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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 379 records · Page 21
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Water as a gas separation membrane

Efficient gas separation membranes are essential for carbon capture, biogas upgrading, and hydrogen purification. Inspired by how plants absorb CO 2 through water, we present a membrane platform that uses liquid water as the selective layer. Hydrophilic sub-100-nm pores stabilize water through strong capillary forces, enabling operation at feed pressures above 72 bar under dry and humid conditions. Selectivity is governed by gas solubility in water, while permeance is tuned by adjusting the water layer thickness. Reducing this thickness below 200 nm yields CO 2 permeances up to 11,600 gas permeation units with CO 2 :N 2 , CO 2 :CH 4 , and CO 2 :H 2 selectivities of 40, 26, and 31, respectively, surpassing the performance of state-of-the-art membranes. Operation is sustained for over a week without water loss, and performance scales using commercially available porous polymer supports under mixed-gas crossflow conditions. Water’s dissolution-based transport avoids saturation and reaction-rate limits, enabling a robust, high-performance, and environmentally benign gas separation platform.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1981

Advanced technology lightweight fuel cell program

The potential of the alkaline electrolyte fuel cell as the power source in a multi hundred kilowatt orbital energy storage system was studied. The total system weight of an electrolysis cell energy storage system was determined. The tests demonstrated: (1) the performance stability of a platinum on carbon anode catalyst configuration after 5000 hours of testing has no loss in performance; (2) capability of the alkaline fuel cell to operate to a cyclical load profile; (3) suitability of a lightweight graphite electrolyte reservoir plate for use in the alkaline fuel cell; (4) long life potential of a hybrid polysulfone cell edge frame construction; and (5) long term stability of a fiber reinforced potassium titanate matrix structure. The power section tested operates with passive water removal eliminating the requirement for a dynamic hydrogen pump water separator thereby allowing a powerplant design with reduced weight, lower parasite power, and a potential for high reliability and extended endurance. It is concluded that two perovskites are unsuitable for use as a catalyst or as a catalyst support at the cathode of an alkaline fuel cell.

Martin, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS2018

WFIRST Coronagraph Detector Trap Modeling Results and Improvements

The WFIRST coronagraph is being designed to detect and characterize mature exoplanets through the starlight reflected from their surfaces and atmospheres. The light incident on the detector from these distant exoplanets is estimated to be on the order of a few photons per pixel per hour. To measure such small signals, the project has baselined the CCD201 detector made by e2v, a low-noise and high-efficiency electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD), and has instituted a rigorous test and modeling program to characterize the device prior to flight. An important consideration is detector performance degradation over the proposed mission lifetime due to radiation exposure in space. To quantify this estimated loss in performance, the project has built a detector trap model that takes into account detailed trap interactions at the sub-pixel level, including stochastic trap capture and release, and the deferment of charge into subsequent pixels during parallel and serial clocking of the pseudo-two-phase CCD201 device. This paper describes recent detector trap model improvements and modeling results.

Holland, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1974

The 727 airplane target thrust reverser static performance model test for refanned JT8D engines

The results of a scale model static performance test of target thrust reverser configurations for the Pratt and Whitney Aircraft JT8D-100 series engine are presented. The objective of the test was to select a series of suitable candidate reverser configurations for the subsequent airplane model wind tunnel ingestion and flight controls tests. Test results indicate that adequate reverse thrust performance with compatible engine airflow match is achievable for the selected configurations. Tapering of the lips results in loss of performance and only minimal flow directivity. Door pressure surveys were conducted on a selected number of lip and fence configurations to obtain data to support the design of the thrust reverser system.

Chow, C. T. P.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Proxy Applications for Converged Workloads: DMC LDRD Initiative

Modern scientific applications are complicated and require coordination of several components. Proxy application driven software-hardware co-design plays a vital role in driving innovation among the developments of applications, software infrastructure and hardware architecture. Proxy applications are self-contained and simplified codes that are intended to model the performance-critical computations within applications. Applications executing on modern High Performance Computing (HPC) systems are susceptible to network congestion, insufficient memory bandwidth within and across compute nodes, and inadvertent loss of performance due to bugs and unoptimized programming models. Modern numerical simulations and machine learning models play a critical role in studying physical phenomenon under myriad uncertainties. Such applications often exhibit irregular computation and memory accesses at specific regions of the application code, which can contribute to various performance bottlenecks at scale. To mitigate such issues and prepare the next generation hardware for a variety of computation and data movement contingencies, a well-known practice is to consider "proxy" applications as representative motifs for various classes of scientific applications. While there is disagreement in the HPC community on the mechanisms of construction of the proxy applications, there is a strong consensus on their positive impact in co-design. Proxy Applications for Converged Workloads (PACER) is about facilitating software-hardware co-design through proxy applications with the goal of improving the performance of converged science workflows on heterogeneous systems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2017

