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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Human life support during interplanetary travel and domicile. III - Mars expedition system trade study

Several alternative configurations of life-support systems (LSSs) for a Mars missions are compared analytically on a quantitative basis in terms of weight, volume, and power. A baseline technology set is utilized for the illustrations of systems including totally open loop, carbon dioxide removal only, partially closed loop, and totally closed loop. The analytical model takes advantage of a modular, top-down hierarchical breakdown of LSS subsystems into functional elements that represent individual processing technologies. The open-loop systems are not competitive in terms of weight for both long-duration orbiters and short-duration lander vehicles, and power demands are lowest with the open loop and highest with the closed loop. The closed-loop system can reduce vehicle weight by over 70,000 lbs and thereby overcome the power penalty of 1600 W; the closed-loop variety is championed as the preferred system for a Mars expedition.

Seshan, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Successful Development of an Automated Rendezvous and Capture System

During the 1990's, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) conducted pioneering research in the development of an automated rendezvous and capture/docking system for U.S. space vehicles. Development and demonstration of a rendezvous sensor was identified early in the AR&C Program as the critical enabling technology that allows automated proximity operations and docking. A first generation rendezvous sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor (VGS) was developed and successfully flown on STS 87 and again on STS 95, proving the concept of a video-based sensor. Advances in both video and signal processing technologies and the lessons learned from the two successful flight experiments provided a baseline for the development, by the MSFC, of a new generation of video based rendezvous sensor. The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) has greatly increased performance and additional capability for longer-range operation with a new Target designed as a direct replacement for existing ISS hemispherical reflectors. A ground demonstration of the entire system and software was successfully tested.

Roe, Fred D.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Lifetime studies of 130nm nMOS transistors intended for long-duration, cryogenic high-energy physics experiments.

Future neutrino physics experiments intend to use unprecedented volumes of liquid argon to fill a time projection chamber in an underground facility. To increase performance, integrated readout electronics should work inside the cryostat. Due to the scale and cost associated with evacuating and filling the cryostat, the electronics will be unserviceable for the duration of the experiment. Therefore, the lifetimes of these circuits must be well in excess of 20 years. The principle mechanism for lifetime degradation of MOSFET devices and circuits operating at cryogenic temperatures is via hot carrier degradation. Choosing a process technology that is, as much as possible, immune to such degradation and developing design techniques to avoid exposure to such damage are the goals. This requires careful investigation and a basic understanding of the mechanisms that underlie hot carrier degradation and the secondary effects they cause in circuits. In this work, commercially available 130nm nMOS transistors operating at cryogenic temperatures are investigated. The results show that the difference in lifetime for room temperature operation and cryogenic operation for this process are not great and the lifetimes at both 300K and at 77K can be projected to more than 20 years at the nominal voltage (1.5V) for this technology.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Improving Technology for Mapping and Imaging Final Report CRADA No. TC02192.0

This CRADA was a collaborative effort between Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC as manager and operator of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Underground Imaging Technologies, LLC to further develop an improved technology for mapping and imaging of the underground infrastructure for the land construction industry. The project consisted of Phase 1, which included three tasks and three deliverables and was originally designated as a three (3) month CRADA. LLNL evaluated UIT-provided data sets using our multistatic processing technology to image and detect buried pipes and conduits in UIT scan data. This effort was then briefed to UIT to help plan efforts for Phase 2. At the end of the incremental early funding, however, UIT was not able to fund Phase 2 work, so none of those activities have taken place.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Improving Technology for Mapping and Imaging Final Report CRADA No. TC02192.0

This CRADA was a collaborative effort between Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC as manager and operator of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Underground Imaging Technologies, LLC to further develop an improved technology for mapping and imaging of the underground infrastructure for the land construction industry. The project consisted of Phase 1, which included three tasks and three deliverables and was originally designated as a three (3) month CRADA. LLNL evaluated UIT-provided data sets using our multistatic processing technology to image and detect buried pipes and conduits in UIT scan data. This effort was then briefed to UIT to help plan efforts for Phase 2. At the end of the incremental early funding, however, UIT was not able to fund Phase 2 work, so none of those activities have taken place.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of pultrusion processing for long fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite system

