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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

Interpretation of large‐scale, long‐term electrical geophysical monitoring guided by a process simulation

Abstract Surface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was used at a waste site to monitor vadose zone changes in electrical properties as a proxy for contaminant flux over a span of 17 years. The BC Cribs and Trenches (BCCT) site at the Hanford site contains 20 disposal trenches and six disposal cribs. Wastes include a large inventory of technetium‐99 and large masses of nitrate and uranium‐238. ERT data were collected along 41 profiles in 2005 to characterize regions of elevated bulk electrical conductivity (BEC) associated with past liquid waste discharges. Previous analyses performed on samples from four boreholes showed a high correlation between nitrate concentration and BEC. In 2022, ERT data were re‐collected along the same profiles and six additional profiles in an area not previously surveyed. Compared to background uncontaminated areas, BEC was higher in contaminated areas at the waste sites. Given the correlation between nitrate concentration and BEC previously found at this site, ERT images show the spatial distribution and relative ionic concentration of vadose zone contaminants at BCCT. Between 2005 and 2022, ERT difference images showed a decrease in BEC surrounding most waste sites, with exceptions where there were known anthropogenic surface changes. An evaluation of recharge‐driven nitrate migration using synthetic flow and transport simulations showed that downward migration causes a decrease in BEC from the decrease in ionic strength at the trailing end of the plume where contaminants migrated downward. From this, we interpret ERT difference images as showing the predominant regions of downward ion flux.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Advanced Automation for Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry-New Opportunities for Real-Time Autonomous Analysis

The utility of MS/MS for both target compound analysis and the structure elucidation of unknowns has been described in a number of references. A broader acceptance of this technique has not yet been realized as it requires large, complex, and costly instrumentation which has not been competitive with more conventional techniques. Recent advancements in ion trap mass spectrometry promise to change this situation. Although the ion trap's small size, sensitivity, and ability to perform multiple stages of mass spectrometry have made it eminently suitable for on-line, real-time monitoring applications, advance automation techniques are required to make these capabilities more accessible to non-experts. Towards this end we have developed custom software for the design and implementation of MS/MS experiments. This software allows the user to take full advantage of the ion trap's versatility with respect to ionization techniques, scan proxies, and ion accumulation/ejection methods. Additionally, expert system software has been developed for autonomous target compound analysis. This software has been linked to ion trap control software and a commercial data system to bring all of the steps in the analysis cycle under control of the expert system. These software development efforts and their utilization for a number of trace analysis applications will be described.

Palmer, Peter T.↗

Recrystallization driven softening and heating rate dependencies of FeCrAl nuclear fuel cladding during accident transients

A refined understanding of FeCrAl cladding behavior during rapid transients is critical for its potential deployment in light-water reactors. Current assessments focus on transient burst testing metrics such as balloon geometry, burst temperature, and hoop stress, often used as proxies for simpler conventional tensile properties. However, directly correlating isothermal tensile and creep data with accident transient scenarios remains a challenge, although it is essential for high fidelity model development. Recent modeling based on tensile tests up to 800 °C, conducted with both immediate loading and a 10-minute soak, showed that immediate loading better predicts experimental burst temperatures, indicating a thermal softening effect. Building upon this observation, the current study connects transient performance, microstructural evolution, and high-temperature tensile properties by leveraging results from C26M claddings burst tests performed at heating rates of 1–50 °C/s and hoop stresses from 25 to 100 MPa. At 25 MPa, rupture temperatures varied by only 6 °C, but at 100 MPa, the difference reached 116 °C, with faster heating yielding higher burst temperatures. Microstructural analysis identified recrystallization as the primary cause of heating rate-dependent softening, eliminating prior cold-working. In-situ thermomechanical data linked ballooning onset to localized instabilities, similar to ultimate tensile strength behavior in conventional tensile tests. High heating rates correlated with immediate loading tensile data, while lower rates matched soaked data. Furthermore, by linking burst performance to microstructural evolution and tensile properties, this work provides a foundation for more accurate modeling of FeCrAl claddings and potentially other Fe-based materials under accident conditions.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Accurate model of the projected velocity distribution of galaxies in dark matter haloes