New Stagnation Arc Jet Model Design for Testing ADEPT 3-D Carbon Cloth

The ADEPT concept has been considered as an entry, descent and landing system to enable Human Mars class missions. Ground rules for the Mars studies required aerocapture, orbit, and then entry. The design utilizes a 3-D woven carbon cloth fabric as both heatshield and primary structure and design guidelines required 6 layers remaining after all entry events. The peak heating predicted for the ADEPT carbon cloth was 35 Wcm2 and resulting temperatures were predicted to be 1400K. Predictions for carbon mass loss were performed using equilibrium thermochemistry, which is only accurate for T2000K. Carbon oxidation is kinetically controlled at T2000K, and mass loss drops off considerably from equilibrium values. Design of the cloth thickness and mass would be significantly reduced if kinetics were considered. This effort was to design a stagnation test article design that could be used in the AHF with varying levels of oxygen where the results could be used to develop an engineering model to describe the recession rate of the carbon as a function of the partial pressure of monotomic oxygen.

carbon cloth↗
NASA NTRS2013

Effect of Two Advanced Noise Reduction Technologies on the Aerodynamic Performance of an Ultra High Bypass Ratio Fan

A wind tunnel experiment was conducted in the NASA Glenn Research Center anechoic 9- by 15-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel to investigate two new advanced noise reduction technologies in support of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program Subsonic Fixed Wing Project. The goal of the experiment was to demonstrate the noise reduction potential and effect on fan model performance of the two noise reduction technologies in a scale model Ultra-High Bypass turbofan at simulated takeoff and approach aircraft flight speeds. The two novel noise reduction technologies are called Over-the-Rotor acoustic treatment and Soft Vanes. Both technologies were aimed at modifying the local noise source mechanisms of the fan tip vortex/fan case interaction and the rotor wake-stator interaction. For the Over-the-Rotor acoustic treatment, two noise reduction configurations were investigated. The results showed that the two noise reduction technologies, Over-the-Rotor and Soft Vanes, were able to reduce the noise level of the fan model, but the Over-the-Rotor configurations had a significant negative impact on the fan aerodynamic performance; the loss in fan aerodynamic efficiency was between 2.75 to 8.75 percent, depending on configuration, compared to the conventional solid baseline fan case rubstrip also tested. Performance results with the Soft Vanes showed that there was no measurable change in the corrected fan thrust and a 1.8 percent loss in corrected stator vane thrust, which resulted in a total net thrust loss of approximately 0.5 percent compared with the baseline reference stator vane set.

Hughes, Christoper E.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Effect of precipitation on wind turbine performance

The effects of precipitation on wind turbine power output was analyzed. The tests were conducted on the two bladed Mod-0 horizontal axis wind turbine with three different rotor configurations. Experimental data from these tests are presented which clearly indicate that the performance of the Mod-0 wind turbine is affected by rain. Light rainfall degraded performance by as much as 20 percent while heavy rainfall degraded performance by as much as 30 percent. Snow mixed with drizzle degraded performance by as much as 36 percent at low windspeeds. Also presented are the results of an analysis to predict the effect of rain on wind turbine performance. This analysis used a blade element/momentum code with modified airfoil characteristics to account for the effect of rain and predicted a loss in performance of 31 percent in high winds with moderate rainfall rates. These predicted results agreed well with experimental data.

Corrigan, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Aeropropulsive characteristics of isolated combined turbojet/ramjet nozzles at Mach numbers from 0 to 1.20

An investigation was conducted in the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel to determine the aeropropulsive performance characteristics (the aerodynamic quantities affected by propulsion) of 13 isolated combined turbojet/ramjet nozzle configurations. These configurations simulated the variable-geometry features of two nozzle designs designated as the multiple-expansion ramp nozzle (MERN) and the composite contour nozzle (CCN). Test data were obtained at static conditions and at Mach numbers of 0.60, 0.90, and 1.20 with jet exhaust simulated by high-pressure air. The results showed that the CCN had the higher performance over the Mach number range than the MERN, as indicated by the difference of thrust minus drag divided by ideal thrust. Increasing the ramjet throat area for the MERN resulted in an increase in performance that increased with Mach number. For the CCN at Mach numbers less than 1.20, increasing the ramjet throat area resulted in a loss in performance.

