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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 361 records · Page 20

Capacity Management and Walkdown During LEO Cycling of Nickel-Hydrogen Cells and Batteries

This viewgraph presentation discusses the following topics: 1) Capacity walkdown defined and illustrated; 2) Importance of capacity walkdown: 3) Four approaches to understanding the phenomenon - Pressure Trend, Charging Curve, Electrochemical Voltage Spectroscopy, and Destructive Physical Analysis Studies; 4) Results of the interrelated studies; 5) Suggested mechanism for capacity walkdown; and 6) Charging protocols to avoid the problem. In summary: 1) capacity walkdown is a consequence of the inability to maintain a high state of charge; 2) Capacity loss is typically 35% which would be expected by the valence difference between gamma and beta nickel oxyhydroxide; 3) Cycling at -5 degrees facilitates the formation of the gamma phase; 4) Excessive overcharge can also facilitate gamma phase formation at the expense of cycle life; and 5) Conditions can now be suggested to help minimize capacity walkdown.

Thaller, Lawrence H.↗

Long life, rechargeable nickel-zinc battery

A production version of the inorganic separator was evaluated for improving the life of the nickel-zinc system. Nickel-zinc cells (7-10 Ah capacities) of different electrode separator configurations were constructed and tested. The nickel-zinc cells using the inorganic separator encasing the zinc electrode, the nickel electrode, or both electrodes had shorter lives than cells using Visking and cellophane separation. Cells with the inorganic separation all fell below 70% of their theoretical capacity within 30 cycles, but the cells constructed with organic separation required 80 cycles. Failure of the cells using the ceramic separator was irreversible capacity degradation due to zinc loss through cracks developed in the inorganic separator. Zinc loss through the separator was minimized with the use of combinations of the inorganic separator with Visking and cellophane. Cells using the combined separation operated 130 duty cycles before degrading to 70% of their theoretical capacity.

Luksha, E.↗

Pulse Detonation Engine Modeled

Pulse Detonation Engine Technology is currently being investigated at Glenn for both airbreathing and rocket propulsion applications. The potential for both mechanical simplicity and high efficiency due to the inherent near-constant-volume combustion process, may make Pulse Detonation Engines (PDE's) well suited for a number of mission profiles. Assessment of PDE cycles requires a simulation capability that is both fast and accurate. It should capture the essential physics of the system, yet run at speeds that allow parametric analysis. A quasi-one-dimensional, computational-fluid-dynamics-based simulation has been developed that may meet these requirements. The Euler equations of mass, momentum, and energy have been used along with a single reactive species transport equation, and submodels to account for dominant loss mechanisms (e.g., viscous losses, heat transfer, and valving) to successfully simulate PDE cycles. A high-resolution numerical integration scheme was chosen to capture the discontinuities associated with detonation, and robust boundary condition procedures were incorporated to accommodate flow reversals that may arise during a given cycle. The accompanying graphs compare experimentally measured and computed performance over a range of operating conditions for a particular PDE. Experimental data were supplied by Fred Schauer and Jeff Stutrud from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB and by Royce Bradley from Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc. The left graph shows thrust and specific impulse, Isp, as functions of equivalence ratio for a PDE cycle in which the tube is completely filled with a detonable hydrogen/air mixture. The right graph shows thrust and specific impulse as functions of the fraction of the tube that is filled with a stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and air. For both figures, the operating frequency was 16 Hz. The agreement between measured and computed values is quite good, both in terms of trend and magnitude. The error is under 10 percent everywhere except for the thrust value at an equivalence ratio of 0.8 in the left figure, where it is 14 percent. The simulation results shown were made using 200 numerical cells. Each cycle of the engine, approximately 0.06 sec, required 2.0 min of CPU time on a Sun Ultra2. The simulation is currently being used to analyze existing experiments, design new experiments, and predict performance in propulsion concepts where the PDE is a component (e.g., hybrid engines and combined cycles).

Paxson, Daniel E.↗

Histomorphometric and electron microscopic analyses of tibial epiphyseal plates from Cosmos 1887 rats

Previous studies have shown that the changes seen in the bones of growing rats exposed to microgravity are due in part to changes that occur in the growth plate during spaceflight. In this study, growth plates of rats flown aboard Cosmos 1887 (12.5-day flight plus 53.5-h recovery at 1 g) were analyzed using light and electron microscopy and computerized planimetry. The proliferative zone of flight animals was found to be significantly (P less than or equal to 0.01) larger than that of controls, while the reserve and hypertrophic/calcification zones were significantly reduced. Flight animals also had more cells per column in the proliferative zone than did controls and less in the hypertrophic/calcification region. The total number of cells, however, was significantly greater in flight animals. No difference was found in perimeter or in shape factor, but area was significantly less in flight animals. Electron microscopy showed that collagen fibrils in flight animals were wider than in controls. Since the time required for a cell to cycle through the growth plate is 2-3 days at 1 g, the results reported here represent both the effects of exposure to microgravity and the initial stages of recovery from that exposure.