ABSTRACT We present a per cent-level accurate model of the line-of-sight velocity distribution of galaxies around dark matter haloes as a function of projected radius and halo mass. The model is developed and tested using synthetic galaxy catalogues generated with the UniverseMachine run on the Multi-Dark Planck 2 N-body simulations. The model decomposes the galaxies around a cluster into three kinematically distinct classes: orbiting, infalling, and interloping galaxies. We demonstrate that: (1) we can statistically distinguish between these three types of galaxies using only projected line-of-sight velocity information; (2) the halo edge radius inferred from the line-of-sight velocity dispersion is an excellent proxy for the three-dimensional halo edge radius; and (3) we can accurately recover the full velocity dispersion profile for each of the three populations of galaxies. Importantly, the velocity dispersion profiles of the orbiting and infalling galaxies contain five independent parameters – three distinct radial scales and two velocity dispersion amplitudes – each of which is correlated with mass. Thus, the velocity dispersion profile of galaxy clusters has inherent redundancies that allow us to perform non-trivial systematics checks from a single data set. We discuss several potential applications of our new model for detecting the edge radius and constraining cosmology and astrophysics using upcoming spectroscopic surveys.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Automated Storm Tracking and the Lightning Jump Algorithm Using GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Proxy Data

This study develops a fully automated lightning jump system encompassing objective storm tracking, Geostationary Lightning Mapper proxy data, and the lightning jump algorithm (LJA), which are important elements in the transition of the LJA concept from a research to an operational based algorithm. Storm cluster tracking is based on a product created from the combination of a radar parameter (vertically integrated liquid, VIL), and lightning information (flash rate density). Evaluations showed that the spatial scale of tracked features or storm clusters had a large impact on the lightning jump system performance, where increasing spatial scale size resulted in decreased dynamic range of the system's performance. This framework will also serve as a means to refine the LJA itself to enhance its operational applicability. Parameters within the system are isolated and the system's performance is evaluated with adjustments to parameter sensitivity. The system's performance is evaluated using the probability of detection (POD) and false alarm ratio (FAR) statistics. Of the algorithm parameters tested, sigma-level (metric of lightning jump strength) and flash rate threshold influenced the system's performance the most. Finally, verification methodologies are investigated. It is discovered that minor changes in verification methodology can dramatically impact the evaluation of the lightning jump system.

lightning jump↗

Monitoring of Ionic Silver Biocide with Capacitively-Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection (C4D)

Monitoring of biocide dosing in spacecraft potable water systems is desirable to ensure dosing system operation and resultant microbial control. Electrolytic conductivity is linearly related to the concentration ionic silver (Ag+, the baseline biocide for future NASA missions) chemically dosed into highly purified water, and could serve as a proxy measurement. Traditional conductivity cells rely on immersed metal or graphite electrodes, which may potentially be subject to significant current-induced or auto-galvanic deposition of Ag+. Furthermore, oxide fouling may potentially induce measurement errors. Capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) is a promising alternative. C4D uses electrodes placed outside an inert, non-conductive flow path, potentially mitigating such problems. We identified and purchased a commercial C4D system with claimed performance (conductivity range: 20 nS/cm to 4 µS/cm) appropriate for this application. We characterized the instrument’s performance with conductivity standards and Ag+ solutions. We began investigations considering practical and long-term detector operation, including potential current-induced deposition of conductive deposits at the tubing wall. In addition, we designed a side-stream flow system to provide liquid flow through the narrow tubing (1/16” outer diameter) required by the detector and characterized the performance of the combined C4D detector/flow system. Finally, we completed theoretical modeling of expected conductivity change with multiple dosing techniques and water chemistries.

