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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 685 records · Page 38
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Structural distortion and electron redistribution in dual-emitting gold nanoclusters

Deciphering the complicated excited-state process is critical for the development of luminescent materials with controllable emissions in different applications. Here we report the emergence of a photo-induced structural distortion accompanied by an electron redistribution in a series of gold nanoclusters. Such unexpected slow process of excited-state transformation results in near-infrared dual emission with extended photoluminescent lifetime. We demonstrate that this dual emission exhibits highly sensitive and ratiometric response to solvent polarity, viscosity, temperature and pressure. Thus, a versatile luminescent nano-sensor for multiple environmental parameters is developed based on this strategy. Furthermore, we fully unravel the atomic-scale structural origin of this unexpected excited-state transformation, and demonstrate control over the transition dynamics by tailoring the bi-tetrahedral core structures of gold nanoclusters. Overall, this work provides a substantial advance in the excited-state physical chemistry of luminescent nanoclusters and a general strategy for the rational design of next-generation nano-probes, sensors and switches.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Triton: Environmental Monitoring Technology Development, Collision Risk Data Collection (Final Report)

In this project, we assembled a sensor suite that combines a scientific echosounder (sonar) system with video and acoustic cameras (secondary sensors). The sensor suite generates data that is amenable to automated target detection algorithms and can provide inputs to animal encounter models. We developed software (archiving software) to collect data simultaneously from all sensors in the suite, analyze the sonar data automatically in near real-time to identify time periods when targets of interest were present, and automatically archive data from the secondary sensors for these time periods. The product of the archiving software is a data set for the secondary sensors, containing data only for the times when targets of interest were determined to be present by the sonar. We performed controlled field testing to verify the operation of the sensor suite and the archiving software.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Ultra Efficient Light Duty Powertrain with Gasoline Low Temperature Combustion (Final Report)

This document details the work completed during Project DE-EE0006839 ‘Ultra Efficient Light Duty Powertrain with Gasoline Low Temperature Combustion’. All tasks from the project’s Statement of Project Objectives are discussed. Final demonstration data is also presented and discussed. Further project details can be found in the Quarterly Technicial Reports that were submitted during the course of the project and are stored on the EERE Project Management Center Website. The goal of this project was to develop, implement and demonstrate a low temperature combustion approach called Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) that provides high thermal efficiency with low NOx and PM emissions. The project target was to demonstrate a 35% fuel economy improvement over the baseline vehicle while meeting Tier 3 emissions levels. At the start of this project, GDCI was a moderately mature combustion technology, due in large part to advances made during a Delphi Technologies program funded through an earlier Department of Energy Advanced Technology Powertrains (ATP) opportunity; under that earlier contract, DE-EE0003258, Delphi Technologies assembled a team with complementary industrial and academic experience, and led this team to advance the technology from the original fundamental work to the state of art embodied by a first-generation (Gen 1) multi-cylinder GDCI engine. Key activities during that project centered on engine and combustion chamber design, and development of fuel injection equipment, valvetrain and advanced controls. Performance results with the Gen 1 engine in a development vehicle demonstrated that GDCI had the capability to operate using Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) over a broad speed-load range. Based on benchmarking work, efficiency for the Gen 1 GDCI engine compared favorably overall to production light-duty diesel engines. The second DOE funded project, DE-EE0006839, focused on a number of technical risks and issues that were left to be resolved for GDCI to become a production-viable technology. These risks were:GDCI combustion system refinement to achieve near-ideal air/fuel mixture preparation for high efficiency and low HC and CO emissions; Transient control development for low temperature combustion with high EGR levels during real-world transient driving maneuvers and over a broader range of ambient conditions; Aftertreatment system design that is effective in dealing with the low-temperature challenges of a highly efficient engine. The project was executed in two phases. Phase 1 leveraged the development vehicle from the Advanced Technologies Powertrain 1 (ATP1) project, DE-EE0003258. That vehicle was used as an initial test bed in the development of a high performance low temperature exhaust aftertreatment system. The vehicle was also used to develop calibration refinements for improved exhaust emissions and fuel efficiency. Samples of a new GDCI development level engine, called Gen2 GDCI (and developed outside of the first DOE funded project), were also used during Phase 1 to develop refined controller hardware and control algorithms, as well as improved sensors and actuators. The Gen2 engine was then retrofitted into the development vehicle from the ATP1 project and used for controls refinement and calibration of GDCI to achieve improved cold start, drivability and robustness to real world environments and fuel variations. During Phase 2 of the project, Gen3 versions of the GDCI engine were designed and built specifically for this project based on experience from the earlier engines. These engines were designed to be production-like in construction and, when combined with refined control systems and project specific low temperature exhaust aftertreatment, were intended to support the goal of meeting Tier 3 emissions levels at a vehicle level. Though great progress had been made advancing the GDCI combustion process, and despite extensive presentations of our work on the technology at various conferences and in direct meetings with automotive companies, none of the US domestic automotive OEMs had shown an interest in adopting this combustion process as part of their technology planning as the project approached the Go/No-Go point at the end of Budget Period 3. As a result of this low-level of interest both the US Department of Energy and Delphi Technologies received in this technology from domestic auto manufactures, Delphi Technologies elected a ‘No-Go’ status for the gate between Budget Period 3 and Budget Period 4 which terminated the project without spending any Budget Period 4 funds. The project team concluded that the dynamometer mapping of the most recent level of hardware, combined with the vehicle level simulation by Argonne National Laboratory, was sufficient to document the capabilities and potential of the combustion process without spending the time and money to do the controls development and full calibration necessary for a demonstration vehicle.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Editors’ Choice—Review—Recent Advances in Mixed Potential Sensors