Pultrusion is one of the composite processing technology, commonly recognized as a simple and cost-effective means for the manufacturing of fiber-reinforced, resin matrix composite parts with different regular geometries. Previously, because the majority of the pultruded composite parts were made of thermosetting resin matrix, emphasis of the analysis on the process has been on the conservation of energy from various sources, such as heat conduction and the curing kinetics of the resin system. Analysis on the flow aspect of the process was almost absent in the literature for thermosetting process. With the increasing uses of thermoplastic materials, it is desirable to obtain the detailed velocity and pressure profiles inside the pultrusion die. Using a modified Darcy's law for flow through porous media, closed form analytical solutions for the velocity and pressure distributions inside the pultrusion die are obtained for the first time. This enables us to estimate the magnitude of viscous dissipation and it's effects on the pultruded parts. Pulling forces refined in the pultrusion processing are also analyzed. The analytical model derived in this study can be used to advance our knowledge and control of the pultrusion process for fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite parts.

Tso, W.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Hydra Rendezvous and Docking Sensor

The U.S. technology to support a CEV AR&D activity is mature and was developed by NASA and supporting industry during an extensive research and development program conducted during the 1990's and early 2000 time frame at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Development and demonstration of a rendezvous/docking sensor was identified early in the AR&D Program as the critical enabling technology that allows automated proxin~ity operations and docking. A first generation rendezvous/docking sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor (VGS) was developed and successfully flown on STS 87 and again on STS 95, proving the concept of a video-based sensor. Advances in both video and signal processing technologies and the lessons learned from the two successful flight experiments provided a baseline for the development of a new generation of video based rendezvous/docking sensor. The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) has greatly increased performance and additional capability for longer-range operation. A Demonstration Automatic Rendezvous Technology (DART) flight experiment was flown in April 2005 using AVGS as the primary proximity operations sensor. Because of the absence of a docking mechanism on the target satellite, this mission did not demonstrate the ability of the sensor to co~ltrold ocking. Mission results indicate that the rendezvous sensor operated successfully in "spot mode" (2 km acquisition of the target, bearing data only) but was never commanded to "acquire and track" the docking target. Parts obsolescence issues prevent the construction of current design AVGS units to support the NASA Exploration initiative. This flight proven AR&D technology is being modularized and upgraded with additional capabilities through the Hydra project at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Hydra brings a unique engineering approach and sensor architecture to the table, to solve the continuing issues of parts obsolescence and multiple sensor integration. This paper presents an approach to sensor hardware trades, to address the needs of future vehicles that may rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS). It will also discuss approaches for upgrading AVGS to address parts obsolescence, and concepts for modularizing the sensor to provide configuration flexibility for multiple vehicle applications. Options for complementary sensors to be integrated into the multi-head Hydra system will also be presented. Complementary sensor options include ULTOR, a digital image correlator system that could provide relative six-degree-of-freedom information independently from AVGS, and time-of-flight sensors, which determine the range between vehicles by timing pulses that travel from the sensor to the target and back. Common targets and integrated targets, suitable for use with the multi-sensor options in Hydra, will also be addressed.

Roe, Fred↗
NASA NTRS1976

Alternative strategies for implementing silicon-ribbon technology for photovoltaic applications

Interactive computer models are being designed to support the development of technological and economic data required to define the potential of silicon sheet growth for large scale photovoltaic applications. Technology projection and sensitivity analysis suggest that single-ribbon growth systems offer the best potential for achieving low-cost silicon sheet material within the shortest period of time. Such systems must be highly reliable, be capable of near unattended growth, and feature automatic melt replenishment. Processing-technology improvement, such as the following, are the key elements for reducing the cost of silicon sheet material: (i) increasing ribbon width; (ii) speeding up the growth rate; and (iii) decreasing ribbon thickness. Such tasks should be pursued in that order to minimize sheet material cost. One interesting finding is that significant reductions in sheet material cost are achievable in the near future by increasing ribbon width to 5 cm.

