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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 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Development of a New Clearance Monitor for Exemption of NPP Radioactive Wastes and its Performance Test - 17200

In nuclear power plants, it is common practice to clear radioactive wastes for free release by using clearance monitor with plastic scintillation detectors so as to reduce disposal costs. These monitors are possible in part thanks to the excellent detection levels achievable with high energy and high yield photons emitted from contaminants such as Cs-137 and Co-60. However, it is difficult for the monitors to separate Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) from the radioactive wastes because the plastic scintillation detectors have poor resolution compared to NaI or HPGe detectors. KHNP has developed a new clearance monitor for determining whether or not the radioactivity level of metal scraps satisfies regulatory criteria. The monitor is composed of 12 large area plastic scintillation detectors and 3 NaI scintillation detectors. The measuring chamber is surrounded by a 5 cm-thick lead shield with chamber dimensions of 1.5 m x 1.0 m x 1.0 m. Its algorithm has a function of measuring total gamma activity while analyzing gamma nuclides and identifying 27 hotspots in radioactive wastes. The detection limit of this system, according to the MCNP simulation, was determined to be about 45 Bq for Co-60 and 78 Bq for Cs-137 with the condition of an empty chamber and measuring time of 1 minute. We evaluated the self - shielding effect of waste for background correction factor and waste height (volume in the chamber) correction factor. We also tested its MDA, location determination of hot-spots, temperature compensation function and convenience of operation. In the future, we will plan to install it at a nuclear site for more tests including evaluating its durability. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Code validation of SAM using natural-circulation experimental data from the compact integral effects test (CIET) facility

The primary objective of this study is to validate the system analysis code, SAM, using experimental data from the Compact Integral Effects Test (CIET) experimental loop. SAM is a modern system analysis code being developed at Argonne National Laboratory for safety analysis of designs for advanced non-light water reactors (non-LWRs), such as sodium-cooled fast reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, and fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors (FHRs). To support SAM code development for the wide range of non-LWR applications, it is of paramount importance to validate the code against experiments highly relevant to these reactor concepts. Additionally, the CIET facility, which was designed to reproduce the thermal-hydraulics response of FHRs under both forced- and natural-circulation conditions, has been identified and selected as one of the benchmark test facilities for SAM code validation. In this study, two sets of available CIET tests were selected for SAM code validation purposes, namely, power step change transient tests and steady-state natural-circulation tests. For all selected tests, SAM-predicted results show very good agreement with experimental data. The successful validation of SAM against these selected CIET experiments demonstrates that the computer code is well suited for thermal-hydraulics analysis of FHR designs.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-Temperature Wireless Sensor Platform Powered by Energy Scavenging

This paper reports on the development of key components required for a self-powered oscillator unit designed to wirelessly transmit its signal under full insertion in high-temperature (HT) harsh-environments (HE), such as those present in power plants and industrial settings (metallurgic, oil extraction, molding, and aerospace). The oscillator employed a silicon carbide (SiC) power transistor and HT passive components on a screen-printed alumina circuit board capable of operation beyond 300 °C. The HT oscillator circuit was powered solely by in-situ energy scavenging thermoelectric generator (TEG) modules using passive cooling, eliminating the need for an external power supply or active cooling. In addition, a silicon-based external booster circuit was used to achieve the required TEG voltage regulation to test the TEG-powered HT oscillator circuit. The TEG-powered oscillator circuit was tested inside a non-metallic furnace from room temperature to over 300 °C for transmission of a wireless signal, which was detected outside the furnace at 11 ft (3.4 m). Such a wireless transmitting system powered only by in-situ TEGs, with no requirement for external power or active cooling, is very attractive for flexible, mobile stand-alone control and sensor units targeted for operation in HT HE conditions found in power plants and industrial settings.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

High-Temperature SiC Power Module with Integrated SiC Gate Drivers for Future High-Density Power Electronics Applications

This paper presents a high-temperature capable intelligent power module that contains SiC power devices and SiC gate driver integrated circuits (ICs). The high-temperature capability of the SiC gate driver ICs allows for them to be packaged into the power module and be located physically close to the power devices. This provides a distinct advantage by reducing the gate driver loop inductance, which promotes high frequency operation, while also reducing the overall volume of the system through higher levels of integration. The power module was tested in a bridgeless-boost converter (Fig. 1) to determine the performance of the module in a system level application. The converter was operated with a switching frequency of 200 kHz with a peak output power of approximately 5 kW. The peak efficiency was found to be 97.5% at 2.9 kW.