Gas sensors are widely used in environmental monitoring and provide controls especially when working with toxic gases. YSZ based λ-sensors have been utilized in the automobile industry for exhaust gas monitoring for more than 40 years. However, recent regulations on emissions reduction has forced further development of toxic gases monitoring in various applications. Mixed potential sensors with YSZ electrolyte are receiving increased attention due to their higher sensitivity and durability under harsh conditions. This review focuses on recent (past 5 years) developments made on electrode and electrolyte structure along with new sensing electrode materials towards detecting gases such as NO x , NH 3 , H 2 , CO and hydrocarbons (HCs). The theory of mixed potential sensors is discussed along with recent developments in detection of multi-gas mixtures using the output from an array of sensors in a mathematical model. Future directions for mixed potential sensor research, and methodologies to improving sensing characteristics are also outlined

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Resilient Autonomous Wind Farms: Preprint

With the advent of an increasing number of control strategies that seek to optimize wind turbine performance on a farm-level, taking account of individual wind turbine information to achieve wind farm-level objectives has become an increasingly important goal. Methods for controlling wind turbines on an individual and farm level have seen significant development, and an abundance of new implementations for gathering and using data from turbines have created potential for novel control mechanisms which can further optimize the performance and delivery characteristics of a wind farm. A key element of making these wind farms more efficient is to develop reliable algorithms that use local sensor information that is already being collected, such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data, local meteorological stations, and nearby radars/sodars/lidars. Making use of information from all wind turbines in a wind farm can enable such approaches as determining the atmospheric conditions across the farm, improving fault-finding, and enabling more efficient overall control of farm-wide optimizations through mechanisms such as wake-steering. However, these approaches typically involve a centralized communications and control center. In order to ensure the resilient operation of the farm, it is necessary to develop an approach which distributes the calculation and communication amongst multiple nodes throughout the farm. In this fashion, a redundant, robust, and secure network can be created, which can tolerate faults in calculation, communication, and even external attacks which seek to disrupt the operation of the wind farm. This paper introduces the use of the Raft Byzantine Fault Tolerance algorithm in the implementation of autonomous control of a wind farm. This implementation will allow for fault tolerance for malfunctioning nodes, sensors, transmitters, and connectors. This approach is equally extensible to account for malicious actors. It will be shown to achieve overall consensus, provided the number of faults/malicious nodes is less than 3$n$+1, where $n$ is the number of turbine cluster faults which may occur, and to be robust in the face of multiple arbitrary faults.