Carson, George T., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Examining the Effects of Oxygen Doping on SRF Cavity Performance

Superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities are resonators with extremely low surface resistance that enable accelerating cavities to have extremely high quality factors (Q₀). High (Q₀) decreases the capital required to keep accelerators cold by reducing power loss. The performance of SRF cavities is largely governed by the surface composition of the first 100 nm of the cavity surface. Impurities such as oxygen and nitrogen have been observed to yield high Q₀, but their precise roles are still being studied. Here, we compare the performance of cavities doped with nitrogen and oxygen in terms of fundamental material properties to understand how these impurities affect performance. This enables us to have further insight into the underlying mechanisms that enable these surface treatments to yield high Q₀ performance.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluating the Effects of Nitrogen Doping and Oxygen Doping on SRF Cavity Performance

Superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities are resonators with extremely low surface resistance that enable accelerating cavities to have extremely high quality factors (Q₀). High Q₀ decreases the capital required to keep the accelerators cold by reducing power loss. The performance of SRF cavities is largely governed by the surface composition of the first §I{100}{nm} of the cavity surface. Impurities such as oxygen and nitrogen have been observed to yield high Q₀, but their precise roles are still being studied. Here, we compare the performance of cavities doped with nitrogen and oxygen in terms of surface composition and heating behavior with field. A simulation of the diffusion of oxygen into the bulk of the cavity was built using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Simulated results were compared to the actual surface composition of the cavities as determined from secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis. Understanding how these impurities affects performance allows us to have further insight into the underlying mechanisms that enable these surface treatments to yield high Q₀.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1979

Optimization of multi-layer front-contact grid patterns for solar cells

In a front-contact grid pattern for a solar cell there is a trade-off necessary between shadowing loss and excessive power loss due to voltage drop in the metalization itself. If the metalization is too little there may be excessive contact resistance to the underlying semiconductor and insufficient coverage to control losses in the thin front-surface layer of the solar cell. Optimization of grid pattern area and geometry is considered analytically to minimize total losses. Worthwhile performance advantages are shown to be possible, particularly in concentrator systems, if multi-layer grid patterns are used. The current carrying fingers should be approximately square in metal cross section and the main current feedout bars should not only be wider but also thicker than the primary collecting fingers. This is termed multi-level metalization. Effective use of multi-level grid metalization allows much greater concentration-to-loss ratio for a cell of large area and permits good performance from cells of high front-layer sheet resistance.

Flat, A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of Machine Learning-Derived Microbiological and Immune Signatures: Applications in Adaptive Risk Assessment of Infectious Disease During Spaceflight

Infectious diseases represent an urgent risk for spaceflight with consequences ranging from loss in crew performance to crew incapacitation or loss of life should an outbreak occur. The resident environmental microbiome on the International Space Station has been monitored through routine surveillance over almost twenty years, beginning with culture-based microbial detection which has advanced to molecular methods in recent years. This has created a wealth of data that we have begun mining to define the microbial ecology of the ISS. Summarized here is our analysis of data from the historical microbial population defined by culture-based monitoring from the past two decades, organized by their likelihood to cause disease into clinical categories. As expected, many residents of the normal microflora in environments where people work and live were detected. However, some known pathogens were also detected. As the spaceflight environment can predispose humans to infection, crew health records were used to source additional data for the set to uncover clinical relevance. Data mining was performed on crew health records to capture adverse health events that may be related to infectious disease. Machine learning, specifically Random Forest analysis, was used to analyze the microbial and crew health datasets. The symptom categories were not explained by the ranked bacteria, due to lack of sufficient data for some categories and due to poor ranking of the pathogens for others. Poor ranking of the bacteria could be due to the clinical symptoms being linked to other disease-causing factors, such as allergy or viral infection. These findings suggest a lack of relationship between bacteria detected on surfaces in the ISS and historical health events experienced by astronauts.