Kran, A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Non-Invasive Investigation of Bone Adaptation in Humans to Cumulative Daily Mechanical Loading

The goal of our research is to better understand the functional relationship between cumulative daily skeletal loading generated by daily activity and the regulation of bone density and bone structure. We have proposed the calcaneus and tibia as useful model bone sites loaded by internal forces in equilibrium with the ground reaction force during gait. The daily history of the ground reaction force is a good relative measure of daily lower limb and calcaneal loading that can be compared to bone density and structure of the calcaneus and cross-sectional geometry of the tibia and fibula. Over the past several years, we have developed image-processing technologies to improve our ability to measure bone density and structure in the calcaneus and lower leg non-invasively with computed tomography and bone densitometry, or DXA. The objective of our current research effort is to determine the accuracy and precision of our CT and DXA image processing methods.

Whalen, Robert↗
DOE OSTI2012

Ultracoatings: Enabling Energy and Power Solutions in High Contact Stress Environments through next-generation Nanocoatings Final Technical Report

A review of current commercially available, industrial-grade, low friction coatings will show that interfacial contact pressures nearing 1GPa (~150ksi) inherently limit surface engineering solutions like WC, TiN, TiAlN, and so forth. Extremely hard coatings, then, are often pursued as the principle path, although they too are not without significant limitations. A majority of these compounds are inherently brittle in nature or may not pair well with their mating substrate. In either case, their durability in high contact stress environments is compromised. In parallel to thin film coatings, many conventional surface treatments do not yield an interface hard enough to withstand extreme stresses under load. New research into advanced, nanocomposite materials like (Ti, Zr)B 2 shows great promise. Bulk compacts of this compound have demonstrated an order of magnitude better wear resistance than current offerings, notably materials like tungsten carbide. At a laboratory level, the (Ti,Zr)B 2 nanocomposite material exhibited abrasive and erosive wear resistance nearly ten times better than existing mixed-phase boride systems. In ASTM abrasion and erosion testing, these new compositions exhibit wear resistance superior to other known advanced materials such as RocTec 500 and 'Borazon' cubic boron nitride. Many significant challenges exist for mass production of (Ti, Zr)B 2 , one of which is the necessary processing technology that is capable of minimizing deleterious impurity phases. Secondly, this material's performance is derived from a synergistic effect of the two materials existing as a single phase structure. While the individual constituents of TiB 2 and ZrB 2 do yield improvements to wear resistance, their singular effects are not as significant. Lastly, deposition of this material on a commercial level requires thorough knowledge of nanocomposite boride solids; the benefits associated with these innovative new materials are just being realized. Advancing this technology, called Ultracoatings, through initial development, scale up, and commercialization to a variety of markets would represent a transformative leap to surface engineering. Several application spaces were considered for immediate implementation of the Ultracoatings technology, including, but not limited to, a drive shaft for an aerospace fuel pump, engine timing components, and dry solids pump hardware for an innovative coal gasifier. The primary focus of the program was to evaluate and screen the performance of the selected (Ti, Zr)B 2 Ultracoatings composition for future development. This process included synthesis of the material for physical vapor deposition, sputtering trials and coating characterization, friction and wear testing on sample coupons, and functional hardware testing. The main project deliverables used to gage the project's adherence to its original objective were: Development of a coating/substrate pairing that exhibits wear rate of 0.1 mg/hour or lower at a 1GPa contact pressure, while achieving a maximum coating cost of $0.10/cm 2 . Demonstrate the aforementioned wear rate in both lubricated and starved lubrication conditions. Although the (Ti, Zr) B 2 coating was not tailored for low friction performance, friction and wear evaluations of the material demonstrated a coefficient of sliding friction as low as 0.09. This suggests that varying the percentage of TiB 2 present in the composite could enhance the materials performance in water-based lubricants. In the aerospace drive shaft application, functional hardware coated with (Ti, Zr)B 2 survived a variety of abuse and long-range durability tests, with contact pressures exceeding 2 GPa. For engine timing components, further work is planned to evaluate the Ultracoatings technology in direct injection and diesel engine conditions. In the final identified application space the dry solids pump hardware, discussions continue on the application of the Ultracoatings technology for those specific components. Full implementation of the technology into the targeted markets equates to a U.S.-based energy savings potential of over 100 trillion BTU per year by 2030. This exceeds the original projection of 60 TBTU/year by 2030.