autonomous↗
DOE OSTI2020

Resilient Autonomous Wind Farms

With the advent of an increasing number of control strategies that seek to optimize wind turbine performance on a farm level, taking into account individual wind turbine information to achieve wind-farm-level objectives has become an increasingly important goal. Methods for controlling wind turbines on an individual and farm level have experienced significant development, and an abundance of new implementations for gathering and using data from turbines have created potential for novel control mechanisms that can further optimize the performance and delivery characteristics of a wind farm. A key element of making these wind farms more efficient is to develop reliable algorithms that use local sensor information that is already being collected, such as from local meteorological stations, nearby radars, sodars, and lidars, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data. Making use of information from all wind turbines in a wind farm can enable such approaches as determining the atmospheric conditions across the farm, improving fault-finding, and ensuring more efficient overall control of farmwide optimizations through mechanisms such as wake steering. However, these approaches typically involve a centralized communications and control center. In order to ensure the resilient operation of the farm, it is necessary to develop an approach that distributes the calculation and communication amongst multiple nodes throughout the farm. In this fashion, a redundant, robust, and secure network can be created, which can tolerate faults in calculation, communication, and even external attacks that seek to disrupt the operation of the wind farm. This paper introduces the use of the Raft-Byzantine-Fault-Tolerant algorithm in the implementation of autonomous control of a wind farm. This implementation will allow for fault tolerance for malfunctioning nodes, sensors, transmitters, and connectors. This approach is equally extensible to account for malicious actors. It will...

fault tolerance↗
DOE OSTI2025

28nm front end ASIC and 12” LGADs for 3D integration

The 3DIntSenS Collaboration—a joint effort between SLAC, Fermilab, and LLNL—is developing enabling technologies for next-generation radiation imaging detectors that combine ultra-fine spatial resolution (≈10 μm) with precision timing (<20 ps), while maintaining low power <1 W/cm2 and high data throughput. The approach leverages 3D integration between advanced CMOS readout ASICs and finely pixelated LGAD sensors to achieve the performance and scalability required for large-area, high-rate applications. High-granularity, precision-timing detectors are essential for scientific advances in HEP, NP, BES, and FES, but widespread adoption is limited by the cost and complexity of 3D integration. To close this gap, the collaboration is developing LGAD sensors compatible with 12-inch commercial CMOS processes, enabling cost-effective integration with high-performance ASICs under development. We present the design and results from a 28 nm CMOS ASIC prototype, including a low-jitter front end, and in-pixel TDC demonstrating sub-10 ps timing resolution. We also report on the co-design and characterization of reticle-scale LGAD sensors with 50 μm and 100 μm pixels and introduce the next 10k-pixel ASIC designed for full 3D integration. These advances represent a critical step toward scalable, high-resolution radiation imaging systems for future scientific instrumentation.

England, Troy [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000154405255)↗
DOE OSTI2019

Savannah River Site H-Canyon Collaborative Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program Review - 19499

The purpose of the Department of Energy-Environmental Management Office of Technology Development's (DOE-EM TD) Science of Safety (SOS) Robotics Initiative is to pull innovative commercial off the shelf (COTS) and near ready technologies to the field to expedite remaining EM mission clean up and enhance worker safety. A goal of this program is to demonstrate to DOE facilities the value of these available new technologies and their potential uses to solve difficult problems. In support of this goal, the Savannah River Site (SRS) H-Canyon Air Exhaust (HCAEX) tunnel biannual inspection task has been selected to demonstrate and evaluate the benefit of pulling advanced technology solutions to EM facilities. This is a highly collaborative task facilitated by SRNL and engaging SRS H-Canyon facility stakeholders, National Laboratory robotic and concrete inspection SMEs and university robotic and sensor researchers. Presently, the SRS HCAEX tunnel inspection consists of a visual examination to evaluate the structural integrity of the tunnel. Personal access is prohibited in the tunnel due to extreme conditions, thus the examination is accomplished remotely by deploying cameras mounted on a robotic crawler deployed into the tunnel. While the ability to see inside the tunnel in recent years has been highly valuable, it is desirable to have a better understanding of the environment to support a more thorough structural analysis and for long term planning purposes. This higher order of understanding can be accomplished through advanced COTS sensors and tools and those currently in development and near ready. The advanced technologies selected for demonstration will be evaluated for hosting on the FY19 HCAEX tunnel inspection crawler platform. The HCAEX ATD task is expected to be performed over a two-year period with year one now concluding. At WM2018, we presented the H-Canyon stakeholder's high priority inspection and remote handling needs, the collaboration team and the planned process of developing an integrated solution. This presentation will review the initial scope and inspection needs, then discuss the past year's progress to address these needs. The discussion includes the results of the Concrete Integrated Product Team (CIPT) formed to evaluate promising concrete NDE inspection technologies and a Lidar based tunnel mapping sensor suite solution. Highlighted in the discussion will be the engagement and pulling of university developed research and development to include student engagement through the formation and hosting of the SRNL Robotics and Sensors Intern team and collaboration with MSIPP funded Robotic Arm Concrete NDT Inspection University researchers. Lastly, the path forward to complete the demonstration will be presented. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