Non-NASA Center↗

New separators for nickel-zinc batteries

Flexible separators consisting of a substrate coated with a mixture of a polymer and organic and inorganic additives were cycle tested in nickel-zinc cells. By substituting a rubber-based resin for polyphenylene oxide in the standard inorganic-organic separator, major improvements in both cell life and flexibility were made. Substituting newsprint for asbestos as the substrate shows promise for use on the zinc electrode and reduces separator cost. The importance of ample electrolyte in the cells was noted. Cycle lives and the characteristics of these flexible, low-cost separators were compared with those of a standard microporous polypropylene separator.

Sheibley, D. W.↗

Infra-red measurements of stratospheric composition. I - The balloon instrument and water vapour measurements

The design and construction of a balloon-borne instrument for remote-sensing of stratospheric composition is described. Thermal emission from the constituents is detected and the spectral selectivity of the instrument is tailored to a specific gas by the use of a cell of the same gas in the optical path of the radiometer. The pressure of the gas in the cell is cycled and the resultant transmission function is shown to be highly selective to radiation from the same gas in the atmosphere. The first flight of the instrument and the retrieval of a water vapour profile in the range 15-40 km is described.

Chaloner, C. P.↗

Cycles till failure of silver-zinc cells with completing failures modes: Preliminary data analysis

One hundred and twenty nine cells were run through charge-discharge cycles until failure. The experiment design was a variant of a central composite factorial in five factors. Preliminary data analysis consisted of response surface estimation of life. Batteries fail under two basic modes; a low voltage condition and an internal shorting condition. A competing failure modes analysis using maximum likelihood estimation for the extreme value life distribution was performed. Extensive diagnostics such as residual plotting and probability plotting were employed to verify data quality and choice of model.

Sidik, S. M.↗

Initial capacity conditioning on electrochemical nickel hydroxide electrodes

Conditioning is the initial cycling where cell capacity is usually unstable. The causes of the initial capacity build were examined. Gridless electrodes were fabricated to ensure mechanical homogeneity, so that a strain measured in one direction would be typical of a strain measured in the other directions. Plate hardness was also determined. These two parameters stabilize together.

Fritts, D. H.↗

Some karyological observations on plants grown in space

Experiments were conducted to assess whether cell division in a plant root would be affected by prolonged exposure to microgravity. Root materials from sunflower, oat, and mung bean plants grown on STS-2 and STS-3 were utilized for the experiments. It is found that all oat, sunflower, and mung seedlings showed a reduced number of cells in division as they went through their first cell division cycle on earth when compared to their ground controls. A significant number of oat, mung, and sunflower plantlets exhibited random root orientation and the lack of strictly orthotropic growth of their shoot systems in the flight samples. In addition, it is found that the mung roots were apparently least affected in terms of their cytology despite the fact that their roots were often randomly oriented.

Krikorian, A. D.↗

Eutelsat 2: SAR-10009 nickel-hydrogen battery

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include SAR-10009 design features, specific energy, analyses and testing, redundant structural insulation, electronics, corrosion protection, battery cell life cycle tests, and spacecraft launches.

Miller, Lee↗

Design and Flight Performance of NOAA-K Spacecraft Batteries

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) spacecraft (among others) to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorological research by the National Weather Service (NWS). The latest in the POES series of spacecraft, named as NOAA-KLMNN', one is in orbit and four more are in various phases of development. The NOAA-K spacecraft was launched on May 13, 1998. Each of these spacecraft carry three Nickel-Cadmium batteries designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The battery, which consists of seventeen 40 Ah cells manufactured by SAFT, provides the spacecraft power during the ascent phase, orbital eclipse and when the power demand is in excess of the solar array capability. The NOAA-K satellite is in a 98 degree inclination, 7:30AM ascending node orbit. In this orbit the satellite experiences earth occultation only 25% of the year. This paper provides a brief overview of the power subsystem, followed by the battery design and qualification, the cell life cycle test data, and the performance during launch and in orbit.