(Ti,Zr) B2↗
DOE OSTI2018

Quartz Piezoelectric Resonance Gas Analyzers

Design and metrological characteristics of quartz piezoelectric resonance gas analyzers are considered. It is shown that these devices allow solving various tasks at automation of technological processes in the chemical, oil and gas and related industries (in particular, the task of ensuring ecological and sanitary-hygienic safety).

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS1997

Solid Waste Processing: An Essential Technology for the Early Phases of Mars Exploration and Colonization

Terraforming of Mars is the long-term goal of colonization of Mars. However, this process is likely to be a very slow process and conservative estimates involving a synergic, technocentric approach estimate that it may take around 10,000 years before the planet can be parallel to that of Earth and where humans can live in open systems. Hence, any early missions will require the presence of a closed life support system where all wastes, both solids and liquids, will need to be recycled or where all consumables will need to be supplied. The economics of both are often a matter of speculation and conjecture, but some attempt is made here to evaluate the choice. If a choice is made to completely resupply and eject the waste mass, a number of unknown issues are at hand. On the other hand, processing of the wastes, will enable predictability and reliability of the ecosystem. Solid wastes though smaller in volume and mass than the liquid wastes contains more than 90% of the essential elements required by humans and plants. Further, if left unprocessed they present a serious risk to human health. This paper presents the use of well established technology in processing solid wastes, ensuring that the biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems are maintained, reliability of the closed life support system maintained and the establishment of the early processes necessary for the permanent presence of humans on Mars.

Wignarajah, Kanapathipillai↗
NASA NTRS1981

Low-cost solar array project progress and plans

The considered project is part of the DOE Photovoltaic Technology and Market Development Program. This program is concerned with the development and the utilization of cost-competitive photovoltaic systems. The project has the objective to develop, by 1986, the national capability to manufacture low-cost, long-life photovoltaic arrays at production rates that will realize economies of scale, and at a price of less than $0.70/watt. The array performance objectives include an efficiency greater than 10% and an operating lifetime longer than 20 years. The objective of the silicon material task is to establish the practicality of processes for producing silicon suitable for terrestrial photovoltaic applications at a price of $14/kg. The large-area sheet task is concerned with the development of process technology for sheet formation. Low-cost encapsulation material systems are being developed in connection with the encapsulation task. Another project goal is related to the development of economical process sequences.

Callaghan, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Automated Discovery and Modeling of Sequential Patterns Preceding Events of Interest

The integration of emerging data manipulation technologies has enabled a paradigm shift in practitioners' abilities to understand and anticipate events of interest in complex systems. Example events of interest include outbreaks of socio-political violence in nation-states. Rather than relying on human-centric modeling efforts that are limited by the availability of SMEs, automated data processing technologies has enabled the development of innovative automated complex system modeling and predictive analysis technologies. We introduce one such emerging modeling technology - the sequential pattern methodology. We have applied the sequential pattern methodology to automatically identify patterns of observed behavior that precede outbreaks of socio-political violence such as riots, rebellions and coups in nation-states. The sequential pattern methodology is a groundbreaking approach to automated complex system model discovery because it generates easily interpretable patterns based on direct observations of sampled factor data for a deeper understanding of societal behaviors that is tolerant of observation noise and missing data. The discovered patterns are simple to interpret and mimic human's identifications of observed trends in temporal data. Discovered patterns also provide an automated forecasting ability: we discuss an example of using discovered patterns coupled with a rich data environment to forecast various types of socio-political violence in nation-states.

