been observed in the production stream 7 months after the start of polymer injection compared with a 3-month breakthrough time with waterflood. This indicates that polymer significantly delays breakthrough time which will lead to increased sweep efficiency.

Ning, Samson↗