AOI [3]: Smart Refractory Sensor Systems for Wireless Monitoring of Temperature, Health, and Degradation of Slagging Gasifiers

The objective of the work was to develop refractory “smart bricks”, which would contain embedded temperature, strain/stress, and spallation sensors throughout the volume of highchromia (-Cr 2 O 3 ) refractory brick. The proposed work included work to interconnect the sensors to the reactor exterior, where the sensor signals may be processed by low-power electronics and transmitted wirelessly to a central processing hub. The data processing and wireless transmitter hardware was specifically designed to be isolated (with low power consumption) and to be adaptable to future implementation of energy-harvesting strategies for extended life. Finally, the collected data was incorporated into a model to estimate refractory degradation, a technique that could help monitor the health of the refractory in real-time. The long-term goal of this program was to demonstrate high-temperature, wireless sensor arrays for in situ three-dimensional (3-D) refractory monitoring or mapping for slagging gasification systems. The research was in collaboration with HarbisonWalker International (HWI) Technology Center in West Mifflin, PA. HWI is a leading developer and manufacturer of ceramic refractory products for high-temperature applications. The work completed focused on the following areas: 1) Investigation of the chemical stability, microstructural evolution, grain growth kinetics, degree of homogeneity (quantitative image analysis), and electrical properties of refractory oxide-silicide composites at temperatures between 750-1450ºC; 2) Fabrication of silicide-alumina composite and oxide thermocouples and thermistor preforms and the development of techniques to embed them into high-chromia refractory bricks to form “smart bricks”; 3) Utilization of commercial off-the-shelf discrete components to prototype circuits for interfacing between smart brick sensors and the wireless sensor network. The prototypes were then used to design an integrated circuit for thermistor, thermocouple, and capacitive-based smart brick sensor interfacing; 4) Interfacing of the smart bricks with embedded sensors with wireless motes thus yielding a complete signal chain. This end-to-end data collection system was tested on a furnace heated to 1350°C; 5) Development of a slag penetration model and a nonlinear unknown input filter for the data from the embedded sensors for estimating temperature and extent of slag penetration.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

First bulk and surface results for the ATLAS ITk Strip stereo annulus sensors

A novel microstrip sensor geometry, the stereo annulus, has been developed for use in the end-cap of the ATLAS experiment’s strip tracker upgrade at the HL-LHC. Its first implementation is in the ATLAS12EC sensors, a large-area, radiation-hard, single-sided, AC-coupled, n + -in-p design produced by the ITk Strip Sensor Collaboration and fabricated by Hamamatsu Photonics in early 2017. The results of the initial testing of two ATLAS12EC batches are presented here with a comparison to specification. The potential of the new sensor shape to reinvigorate endcap strip tracking is explained and its effects on sensor performance are isolated by comparing the bulk mechanical and electrical properties of the new sensor to the previous iteration of prototype, the conventional barrel ATLAS12A sensor. The surface properties of the new sensor are evaluated for full-size unirradiated sensors as well as for mini sensors unirradiated and irradiated with protons up to a fluence of 2.2 x 10 15 n eq cm -2 . The results show that the new stereo annulus ATLAS12EC sensors exhibit excellent performance and the expected irradiation evolution.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Integrated field phenotyping and management platform for crop development and precision agriculture

A field controller and sensor is presented as an elongate body having a hollow interior and axially opposite first and second ends with a first arm extending outward from the elongate body adjacent to the first axial end and a second arm extending outward from the elongate body adjacent to the second, axially opposite end. Each of the arms has an imaging device. The first arm imaging device is positioned to obtain images in a direction toward the second axial end of the elongate body. The second arm imaging device is positioned to obtain images in a direction toward the first axial end. The first and second arms are spaced apart from one another along a length of the elongate body at a distance sufficient to image a canopy of crop growth in a field in which the field controller and sensor is deployed. The sensor may be formed from modules that allow the operator the ability to vary the height of the sensor by stacking the modules together end to end, which in turn allows users to scale their particular system with varying crop sizes within crop rotations.