Rohloff, Kurt↗
DOE OSTI2011

Economic analysis and assessment of syngas production using a modeling approach

Economic analysis and modeling are essential and important issues for the development of current feedstock and process technology for bio-gasification. The objective of this study was to develop an economic model and apply to predict the unit cost of syngas production from a micro-scale bio-gasification facility. An economic model was programmed in C++ computer programming language and developed using a parametric cost approach, which included processes to calculate the total capital costs and the total operating costs. The model used measured economic data from the bio-gasification facility at Mississippi State University. The modeling results showed that the unit cost of syngas production was $1.217 for a 60 Nm-3 h-1 capacity bio-gasifier. The operating cost was the major part of the total production cost. The equipment purchase cost and the labor cost were the largest part of the total capital cost and the total operating cost, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicated that labor costs rank the top as followed by equipment cost, loan life, feedstock cost, interest rate, utility cost, and waste treatment cost. The unit cost of syngas production increased with the increase of all parameters with exception of loan life. The annual cost regarding equipment, labor, feedstock, waste treatment, and utility cost showed a linear relationship with percent changes, while loan life and annual interest rate showed a non-linear relationship. This study provides the useful information for economic analysis and assessment of the syngas production using a modeling approach.

Bio-gasification↗
DOE OSTI2020

EBR-II Driver Fuel Cladding Hull Analytical Data

Sharing EBR-II driver fuel cladding hull data with General Atomics under NDA No. 20NDA155. Data share is needed to advance discussions regarding process technologies to decontaminate separated cladding hulls

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Methane Pyrolysis for CO2-free H2 and Carbon Nanomaterials (Abstract)

We propose to continue to develop a new process for producing CO2-free hydrogen (H2) from inexpensive and domestically-abundant natural gas (NG), while simultaneously reducing H2’s net production cost to $1.0/kg through the sale of valuable crystalline solid carbon co-product. Producing clean hydrogen at this price is a DOE Hydrogen Energy Earthshot goal. Cost effective production of clean H2 is also of commercial relevance to project partners Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and startup company C4-MCP, who aim to further develop, demonstrate at scale, and ultimately deploy the new process technology developed on this project in order to meet regulatory demands in the State of California. In the current project we have focused on i) understanding the catalyst science for thermocatalytic decomposition of methane (TCD), which resulted in the development of a patent pending bimetallic catalyst offering favorable activity, stability, and selectivity under industrially relevant process conditions, ii) developing a novel, patent pending process to enable the separation of produced carbon and catalyst, and re-synthesis of the catalyst using recycled materials, iii) performing limited characterization of the produced carbon materials, and iv) performing detailed process modeling in order to perform techno economic assessment. The additional scope proposed here will accelerate the commercial deployment of TCD for CO2-free H2 and valuable solid carbon nanotubes (CNT) co-product, by i) scaling up the production of CNT co-product using a scalable, fluidized bed reactor (25 g catalyst scale versus the 1 g catalyst scale demonstrated to-date), ii) producing at least 40 g of CNT product, produced via multiple cycles of TCD, carbon-catalyst separation, and catalyst re-synthesis, to enable the production of sufficient quantities of solid carbon so as to explore its market potential, iii) understanding the quality of the co-product CNTs, produced at larger scale, through advanced characterization, and iv) beginning to explore multiple promising high volume carbon product applications (thermoplastics, automotive composites, battery, and cement reinforcement applications).

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2003

The Successful Development of an Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) System for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

During the 1990's, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) conducted pioneering research in the development of an automated rendezvous and capture/docking (AR&C) system for U.S. space vehicles. Development and demonstration of a rendezvous sensor was identified early in the AR&C Program as the critical enabling technology that allows automated proximity operations and docking. A first generation rendezvous sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor (VGS), was developed and successfully flown on STS-87 and STS-95, proving the concept of a video- based sensor. A ground demonstration of the entire system and software was successfully tested. Advances in both video and signal processing technologies and the lessons learned from the two successful flight experiments provided a baseline for the development, by the MSFC, of a new generation of video based rendezvous sensor. The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AGS) has greatly increased performance and additional capability for longer-range operation with a new target designed as a direct replacement for existing ISS hemispherical reflectors.

Roe, Fred D.↗