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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Ultrasonic measurement of temperature distributions in extreme environments: Electrical power plants testing in utility-scale steam generators

Thermal heterogeneities within energy conversion and storage, material processing, nuclear processes, aerospace, and military applications are often inaccessible to characterization by insertion sensors. When sensor deployment is possible, conventional pointwise temperature probes quickly degrade when inserted into harsh environments typical of such processes. We developed spatially-resolved ultrasonic thermometry to noninvasively measure the spatial distributions of thermal properties in such applications, even when sizable thermal gradients are present. Our method divides the path of ultrasonic propagation into segments bound by echogenic features, which create echoes in pulse-echo mode, encoding the information about interior temperature distributions. We use the acquired ultrasonic responses to estimate the internal temperature distributions by solving an inverse problem or concatenating segmental estimates. This work describes the implementation and industrial testing of the developed method at a coal-fired electrical power generation plant. We inserted an echogenically segmented Inconel 625 waveguide into the combustion zone of the utility-scale boiler and continuously acquired ultrasonic data while keeping sensitive components away from the damaging combustion environment. The accuracy of the time-dependent temperature distributions reconstructed from the ultrasonic measurements was comparable to that of thermocouples. The resiliency of ultrasonic thermometry to harsh combustion conditions was far superior to conventional insertion sensors. The measurements obtained during plant operation captured daily steam generation cycles in response to changing customer demand and intermittent contributions of renewable power sources to the power grid. These measurements have revealed new insights into the relationship between the dynamic power generation load and the conditions inside the steam generator. As a result, the successful industrial testing of spatially-resolved ultrasonic thermometry in solids indicates that the developed technology has matured to become an attractive alternative to conventional sensing in solving challenging problems of long-term thermal characterizations in extreme environments.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Consequence-Driven Cybersecurity for High-Power Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Cybersecurity of high-power charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) is critical to the safety, reliability, and consumer confidence in this publicly accessible technology. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities in high-power EV charging infrastructure may also present risks to broader transportation and energy-infrastructure systems. Here, this paper details a methodology used to analyze and prioritize high-consequence events that could result from cybersecurity sabotage to high-power charging infrastructure. The highest prioritized events are evaluated under laboratory conditions for the severity of impact and the complexity of cybersecurity manipulation. Mitigation solutions and strategies are presented to secure the vulnerabilities that potentially lead to high-consequence events. These mitigations can be immediately implemented by industry or executed during the design stage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1979

Nuclear electric power and propulsion system for earth orbital and solar system exploration applications

This paper discusses the design of a Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) system, selection of thrusters and propellant. Outer planet exploration requirements are compared to earth orbital power requirements and a nuclear electric power system with a power level of 200 to 250 kWe is recommended. Current technology appears capable of accomplishing the early missions and growth potential exists for accomplishing more difficult later missions without significant changes in the basic system.

Phillips, W. M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nighttime electric power generation at a density of 50 mW/m 2 via radiative cooling of a photovoltaic cell

A large fraction of the world's population lacks access to the electric grid. Standard photovoltaic (PV) cells can provide a renewable off-grid source of electricity but only produce power from daytime solar irradiance and do not produce power at night. While there have been several theoretical proposals and experimental demonstrations of energy harvesting from the radiative cooling of a PV cell at night, the achieved power density is very low. Here, we construct a device, which incorporates a thermoelectric generator that harvests electricity from the temperature difference between the PV cell and the ambient surrounding. We achieve 50 mW/m 2 nighttime power generation with a clear night sky, with an open-circuit voltage of 100 mV, which is orders of magnitude higher as compared with previous demonstrations. During the daytime, the thermoelectric generator also provides additional power on top of the electric power generated directly from the PV cells. Our system can be used as a continuous renewable power source for both day- and nighttime in off-grid locations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1966

Electrical power and sequential systems

Power sources for Gemini spacecraft electrical systems, load sharing of fuel cells during flight, and sequential system for electrical control of spacecraft

POWER SUPPLY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Summary Report of HERO WEC Test Article for Waves to Water: Electrical Power Take-Off

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) designed and fabricated the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter (WEC), which is a modular system that can utilize either an electrical or hydraulic power take-off (PTO) system to power a desalination device. The method by which this device can convert mechanical work to either hydraulic or electrical energy is by harnessing the energy from waves via a rotary output shaft. This report describes the electrical configuration, where a rotary generator replaces the pump in the hydraulic configuration to power a submersible pump and reverse osmosis unit via an electrical cable, rather than a hydraulic line/hose. This device is of a non-proprietary design where every aspect of the design is made public, including the physical designs, non-proprietary cost data, and electrical drawings developed for the build of this device.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
NASA NTRS1983

Long life communication satellites: Electric power supply during the eclipse period

The electric batteries, essentially nickel-cadmium for French satellites such as D1 A, D1 C, D1 D, D2 B, D5 A, D5 B, etc. and the batteries for such satellites as Symphonie, ANS, INTASAT, ESRO 4, and COS-B are discussed. The experience obtained led to the development of long lifetime batteries for communication satellites. Real simulation tests showed a lifetime of four years and accelerated lifetime tests of twelve years. These batteries will be applied in OTS, METEOSAT, and Marots. At the same time, new batteries are being developed, based on nickel-hydrogen or on silver-hydrogen, which should provide longer lifetime and better reliability.