Lance Dean Delzeit↗

Spectral binning for energy production calculations and multijunction solar cell design

Currently, most solar cells are designed for and evaluated under standard spectra intended to represent typical spectral conditions. However, no single spectrum can capture the spectral variability needed for annual energy production (AEP) calculations, and this shortcoming becomes more significant for series-connected multijunction cells as the number of junctions increases. For this reason, AEP calculations are often performed on very detailed yearlong sets of data, but these pose 2 inherent challenges: (1) These data sets comprise thousands of data points, which appear as a scattered cloud of data when plotted against typical parameters and are hence cumbersome to classify and compare, and (2) large sets of spectra bring with them a corresponding increase in computation or measurement time. Here, we show how a large spectral set can be reduced to just a few 'proxy' spectra, which still retain the spectral variability information needed for AEP design and evaluation. The basic 'spectral binning' methods should be extensible to a variety of multijunction device architectures. In this study, as a demonstration, the AEP of a 4-junction device is computed for both a full set of spectra and a reduced proxy set, and the results show excellent agreement for as few as 3 proxy spectra. This enables much faster (and thereby more detailed) calculations and indoor measurements and provides a manageable way to parameterize a spectral set, essentially creating a 'spectral fingerprint,' which should facilitate the understanding and comparison of different sites.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE AT 0.7 < z < 1.6 DERIVED FROM ABUNDANCE DIAGNOSTICS OF THE BROAD-LINE REGION OF QUASARS

We present an analysis of Mg ii λ 2798 and Fe ii UV emission lines for archival Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars to explore the diagnostics of the magnesium-to-iron abundance ratio in a broad-line region cloud. Our sample consists of 17,432 quasars selected from the SDSS Data Release 7 with a redshift range of 0.72 < z < 1.63. A strong anticorrelation between the Mg ii equivalent width (EW) and the Eddington ratio is found, while only a weak positive correlation is found between the Fe ii EW and the Eddington ratio. To investigate the origin of these differing behaviors of Mg ii and Fe ii emission lines, we perform photoionization calculations using the Cloudy code, where constraints from recent reverberation mapping studies are considered. We find from calculations that (1) Mg ii and Fe ii emission lines are created at different regions in a photoionized cloud, and (2) their EW correlations with the Eddington ratio can be explained by just changing the cloud gas density. These results indicate that the Mg ii/Fe ii flux ratio, which has been used as a first-order proxy for the Mg/Fe abundance ratio in chemical evolution studies with quasar emission lines, depends largely on the cloud gas density. By correcting this density dependence, we propose new diagnostics of the Mg/Fe abundance ratio for a broad-line region cloud. In comparing the derived Mg/Fe abundance ratios with chemical evolution models, we suggest that α -enrichment by mass loss from metal-poor intermediate-mass stars occurred at z ∼ 2 or earlier.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Load assessment of a wind farm considering negative and positive yaw misalignment for wake steering

Wake steering strategies are employed to increase the overall power production of wind farms by deflecting wakes of upstream turbines away from downstream ones. The gain in net power comes at the expense of increased fatigue loads experienced by downstream turbines. In this work we investigate performance and fatigue loading characteristics of a small farm consisting of five aligned International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme 15 MW wind turbines. A parametric study is performed where, for every wind direction from −20 to 20°, the yaw misalignment angle varies from −25 to 25°. This setup allows us to investigate asymmetries and identify optimal conditions for a given wind direction. In general, we find that positive yaw configurations are preferred and that yaw configurations that result in attractive power differences when compared to a baseline no-yaw scenario (25 %) come with significant increase in fatigue loading (we use the standard deviation and damage-equivalent load (DEL) of the blade-root, low-speed shaft, and tower-base moments as proxies for fatigue load). We find that for any given positive wind inflow angle, yaw angles between −2.5 and 15° yield power differences of 10 %–20 % over a no-yaw baseline, and positive yaw is preferred because of lower fatigue loading. For any given negative wind inflow angles, positive yaw also results in lower magnitudes of standard deviation and DEL for the channels investigated. A small power loss of up to 2 % is observed for some positive yaw angles under negative wind directions (as compared to symmetric negative yaw and positive wind cases), but improvements in terms of loads exceed 25 % and may be enough to justify a positive yaw configuration under negative winds as well. We show that such behavior can be explained by partial waking and the direction of the rotation of the rotor.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

A tri-level optimization model for interdependent infrastructure network resilience against compound hazard events