Kristyn Hoffman↗
NASA NTRS2000

Sound Absorption of a 2DOF Resonant Liner with Negative Bias Flow

This report describes an experimental study conducted to determine the effect of negative bias flow on the sound absorption of a two degree-of-freedom liner. The backwall for the liner was designed to act as a double-Helmholtz resonator so as to act as a hard wall at all frequencies except at its resonant frequencies. All normal incident impedance data presented herein was acquired in an impedance tube. The effect of bias flow is investigated for a buried septum porosity of 2% and 19.5% for bias flow orifice mach numbers up to 03 11. As a porous backwall is needed for the flow to pass through, the effect of bias flow on this backwall all had to be evaluated first. The bias flow appears to modify the resistance and reactance of the backwall alone at lower frequencies up to about 2 kHz, with marginal effects at higher frequencies. Absorption coefficients close to unity are achieved for a frequency range of 500-4000 Hz for the overall liner for a septum porosity of 2% and orifice mach number of 0.128. Insertion loss tests performed in a flow duct facility for grazing flow Mach numbers up to 0.2 and septum mach numbers up to 0.15 showed that negative bias flow can increase insertion loss by as much as 10 dB at frequencies in the range of 500 - 1400 Hz compared to no grazing flow. The effectiveness of the negative bias flow is diminished as the grazing flow velocity is increased.

Ahuja, K. K.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Sound Absorption of a 2DOF Resonant Liner with Negative Bias Flow

This report describes an experimental study conducted to determine the effect of negative bias flow on the sound absorption of a two degree-of-freedom liner. The backwall for the liner was designed to act as a double-Helmholtz resonator so as to act as a hard wall at all frequencies except at its resonant frequencies. The effect of bias flow is investigated for a buried septum porosity of 2% and 19.5% for bias flow orifice Mach numbers up to 0.311. The bias flow appears to modify the resistance and reactance of the backwall alone at lower frequencies up to about 2 kHz, with marginal effects at higher frequencies. Absorption coefficients close to unity are achieved for a frequency range of 500 - 4000 Hz for the overall liner for a septum porosity of 2% and orifice Mach number of 0.128. Insertion loss tests performed in a flow duct facility for grazing flow Mach numbers up to 0.2 and septum Mach numbers up to 0.15 showed that negative bias flow can increase insertion loss by as much as 10 dB at frequencies in the range of 500 D 1400 Hz compared to no grazing flow. The effectiveness of the negative bias flow is diminished as the grazing flow velocity is increased.

Ahuja, K. K.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effects of SO 2 poisoning and regeneration on spinel containing CH 4 oxidation catalysts

Methane oxidation under periodic conditions and the oxygen storage capacity of a bilayer Pt/Pd/Al 2 O 3 over a Mn 0.5 Fe 2.5 O 4 spinel catalyst were studied before and after SO 2 exposure, and after simulated regeneration conditions. Prior to sulfur exposure, improvement in CH 4 oxidation conversion under periodic conditions compared to steady-state conditions was observed. After sulfur exposure at 100 °C, there was a loss in CH 4 oxidation performance and a loss of oxygen storage capacity of the spinel material. Here, the extent of regeneration from sulfur poisoning depends on the ability to induce the decomposition of sulfate species, and while all regeneration methods tested in this study did improve CH 4 conversion, regeneration methods under periodic conditions induced greater sulfur species desorption from the catalyst surface leading to improved CH 4 con version. Key regeneration parameters – temperature, feed composition, modulation amplitude and frequency – were optimized to induce S species decomposition and correlated to CH 4 oxidation activity recovery.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS1990

Radiation effect on rocket engine performance

Critical problem areas involving the effect of radiation on the combustion of bipropellants are addressed by formulating a universal scaling law in combination with a radiation-enhanced vaporization combustion model. Numerical algorithms are developed and data pertaining to the Variable Thrust Engine (VTE) and the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) are used to conduct parametric sensitivity studies to predict the principal intercoupling effects of radiation. The analysis reveals that low-enthalpy engines, such as the VTE, are vulnerable to a substantial performance setback due to radiative loss, whereas the performance of high-enthalpy engines such as the SSME are hardly affected over a broad range of engine operation. Combustion enhancement by radiative heating of the propellant has a significant impact on propellants with high absorptivity.

Chiu, Huei-Huang↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vector quantizer designs for joint compression and terrain categorization of multispectral imagery

Two vector quantizer designs for compression of multispectral imagery and their impact on terrain categorization performance are evaluated. The mean-squared error (MSE) and classification performance of the two quantizers are compared, and it is shown that a simple two-stage design minimizing MSE subject to a constraint on classification performance has a significantly better classification performance than a standard MSE-based tree-structured vector quantizer followed by maximum likelihood classification. This improvement in classification performance is obtained with minimal loss in MSE performance. The results show that it is advantageous to tailor compression algorithm designs to the required data exploitation tasks. Applications of joint compression/classification include compression for the archival or transmission of Landsat imagery that is later used for land utility surveys and/or radiometric analysis.

Gorman, John D.↗