Font, S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Least-Cost Pathways for India's Electric Power Sector

The Government of India has a target of deploying 175 GW from renewable energy by 2022 and 40% of electricity capacity from renewable energy by 2030 and has indicated that ambitions for 2030 could be higher. Rapid changes in technology costs and performance could drive further deployment of wind and solar capacity beyond these policy targets. Increased deployment of variable renewable energy (VRE) raises new questions for power system planning regarding the optimal siting of generation capacity, trade-offs between generation and transmission infrastructure, and system flexibility needs. This study aims to evaluate least-cost pathways for India's electric power system over the period 2017-2047. Uniquely, this work considers an expanded planning horizon and range of scenarios not previously analyzed in national planning studies in India. The data collection and model design processes undertaken for this study provides a framework for recurring planning studies. This study finds anticipated changes in electricity demand and component costs can drive a significant shift in India's future electricity supply and how this system will be operated. In the Base scenario, the share of generation from VRE reaches 54% by 2047. Reducing the capital cost of wind has a larger impact on VRE penetration than reducing the capital cost of solar PV or battery storage. In the lowest wind cost scenario (40% capital cost decline by 2047 relative to the Base scenario), the penetration of VRE in the generation mix reaches 722%, exceeding the penetration levels achieved when the cost of battery storage or solar PV are reduced by an even greater 50%. In a future system with high penetrations of RE, capacity additions are driven by the coincidence of demand and RE generation rather than peak demand alone. This study finds the system could have surplus capacity during the peak demand months of July–September because this period corresponds to periods with high wind speeds and more wind generation available to meet peak demand. By contrast, new capacity is needed to meet demand during moderate demand months of October–November when output from wind plants falls more than 75% nationally compared to the previous two months. Finally, the success for gas for electricity production may depend on cost competitiveness rather than fuel availability. Increasing the amount of gas available for electricity production had no significant impact on the capacity or generation mix by 2047, as determined from a scenario that significantly increases fuel availability throughout the planning horizon. In fact, over 80% of new gas fuel available for the power sector remains unused. This suggests the high cost of gas plant operations relative to other technologies may constrain the expansion of gas generation in India more than fuel availability.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A two-stage service restoration method for electric power distribution systems

Improving the reliability of power distribution systems is critically important for both utilities and customers. This calls for an efficient service restoration module within a distribution management system to support the implementation of self-healing smart grid networks. Although the emerging smart grid technologies, including distributed generators (DGs) and remote-controlled switches, enhance the self-healing capability and allow faster recovery, they still pose additional complexity to the service restoration problem, especially under cold load pickup (CLPU) conditions. Herein, a novel two-stage restoration framework is proposed to generate a restoration solutions with a sequence of control actions. The first stage generates a restoration plan that supports both the traditional service restoration using feeder reconfiguration and the grid-forming DG-assisted intentional islanding methods. The second stage generates an optimal sequence of switching operations to bring the outaged system quickly to the final restored configuration. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program that incorporates system connectivity, operating constraints, and the CLPU models. It is demonstrated that on using a multi-feeder test case, the proposed framework is effective in utilizing all available resources to quickly restore the service and generate an optimal sequence of switching actions to be used by the operator to reach the desired optimal configuration.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Guest Editorial: Special Issue on recent advancements in electric power system planning with high-penetration of renewable energy resources and dynamic loads

The goal of this Special Issue is to present the state-of-the-art methodologies developed for expansion planning of all segments of the modern power systems, characterized by separated businesses, high penetration of renewable resources and new load types, as well as by application of technologically advanced solutions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1997

Electric Power System for High Altitude UAV Technology Survey

Electric powertrain technologies with application to high altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are assessed. One hundred twenty five solar electric UAV configurations and missions were simulated. Synergistic design opportunities were investigated with the premise that specific benefits may be realized, for example, if a single component can serve multiple functions, such as a battery being used for energy storage as well as for a structural component of the aircraft. For each UAV mission simulation, the airframe structure, powertrain configuration (type of solar cells, energy storage options) and performance baseline (1997 or 2001) were specified. It has been found that the use of the high efficiency (multijunction) solar cells or the use of the synergistic amorphous silicon solar cell configuration yields aircraft that can accomplish the majority of the missions of interest for any latitude between 0 deg and 55 deg, hence, a single versatile aircraft can be constructed and implemented to accomplish these missions.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2009

Apollo Lunar Module Electrical Power System Overview

Objectives include: a) Describe LM Electrical System original specifications; b) Describe the decision to change from fuel cells to batteries and other changes; c) Describe the Electrical system; and d) Describe the Apollo 13 failure from the LM perspective.

Interbartolo, Michael↗