Whitaker, Mr. Bret↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nanocomposite Magnetic Technology for High Frequency MW Scale Power Conversion

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the use of advanced magnetic materials in a medium voltage DC-DC converter for photovoltaic applications. The lead, alloy development team met project development milestones targeting a low loss material (<20 W/kg at 10kHzT), alloy resistivity (>150μΩcm amorphous phase resistivity), evaluation of the operational lifetime of the material (continuous operation above 155C), and the performance metric (power ratio >100) for a new class of Co-rich alloys with tunable permeability. Material manufacturability was demonstrated in continuously casting over 5 kg batches of 1’’ width, 18μm thickness (less than 80-120% deviation), amorphous ribbon, and processing including field and strain annealing as well as rolling both Fe and Co based alloys to less the 15μm was achieved. Parallel technology to markets efforts found that while a more compact and more efficient converter, which reduces the balance of plant cost, would enjoy a $0.10/W premium over current technology. Due to uncertainty in future energy policy and barriers to market entry the technology to market analyses recommended partnering with an existing manufacturer. The industrial and transportation electric motor market was also identified as one standing to benefit from this material technology and key personnel within this market were identified. With the assistance of Dynapower the converter prototype was tested to 300 VDC (18 kVA) before the resonant capacitors failed. The prototype incorporated several subsystems including the passive and active components at the engineering scale and exposed at least one weak point in the prototype. Independent testing on the core materials predicts that the core would have met the operating specifications, but this component was not tested at nominal power. Based on this prediction and the demonstrated construction of the prototype core, we recommend that the core material is designated TRL 5. The CMU team is currently working with Eaton to identify opportunities further test cores in inductive components.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Testing the Kerr nature of black hole candidates using iron line spectra in the CPR framework

The iron Kα line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of both stellar-mass and supermassive black hole (BH) candidates originates from X-ray fluorescence of the inner accretion disk. Accordingly, it can be used to map the spacetime geometry around these objects. In this paper, we extend previous work using the iron Kα line to test the Kerr BH hypothesis. We adopt the Cardoso–Pani–Rico parametrization and we test the possibility of constraining possible deviations from the Kerr solution that can be obtained from observations across the range of BH spins and inclination angles. We confirm previous claims that the iron Kα line is potentially a quite powerful probe for testing the Kerr metric given sufficiently high quality data and with systematics under control, especially in the case of fast-rotating BHs and high inclination angles since both conditions serve to maximize relativistic effects. We find that some geometric perturbations from Kerr geometry manifest more strongly in the iron line profile than others. While the perturbation parameter ϵ{sub 3}{sup t} can be well constrained by the iron line profile, an orthogonal data set is necessary to constrain departures from Kerr geometry in ϵ{sub 3}{sup r}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimize Topology, Component Sizes, and Operating Strategy of Participant's Protype: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

The purpose of the project was to complete testing of Shine Technologies LLC’s prototype power system called “Juicebox 3.0.” Testing of the prototype using NREL’s hardware-in-the-loop capabilities, including a DC power supply programmed to simulate PV module output and provide the JuiceBox 3.0 at the specified power level and with a load bank of sufficient capacity to mimic DC and AC loads connected to the outlets of the Juicebox 3.0. The unit is provided with SAE wire connectors. A photo of a JuiceBox 3.0 unit is shown in Figure 1 below.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

DBI Galileon inflation in the light of Planck 2015

In this work we consider a DBI Galileon (DBIG) inflationary model and constrain its parameter space with the Planck 2015 and BICEP2/Keck array and Planck (BKP) joint analysis data by means of a potential independent analysis. We focus our attention on inflationary solutions characterized by a constant or varying sound speed as well as warp factor. We impose bounds on stringy aspects of the model, such as the warp factor (f) and the induced gravity parameter ( m-tilde ). We study the parameter space of the model and find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be as low as r ≅ 6 × 10{sup −4} and inflation happens to be at GUT scale. In addition, we obtain the tilt of the tensor power spectrum and test the standard inflationary consistency relation (r = −8n{sub t}) against the latest bounds from the combined results of BKP+Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Waves Observatory (LIGO), and find that DBIG inflation predicts a red spectral index for the tensor power spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Improved diffusion coefficients generated from Monte Carlo codes

Monte Carlo codes are becoming more widely used for reactor analysis. Some of these applications involve the generation of diffusion theory parameters including macroscopic cross sections and diffusion coefficients. Two approximations used to generate diffusion coefficients are assessed using the Monte Carlo code MC21. The first is the method of homogenization; whether to weight either fine-group transport cross sections or fine-group diffusion coefficients when collapsing to few-group diffusion coefficients. The second is a fundamental approximation made to the energy-dependent P1 equations to derive the energy-dependent diffusion equations. Standard Monte Carlo codes usually generate a flux-weighted transport cross section with no correction to the diffusion approximation. Results indicate that this causes noticeable tilting in reconstructed pin powers in simple test lattices with L2 norm error of 3.6%. This error is reduced significantly to 0.27% when weighting fine-group diffusion coefficients by the flux and applying a correction to the diffusion approximation. Noticeable tilting in reconstructed fluxes and pin powers was reduced when applying these corrections. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Promoting regulatory acceptance of combined ion and neutron irradiation testing of nuclear reactor materials: Modeling and software considerations