Shakoor, Nadia↗
DOE OSTI2024

Low-cost Retrofit Kit for Integral Reciprocating Compressors (IRCs) to Reduce Emissions and Enhance Efficiency

Methane emissions from natural gas engines within the oil and gas industry pose a significant environmental challenge, contributing approximately 34.1 MMTCO2 eq to the total of 239 MMTCO2 eq of methane emissions in 2021, according to the EPA report. In response to this pressing issue, a collaborative effort involving the University of Oklahoma and key industry partners—WAGO Automation, Mid Continental Rental, Elipsa, and Perscient—has resulted in the development of a retrofit kit designed to reduce emissions from integral reciprocating compressors (IRCs), which are integrated compressors and engines. The retrofit kit developed comprises an Air Management System (AMS), Integrated Sensors, and a Cloud-Connected Control Unit with Graphical User Interface (GUI)/Human-Machine Interface (HMI). This solution enhances operational efficiency, reduces emissions, and expands the operational envelope of IRCs in the natural gas industry. The project successfully completed all tasks, including the installation of a full-size IRC at a designated site in Oklahoma, the development of an optimized AMS, integration of sensors, and implementation of a data acquisition system. Significant achievements include a notable reduction in CH 4 emissions, up to 84% at specific loads, and the successful deployment of the retrofit kit in diverse field conditions. The system's capabilities were enhanced through the creation of a feedback control algorithm for the AMS using a correlation matrix illustrating relationships between engine parameters, and the design of a predictive and preventive maintenance platform. The project concluded with the deployment of the entire retrofit kit to another location, confirming its effectiveness in reducing emissions and enhancing IRC performance. The comprehensive solution offers valuable benefits for IRCs, making them invaluable assets in the natural gas industry.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Achieving Cyber-Resilience for Power Systems using a Learning, Model-Assisted Blockchain Framework

The secure integration and management of distributed energy resources (DER) and power aggregators in the electric grid requires secure communications and a physics-aware Command and Control (C2) strategy. A Blockchain (BC)-based overlay network was developed to provide a security layer for the existing power grid network that mitigates risks in current and legacy network and C2 protocols. By integrating a Model-Assisted Machine Learning (MAML) framework with a Secure Blockchain Overlay Network (SBON) a defense-in-depth strategy was achieved. In our approach, the MAML framework leveraged a smart contract framework to gather network data and learn the dynamics of DER to develop detection strategies for attacks targeting sensors and actuators used by DER. The MAML framework learned dynamical systems models for individual DERs to detect sensor attacks. For DER we utilized a Digital Twin (DT) to accelerate the learning process for a model resistant to stealthy attacks. The project created DT for PV inverters and BESS. The DTs were coupled with a model-assisted, data-driven learning of DER behavior. Specifically, we evaluated architectures for model-based learning with model-free fine-tuning. Additionally, differential privacy techniques were used to obfuscate data, while still allowing the computation of attack detection results based on obfuscated data. The SBON developed leverages a private permissioned blockchain network orchestrated with the Hyperledger Fabric framework. To connect the cyber world, which orchestrates the blockchain fabric, and the physical world where the power network resides, we developed a system implementation to enable the secure interaction of the physical world and the abstracted blockchain.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Evaluating Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Sensor Technology for Rapid Source Characterization of Rare Earth Elements

A prototype Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) sensor is tested for the determination of rare earth elements (Eu and Yb) in liquid and solid samples. The sensor head, built using a monolithic passively Q-switched (PQSW) Nd:YAG laser, produced a 1064 nm laser beam with 3.3 ns pulses and an energy of 4.2 mJ. The measurements show good calibration linearity for both Eu and Yb with R 2 values above 0.99 for all analyzed spectral lines in liquid and solid samples. Limits of Detection (LODs) obtained were as low as 1 ppm, which are comparable to or better than those reported previously by using table top actively Q-switched systems. This study aims to develop a high sensitivity, field deployable sensor for characterizing existing and new sources of rare earth elements

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