Rao, Gopalakrishna M.↗

Design and Flight Performance of NOAA-K Spacecraft Batteries

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) spacecraft (among others) to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorological research by the National Weather Service (NWS). The latest in the POES series of spacecraft, named as NOAA-KLMNN, is in orbit and four more are in various phases of development. The NOAA-K spacecraft was launched on May 13, 1998. Each of these spacecraft carry three Nickel-Cadmium batteries designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The battery, which consists of seventeen 40 Ah cells manufactured by SAFT, provides the spacecraft power during the ascent phase, orbital eclipse and when the power demand is in excess of the solar array capability. The NOAA-K satellite is in a 98 degree inclination, 7:30AM ascending node orbit. In this orbit the satellite experiences earth occultation only 25% of the year. This paper provides a brief overview of the power subsystem, followed by the battery design and qualification, the cell life cycle test data, and the performance during launch and in orbit.

Rao, Gopalakrishna M.↗

International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Battery History and Performance

The "International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) Battery History and Performance" report provides the information on the cell/battery design, battery performance during the thirty eight (38) solar eclipse seasons and the end-of-life test data. It is noteworthy that IUE spacecraft was an in-house project and that the batteries were designed, fabricated and tested (Qualification and Acceptance) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. A detailed information is given on the cell and battery design criteria and the designs, on the Qualification and the Acceptance tests, and on the cell life cycling tests. The environmental, thermal, and vibration tests were performed on the batteries at the battery level as well as with the interface on the spacecraft. The telemetry data were acquired, analyzed, and trended for various parameters over the mission life. Rigorous and diligent battery management programs were developed and implemented from time to time to extend the mission life over eighteen plus years. Prior to the termination of spacecraft operation, special tests were conducted to check the battery switching operation, battery residual capacity, third electrode performance and battery impedance.

Rao, Gopalskrishna M.↗

Effect of Handling, Storage and Cycling on Ni-H2 Cells: Second Plateau Phenomenon

Proper handling of Ni-H2 cells/batteries in storage, during I&T, and at launch site is very important to preserve the useful energy and to extend the mission life. Cell reversal test is not a prudent test to verify or quantify the nickel pre-charge in Ni-H2 cells/batteries. The second plateau is due to the formation of Ni(+3) that is electrochemically inactive. Gas analysis of the cell, and chemical analysis of the positive plate are confirmatory tests to determine the nature of pre-charge in Ni-H2 cells.

Vaidyanathan, Hari↗

Dynamic modeling of gene expression data

We describe the time evolution of gene expression levels by using a time translational matrix to predict future expression levels of genes based on their expression levels at some initial time. We deduce the time translational matrix for previously published DNA microarray gene expression data sets by modeling them within a linear framework by using the characteristic modes obtained by singular value decomposition. The resulting time translation matrix provides a measure of the relationships among the modes and governs their time evolution. We show that a truncated matrix linking just a few modes is a good approximation of the full time translation matrix. This finding suggests that the number of essential connections among the genes is small.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Microtubule reorganization in tobacco BY-2 cells stably expressing GFP-MBD

Microtubule organization plays an important role in plant morphogenesis; however, little is known about how microtubule arrays transit from one organized state to another. The use of a genetically incorporated fluorescent marker would allow long-term observation of microtubule behavior in living cells. Here, we have characterized a Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow 2 (BY-2) cell line that had been stably transformed with a gfp-mbd construct previously demonstrated to label microtubules (J. Marc et al., 1998, Plant Cell 10: 1927-1939). Fluorescence levels were low, but interphase and mitotic microtubule arrays, as well as the transitions between these arrays, could be observed in individual gfp-mbd-transformed cells. By comparing several attributes of transformed and untransformed cells it was concluded that the transgenic cells are not adversely affected by low-level expression of the transgene and that these cells will serve as a useful and accurate model system for observing microtubule reorganization in vivo. Indeed, some initial observations were made that are consistent with the involvement of motor proteins in the transition between the spindle and phragmoplast arrays. Our observations also support the role of the perinuclear region in nucleating microtubules at the end of cell division with a progressive shift of these microtubules and/or nucleating activity to the cortex to form the interphase cortical array.

NASA Discipline Plant Biology↗

Extracellular matrix as a solid-state regulator in angiogenesis: identification of new targets for anti-cancer therapy

Angiogenesis, the growth of blood capillaries, is regulated by soluble growth factors and insoluble extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules. Soluble angiogenic mitogens act over large distances to initiate capillary growth whereas changes in ECM govern whether individual cells will grow, differentiate, or involute in response to these stimuli in the local tissue microenvironment. Analysis of this local control mechanism has revealed that ECM molecules switch capillary endothelial cells between differentiation and growth by both binding specific transmembrane integrin receptors and physically resisting cell-generated mechanical loads that are applied to these receptors. Control of capillary endothelial cell form and function therefore may be exerted by altering the mechanical properties of the ECM as well as its chemical composition. Understanding of this mechanochemical control mechanism has led to the development of new angiogenesis inhibitors that may be useful for the treatment of cancer.

Review↗