As the needs for the nuclear energy industry continue to evolve in the 21st century, timely adoption of new technological solutions acceptable to regulatory agencies is critical. Quantitative prediction of radiation damage in materials and its impact on mechanical properties is a key component of licensing and regulatory decisions regarding nuclear power plants. Accelerated testing methodologies such as combined ion and neutron irradiation data sets are crucial for the development and deployment of new materials and new manufacturing methods (e.g., additive manufacturing). However, regulatory acceptance of accelerated testing methodologies is necessary for their adoption. Further, the present work discusses the fundamental basis for comparing ion- and neutron-induced material microstructures, the theory behind interpreting radiation damage across length and time scales and radiation types, and the codes, standards, and quality assurance concerns surrounding different modeling methods and software. In particular, recommendations are given as to the path forward that will enable national laboratories, academia, and industry to develop the modeling and software basis for regulatory acceptance of the combined use of ion and neutron irradiation for material performance evaluation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Space Nuclear Power Autonomous Control Algorithm and Control Element Test Bed

Nuclear thermal rockets are currently NASA’s preferred option for use in a manned mission to Mars in the 2040s. The communication delay between an Earth ground station and a spacecraft heading toward Mars can be up to 20 min. Therefore, controlling the nuclear rocket engine would require either a full-time reactor operator on the mission or an autonomous control system for the reactor. The latter idea of making space nuclear reactors fully autonomous has drawn more interest from stakeholders, but such an autonomous control system must be rigorously tested and validated before it is certified for human use. The cost of a full ground test for a space nuclear reactor is tremendous, so a nonnuclear mock reactor test bed was created to test and validate control elements and control algorithms for space nuclear reactors. The test bed consists of control element hardware that inputs physical measurement data into a reactor emulator to produce the reactor’s performance under steady-state, transient, and fault conditions. The control element hardware consists of six full-sized control drums equipped with servo drives and motors and is instrumented with optical encoders, resolvers, and torque sensors for drum movement characterization. In addition to the drums, a two-phase flow loop was designed and built to mimic the valves and turbomachinery associated with the propellant flow through a nuclear thermal rocket engine; components such as pressure sensors, flow meters, thermocouples, and tachometers are instrumented throughout the loop to characterize the fluid flow, valve, and turbomachinery behavior of the system. The data from the physical hardware (e.g., drum position, propellant flow rates) are input to a nuclear reactor simulator to determine the actual nuclear reactor parameters, and the data are sent back to a control algorithm to complete the control loop. The ability to conduct numerous tests of the control systems and autonomous algorithms can help validate the instrumentation and control aspects for a space nuclear reactor for every possible fault situation.

Wilson, Brandon↗
DOE OSTI2021

Equalization of Intensity-Modulated Fiber-Optic Voltage Sensors for Power Distribution Systems

We test fiber-optic voltage sensors based on optical reflection from a piezoelectric transducer. Our specific devices possess a 2 kHz fundamental resonance, and we verify a readily usable frequency band from approximately 10 Hz to 3 kHz, with a dynamic range of 60 dB for a detection system integrating over this entire band. Additionally, we demonstrate a digital signal processing approach to equalize the measured frequency response, enabling accurate retrieval of short-pulse inputs. These results suggest the value and applicability of intensity-modulated fiber-optic voltage sensors for measuring both steady-state waveforms and broadband transients which, coupled with the straightforward and compact design of the sensors, should make them effective tools in electric grid monitoring.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

In-Situ Measurement of Crystalline Silicon Modules Undergoing Potential-Induced Degradation in Damp Heat Stress Testing for Estimation of Low-Light Power Performance

The extent of potential-induced degradation of crystalline silicon modules in an environmental chamber is estimated using in-situ dark I-V measurements and applying superposition analysis. The dark I-V curves are shown to correctly give the module power performance at 200, 600 and 1,000 W/m 2 irradiance conditions, as verified with a solar simulator. The onset of degradation measured in low light in relation to that under one sun irradiance can be clearly seen in the module design examined; the time to 5% relative degradation measured in low light (200 W/m 2 ) was 28% less than that of full sun (1,000 W/m 2 irradiance). The power of modules undergoing potential-induced degradation can therefore be characterized in the chamber, facilitating statistical analyses and lifetime forecasting.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
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↗