Resilient operation of interdependent infrastructures against compound hazard events is essential for maintaining societal well-being. To address consequence assessment challenges in this problem space, we propose a novel policy-guided tri-level optimization model applied to a proof-of-concept case study with fuel distribution and transportation networks – encompassing one realistic network; one fictitious, yet realistic network; as well as networks drawn from three synthetic distributions. Mathematically, our approach takes the form of a defender-attacker-defender (DAD) model—a multi-agent tri-level optimization, comprised of a defender, attacker, and an operator acting in sequence. Here, in this study, our notional operator may choose proxy actions to operate an interdependent system comprised of fuel terminals and gas stations (functioning as supplies) and a transportation network with traffic flow (functioning as demand) to minimize unmet demand at gas stations. A notional attacker aims to hypothetically disrupt normal operations by reducing supply at the supply terminals, and the notional defender aims to identify best proxy defense policy options which include hardening supply terminals or allowing alternative distribution methods such as trucking reserve supplies. We solve our DAD formulation at a metropolitan scale and present practical defense policy insights against hypothetical compound hazards. We demonstrate the generalizability of our framework by presenting results for a realistic network; a fictitious, yet realistic network; as well as for three networks drawn from synthetic distributions. Additionally, we demonstrate the scalability of the framework by investigating runtime performance as a function of the network size. Steps for future research are also discussed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

TPSAS-NF1676L-17943-DND

SAGE II used the solar occultation technique to measure atmospheric ozone for 21 years between 1984 and 2005 and has continued to play a key role in numerous international assessments. Traditionally, the determination of trends in ozone using SAGE II data has been done via time series analysis of monthly mean data within specific latitude bands. However, given the sparse sampling of SAGE II data, this will introduce temporal and/or spatial biases, particularly in the period after late 2000 when the instrument operated at half-duty cycle. Herein we present a new method for performing time series analysis of unevenly sampled data (in particular SAGE II); namely, we utilize the daily mean data and perform a simultaneous temporal and spatial analysis, making use of a Fourier series to constrain latitudinal variation. This methodology is applied to both the previous (v6.2) and current (v7.0) versions of the SAGE II data. Results are discussed that show the improvements to the data between versions 6.2 and 7.0 that make time series analysis produce reduced residuals as well as the preliminary results of the time series itself, which reveal some of the limitations in currently used proxies for the regression.

Robert P Damadeo↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem (Mid-year report FY15 Q2)

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem: Year-end report FY15 Q4.

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem. Mid-year report FY16 Q2

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem: Mid-year report FY17 Q2

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem: Year-end report FY17.

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

XVis: Visualization for the Extreme-Scale Scientific-Computation Ecosystem (Year-end report FY16 Q4)

The XVis project brings together the key elements of research to enable scientific discovery at extreme scale. Scientific computing will no longer be purely about how fast computations can be performed. Energy constraints, processor changes, and I/O limitations necessitate significant changes in both the software applications used in scientific computation and the ways in which scientists use them. Components for modeling, simulation, analysis, and visualization must work together in a computational ecosystem, rather than working independently as they have in the past. This project provides the necessary research and infrastructure for scientific discovery in this new computational ecosystem by addressing four interlocking challenges: emerging processor technology, in situ integration, usability, and proxy analysis.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Stochastic Unit Commitment: Model Reduction via Learning

As weather-dependent renewable generation increases its share in the generation mix of most electric energy systems, a stochastic unit commitment becomes the natural day-ahead scheduling tool. However, such a tool is generally computationally intractable if a detailed uncertainty description is considered. Taking this into account, we proposed a learning method to make the stochastic unit commitment problem tractable. Here, recent advances in statistical learning and machine learning to address optimization problems can be advantageously applied to the rather intractable stochastic unit commitment problem. Considering these advances, we explore simple learning techniques to drastically reduce the size of a stochastic unit commitment problem without significantly altering its optimal solution. The considered stochastic unit commitment problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic programming problem. The first stage represents commitment decisions, while the second one represents the operation conditions under different scenarios. Taking into account historical solved instances (or proxies for them), we reduce the size (measured by numbers of constraints and variables) of the stochastic unit commitment problem by (i) fixing unchanged binary variables and by (ii) eliminating inactive inequality constraints. Our numerical results show that the reduced problem generally requires significantly less time to solve while obtaining high-quality solutions, which are very close to or indistinguishable from the one obtained by solving the original problem. We use an Illinois 200-bus system to illustrate and characterize the performance of the proposed problem-reduction method.

42 ENGINEERING↗